Second Meetings

It took a minute for Saki to completely take in what the nurse had told her. The same nurse that she had met before wasn’t present adding to the collapsing feeling that she felt. ‘I know I’m not family… I guess I just thought I would have been told…’ She didn’t even know if Takako had recovered or if they figured out what was wrong with her. If Takako still was left trapped within her mind she worried how confused or scared she might be of the change.

Shouting and pounding from across the room came behind the doors. The sudden noise nearly knocked Saki off her feet. She froze in place realizing that it was the people in the ward. Saki didn’t remember it being so violent the last time that she had visited. All in unison though, it calmed down. Saki’s hand clenched tightly to the counter trying to hold her weakened frame.

The nurse came around the counter to help Saki back up realizing how much it had startled her. “I’m sorry, Miss. They’ve been very noisy the last few days and I haven’t been able to do anything to calm them down. Maybe it would be best if you left.”

Saki shifted her legs a little, feeling like they had become heavy. The air compressed around her, feeling warmer than before. Anxiety built within her, pressing her forward. Saki leaned against the desk looking up at the nurse. “…um… Does it say why she was transferred?”

It took the nurse a moment to sort through it. She was a little surprised to see that Saki held it together. The woman looked through the papers for an answer to Saki’s question. “It seems that there was a change in her condition that required her to be moved to a different facility.”

“A change in her condition? What does that mean?”

The nurse read through the papers more thoroughly for Saki. When she raised her head up there was not much of a change in her features. “I’m afraid there isn’t anything specific provided here. Miss Yamazaki was moved at the request of Dr. Shiotani.”

His name alerted Saki immediately and recalled her meeting with him. ‘He was examining Takako for his work as a candidate. Perhaps she passed and he’ll be able to treat her…somehow…’ Saki tried not to latch on to her hope too much when she looked back at the nurse. “Did he say anything?”

“About what?”

“About being a candidate?”

“I’m sorry, Miss, but I wasn’t here when the transfer happened. I only have the report to go on. It’s unusual not to leave more specifics when a patient is transferred, but I’m afraid it does happen if they’re in a hurry.”

Saki nodded a little to the nurse trying to pull herself back together. Her hope hung around inside her shaking her body, but she drew herself back. “Thank you very much. I’m sorry for troubling you.” She bowed politely to the nurse and left the floor quietly. Any attempt to keep her thoughts under control proved to be futile.

Chapter 92 – Second Meetings

In the intersection of the streets from Yuki and Saki’s homes, two individuals waited. They had been waiting for a while for the last to arrive. The plan, which had only been briefly discussed, marked out a time and place for them to meet.

“What’s keeping her?” Yuki inquired out loud rhetorically, knowing that Ayumi had no answer for him. “She’s the one that insisted on coming. I didn’t think she’d be late.”

Ayumi watched the grass flattened around where he did his laps. She stepped out in front of his path so that he was forced to stop. “Yuki!” He nearly ran her down before she interrupted the spiraling thoughts that consumed him. “Finally…perhaps she changed her mind.”

Yuki shook his head furiously in disagreement. “No! Saki doesn’t change her mind once she’s made a decision! There’s something wrong!”

“I doubt that there’s anything wrong with Saki. She’s pretty good at taking care of herself.”

“But I can’t leave without knowing what happened to Saki! She could be in danger!”

Ayumi closed her eyes for a moment trying to find a way out of the stalling. She knew how Yuki was about Saki. “Are you forgetting that she did take out that gang leader? And she did fight one of the assassins. It’s more likely that something is delaying her.”

He had to give it a brief consideration when he remembered what she had done. “Then we wait until she does show up!”

A sigh from Ayumi made her regret hearing those words. ‘This is just going in circles. We need to move…’ She reached into her large packed bag for something. Paper appeared along with a pen that she quickly made use of. “Then how about this?” Ayumi showed him the paper that had simple instructions on where to meet them. “When she shows up this will tell her where to meet us, okay?”

“But if we leave now how will she catch up to us? We’ll just have to wait there for her.”

Another sigh, though in disappointment, came from Ayumi. She searched around the area quickly for a safe place for the note before returning back to Yuki. “How can you be so smart and so stupid at the same time?”

“Huh?”

She pushed at his back to get him moving now that she had him more convinced. He held some of his stubbornness still, though mostly in confusion. “Trust me when I say that if she finds it before we get there then she’ll probably be waiting on us.”

Yuki looked over his shoulder letting his feet get walked by Ayumi. He stared down at her trying to figure out what she was talking about. “But you’re not making any sense, Ayumi!”

“Just keep moving! I’d like to be on our way before full light!”

“Hey! Stop pushing, Ayumi!”

Under the knoll of the great tree Seiji and Fumiko sat waiting for the appointed time. Fumiko left home quite a bit earlier than she planned with her parents still not understanding. She thought they would calm down if she gave them time to think about it. The sour feeling in her stomach had remained through the entire night as she tried to sleep. It combined with her parents' repeated yelling causing her to leave. She had used her window and escaped with the aid of her magic. The ache in her stomach continued to persist as she waited.

She looked down at the bag that she had packed of clothes and a few other items that would have seemed like she was going camping. ‘I hope I didn’t pack too much or too little… I don’t know where we’re going…’ The closest idea she had of their destination was the old man that attacked the school. Unfortunately, the pieces that she remembered barely painted a picture for her. ‘I wonder if I should have brought anything, he didn’t…’

Fumiko adjusted the bag nervously a little before casting it aside behind her. The rough looking teenager that slept across from her, Seiji, made her hope for some more answers. He seemed to know the situation better. “Are you awake?”

“…sorta…” whispered Seiji, not moving himself to address her.

Sensing a distant pushing attitude, Fumiko became more self-conscious of what she was doing. “I’m sorry for waking you up. I was just wondering if you might know where Yuki is going.”

“Nope.”

“I see.” The sound of shoes scraping over rough terrain pulled Fumiko's attention away from Seiji. ‘Someone else has arrived…’ She stood up and approached the slope of the roots to help whoever came out of the darkness. Yori broke first followed by his sister a meter behind him. “President Mizuno!” She sounded excited and relieved to see someone else, and someone that was more approachable.

Yori nodded to Fumiko and sat his small bag down. He turned back quickly to Fumiko. “We’re not in school so I’m not carrying my title. You can just call me Yori.” He was a little hesitant about having her calling him by his first name, but he knew that his sister would have insisted otherwise.

“And you can call me Yumi as well!”

Fumiko gave them an uncertain nod of agreement. “If you’re sure… You can call me Fumiko then!”

“I’m sorry that we’re so late!” Yori’s sister looked around the hill to try to see who else had arrived. The sight of only Seiji saddened her a little. She turned back to Fumiko to check. “Is this all who came?”

“Yes…”

Yori tilted his head over to her. He knew that she hoped for everyone to come, but that ideal was unlikely. It had been clear to him from the meeting. “Considering how the little girl was acting towards Hayashi it’s unlikely that she would be coming. I can’t speak for the other one, but it is their choice to make.”

She lowered her head a little working out the disappointment. “…I know…” She hefted her bag up and fixed it to a comfort travel spot on her shoulder. The determination and certainty that she had before surfaced in her face as she raised herself up. “Let’s get going then! We don’t want to miss him!”

“Right!”

“Alright!” piped in Seiji from behind suddenly. His appearance threw them all off balance thinking that he was ignoring them all. Seiji gave them all a confused look for their strange reaction to him being prepared. “What?”

“Thought you were still trying to sleep…” Fumiko flatly replied to him.

“I was just conserving my strength. Don’t know when the hell we’ll be fighting so I’m sure as shit not going to be wasting it.”

Yori and Fumiko leaned over to each other and whispered quietly. “So he’s not completely simpleminded,” remarked Yori.

“But it is still about fighting though.”

“True.”

Seiji broke in between their conversation, sensing that they were talking about him. “What the hell are you two saying about me?!” Fumiko waved him off like it was nothing to be concerned about, but he was not convinced. Even when they began to walk off the hill he chased after them, not satisfied with them. “Hey, don’t just leave! You were talking about me! Weren’t you!?”

Yori’s sister smiled to herself a little, feeling like the group that they had was right. However, when she realized that she no longer saw them she panicked and ran down for them. “Wait for me! I know where we need to go!”

Early morning arrived at the docks on the east side of the city. The eastern part belonged primarily to another suburb, but in the end both were all part of a larger whole anyway. The industrial sector of the city saw just as much change and possibly worse off for it than other parts. Factories and warehouses may have still functioned, but travel and outdoor maintenance became nearly impossible. Until the area could be reclaimed it was effectively shut down. No one roaming around made it easier for Yuki and Ayumi to navigate without dealing with unnecessary interruptions.

Yuki wondered why they were going into the docks. He inquired with Ayumi about their destination during the walk, but she remained very cryptic about the whole thing. Their arrival in the docks made the mystery all the more thick. He kept his pace with Ayumi, but shifted his eyes to her. “What are we doing in the docks? We going to steal a boat?”

She ignored him for several more paces considering her response. “You’ll understand soon enough…”

An annoyed scowl came from Yuki to reply to her vagueness. He dug his hands into his pockets keeping his bag firmly on his shoulder. Even for their trip she kept from him the details when he wanted to know what he should pack. He started to really hate being left in the dark about something that he was helping her. Yuki paused to check how far into the docks they had gone thinking about Saki still missing. “Shouldn’t we stop soon so that Saki can find us?”

Ayumi came to a stop, being interrupted by something ahead of her. She kept her back to Yuki having become tired of listening to his insistent worrying over the safety of Saki. There was no doubt in her mind that Saki was safe, but there was nothing in all the languages of the world that could convince him otherwise.

She noted quickly to herself the obstruction before addressing Yuki. “She’ll be able to find us. Just like they have…”

“Huh? Who—“ He turned his head to look at Ayumi confused by her last words. However, she directed him with her finger pointing further ahead of them. In the front of them appearing to be blocking a very wide pathway stood four figures. It took him another moment to clearly see them. His eyes widened in shock and surprise while his mouth managed only confusion. “How?!”

Before any answers or greetings could be exchanged though, Seiji burst out of the line up and charged Yuki. Taken completely by surprise, he decked Yuki hard, nearly dropping him if that had been his intention. “What the hell is the matter with you?!”