Blue Submarine No.6 Fan Fiction ❯ Drop in the Ocean ❯ Wake. ( Chapter 1 )

Drop in the Ocean: Retake

A/N: I might as well get started on posting this. Whoopie!

Disclaimer: GONZO Studios owns this one, gents.

*~*~*~*~*~*~

The blue submarine slunk leisurely through the Pacific. Sunlight filtered through the water, and reflected in beautiful, twisted patterns that flickered across the hull. The propellers did not create much of a disturbance to the marine life, for they were in friendly waters and need not travel quickly. Pointed at Japan, it made good progress; everyone aboard was all to eager too be home.

The paint job and design with this particular sub was interesting, and for a reason. It was modeled after a killer whale. A blue one, albeit, but a large killer none the less. If it felt guilt, no one knew, but some of its occupants were uneasy. One might wonder why a person who had those kinds of feelings would be in the military. They wondered too.

I realized this was a dream a while ago. Only my dreams would be so devoid of people, even if this was a dead city.

Why do I keep walking? I should just stop and wait for the dream to end. It's the same for miles and miles: broken, dilapidated buildings, as hollow and empty as I am. Then there is the sea in its endless undulation. The waves lick at the path I take, and yet, do not quite touch my boots. Boots…?

I tug at the clothes I am wearing. It's a Blue 6 jumpsuit, one of the newer ones. The uniform was different when I first came. Guess they changed it since the…the….

Court martial, just say it. It's done and finished. Time to get over it.

I turn instead upward, to the sky, brilliant with its unnatural colors, but one look at it and you remember the world is doomed because of it, because of him.

Ha, I'm starting to sound like Kino. She's not in this dream, though I almost expected her to be. She frequents my dreams like she does my shadow in waking.

Wait…didn't something happen, didn't we do something? Something important, at the top of the earth, and it stopped all this, stopped the world from flooding….

But it's hard to remember.

It's been quiet until now, nothing but the waves sliding back and forth from the shore to rejoin their fellows in the sea. No longer….

Now there are footsteps. I stop breathing for a moment to make sure they're really there.

They are. And now each step comes faster and faster from behind me. The bulky shadow in front of me augments with each passing second. I turn around to see the great creature, clearly not a product of any natural occurrence. It's screaming and screaming, and it sounds almost human. It transfixes me, and it's as if I don't notice that it's coming right at me. As it crashes into me, everything blacks out and somehow I register that the dream is over.

* * *

Tetsu Hayami sat up alarmingly quickly on the infirmary cot, nearly ripping out his stitches. It was not a pleasant way to wake up after sleeping for so long. He fell back on the sheets, aching from the bruises he didn't remember having. What he could remember, for this short time between sleeping and first awakening, were the dreams he had been having. But soon, they were gone in an instant, their cryptic meaning lost, to the pain he was experiencing in the here and now.

Slowly he brought his hand to the beads of sweat on his forehead. It was hard to move it, he soon saw, because a white bandage was tightly wrapped around it. He tried to place where he had injured it, and why. The morphine began to lose its bewitching hold on his senses and he recalled all that had happened since he and Kino landed on Antarctica, which he had been trying so hard to recollect in his forgotten dream. He ran his thumb down the line of his teeth, checking to make sure each small enamel square was accounted for. They were, surprisingly.

When did that happen? Or all this? he thought, groggily looking over his doctored body. As the infirmary came into focus, halting its cursed spinning, he cringed. All along, he knew he would be there, but he still hoped he was in his room where no one would be compelled to bother him. He was in a public place and he didn't like it one bit.

Reasoning that he was in here to rest, he shifted to find as good a sleeping position as he may. He stopped when he heard rubber soles squeaking on the steel and mats. After a moment it was obvious the shoes were headed for the infirmary, so he slumped back on the thin pillow and pretended to sleep. Soon, the door was eased open with a hideous and painful creak. Both he and the person at the door winced.

"Hayami?" a voice called softly into the darkness. "You awake?" The owner of the voice emerged from behind the door and turned on the overhead light unmercifully. He flinched and, squinting tried to make out the person behind the purple spots.

"Ah…Kino?" he asked with a groan.

Hesitantly, she stepped nearer to his cot. She smiled a little, "Yeah. How're you doing?" She couldn't help but look vexed. His pallor was unnerving, like he hadn't seen light for a long time. Which he hasn't, she reminded herself. She reached for a chair.

"What're you so worried about?" he asked, seeing her expression.

She blinked, not expecting the question. "Oh, well, you were out for a week on all the sedatives they gave you. You don't look so great either." A week was a long time to be sedated, even for those injuries. However, they had apparently found some illegal drug substances in his body from the blood test. They didn't tell anyone and flushed the stuff out, just as a favor to Hayami for his service. What was slightly upsetting to her was that they said he probably took them right before setting out.

Not that she was surprised.

"Oh," he said.

"Yep," she replied, shifting uncomfortably. This conversation was going nowhere, and she couldn't think of anything to say.

"So…what's been going on in the world?" he asked.

"Hm? Oh, yes!" she said. "A bit. We started tracking down rogue pilots and destroying bases a few days ago." Hallelujah, something to talk about.

"Really?" He quirked an eyebrow, and put his arms behind his head.

"A Grampus took some damage to the left wing last time."

"Does that always happen?"

"No, they fight back, but they're alone in open water. It's easy to pick them off, you should have no trouble-oh, I mean…."

He shifted a little.

"You could-"

"I haven't decided yet."

"Oh," she said quietly. Of course he wouldn't bother to stay. He never said why he saved them, anyway, and he was obviously a drifter.

The flow of conversation was dead, killed by Kino's slip. Hayami saw she was uncomfortable around him. If she doesn't go in a few minutes, I'll think of something to say, he thought. Just so she doesn't feel so uneasy.

The minutes passed, or seemed to. He wasn't paying attention to actual digits, but the way she glanced around the room or clenched her fists. He drummed his fingers for a moment.

"How's your back?" he asked suddenly.

Her eyes snapped back from the clock to him. "It's fine, just bruised."

"That's good."

Why did her face feel hot all of a sudden? "Thanks…. Uh, I'll-I'll let you get back to your rest, now, OK?"

She stood up, and paused. Then, she quickly grasped him in a hug. Hayami felt the blood rush to his face, and just as he brought his arm up to return the gesture she pulled away. She didn't offer any explanation except a nod, and quickly left. He simply stared after her, confusion plain on his face. Falling back to the cot, he closed his eyes, hoping to fall asleep soon and prevent him from thinking about…things, like her and her baffling personality.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

A/N: This is better, don't ya think?