Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Kaifuku ❯ Chapter 4

Status: Betaed by Avatar-chik.

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Kaifuku

Ch. .4.

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Hiiro woke up by early noon. The boat was already on the move, heading towards a town called Athlone, he recalled.

He showered and had breakfast in the living area while Nicolai controlled the boat from the helm on the upper deck. Hiiro decided to climb up, for the first time, to examine the boat and his surroundings more thoroughly.

He climbed up the staircase and exited through the glass door. The moment his head passed through it, he could see Nicolai standing by the helm to his left. The man turned to him and nodded a 'hello'.

"It's good to see you stepping outside," he said, smiling. Hiiro nodded in acknowledgement, not in the mood for talking. There were a few places to sit on the stern of the boat, but he chose to sit up on the roof above the living area. There was a windshield there and he leaned on it for support.

"We're headed to a rather large town today," Nicolai informed him, "It'll be a good chance to refill our supplies."

Yes, it will be a good chance, he agreed. Nicolai will leave the boat and he will be able to escape without being bothered.

"You can join me, if you feel up to it," the man suggested.

Hiiro didn't answer. He merely sat quietly and watched the scenery change along the River Shannon. Green meadows stretched under a vivid blue sky. It was the month of September and winter approached the shores of Ireland. Still, there were quite a few sunny days left to enjoy.

For the next few hours he simply watched the scenery. The clear water reflected the blue of the sky and waves rippled through the river as the boat progressed. Many swans and ducks swam close to the river bank and various farm animals pastured on soft green grass.

By high noon they passed through a large lake, Lough Ree as Nicolai informed him, not that he cared. The lake was wide, with many islands scattered through it. The islands were small and rich with trees decorated with autumn colors. Green and brown branches curled into the lake, kissing the water.

At lunchtime, Nicolai offered Hiiro control of the boat and went down to prepare the meal. Hiiro accepted the offer quietly and stood by the helm. Handling the boat wasn't half as complicated as piloting a Gundam. He followed the charts and marks across the lake. There was no autopilot, which was good because he enjoyed being busy. He considered commandeering the boat and ditching Nicolai on one of the (unsettled) islands, but decided against it. He will have his chance to escape uneventfully in Athlone.

Nicolai brought the food up to the deck and sat down on one of the benches to eat. Hiiro remained at the helm, eating while driving.

By late afternoon they reached the 'Athlone Lock', which allowed boats to travel either upriver or downriver. It resembled a large water elevator. Once inside, both Hiiro and Nicolai had to secure the boat. They worked together without exchanging a word. In fact, Hiiro hadn't spoken to the man throughout the entire day.

Once they passed the Lock, Nicolai took over the helm and steered the boat into a nearby marina. It was a large port with many other private boats mooring there. Hiiro helped tie the boat to the pier and when the engines switched off, he retired to his room.

"I'm going out to shop for supplies," Nicolai called from behind the door, "Would you like to join me?"

"No," Hiiro replied, finally speaking, "I'm tired."

"All right, we can do it next time. It'll be good for you to walk around," Nicolai said and waited for a response. When he received none, he finally left the boat.

Hiiro went to the living area and watched Nicolai through the window until the man left the port and entered the city's streets. He decided to wait for a few minutes so there would be no chance of meeting the man once he stepped outside.

He felt in control of his mind, and that was a perfect opportunity to make his move. He feared that if he'd He feared that if he'd wait any longer, The Sparks in his head would awake and drive him insane once again. Just the thought of The Sparks caused them to rattle a little.

He was aware of the fact that there were consequences for crashing Zero into the palace. He had suffered a major head trauma, and whereas modern science gave him his motor skills back, as well as other higher brain functions, the connections were still severed. Some signals got lost on the way or simply didn't know where to go. He supposed that those were The Sparks he imagined to himself.

The Sparks were chaotic and unpredictable, running around in his head without a destination. The pathways they used to know were blocked and they had to find their way around them. The Sparks always moved slower when they tried a new path. Sometimes, they chose the wrong one and left him confused. Whenever they bumped into something they shouldn't have, memories and emotions overflowed. Sometimes they made thinking so hard; he became confused and disorientated, not knowing where or when he was.

But he could still think; could still move and perform whatever duty was needed. And right now, he needed think straight and get things in order for his escape. He made sure he was dressed in something other than his pajamas. As for shoes, he only had a pair of slippers, but that would have to do. What else did he need? A gun? He couldn't possibly have one right now. He felt almost naked stepping outside without one. He really didn't have anything to take along with him.

With only himself to carry, Hiiro stepped out of the boat and onto the pier. He walked out of the marina and looked around for any road signs. He supposed that Nicolai was headed into the center of town, where the shops were most likely to be. Following the signs, he headed away from there. While they had entered the city, Hiiro had seen a bridge over the river and decided to head there. Where exactly he was headed and what he'd do when he got there, Hiiro had no idea. The important thing was to leave as much distance as he could between himself, Nicolai and the boat.

By nighttime, Hiiro was wandering aimlessly through the town. The air became much colder after the sun had set and clouds covered the night skies. Fearing that it would rain soon, Hiiro sought cover in a hooded bus stop. He sat down, grateful for the rest.

People passed by, hurrying to wherever they were going. Buses came and went. The traffic peaked at some point before the streets emptied again. Rain began to pour down hard, making the roads slick. Hiiro watched the wet asphalt reflect the streetlights as puddles gathered in potholes across the road. The longer he stared, the more his eyes glazed over until his mind slowed to a halt.

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He was hungry. He hadn't eaten in days. How could he have eaten? J had locked him in a secured room and chained him up with shackles to a large boulder in the center of it. His assignment was to escape as fast as he could, before starvation would kill him. But his ten-year-old body was no match for the shackles and the rock. At first he had struggled and ended up breaking both of his wrists. That had been three days ago. He knew that because Dr. J also put a large clock on the wall in front of him.

The assignment was illogical; it was impossible for him to break free. He had tried everything he had been taught thus far, but nothing worked. He tried to think of other ways, using every bit of creativity he had in him, but they all failed. As time progressed, thirst and hunger overpowered him. After three days of struggling, he came to the conclusion that there was nothing he could do. Unless J would let him out sometime soon, he'd die right there, starved and exhausted.

After accepting the fact that he would probably die in that room, he simply lay still and waited for death. It wasn't as frightening as he expected it to be. He had seen enough death in his young life to know that when it happened, swiftly or not, there was nothing that could be done to prevent it.

He was so hungry. His stomach cramped painfully every now and then. The pain told him that he was still alive, but he found little comfort in that.

How much longer would it take for him to die? Why was his body so stubborn, refusing to surrender to the darkness? Things would be so much better once he was dead. He couldn't wait for that release.

He was so hungry... he couldn't stop thinking about food. He missed Odin's spaghetti and meatballs. It was his favorite thing in the world, especially when he sprinkled cheese all over it. The cheese would melt into the hot pasta and when he'd pick it up with his fork, it would stretch into a long string of cheese.

He wanted to eat so badly... the craving was driving him mad. His mouth was too dry to water, but he felt the stale taste of hunger in his mouth. His lips were cracked and bleeding from thirst. He licked them with a heavy and dry tongue. He could kill for the pancakes Odin sometimes made for breakfast.

He never should have agreed to go with Dr. J. He shouldn't have followed the burning need for revenge. Odin had told him that if he'd follow his emotions he would never regret what he'd done. That was a lie. Just like all the other lies and promises Odin had given him, promising to 'always keep you around'.

After Odin died, all he wanted was a purpose, and avenging the man's death seemed like a good purpose at the time. He didn't know what else to do with the grief. He simply followed J, who promised to make a soldier out of him.

Now, two years later, it seemed that all J really wanted was to push him to his limit and see when and how he would finally break down and die. He had survived many tests over the course of his training, but this one was the worst. If J's purpose was to simulate captivity by the enemy, he didn't understand why he was making all the efforts to make escape impossible.

Every prison could be broken out of; he knew that, J had taught him that. He found it hard to believe that any military organization would take the time to shackle him to a boulder. Perhaps all J wanted him to do was experience and accept death. If that was the case, he really didn't have to go through all that trouble. He had accepted death long ago.

Time and place shifted, memories swirling and reforming at a new point and era. He was no longer at J's lab. When he opened his eyes, he saw the pitch black darkness of an OZ prison cell. Somehow, all four dimensions shifted and left him trapped on the moon base once again, along with two of the other pilots.

The shift seemed perfectly logical after it happened. He simply knew where and when he was, and disregarded the previous experience. Such things usually happened in a dream.

"Fuck... I'm so hungry I could eat a Gundam!" Duo whined into the darkness, his voice light as if he was making a joke.

Hiiro lay still on the floor with his eyes closed as he listened to the other pilot.

"We've been here for like - forever! Don't they have some sort of treaty that says they're supposed to feed us? God damn! I could eat a whole restaurant!"

Once again, Hiiro opened his eyes and tested the heavy handcuffs binding him. They were as thick as a wall and long enough to cover his entire forearm. There was no way he could break out of those handcuffs. He didn't even bother trying; he knew his limits.

"Stop whining, Maxwell!" Wufei's voice snapped from another dark corner. "This is a prison cell, not a vacation resort!"

Hiiro closed his eyes again. There was no point keeping them open in the pitch black darkness. He tried to ignore the hunger drilling through his stomach.

"Easy for you to say, Chopstick! You just meditate all day, what do you need food for? Right, Hiiro?"

Licking his cracked lips, Hiiro opened his eyes at the direction of Duo's voice. "Try not to think about food," he said calmly, "I'm sure Trowa will come by soon."

But when he closed his eyes again, he couldn't follow his own advice. All he could see in his mind's eyes was a steaming plate full of - spaghetti and meatballs.

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Lightening split the skies and thunder rolled. The Sparks jerked awake. Hiiro's eyes snapped open, but they lacked awareness. It was as if the light had been switched off in his head and many other lights flickered on as emergency lighting. Perhaps it was the thunder, or perhaps the hunger and exhaustion, but for whatever reason, in a split of a second, Hiiro forgot who, where, and what he was.

He blinked, coming out of the trance, and looked around. He couldn't recognize the street, but he understood that he was sitting alone in a bus stop with nowhere to go and no one to return to. That understanding guided The Sparks to only one conclusion, based on what they remembered: Odin was dead and now he was alone, left on the streets of colony X18999.

The pouring rain and the Earth's sky didn't help counter that assumption. He simply accepted the fact that he'd been abandoned, betrayed and left to fend on his own on the colony. Still, some logic remained and he knew, without knowing how he knew it, that if he stayed on the streets for too long he'd run into Dr. J. The training would begin and the hurt would come back all over again. He had to escape before J found him! He couldn't bear going through those seven years of torture again!

Swiftly, he jumped to his feet, sprinted out of the bus stop and into the rain. He ran as fast as he could, without any direction - running felt safe enough.

The Sparks flashed wildly in his head, encouraging him. They told him that it was the right thing to do. In an effort to help his mind sort out a plan, The Sparks searched for a memory to guide them. Many recollections of escape, urgency, danger, and purpose filled his mind. He knew only one thing: if he found Wing, he would be safe. J wouldn't be able to harm him once he was behind the Gundam's controls. He'd blast through anything that tried to hurt him, he'd blast them all to pieces! No one would dare lay a hand on him again; no one would be able to use him as their weapon ever again!

But where was Wing? Where did he stash it this time? He already searched the ocean, hadn't he? The Sparks confirmed. Where else could he look for it?

He slowed his run into a stroll and took his time to look around. He was on the bridge again, crossing over the river. Some cars drove past him and a few pedestrians walked down the street, holding an umbrella and looking at him oddly for standing in the rain.

"Excuse me," he asked a woman who was staring at him from across the road, "Have you seen Wing?"

The woman quickly turned away and hurried to leave. He frowned, and turned to the next person.

"I'm looking for Wing, have you seen it?" He asked again, helpless, confused. Why wouldn't anyone help him?

"Can't you see it's raining, kid? Your dog's probably home by now," a man muttered and hurried on.

But he didn't have a dog; he was looking for Wing. How could people miss something as big as a Gundam?

"Excuse me, miss," he ran towards another lady, "Have you seen Wing anywhere?"

"What are you - crazy?" The woman called and shook her head. She quickened her pace and hurried to distance herself from him. "Go home!"

Home? He didn't have a home. His mommy and daddy got lost one day and never came back. All he had was Wing. Where was it? He needed to find it! Wing was home.

Now completely at lost, he stopped to think where Wing could be. If it wasn't somewhere where people could see it, it was probably hidden well. Wait a minute... didn't he leave it underground? Like Trowa had done in Versailles? Of course! It made perfect sense! What other place would be suitable to hide a Gundam in a town such as this? He needed to get underground and find it.

He wandered through the streets for a while longer, looking for some sort of underground passage. He finally came across an underground pedestrian tunnel in the middle of the main street. Pleased with his finding, he walked into it.

The tunnel was short and Wing was nowhere to be found. A few people were waiting there for the rain to stop, but aside for them, it was empty. Now what?

Exhausted and perplexed, he leaned on the tunnel's wall and slid to the floor. Sitting down, he brought his knees to his chest and hugged them. He had to take some time to think.

Nothing made sense. He remembered running away from something; from a future that was actually in the past. He ran away from J, which meant that he was before his training but after... after… after Odin had died. He had died and left him all alone - again! No, wait... that couldn't be right. Why couldn't he make sense of things?

He looked around, confused. The tunnel was now empty, with only flickering fluorescent lights to keep him company.

He hugged his knees tighter and buried his head on top of them. He couldn't focus on anything. His mind simply ran in circles, asking the same questions over and over again.

None of the confusion would have happened if Odin hadn't left him. Why did he have to die?! He said he taught him everything he needed to know in order to survive, but he hadn't given him a purpose! What was he to do out on the streets all on his own?

Sure, he completed the mission and left the premises without being detected. That had been the last purpose he had to fulfill. Now what will he do? Where will he turn to? He was stuck on a colony that was still under construction! He was a wanted fugitive, with no fake papers to help him leave the colony. He didn't even have a name!

"Doushite Odin ga shinda ka?!" (Why did Odin die?!) He called out desperately as his body quivered with dry sobs. He threw his head back and stared at the ceiling, trying to fight off the tear he was never allowed to shed.

"Nanimo wakaranai... Doushite boku wo misuteta? Naze Odin ga shinda?" (I can't understand anything... Why did you abandon me? Why did Odin die?) He mumbled helplessly, gazing up at the ceiling. Tears began to slowly slide down his cheeks, salty streams of grief that were finally allowed to shed.

"Doushite shinda no? Dou shiyou? Oshiete kureru... Odin..." (Why did you die? What should I do? Please tell me... Odin...)

He felt small, lost and alone. The confusion was breaking him apart from the inside out. His mind was shattering, piece by piece. Even the words he was speaking stopped making any sense to him.

"Hitori de itakunai... onegai... ikanaide... onegai..." (I don't want to be alone... please... don't leave... please...)

"Hey, lad, are you alright?" An Irishmen suddenly asked, but the words were unfamiliar to him. He didn't even turn to look at the man and continued staring upwards.

"Hey, I'm talking to you," the voice insisted, "Do you need any help?"

"Eigo ga wakarani... Anata no hen na kotoba wo kikitakunai..." (I don't understand English... I don't want to listen to your strange words...) He muttered back, but still didn't shift his gaze from the ceiling. The tears kept flowing down his face, but he wasn't sad anymore, simply lost.

"Is everything alright?" A woman's voice joined the first one.

"I don't know, he won't respond. He keeps mumbling in some other language."

"It sounded like Japanese; maybe he's a tourist." The woman suggested, "We should call someone."

"Good idea." The man agreed and pulled out a mobile phone.

Hiiro turned to look at the two, his blue eyes seeing but not-seeing what went on around him.

"You poor boy, you're soaking wet," the woman said and took off her coat. "Here, you must be freezing." She kneeled by him and covered him gently.

The warmth was very much welcomed. He gripped the coat tightly and brought it up to his face. The scent of a woman's coat, warm and comforting, snapped something inside him.

'Donguri korokoro donburiko...

O-ike ni hamatte saa taihen...

Dojou ga detekite konnichi wa...

Botchan issho ni asobimashou…'

A dam in his mind suddenly cracked and exploded. The water came gushing out and rocked his body with violent sobs. He began weeping loudly. His sorrowful cries echoed throughout the tunnel.

"Yes, we're in the underground passage," the man spoke into his phone. After looking down at the sobbing boy, he added: "You better bring a shrink with you too, las."

Moments later the tunnel was filled with people crowding around the teenager. Two police officers, a man and a woman, cut through the crowd and approached the boy. He was no longer weeping, merely sitting curled into himself, gazing blankly ahead. His lips soundlessly mouthed the song playing in his head.

'Donguri korokoro yorokonde...'

The female officer kneeled in front of him, her eyes full of compassion. "My name is Leslie. I'm here to help you."

Slowly, he looked at the woman and studied her freckled face and curly red hair. Once he realized he didn't know her, he cast his gaze down again.

"Do you understand me?" Leslie asked slowly. Behind her, the male officer was waiting impatiently.

"Eigo ga wakaranai." (I don't understand English) He insisted, even when the words she spoke made perfect sense to him. His mind simply refused to answer in the proper language. English was beyond him at the moment.

"He's Japanese," the other officer commented, "You think we need Kim to translate?"

Leslie shook her head, "Kim is Korean, Duncan."

The man snorted and rolled his eyes. "Big difference."

The woman ignored him and turned back to the troubled boy. "We're going to take you with us to the station. You'll be warmer there and we can sort everything out, alright?"

She reached her hand out to him, he hesitated before taking it. She helped him up to his feet. He was still holding tightly onto the coat.

"Excuse me." The woman who owned the coat took a step forward. He understood the hint and handed her the coat back. His movements were stiff and his eyes glazed over. He was running on autopilot, responding without thinking, without understanding. His mind was dark, empty.

"Come on," Leslie said softly and guided him by placing a hand on his shoulder, "The car is right outside."

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"Do we have his name?" The Chief of Athlone Police asked his two officers after they brought the boy into the station.

"No," Leslie replied, "I don't think he understands any of what we say to him."

"I think he's retarded or something like that," the male officer, Duncan, added distastefully.

"He might be," she agreed.

"And he has no identifications on him?" The Chief asked.

"Nothing," Duncan said, "he wasn't even wearing shoes!"

"He could have escaped from the local hospital; make some inquiries there."

"What should we do with him in the meantime?" Leslie asked, concerned.

The Chief looked up from his desk and out the office's window. He saw the boy sitting quietly by Leslie's desk, staring at thin air.

He sighed and turned back to his officers.

"Keep him here until your shift ends; maybe someone will come for him. If not, drop him off at the hospital."

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