Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction ❯ No Namer #2 ❯ Chapter 2

PART 1.2 THE MONSTER UNDER THE BED

Sage hated to be rushed. He snapped up a piece of toast in irritation and held it in his mouth as he bolted out the door, keys in one hand, coat in the other. Since returning from his travels, he'd begun to emotionally pull away from his family, even Nicole, and went so far as to purchase his own modest house not too far from their old residence. He had taken Nicole in with him anyway, to keep his promise to her; the promise that he would take care of her from now on. Nonetheless, a certain distance had begun to grow, especially between him and the rest of the family. At work, however, all bets were off. He couldn't abandon his family quite that severely, after all, and had taken to helping his mother and sister as they ran the family medical practice. It was something to keep his mind occupied, at the very least. He tried so hard to stay busy these days…he didn't want to stop and think, as that always brought a sour dissatisfaction. Was he really happy with the way things were? With the way his life had been up to this point? To be fair, he had his moments of joy and pleasure, but none really of contentment. He was restless. There was something….missing.

Traffic was surprisingly light considering the hour, and he made good time. His rushing steps were brought to a sharp halt just inside of the plated glass, double doors of the low, white building. Chaos ruled in the normally strictly governed halls. People were crying and screaming, strained looking aides ran every which way, rolling stretchers and carrying supplies. The chairs and benches in the waiting room were full, and people had begun lining up on the walls and standing in the hallways. Most seemed to be injured, a few quite badly. The din was something terrible, with babies and children crying and adults yelling at each other or at the aides, equipment clattering by and assorted moans and cries of pain. This wasn't a trauma center, and the appearance of these desperate looking people in need of care was alarming. Had something happened? A natural disaster or bombing, perhaps? Sage would only be stunned a moment before striding quickly to the front desk, where Kairu, their receptionist, stood nearly in tears as she frantically thumbed through papers and tried to deal with people raising their voices to her. Sage gently but firmly pushed an agitated man aside.

"Kairu, what's going on in here?" he demanded, immediately regretting the tone. Kairu turned dewed eyes to him, dropping the sheaf of processing papers she'd been holding.

"I…I don't know!" she wailed, covering her face and sobbing. "People just started pouring in….the hospitals are full and can't accept anyone else and I can't just turn them away! We tried to reach you, but the phone lines are down all over the place and I just…just…"

Sage sighed and touched the overwhelmed girl's shoulder.

"Kairu, I know this is stressful and demanding…but I need you to be strong right now, okay? Just take it one step at a time…I want you to divide these people up according to who looks to be in most need of help, regardless of who came in first. I'm going to go see what I can do. Where is my mother?"

The girl took a deep breath and wiped at her eyes, forcing herself to calm down a little. This wasn't what she expected when she took this job.

"Exam room three, the last I saw," she replied with a steadying voice, stooping to pick up the papers she'd dropped behind the desk. "She may not be there anymore, but you can try."
Sage nodded and gave her what he hoped was an encouraging smile before picking his way through the chaos to try and find his mother. He'd locate her two doors down from the designated exam room.

Dr. Date looked quite nearly as overwhelmed as Kairu, though she was handling it much better. Wisps of dark hair had come free from its normally tidy bun, and strain was etching the corners of her eyes as nonetheless steady hands rolled a spool of bandaging about a sniffling child's leg. She glanced up for a moment as her son entered the room, a touch of relief flashing across her face before she went back to the task at hand.

"I was afraid that you may have been injured as well," she greeted calmly, her eyes back on her work.

"Why would I have been injured? Mother, what's happening?" Sage asked.

"I don't know," she replied with a grimace, fastening the bandage into place and exchanging the boy for his sister, whose arms looked to be covered in burns. "It's been everything from animal attacks to kitchen stoves exploding to people's cars going out of control. It's like the city has suddenly gone insane. The events seem totally unrelated, but for all of them to happen like this all at once…I don't know, Sage, sweetie…I just don't. Why don't you go help your sister? I think I have things under control here."
That, he knew, was the closest thing he'd get to a dismissal. He left the room without another word, confused and deeply concerned. In his experience, these things didn't "just" happen. Something larger was going on here…but what?

Kento tossed a piece of popcorn at the television set in frustration and shut it off. Nothing but snow and static. He couldn't get a single station. Oh well, he needed to go downstairs and see if his mother needed help in the kitchen anyway. He kicked aside some laundry and opened the door, peeking into the small but neat hallway. It was empty, but he could hear the sounds and catch the scents of the kitchen downstairs. He stepped out of the room, absently working his wrist. He'd bandaged it up the best way he knew how, with some antibiotic cream just in case. He shook a few stray strands of dark hair from his eyes, yawned, and started to close his door, then stopped with a frown.

Something had moved in there.

For one wild moment, he thought back to his mother's warnings that if he didn't clean his room, it was going to start breeding its own life forms. Kento swallowed and carefully crept back inside, bare feet soundless on the threadbare rug that covered part of his floor.

He went dead silent, holding his breath to listen. Something was definitely breathing, and it sounded like it was coming from under the slightly sunken, unkempt bed. Navy eyes narrowed and he reached out to firmly grip the practice bo that had been leaning next to the headboard. Slowly, cautiously, he knelt, one hand ready to strike out with the weapon.

A pair of large brown eyes peeked back at him. Kento blinked and quickly put the bo down, plopping on his belly to better see his interloper.

"Chun Fa? Aren't you supposed to be at school?" he asked softly, reaching one rounded hand under the bed, palm up. "I thought you were a space invader or something!"

The child didn't reach for it, curling up and hugging her knees. Kento could barely see her…she was a mere outline in the dim light.

"I don't wanna go to school," she replied quietly, closing her eyes. Kento blinked and lifted up the bedframe enough for him to start squirming under the bed next to his sister, who opened her eyes and blinked at him. He was far too large and the bed more or less rested on his back, tilting lazily this way and that. He smiled, wiggling up next to her and resting his chin on laced fingers.

"You liked school last week, you said it was fun," he started softly, watching his little sister. She was usually so cheerful and enthusiastic.

"Not any more," Chun Fa murmured, her voice muffled behind her knees. "Keichi an' his friends are picking on me." Her eyes shot up to him challengingly. "And don't you dare say it's because they like me, cuz it's not true, an' I hate it when people say that! Besides, Suki is a girl, an' she's part of Keichi's gang too!"

Kento nodded his head, a bit taken aback by her vehemence.

"Alright, ChunChun, I won't say it. I know it's not always the case, don't hurt me!"

Chun Fa went quiet again. Kento frowned. Usually, her nickname got a rise out of her. He unfolded his hands and squirmed closer, the bed creaking dangerously.

"Why don't you tell your teachers that you're being picked on?"

"They don't do anything," she muttered bitterly. "They can't catch him an' the others doin' it." Then she turned those heartstoppingly depthless eyes on him, like big, dewey weapons. "Can't you come with me to school an' beat them up for me?"

Kento coughed, his eyes suddenly finding great interest in a drifting dust bunny.

"Now Chun Fa, you know that's not reasonable either," he admonished lightly, feeling like a cad anyway. He wasn't going to go beat up a bunch of elementary school kids, but he still felt a bit shortfallen as a big brother. "This is…..more of a brains than brawn question," he admitted. "Uncle Rowen might be able to help you think of something…something that won't get you expelled." Hopeful words, those! The child smiled a little and scootched closer to burrow into Kento's side, hiding her face.

"There's something else," she whispered, small, chubby fingers curling into Kento's shirt. "I had a dream last night. A really bad dream. I dreamed Keichi and the others hurt me. Not like they usually hurt me. But really-real hurt me, bad. Like in those movies mommy tells me I'm not s'posed to watch."

Kento frowned and stroked her pigtails.

"That's gotta be some dream, kiddo," he murmured gently.

"Can I sleep in here with you tonight?" she asked suddenly, looking up at him with tear filled eyes. "I promise I'll be quiet!" Kento blinked and scratched his ear, then smiled a bit reluctantly.

"Sure, Chun Fa," he relented. "But only if you go to school. Mom'd absolutely explode if she knew you hadn't gone. How did you manage to sneak back in from the bus stop, anyway?"

The little girl grinned, flashing a not quite whole smile due to missing teeth.

"That's my secret," she whispered conspiratorially, putting one chubby finger to Kento's lips. He blinked, his eyes sort of crossing as he looked down at her hand, then he chuckled and scruffed her hair.

"Fine, you can have your secrets….let's just get you to school!"