Sayuri Ono (C9-C8) - Chapter VII: Betrayed
Sayuri hated to leave Kimasu in his condition, but there wasn’t any hope left for him, and he had told her to go. She had been hesitant to leave, but she knew she had to in order to protect her own life. She had to find Yukio. He had dashed off towards the west. Sayuri began running as fast as she could, tears running down her face. She had only really known Kimasu about a day and a half, but right now, he was one of the few that really in truly meant a lot to her. Kimasu had done so much for her, and there were times that she had felt a special sort of… connection with him. If they would have only had more time…
She soon realized that Yukio was too far ahead of her by now, and she’d never catch up with him. Probably never see him again, either. She saw a nearby bush, crouched in it to remain hidden in the dark, and buried her face in her knees. Tears ran down her cheek as she pondered what Kimasu meant by his final words.
‘I don’t love you’? Why would he say that?
But somehow, she knew what he meant. In those final moments, she had felt something inside of her. It was odd. She had never felt like that before. Well, of course, she had cared for people before, but… she didn’t want to leave him. Not just because he was dying, but in general. He was one of the few that actually valued Sayuri’s opinion, and wanted to talk to her. And he had enjoyed being with her. True Kimasu could be a jerk at times, but… still, something had been there.
After about thirty minutes, Sayuri got up. If she were going to carry out this plan, she’d have to get off her butt and do something. She’d head back to the power plant, Kimasu had mentioned going to the generator room. She started to walk off in a fast walk. As she came around the corner of the bush she heard someone.
“S-Sayuri?”
Sayuri jumped and pointed her flashlight at the source of the noise. As she saw the figure her whole face lit up.
“Yukio!”
She immediately wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his chest, letting the tears flow. After a few seconds, she felt his arms timidly wrap around her.
After a couple of minutes, Sayuri pulled back. There was an odd silence between the two, which was broken by Yukio.
“Er… so, did you, um... get his gun?”
“Yukio!” Sayuri said, shocked. “Don’t you care that he’s dead?”
“Well, we need a way to protect ourselves!”
“Ryo and Hisa have it.”
“Ryo and Hisa?”
“Yeah, they’re the ones who… they have it, okay?” She could feel her throat closing in, trying to hold the tears back.
“… Great.”
Sayuri shot a look at Yukio.
“What did you have against Kimasu anyway? All he ever tried to do was help us!”
"Look. It's sad he's dead and all, Sayuri...but you can't say that he didn't do it to himself. His dumb plan of trying to escape? He went to far. Nobody can escape the Program! It's never been done before! He tried to help YOU, perhaps. He didn't like me because I didn't go along with everything he said like a sheep!"
Sayuri looked upon the walls of the building. It looked like a castle from a fairy tale. The classic stone structure, the wooden drawbridge, the towers on the sides. The door suddenly opened, and a woman all in white came towards her. A rush of excitement ran through Sayuri. It was like her whole life evolved around this one moment. The woman’s skin was pale, and her hair was dark. Her face was round and innocent. She was like an angel on earth. Sayuri quickly ran and jumped in her arms.
Sayuri was three again.
“Mommy, I love you.”
The woman kissed Sayuri on the nose.
“I love you, too. And I always will.”
Sayuri wrapped her arms around the woman’s neck and snuggled against her chest. She finally felt like she was home. In that moment, she forgot all about Osama, Tomomi, or anyone else. It was just her and her mother.
There were so many things she wanted to do with her mother. Have picnics in the park, go cloud-watching. She wanted this moment to last forever.
“Mommy, can I stay with you forever?”
“I’m sorry Sayuri...”
*beep-beep-beep, beep-beep-beep*
Sayuri had a confused look on her face.
*beep-beep-beep, beep-beep-beep*
“Sayuri! Time to get up!”
Sayuri quickly sat up, her hair all a mess. She looked over at her alarm clock. 6:00 am. She sighed. This had been going on for a while now. She was sick and tired of it. She wanted her mother more then anything. She still hoped that she’d come and save her from this hell hole, like, maybe she really wasn’t dead... Maybe, maybe she was still alive somewhere.
Sayuri knew her mother was dead, she had been to her grave. But she kept hoping no one was in the casket, and that her mother would show up one day and take her with her.
Sayuri got dressed and walked downstairs to the second floor on her way to the kitchen.
“Sayuri!” a female voice yelled from one of the bedrooms.
Oh great. What’s that slut want?
“Yes?”
“Yes... what?”
Sayuri sighed.
“...Yes, ma’am?”
“Come here.”
Sayuri sighed and walked into the master bedroom where Tomomi was laying in the bed. She was just about full-term now.
“Make me some breakfast. My feet are too tired to get up.”
Sayuri walked out of the room.
“Remember, I like my eggs scrambled with two pinches of salt per egg and three pinches of pepper! And be sure to mix them evenly! And make sure my toast is wheat toasted on light, with the sugar-free strawberry jelly. And also two cups of orange juice, no pulp.”
Sayuri continued down the stairs, grumbling. Why the hell should she make her breakfast? She thought for a second. Why the hell should I? She decided right then and there she wouldn’t. She wasn’t going to bend to their every will.
Sayuri ate a bowl of cereal before leaving for school.
Sayuri glared at Yukio.
“At least I didn’t go around complaining like a child about every single thing. Do you know how annoying you are?”
"Oh really?! Well I'm sorry I'm the only voice of reason around here! He was stupid, really! I mean...really. He thought he was going to get mirrors from people who were playing this game to win? What was he going to do? Ask them nicely? Trade them for a loaf of bread? If you ask me, that self-proclaimed 'GENIUS' got what he deserved.”
Sayuri’s blood started to boil. Kimasu might have not gone about it the right way, but that didn’t mean he deserved to die! He had tried, which was more than Yukio could say for himself! Her hand suddenly moved quickly towards Yukio face.
WHACK!
She saw Yukio’s arms bend back, and before she knew it, she felt a sudden pressure on her chest, knocking her off her feet. She landed on her right arm, scraping it up a little.
“Don’t make me regret coming back for you!” Yukio yelled at her.
“I’ve half a heart to leave you here to die when I escape!” Sayuri yelled back.
“When you escape?” he laughed maliciously.
Did he think she wasn’t going to try? Didn’t he want to? Why wouldn’t he?
“What? Oh, that’s right. You’re not even going to try to live. You’re going to die. And you know what? No one’s going to care.”
Sayuri returned home around 3:30 that afternoon. She closed the door behind her.
“SAYURI!”
Oh damn...
Sayuri slowly walked up the stairs.
“Yeah?”
“What the hell happened to my breakfast this morning?”
“I guess I forgot.” Sayuri shrugged.
“Well, I didn’t get to eat until lunch!”
“Maybe you should have just gotten it yourself!”
“Excuse me, young lady?”
“You heard me! You have two legs. Go do your own stuff.”
“I’ll tell your father about this when he gets home!”
“Go ahead, because I won’t be here!” Sayuri yelled back.
“Good! And I hope you don’t come back, you little rat!”
Sayuri rushed up to her room. She quickly grabbed a bag and packed it as much as she could. She pulled out her phone and quickly dialed Kazu’s number.
“Kazu?... I have to get out of here! Mind if I stay there ‘til things clear up?... You’re the best, Kazu!”
She quickly hung up and tossed her bag out the window. Then she edged over to the drainpipe and shimmied down it.
“Sayuri, be careful!”
She recognized Kazu’s voice.
“D-don’t worry! I-I will.”
She was scared to death. She managed to slowly get closer and closer to the bottom.
“I got ya.”
She felt Kazu’s arms go around her and help her down. Kazu picked up her bag and they went up to his room. He set the bag down and they both sat on his bed.
“Okay, spill. What happened?”
“Well, this morning, before I left for school, Tomomi wanted me to fix her breakfast, right? No, wait. Let me start with last night. Last night, I had a dream about my mother. And you know, it felt so good, so right. I mean, I felt like I had a home for once! Then, I unfortunately woke up to them. But, yeah, when she asked me to make her breakfast, I started thinking, this is MY home, I do what I want. So, I never did make her breakfast. Well, I get home today, and she’s FURIOUS! She said Osama would take care of me when he got home, and we both know that means getting beaten in some form or fashion.”
Sayuri started to cry.
“I just can’t take it anymore, Kazu! I don’t know what I’m going to do...”
Kazu hugged her.
“It’s gonna be alright. You know, tough times come, and we just gotta get through them. One day, you’ll feel like you’re home. I promise. You’ll get out of that house one day.”
“I just never want to go back.”
“Maybe... Um.... Maybe you could...”
“I’ve already tried to think of everything. There’s no getting out of it.”
Kazu stood up.
“Well, you just gotta promise me one thing, okay?”
“What?”
“While you’re here, you’re not gonna talk about them anymore, ‘kay? We’re gonna have fun, here.”
Sayuri smiled.
“Alright. I promise.”
Yukio had a wild look in his eyes as he lunged towards Sayuri, yelling. Sayuri screamed.
((OOC: All okay'd by Ian! Sorry it took so long, and that it isn't very lengthy, but considering I had surgery on my hand about a week ago, typing isn't quite the most comfortable thing... but, Enjoy!))