Altered Ending - Chapter 9
Title : Altered Ending
Chapter Title : Cloudless Sky
Setting : Hidarime Tantei EYE - Episode 8
Summary : In the last episode, Kokusho Akira shot Yumeto first before getting shot. But what if that one fatal bullet had got her first before her finger jerked, firing the gun, when the gun was off target and Ainosuke stood right between the two crime planner?
Rating : T
“So that’s what happened. No wonder Ai-kun looks very sad.”
Ohuchi sighed after hearing everything from Kato. The younger police officer nodded in understanding, reaching for another french fries on the table.
“But, you know what, Kato.”
The called man looked at his ex-partner questioningly, munching his fries away.
“That Tanaka Yumeto, from what you told me, I can tell that he really does care about Ai-kun. And a very great deal at that I may add.”
“Really? You can say that even when you haven’t met him?”
Ohuchi smiled softly, “Ai-kun is still alive, right? That alone is enough of an evident.”
Kato stopped eating and stared at Ohuchi with serious expression. His eyes narrowed dangerously and Ohuchi noticed that. He elaborated.
“If he was really a heartless person, then he would have killed Ai-kun the first chance he had. But he didn’t. Even when he had tried to kill them both, he still didn’t. Doesn’t that mean that he still cares?”
Kato snorted a laugh, “If even you noticed that, his affection towards his brother must have been very obvious.”
Ohuchi looked surprised, “You realized that too?”
Kato laughed for real this time, “How can I not? Seriously, he being my partner made me noticed a thing or two about him. You should hear him practically throwing praise after praise for that kid.”
“Well, with all that things he did, you cannot blame him for feeling proud of his little brother. Anyone would.”
Kato’s laugh died down when a thought crossed his mind. His expression became grim.
“I just hope he’ll put some sense to that brilliant brain of his soon enough. He needs to realize that Ainosuke-kun needs his support badly here.”
Ohuchi sighed and nodded in affirmative. Both just sat in silence at one table in that hospital cafeteria, musing over their own thought. Something caught Ohuchi’s eyes and he looked up to find Sayama walking towards them. Her expression was a mixture of annoyance and anxiety.
“Sayama-sensei, where is Ai-kun?”
“Ai-kun?” Sayama raised an eyebrow. She took one of Kato’s french fries, ignoring the protest the owner gave her. “Why did you call him that?”
“That’s how I called him in the first place anyway. I was just got influenced by Kato and you. So? Where is he?”
Sayama pulled a chair and slumped down on it, sitting between the two at that square table. She breathed in deeply before sighing loudly.
“The doctor dragged him to get him checked. And, no, I’m not joking. She really did drag him, scolding him along the way when she figured out that he had managed to catch a slight cold from his adventure this morning. I think she was Ainosuke’s doctor during his two earlier hospitalizations too.”
Both men listened to her quietly. Now that she mentioned it, Ainosuke had been admitted to hospital quite a number of times since the whole incident began. And the one after would be because of more serious cause than the one before.
No wonder the doctor had given him extra attention.
“So, Ohuchi-san.”
Sayama called out as she took another french fries. Kato just sighed in defeat and pushed the rest of his fries towards the school nurse.
“Mind telling us what exactly the two of you were doing while we were panicking over where Ainosuke had gone to?”
Ohuchi gulped upon hearing the honey-sweet tone the nurse was using, which, even though accompanied with a smile, somehow sounded very scary.
xxx
Ainosuke sat in silence on the hospital bed, the same one he had occupied the night before. He had changed his clothes to another pair of pure white hospital clothes. His eyes watched the nurse, who had reapplied the IV and was now bandaging his wrist, with great interest.
“Why do you need to bandage it?”
He questioned the nurse and tilted his head a bit. The nurse finished her job before looking at him with a soft smile on her face.
“So that you can’t rip it off next time. Can’t have our cute mischievous patient run off again, can we?”
He pouted childishly. The nurse only chuckled upon seeing his reaction.
“I’ll get you something to eat. You’ve missed lunch, so there’s no way I’ll let you miss dinner too. Early meal never hurts. Don’t get off the bed.”
She gave his arm a gentle squeeze and his head a pat before strolling out the ward, leaving her patient to rest.
He leaned back into his pillow. It was weird. He felt fine now, aside from slight headache and pain in his left side. That was why he thought he would be able to make it to the airport by himself. But the fact, he couldn’t. If not because of Ohuchi-san, he would have fainted on the road.
A sigh escaped his lips as he hauled himself up and off the bed. But, as soon as he put his weight onto his feet, the world spun around him. He fell onto his bed with head in his hand.
It seemed like he was not that well after all.
Groaning in frustration, he reached out for the IV stand. Once again, he leaned onto it as he walked towards the window. He slid open the glass cover and rested his arms at the window pane.
The sight of Tokyo waking up had been beautiful, but now, seeing the scenery in front of him, it couldn’t compare. His window was facing the West and the view in front of him was fantastic.
It was a beautiful scarlet at the horizon. The sun was setting and, bit by bit, its face disappeared behind the earth. The sky was a mixture of pink and purple before turned to cloudless dark blue. The stars were shining, twinkling. Pale moon, which shone its soft light onto him, replaced the sun in the sky. Down below, the city lights glimmered just as magnificently. Soft breeze entered the room, passing him.
He smiled and closed his eyes in content. His body was leaning forwards, letting night breeze to hit his face gently, ruffling his hair. Colours started to drain off his cheeks because of the cold wind.
Somewhere, under this same cloudless sky, his brother was living his life. His heart ached when he added ‘away from me’ to the sentence. He opened his eyes to stare at the stars again.
“I missed you,” he whispered almost brokenly. “The real you.”
A loud yell interrupted the silence in that room, making him jumped. He was about to turned around when two pair of strong arms wrapped themselves around his shoulders and midriffs, causing him to wince. He was then pulled backwards, away from the window. He cried out in pain when the arms tightened their grip around him and made contact with his wounded stomach.
The next thing he knew, he already sat back down on his bed. He clutched his stomach and shut his eyes. Faintly, he could hear someone panting.
“What were you thinking you’re doing?!”
He flinched at the loud booming voice. Never in his life had he thought that Ohuchi could use that kind of tone. Hands still on his abdomen, he looked up to meet three half anxious half angered faces. Sayama was still holding the IV stand. Her lips were pressed together tightly, forming a thin line.
He stared confusedly at the three adults. What had he done wrong this time?
“I was just sightseeing.”
The angry expressions were replaced by confusion.
“Excuse me?”
“Sightseeing,” he repeated firmly. “You know, watching the scenery? Ouch!” He gasped and doubled over as he felt the pain intensified.
In a blink of an eye, Sayama was already at his side, fussing over him. The two policemen looked at each other guiltily.
“Well,” Kato started, scratching his head, “Sorry then. It was just, your position looked as if you wanted to jump.”
Ohuchi nodded, agreeing. Ainosuke stared at them in shock, his eyes widening and his mouth was agape. Light pink was creeping to his cheeks as he realized that he had made them worry again. He smiled pleasantly.
“I won’t, because I’ve decided.”
He diverted his gaze back at the night sky. His eyes stared almost longingly at the stars that glittered, his jaw stiffened. Determination was once again shone in his eyes, making the others looked at each other in wonder. The boy then spoke in a firm voice.
“I’ll look for my brother. I will definitely find him and bring him back no matter what it costs me.”
Silence was once again brought upon that room. The atmosphere seemed to have tensed because of those words. Sayama was the first one to move, she wrapped her arms around the boy briefly then ruffled his already messy hair. Ainosuke pouted and attempted to fix his hair. The school nurse grinned.
“That’s the Ainosuke I know!”
“Ah, Ohuchi-san. I forgot to ask, why are you here?”
Sayama crossed her arms in front of her chest and sulked, “And here comes that ignorant attitude of yours. Fine, just ignore me like you always did.”
Ainosuke threw her a grin before turning back to an amused Ohuchi.
“Just having a day off, don’t worry about it. I’m going back tonight, by the way.”
The junior high student nodded as the door slid open, revealing the previous nurse with a tray of foods. She raised her eyebrow when she saw that her patient was sitting sideways. Her eyes narrowed dangerously.
“What did I say about getting off the bed?”
Ainosuke offered her a sheepish smile and started fiddling with his fingers. He totally forgot about that warning. But he never thought that this nurse was really strict either. To his astonishment, she then smiled. But her next words were not directed to him.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, but he needs rest after what happened today. Could you please leave? You may visit him again tomorrow.”
Sayama hastily stood up. After a quick goodbye and some more hugs, the three left the room. She and Kato promised him to come by again tomorrow while Ohuchi said he’d call sometimes. Then, he was alone again. Almost, anyway.
He smiled weakly to the nurse, who was now eyeing him suspiciously.
“Don’t force me to restrain you to the bed.”
“Yes! I mean- no! I mean- I swear I’ll do as you say!”
He frantically shook his head and held his hand up, emphasizing his promise. The nurse nodded, satisfied, and started to prepare his meal.
xxx
Yumeto stepped out of the building and let out a big sigh. He looked around him and spotted a vending machine. Feeling thirsty - and hungry actually - he walked over to it. He halted in his step when his reflection on the glass caught his eyes.
He chuckled softly and stared directly at his reflection’s eyes.
“You are really one hopeless man.”
He stood there for one good minute, before chuckling again and shook his head at his own stupidity. He bought a canned lemon tea and headed for a bench there. Slumping down onto it, he opened the drink and leaned back.
It was a cloudless night, making the stars could be clearly seen. This made him smile. Guess there’s always a silver lining on every cloud. Though, his situation didn’t exactly match that line.
His stomach chose that moment to growl.
Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t had any meal since breakfast. No wonder his stomach was protesting to him. He finished his lemon tea in a few big gulps and threw away the can into the nearby trash bin.
He pushed himself up and started walking again, searching for a restaurant or any place to eat.
It was just one tiny little stop before his real destination.
Chapter Title : Cloudless Sky
Setting : Hidarime Tantei EYE - Episode 8
Summary : In the last episode, Kokusho Akira shot Yumeto first before getting shot. But what if that one fatal bullet had got her first before her finger jerked, firing the gun, when the gun was off target and Ainosuke stood right between the two crime planner?
Rating : T
“So that’s what happened. No wonder Ai-kun looks very sad.”
Ohuchi sighed after hearing everything from Kato. The younger police officer nodded in understanding, reaching for another french fries on the table.
“But, you know what, Kato.”
The called man looked at his ex-partner questioningly, munching his fries away.
“That Tanaka Yumeto, from what you told me, I can tell that he really does care about Ai-kun. And a very great deal at that I may add.”
“Really? You can say that even when you haven’t met him?”
Ohuchi smiled softly, “Ai-kun is still alive, right? That alone is enough of an evident.”
Kato stopped eating and stared at Ohuchi with serious expression. His eyes narrowed dangerously and Ohuchi noticed that. He elaborated.
“If he was really a heartless person, then he would have killed Ai-kun the first chance he had. But he didn’t. Even when he had tried to kill them both, he still didn’t. Doesn’t that mean that he still cares?”
Kato snorted a laugh, “If even you noticed that, his affection towards his brother must have been very obvious.”
Ohuchi looked surprised, “You realized that too?”
Kato laughed for real this time, “How can I not? Seriously, he being my partner made me noticed a thing or two about him. You should hear him practically throwing praise after praise for that kid.”
“Well, with all that things he did, you cannot blame him for feeling proud of his little brother. Anyone would.”
Kato’s laugh died down when a thought crossed his mind. His expression became grim.
“I just hope he’ll put some sense to that brilliant brain of his soon enough. He needs to realize that Ainosuke-kun needs his support badly here.”
Ohuchi sighed and nodded in affirmative. Both just sat in silence at one table in that hospital cafeteria, musing over their own thought. Something caught Ohuchi’s eyes and he looked up to find Sayama walking towards them. Her expression was a mixture of annoyance and anxiety.
“Sayama-sensei, where is Ai-kun?”
“Ai-kun?” Sayama raised an eyebrow. She took one of Kato’s french fries, ignoring the protest the owner gave her. “Why did you call him that?”
“That’s how I called him in the first place anyway. I was just got influenced by Kato and you. So? Where is he?”
Sayama pulled a chair and slumped down on it, sitting between the two at that square table. She breathed in deeply before sighing loudly.
“The doctor dragged him to get him checked. And, no, I’m not joking. She really did drag him, scolding him along the way when she figured out that he had managed to catch a slight cold from his adventure this morning. I think she was Ainosuke’s doctor during his two earlier hospitalizations too.”
Both men listened to her quietly. Now that she mentioned it, Ainosuke had been admitted to hospital quite a number of times since the whole incident began. And the one after would be because of more serious cause than the one before.
No wonder the doctor had given him extra attention.
“So, Ohuchi-san.”
Sayama called out as she took another french fries. Kato just sighed in defeat and pushed the rest of his fries towards the school nurse.
“Mind telling us what exactly the two of you were doing while we were panicking over where Ainosuke had gone to?”
Ohuchi gulped upon hearing the honey-sweet tone the nurse was using, which, even though accompanied with a smile, somehow sounded very scary.
xxx
Ainosuke sat in silence on the hospital bed, the same one he had occupied the night before. He had changed his clothes to another pair of pure white hospital clothes. His eyes watched the nurse, who had reapplied the IV and was now bandaging his wrist, with great interest.
“Why do you need to bandage it?”
He questioned the nurse and tilted his head a bit. The nurse finished her job before looking at him with a soft smile on her face.
“So that you can’t rip it off next time. Can’t have our cute mischievous patient run off again, can we?”
He pouted childishly. The nurse only chuckled upon seeing his reaction.
“I’ll get you something to eat. You’ve missed lunch, so there’s no way I’ll let you miss dinner too. Early meal never hurts. Don’t get off the bed.”
She gave his arm a gentle squeeze and his head a pat before strolling out the ward, leaving her patient to rest.
He leaned back into his pillow. It was weird. He felt fine now, aside from slight headache and pain in his left side. That was why he thought he would be able to make it to the airport by himself. But the fact, he couldn’t. If not because of Ohuchi-san, he would have fainted on the road.
A sigh escaped his lips as he hauled himself up and off the bed. But, as soon as he put his weight onto his feet, the world spun around him. He fell onto his bed with head in his hand.
It seemed like he was not that well after all.
Groaning in frustration, he reached out for the IV stand. Once again, he leaned onto it as he walked towards the window. He slid open the glass cover and rested his arms at the window pane.
The sight of Tokyo waking up had been beautiful, but now, seeing the scenery in front of him, it couldn’t compare. His window was facing the West and the view in front of him was fantastic.
It was a beautiful scarlet at the horizon. The sun was setting and, bit by bit, its face disappeared behind the earth. The sky was a mixture of pink and purple before turned to cloudless dark blue. The stars were shining, twinkling. Pale moon, which shone its soft light onto him, replaced the sun in the sky. Down below, the city lights glimmered just as magnificently. Soft breeze entered the room, passing him.
He smiled and closed his eyes in content. His body was leaning forwards, letting night breeze to hit his face gently, ruffling his hair. Colours started to drain off his cheeks because of the cold wind.
Somewhere, under this same cloudless sky, his brother was living his life. His heart ached when he added ‘away from me’ to the sentence. He opened his eyes to stare at the stars again.
“I missed you,” he whispered almost brokenly. “The real you.”
A loud yell interrupted the silence in that room, making him jumped. He was about to turned around when two pair of strong arms wrapped themselves around his shoulders and midriffs, causing him to wince. He was then pulled backwards, away from the window. He cried out in pain when the arms tightened their grip around him and made contact with his wounded stomach.
The next thing he knew, he already sat back down on his bed. He clutched his stomach and shut his eyes. Faintly, he could hear someone panting.
“What were you thinking you’re doing?!”
He flinched at the loud booming voice. Never in his life had he thought that Ohuchi could use that kind of tone. Hands still on his abdomen, he looked up to meet three half anxious half angered faces. Sayama was still holding the IV stand. Her lips were pressed together tightly, forming a thin line.
He stared confusedly at the three adults. What had he done wrong this time?
“I was just sightseeing.”
The angry expressions were replaced by confusion.
“Excuse me?”
“Sightseeing,” he repeated firmly. “You know, watching the scenery? Ouch!” He gasped and doubled over as he felt the pain intensified.
In a blink of an eye, Sayama was already at his side, fussing over him. The two policemen looked at each other guiltily.
“Well,” Kato started, scratching his head, “Sorry then. It was just, your position looked as if you wanted to jump.”
Ohuchi nodded, agreeing. Ainosuke stared at them in shock, his eyes widening and his mouth was agape. Light pink was creeping to his cheeks as he realized that he had made them worry again. He smiled pleasantly.
“I won’t, because I’ve decided.”
He diverted his gaze back at the night sky. His eyes stared almost longingly at the stars that glittered, his jaw stiffened. Determination was once again shone in his eyes, making the others looked at each other in wonder. The boy then spoke in a firm voice.
“I’ll look for my brother. I will definitely find him and bring him back no matter what it costs me.”
Silence was once again brought upon that room. The atmosphere seemed to have tensed because of those words. Sayama was the first one to move, she wrapped her arms around the boy briefly then ruffled his already messy hair. Ainosuke pouted and attempted to fix his hair. The school nurse grinned.
“That’s the Ainosuke I know!”
“Ah, Ohuchi-san. I forgot to ask, why are you here?”
Sayama crossed her arms in front of her chest and sulked, “And here comes that ignorant attitude of yours. Fine, just ignore me like you always did.”
Ainosuke threw her a grin before turning back to an amused Ohuchi.
“Just having a day off, don’t worry about it. I’m going back tonight, by the way.”
The junior high student nodded as the door slid open, revealing the previous nurse with a tray of foods. She raised her eyebrow when she saw that her patient was sitting sideways. Her eyes narrowed dangerously.
“What did I say about getting off the bed?”
Ainosuke offered her a sheepish smile and started fiddling with his fingers. He totally forgot about that warning. But he never thought that this nurse was really strict either. To his astonishment, she then smiled. But her next words were not directed to him.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, but he needs rest after what happened today. Could you please leave? You may visit him again tomorrow.”
Sayama hastily stood up. After a quick goodbye and some more hugs, the three left the room. She and Kato promised him to come by again tomorrow while Ohuchi said he’d call sometimes. Then, he was alone again. Almost, anyway.
He smiled weakly to the nurse, who was now eyeing him suspiciously.
“Don’t force me to restrain you to the bed.”
“Yes! I mean- no! I mean- I swear I’ll do as you say!”
He frantically shook his head and held his hand up, emphasizing his promise. The nurse nodded, satisfied, and started to prepare his meal.
xxx
Yumeto stepped out of the building and let out a big sigh. He looked around him and spotted a vending machine. Feeling thirsty - and hungry actually - he walked over to it. He halted in his step when his reflection on the glass caught his eyes.
He chuckled softly and stared directly at his reflection’s eyes.
“You are really one hopeless man.”
He stood there for one good minute, before chuckling again and shook his head at his own stupidity. He bought a canned lemon tea and headed for a bench there. Slumping down onto it, he opened the drink and leaned back.
It was a cloudless night, making the stars could be clearly seen. This made him smile. Guess there’s always a silver lining on every cloud. Though, his situation didn’t exactly match that line.
His stomach chose that moment to growl.
Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t had any meal since breakfast. No wonder his stomach was protesting to him. He finished his lemon tea in a few big gulps and threw away the can into the nearby trash bin.
He pushed himself up and started walking again, searching for a restaurant or any place to eat.
It was just one tiny little stop before his real destination.