MY NEW SERIES! [Playing With Fire]
HELLO once again LJ! I've come back from the depths to bring you my new series!
Summary Time!: Will Ai find her way back to her first love Gum? Or will she be swept away by the wild Pyro? (forgive me, i know this sounds cheesy)
WARNING: Cussing and Violence
Prologue
I looked down at my watch, "I'm done for today!" I hurried and finished with the costumer in front of me and quickly put up my 'closed' sign on my window. "Nana-chan, I'm leaving now." With a nod from my co-worker I grabbed my backpack and headed to the bathroom first before leaving work.
Out of habit, I pushed all the stall doors open that weren't being occupied. I startled one of my co-workers as she exited her stall. I nodded an apologetic smile and quickly headed to one of the sinks to wash my hands. As I felt the hot water sting my hands I felt a sudden chill go down my spine. I looked to my side as my co-worker exited the bathroom. I was alone, yet I felt like I wasn't.
My gut wasn't wrong, as I soon heard gun fire and screaming echo past the doors. I ran to the last bathroom stall and quickly locked the door shut. My eyes opened wide in a panic. But I had his training... His training...
I tied my long hair back, took off my backpack to put on the ground, took off my heels and hiked up my long skirt as I got up to stand on the toilet. I knew I'd have company. A loud man came through the door, "Anyone in here~!?" I slowed my breathing, trying not to hold it in. But as the loud asshole got quite I became frozen like stone. He started laughing, "You forgot to turn the water off ya know!"
'Shit,' I mentally kicked myself. What an amature move.
"Why don't you come out, I promise I wont hurt you." I could tell he was getting excited with this hide and seek game we were now playing. "Are you in here?" I could hear the stall door farthest from me get kicked open. Great, I get the sadistic bastard.
But my experience told me to be patient and wait for the one opportunity I needed to have the upper hand. Waiting for him to get to my stall would only get me trapped, that's the last thing I want. The second he kicked opened the stall next to me, I opened my stall holding my heels in each hand as weapons.
I was correct as I got the surprise factor on my side. The burly man in front of me was just barely turning as I stabbed him twice in the side with my heels. "You bitch!" He threw a punch past my left side, easy enough to dodge and gave me opportunity to knee him in the balls. He threw up a little as he fell to the ground.
A loud thump couldn't be avoided as he hit the ground hard. He couldn't be alone, who'd be controlling the other workers? I quickly headed to the door, but was too late as another man came through. He was definitely more fit than my first opponent. And he looked more deadly.
He looked down at the jerk on the floor, and quickly started throwing punches. But I was used to being attacked. I tossed my heels aside and did my best to bob and weave. He smirked, "Well aren't you a quick little one. I see you've had some training."
"Fuck you." I quickly turn my body sideways as I tried landing a kick, but he caught my leg and stretched his arm out to punch me in the stomach. Suddenly the air was knocked out of me, and soon he landed a hard hook to the right side of my face. I fell to my knees, the floor was spinning.
But I was soon being dragged out of the bathroom and into the bloodbath that was the lobby of my bank. There were at least five other guys standing in various positions around a few survivers, or more like hostages. The man who held me tightly by the arm threw me with the others, "What did I tell you fuckers?! Damnit!" He kicked my boss who was next to me out of anger but then quickly calmed down. "Alright, we still have enough, let's just get out of here."
We were all being pulled out of the building, but what I didn't expect to see was a big armored truck at the entrance. Several shots went off behind me as I was being shoved into the truck. I couldn't make out who out of my co-workers were left as my eye was now swollen shut and my energy disappearing.
I don't know how long it was until we stopped and again, I was being dragged out. I landed on my knees, scraping them hard on the concrete. I didn't have time to welp as I was being pushed on my back, a gun pointed at my head.
He looked down at me and smiled, "Too bad, you were really fun."
I closed my eyes as his face flashed through my mind. I mumbled his name, "Gum..."
But the next thing I heard was unexpected. Loud motorcycle noises swirled around me. Next thing I know, I feel a stinging pain in my arm, and guns going off accompanied by dying scream. I opened my good eye and quickly looked around as the man who stood above me, and the other robbers, were all dead on the ground.
"We got a survivor over here!"
My heart raced as the voice was so familiar. I turned my head every direction to look for the face behind the voice, his face. A guy ran up to me and kneeled in front of me. I could feel my consiousness slipping, my body was officially about to collapse.
But just before I passed out I managed to reach out my hand to his face, "Gum... you're here..." Everything went black.
My hand fell, and he only stared down at me, "I'm not Gum though." His brow creased in frustration, but soon he laughed it off, "Things just got interesting."
Chapter One
I heard two female voices talking outside of my mother's hospital room, "Poor girl, she grew up in such a terrible place. I heard the Father even raped her Mother, isn't that just horrible?"
"Oh my God, really? How sad..."
I looked up, my eyes stinging from all my tears, as I grabbed my Mother's stiff lifeless hand. They already covered her in a white sheet, and gave me some time to grieve as I had just lost my Mother.
But I was soon disturbed by a older man coming in to stand next to me, "I'm sorry for your loss." I didn't respond, or so even look at him. He cleared his throat, "I'm Tanaba, the detective working this case. I know it'll be difficult for you, but if you could please come with me so I can get your statement..."
I stood up, still refusing to look at him, "That man... he punched and kicked my mother so much that he killed her."
"I understand-"
"SHUT THE HELL UP! What do you understand?! You're a pig! All men are!"
"You're right. Men are disgusting creatures. That's why I'm here to help you put your Father away for what he did," he said in a calm tone that held experience with irrational people.
"THAT MAN WAS NEVER MY FATHER!"
The detective was finally able to see my face as I turned around, red-faced and anger filled eyes. I turned back around to my covered Mother. I gave her one last kiss on the forehead and walked out of the room with the detective following behind me.
---
"Welcome to the Sunshine Orphanage! You can call me Erika," the young woman said to me. She could tell I wasn't going to respond back, so held the conversation with herself, "So you're 15 right? You'll be starting highschool. I bet that's exciting!" She smiled as she started leading me through the grounds of the facility, "Over here we have our jungle gym for our younger kiddo's and there's a small field behind it that the kids like to use too."
I looked up to see the field, but stopped as I saw someone kicking and punching in the distance. I stopped following Erika as I stared at the boy. He looked so strong.
"That's Gum."
"What? Gum? Strange name..."
"I heard he left behind his name and just started going by Gum." She smiled, "Well anyways, isn't he amazing?"
I turned to see her smiling at me, "Not really..." I started walking again as she giggled after me. But I couldn't deny the fact that he did look amazing...
---
I sat down at the tree dividing the jungle gym and the field and pulled out the book I was supposed to finish reading for school. I always liked reading, my Mother read to me when I was younger...
And then I heard the sounds of grunting again. It was Gum practicing his martial arts several yards away from me in the field. In the few months that I've been here, I've come to idolize him. He was so passionate about fighting, but I didn't trust him enough to talk to him. In fact I didn't talk to anybody, but Erika said to take my time.
I looked back at my book, but couldn't concentrate at all. I looked up again to see him concentrating. I bit my lip and closed my eyes as I gained the courage to stand up and walk up to him. He didn't notice me at all.
"Will you please teach me how to fight!"
He stopped his punch and turned around to look down at me. He blushed a little, "You want me to teach you how to fight?" He scratched the back of his head, "That's the first thing you say to me?" He laughed.
"I don't think this is a laughing matter!" I glared back at him.
"You're cute." He smiled, causing me to step back from shock of what he just said. "Sure I'll teach you, but why?"
I clenched my fist, "My Mother died because I was weak. I couldn't protect her from that bastard, I couldn't protect myslef from him..." This isn't good, I felt the tears starting to well up. "I... I want to become strong! Like you! Please teach me how to be strong!" I bowed my head letting the tears fall to the ground.
He took a couple steps towards me, and I flinched in place as I wasn't used to having people so close to me. He reached out to help me stand up again. His smile was so bright, "You're already strong, I can tell. C'mon, I'll treat you to some milk."
---
"Gum wait!" I ran as fast as I could from school, I barely caught him. "You weren't even going to say goodbye?!"
He frowned, "You really are a fast runner... Look, Mac is waiting for me and I told him-"
"I love you!" I was still breathing heavily from the run, but now it was just from panic. I've never confessed to anyone before, let alone fall in love. What the hell am I doing?
"I thought you hated all men?"
"I don't hate you..." He laughed and laughed. I was getting mad, "I just confessed to you, and all you can do is laugh?!" I could feel my heart throbing in pain.
I was about to turn around and run away from him, but he closed the distance from us and wrapped his arms around me. He pushed me into his body and held me tightly. It almost felt like he was desperate to have me as close to him as he could, like he was finally relieved of something.
He tilted his head down so that his lips were at my ear, "Do you know how long I've waited to hear that from you? These past 3 years... since I saw Erika walk you around Sunshine, I've been in love with you."
"B-but, why?" I was starting to tear up.
"You stood out, you were so beautiful and in so much pain. I knew I wanted to protect you. But when I learned that you had a paticular hatred of men, I decided to hold back my feelings because I was afraid of chasing you away. I'm sorry I never said anything."
"You're so stupid, you know that right?" I raised my arms and held on tightly to his shirt.
He moved his head so that his forehead was on mine, his eyes looking into mine, "I know."
He raised his hands from my back, one to rest on my shoulder, the other holding my cheek as he pushed his lips to mine. His lips were so soft on mine, and I could feel his love for me. This was my first kiss, it felt like time had stopped. And in this moment, it felt like I could finally forgive all the men of this world. Well, almost.
---
Mac, Jacky, ACe, Arsenal and Gum walked through the door; back from their mission. Toppo greeted them as Ace immidiatelly headed towards Johnny behind the bar, another drink. Jacky followed behind him to look for something to munch on. And lastly, Arsenal headed to his usual table to put his guns down and start overly obbsesively cleaning them. I stood up from the couch as Mac looked at me, his usual smirk gone from his face. But what really put me off was Gum. He didn't so even look at me or even come to me!
I huffed loudly and walked up to Mac, "You still haven't answered my question from two nights ago... Why haven't you been putting me in any missions? Am I not a good asset to you? I can fight! You're being unfair Mac!"
But before Mac could say anything, Gum was yelling at me, "Ai! Be quiet! You don't even know what you're saying!"
I was shocked, really shocked. In the 6 years that I've known him, Gum has never once raised his voice to me before. Not when he was training me, not even the small fights we got in to being together these past 3 years. My voice became timid instead of the usual harsh tone, "W-what's wrong Gum?"
Everyone became quiet. I looked around lost. Mac looked at them all and signaled with his head for everyone to clear out. After just a few minutes it was just me and Gum. He stood just feet away from me, his back turned towards me, his shoulders tensed up and his hands in fists. I was scared, what was happening?
"Gum?"
"I was the one who told Mac to keep you out of missions."
My eyes opened wide, "You?! But.. Why?" My heart was starting to break.
He straightened out his back and tilted his head back, "Don't you get it?! You're holding everyone back! Do you know how many times they've had to put up looking after you? How long I've had to cover for you?"
This isn't happening.
"N-no! That's not true! I can hold my own! I-"
He was fast. Before I knew it, he was turned around throwing punches at me, that I was barely escaping. I panicked, never having fought him with such seriousness in his eyes. I stumbled back and fell flat on my butt. I was breathing hard as I looked up at him. I've never seen Gum look so, so afraid, angry, and sad before.
"It's too hard being with you Ai. I think we should break up."
This isn't happening.
For the first time since I was 15, I felt like the weak little Ai who got beat by her own father. "But I... I can change! I won't try and go on mission's any more! I promise! I'll stay here! PLEASE! DON'T DO THIS!"
He closed his eyes and breathed out heavily, "I'm sorry. But I think you should leave." He didn't look at me as he started walking away.
This isn't happening!
I desperately got to my knees and stood up to run to him. I grabbed hold of his arm, refusing to let go, "NO! YOU CAN'T DO THIS! GUM! I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU!!" He pushed me hard on the shoulder causing me to fall once again to the ground. My hot cheeks stinged as my tears flowed down them, "I LOVE YOU GUM! DON'T LEAVE ME!" I covered my face with my hands, "Please... You're all I have... Please..."
But as I looked up, I was all alone in the dark, with nothing but my fears and my shattered heart.
---
With a loud gasp, I woke up, my surroundings unknown to me.
"Doctor! She's regained consiousness! Ichinose-san? You're in the hospital right now, if you can understand me blink twice."
I did as I was told, but it really hurt to blink with my right eye. In fact, it felt like my whole body was hurting; aching and on fire. What was going on? I felt dizzy and confused, my memories slowly catching up. I remember being in the bathroom, being attacked, the bank robbery! I was there. I was taken hostage. And...
"Where is Gum? Is he here?" I turned my head left and right to look for him, but there was only the doctor and the nurse.
The Doctor looked confused, "Gum? I'm sorry, but no one has come for you since you've been here."
I was suddenly feeling sick to my stomach, "How long have I been here?"
"Don't worry, only a couple of days. You were shot in the arm, and suffered severe damage to your rib cage and your right temple. There also several cuts and bruises on your body, but those are mostly healed. Considering what you went through, you're lucky to be here talking to me."
My mind was suddenly on my co-workers, my boss, "What happened to the others?" With the Doctor keeping quiet I knew they were all dead. That nauseating feeling came full on as I spit up over myslef.
The nurse wiped it up and helped me sit up so I wouldn't choke on my puke. In fact, for several hours I was with the nurse, getting back my reality of what happened and helping me understand the limited movement of my body. She was nice enough, but all I could think about was Gum.
I needed to see him. I had questions, and he had the answers.
Next Chapter
-------------
Feel free to leave me comments of what you liked, what you didn't like, what you'd like to see in the future, go wild. Thanks for reading! I'll try and release regularly, but no promises lol
Summary Time!: Will Ai find her way back to her first love Gum? Or will she be swept away by the wild Pyro? (forgive me, i know this sounds cheesy)
WARNING: Cussing and Violence
Prologue
I looked down at my watch, "I'm done for today!" I hurried and finished with the costumer in front of me and quickly put up my 'closed' sign on my window. "Nana-chan, I'm leaving now." With a nod from my co-worker I grabbed my backpack and headed to the bathroom first before leaving work.
Out of habit, I pushed all the stall doors open that weren't being occupied. I startled one of my co-workers as she exited her stall. I nodded an apologetic smile and quickly headed to one of the sinks to wash my hands. As I felt the hot water sting my hands I felt a sudden chill go down my spine. I looked to my side as my co-worker exited the bathroom. I was alone, yet I felt like I wasn't.
My gut wasn't wrong, as I soon heard gun fire and screaming echo past the doors. I ran to the last bathroom stall and quickly locked the door shut. My eyes opened wide in a panic. But I had his training... His training...
I tied my long hair back, took off my backpack to put on the ground, took off my heels and hiked up my long skirt as I got up to stand on the toilet. I knew I'd have company. A loud man came through the door, "Anyone in here~!?" I slowed my breathing, trying not to hold it in. But as the loud asshole got quite I became frozen like stone. He started laughing, "You forgot to turn the water off ya know!"
'Shit,' I mentally kicked myself. What an amature move.
"Why don't you come out, I promise I wont hurt you." I could tell he was getting excited with this hide and seek game we were now playing. "Are you in here?" I could hear the stall door farthest from me get kicked open. Great, I get the sadistic bastard.
But my experience told me to be patient and wait for the one opportunity I needed to have the upper hand. Waiting for him to get to my stall would only get me trapped, that's the last thing I want. The second he kicked opened the stall next to me, I opened my stall holding my heels in each hand as weapons.
I was correct as I got the surprise factor on my side. The burly man in front of me was just barely turning as I stabbed him twice in the side with my heels. "You bitch!" He threw a punch past my left side, easy enough to dodge and gave me opportunity to knee him in the balls. He threw up a little as he fell to the ground.
A loud thump couldn't be avoided as he hit the ground hard. He couldn't be alone, who'd be controlling the other workers? I quickly headed to the door, but was too late as another man came through. He was definitely more fit than my first opponent. And he looked more deadly.
He looked down at the jerk on the floor, and quickly started throwing punches. But I was used to being attacked. I tossed my heels aside and did my best to bob and weave. He smirked, "Well aren't you a quick little one. I see you've had some training."
"Fuck you." I quickly turn my body sideways as I tried landing a kick, but he caught my leg and stretched his arm out to punch me in the stomach. Suddenly the air was knocked out of me, and soon he landed a hard hook to the right side of my face. I fell to my knees, the floor was spinning.
But I was soon being dragged out of the bathroom and into the bloodbath that was the lobby of my bank. There were at least five other guys standing in various positions around a few survivers, or more like hostages. The man who held me tightly by the arm threw me with the others, "What did I tell you fuckers?! Damnit!" He kicked my boss who was next to me out of anger but then quickly calmed down. "Alright, we still have enough, let's just get out of here."
We were all being pulled out of the building, but what I didn't expect to see was a big armored truck at the entrance. Several shots went off behind me as I was being shoved into the truck. I couldn't make out who out of my co-workers were left as my eye was now swollen shut and my energy disappearing.
I don't know how long it was until we stopped and again, I was being dragged out. I landed on my knees, scraping them hard on the concrete. I didn't have time to welp as I was being pushed on my back, a gun pointed at my head.
He looked down at me and smiled, "Too bad, you were really fun."
I closed my eyes as his face flashed through my mind. I mumbled his name, "Gum..."
But the next thing I heard was unexpected. Loud motorcycle noises swirled around me. Next thing I know, I feel a stinging pain in my arm, and guns going off accompanied by dying scream. I opened my good eye and quickly looked around as the man who stood above me, and the other robbers, were all dead on the ground.
"We got a survivor over here!"
My heart raced as the voice was so familiar. I turned my head every direction to look for the face behind the voice, his face. A guy ran up to me and kneeled in front of me. I could feel my consiousness slipping, my body was officially about to collapse.
But just before I passed out I managed to reach out my hand to his face, "Gum... you're here..." Everything went black.
My hand fell, and he only stared down at me, "I'm not Gum though." His brow creased in frustration, but soon he laughed it off, "Things just got interesting."
Chapter One
I heard two female voices talking outside of my mother's hospital room, "Poor girl, she grew up in such a terrible place. I heard the Father even raped her Mother, isn't that just horrible?"
"Oh my God, really? How sad..."
I looked up, my eyes stinging from all my tears, as I grabbed my Mother's stiff lifeless hand. They already covered her in a white sheet, and gave me some time to grieve as I had just lost my Mother.
But I was soon disturbed by a older man coming in to stand next to me, "I'm sorry for your loss." I didn't respond, or so even look at him. He cleared his throat, "I'm Tanaba, the detective working this case. I know it'll be difficult for you, but if you could please come with me so I can get your statement..."
I stood up, still refusing to look at him, "That man... he punched and kicked my mother so much that he killed her."
"I understand-"
"SHUT THE HELL UP! What do you understand?! You're a pig! All men are!"
"You're right. Men are disgusting creatures. That's why I'm here to help you put your Father away for what he did," he said in a calm tone that held experience with irrational people.
"THAT MAN WAS NEVER MY FATHER!"
The detective was finally able to see my face as I turned around, red-faced and anger filled eyes. I turned back around to my covered Mother. I gave her one last kiss on the forehead and walked out of the room with the detective following behind me.
---
"Welcome to the Sunshine Orphanage! You can call me Erika," the young woman said to me. She could tell I wasn't going to respond back, so held the conversation with herself, "So you're 15 right? You'll be starting highschool. I bet that's exciting!" She smiled as she started leading me through the grounds of the facility, "Over here we have our jungle gym for our younger kiddo's and there's a small field behind it that the kids like to use too."
I looked up to see the field, but stopped as I saw someone kicking and punching in the distance. I stopped following Erika as I stared at the boy. He looked so strong.
"That's Gum."
"What? Gum? Strange name..."
"I heard he left behind his name and just started going by Gum." She smiled, "Well anyways, isn't he amazing?"
I turned to see her smiling at me, "Not really..." I started walking again as she giggled after me. But I couldn't deny the fact that he did look amazing...
---
I sat down at the tree dividing the jungle gym and the field and pulled out the book I was supposed to finish reading for school. I always liked reading, my Mother read to me when I was younger...
And then I heard the sounds of grunting again. It was Gum practicing his martial arts several yards away from me in the field. In the few months that I've been here, I've come to idolize him. He was so passionate about fighting, but I didn't trust him enough to talk to him. In fact I didn't talk to anybody, but Erika said to take my time.
I looked back at my book, but couldn't concentrate at all. I looked up again to see him concentrating. I bit my lip and closed my eyes as I gained the courage to stand up and walk up to him. He didn't notice me at all.
"Will you please teach me how to fight!"
He stopped his punch and turned around to look down at me. He blushed a little, "You want me to teach you how to fight?" He scratched the back of his head, "That's the first thing you say to me?" He laughed.
"I don't think this is a laughing matter!" I glared back at him.
"You're cute." He smiled, causing me to step back from shock of what he just said. "Sure I'll teach you, but why?"
I clenched my fist, "My Mother died because I was weak. I couldn't protect her from that bastard, I couldn't protect myslef from him..." This isn't good, I felt the tears starting to well up. "I... I want to become strong! Like you! Please teach me how to be strong!" I bowed my head letting the tears fall to the ground.
He took a couple steps towards me, and I flinched in place as I wasn't used to having people so close to me. He reached out to help me stand up again. His smile was so bright, "You're already strong, I can tell. C'mon, I'll treat you to some milk."
---
"Gum wait!" I ran as fast as I could from school, I barely caught him. "You weren't even going to say goodbye?!"
He frowned, "You really are a fast runner... Look, Mac is waiting for me and I told him-"
"I love you!" I was still breathing heavily from the run, but now it was just from panic. I've never confessed to anyone before, let alone fall in love. What the hell am I doing?
"I thought you hated all men?"
"I don't hate you..." He laughed and laughed. I was getting mad, "I just confessed to you, and all you can do is laugh?!" I could feel my heart throbing in pain.
I was about to turn around and run away from him, but he closed the distance from us and wrapped his arms around me. He pushed me into his body and held me tightly. It almost felt like he was desperate to have me as close to him as he could, like he was finally relieved of something.
He tilted his head down so that his lips were at my ear, "Do you know how long I've waited to hear that from you? These past 3 years... since I saw Erika walk you around Sunshine, I've been in love with you."
"B-but, why?" I was starting to tear up.
"You stood out, you were so beautiful and in so much pain. I knew I wanted to protect you. But when I learned that you had a paticular hatred of men, I decided to hold back my feelings because I was afraid of chasing you away. I'm sorry I never said anything."
"You're so stupid, you know that right?" I raised my arms and held on tightly to his shirt.
He moved his head so that his forehead was on mine, his eyes looking into mine, "I know."
He raised his hands from my back, one to rest on my shoulder, the other holding my cheek as he pushed his lips to mine. His lips were so soft on mine, and I could feel his love for me. This was my first kiss, it felt like time had stopped. And in this moment, it felt like I could finally forgive all the men of this world. Well, almost.
---
Mac, Jacky, ACe, Arsenal and Gum walked through the door; back from their mission. Toppo greeted them as Ace immidiatelly headed towards Johnny behind the bar, another drink. Jacky followed behind him to look for something to munch on. And lastly, Arsenal headed to his usual table to put his guns down and start overly obbsesively cleaning them. I stood up from the couch as Mac looked at me, his usual smirk gone from his face. But what really put me off was Gum. He didn't so even look at me or even come to me!
I huffed loudly and walked up to Mac, "You still haven't answered my question from two nights ago... Why haven't you been putting me in any missions? Am I not a good asset to you? I can fight! You're being unfair Mac!"
But before Mac could say anything, Gum was yelling at me, "Ai! Be quiet! You don't even know what you're saying!"
I was shocked, really shocked. In the 6 years that I've known him, Gum has never once raised his voice to me before. Not when he was training me, not even the small fights we got in to being together these past 3 years. My voice became timid instead of the usual harsh tone, "W-what's wrong Gum?"
Everyone became quiet. I looked around lost. Mac looked at them all and signaled with his head for everyone to clear out. After just a few minutes it was just me and Gum. He stood just feet away from me, his back turned towards me, his shoulders tensed up and his hands in fists. I was scared, what was happening?
"Gum?"
"I was the one who told Mac to keep you out of missions."
My eyes opened wide, "You?! But.. Why?" My heart was starting to break.
He straightened out his back and tilted his head back, "Don't you get it?! You're holding everyone back! Do you know how many times they've had to put up looking after you? How long I've had to cover for you?"
This isn't happening.
"N-no! That's not true! I can hold my own! I-"
He was fast. Before I knew it, he was turned around throwing punches at me, that I was barely escaping. I panicked, never having fought him with such seriousness in his eyes. I stumbled back and fell flat on my butt. I was breathing hard as I looked up at him. I've never seen Gum look so, so afraid, angry, and sad before.
"It's too hard being with you Ai. I think we should break up."
This isn't happening.
For the first time since I was 15, I felt like the weak little Ai who got beat by her own father. "But I... I can change! I won't try and go on mission's any more! I promise! I'll stay here! PLEASE! DON'T DO THIS!"
He closed his eyes and breathed out heavily, "I'm sorry. But I think you should leave." He didn't look at me as he started walking away.
This isn't happening!
I desperately got to my knees and stood up to run to him. I grabbed hold of his arm, refusing to let go, "NO! YOU CAN'T DO THIS! GUM! I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU!!" He pushed me hard on the shoulder causing me to fall once again to the ground. My hot cheeks stinged as my tears flowed down them, "I LOVE YOU GUM! DON'T LEAVE ME!" I covered my face with my hands, "Please... You're all I have... Please..."
But as I looked up, I was all alone in the dark, with nothing but my fears and my shattered heart.
---
With a loud gasp, I woke up, my surroundings unknown to me.
"Doctor! She's regained consiousness! Ichinose-san? You're in the hospital right now, if you can understand me blink twice."
I did as I was told, but it really hurt to blink with my right eye. In fact, it felt like my whole body was hurting; aching and on fire. What was going on? I felt dizzy and confused, my memories slowly catching up. I remember being in the bathroom, being attacked, the bank robbery! I was there. I was taken hostage. And...
"Where is Gum? Is he here?" I turned my head left and right to look for him, but there was only the doctor and the nurse.
The Doctor looked confused, "Gum? I'm sorry, but no one has come for you since you've been here."
I was suddenly feeling sick to my stomach, "How long have I been here?"
"Don't worry, only a couple of days. You were shot in the arm, and suffered severe damage to your rib cage and your right temple. There also several cuts and bruises on your body, but those are mostly healed. Considering what you went through, you're lucky to be here talking to me."
My mind was suddenly on my co-workers, my boss, "What happened to the others?" With the Doctor keeping quiet I knew they were all dead. That nauseating feeling came full on as I spit up over myslef.
The nurse wiped it up and helped me sit up so I wouldn't choke on my puke. In fact, for several hours I was with the nurse, getting back my reality of what happened and helping me understand the limited movement of my body. She was nice enough, but all I could think about was Gum.
I needed to see him. I had questions, and he had the answers.
Next Chapter
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