Advent '09 [18/25]
Advent 09
December 18th - 7 days to go
Despite leaving the others early last night, Kyoko didn't manage to catch a wink of sleep last night.
The morning dawned late, the suns weak rays barely managing to puncture through the cloud cover that hung low in the sky. Kyoko ignored the sight from her window, instead pulling the covers more securely around her shoulders and settling back into position - her arms wrapped around her knees.
Sho...
Sho had been on her mind all night. Ever since she, Kanae and President Takarada had visited the hospital late yesterday afternoon and found that Sho was no longer there...
The look in the President's eyes when he told her the news immediately made her think the worst. After all, what else could it be?
She picked absentmindedly at the bandages covering her hands, wearing down the edges until they frayed beneath her fingers.
Sho was gone. That was all she could think about.
There was guilt as well. An overwhelming amount - considering her past with him. The main thought that turned over and over in her mind was the thought that she would never see him again. The only time that she would see him would be in her memories.
She felt a tear slide down her cheek but couldn't gather the energy to wipe it away.
'What if's?' soon followed.
What if she had forgiven him sooner? Could they have spent more time together before he disappeared from her life? What if Ren had never taken them on that run? Would Sho still be gone? What if she had something to do with it? Could she have changed something so that everything would be better?
And the final and most important one of all...
What if Sho had been too far gone to hear her forgive him?
What if Sho had died still thinking that she hated him for a stupid childish mistake?
She wanted to tell him everything - that it would all be ok. But she never could, and she never would be able to now.
Another few tears fell from her eyes when she realised this.
It was too late now, and all she had left were regrets and a second chance that would never come to pass.
"Kyoko!" A loud bang on the door following the muffled shout startled Kyoko out of her depressing thoughts. She carefully made her way over to the door and opened it.
"Moko?" She asked, confused at the wild look in Kanae's eyes.
"Kyoko! Oh my God - you have to see this!"
Kanae reached out and pulled Kyoko from the room and tried to drag her down the hall until Kyoko stumbled and brought them both to a standstill.
"Moko." Kyoko wheezed through gritted teeth, "I still can't walk properly. And I haven't got my key. And I'm still in my pyjamas!"
Kanae had the decency to look sheepish. "Whoops! But hurry up - it's madness down there."
Kyoko, curious as to just what had caught her friend's attention, got ready as fast as she could and re-joined Kanae in the hallway once again.
"Finally!" Kanae said and started to walk over to the lift's at the end of the hallway. "I thought you were going to take forever! I hope they haven't gone already..."
"Who haven't gone?" Kyoko asked, stepping into the lift behind her friend. But Kanae wouldn't answer and Kyoko had to be content that it was only a short amount of time that she had to wait for the lift to finish its journey.
There was a small ding as the doors opened and Kyoko took a step out.
"Ok, Moko. What did you want to sh-" Kyoko trailed off when she looked out the front glass doors.
"That."
"Holy..." Kyoko said, unable to believe her eyes. Immediately outside the doors there were a row of policemen and women, creating a human shield. Beyond that was a crowd of reporters and television crew all jockeying for a better position and shot into the lobby.
When they caught sight of Kyoko they seemed to recognise her immediately and surged forward en masse. The police had a hard time of holding them back.
Kyoko took a step behind Kanae and stared at the crowd with wide eyes.
"What are...?" She asked.
"Media." Said Kanae with an awed look on her face. "There are a few television crews from Japan, and a few crews from local stations that are working as proxies to the Japanese channels that couldn't send their own crew out.
"Then there are the reporters...I don't know where they're from..."
"Why are they here?" Kanae asked, "And how do you know these things?"
"They're here for you."
"What?" Kyoko hissed.
"Kyoko," Kanae said slowly, "It's not every day that a celebrity gets trapped on a mountain in a snowstorm and almost dies." She paused, her face darkening, "Well..."
Kyoko became sombre as well.
"As for how I know..." Kanae started again, "I make it my job to know who's who in the Japanese media industry."
"But it isn't entertainment..."
Kanae shrugged. "Just because they're News doesn't mean that they won't ask questions or write articles about you. If you know who they are and a little bit about them then it's easier to charm them."
"You've...thought a lot about this, haven't you?"
"The business is my life." Kanae explained simply.
They stood in silence for a moment, just watching the crowd. All past thoughts completely eradicated by the sight in front of them.
"So what now?" Kyoko asked.
"Dunno, really. You want to go get breakfast?"
"Sounds good."
They were about to turn around and leave when the noise from outside changed and the crowd of media surged away from the doors to somewhere behind them. Kanae and Kyoko's attention was caught and they wondered just what new thing the reporters had spotted.
They didn't have to wait long. Two policemen pushed the reporters back to make way for a couple that were being helped through the crowd.
Kyoko felt her heart stop as she caught sight of platinum blond hair.
It couldn't be...
Kanae's shocked gasp beside her confirmed it though. Making his way through the hungry crowd of reporters was none other than a very tired looking Sho Fuwa.
"Oh my God..." Kanae breathed in shock.
Sho stumbled through the door, the only thing keeping him upright seemed to be the tight grip he held on his manager's arm. Kyoko watched as he ran a shaking hand through his hair and grimaced, saying something softly to his manager who replied and nodded.
The Sho looked up and caught Kyoko's eyes. He blinked in shock for a moment before his lips spread in a small smile.
He took a step towards her, reaching out...
"Zombie!" Kyoko screeched pointing at a visibly startled Sho, turning and legging it back towards her room.
Kanae stared after her with wide eyes, as did Sho, Shoko and the rest of the staff and visitors.
"Er..." Kanae said to break them atmosphere. "I'm just gonna..." she made a vague hand gesture in the direction Kyoko had run off in. "Yeah." Then she gave Sho one last weird and disbelieving look before following her friend in a fast walk.
"Sho-kun," Shoko murmured to her singer, "you know some odd people."
-/-
Kanae eventually caught up with Kyoko outside her rooms.
For someone that was still injured, she sure could run fast. Though the look of pain that Kyoko was now sporting had Kanae thinking that was more due to adrenaline than anything else.
The two girls stared at each other for a moment before Kanae couldn't keep it in any longer. "Zombies?" she asked.
Kyoko flinched and looked around wildly.
"You know," Kanae said dryly, "I think its safe."
"You can never be too certain."
"Let's go inside then." Kanae suggested, motioning to the door Kyoko was standing in front of.
Kyoko nodded and dragged her friend inside, all the while keeping an eye out.
Kanae waited until Kyoko had securely locked the door behind her before she crossed her arms, raised an eyebrow and repeated herself. "Zombies?"
"Yeah." Kyoko nodded.
"He didn't look like a zombie to me."
"That's what they want you to think. One moment it's just all - 'Oh, hey Grandma!', the next it's 'Ahhh! Grandma! Why are you eating my brain?"
Kanae stared at her friend. "Sometimes," she said after a moment, "what goes on in your head scares me."
"It's true!"
"I'm pretty sure that Sho isn't dead. I mean, he might look it right now but that's just because he's been in the hospital." She stressed the last point, trying to get it across to Kyoko.
Kyoko just looked sceptical. "It could be a ruse."
Kanae rolled her eyes and tried to go at this conversation logically...as illogical as that sounded. "Ok," she said, "if he was a zombie - why didn't he attack anyone outside for their brains? They were close enough..."
Kyoko thought that through. "Maybe he was luring them with a glamour?"
"Vampires have glamour's...Zombies just eat you."
"Er..." Kyoko couldn't think of an argument.
"Exactly." Kanae stressed. "So he's not a zombie. He only looks like one right now."
Kyoko looked like she didn't want to believe her but was willing to be talked away from an oncoming zombie apocalypse.
"But the President said that he was dead!"
Kanae thought about that. "Well," she said slowly, "President Takarada never actually said he was dead...just departed.
"I guess there's a good chance that he mis-translated the word."
Kyoko just stared at her friend. "So...all last night?"
Kanae winced in sympathy - it was never good to spend a night thinking that someone you had a close relation to was dead.
Kyoko saw the wince and sagged before Kanae's eyes. Her pale skin became even paler and she started to tilt. Kanae rushed forwards and grabbed her before she could keel over in a dead faint.
"Moko," Kyoko murmured quietly, "I'm really tired..."
"Did you get any sleep last night?" Kanae asked concernedly as she manhandled Kyoko over to the bed.
Kyoko shook her head and Kanae sighed. "Ok then, you should sleep then. We'll go down and get something to eat later."
"Could you stay?" Kyoko asked, snuggling down under the covers.
Kanae looked at her friend then back over to the door. She sighed lightly and climbed onto the bed next to Kyoko. "Sure thing. But you really should rest - I don't want you to get even sicker..." She looked over to find that Kyoko had already fallen asleep and rolled her eyes, crawling under the covers herself.
It was going to be a while before Kyoko woke up again if the dark circles under her eyes said anything.