Well holy crap. It's been waaaaaay too long since I updated. Apologies to all followers and avid readers and the like.

Okay recent events time: Since last update, went through Prototype training course (practical application of Navy Nuclear technology and theory, so basically six months of 16+ hour workdays to qualify to do my job), qualified, went on leave, and am now at Nuclear welder school. Holy crap, shit is happening in my life.

But that's besides the point. None of you actually care about all that; you just want more of the story. So here it is: Installment number five. And she's a doozy. Spent 3 weeks straight on this puppy, whenever I could scrounge up extra sleep time to wrack my brains out. Hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I still don't own Angel Beatz! Or any associated characters, plot lines, possible future works, or other associated media, but I do own my own plot vices, original characters, situations, made up locations, and other original work held herein.

Tick-tick-tick. The room was sparsely lit; the light from the bulb in the overhanging fixture spreading its soft glow along the length of the table placed central to the room's layout. As he began to grow more and more nervous at the upcoming prospect placed before him, he subconsciously began to notice all the little details about his current surroundings. Like the small amount of mold and mildew that perforated the edges of the walls where the corners came together, and how it melded into darker and darker shades of that sickly green color until it was almost black at the point where it reached the floor. And all the scratches on the floor that left it looking pockmarked, worn, and abused. Tick-tick-tick. He noticed how the seat he was currently in was sunken in just enough that it conformed to his shape; but whether that was due to the material within or lack thereof was still up to chance as far as he could tell. Either way, it wasn't as comfortable as he'd thought it might be, but it was better than sitting in those stripped metal chairs he'd been held upon as he'd been processed. Those weren't meant to be sat on, or at least not as long as he'd been on them. And the table that sat in front of him wasn't meant for much better, as long as appearances were to be accredited as much as he had been. It had deep gouges, small scratches, and many small notches and holes adorning the surface to the point that it should be called something else… Ain't no way that anyone could do anything productive on this table, much less attempt to write on it…

The smell in the room was subtle, but ever-present. It smelled much like old furniture, the musk and musty smell permeating his nostrils and refusing to leave them anytime soon. Tick-Tick-Tick. Granted, it wasn't at a potency that was bothering him, but it was slightly disconcerting at the very least. That damn clock was grinding on his nerves for reasons he wasn't sure he could figure out at the moment, but its incessant vocal cycling was putting him on edge, but not quite as much as the cuffs currently adorning his wrists. He snuck a quick glance at the abomination, internally cursing its existence as he looked at its face. 0914.

As his eyes swiveled back to focus on the far wall, he picked up the faint sounds of someone coming closer down the hall that was outside his room; and interestingly enough a cyclic sqeaking. Huh… wonder what that could be… he thought as he concentrated his thoughts on what was happening outside. He waited with bated breath as he perked his hearing up just enough so that he could try to catch a little of the conversation being held outside the room. Although the words were indiscriminate at the distance the voices were at, he tried to identify the conversation based off of the voices he could hear. Whilst doing so, he quickly recognized the voice of the chief that'd brought him into this very room, along with the voice of a… woman..? No, that's the voice of a girl, most likely in her mid to late teens if I had to gue-

He froze up. He knew the meaning of that type of voice. If the chief was here, and that voice was here… The cyclic sqeaking… of course. It's got to be her. The girl I hit. Wait, what's she doing here? Coming to gloat at my demise, bring me down worse than I've already attempted to do on my own? His shoulders sagged as he realized what was about to happen. She would come waltzing in here, demean him, scold him for his recklessness, and after she tore into him, she'd leave with her head held high, walking out as she finally rid herself of a piss poor portion of her life that had been caused by none other than him. And he couldn't find any real reason to be angry at anyone other than himself, which made him feel worse just at the thought of it. He knew it. This was the scene in all the crime dramas he'd ever watched throughout his life, where the victim reconciles with themselves by severing any and all ties with the aggressor. And now he was the aggressor.

As the voices outside his room grew louder, his head sank back down so he was looking between his knees, his gaze unfocused, his thoughts becoming cloudy as he steeled himself for what was about to come. Here it comes… he thought, finally accepting the fact that he was screwed beyond what he could fix on his own. His life started to come back to him as he realized it was over before it had truly begun… the memory of walking into the kitchen in the morning as a young lad, seeing his mom already pulling the corn muffins out of the oven as he finished his walk down the stairs; the time he'd first walked into middle school, not knowing what the hell he was doing or what to expect; his first love back in his later high school years; the day he'd gotten his driver's license, the day he'd finally saved up enough to get his first car, and all the weekends afterwards he'd spent working on it for the sheer hell of it. His mind continued this path of self-reflection to the point of where he didn't even notice when the chief and the girl entered the room, much less when she was carted to the opposite side of the room. Nor did he notice the curious look that now graced her features as she gazed upon him, along with the way that the chief ever so quietly left the room to take his place aside the two-way mirror. No, he was just lost in his thoughts….

Is he even aware that I'm in here with him, or is he just normally this quiet? Yui thought to herself as she watched the young man across the table from her, her curiosity getting the better of her as she chose to remain quiet for the time being and simply watch the man. The first thing she noticed was how young he really seemed to be. He couldn't be any more than two years her senior by the looks of things, nor was he in bad shape. His hair was well-kept, he had a decent build, and looked to be pretty well off. However, the look on his face showed something different. She had somehow assumed that he would be the arrogant, smart-ass type who was unrepentant and demeaning, but this guy seemed to be the complete and utter opposite. The expression on his face said it all; The downtrodden glance, the vacant, thousand yard stare, the drooped shoulders, the slightly slack jaw… Hell, this guy looked as if he'd just been forced to watch someone club his puppy to death, if nothing else. Taking note, she relaxed her position slightly, taking in her surroundings a bit before beginning. Granted, the police chief had been adamant about warning her of the lack of upkeep in the room she was currently in, however his words simply hadn't done this room justice. This room was, well, simply put it was unkempt at best.

Shrugging off that realization she lowered her gaze back to the man in front of her, who was still lost in his own thoughts, as he was still looking into his lap with that same defeated look in his eyes. Well, no time quite like the present to make some conversation and get this ball rolling…

"So… um, hi." She started off nervously, trying to make eye contact with the man in front of her. Hmmm… no such luck. Darnit, why won't he look at me! She contemplated silently, growing frustrated at the fact that the man in front of her had yet to recognize her presence, or rather anything outside his thoughts for that matter. Perhaps a more direct approach then..? Yui's eyes scrunched together as she tried to come up with a way to get his attention.

"HELLO GOOD SIR! I HAVE NOW LANDED AMONGST YOU! RESPOND OR ELSE SUFFER UNDER MY- oh, so you are alive after all… hehehehe…" she said after she finally got his attention. She ended up using the shock and awe technique. Suffice to say that it worked.

His head shot up about halfway through her lustrious introduction, wide-eyed and somewhat off-axis. He seemed nervous, so she tried to break the growing tension by attempting further conversation with the individual in front of her. "So um, hey. How ya doin?" She asked, flashing him what she hoped was a non-threatening smile.

But it seemed that her nice approach just served to put the man off further than before, so she continued her attempt at conversation to see if she could incite some sort of positive reaction out of him so that he'd at least respond. "Well, anyways, I'm Yui Motori, it's nice to meet you." She proclaimed as she gave a slight bow toward the man in front of her, her ears peaked up in an attempt to pick up some sort of response from him. As luck should have it, he did respond, although if she hadn't been so concentrated on trying to hear him she probably wouldn't have heard his rather quiet reply.

"…Naburi…"

"Naburi, uh, what was that? I didn't catch that last part." Yui spoke as she strained to hear what the young man had just said.

He mustered up as much courage as he could gather from within and spoke his name once again. "Naburi. Naburi Sakuda. …I'm Naburi Sakuda… nice to meet you as well…" He finished as his voice trailed off, losing the courage to speak just as soon as he had said his name. Just who is this girl in front of me? He wondered, finally taking note of the girl in front of him. She wasn't anything like what he'd been expecting. She was bubbly, perky, and he couldn't seem to find anything in her demeanor that was belittling towards him; rather it was as if she was just trying to have a civil conversation with him instead, as if he wasn't the one who'd almost killed her barely a few weeks prior. Maybe this won't be as bad as I'd originally thought…

Interesting name he's got there... actually it's a really pretty name, kinda feminine now that I think about it… Yui thought to herself as she tinkered with the idea of how to get the ball rolling. Deciding on a well-traveled route of conversation, she continued; "So Mr. Sakuda, I've come here today to talk to with you so that we can both comes to terms with what's happened and hopefully move on so there are no harsh feelings, okay?" She stated with a smile, hoping beyond hope that he'd at least engage in conversation with her. This one-sided conversation was making her just a little uneasy.

Is she for real? Naburi thought to himself, astounded at this girl, this Yui. Is she intent on holding no grudges against me whatsoever? Or am I just reading too much into this and only seeing what I want to see? Oh well, I guess I'll find out one way or another… "Uh, alright then. What did you have in mind?" He asked, testing the waters a little, trying to see how this was going to play out.

Yui on the other hand was ecstatic that he'd finally started talking back to her. At least now the words could start flowing and she could get somewhere with this situation. "Well, since I don't really remember or understand what happened on the day that you crashed into me, I just wanted to know what your take on what happened was. My memories are still a little bit clouded, and I'm not sure that my mother's recollection is entirely accurate." She finished with an intent look on Sakuda.

His facial expression changed slightly, his gaze dropped a little and wavered to his left. He sat for a few seconds collecting his thoughts, trying to figure out the best way to portray his point of view on the situation where he himself wasn't entirely sure what happened until it was too late. Deciding to give what he was capable, he began; "Are you sure you want to hear my side of the story? I mean, I could be the angry, asinine inconsiderate little shitbag that you're afraid I might be. But on that same note, who knows? I might just be the nicest guy you've ever met; but the real question is whether or not you want to take that risk and shatter whatever view of the world you might have right now." Better to break her now and stop whatever ugly situation this'll turn out to be before it has time to grow into itself. He steeled his gaze, narrowed his eyes, and looked directly into her eyes, challenging her to take him up on his challenge, secretly hoping beyond hope that she would just drop this conversation before it became something he could no longer deal with. However, the expression he saw portrayed in her features seemed bound and determined to get the truth out of him.

"Whether or not you're a meanie doesn't have anything to do with how I feel or the choices I make!" Yui shot out suddenly, seeming to surprise even herself with the suddenness of her outburst. After recovering herself for a few seconds, she continued; "But I would appreciate it if you at least took a little time to just tell me your side. Otherwise I'm always going to feel like I'm missing something vital to me," she finished, giving him a pleading look in return to finish off her sentence.

Dear god, what the hell do I do against that? Naburi thought to himself. He'd heard of the legendary puppy dog pout, but never had he seen it used, or with such intensity. He could feel her feminine wiles crushing his self-control and his will to remain silent. But then again, Naburi thought, why am I even resisting her request in the first place..? What do I have to lose by telling her besides another secret that I don't need to carry. He spoke. "I guess that I could tell you, but it's not some great heroic story of triumph or all that bullshit. To be honest, it's nothing more than an accurate portrayal of my ever-increasing capacity for hotheadedness, shortsightedness and stupidity."

Yui smiled at the end of his small speech. "So you're a moron. It's alright. I know a lot of guys that are morons," Yui pointed up her index finger as if she were going to start counting off of a list, "in fact there was this guy back at, um at-" Yui stopped midsentence as another flashback occurred, one in which she was standing in a group of people her age, in a room that looked much like an office, or more so like a teacher's office at a school. What was that just now..? She wondered, not knowing where it'd come from.

She just seemed to trail off all of a sudden, and didn't return from her trance for a fair bit of time. "This guy from where…?" Naburi asked, wondering why she suddenly cut off in the middle of her sentence. Just as he was about to call out to her to see if she was still cognizant, she seemed to snap out of whatever funk she was in, and redirected her focus back upon him, going on as if nothing had just happened. "So yeah, it's okay if you're a moron. It happens."

"Yeah." Naburi replied sheepishly, his gaze dropping from hers, not sure what to say.

"Perk up sport, it's not that bad. Besides, you don't have anything to feel guilty about. We're all still alive and kicking, so I'd count that as a good day, wouldn't you" Yui asked, trying to coerce the young man before her into speaking his piece.

Naburi took a long, deep breath before he began. So this is it, he thought to himself; I guess the big secret's finally about to come out. I just hope she's ready for it… "Well, I guess that day had started out kind of like any other, I suppose. I'd just finished working on my car, and was taking it out on a test ride to see if the changes I'd made to it had any effect." He remembered it perfectly. He'd just been testing the throttle response after a stoplight to see if the fuel mapping he'd set was working, and then he'd planned on going back and meeting up with his friends later that evening. "Anyways, I'd just finished my testing and was about to start heading home so that I could get ready for meeting my friends in Shinjuku that night. I pulled up to this set of lights and blipped the throttle for my own entertainment." Yui watched Naburi as he began to tell his tale, noting the far-off look his gaze had accrued. Paying keen attention, she listened to him as he continue; "So I let the engine coast back down as I waited for the light to turn, and then this guy pulls up next to me…"

Flashback

As the engine purred back down to idle a wide grin adorned his facial features. So the mapping really worked! I can't believe that I finally got it right! Oh just wait until Sasuke sees this! He thought, relaxing a bit into the seat behind him, a feeling of contentment flooding him. He glanced down at his gageboard under the dash, everything reading at their normal indications. He was good to go. All that was left was to get back home, shower, get changed, and meet up with Sasuke later that evening.

As he sat there waiting, a dark, blood red car pulled up next to him. As he shifted his gaze to get a better look, his curiosity piqued. What sat before him was definitely not a normal street car. This not only had the look, but also the stance, the sound, and gave off the aura of a street racer's car. What sat next to him was a serious piece of automotive machinery. As he continued to give the car the long once over it was due, the passenger side window opened. And who should be behind the wheel but Higurashi. The number one dickhead in his school, rich to boot, and more than happy to show off to everyone and anyone within a 3 mile radius. Seriously, this dude needed to get bent just once, and now that Naburi knew that he was driving this piece of machinery, within him grew this overwhelming urge to completely overcome him in any and every driving maneuver possible and for once show that little asshole his place. But of course, he had to open his fucking mouth.

"Hey there Sakuda. Nice car you got there. Though it's too bad that it just can't possibly keep up with this crazy lady I've got right here. I mean come on, you're just kidding yourself if you think you might even stand a chance against this baby I'm rollin' in. But hey, why don't we see how close you might come to seeing my rear bumper, ha! What a frickin' joke! Like that's going to happen…" And Higurashi continued to laugh even as he rolled up the tinted window.

Oh, now it was most certainly on. Higurashi just had to push Sakuda's buttons at all the wrong moments. But he didn't know if he could possibly win with what he was up against. Truly he was very confident in his machine's capabilities, what with all the work and precise engineering and planning he'd put into it. He'd dropped all the weight that wasn't absolutely necessary. Naburi had been working for years to afford the parts that he wanted for his car, and was notorious among his friends for not skimping on any performance parts. He always got the top-tier product, and never made any sacrifices when it came to modifications. He spent months on his engine alone, replacing the internals, reconstructing it from the ground up, raising the compression, lightening the valve train, installing all-forged parts made of exotic lightweight metals that were hard to come by, re-engineering everything that could possibly make his engine push just that little bit harder. He maximized cooling while making the system lighter than stock, got rid of everything he didn't need. Therein, there was a removable passenger seat that wasn't normally in the car. He had a carbon-fiber hood and trunk installed, along with full-fiberglass body panels installed, full plexiglass window replacement, aluminum doors, a carbon-fiber bucket racing seat, a seven-point chassis-reinforcement made of chromium-molybdenum hollow tubing, and so much more. His suspension alone on the car was worth almost an entire year's work. His dashboard looked more like something you would expect in formula one. In all, he'd dropped almost a thousand pounds off of the original weight of the car, and increased the power almost twofold to nearly 370HP, and coming in a car that barely weighted 2300 pounds, his car was very high up there. Add that to the obsessive track practices that he went to religiously on a weekly basis, and he stood as a highly formidable competitor. His 0-60 time came in roughly at about 3.3 seconds, and his 0-100 time only took 5.5 seconds. He personally thought that he'd definitely done right by his car. It was intrinsically balanced, used all high-quality parts, and best of all, he knew everything that went into his car, and was well versed in working on it at this point. He knew what his baby was telling him as she spoke, and he communicated back to her through the pedals, the gearshift, and the steering wheel.

Still, even with all this confidence-inspiring factual knowledge of his own machine, it did nothing to settle his mind. As he watched the lights for the cross-traffic start to transition, he blipped the throttle a little bit, coercing his mind to slip into race mode so that he could concentrate on the driving test that lay ahead of him. He shot a quick glance at his instrument panel. Everything was still within spec, so he feathered the throttle until his engine was singing above idle, ready to pounce off the line as soon as the light changed. As he watch the cross light turn red, he heard higurashi raise his throttle in anticipation of the light. Sakuda shot his eyes back in front of him, keeping the stoplight in his peripherals as he looked at the layout of traffic ahead of him.

The rules are simple. You both start off on the same line. Whoever is ahead in the first ¼ mile is the one who leads the race and must attempt to lose the other driver. After that point, the second driver must overtake the leading driver and then attempt to lose the now trailing driver. Until the car currently in the lead loses the trailing car, the race continues.

The light turned. Sakuda dumped the clutch as he had been practicing for almost three years now, feathering the throttle to let the rear tires regain the grip he ripped them from upon takeoff. He heard rather than saw Higurashi perform the same thing. Sakuda shifted to second. What with his race-quality aluminum transmission and personally-fabricated gearset, he was able to take full advantage of his engine's 366 dyno-tested ponies screaming down the asphalt. He listened to his girl raise her voice and sing to him in the special harmonic language she'd serenaded him with for so long. But right now he couldn't fully enjoy the cacophony of sounds that his engine made, or what they meant. Right now all he was worried about was what exactly she was saying to him, so that he could act accordingly. He shifted to third. He noticed that he was shifting much quicker than he'd normally done, and apparently it was paying off so far, as he couldn't see Higurashi in his peripherals. He waited until she sang her precursory note, then shifted to fourth. Just as a precursory check, he looked behind him in the rear-view, and saw something that he never thought he'd see.

Back behind him about 150 feet or so was Higurashi. Apparently he'd gotten a pretty bad start, and was now playing a game of catch-up, of which he wasn't doing very well in. As Sakura rounded the next hill, he shot down in fifth gear, weaving through traffic as if it was standing still, no tires screeching, just great driving. And as he snuck a slight peek behind him, he could see that Higurashi wasn't getting any closer… actually, if Sakuda could call it, he'd say that Higurashi was losing ground the further they went into traffic. Near the end of the hill was a corner which looked just like the hilled corner back at Suzuka. And, looking ahead, he saw a gap in traffic, and, with the way the light s were changing, if he charged at just the right moment, he'd be able to pull a maneuver that would catapult him much farther than higurashi could hope to make up. As Sakuda came upon the corner, he watched the lights. He couldn't believe it. He'd hit the sweet spot, just as he'd hoped he would. He downshifted, double-clutching the transmission in a mad frenzy of hammer strikes on his pedals in a memorized rhythm. He weaved his car slightly to the left, upsetting the balance slightly as he popped the clutch in and simultaneously tapped his parking brake just enough to loosen the rear wheels and swing them out to his side. Before they could once again gain traction, he double-clutched, and was rev-matching to let the clutch back out. As soon as the friction place started gripping, he let loose on the throttle, letting the car sing up to a high rpm and light up the rear wheels in a way that caused him to navigate the corner in so that he was going completely sideways, wide-open-throttle, all four tires sliding, allowing him to just miss the guardrail that adorned the inside of the driving lane he slid into. As he let the drift fall out, he upshifted and sped off, exhilarated that he was able to pull off that move in a real-life setting. As he sped off towards the next set of lights, he looked behind him. Higurashi was nowhere to be seen. He couldn't believe his luck. He'd actually obliterated Higurashi in such an indisputable way that he couldn't help but be just a little happy about his accomplishment. Just wait until we see each other back at class. He's gonna be so pissed! With that thought in mind, Sakuda eased off of the gas and coasted back down to traffic speedsto make a stop at the next light, which had just turned red, and let his car sit there and cool down from the high-speed run she'd just undertaken. When the light turned green, he moved on, catching a glimpse of his gage cluster as he crossed the intersection. Noting that his fuel level was a bit lower than he'd have liked, he decided that while he was in the area, he'd go get some fuel while he was still able. He then drove for about fifteen minutes to the GS gas station that he was familiar with, and knew that they sold high-quality fuel at a reasonable price. As he topped off, he glanced back over at his machine, taking in her beauty once again. Finally she was at the level that he'd imagined her at all those years ago when he'd originally bought her, and she looked better than he'd imagined she would. The fuel nozzle clicked, indicating that his tank was full. He then walked the short distance to the building where he paid the cashier and set off back to his car. Taking a quick glance around him as he opened his door, he noticed a white S13 parked in the maintenance bay back in the corner. Thinking nothing of it, he fired up his car, released the parking brake, and rolled out on his way towards home.

As he passed through the business district, he began to notice that there was a car following him at a discreet distance. Wondering what was going on, he waited until traffic cleared up enough for him to chance a look back. The car that had been following had chosen exactly the right moment to sneak up on him and position itself directly behind him. He then noticed what car it was. It was that damned blood red machine which meant - Higurashi. Yup, no mistaking that color scheme. Not sure what was going on, or how sore of a loser he might be, he waited patiently until there was a nice break in traffic, and flitted in to the next lane over, meandering into the far lane, putting as much distance as possible between him and the quite possibly angry Higurashi. Deciding to lose him there and then, he took a left onto a side street and took the street for a mile or two, poking back out into main traffic. Believing that he'd lost him he continued onwards. But even as he came ever closer to his sanctuary, he couldn't get rid of this nagging feeling that something was terribly wrong. That was when he noticed something that made his hair spike up just a little bit. As he looked in his rear-view, he saw Higurashi's car start to merge into traffic one street over from where he was, obviously searching for Sakuda… But what for? I defeated him soundly and fairly… what could he possibly want to do with me now? Sakuda thought. He decided that for the time being, he'd just stay where he was and move with traffic, to see what Higurashi would do. It didn't take long for Higurashi to make his intentions known very clearly. Suddenly, and without warning, Higurashi rushed Sakuda's car with his own, most likely in an attempt to damage his vehicle. Luckily for Sakuda, the light had just turned green, and as such, Sakuda had ripped out of the intersection, swinging his rear out as he made the impromptu left turn in a successful attempt to avoid the impending collision. Higurashi's car then overshot the turn, almost hitting the center median, but continued on its pursuit of Sakuda. At this point, Sakuda had thrown out all attempts at trying to drive normally, or even in the general direction of his home. At this point he was thankful that he'd spent that summer's earnings on a racing school, where he'd learned to handle a situation somewhat similar to this. However, that didn't make him feel any better about what may lay ahead of him. He looked further ahead, trying to gauge some sort of escape route so that he could stop this crazy chase and get home in one piece. He kept his car going forward, even chancing a yellow light at an intersection. But then he looked behind him. The light was red. Higurashi was still racing through the intersection. This new piece of information had Sakuda worried. If Higurashi was desperate enough to hit him that he'd chance run-ins with the traffic around him, then this situation Sakuda was in had just become much more severe than what he'd hoped for. Sakuda decided to take the next right and hope to hell that there was no great amount of traffic or a red light. Those would spell catastrophe for him and his car. Now, Sakuda was not a superficial man; he was well aware of the fact that human life was much more important than his car, which just so happened to be the reasoning for a fair few of the modifications on his car. For instance, the oversized six-piston caliper brakes he put on both front and rear were made to help him stop that much faster for a reason, which worked in tandem with the severe diet his car had gone on. His suspension was ultra responsive, as were his Hoosier race radials he put on. Those meant he could change direction quickly, and avoid others much better than they could avoid him. And right now he needed all the help his modifications were giving him at the moment, because it seemed that Higurashi was on a war path and hell-bent on offing him at the moment.

The left was coming up soon. It was now or never for Sakuda, and as he peered into the turn, he saw that the traffic on the street was low and mostly green lights. He took it, deciding to keep all four wheels gripping as he rounded the corner, having to sew the needle between two oncoming cars, roaring away from the intersection, trying to put as much distance between him and Higurashi. But, it seemed to be to no avail. Higurashi just kept at him, never letting up. And that's when the worst happened. Just a few seconds after Sakuda cleared the intersection, Higurashi entered it, spear-heading into the intersection, but not able to fully clear the oncoming car in his way. He ended up swiping the other car's rear bumper, causing it to spin out of control and careen to the side of the inner median, rubbing its way to a stop moments later. But it seemed that the contact hadn't even fazed Higurashi one bit. He just kept coming. Sakuda knew that now he had to get away from Higurashi or else there was going to be even more casualties from his recklessness, but Naburi couldn't think of any way to get away from him that didn't involve endangering more innocent bystanders. As he ate up the pavement beneath him, he hated himself for the fact that he let this get out of control. But what could he do? He didn't want to get hit, and he didn't want anyone else to get hurt either, but it seemed that it would end up that way. He decided that in order to make this the least threatening to the general populace, he'd need to get this fight out to the country roads, or at the very least a less-densely populated area. So having a decent knowledge of the city, he took the next left turn as soon as it was safe, and roared off towards the city's outskirts. As he looked at the street ahead of him he noticed the street sign for some reason and noticed what street he was on. The sign read KALUYA AVENUE. Kaluya Avenue... why do I remember that street? And why is that important? Ah, I don't have the time to think about that! Naburi thought to himself as he continued roaring down the street as quickly as he could given the traffic ahead of him, Higurashi hot on his tail.

Now just for reference, Kaluya avenue is a six-lane highway that runs for almost seventy miles, and through several cities, mostly on the outskirts of said cities. But in one city, it runs directly through its heart, and runs past what some might consider the most important part of the city.

Unfortunately, Naburi was witness to the fact that he wasn't going to make it to the open road without some civilian casualties. Looking back behind him, Higurashi was cutting off traffic and switching lanes with the grace of a limping hippo, overshooting every lane change he made, and even hitting traffic in other lanes, swiping at them, trading paint, and even shocking the drive tires loose from the pavement. In all, so far a grand total of eleven cars had been made victim to Higurashi's loose-cannon rage that had come out of left field, and it looked like there would only be more to come the farther Naburi traveled. At this rate, he needed to get Higurashi out in the open as quickly as possible so that he could be stopped. Unfortunately there was at least another two or so miles of this portion of road before it really opened up, and Naburi was hoping beyond hope that there was little to no traffic between where he was and the end of the city.

This continued for the next mile, Naburi shifting, weaving, dodging, accelerating, shifting again is a complicated dance with both traffic and friction, while Higurashi just charged ahead like the enraged bull he was making himself out to be. The fact that Naburi was on Kaluya Avenue still putting him on edge for reasons unknown to him. Why the hell can't I get that off of my mind?! What is it about this street that I'm completely forgetting… oh. As Naburi crested the next slight hill and his car's nose dived down once more, he was finally reminded of why this street was so important, and why it stuck so severely in his head.

And that reason was glaring at him directly in the face with its vastness and sheer size. It stretched for almost a half-mile, and at fourteen stories high, it was a sprawling structure that could be seen for miles away. And below it was what looked like a seething mass of humanity moving in the streets surrounding the giant complex. Kotsubo General Hospital. Oh god, look at all those pedestrians. There's no way no one's gonna get killed with the mindset that Higurashi's got going on inside right now. We need to take a detour now before this becomes a mass vehicular manslaughter thanks to yours truly. Naburi knew that he needed to turn, and turn quickly, because the closer he got to the hospital, the less distance he had for error. Finally, he found an intersection that would suit both him and Higurashi, so he took it. He swept slightly wide, and made to take the turn.

But he never did. All he felt was the shock of being hit from behind and losing all traction under his car. He watched as his rear swung out farther than he could recover from, and then as his front tires lost traction as well. He was now helpless. All he could do was watch the mass of people grow closer as he barreled down upon them at speeds he was no longer comfortable with, and hope to hell his blaring horn would catch their attention in time. In the middle of his panic he chanced a glance behind him for a spare moment, and saw Higurashi pulling back, slowing down… Good. At least his bloodlust has been satisfied… Naburi thought to himself, looking back towards the mass of people coming towards him too quick to save himself. As he looked back towards the mass of people he realized that slowly but surely his car was slowing down. Hoping beyond hope that his tires would allow him to stop before hitting anyone, he let off the brakes in an attempt to gain traction back and allow the car to slow down quicker. But he hadn't noticed the two pedestrians in the crosswalk two blocks ahead of the mass of people. As his car came closer, he realized that they were the ones he was going to hit. He would be held responsible for their deaths, and he didn't even feel angry at the thought. It's my fault I'm in this situation anyways… He thought to himself as he watched helplessly as his car barreled down towards the two in front of him. And then…

A simultaneous cacaphonyt ofshattering sounds told him all he needed to know as he underwent whiplash from the impact. He'd hit whoever was in the wheelchair. They'd been just heavy enough to help slow his car enough to stop before he hit the mass of people. But at that point, he wasn't even thinking of them. As soon as his car skidded to a stop, he jammed the gearshift into first, cut the engine, and fully engaged the parking brake. He then jumped out of his car, slithering out of his seatbelt, and started running towards the person it seemed he'd missed. He checked up on her, and asked her if she was alright. She said something unintelligible but at least she was able to make words. She'd be fine if he could get her into the hospital ASAP. As he ushered the woman back to the sidewalk, he glanced back at Higurashi. The asshole had his window down, an arrogant smirk on his face and was flipping him the bird. Naburi swore to himself at that moment that he'd get back at him, no matter the cost. But he had to tear his gaze away from him as HIgurashi drove off because he remembered that there were two of them, as he'd remembered. He immediately escorted the woman to the sidewalk, directed her to sit down, and began his search for the person he'd hit. He began to look down the street from where he'd hit her, and within seconds found the busted wheelchair. Well, there's the chair, but where's the person? He thought to himself. He continued his search for the other person but couldn't seem to find her no matter how hard he looked. I know I'm fucked, but there's no way she went flying that far. There's just no way. I was only going about fifty when she was hit by me, so where the fuck did she go? Naburi wondered to himself, flabbergasted at the fact that he couldn't locate the other person. That's when the woman he'd directed went running up to him.

"Sir, sir, you need to stop moving, you're bleeding!" She spoke, her mouth making mumbled jargon as she tried to make the words pass her lips. But Naburi did as he was asked. He stopped his moving, and took a second to look down at himself, and sure enough, there was a piece of plexiglass stuck in his lower right abdomen. Hmmm, I thought plexiglass was supposed to be shatterproof… can't believe I fell for false advertising.. Naburi thought to himself in an isolated moment, wondering if he'd gotten haggled out of extra money for nothing. But he couldn't ponder whether that was the case or not, because he chose that exact moment to look up at the building he was facing. And right before him, about twelve feet up was the other person, the one he'd really hit. And she was dangling, stuck through by pieces of rebar that were buried deep within her. Her blood was slowly weeping out of her protrusions, causing a crimson rain to splatter the sidewalk beneath her. However, he noted that her blood wasn't coming out as quickly as he would expect from the wounds she'd just received. He looked closer, the shock of what just happened not entirely hitting him yet. She was still breathing, and from the sound of it, she hadn't pierced either of her lungs, so she wouldn't die of internal suffocation. However, dying of internal bleeding was still very much an option. Thankfully she wasn't conscious, otherwise he knew she'd be screaming bloody murder.

All he could do at that point was stand there, look up at the poor girl, with what looked like her older sister against him, collapsing from shock, and call the hospital to tell them they had three more ICU patients to look after. And wait. Wait for what seemed to be an eternity. Wait for the help that always took just a little too long to arrive. Wait for the poor girl's life to be over, and for her sister to wake up and hate him for killing her little sister the way he did. How did he go from enjoying time with his friends to this, he wondered. But at that point in time, he didn't care, he just had to make sure that these two women before him were at least seen to before he could take any sort of breather…

"… and that's about the sum of it."

Yui was in a state of surprised acceptance. What he said seemed a little farfetched, but it jived with all that she'd learned so far from her other sources. Granted, those sources still left gaping holes in themselves open for scrutiny, but that was to be expected. But it seemed that Sakuda still had more to say.

"I apologize for not seeing it through for you. It's just that I'd seen some pretty serious accidents before, and I came to the conclusion that anything I tried to do for you would only impede any chance of recovery you had; that along with my dwindling hope for your survival made me write you off prematurely. If I'd have known then what I know now I would at least tried to do something to help, but it just seemed that your situation was beyond hopeless as far as I could tell, so I just accepted-"

"No! Don't apologize Mr. Sakuda! You had no way of knowing whether I'd make it out alive or not and you did the best you could for the person you knew you could save! Don't be angry at the fact that you couldn't do any more than what you were capable of." Yui interjected angrily, her demeanor fading into calm the further she spoke. "You did all that you could, and I couldn't ask for more from a complete stranger, so thank you."

After a long moment, Naburi raised his head, a small smile on his face. "You're welcome, Miss Motori. It was my pleasure." He finished, finally feeling his frame loosen up and unwind from revealing his story to her. He watched as the girl waved at the glass on the far side of the room, most likely signaling whoever was inside that she was done with what she'd set out to do here.

No sooner had he finished the thought than a deputy waltzed through the door, gave a nod to miss Yui, and wheeled her out of the interrogation room, the door closing slowly behind her, once again leaving him alone in the dank room once more.

Then, a crackle came in over the speaker in the ceiling, immediately followed by a voice he'd grown accustomed to hearing over the past few days, saying; "You didn't tell her everything, did you?" The voice inquired, curiosity laced evenly in its tone.

Naburi shook his head slowly, a wistful look on his face; "No, I didn't. Besides, there's no need to give out that information anyways. It would only have caused her more trouble than the words were worth," he replied, knowing all too well what would have happened if he'd revealed his entire side of the story to her. "Besides, Mr. Karasuba, you know the probable effects of spreading that information to her specifically. I don't know what would become of me, or of her. I'd rather just keep it to myself just as a memento to keep carrying me forward beyond what's happened."

The voice didn't immediately reply to Sakuda, but within moments, spoke up once more, stating; "Although what you say is true, it would most certainly guarantee the charges against you be dropped, and you could be a free man-"

"Yeah, but what would that teach me, huh?" Sakuda interjected, looking directly at the mirrored wall. "No, I need to go through with this so that I can fully understand the lesson I'm supposed to learn from what's transpired." Naburi dropped his gaze down to his knees, his eyes overcast. "I can't let that go to waste on me, otherwise I'll just end up doing it again, and who knows how many people will get hurt the second time around?"

Even if what he did wasn't right, it's still hard not to like the guy and respect his resolve to see this through… Detective Karasuba thought to himself, speaking again; "Fair enough. I guess I'll have to take you back to your cell for the time being until your hearing occurs and we can clear all of this up once and for all." The voice and the static then cut out a moment later, accompanied by the sound of a rush of compressed air escaping an orifice as Naburi could feel the IV attached to his arm inject neuro-suppressants into his bloodstream. As he started to nod off, he let his mind wander, focusing on the information he'd withheld.

37 HOURS AFTER THE ACCIDENT…

Blue. Blue with swirls of white and specks of green adorning the edges of his vision. It was all that he could focus on for the time being, his mind being too doped up to make much coherent thought. As far as he was concerned, all he needed to do at that moment was watch the wall unendingly and mentally recap the entire incident over and over again. Besides, what else could he do? He'd lost almost half of his blood reserve from his efforts to help the two women whom he'd hurt, so he had to let his body recuperate. Currently his mind was going through another recap, recalling what had happened when the medical personnel arrived and thereon after.

They'd arrived within four minutes. He'd stood there, holding the woman against him, supporting her as best he could as he felt his lifeblood leave him through his wound, slowly tunneling his vision to the point where he could barely make out the woman beside him. He knew there were people around him trying to help, but in his mind he had one goal; ensure the safety of the woman beside him, and not let her get any more hurt than she already was. By then, he'd all but given up hope for the other girl; by then she'd most likely be too far gone. He wasn't trying to write the girl off before she had a chance to survive… he was just a realist. It wasn't in his nature to believe in things like hope when situations out of his direct control arose. Instead, he chose to believe in his own strength and determination and do what he could about what he himself could control, and accept the outcome of the things that he simply didn't have the ability to affect or change. So at this point, he was doing what he was able to save the person whose outcome was directly dependent upon his actions at that moment. He knew that anything he tried to do to help the other girl would be futile at best, and possibly aggravate whatever injuries she'd accrued from his stupidity even further. So he stood there, with a heavy, lidded gaze and watched as the humanoid shapes moved around him and concentrated around the impaled girl in front of him. Soon enough though he felt both he and the woman start to be escorted towards a waiting ambulance, which was closer than what he'd been counting on. As he saw the outline of the ambulance approaching, he glanced once more at the form of his car off in the near distance. After looking at it for a long moment, he lowered his gaze, slightly saddened at the likely prospect of him never seeing his beloved piece of machinery ever again after all the hours, effort, and care he'd put into it, and how it'd shaped him over the past few years.

But before he could think any further, he was directed into the back of the ambulance alongside the woman, whereupon he took his place on the bench seat next to her prone form. As the rear doors began to close, he directed his gaze to the girl, seeing one last time her limp form, along with the eight or so medical personnel surrounding her, no doubt figuring the best way to relinquish her from the rebar and get her to the hospital. But then the doors fully closed, and his vision finally swam away from him as he faded out of consciousness.

When he next awoke, he wasn't entirely sure of what was going on, but he knew that something was immediately wrong. The instinctive impulse to flee flooded his body as his adrenaline levels spiked at an alarming rate. He could hear an incessant beeping to his right increase its frequency at an irregular rate, along with the bright light that came into focus as his vision cleared. His eyes were open. He was on an operating table, and there was a multitude of people around his abdominal area, and he could feel just a bit too much air on his stomach. He now knew that he'd unintentionally awoken during the middle of a surgical procedure, most likely one to sew up the wound the piece of plexiglass had incurred to him. He soon noticed the hurried movements of the practitioners as they scrambled to get the situation, and also him, under control.

Fortunately Naburi had enough wits about him to will himself to remain still and calm, as he moved his gaze towards the doctor who seemed to be in charge of the procedure. He looked him dead in the eye for a moment or two, noting the flustered expression on the doctor's face, along with the confusion laced underneath. Then, without thinking about the possible repercussions of what he was about to do, he spoke; "Hey doc, chill. I can't feel anything yet, and the anesthetic's still working." Naburi then glanced up and to his right. "You just ran out of sleeper drugs, that's all." He noted, indicating the empty gland package hanging above his head. Returning his gaze to the head practician, he spoke once more: "Just change it out and then I'll go right back to sleep. Don't worry, I'm not going to freak out… I know what'll happen if I do, so don't worry. I promise to be a good boy and stay still while you change it out." Naburi's expression changed suddenly, and he squeezed out; "Just hurry, please? I'm starting to get a little tingle, might feel something soon." With that said, the doctor ordered one of his subordinates to retrieve another gland quickly so that he could resume his operation, which took all of thirty seconds. When the subordinate returned, the doctor quickly swapped out the empty bag with the new full one, and let it sit for a minute as he let it drip to fill the reservoir. Naburi shifted his gaze back to the doctor once the drip rate became constant. "Just give me a few minutes… I'll be back under before you know it…" Naburi said as even then he started to slip from consciousness. His last vision was that of the doctor giving him a half-grin and a thumbs-up. This caused Naburi to smile just as he let the gentle tendrils of drowsiness coax him back to the still darkness of dreamless sleep.

His next conscious moment occurred in a room that didn't quite seem like what a hospital room should look like. It's not that it wasn't clean or anything, it's just that it didn't give off the sterile air that most hospital rooms gave off. It seemed much more homey that any other room he'd been in, so it was nice, comforting even. Of course, he hadn't yet noticed the man standing off in the corner who'd been patiently waiting for him to arise from his slumber. However, that was about to change rather soon.

"Hmmm-hmmm." The other man cleared his throat, attempting to get Sakuda's attention. Sakuda immediately chased the sound with his gaze, finally settling on the man who was slowly advancing towards him. Naburi made a quick assessment of the man approaching him. His demeanor was authoritative, but not menacing or aggressive. He took note of this as he watched him come closer before the man spoke once again.

"Mr. Sakuda, correct?" the other man spoke, an inquisitive glance splaying across his features. Naburi nodded in affirmation, wondering what the man wished to speak. The man continued; "Pleased to make your acquaintance. I'm Karasuba Toji, Chief of Police of Shibukawa. I know that you're still recovering from the incident yesterday afternoon, but I need to build a case for what happened, and I need to know what happened; at least your viewpoint if nothing else." Before the officer could ask further, Sakuda interjected, asking; "Are the two women alright? Did either of them make it?" He asked, and urgent fervor making itself blatantly apparent in his tone and the way his posture suddenly changed.

So he does care… Karasuba noted, filing the young man's genuine concern for further review at a later time. But right now he needed information and answers he could only get from the recovering patient in front of him.

Sure, Toji had seen the tapes from all the cameras posted on every street corner, and compiled all the digital excerpts into one free-flowing continuous feed that gave him a good picture of all the action that occurred during Sakuda's high-speed spectacle from two days prior. And, to be honest, the chief had been very impressed with the young man sitting in front of him (although he could never publicly say it due to the issues of legality concerning the circumstances of Sakuda's driving). He'd seen good driving, great driving even; after all, he'd been on the force for the better part of seventeen years, so he'd seen his fair share of capable getaway drivers. But none of them could seem to hold a candle to this kid. And it seemed that no one else at the office was able to pick up on that. All they saw was another teenager too big for his pants wanting to show off in traffic.

But Toji saw something else entirely. He'd noticed the subtleties as soon as he'd compiled the tapes together and watched the chase in its entirety. The kid was doing something that no other runaway driver had ever done; he'd been careful. No, it didn't seem like much to someone who didn't know what they were looking at, but he knew better. The way the kid moved through traffic, reacting almost instantly to changes in traffic at distances which at times were greater than a half mile ahead of him, and always finding a way to just miss the traffic around him, and always maximize the distance between him and others around him as he weaved back and forth. That along with almost instinctual way that he knew what traffic was going to look like before he'd even take the turns at speeds that he always barely made work for him. It seemed more like a dance than a wild scramble at the edge of his seat, like an art form. The kid was just too good. As Toji had started repeating the tapes, he noticed that the kid was always taking avenues and roads that were well known for sparse traffic, and maximizing distance between himself and the traffic around him. But after finishing his analysis of Sakuda's driving prowess, he turned his attentions to the other driver in the films, and immediately became concerned. This other driver seemed to be in a completely opposite mindset than Sakuda had been. It seemed to Toji that this driver saw surrounding traffic as objects to deplete his excess aggression out upon as he chased towards Sakuda, and heaven help them if he got in his way. As he rewatched the ending of the tape, he noticed there was a three second lapse in the tape as the two cars crossed a downhill intersection between where the red car was chasing the white one and the point where the two had separated, and the white car was careening uncontrollably towards the two women who had just entered the crosswalk a block and a half in front of the white car. Looking back at the red car, he had public works trace the car through the camera system until it reached the city limits. The car: a blood-red Mitsubishi LanEvo late-model. And it wasn't wearing a license plate, so he couldn't run the plates, and what with the tinted windows and the limited resolution capabilities of the public cameras, there was no way to identify the car or its driver. But what he really wanted to know was what caused Sakuda to completely lose his car when up till that point he'd been doing an incredible job directing it wherever he needed to go.

"Yes, actually. It's incredible, really. The woman whom you were clinging so desperately to sustained pretty minor injuries, her worst being slight head trauma and some deep bruises along her body with relatively shallow cuts where she suffered some road rash. But what's really incredible is that the other girl actually survived the impact." Sakuda was staring at him open-mouthed, seemingly in open shock. Seems he'd all but written her off as a lost cause as well… Karasuba thought as he continued. "Yes, somehow her injuries suffered from hitting the rebar wasn't as severe as initially anticipated. The iminent cause for concern at the time was that she'd been hit in the spinal column."

"Oh. So I caused her paralysis. Heh, great." Sakuda's gaze fell, and his demeanor took a turn south. It would seem to Karasuba that this little bit of information was hurting the boy severely. But Karasuba needed to see the boy's genuine reaction so that he could draw his own conclusions without the interference of the hospital or the rest of his precinct for that matter. He knew that his method at the moment could get him in trouble with the courts if he ever took the case there, but this was something he needed to do uninterrupted before he could fully make a case before the judiciary.

Meanwhile, on the bed, Sakuda was reeling from the impact of what he'd done and the consequences he'd have to live with. At first he was afraid that he'd killed the poor girl on contact. At least then he would be able to fully deal with whatever consequences came about once this whole situation was resolved and taken to court. But now knowing that he'd not only not killed her, but caused paralysis in her was something that he attributed to a fate worse than a quick death from brute force trauma. Now she'd have to live the rest of her life in a limited state, always reminded of what she used to be able to do, always long for more, even though she would forever be unable to do anything about it. She'd be set back farther in life, and it wasn't her fault. No, it was most certainly his, and now he was going to have to face the brunt of both her and the other woman's scrutiny. His world's bleakness seemed directly proportional to how much thought he put into his current situation. He was beginning to accept the fact that he was screwed, and was finally giving himself over to temporary depression when Karasuba dropped a bomb on him that made him pause all thought momentarily.

"I'm afraid that's where you're wrong, Mr. Sakuda. You did nothing of the sort." Karasuba replied to Sakuda, watching Sakuda's facial expressions to much his own amusement. First Naburi went through a moment of complete shock, seemingly unable to comprehend how what he'd just been told was possible. Then came the confusion. If Karasuba were to guess, Naburi was trying to figure out how in the hell it was possible that he wasn't able to cause paralysis in the girl if his accident was the cause of her impalement on the wall. As the thoughts passed through Naburi's mind, Karasuba was audience to the inadvertent changes that Naburi's face forewent as he fully processed this new information. Inevitably, Naburi's line of thought stopped and he looked at Karasuba with an utterly confused expression on his face.

"How?" was Sakuda's only reply, the helpless expression still prevalent on his features.

Karasuba laughed inwardly as he considered his next move. Should he tell the man the whole story or lead him on and have him come to the conclusion himself? No, it'd be too cruel to the boy to try having him figure it out for himself. I guess I'll just have to let him in on the rest of the situation. Raising his gaze back up to Sakuda, he continued.

"Like I said, you didn't cause the girl's paralysis. Now before you ask how that's possible, let me tell you something about Yui Motori. She's actually suffered through an accident very reminiscent of the one you put her through. This was about fifteen years ago, way back when Kaluya Avenue wasn't as expansive as it is now. Funnily enough, both Motori's were heading to somewhere in the district, and coincidentally enough were crossing the avenue when Yui escaped her mother's grasp and ran into the street, ultimately getting hit by a street racer who we've never been able to get our hands on. Funnily enough, it was almost the same scenario as yours. A blood red LanEvo, high speeds, and an accident in the middle of the intersection's crosswalk. Granted, all that happened was that her body got tossed further into the street, but there was severe damage to her spinal column, and she was in intensive care for well over five months before her condition was well enough that she could be released from the hospital. That, added to the relatively recent death of her father at the time lead to some bad times for the Motoris, but it seemed that Yui would make it through all of it with only paralysis ahead of her. Granted, it's nothing to be happy about, but at least she was in good health otherwise. But then you came along and slapped her a second time." Sakuda winced noticeably at his mention. Karasuba continued; "and so we find her stuck through with rebar on a wall. I'll bet you're feeling pretty down right now, aren't you?" Karasuba asked.

Naburi averted his gaze as his jaws clenched uncontrollably, the small tendrils of hurt and rage beginning to crawl into him. In a strained voice he replied; "Yes sir, so could we please move on past the part where you accuse me of ruining her life?" He replied, looking the officer in the eyes once again, a dangerous look being sent in the way of the officer.

Noting the abrupt change in Sakuda's demeanor, he decided it'd be best if he continued with his explanation, and quickly. "Well, that's beside the point. Anyways, after extricating her from the wall, the on-site EMS's noticed that something was off about her body. It seemed to them that she'd been struck in damn near the same place that her back had previously been broken about fifteen years prior. Luckily for us, the EMS's had the supplies and capability to deal with the residual bleeding from all the rebar puncture wounds, and all it seemed that needed to be done was ensure she got the correct treatment for the blunt trauma that she'd received when she first hit the wall. However, it was not all that it seemed to be, since along the way to the hospital, her heart stopped beating, and her brain activity all but dropped to zero. With the new change in her conditions, she was moved into the ICU and had a full team of doctors at her bedside for the next few hours attempting to stabilize her condition to a point that she wasn't on the verge of death anymore. Eventually her condition stabilized and her vital signs returned to normal. They then subjected her body to an MRI scan to determine what other procedures would be required in order to stitch her back up to full health, but they found something they weren't counting on finding. It seemed that the force from the rebar hitting her spinal column caused a shockwave that sent her entire vertebrae into a floating state, requiring realignment. However, this also gave the medical team the opportunity to 'realign' her spinal cord and potentially give her back the mobility that she'd been without for more than a decade. Therein, the medical team went into discussion on whether or not to perform the procedure, came to the conclusion to attempt it, and by god it somehow succeeded. So, for all we know, in some screwed up way you might have just given her her legs back. I guess time will tell, of course."

Naburi didn't know what to say to that. He was shocked that so much effort had been put into stitching up the girl that he'd come so close to destroying, and it had all paid off, and then some, it seemed. Now, as far as he was concerned, he could at least rest without a guilty conscience, and at least come to face what may soon enough. But there was still something bugging him that he wasn't entirely ready to give up on.

"Sir, with all due respect, what happened to my vehicle?" Naburi asked, not trying to pry, but wondering all the same.

Toji immediately know where this was going, and decided to tell the young man enough to quell his curiosity for the time being. "It's been impounded for now, and depending on the verdict of your upcoming trial, may be stripped for parts. However, it could be given a different fate, once again, depending on the verdict of your trial." Toji's ever scrutinizing gaze remained steadfast on Sakuda's face as he waited for his reply.

Is he saying that I might get a chance to get my car back? Is he serious? "…And that would be what, exactly?" Sakuda asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"As far as I can tell, it could just be put up for sale once again, and who knows? You might just be the one to own your machine once again. But hey, what do I know about court politics? I'm just a lowly police chief. I'm not privy to that sort of information."

So there is a chance… I guess we'll have to see the outcome when we get there…Sakuda thought. He mentally switched gears. "And what about the Motoris'? are they alright? Will they fully pull through?" He asked, wondering not only about the specific's of the girl's condition but that of the other woman as well.

Toji noted this as he answered; "It seems that they will both be recovering rather quickly, and should be out of the hospital relatively soon. I'd stake my guess at sometime within the coming week."

"… And me..?" Naburi asked, apprehensive of what his own outcome might be.

"Well, that's something else entirely. See, what we didn't initially realize was that the Plexiglas shard the impaled you cut through a pretty large body artery, but also blocked most of the bleeding due to its being lodged in place. However, due to your exertions from helping Ms. Motori, you did cause multiple other contusions in the local area of the wound. This led to some complications as the medical staff patched you up. Turns out that you'll have scar tissue in and on your abdomen for the rest of your days, but don't worry; you'll heal up soon enough. But asides from that, be thankful for all the people that donate to the blood drive. According to the lead MD, you're swimming in other people's blood right now, considering how much you lost on the operating table."

"Ungh, well, that's great to know."

"Regardless, you will be in here for a little while longer, considering that you have to restock almost half of your current blood supply before we can release you. On a good note, that shouldn't take too long, so sit tight in that bed and enjoy the view of the shopping district. I hear it's rather nice this time of year." Karasuba turned to leave. "Well, I'd love to stay and chat up a storm with you Mr. Sakuda, but I'm needed elsewhere." Toji reached into his pocket and pulled out one of his business cards, handing it to the youth in front of him, who in turn reached out and took the card from him wordlessly. "If you need to get in contact with me, here's a way for you to reach me. Otherwise, just chill here for the time being until you're released."

"Trust me sir, I'm not going anywhere." Naburi said with a small smile.

Toji returned the expression, remarking; "That's good to hear. Later then."

"Yeah, see you soon." Naburi replied, watching the detective leave the room, feeling a bit more relaxed about his predicament now.

Elsewhere…

"…Yo, Hideki, you gonna wake up anytime soon? HELLO! ARE YO- Ouch, damnit!"

Hinata's head shot up as he was violently and loudly pulled from his dream, slightly out of it as he looked around him. Directly in front of him was Rick, with his hands over his nostrils, a slight trickle of bright crimson running between them.

"What, what is it Rick? Oh, what happened to you, catch a good glimpse under someone's skirt or something?" Hinata asked, a cheshire grin forming on his face.

Rick's gaze came crashing down onto Hinata as his eyes burned with rage, exclaiming; "NO, you just head-butted my nose, dick." Rick uncovered his hands, looking at the sloppy red mess that had smothered his palms. "Look what you did."

Hideki snickered as he replied; "Hey, it isn't my fault you decided to place your head his directly above mine as you shouted me awake. Who knows, you could learn from this." Rick rolled his eyes and Hideki started to laugh.

"Oh, yeah laugh all you want but guess who's got all the notes for English that YOU slept through… by the way, did you not get enough sleep last night or what? You were seriously out of it, like possessed, or something." Rick replied, a contemplating look adorning him.

Hideki thought back to the dream he'd been having, wondering if he'd just witnessed a real-life event just then, or if his imagination was just so well-versed that it could come up with something that complex on the spot. Either way, he'd have to dismiss it for now as nothing more than a vivid dream, because he needed those English notes if he was ever going to pass the upcoming mid-terms. "Hey Rick, you wanna hand me those notes you took? I need 'em to study for the mid-terms coming up."

Rick turned to look back at Hinata with an incredulous look on his face. "Are you serious?! After the irreparable damage you've done to my face? Fuck you man, you're paying the medical bill for this before you even set your eyes on my notes… Hey, are you listening to me?"

Hideki looked up from the notebook he'd grabbed, raising his amused gaze to meet the flustered one of Rick's. "What was that, wasn't paying attention. Gotta study this stuff if I wanna pass you know…" That was when Rick noticed that in Hideki's hands was his notebook with his notes in them that Hideki was to pay dearly for in order to see. Rick grumbled as he stomped towards Hideki. "Give me back my notebook you scoundrel!" Hideki's bemused expression never left his face.

"Are you serious? With all that blood on your hands who knows what kind of irreparable damage you could do to your notebook masterpiece. Seriously," Hideki rose up from his chair and dodged Rick's incoming swipe as h danced away from his reach, continuing; "you could mess up all the hard work and effort you've put into this thing." Hideki suddenly became melodramatic as he explained; "And what a waste it would be my friend-"

"GIVE IT BACK!"

"-To have such artwork be destroyed by you own body's putrid pigments; oh what a shame." And with that, Hideki tore off laughing down the hall towards the men's washroom with Rick hot on his tail, the minute bell ringing in their ears.