Hiromi

It was time to let them hold her down.

XXX

She could hear the voices rushing around her, muted by the gasps of breath that she knew belonged to her. If her eyes stayed closed, the dizziness wasn't quite as bad; when the medics opened her eyes the blurriness made her vision grow dark in the corners.

Everything eventually grew quiet, even the sound of her raspy breathing disappeared after a few moments of uncomfortable pressure. It was like floating away: terrifying, but soothing. The pain stopped. Then, nothingness.

The next time she comes to, she's looking up at a masked face. There's an extreme pressure in her chest, going back and forth, and she can't seem to breathe.

"Calm down, Hiromi-chan," The masked person chides, gently enough. A beeping sound seems to come from behind her head. "There's a machine helping your lungs breathe. I know it's uncomfortable, so we'll try to take it out soon. For now, you need to relax. You're alright."

Her brows furrow, her mouth opening wider only to realize that there's a tube inside her mouth, going down her throat. She tries to gag and her hands reach up – only to be pulled back by the masked person.

"Don't pull," the tone is clipped, the woman gently tucking Hiromi's hands back to her sides. "Breathing tube, remember?"

Hiromi nods, the sensation awkward with the tube stretching down, down, down into her airway. She looks up, noticing the time. Her eyebrows raise, and then she lets her gaze fall back down to the masked nurse, the question apparent in her eyes.

"You've been here about eight hours. It's about twenty-three hundred." The nurse looks up at the television showing highlights from the world championship tournament. "Are you in pain? I'm honestly surprised that you're awake right now given what's happened, I'll give you something so you can go back to sleep."

There's a gurgling sound, and Hiromi realizes talking is still fruitless, but she starts shaking her head.

"Hang on." The nurse reaches over to the counter, pulling out a board and dry-erase marker. "Try and write it here?"

With a shaking hand – Hiromi notices the palm is sore and wrapped slightly – she reaches for the writing utensil and manages to pen. No pain medication. Slept enough.

The nurse looks baffled. "Are you sure?"

A resolute nod. Tube out please?

"We have to be certain your throat won't swell so much that you can't breathe. I'll ask the doctor, we'll see what he says." The nurse pulls out her stethoscope and holds it down, the only sounds in the room are the dull roar of the television and the whoosh-pump sound of the ventilator breathing for her. The nurse moves around her stethoscope, mindful of the tender places on her chest. "Well, Hiromi-chan, you're definitely trying to do the ventilator's work for it, so I don't think the doc will mind removing the breathing tube. Before I do that, do you know where you are?"

Hospital

"Okay, do you remember why you're here?"

Hiromi flinches for a moment, before making eye contact and nodding, her eyes dark and heavy.

Does everyone else?

The nurse tucks the remote into her hand, squeezing it gently around the tethered device. "I'm sure one of the news programs will have something. I think they know that something happened, but no one has any details." The nurse pulled back the blankets, and a gust of chilly air hit Hiromi's legs. "Your friend Takao handled everything with the police. You have guards from our district that are outside the doors right now, and apparently they're also handling the investigation. I don't know too much, but I do know that the person responsible for this is locked up and will be staying that way for quite some time."

Thank you. The script is underlined three times, and then the board gets too heavy so she lets it drop to her side. Hiromi looks to her left, beyond the nurse, to see a pair of black uniforms standing at the door. Not the blues of the man responsible.

The nurse leaves a few moments later, and things get a little fuzzy again. She goes with it, drifting out to sea. When things focus again, she can't tell exactly how long it's been, but she realizes that the masked nurse has returned with a doctor who wears no mask. His sleeves are rolled up and his eyes are kind.

"If I remove this tube, sweetheart," His Japanese accent is different, she can tell he's probably American, "I'm going to call an anesthesiologist to give you a rib block to ease some of that side pain while we let the chest tubes drain the fluid from your lungs. Your ribs and your neck are pretty banged up, we don't want you to be unable to breathe and need the tube again, so I can't give you any narcotics. There's also no guarantee that I won't be forced to re-insert the tube if your condition deteriorates. Do you understand?"

She reaches for her board, and writes an affirmative. The nurse smiles. "She's a tough one." Looking to Hiromi, she adds, "We'll keep the board around, you're probably not going to want to talk for a while. The good news is that it's an excuse to eat as much ice cream as you want." Hiromi attempts to smile around the tube and the nurse winks in understanding.

"Alright honey, we're going to need a big cough, right as we pull on the tube. Once it's out, we'll put the mask on your face so you don't feel like you can't breathe. If you do okay with that, we'll get rid of the mask soon after."

Hiromi locks eyes on the doctor. He senses her understanding because suddenly there's a pressure and she's completely unable to cough, but the tube is out and air comes in and the pain hits her like a punch to the throat. She gasps, like she's come up to the surface, coughing in violent sputters that hurt like nothing she's ever felt before. The nurse tucks a pillow into her arms, which makes the pain less, but it still hurts.

"Alright, keep that little tag on your finger, it tells us how much oxygen you're getting. I don't want you to get too worked up, so you rest a little and then we'll get your friends to come and see you, okay?"

"C-ca-"

"Use the board," The nurse hands her the marker again as her words are swallowed by the oxygen mask and the pain of trying to talk.

Can I see?

The doctor looks confused, but the nurse reaches over to a drawer and pulls out a mirror. "It's pretty bad, but somehow, I think you knew that, didn't you?"

Hiromi nods and this time she feels the pain in her neck – there's no collar around it, so she must not have broken anything too important – and gingerly reaches out for the mirror. Her side twinges from the rib fractures, and her hands are still shaking, but she makes eye contact with herself because it's important that she sees.

That same fire still burns in her eyes. She didn't ruin anything. He did.

And now, it's over.

Her eyes burn, but she's not ready to cry yet.

I want Takao.

XXX

The waiting room was tense. Takao can't manage to figure out how many laps he's made around the small space. All he knows is that he had to stop when another patient's family came in. In a twisted way, he was almost glad that the people were too concerned over their loved one to worry about him being there. After all, the whole world apparently knew now that Hiromi was attacked.

Including Kai, who was sitting across from him. They were so close that their knees nearly touched. He had walked in twenty minutes ago, wordlessly sitting across from him. Takao didn't have it in him to speak right then, and had kept his head down, eyes burning holes in the grubby white-flecked tile.

"Are you going to tell me what's going on?"

The words were so weird to Takao's ears, the tone of Kai's voice sounding so out of place. His anger was still apparent, even though concern diluted it greatly.

Takao sighed. "It's a long story. She-"

From the doorway, the sound of boots were heard. Police stepped into the doorway. "Kinomiya-sama, do you have a moment?"

Wordlessly, the champion rose, not surprised to have Kai hot on his heels. The police looked over the blunette's shoulder uneasily.

"It's okay. He can know. He's very close with Hiromi."

"Then I guess we should ask both of you some questions, if you don't mind." The change in body language was evident, Takao was all business and it showed. He could feel Kai's eyes on his back. "I mean, you've already given your official statement," The lead officer nodded to Kai, "And he was not present at the time of the incident because he was at the tournament." The officer rubbed his chin. "Hiwatari-sama, did you talk to Tachibana Hiromi at all today?"

"Yes. She was stopping at her house to grab something, she said she'd head right to the tournament afterward."

"Did she mention anyone being home when she'd gotten there?"

"No, was she ambushed at home?" The Russian looked to Takao for clarification, but Takao's eyes were like steel. Kai had never seen him this way. It was frightening, to say the least.

"I take it she didn't tell anyone?" Frustrated, Kai glared at the officer, who completely ignored replying to his question by addressing Kinomiya.

"I only found out by accident. Fumiko obviously knew because she was a target, but I think I'm the only one who knew."

Kai looked back and forth between the officers and Takao. "Would somebody mind telling me what the fuck is going on?"

"In a minute," Takao clipped back, making eye contact with Kai. His normally warm eyes were still icy cold.

The older, senior officer nodded to the Russian. "One last question, for you, Hiwatari-sama. Have you ever noticed anything odd about Hiromi's behavior?"

The slate-haired champ frowned. "Odd, how?"

"Did she every say anything, or behave differently? Maybe she would have badly explained injuries, or tell you something that might seem out of place?"

The gears seemed to be grinding in his head, and Takao looked away from the window for a moment to eye his former teammate.

"You're kidding me, right? This is some twisted joke."

"I'm afraid not, sir. I take it you've never really noticed –"

Takao seemed to notice the signs and immediately grabbed Kai by the arm. "Breathe. They're trying to help."

Kai looked down at Takao's hand on his arm and then back to the police. "Hiromi has always been different from other people. I mean, she's always been good at making things seem less than they are, but she's never been helpless."

The younger officer scribbled something down. "I know this is a lot to take in, so we'll talk more on it later. Kinomiya-sama has our card, if you remember anything that might be useful, don't hesitate to call."

Kai realized a few moments later that he'd been guided to a chair at the far end of the hallway, somewhere obviously away from prying eyes. Takao was standing against the opposite wall, leaning his head back against the eggshell paint.

"I didn't want to be the one to tell you this. I'm certain that Hiromi never wanted you, or anyone else to know."

Kai picked his head up. Takao still wasn't looking at him.

The doorway at the end of the hall made a low dinging sound, and a nurse stepped into the corridor before Takao could continue. Instead, he pushed himself off the wall and met her halfway. Kai reluctantly stood, and the nurse looked surprised, but quickly composed herself.

"She's asking for you," She said, looking to Takao. "Is he-"

"I'm going in," Kai replied immediately.

Takao sighed. "She'll want to see him, I'm sure."

"I'll let you ask her before I let him into the room, but you can both come back." The nurse nodded. "Follow me."

Before Kai could pass him, Takao put one hand to his rival's chest. "I know you're still angry with me, and I get it. But, if we go in here, we have to be united. Mimi doesn't need our drama. She's always holding us up, so it's our turn to be tough for her, got it?"

Kai violently removed Takao's hand. "I won't take this out on her, I can handle this."

"Hiromi's father nearly killed her this afternoon. I don't fucking care what you can handle, Kai. I care that we're here for our friend when she needs us."

It took a second to sink in. "Her father?"

"Her father."

"Why-"

"I don't think you of all people need clarification as to why people abuse their kids."