Friday, January 8, 2010

A.I.S.H.I.T.E.R.U

Chapter 1 ♥ Akime ; Afraid

Part II

Akime blinked as she stared up at the painted blush pink ceiling. She sighed as she sat up and turned to her right and saw another man with navy blue hair. Quietly, she slid out of the covers and slid onto her knee length sleeveless coat like dress. She slid into her shoes and grabbed her coat and clutch and opened the door and left the suite.

She walked to the main road and watched as the snow fluttered down the painted dark blue sky as they rested on the sidewalks of the once bustling with life street. She turned and walked through the snowy day down the street.

//+//

Akime looked up and saw the light of the bar still open. She pushed open the glass door and entered. She walked through the empty tables and sat at the counter.

“Miruko, Bloody Mary.” She ordered as she rested her head on the counter.

“Miruko, a cup of Perry cocktail.” A guy ordered. Akime opened her eyes and head shot up when he saw the owner of the voice.

“S… Sui…” Akime mumbled.

“Why didn’t you call this few days?” Sui interrogated Akime.

“I… I was busy…” Akime stuttered as she avoided his gaze.

“Busy at what?” Sui pressed on. Akime squirmed. She looked at Miruko and saw Miruko cleaning the glass. Akime gave her a ‘what-should-I-do’ look and Miruko just shrugged.

“I…” Akime started as her eyes started to look around the empty bar.

“You were out with another man? Sharing a bed in the cold hotel suite?” Sui guessed as he observed her expression. Akime looked at Sui; her heart plummeted into a ditch called ‘shame’.

“Sui…” Akime started as he tried to explain.

“I don’t get you…” Sui sighed as he turned and left.

“Sui!” Akime called out as she chased after him. “Sui, look, I didn’t want to do it too, but I got to… I… I really need money… I…” Akime tried to explain in between breaths. “Sui, I’m not cheating on you, I only love you.”

“Yeah, and how many guys did you say that too, you who work in this line of business, isn’t it so easy to say ‘I love you’?” Sui spat. “And why do you need the money for? To buy branded stuffs?”

//SLAP//

Sui held his stinging red cheeks as he looked Akime.

“Do I look like that kind of woman?!” Akime demanded. “I’m so disappointed in you. I cannot believe that you can imagine that the reason why I am doing this self-demoralizing thing is to earn fast cash and spend it on insignificant things. Is that how you think of me?” Akime spat as tears started to emerge.

“I…” Sui started.

“I DON’T WANT TO HEAR!” Akime yelled as she covered her ear. Turning around, she ran out of the bar.

/ that snowy night, the snow freezes my heart cold… /

//~//

“So what happen between you and Sui?” Miruko asked as she slurped down a bowl of ramen.

“I don’t want to see him.” Akime snorted as she picked up some shreds of meat with her chopsticks and stuffed them into her mouth.

“Why?” Miruko asked as she stole some sushi from Akime’s plate.

“He said that the reason why I sleep around is because I want to buy all those branded goods.” Akime mumbled as she sponged the sushi into the small black plate with green tea leaves painted at the side of the plate containing wasabi.

“But, he said that because he does not know what you are going through… talk to him okay.” Miruko advised as she pulled Akime’s chopsticks to her mouth and chewed a part of the sushi. Akime growled as she pushed Miruko off her chopstick. She placed the chopsticks horizontally on the top of the not half finished ramen bowl and left.

“AKIME! YOUR BILL!” Miruko yelled.

“Ah, place it on my tab. Bye…” Akime said as she waved her hand dismissingly.

‘Hello? Hey, brat, lets meet.” Akime said and hung up. She looked at the road and saw a taxi. She hailed the taxi and boarded.

“Chinese garden” She directed.

//+//

Akime sat on the bench as she looked at the sky as the land slowly ate the sun and swallow it into its belly which on it rose sky scrappers. The sun burst in bright hues of orange and yellow. Akime crossed and uncrossed her fingers as she tried to swallow down her anxiety.

“What do you want?” Akime turned and saw Sui looking at her. His emotions that were reflected in his eyes were hard to read. Was it anger that was burning or was it shame, or was it love? Akime remained silent as she studied him. Sui’s stoic expression soften.

“How are you?” he asked as he sat beside her. He glanced out and watched the sun set.

“I’m fine… thank you… how about you?” Akime asked softly.

“Bad…” Sui sighed. Akime looked up and stared at him.

“B…bad…” Akime repeated as she stared at him in shock. She found it hard to breathe – as though as she was suffocating. Fear gripped her as she saw Sui tear up.

“I can’t do it anymore…” Sui whispered as the teardrops fell from his dark maroon orbs. Akime tried to silent her thumping heart as she looked at Sui.

“I miss you… I can’t stand you being with another man… I…” Sui whispered. Akime felt her heart settle back in her ribcage as she heard Sui rattled down his apology.

“Enough…” Akime whispered. Sui looked at her and was puzzled at her sudden words.

“Sui, as long as the sun’s around, my heart is only for you.” Akime swore.

“Dammit, you are so cute… Shit… I’m loosing control…” Sui cursed as he blushed.

“Then why don’t you abandon your self-control?” Akime prompted him, a mischievous smile blooming across her face.

“You!...” Sui exclaimed then the shrill calls of a flock of migrating birds sounded through the air. The couple looked up and saw a flock of white swans flying across the horizon.

“See… even the birds are happy of our reunion…” Sui smiled. “So, tonight, you shall not sleep.”

//~//

Akime rubbed her eyes as she woke up. She sighed as she slid out of her pajamas and into her dark blue jersey shirt and a baggy gray track pants. She put on her pink fluffy slippers and exited her bedroom and walked down the steps as she entered the dark common room. She massaged her temple as she entered the not yet lit kitchen. Reaching out to the switch, she switched on the light and entered the kitchen, her slippers flipping and plopping in the silent house. She reached out and opened the fridge door and took out the ingredients. Suddenly, she felt a cold metal object with a sharp tip touch her cheek. Gently, the tip ran across Akime’s pale skin. Akime felt a jab of pain and slowly the wound started to become wet.

“You have a mission, tonight.” Akime felt Arzeal’s warm breath running down her neck as he slipped a piece of paper into her pants pocket. The close contact made her goose pimples appear.

“Aye Arzeal sama…” Akime whispered as she remained at her position.

“And, you were late yesterday, where did you go?” Arzeal hissed as a smirk formed across his face.

“No where Arzeal sama, I just happened to saw a lost kid on my way home so I brought the child to the police station.” Akime reasoned as she silently begged that the sadistic guy will not discover the lie.

“Really?” Arzeal asked as he pressed the sharp edge of the knife onto Akime’s shoulder blade.

“Yes…” Akime felt her teeth chatter in fear as beads of cold sweat trickled down her neck. “Why would I lie to you?” she gulped nervously.

“Then, why are you sweating?” Arzeal asked menacingly.

“Because it’s rather humid in here…” Akime felt her heart pump loudly in her chest as she felt the knife’s blade traced down her pale skin till it reached her elbow.

“Then why aren’t I sweating?” Arzeal hissed.

“Because… you aren’t human?” Akime tried. Without even a second of delay, Arzeal stabbed the glistening knife into Akime’s elbow making Akime wail out a shrill cry of intense pain. Then a stinging slap sent her falling to the floor. With the back of his hand, he swept his lower arm across the counter where a stack of brittle white ceramic plates laid. Akime winced as the stack of plates came crashing down on her head enabling the glass shards cut her forehead causing blood to flow down like rivers of blood.

“You ungrateful girl, don’t forget who was the one who picked you up and paid your debts.” Arzeal hissed as he stepped on her abdomen. Seeing Akime all bloodied up and weak, Arzeal smirked and kicked her in the side before leaving the kitchen.

Akime moaned as she staggered up to her feet and clumsily, she ambled to the first aid kit. Akime was not only loosing blood quickly, she was also loosing her consciousness. Soon, everything became fuzzy and blur.

“He…lp…” Akime stutter softly before collapsing onto the floor.

//+//

Akime winced as the bright light stung her eyes. She squinted till her eyes got used to the light’s brightness.

“You’re awake!” Akime heard Nicol exclaim. She turned her head painfully and saw Nicol holding a cup of hot Milo. She glanced to her other side and saw that on the sofa laid a pillow and a not yet tidied up blanket.

“You’ve been here all this while?” Akime asked as she nodded to the messed up sofa. Nicol flashed her a smile as he placed his cup on the bed side table before settling down on a plastic chair.

“Apple?” Nicol offered as he fumbled into a rattan basket filled with fruits. Akime looked as Nicol search for an apple.

“Whose fruits basket is this?” Akime asked as Nicol pulled out a red seems juicy apple.

“Oh, he claims to be your friend.” Nicol replied as he skinned the apple’s red skin.

“Male or female?” Akime asked.

“Male. Quite handsome I must say… he had copper red hair and dark maroon eyes. Ring a bell?” Nicol asked as he passed her the skinless apple. Akime looked at Nicol and nodded.

“Why am I here?” Akime asked as she took a bite into the apple

“You fainted in the kitchen. I was so worried… anyway, I rushed you to here, then after you checked in, I called Miruko and she came over. She just left.” Nicol informed.

“How long have I been…?” Akime asked.

“3 days.” Nicol sighed as he took a sip from his now lukewarm Milo.

//KNOCK//

The door swerved open and there stood Sui with yet another basket of fruit.

“Eh! Akime! You’re awake!” Sui exclaimed as he placed the basket of fruits onto the cabinet top that was situated beside the door way and rushed to Akime’s side.

“Yes, I’m awake. And please, another basket of fruit?” Akime groaned. Sui laughed nervously as he took nervous glances at Nicol. Akime noticed and asked Nicol to leave them alone. Nicol nodded and then left the couple alone in the room.

“Are you okay?” Sui asked as he sat on the white plastic chair beside the bed. Akime nodded.

“Thank Gawd…” Sui sighed as he pressed his head on her shoulder. “I was so worried…” Sui confessed as tears started to choke his words.

“Sorry…” Akime whispered as guilt somehow got a hold onto her.

“But, why… no… How did you get hurt?” Sui asked. Akime slowly recounted the day’s incident much to Sui’s horror.

“Why are you living with that mad guy anyway?” Sui demanded a little freaked out by the mad man’s action.

“Debts.” Akime laughed sadly as she fell back onto the white comfortable pillow.

“How much?” Sui asked.

“Few millions…” Akime sighed as she played around with the brown furry beady eyed bear that sat beside her.

“How much exactly?”

“1.8 million…” Akime stated with a straight face. “Few more months and I will be out of this.” Akime finally broke into a smile. “And we can be together.” Akime said as she gripped his hand tightly. Sui looked at Akime and shook his head distraughtly.

“You can never get away with it…” Sui answered coldly shooting down Akime’s high hopes. Akime grip slowly loosened and finally let go.

“Take care…” Sui said as he stood up and turned.

“Are you leaving? Are you leaving me?” Akime yelled stopping Sui in his tracks. Sui looked back but kept quiet.

“I’ll quit…” Akime whispered. “I’ll tell Arzeal that I quit… so please… don’t leave me…” Akime pleaded as tears blurred her vision.

“It won’t do Akime… its time I do something before you get hurt.” Sui apologized and left through the baby pink door frame that linked the ward to the corridor.

“Sui!” Akime yelled but nothing returned except the echoes that bounced off the 4 walls.

//That day, water gave birth to more water.//

//~//

Akime breathed in and sucked in gasps of air before she knocked on the big oak door.

“Come in” The cold voice that sent shivers down her spine rang through the empty hall way. Taking a deep breath, Akime twisted the door knob.

“Okay, it’s either make it or break it.” Akime thought to herself. Gulping down her fear, she pushed open the heavy oak door. “I’m intruding…” Akime announced as she entered the dimly lit room furnished with old Victorian style furniture.

“Arzeal sama… I don’t want to do it anymore…” Akime mustered up her courage and squeaked as she felt Arzeal’s terrifying presence. Then a cruel menacing laugh sounded through the room. Akime felt her heart stop for a few seconds as she saw Arzeal turn to look at her with his icy cold blue orbs.

“What did you say?” Arzeal daunted. “You want to quit?” Arzeal asked Akime as he stood up and looked down at Akime’s small build. Fear built up within Akime as he kept up with the gaze.

“You said that you wanted to quit?” Arzeal repeated in a hiss. Akime nodded. Arzeal then stifled a laugh before exploding into a burst of hysterical laughter.

“Wrong answer.” Arzeal smirked and he snapped his fingers. Immediately, without a second of hesitation, the impact of a golf club was sent to Akime’s back of her knee joint making her collapse onto the floor.

“Deal with her.” Arzeal commanded as he left the room.

//+//

“Arzeal sama, there is a guy who is looking for you.” Sting reported to Arzeal as he led Arzeal to the common room where Sui sat in the comfy dull red sofa.

“You’re here for?” Arzeal asked in a neutral tone as he approached the clad in a sky blue polo shirt and a pair of black skinnies.

“I’m here to buy Akime’s freedom.” The teen replied as he stood up and picked up a brown envelope and handed it to Arzeal. Eyeing the youth carefully,

Arzeal passed the sealed envelope to Sting. Sting cracked open the brown envelope and pulled out a bunch of $1000 bills. From the envelope, he pulled out a total of about 18 bundles of ten $100 notes binded by a grayish white slip of paper.

“1.8 million.” Sting whispered into Arzeal’s ear softly.

“1.8 million?” Arzeal scoffed “I can’t believe that you actually this dumb to believe that you can use a mere sum of 1.8 million to buy that dirty woman?” Arzeal asked as he threw the envelope onto the couch, beside Sui.

“How much do you want then? What should I do for you to let Akime go?”

“You got two options, option 1, you pay up 10 million. Number 2, you work in place of Akime.” Arzeal said leisurely as he pulled out a cigar and placed it between his purple lips. Without being asked, Sting swiped out a white lighter and helped to light the cigar up for Arzeal.

“When do you want the 10 million?” Sui asked as his mind quickly did calculations.

“Next week.” Arzeal smiled as he puffed out a cloud of gray smoke.

“If… if I work in place of Akime, will you really let her go?” Sui challenged as he glared at Arzeal.

“Most likely.” Arzeal shrugged.

“When do I report?” Sui asked as he got up and got ready to go.

“Call this number.” Arzeal instructed as he passed Sui a white card with a company’s name printed in bold font and a person’s number and name printed in a normal font below the company name. Sui nodded and pocketed the card in his gray double breasted coat’s pocket. He turned and left the door.

“That little…” Arzeal growled as he watched Sui leave the building’s gate via a window.

/ END /