CHAPTER 12

Jun was starting to become restless. It was bad for her health, and she could feel it. She'd spent the last two nights, unable to sleep. All she could do was think about the girls, and poor Sousuke as he lay in some male nurse's arms, not knowing his own name, or even his own mother. She doubted he'd ever know who Akane was, if she didn't do something. She found herself walking to Manabu's part of the infirmary without even realizing it. She had to talk to him, not only about Akane and Sousuke, but about her own qualms. Manabu wasn't as busy as he usually was, now that he'd returned from the search and rescue mission.

"Minori-chan," He said softly as he saw her enter. He rose from the hospital bed, and placed the packet of crisps next to him. They were no doubt contraband, "what brings you to the infirmary?"

"I'm worried about Sousuke," she shrugged, not bothering with her voice modulator, "I'm worried he's never going to know his mother, and I'm worried that idiot of a nurse has no idea what he's doing." She sighed.

"Well, I can't do anything about any of those, since Sousuke is out of my hands," Manabu explained, "I might be head doctor, but I'm on probation since I delivered a possible traitor's child."

"Ouch," Jun managed a laugh, "I'm not only here about Sousuke, though."

"Oh, obviously," Manabu caught on, "maybe we should get on with that, while we still have time. Have you thought of telling Mamoru yet?"

"Nope," she sat down on the hospital bed, "but this whole thing with Sousuke has me thinking I should. I mean, it's now or never. He's got a decision to make."

"A huge one, at that," Manabu shook his head, "and it's a shame he's got to. But I know Mamoru, I've known him my whole life, he's going to make the right one." Manabu assured her, as he sat down next to her, smiling.

"But what if the right decision isn't the right decision for me, Manabu?" She sighed, tilting her head back.

"Mamoru's never been one to make decisions that put the individual in danger," Manabu explained, "you know how I met him, right?"

"No, he doesn't talk about his childhood much." Jun answered.

"Well, here goes. Mamoru literally saved me from drowning. And I mean, straight up drowning. I was blind as a bat growing up, still am," he fingered his glasses with a laugh, "some kids from the neighbourhood threw me in this river that flowed through our sector, and obviously, I grew up in our family's communal library, so I'd never learned to swim. Him and Satoshi were walking home from school, and there I was, drowning like an idiot. Mamoru threw his books to the side, and dived in, without a second's hesitation. The bullies kind of just stood to the side, watching, as if they couldn't comprehend what had just happened," Manabu narrated, "and as Mamoru stepped out of the river, with me hanging on his arm like a zombie, he faced the bullies, ready to actually beat the hell out of them, after he'd dived in to save me. I was barely eight, and there he was, ready to beat someone half to death for me."

"That's a sweet story, Manabu," Jun smiled, "but I'm not sure what he's going to do."

"He'll do what's right, for you, not for Japan, not for himself, but for you, Minori," Manabu assured her, "because he loves you. All you have to do now, is tell him. He might be a little bewildered at first, but I know Mamoru, and Satoshi knows Mamoru, he'll do what's right, no matter what."

"Okay," Jun gave up, "I'll trust you." And she would. She trusted Manabu, she really did, but it didn't stop the nerves from bubbling up inside of her as she approached Mamoru's quarters. She used one of his devices to bypass security and entered the room just as he was exiting the shower. She took in his body, the scar on his stomach, and the muscles lining his torso, and smiled.

"Minori?" He asked, "what a surprise."

"I couldn't wait to see you again," she grinned, and sat down on the bed, "I needed to see you, Mamoru. You've been gone so long, and in that time, you almost died."

"Only been gone a couple days, Minori-chan," Mamoru laughed, "but hey, who am I to stop you. What do you need?"

"You, we need to talk," she chewed on her bottom lip, "it's serious, Mamoru. Seriously serious. I can't keep hiding it anymore, after this whole incident with Sousuke, I just can't. It's now or never, Mamoru, if I don't tell you now, my whole world is going to come crumbling down."

His face softened, although she could see he was confused, "okay. Sounds serious. Everything okay? No one's found out, right?"

"No, no. I'm still Jun to the rest of the world, but they... they might soon." She shifted around uncomfortably.

"Are you planning on telling them, Minori-chan? You know you'll be sentenced to Yōki duty immediately." Mamoru's face looked shocked.

"No, not that either," she waved her hands, and smiled sheepishly, "maybe I should wait... maybe..." She hesitated, maybe it wasn't the right time to tell him. Everything had just happened so fast, Sousuke, the girls, almost losing him, she felt like it was necessary for her to tell him, but she couldn't. Something integral was stopping her, something inside her was begging her not to tell him, and she couldn't understand why.

"You're acting... strange." Mamoru raised an eyebrow. Sometimes Jun was happy he was a little slow when it came to emotions.

"I'm not," she shrugged, "just kiss me, and I'll be okay."

He didn't seem convinced, but placed a kiss on her lips anyway. Afterwards, he looked at her with genuine concern in his eyes, "are you sure you're okay?" That should have been her cue, that should have been where she spilled her guts to Mamoru, about everything, but she simply smiled, and nodded, because that was all she could do. She couldn't tell him, so she'd wait. Wait until whatever was inside her to become sure of telling Mamoru, and hope no one else found out before she worked up the courage to tell him.

Manabu needed an excuse to go see the girls again, not because he was particularly interested in any of them, perhaps maybe the blonde, Nakamura girl, but because he was worried about Takahashi. They'd taken Sousuke from her the minute he was born, she'd barely gotten to spend five minutes with him, before he was ripped from her grasp, and she was taken into custody. He needed an excuse to help her reunite with him, even just for five minutes. He appealed to major Minami, informing him that the extra judicial zones were obviously not as sanitary as the Hiyokuna was, and therefore, all the girls needed a quick medical check-up, to see whether they weren't hazards to the health of the soldiers in the compound. Not that he was worried about some virus, they were isolated in some cell, deep below the ground, and most of them were from the Hiyokuna anyway, so he doubted there would be anything wrong with them. He did, however, need to convince major Minami that it was necessary. The major agreed, obviously, not wanting a perpetual plague to break out in the compound, and Manabu started his trek back to the infirmary. Quickly, just to make it look like he was doing his job, he smacked on a surgical mask, washed his hands thoroughly, put on a pair of blue surgical gloves, and started to walk to the place where the girls were being held. He was used to the strange looks he got, not because of his cybernetic arm, but because of the mask, people weren't used to seeing him walk around with a surgical mask on, but for this to work, he needed to convince the foot soldiers at the holding cells that it was serious.

He approached one of them, as he arrived, flashing an ID card, "I'm here to do a medical exam. Major's orders." He spoke firmly, in short sentences, to urge the soldier to let him through.

"Must be serious?" The soldier half gestured to his mask, trying to make conversation.

"Just routine." Manabu answered, as the soldier opened the door. He stepped inside, and immediately made eye contact with the Nakamura girl.

"You, please." He flashed her a smile, as the guard pulled her out of the cell, and let her walk out with him. The guard stayed close behind them, but at least gave them privacy as Manabu entered the infirmary.

He could see her eyeing him with a certain amount of confusion lodged in her golden eyes, but she was either too polite or bewildered to say anything. Manabu doubted she was either, and was simply remaining quiet because of the guard outside, "we don't have much time." He said in a hushed tone.

"I've established that." She answered, her tone flat as she watched him gather his equipment.

"I'm sorry this is so abrupt, I only picked you first because I felt like on some level we knew each other better than I know the rest of the girls," he explained, and watched her face shift, "I know your brother, you see. I've known him for approximately five years now, and when he gets a little tipsy the only thing he talks about is Kohaku."

"Well, that's me." She shrugged, trying not to smile about the fact that even though Yutaka was in the army, he still thought of her.

"I also know your Furukawa Tadashi, he talks about you too," Manabu told her, "however, that's not why I picked you. You're all healthy, anyone can see it, plus most of you must have gotten everything you needed in the Hiyokuna. I doubt you've been out of it for longer than a year," he shook his head, because he was dawdling, "I'm not exactly good at explaining. I feel bad for Takahashi, and of course her son, Sousuke. I'm going to try and organize that they meet, if only for five minutes. I feel she deserves more."

"She does," Kohaku agreed, "but how exactly are you going to manage that?" She was holding conversation with this guy but she barely knew his name. He'd said something about a small family, So-something, but her memory wasn't the best at the moment, due to everything that had happened the past night.

"Well, I'm the only healer with enough training this compound has, so everyone kind of bends to my will," he shrugged and tried a smile that was supposed to be confident, but came out sheepish, and made Kohaku laugh.

"You're funny," she said with a laugh, "despite that, where is he? Sousuke. I've been trying to get it out of that idiot soldier for hours now, but he barely speaks."

"You won't get anything out of him, apologies, Nakamura-chan," he smiled apologetically, and as Kohaku surveyed his face, she realized that under a certain light, he was kind of cute. He didn't have the trademark "rich family" genetics like she had, his jawline wasn't as defined as Yutaka's or even Mamoru's, but with his giant wire rim glasses, and those deep brown eyes, he wasn't too bad looking, "they're keeping him in a locked part of the infirmary. I check on him every hour or so, and they have a nurse on him at all times."

"It's Kohaku, seriously. The Hiyokuna must've had a profound effect on you," she joked, "at least he's being looked after, but a new born like that needs its mother. He needs to be breastfed."

"Actually, I grew up on the outskirts of the Hiyokuna," for the first time, Kohaku saw a glint of confidence in his eye, as he teased her, "I did say my family wasn't well known, and I meant it. I understand what you mean, however, that's why I'm trying to get them to release Takahashi-san to me. I could get demoted, or tried for treason, but it's worth the risk."

"All of you are so willing to help us," Kohaku shook her head, as if she was trying to understand a complicated concept, but just missing the point, "I don't get it. You barely know me, or Akane-san."

"As Mamoru said, it would be going against my morals. Unlike you, my family didn't work for the government, well, not exactly. Everyone works for the government, but my family aren't nearly as high up as yours, they raised me differently. The morals are a little bit looser on the outskirts of the Hiyokuna, the people a little more liberal." He explained.

"I still can't understand, but I'll accept your help, Soseki-san." She remembered his last name at the crucial point and smiled.

"Just Manabu, please. But if we're using honorifics, it's Doctor Soseki." He teased, causing her to laugh once again.

"Learn, huh? That's cute." She remarked, recalling the meaning of his name.

"My parents wanted a smart child, they figured if they named me Manabu that maybe it would help." He shrugged, a slight blush tinging his cheeks pink.

"Well, did it?" Kohaku couldn't stop herself from asking.

"Top of my class." He countered with a grin that appeared cocky.

"Excuse me!" The soldier announced himself, "are you finished, Doctor?"

Manabu glared at him like she'd never seen him glare, like he'd glared at her, "you're excused. I'm finished," he said dismissively, "don't tell Takahashi-san."

"Promise." She said, and then she was escorted out of the infirmary.

As an afterthought, Manabu stopped the soldier, "bring me Takahashi Akane next, please. And thank you." The soldier nodded, before disappearing around the corner, with Kohaku in tow.

Akane Takahashi had seen better days, Manabu noted, despite only knowing her for approximately one day. Her eyes were rimmed red with tears, and the dark shadows hung under them, as bright as day, or rather as dark as the night. She was in tatters, he thought, although he'd never seen her in any other state. She sat down on the hospital bed, without uttering a word, and refused to look him in the eye. She wouldn't speak at all, as he started with his pseudo check-up, the only sound emanating from her sakura petal mouth were soft little whimpers of pain. He really felt for her, if he were being honest, she'd had her child taken away from her before she could even let him breast feed, and here she was, detained by the military, waiting for some bigwig governor to decide her and the girls' fates.

"Akane-san. Is it alright if I call you that?" He fell back on the years of honorifics lessons he'd had attending a school in the heart of the Hiyokuna. When she showed no signs of protest, he continued, "I have good news. I know that you're in a bit of a state now," he tried, but only ended up sounding stupid, "but I'm going to take you to see Sousuke."

One mention of her day-old child, and Akane was a withering mess, she embraced him in a sloppy hug, or more like, threw herself at him, and cried into his lab coat, the sloppy "arigatō" slipping from her lips.

"Don't thank me yet, Akane-san," he apologized, "you'll only get to see him for five minutes. That's the best I can do at this point."

She straightened herself out, and tried to stop blubbering all over his labcoat, "thank you." Was all she could manage. Manabu gestured toward a door, as she stood up.

"He's through here, and the nurse is currently on break. We won't have long, but at least you'll get to hold him." He approached the door, and opened it for her, letting her in, and closing the door behind her. He gave her and Sousuke some privacy, hearing her sniffles through the thin door. He heard footsteps, and immediately opened the door once again, Akane was busy readjusting his blankets.

"We need to go now, I'm sorry." He gazed at her apologetically, as she kissed her son on the forehead one last time, before heading back out into the infirmary.

"Thank you, Soseki-kun." She couldn't say anything else, but Manabu didn't need her to, he knew how thankful she was. He could see the dread in her eyes vanishing, that time she'd spent with Sousuke had done wonders for her mental state.

"Don't worry about it. I'll see what I can do about a next time, Akane-san," he smiled, and then approached the entrance of the infirmary, where the soldier that had brought Akane here was still waiting, "I have finished. Please return her to her cell." He instructed, his voice authoritative. He spared one last, fond glance at Akane, before the soldier took her back to the cell. Next up was the girl who didn't have a Digicord. The one Mamoru was talking about during his check-up. She didn't talk much either, but Manabu guessed she was scared, she was in a compound full of the people she'd spent her entire life running from. This must have been her actual hell.

"Hello," he looked down at the very small Digicord the warden had provided, "Miyazaki-san." He said her last name, instead of her first, out of politeness.

She gazed up at him, flicked a piece of ebony hair out of her snow-white face, and then said, "it's actually Kojima. But call me Nao-chan."

"Nao-chan, then. I'm Soseki Manabu, but just Manabu is fine," he answered with a smile, "I delivered Akane-san's baby."

"I know, you're one of the captain's friends, right?" She cocked an eyebrow upwards.

"I am, yes. I just have to do a quick check-up, protocol. See if everything is okay." He explained, he wasn't expecting to find anything, but he had to be thorough, since she wasn't from the Hiyokuna.

"So, you were born outside of the Hiyokuna?" He tried to make polite conversation.

"Yeah, interesting, huh? Everyone here is treating me like I'm some kind of alien." She laughed.

"Well, to them, you are," Manabu laughed along with her, "a lot of these soldiers spent most of their lives in the Hiyokuna. They tell tall tales in the schools, I would know, tell tales of mutants, and crazy people who run away from the government. They make the extra judi zones sound like some sort of horror story."

"It's really not that bad, I mean, I can vouch. I've lived there my entire life. Sure, it's totally devoid of life, but at least it's not the Hiyokuna." Naoki shrugged.

"You've got that right." Manabu laughed. His usual routine went quicker than usual, Naoki was a very compliant person, despite her obvious distaste for the Hiyokuna.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

some fluff before something... big?? yall probably saw it coming lol