Silence is Golden

Screw This Courage To The Sticking Place

  A thick darkness from behind closed lids. That's what he could see. A void of interminable blackness that reached out forever over the transparent horizon. A warmth danced on his skin, filling him with a sense of absolute tranquility as a light wind kissed his cheeks and played with his clothing. 

  Misaki opened his eyes to see rain.

  As if he were obscured by some invisible barrier, the water droplets failed to reach him. All around him felt like spring: warm, peaceful, full of life, and yet his senses seemed to be split. The sky only growing darker with each passing second; the sun slipping down to the skyline and painting the air with an array of grays and streaks of silver linings.

  Misaki rubbed at his eyes, not quite believing that this was all real. He felt like some on-watcher seeing it all from a screen in his living room. Pulling himself off the ground, he reached out his hand to feel the falling tears. However, when his skin got close enough to touch, the water suddenly shifted away, looking as if it were falling against a glass bowl that encompassed his entire body. Watching the thousands of beads dissipate into nothingness as they were absorbed into the ground, Misaki realized:

  He couldn't hear them.

---

  The splitting sound of sirens roared within Akihiko's ears as he tried to open his eyes. He felt wet, like he had been submerged in water, his head spinning; a strong stinging sensation coming from his forehead accompanied by a furious pounding. Squinting at his surroundings, a sudden wave of dizziness crashed over him as he tried to remember where he was and what was going on. He took his head into his hands in an attempt to still himself.

  He heard a groan from beside him. Turning his head and slightly opening his eyes, he saw Takahiro.  He too held his head in his hands, his shirt soaked from the rushing rain water coming in from the broken car door. The dark haired man shook his head slightly and turned to look at him.

  "Akihiko. You're bleeding." Akihiko averted his gaze from the dazed looking man to look at his hands. A thin layer of crimson covered them. At the sight of blood, his dulled senses awoke from their confused state. Immediately he turned himself as far as his seat belt would let him to look into the back seat.  

  "Misaki!" He called out, but the unconscious boy showed no signs of comprehension. Misaki looked liked dead weight; his body leaning forward using the seat belt as a support which was lodged between the bent metal of the car frame and the car's leather interior. "Misaki!" He tried again, but still he did not respond. 

  Akihiko whipped back around, grabbing hold of his own seat belt to unbuckle. He forcefully pushed down on the red button over and over, but he was not released from his confines. 

  "The damn thing's stuck!" He growled, yanking hard on the polyester fibers to try and rip it free, but the more he struggled, the less it seemed to work.  "Why wont it just open!"  Banging his fists against the steering wheel, Akihiko turned to the frightened looking Takahiro.

  "Well don't just sit there, dammit! Misaki's back there so help him!" Takahiro did as he was told, quickly jumping out of the slightly damaged car door. Akihiko once again struggled with his belt, finally getting the mechanism to release the metal clasp. How to get out of the car, however, was an entirely different story. His side of the car, after being hit, had been slammed against a nearby building, blocking any way of exit on the driver side. He was lucky he hadn't been crushed. 

  "The door's stuck!" He heard Takahiro shout from outside, his already frantic heartbeat thundering against his chest even harder than before. Squirming his way out from his seat, he climbed over the cup holders, into the passenger seat, and to his freedom. Rushing over to the ruined door, he pulled hard on the useless handle. 

  "Misaki!" He tried once more, the three syllables lost within the sounds of rain and a gathering crowd. He banged on the window in some hope that it would wake the boy. That'd he'd lift his head and assure him that he was alright. 

  "Akihiko, look." He felt Takahiro grab his arm as he turned to see what the other man way referring to. An ambulance truck came into view, it's sirens blaring like some call of death and it terrified Akihiko. Two men hurried from the large vehicle and over to where they stood, the rain pouring heavily overhead.

  "Please," Akihiko said, the desperation in his voice painfully sharp and sorrowful. "You have to help him. He's still in there." One of the men grabbed Akihiko's arm, trying to lead him away from the car.

  "It's alright. We're going to get him out. Now what's your name?"

  "Usami Akihiko." He stated dryly.

  "And your friend over there?" The man pointed to Takahiro who was currently being tended to by a third man who he hadn't seen. Akihiko looked back to the car where two other men were trying to get the door off.

  "Hey," The doctor said, snapping his fingers lightly. "Your friend. What's his name?" 

  "Takahiro Takahashi." The man lead Akihiko to the back of the ambulance where he sat him down, handed him a blanket, and pulled out a medical kit. 

  "Alright, good. Now what about the one in the car? What's his name?" Akihiko gripped his hands together and looked down at his feet.

  "Misaki. Misaki Takahashi." 

  "Is he related your other friend?" 

  "Yeah, they're brothers." He said with a sad smile, suddenly feeling cold as his adrenaline began to die down.

  "Okay. Now look here." Akihiko looked up. "How many fingers am I holding up?" 

  "Seven."

  "Good." Pulling out some sort of rub on medication and a gauze bandage, the doctor cleaned up his wound on his forehead and covered it. 

  "Alright Akihiko, I'm going to ask you some questions, is that alright."

  "Yeah." Akihiko took a deep breath, trying to shake the worry residing within him.

  "Do you feel disoriented at all? Confused?"

  "Uhh...I...confused? I suppose I'm a bit shaken, but not confused, no." 

  "That's good. Now, can you tell me your birthday? Just the month and day is fine."

  "March third." 

  "Excellent. Do you have any pets?" As he asked each question, the man jotted a few things down. Akihiko was getting tired of these pointless squabbles; he wanted more than anything to know if Misaki was alright, but he answered the questions dutifully as they came.

  "At my family home, I have a dog." 

  "And it's name?"

  "Alexander."  Akihiko sighed, wrapping the large towel like cloth around himself, his body shivering from the rain that had begun to let up a bit.

  "I'm going to go and check on everything else, are you alright here?" Akihiko grabbed the man's arm.

  "Will he be okay?" He looked up at the doctor, whose face had turned somber at his question, with hopeful eyes. 

  "We'll do everything we can to make sure that he is." And with that, the man left Akihiko to his intrusive, swarming thoughts that made him feel nauseous, and with the hope that maybe, just maybe everything would turn out alright.

------

  A note: I wrote this while wearing headphones. Bad Idea. Very bad. Since I've gotten in the habit of listening to my music on speakers, I think my ability to concentrate while wearing headphones has been thoroughly damaged. ;-; That's why the quality of this chapter might seem a bit...low. 

  Ah well. I'm setting out to get it done not to make it perfect, however, if you happen to have a suggestion for me, I'm all ears. 

Thank you for reading thus far! Stay fabulous lovelies. <3

~Sensei