Troubles of the Heart (Soudam)

Chapter Five

Kazuichi ran as fast he could, he didn't know where he was going, only knowing that he need to escape from that place, knowing his life was over.

No more would Kazuichi have the safety of his charade protecting him, no longer would he be able deflect the hurtful insults and embarrassing moments with a dumb smile and an aura of ignorance; he would be forced to face his problems with his true self, the real him who no one would ever like. Everyone would find out that he was a fake, a phony, and force him out of the life he had painstakingly made for himself.

Kazuichi continued running, not even aware that he had already left the school and was in a foreign place, not knowing that he had just ran onto a road...It was then that Kazuichi heard his two friends, yelling something he couldn't hear due to the distnce between them.

As he turned around, he saw the two running towards him, waving their arms to get him to stop for them.

A loud honk was the last thing Kazuichi heard as he stopped in the middle of the road, hit in the side with a force that rivalled the force of the Ultimate Martial Artist, tossing him to the sidewalk like a ragdoll.

He barely registered hitting the ground, or the shouting, or the rain falling onto his face, nor did he feel the hands shaking him, or his head that was resting on something soft and cushiony.All he could feel was pain, the very last thing he was feeling as his eyes closed, a stray tear falling down his face, hopefully, finally being able to leave the world...

*Ten Minutes Earlier*

Sonia and Gundham watched as their friend, Souda, ran out of the room, with a quick glance at each other, they decided to run after their best friend, wanting to find out what had been happening to him the whole day."Wait! I command you to stop Souda!" Sonia yelled, as she and Gundham ran out the room after him.

Gundham, who was just in front of Sonia, also yelled out, "please halt mortal! We just want to converse with you!"They both gasped as they saw Kazuichi leap down a whole set of stairs, landing softly on his feet, before setting off again.

Sonia looked at Gundham, "did you also see the...?" She trailed off, her eyes meeting Gundhams."If you are referring to the waters of misfortune running down his face....then yes, I did" he said in reply, shamefully drawing his eyes towards the ground before they both set off after their friend again. It was as they ran past their classmates, that Sonia had an idea. "Excuse me, dear classmate!" She exclaimed, pointing towards Nekomaru Nidai, the Ultimate Team manager, who was also one of the fastest beings in the school, "I demand you follow Souda Kazuichi and take us with you!"

Gundham looked in surprise as Nekomaru obeyed her orders."You shouldn't abuse your power, Dark Quee-" Gundham began, but cut off as Nekomaru picked them both up by the waist."Now is not the time Gundham!" Sonia yelled, her eyes watering again, "this is a serious crisis we are experiencing!" Sonia started, Gundham felt his eyes, once again, drift towards the ground in shame."You should know how I feel Gundham! Just sitting there, oblivious to the struggles of our so called best friend! We need to help him Gundham, he has always been there for us!"Nekomaru started running, with the two in his arms.

It was after she said this, that Gundham started having flashbacks to the times Souda comforted him and helped him, like the time he had helped him search the school high and low for Maga-Z for the whole day, or when he fixed Gundhams broken carrier cage, or that one time where he defended him when other students made fun of his speech patterns and Ultimate talent.It was then that Gundham had a shocking realisation come to him, had he ever done anything of the same calibre for his pink haired classmate?

Had he ever comforted Gundham? Help him with anything? Defend him?

The answer?

No, he hadn't, not a single thing could come to mind and it left him feeling sick to his stomach.

As Gundham looked to Sonia, he was shocked to see that she had also came to the same realisation as him.How vould they call themselves his best friends?Sonia went to open her mouth to say something but was stopped by Nekomaru suddenly stopping, letting them down onto the ground.

"The target is not far from us!" He shouted, "he seems to have slown down considerably since his first departure from the school!"Sonia yelled a word of gratitude to him as they began running again, she smiled as she thought of how to apologise to him, to make him her friend again.Gundham watched as Sonia gave him an uplifting smile, "do not worry! We will fix this mess once we catch him" she shouted to him as they continued running.

"I see the mortal in question just ahead!" Gundham said happily, eager to mend the friendship between them all.Sonia and Gundham smiled to each other, both trying to get his attention at the same time."Wait! Kazuichi" Sonia yelled, hoping to gain his attention, Gundham yelling along with her, "Mortal, stop where you are!"

They both gave a sigh of relief as they saw him stop midstep, finally stopping their small race. Though their hopes we completely diminished as they saw Souda suddenly get thrown through the air, his eyes wide with shock as he flew, coming down hard onto the side walk, the car quickly speeding away in a cloud of smoke and pollution.

Sonia and Gundham gaped in horror and sprinted to him, where a pool of blood was slowly surrounding his body.They both skidded to the ground in front of him, not knowing what to do.Sonia, sobbing in fear and shock, picked up his head, resting him on her lap as she tried to wake him, screaming his name over and over again, whereas Gundham who was at Souda's side, started shaking him by the shoulders and sobbing his eyes out, his tears falling onto the unconcious boys face.

Both gasped as Kazuichi's eyes opened, shocking them both, they watched as a single tear rolled out of his tear duct, a small smile on his face as he fell back into the darkness of his mind.They didn't know who did it, but someone had called an ambulance, which they weren't aware of until the paramedics were shaking Sonia's and Gundham's grips on Kazuichi's body, telling him they needed to get him to the ER immendiately, it was their final chance of saving him.Sonia and Gundham were than snapped out of their dazes when they heard he still had a chance, he could still live.

They quickly did as the paramedics said and watched as they placed him in the ambulance on a stretcher, asking if they wanted to come to the hospital with him, where they both agreed immediately, not wanting to leave their friend again.

As they climbed into the ambulance, they both took a side of his body, grasping his hands in their sweaty, clammy grips, praying that he would survive....hoping they'd be able to talk to their friend once again...------Yo, re-did this chapter up a bit, I'll be trying to re-do the future chapters when I have some free time, and then I should be able to release new chapters! Thanks for still showing interest in my story! :))