Scarlet Record
Chapter One: Mad World:
-July 3rd, 2011-
9:00 a.m.
Tsuzuki and
Hisoka appeared in front of a hospital in Juban. The older shinigami turned to
his partner.
“Here?” he
asked.
“Yes,” the
younger shinigami said. The men vanished into thin air.
---------
A man walked
into the same hospital with a bouquet of white lilies. Three years haven’t
changed. Still, the man wouldn’t give up. He walked up to the front desk.
“Good morning,
Urameshi-san,” the nurse said.
“How have you
been?”
“Tired. How is
she?”
“Sleeping.” Her
eyes shifted from his gaze.
“What is it?”
Urameshi-san asked. The nurse was quick to shake her head.
“No! Nothing!
Nothing!” the nurse lied. Urameshi-san’s eyes filled with panic.
“Did something
happen?” he asked.
“No,” she said.
“It’s just…”
“What?”
“Don’t you think
you should let her go? She’s in too much pain and…”
The man shook
his head. “No!” All eyes fell on him. Urameshi-san took a deep breath.
“I can’t,” he
said. “She’ll get better. I just know it.”
“But what if the
cure fails?” the nurse asked. The man clutched his flowers.
“Good day,” he
said. He bowed and walked down the hall.
--------
Urameshi-san
made it to Room 518. He knocked on the door before poking his head inside.
“Kozue?” he
whispered. “You awake yet?” The man listened to the machines pumping in the
room. A woman lay in bed, hooked up to many tubes. Her skin looked as pale as
her robe. The man broke into a little smile as he walked into the room.
“Good morning,”
he whispered. “How have you been?” The man walked over to the glass vase next to
her bed and pulled out the dead flowers. The patient’s thin body seemed to float
off the bed. There was no life in her big brown eyes. Once the man put in fresh
flowers in the vase, he kissed the woman on the forehead.
“Work’s been
boring,” he said. “I’m learning how to cook. I still burn the rice. Your sister
has been helpful. She’s getting married next month.” His voice sounded like it
was underwater. He kissed her on the cheek.
“We’re getting
closer to a cure,” Urameshi-san whispered. “You’ll be back home, dear.”
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.
“Yes?” the man
asked.
“Urameshi-san?”
a man’s voice asked. The other man turned around. A doctor poked his head into
the room.
“Is this a bad
time?” he asked.
“Um, no,”
Urameshi-san said. “What is it?”
“I need to talk
to you for a moment,” the doctor said. The other man’s stomach dropped at his
tone.
“Sure,”
Urameshi-san said. He followed the doctor into the hall. Meanwhile, the woman in
the bed heard everything. She could hear another voice in her head.
What do you desire?
The patient’s
hand inched towards the tubes connected to her chest. The heart monitor beeped
faster as she took a much needed breath. Sadly, Urameshi-san, the doctor, and
two nurses rushed into the room.
“What
happened?!” one of the nurses asked.
“This was what I
was talking about,” the doctor said. Urameshi-san looked around panicked.
“Why does she
keep doing things like this?” he asked. The doctor and nurses tried not to make
eye contact as they worked to save the dying woman. She looked at Urameshi-san
with sad, desperate eyes.
Why? Please let me go. I can’t take this anymore.
The woman froze
as her attention turned to the other side of the room. Tsuzuki and Hisoka stood,
watching.
“Is this her?”
Tsuzuki asked. Hisoka nodded once.
“Yes,” he said.
The woman eyed the shinigami in ghost form.
Are you here to take me away at last?
“Yes,” Tsuzuki said. The woman closed her eyes.
Please end my suffering. Kill me.