Naoki Kusanagi-Kennedy (_hearnoevil) wrote in light_of_may, @ 2010-08-30 14:13:00 |
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Entry tags: | #flashback, #solo |
We're a broken people living under loaded gun
Who: Naoki, Rei (NPC), Misao (NPC), and a slew of other NPCs
Where: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
When: Summer and winter of 1997
Warning: Brief violence
“Naoki! Naoki! Look!” Rei was tugging at her older brother’s arm, trying to drag him in the direction of the marionette vendor on the streets. “Oh, aren’t they just lovely! Can we bring one home for Ka-chan? Pleae please pleaaaaaase?”
It was hard not to smile when Rei was around. The youngest of the children, she was barely ten and had so much energy in every action she took. Someone who was living in the slums of the city usually toughened up and remained pessimistic in everything they did, but not Rei. She always had a smile on her face, and in turn, Naoki had on on his. The Kusanagi family always kept their chins up regardless of what was going on. It was definitely the angelic side of them shining through. Though at the same time, Naoki knew of the dangers that lingered on the streets and didn’t want them harming his little sisters. It wasn’t often that Rei went out into the heart of the city, but today they needed to pick up several groceries along with a few other items here and there. Every other vendor they walked by, Rei had to drag big brother on over to check them out. Right then, she was enamored with the brightly colored marionettes. The Brazilian man smiled at the young girl, making them do a little dance in front of her. Naoki just leaned against a pole and watched his kid sister giggle, the sound vibrating through his body.
“How much are they?” Rei innocently as the merchant, only to have her brother instantly butt in.
“Too much for us to afford. Come on, Rei, we need to get going.”
“But, but-”
“Rei, we have enough toys at home,” he gently took his sisters hand and looked over to the merchant and bowed gracefully to him. The poor guy looked confused as the two bickered in Japanese, but it was common place in the city to have such a diverse culture. Every other person that walked on by was speaking in a different tongue.
“We don’t have enough toys at home! They’re all old and rotten and falling apart!” She pouted, looking away from Naoki. And she was right. The toys the little ones had were the same worn out ones that Naoki played with when he was little. Then again, he was grateful to have something in comparison to nothing. What else were they to expect living in such a low-rent community? They should have been thankful to have a roof over their heads. And even if they did have the money to buy the dolls, Misao would have cried, knowing that they wouldn’t have money for food tomorrow or to pay the water bill or even pay off another debt to the gangs. Rei was still too young to understand.
“Rei, listen to me.” Naoki stopped and turned her around to face him, kneeling down before her with his hand on her shoulders. “You need to be grateful for the little things in life. We can’t be needy people. We need to accept what we are given in life and make the best out of it.”
“You mean the fact we’re poor?”
Oh, there was no denying those lovely, brown puppy eyes his sister was giving him. With a sigh, Naoki reluctantly nodded his head. “Just because we’re poor doesn’t mean we have to be happy. You have your family and all your friends down the street and that little doll I gave to you on your fourth birthday-”
“Oh, the one who put a spell on?!” Rei seemed to perk up immensely at that one, though Naoki instantly shushed her. Misao had always warned Naoki to be careful with his magical abilities. It wasn’t something taken lightly in this day and age. Maybe sometime down the road, but not now. Yelling out loud in a crowd about an enchanted doll was not a good thing.
“...yes, that doll.” It was the first item he ever put a permanent ward on, this one in particular to keep all boys in her age range away from her. Oh yes, he was that kind of older brother. And now he was older and just hit level 4 with his magic. He was still new to healing, but now he could create soothing spells to calm the little one. Smoothing a hand over her hair, he murmured lightly in Japanese, chanting a simple soothing spell that Misao had taught him. One that swept away the worries and left the subject more optimistic. Consider it an anti-depressant of white magic, but it seemed to work on Rei. She looked on up to Naoki and smiled as if nothing bad ever happened. And with that done, they headed on off to the bus station.
Naoki was used to walking everywhere to work. Money for the tolls was extra cash that could be used elsewhere to help out with the family. Not to mention it was good exercise, though with tiny Rei in tow, she complained about walking too much, thus they would take the bus back home. She was busy skipping around the area while Naoki sat on one of the benches with their bags next to them. It was a typical day in Rio de Janeiro - blistering hot with barely a breeze rolling on by. He liked it that way, though. Meant he could break out the lighter colored clothing and get away with it.Tilting his head back, he closed his eyes and enjoyed the stronger breeze that blew on by, letting it comb through his brown hair in the process.
It wasn’t until he felt a shade suddenly fall over him that he opened his eyes and realized the two of them were not alone.
“Good afternoon, Naoki. Such a pleasant surprise to see you here.” The voice was a thick Brazilian one. Deep, yet menacing. He had heard that voice several times and knew exactly who it was, not wanting to look just to double check. It was the same gang that stopped on by on a weekly basis to pound money out from his mother, sometimes quite literally. Damn the men in her life leaving her with such debts to pay off. He hoped those morons were burning in hell somewhere. But now wasn’t the time to be worrying about that. Before him were at least six men, all of them dressed like stereotypical gang members with their bandanas and rolled up sleeves, all of them holding some sort of blunt weapon in hand. Naoki wouldn’t have been surprised if they had guns hidden under their clothing as well.
“What are you doing here?” Naoki growled lightly, his eyes narrowing onto their leader.
“Oh, isn’t it obvious? Was actually going to take the bus on down to see your dear mother, but it looks like you’re here, so maybe I can talk to you directly. You’re always so insistent on stepping in and telling us to mind our manners.” He paused for a second, looking to his men as if giving a silent cue to laugh at the witch. “Now that we have you all alone, maybe we can teach you some manners, am I right, boys?”
Naoki didn’t like the snide looks that swept across their faces, some of them palming a few of the lead pipes they had in hand. Now wasn’t the time for this bullshit, that was for sure. Part of him wondered where the hell were the cops when you needed them, but then he remembered that a vast majority were either paid off or were too chickenshit to even deal with the crime. And people wondered why over thirty people were killed on sometimes a daily basis in the city. He was about to stand up and try to stand his ground, but the leader suddenly flinched in pain and let out an immense cry.
“YOU LEAVE BIG BROTHER ALONE!” Leave it to Rei to waltz in, innocent as could be, and kick the gang member square in the balls. Ok, that earned Rei a marionette doll and Naoki would put aside his own personal money to reward her with that later, but right now fear flooded Naoki’s face. Rei had been innocently playing off to the side, probably not even associated with him in the gang’s mind, but now she brought all the attention to herself. She stood there, huffing and puffing with angry eyebrows and all. With a feral growl, the leader whipped his hand back in an attempt to strike the child, but Naoki’s speed outplayed him as he darted in to pull Rei back. Back up to give them some distance, they all stared each other down, Naoki even catching sight of a couple of the grunts finally revealing their handguns.
...fuck.
It was then that the bus showed up, being driven by the typical, crazy Brazilian driver that took a sharp corner and honked furiously to grab people’s attention. This wasn’t enough to distract the gang, but it was enough to grab Naoki’s attention. “Rei, get on the bus,” he whispered to her in Japanese, clutching onto her dearly, afraid to let her go.”
“Not unless you’re coming with me,” she insisted back in their native tongue.
“...no. Rei, listen to me-” He shook slightly while watching the gang step in closer, his heart racing out of control. “-You’re going without me.”
“But-”
“Get on the bus, take the bags, and go to Ka-chan. Tell her everything will be alright.”
“Nao-”
“I’ll be there later.”
The bus came to an abrupt stop, wheels squeaking against the asphalt. He could hear one of the gun being cocked back.
“Don’t worry about-”
“NAOKI!”
The split second was a complete blur to Rei and she would never be able to recall what happened down to the exact detail. Relying on his speed, now amped by a serious adrenaline rush, Naoki swiped the bags on the bench and booked it to the bus the second the doors opened. Several bullets roared past him, echoing in the streets. The driver began screaming in Portuguese, obviously not wanting to fuck around with some crazed gang members and began to drive off. Naoki had already boarded the bus before the doors closed, dropping Rei and the bags down, knowing she had enough money on her to pay the fares. The second she was down, he eyed one of the opened windows and took that as his exit, launching himself off of one of the seats and dove right through the opening, only to hit the pavement, roll back onto his feet, and kept sprinting. And people wondered where he learned his parkour skills.
The men followed him, sprinting down the complex streets of the city, screaming out at him and sending more bullets flying. Innocent bystanders screamed and ducked for cover as Naoki blazed on by. Not once did he slow down, panting heavily as he jumped over and through various obstacles. It didn’t matter if it was a car or a building, he went through it. His actions were flawless, showing off the many years of training and timing all of his movements perfectly. The first rule of parkour was to never stop running. Always moving on his feet was a bonus. He had to outrun and outwit these morons on his tail. And the second rule was to use everything to his advantage, which he certainly did. He might have pissed off several civilians on the way as he jumped up on their vendor tables and sprinted over their merchandise, but he merely saw it as yet another day in Rio de Janeiro. Another day in his fear-filled life.
Eventually, they came to a construction zone, something that anyone with parkour skills would have viewed as a playground, thus explaining Naoki’s smile. He didn’t think - he just did. He used the structure of the unfinished buildings as jungle gym, climbing and swinging and launching his way up higher. Some of the gang members below stood at the bottom and continued to shoot, only to find their efforts useless. A couple others tried to find other ways to get on up to him, like an elevator, though it was slow in comparison to Naoki. By the time they hit the roof tops, Naoki was halfway down them, jumping skillfully over to the next one. He figured that the men wouldn’t dare to chase him down a narrow beam at least five stories above the ground. This was where he considered himself victorious. He could run down these unfinished buildings and then end up on the outskirts of his neighborhood and be home in five minutes. It was perfect. He was almost there. Just a couple more buildings to jump. One foot after the other. Everything carefully planned and calculated. With the last foot planted on the beam, he launched himself out for a jump.
And that was when the bullet lodged into his ankle.
A scream escaped Naoki’s lips, pain surging through his body. His concentration was broken, no longer concerned about how off he would be in his landing. Only by a foot. He could grab the ledge and pull himself up. There was wiggle room. He could do it. Reaching a hand out, his fingertips didn’t even graze the ledge. There was nothing Naoki could do now, except freefall his way to death. He swore his heart had already stopped beating the time he hit the first beam, breaking part of his fall. After three more collisions, he finally hit the ground, motionless.
Misao was the first thing he saw when he woke up. He didn’t know where he was, surrounded by nothing but white. Rei was there, too, along with his other sisters. Several nurses surrounded him, trying desperately to keep him stabilized. He counted at least ten people in the room and except it to sound just as busy as the streets of downtown.
So why did it sound like everyone was whispering?
His mother held his hand hard, tears forming in her eyes. She was saying something to him, but he could barely make it out. Needles were being jabbed into his skin while nurses took his blood pressure. His head throbbed with an immeasurable amount of agony. Screw the bullet to his ankle, this sucked even more. A doctor was eventually by his side, flashing lights in his face and examined his wounds.
“... a mira-.... he didn’t d-.... the f-... n’t think th-... again.”
The words faded in and out, even though this man was right next to him. He didn’t know what he was saying, but as his eyes flicked on over to his mother, he could tell it wasn’t good. He thought she was holding back and just silently crying, but it was unknown to him that her sorrowful cries echoed with distraught in the room and even down the hallways.
“...oki.”
He sat there, rubbing his eyes, not even acknowledge the fact he was being spoken to.
“...i.”
He was busy flipping through Misao’s spell book, trying to find a spell to help relieve him of his immense headache. Anything to soothe the pain. It was cheaper than painkillers, that was for sure. He had barely been home for several hours and the entire time Misao tried to grab his attention.
“Nao.... Naoki.”
His name finally came into his ears, turning his head to see that Misao was standing inches away from him. Her eyes were still watery, placing a caring hand against her son’s cheek as she stared into his eyes.
“Forgive me, I didn’t mean to be poking around in your spell book, just trying to find something that-”
Misao quietly reached over to the spellbook and closed it, picking it up and placed it off to the side. She then took a seat before her son and stared at him with hesitation before she spoke up again. “Your medi... on. We c... n’t af... it, Nao....” He sat there, confused as all hell while leaning in and trying to figure out what exactly his mother was saying. She blinked away the tears and then looked around the room for something to write on. After obtaining a scrap piece of paper, she scribbled onto it in Japanese:
‘Your medication. We can’t afford it, Naoki. The hospital was kind enough to give us some free ones for the first week, but we don’t have the money to get more. We’d have to be living on the streets if we did use the money for it. I don’t want to put any of us in that scenario. I-’
Misao paused, blinking away some more tears in the process. Her son leaned in to brush away her tears, a worried look strung upon his face. “Ka-chan, I can work double shifts. I can get more money. I can-” She shook her head and placed her fingers up to his lips, then continued to write slowly:
‘I’m sorry, Naoki. I’ve failed you as a mother. I wanted to protect you for as long as I could, but I haven’t. I never wished this upon you. I hope you can forgive me.’
There was more written there, but Naoki chose to ignore it for the time being and instead pulled Misao into a hard, loving hug. He could barely hear her weeping, but all that mattered to him was that he was there for her. Right now he wanted to make her happy, make her smile again. She didn’t fail him in his eyes. This was his fault. It would be a while until he finally broke the embrace, but it was then that he read the final words she wrote:
‘You’re going deaf.’
It was in the middle of winter when Naoki didn’t wake up to the sound of cars racing on by the house. He woke up several hours later than expected. It didn’t occur to him that he couldn’t even hear the bed sheets rustle as he woke up and instead focused on rolling out of bed and helping his mother with breakfast. His footsteps were silent as he neared the kitchen, spotting Misao cooking. He saw her lips moving, but heard nothing. Even the pan wasn’t sizzling like it usually did. When she turned her head to eye him, wondering why he wasn’t responding to her question, it was then she realized the somber stare in his eyes. Facing him straight on, she spoke again, and Naoki realized that no matter how loudly she spoke or how close she was, he would never hear a single world slip past her lips again.
And maybe it was a good thing, for now he could never hear his mother cry again, a sound that made his own eyes swell up with tears, but he could still see the agony curling up in her face as she dropped down to her knees, screaming out to nothing in an attempt to ask why this had to happen. Naoki didn’t know what she said, but all that mattered was that she was falling apart. Dropping to his knees to catch her, Naoki held his dear mother close, refusing to let go until she stopped shaking in his arms, even if that took the entire morning.