literature

Sumiko Story, Chapter 9

Deviation Actions

Plot-Chick's avatar
By
Published:
442 Views

Literature Text

Chapter 9: A devious plot and deadly glares
“If looks could kill, so the saying goes… shouldn’t we be thankful they don’t?”
••
“So, you’re a ninja, right?” Fozen asked over lunch several days later. ‘Lunch’ consisting of a lumpy brown liquid that was supposed to be stew.
“Well, yeah,” I said, shooting a dirty glare in the direction of the brown goo.
“And you can use all of those cool ninja-move-things, right?” He asked again.
“Techniques?”
“Yeah, those things.”
“Well, sure I guess.”
“Okay, so what I don’t get,” he said slowly, pushing the goo in his bowl around. “Is why don’t just bust yourself outta’ here. I mean, you could like, vanish or teleport and be gone before the guards could even say ‘escapist’.” He paused for a moment. “Come to think of it, I’m not entirely sure they could say the word escapist anyway. They’d probably just say ‘oops’.”
I giggled. What Fozen had said was true… probably. The most I had ever heard the guards talk was when they would come around to make the privy call.
Nevertheless, Fozen had a point. I had considered using Akira’s wind technique to escape, but I didn’t know that one. Even if I did, I hadn’t practice it, meaning that if I mess up one tiny little bit, or put in too much or too little of either good or bad chi, I could end up somewhere very unpleasant. Like a desert, or the middle of an ocean… or even the middle of the Delranian empire!
No, that wouldn’t be much use. I could always blow a hole through the wall, but that had its own problems.
“I’m not going to teleport out of here because I don’t know how, and every other idea I’ve thought of is more problematic than the last.” I answered, setting my stew down on the bench beside me.
Fozen raised an eyebrow. “Everything else?”
“Of course,” I answered, shrugging my shoulders. “I mean, there are tons of ways to break out of this place. But like I said, in our situation, they’d all be more problematic then helpful.”
“Just how may plans do you have?” He asked in astonishment.
I thought for a little while. “Umm… 32, I think. No, wait… 34,” I said, correcting myself.
Fozen just gawked for awhile, before recovering himself. “Alright then, tell me the one that have the highest percent of working, I’m curious,” He said, setting aside his ‘stew’ as well.
“Okay… well number one would be to teleport us out of here. We’d be out no problem, but I don’t remember how that one works… I haven’t learned it yet. And there are… other problems that go along with teleportation.”
“What about the others?”
“Hmm… well the only other two I could think of that would work would be to a) be devious about it and drill a hole through one of the walls, or b) be really obvious about it, and just blast a hole through one of the walls.” I said, looking up a t Fozen.
He stared back at me skeptically. “You? Blast a hole through the wall? Are you sure you can do that?”
“That’s just it though, that’s the problem! Or… one of them anyway. See, I don’t know what’s on the other side of these walls, If they were just any old stone wall, then there’s be no question about how to get out. But what f this place is built into a cliff or something? I was unconscious when they brought me here, so I have no idea. Or maybe there’s a homicidal maniac on the other side—not everyone here can be framed, right? Neither one of those scenarios has a pleasant end. Also, there’s the somewhat trivial matter, of what would happen when I blasted the wall… seeing as we have nothing here to drill with, which was the major bummer with that particular plan. If I did blast the walls, chips of rock would go flying everywhere, and who knows how big they would be? It wouldn’t do us much good to blast a hole through the wall, just to be knocked out by the flying debris.”
“Okay, I get the point. But… just out of curiosity… what are the other reasons they wouldn’t work? You mentioned there might be more than one.”
“Actually, there are three that pretty much ruin all of my plans. That wall one is the first. The second is that, I don’t know where we are. So even if I did  escape, what would I do next? There’s no point in escaping if you’ve no where to escape to.”  I explained, gesturing with my hands.
“And the third?” Fozen asked, interested.
“Well… I don’t know. It’s kind of more, eh, personal. Not like that, I just mean that… well it probably wouldn’t apply to you or anything.” I said, and then realized I’d just given the basic description of the word ‘personal’, and felt stupid.
“No, really, I want t hear it,” Fozen persisted.
“Are you sure? It’ll probably sound pretty corny,” I warned.
“What else am I going to do? He said, gesturing at the emptiness around him.
“Right…” I said, scanning the room. “Well, the third is because… I’m… I’m waiting for… my brother,” I muttered, looking away.
“Oh, okay,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. That was something I was beginning to like about Fozen. He didn’t make a big deal out of things… well normally. He had made a big deal out of the fact that I was a ninja… and I suspected he still had a little trouble understanding that I was something right out of a fairytale. I think though, that was to be expected. Considering I was, like I said a basic living breathing fairytale to him… I suppose it’d be like finding a dragon sleeping in my bed at home.
“You sure talk about him a lot,” Fozen said, suddenly. “Your brother, I mean.”
Busted. I had been trying not to think about him too much… but I guess I wasn’t doing as well as I’d thought I was. “Yeah, well, I miss him a lot,” I said.
“What about the rest of your family?” he asked, looking out the window. “Don’t you miss them too?”
I winced slightly. Yes… Yes I did miss them. A lot more then I could possibly hope to put into words—that’s why I avoided thinking about them-- to avoid being crushed by survivors guilt, and grief. Come to think of it, when was the last time I had thought about them? A year ago? Four? I couldn’t recall. “The rest of my family is dead.” I answered mechanically. “They died a long time ago in a fire when I was a kid. They’ve… They’ve been dead for eight years.” I didn’t want to think about them right now. I honestly didn’t want to think about them  ever it would always hurt so much. I shoved the matter to the back of my mind, as always. I decided I’d save that little self-discussion for another time.
I felt Fozen stiffen next to me, but when he spoke, his voice was soft. “Oh, I’m sorry… I… had no idea. Forgive me for prying.”
“It’s okay,” I said, attempting to smile at him. “How could you have known? Anyway, Akira’s been my family for the last eight years. Like I said, I just miss him, that’s all.” I scrutinized Fozen for a moment. “You know, you kinda remind me of him a little.”
“What?”
“Well, I mean temperament-wise, you’re both quiet. Beside that, you’re both pretty tall with black hair and seem to do a lot of thinking. Akira knows lots of things I’ve never heard of, and I have a feeling you’re the same way,” I said, smiling up at him. Though I hadn’t noticed it before, Fozen really was a lot like Akira. I suddenly found myself wishing I knew more about him….
He didn’t seem to know how to react to what I’d just said to him. Finally he settled on an “… umm… thanks?”
“You’re welcome,” I said, beaming again, and ignoring the hesitation in his voice. Anyone who reminded me of my brother was good in my book, and I really meant it as a compliment.
Regardless of that though, I really liked Fozen anyway. He was a little mysterious, not too nosey, and pretty laid back, but really smart at the same time. I he as very handsome as well, though I’d never really seriously thought about it. It was weird, he always moved with this kind of graceful elegance that made him look as though he didn’t really care about anything in particular. (Something I knew I’d never manage to pull off) In short, Fozen just about everything that I wasn’t. This only made it stranger that I liked him so much. I had a feeling he was the kind of person who’d make a great friend—once you got to know him.
“What about you?” I asked, “Where’s you’re family?”
This… was the wrong thing to say. It felt as though the cell’s temperature had suddenly dropped several degrees. Fozen looked away and I felt a little mental ‘wall’ shoot up in between us. Too late I realized I’d said the wrong thing. I needed to fix this… preferably soon. It would be awfully lonely if the one person I felt that I could talk to right now was mad at me.
“Oh, I’m sorry! You know, you don’t have to talk about them either! I was just thinking… so, uh … how ‘bout that blue sky?” I continued to babble on about useless nonsense for a while until I felt the atmosphere lift a bit. Note to self:
Fozen+family=bad.
“Dishes!” the familiar voice of the old man crowed through the door.
“I’ll take care of this one,” I said hastily, gathering up our hardly touched meals.
The old man was surprised to see me at the door. Usually Fozen did this, not because I couldn’t, but to keep the guards panic to a minimum. When the guards were in their happy place, everything was a lot nicer around the jail, and, wherever it happened to be, their happy place didn’t include me. They still seemed to jump when I moved and most flinched when I talked to them. It must have really scared them when I thrown their officer off the bridge. Admittedly, that thought gave me some smug satisfaction… even if it did hurt a little that I was now being treated as though I were some insane killer, which I wasn’t.
Still the old man put on a brave face. “Oh, it’s you,” he said gruffly, before snatching the bowls from my hands and half-walking, half-running off.
The distraction hadn’t lasted nearly as long as I had been hoping it would. All to soon I found myself sitting back down on the heavy wooden bench next to Fozen.
“Maybe this is how they kill their prisoners,” I thought vaguely, tracing circles in the wood grain beside me. “They torture them to death via boredom”
There was absolutely nothing to do in a place like this. I found myself wondering how Fozen had managed to keep himself from going insane all alone in this cell. Maybe he had some kind of special power. I looked over at him. He was staring vaguely out the window, looking deep in thought.
“So… where do you come from?” I asked, daring to break the heavy silence. “Where did you live before… whatever happened, happened?
Fozen was quiet for a moment, his eyes were distant, as though he were seeing something thousands of miles away. He looked almost… wistful. I wasn’t sure he was even going to answer me, when he finally answered in a low even tone, “I come from a land called Ridazken.”
“Where’s that?” I asked curiously.
“It’s right about the same area as Delren, though our countries weren’t exactly famous for getting along.”
“Can you describe it for me,” I asked, leaning forward on my perch.
Fozen closed his eyes for a moment. “It’s… big…” he said in a soft voice. “I lived in a small well-known town called Jrazik that was right on the border with Delren. Our country, Ridaken, was famous for its beautiful gems and stones, so there was generally a lot of mining, but not in my town. It was pretty quiet… well, usually. There was a forest not too far from where I lived, and I used to visit sometimes. It was filled with every kind tree you can imagine, spruce, oak, rowan, hemlock….”
“It sounds beautiful,” I breathed, imagining all the different kinds of trees, and beautiful gems he’d mentioned.
“It was,” He answered simply, shrugging his shoulders. “What about you?” He asked, opening his eyes to look at me. “You mentioned something about Satoki earlier…. Where exactly is that? I’ve never found it on any of our maps….”
“You know, I’m not really sure where Satoki is,” I said, deflating a little. “I’m not exactly sure how we got here either. Up until a few weeks ago, I never knew any of this existed. Delren, Ridazken, Terragondia, those places… I’d never heard of them or seen them on our maps either. Where I come from is a very different place.” I said, vehemently.
“How so?” He asked, sounding more than a little curious.
Have you ever tried to describe something you should know like the back of your hand, and suddenly found out it’s not as easy as you thought it would be? Well, that’s how I felt right about now. I tried to picture Satoki, the place I’d grew up in all my life, from the eyes of someone who had never seen it before. “Well… Satoki is… huge. Way bigger than Terragondia. It has seven countries within it, but it’s like… a nation in itself. It’s hard to explain. I came from a country call Islacaan, which means Isles of song, but it’s actually a country made up of several small islands… I think there are two to four in total. I’m afraid I don’t really know what the rest of Satoki is like… except for what I’ve heard from the stories. I’ve never been off the islands before.”
“Describe the islands for me then,” Fozen said gesturing gracefully with one hand.
“Well… in a word…they’re… they’re….” I paused trying to find the right word to describe what had been my home for 16 years. “For lack of a better word… different.”  I said, apologetically. “Well, at least from here. For one thing, but we still had meadows, just not quite as big as though in Terragondia. But most of the area was forest. It was very beautiful, especially in the spring when the cherry blossoms bloomed. Oh, and of course the beaches! I remember when I was a little girl; I used to think the ocean went on forever.” That was only one, in a long list of fantasies from my childhood.
“I’ve… never been to the ocean,” Fozen confessed, slowly.
“Really?” I asked, astonished.
“Not many people I know have. I mean I’ve heard of it, but…. Ridazken is a landlocked country and Terragondia is so big that it takes a long time to get anywhere on foot.” He said, matter-of-factly.
“I-I’m sorry! I didn’t mean for it to come out that way. It’s just that I thought—wait, on foot? How else would you travel?” I said, interrupting myself. I was pretty sure they didn’t have any of the usual ninja means of transportation, which usually involved techniques, so I was curious.
“Well… you could travel in a caravan, I guess, but that gets complicated, and it’s usually slower than on your own anyway. The fastest way to travel, is on horseback. That can usually double your walking distance at least, triple it, it all depends how fast you ride.”
I stared back blankly. “Horse…back?”
“Yeah… y’know, riding, horsebacking… sitting on the back of a moving horse…” he explained, very slowly.
“You mean people actually ride those things?”
“you… didn’t get out much, did you.” He asked, doubtfully.
“Well, no, not really. But I lived on an island. There really wasn’t very much to get out to,” I pointed out defensively.
“Right… sorry, I forgot,” he said, thinking for a moment. “Tell you what, you explain to me more about the ocean, and describe more about the concept of horseback riding.”
“Okay… it’s… umm …big, and ... wet,” I said, nervously. Describing an ocean adequately was also apparently something that was harder than it seemed. “I’m not done yet!” I said defensively, as Fozen shot me a skeptical look.
“It’s ah… let’s see,” I said, biting my lip. “It’s dark blue most of the time, but it can also be a light green. Oh, and all of the water is salty, you can’t drink any of it. It’s the most beautiful, and frightening thing ever seen in my life. The water was never warm where I was, not even in the summertime. Sometimes when you watch it, it has these… emotions. Like, how it moves in the middle of a storm, when the waves swirl back and forth, with the wind cutting across the top, and the rain pounding the choppy black surface… you get the feeling that it’s… angry. Then, on calm days, the sun shines down and… it makes the water sparkle. It glitters and shines a deep blue color to rival the skies, and it’s so… peaceful and quiet.” I had closed my eyes, locked in the rapture of a memory. “It’s big and powerful. When you’re around it, you actually get the feeling that it’s … alive.” I said, opening my eyes to see Fozen staring back at me thoughtfully. “There really are no words to describe it.” I continued. “I made it sound so poetic, but really, it’s just a bunch of salty water.” I said, trying to be a little more realistic.
I sighed, remembering the picture had conjured up in my head. “Still though… you really should see it… if you get the chance that is.”
Fozen was quiet for a while, his face thoughtful. Then finally, he said, “That was definitely the best description I’ve heard. Hands down.” He said, purple eyes glittering with unspoken thoughts. “I think I will go visit the ocean, if we ever get out of here.” He said, tapping the wall behind us. “Now, horseback riding….”
He spent the next few hours describing to me, in great detail, the equipment, and technique to riding a horse. The concept wasn’t too hard, and I grasped it pretty quickly, it was the little things that confused me. That was mainly why it took so long, because of my asking so many questions. He answered each one, however, indifferently, never losing patience with me. We finally had to stop when the guards gave the privy call. I apologized to Fozen for needing to leave, but I had avoided the privy as long as I could. He shrugged indifferently, saying it was an unavoidable part of life.
When I returned, I discovered dinner had been delivered in my absence. “Dinner” consisting of the same mysterious substance as lunch, the only difference being that this patch was green.
“What is this?” I asked, poking at the stuff in my bowl with a spoon, which bounced off the rubbery surface.
“I don’t really know, and in all honesty, I’m not entirely sure I want to,” Fozen said, taking a small bite of the mush.
I wrinkled my nose—this place was disgusting.
Fozen looked up. “You’re going to have to eat something sooner or later, you can’t starve yourself.”
“Watch me,” I said dryly.
“Look,” Fozen said, placing his bowl to the side. “You need to eat something…. You know, if you plug your nose, it’s not quite as bad. I not saying I like it, but it’s better than nothing. Besides, they say it’s supposed to be healthy for you.”
“And since when do you listen to the guards?”
“Since now, now eat it.” He said, thrusting the other bowl in my direction.
I took it, shooting a disgusted glare at the contents of the bowl again. Then, reluctantly, I took a bite. The mush (which was more like congealed stew) slid slowly own my throat, and it took a great deal of my self control to keep from hurling it back up again.
“Plug your nose,” Fozen said, watching my reaction.
I did as I was told before daring to take another bite of the slime that was our dinner. Much to my surprise, Fozen’s advice worked wonders. When you couldn’t smell it, the mush gained a sort of blandness that reminded me of plain oatmeal… green oatmeal. I was suddenly aware of exactly how hungry I was—the last thing I had eaten was half a chocolum fruit, and that was two days ago at least. Disgusted as I was, I began to eat my, mush a little more willingly.
“See? What did I tell ya’?” Fozen said, looking relieved that I hadn’t hurled the stuff back up.
“I still don’t trust it,” I said, trying to avoid looking at what I was eating.
“You don’t have to, you just have to eat it,” Fozen said, before plugging his nose and taking a bite of his own mush.
I went to sleep that night considerably fuller than I had the night before, listening to the sounds of Fozen snoring on the bench next to me.

••

I was awoken the next morning by someone shaking me, and Fozen’s urgent whisper.
“Sumiko… Sumiko, wake up! There’s someone here who says he wants to see you.” He sounded anxious.
“Hmm?” I mumbled groggily, slowly opening my eyes. Fozen had one hand on my shoulder, and, although he was facing in my direction, his attention seemed to be focused on a point by the door. He kept shooting nervous glances over my shoulder.
“Wake up Sumiko! Someone is here to see you… he doesn’t look very patient,” he said, shaking me a little again to make sure I was really awake.
I shook my head trying to clear it. Rubbing my eyes, I looked around the room. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Suddenly one of the shadows moved, coming towards us. His path took him right through the sliver of moonlight that illuminated our cell. (The oil lamp had yet to be refilled) The soft silver glow lit up his pale skin tone, and shone off of his long black hair.
“Sumi?” He asked, extending his hand to me, which I took. He pulled me up off the bench where I had been resting. “You’re a mess,” he said, affectionately.
I gazed back at him for a moment, before pulling him into a tight hug. “I’m so glad you came,” I said, not letting go of my tight embrace.
“Well I couldn’t just leave you here,” he replied smoothly.
“Akira….” I replied, letting go to look up at his face again. He was smiling slightly at me. I grinned back. I had missed him so much.
Then I remembered that we weren’t alone. I turned to see that Fozen was sitting on the bench, looking unsure of what to do next. I smiled at him.
“Fozen, this is Akira. He’s my older brother. Akira, this is my cell mate, Fozen.”
“Umm, hi…” Fozen said looking nervously at Akira, who ignored this.
“Sumi, we don’t have time for this, we have to go, before the imperials wake up.” He said, pulling me towards the door.
“Right now?” I asked in surprise.
Yes, right now, when else?” He asked. “If we hurry, we should be able to escape while still under the cover of darkness. I don’t think they would notice two people escaping… even if one of them was a prisoner.”
He had said two people… but there were three people in the cell. I glanced over at Fozen. He was just sitting on the bench, watching the proceedings with a kind of dazed expression. It didn’t seem right to leave him here while I escaped.
Akira noticed my apprehension, and seemed to guess the cause, “Sumi…” he said very quietly, in a warning tone.
Pulling Akira a little towards the door, and lowering my voice so that Fozen wouldn’t her what we were saying, I murmured, “What about Fozen? We can’t just leave him here.”
Akira glanced over at Fozen, and then back at me. The look in his eyes was very clear. ‘yes, we really could just leave him here Sumi.’
“No, we can’t,” I responded verbally, giving his arm a sharp tug. “It’s just not right” I said, in an even lower undertone.
“Sumiko,” He said in a low voice, “you’ve only just met him. I have everything all set up for a two person escape—we can’t just add another person!”
“But we can’t just leave him here either, Akira, we just can’t!”
“Sumi—If I could take him, I would,” I got the distinct impression he was lying. Something about the way he looked at Fozen told me Akira would have had no qualms whatsoever in leaving him behind. “But, we just can’t.  There isn’t enough time, and he doesn’t have the build, or the … agility to perform some of the stunts that he would need to execute my plan!”
“Then let’s think of a new one! We can do it together, I’d help, and Fozen would too. I’m sure if we just built off your plan, we could make one so that we could all escape.”
“Sumi— “
“Akira, I’m not leaving without Fozen,” I said, stubbornly. Akira looked as if he wanted to argue, glancing from me to Fozen, then back to me. Then I saw a reluctant acceptance creep in to his expression, accompanied by slight helplessness and disdain.
“Fine… we’ll take him along too,” he said at last, shooting a glare in Fozen’s direction. …If looks could kill, Fozen had just gotten a triple homicide. “But we’ll need to revise my current plan. He’s far too clumsy for the original,” he said, just loud enough so that Fozen would hear.
I yanked on Akira’s arm playfully, but hard enough that he would know I didn’t think much of what he’d just done.“It’s still early enough,” I said, hopefully, “ Maybe you could hang around for awhile and we could brainstorm a new plan.”
“No… I need to leave for now. I have to cover for the imperials temporary… er… disappearance. I’ll be back later to come up with a new plan. If we’re quick, we should be able to implement it by tomorrow.” He said, turning to leave.
I grabbed his hand, and he paused. “Be careful,” I said, so that only he could hear what I was saying. “I miss you when you’re gone.”
He turned around half-way so that he could look at me, his black eyes softened by affection. “I will… you too.” He said, giving me a one-armed hug. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”  And then he was gone.
I walked over to sit back down on the bench next to Fozen, feeling pleased with myself.
“I… don’t think your brother likes me very much,” he said, half amused, half scared.
“Well, I’m not entirely sure it’s you,” I said slowly. “He could have just been being… himself. Akira’s like that—he’s pretty cautious around new people, but he gets nicer once you get to know him. Besides, Akira’s always been a little… overprotective. It’s kind of something you get used to.”
“Yeah, or he could just not like me,” Fozen said.
“Fozen, I’m positive it’s not just you. He’s probably just annoyed that I got myself arrested, and that he had to come out here and get me, and—”
“He’s not mad at you,” Fozen said, interrupting me. He pointed a finger in my direction to emphasize his point.
“How do you know?”
“Just trust me, it’s not you.” He said, shaking his head.
“Okay, okay,” I said, waving a hand impatiently in his direction, “He was probably just being overprotective again.” The way he acted sometimes… it was as if I needed help to stand up. Still he wasn’t usually so upfront about it. “That’s the weird part… it was so obvious though. He’s been acting more and more like this… especially since—” I cut myself off. I had been thinking out loud by accident, and had almost said his name. I wasn’t sure why, but I didn’t really want to think about him. I didn’t want anything to do with him right now. Not even his name… not now.
“Ever since… what?” Fozen asked, startling me out of a trance I hadn’t realized I was in.
I closed my eyes and shook my head, trying to clear it. “Nothing… just nothing. Forget I said anything, okay? Just…” I put a hand to my head. My thoughts weren’t clearing. “But… Akira… he was probably, just being… overprotective again…” I said, trying to get back to the discussion we’d been having.
“Okay,” Fozen said skeptically. It was obvious that he didn’t believe me. “Where, or I suppose that’d be why did he go?”
“Where, I’m not exactly sure. Why, to—what was it he said? Oh yes, to ‘cover for the imperial’s temporary disappearance’… at least that’s what he said.” I explained.
Fozen raised his eyebrows. “Imperials?”
“That’s what he said.”
Fozen put his hand over his face and muttered something I didn’t quite catch, but I thought I heard the word ‘crazy’ uttered more than once.
“At least I got him to agree to take you along,” I said, trying to change the subject.
“What?!” Fozen seemed stunned. “What about you? Aren’t you supposed to be escaping right now or… something like that?”
“Well…. Yeah, but… I didn’t want to leave you all alone here again, I mean, uh… I,” I said, blushing. “I’m sorry, I probably shouldn’t be taking such and interest, but… it… it just didn’t seem right.”
“And your brother just agreed to let me tag along?” He asked, skeptically.
I blushed deeper, wondering, not for the first time, why this guy was always so persistent. “Well… ah, no… actually, he wasn’t quite so keen in the idea…. But he promised me he would, and Akira never breaks a promise. Besides, I convinced him to come up with a new escape plan with us, and…” and he never does anything too nasty when I’m around, I thought, but I decided not to voice that particular detail. I substituted for it by saying, “I’ll help you, and I’m sure Akira will too…. Once he gets used to the idea.”
Fozen was quiet for a bit. He looked like he was sizing me up for a moment, before he finally said, “Huh… well then, thanks.”
“Sure, besides, didn’t you say you were framed? That means you were never really supposed to be here in the first place.” I added.
“Yeah, and you attacked the Delrainian royal army.” He said, with a dry chuckle.
“Yeah… I guess that means I do kinda belong here….” I said with a crooked smile.
“Nah, they deserved it. You just got thrown in here to make them feel better.” Fozen said, shrugging his shoulders. I giggled.
“What was that for?” He asked, surprised.
“What?”
“The laugh, you’re in jail, there’s nothing funny here… except for what they put in the stew.”
I giggled again. “I know… it’s just, I can’t help it! You say the funniest things sometimes.”
“Umm… thanks?” He said, raising an eyebrow, and somehow managing to look amused without smiling.
“But now that you mention it… what exactly do you think they out in the stew?” I asked.
“I dunno, but it’s definitely something that’s not supposed to be edible.”
The rest of the early morning was spent contemplating what mysterious ingredients might be added to the so-called ‘food’ here. Akira came back around eleven, bearing three loaves of bread, which Fozen and I were glad to see. (We had foregone a breakfast of jail stew after the conversation earlier that morning)
As we sat there munching on our bread, Akira explained to us the new plan he’d been devising all morning. We chipped in every now and then to correct little details, or to offer up tips, but for the most part, stayed quiet. It was a very good plan, and by the time he was done explaining and revising it, it was almost one, and a small ray of sunlight was shining through our little window.
All in all, it had been a pretty good day, when something suddenly caught Akira’s attention. He turned and looked at me curiously.
“Sumiko…” he said slowly. “What’s that on your arm?” I looked down at them, curiously. There was nothing unusual about them that I could see, although it was hard to be sure, because the light reflecting off my bracelet was getting in my eye.
I did a mental double take. The bracelet! Suddenly I remembered.
“Sumiko, are you okay? You’re all pale…” Fozen asked in a low voice.
Akira didn’t say anything. He just looked at me for a very long time, waiting for an explanation.  But I was too busy being blinded by my own stupidity to say anything. When Akira saw that an explanation was not forthcoming, he asked, “Sumi… where did you get that bracelet?”
“A… a boy, in the market… he… he gave it to me… on the day I was arrested.”
“Why?”
I briefly remembered Rohan saying, “How about a consolation prize?”
“He gave it to me… because— ” I stopped as I remembered  something else Rohan had said. “Can you meet me there… without anyone knowing?”
If I told Akira the truth, he would want to know more about Rohan, and how I met him, then he would want to know more about his family, and I would have to tell him about …him. Then he’d probably ban me from meeting Rohan ever again. It’d be like house arrest.
But did it really matter? I’d already missed the suggested date by at least two days, if not more. He’d Probably forgotten about it by now. Moved on and decided I hadn’t really wanted to know, since I shown up… but still…. Ugh, it was all so complicated! Why was all this happening to me? I never asked for it!
“Sumi?” Akira asked again.
“He gave it to me… because I won a bet.” I said. It wasn’t an absolute lie, but it wasn’t exactly the truth either.
“A bet?” Akira asked, dubiously. Though Fozen hadn’t said anything as of yet, he looked equally doubtful.
“Y-yeah… he bet I couldn’t break a board for him, and I bet I could… and… and things just kind of took off from there.” I said, trying to come up with something Akira might believe.
He stared at me for a moment, eyebrows raised. “Well,” he said at last, “don’t do anymore favors like that. It’s too conspicuous, and it’s conspicuousness that got you here in the first place.”
“Yes, Akira…” I breathed a sigh of relief.
Fozen had opened his mouth to say something, but I glared at him out of the corner of my eye. He closed his mouth.
Akira, who thankfully hadn’t noticed this, continued with a recap of his plan. “Okay, so Sumiko will take out the guards on this level, who also happen to serve as the privy escort. So you take them out on your way to the restroom and while you do that—”
“How?” I asked, before he got too far ahead.
“How, what Sumiko?”
“How should I take out the guards?”
“I don’t care… use your imagination. Just make sure it’s quiet… and try to keep it clean.” He said dismissively. That was fine by me… I had a very good imagination.
“As I was saying,” Akira continued, “while you do that, Fozen and I will break out of the cell and get rid of any extra guards or unfortunate witnesses. Then I’ll go off to clear the entry way, while you and Fozen rendezvous at the main foyer for this floor, and make your way down towards the main hall from there via the stairwell. If we time it right, you’ll be there right after the guard’s shift, so there shouldn’t be any unexpected visitors. However I can’t guarantee there won’t be any surprises, in case I’m wrong, and you do encounter a patrol, I want you Fozen to cover the right side, and Sumiko to cover the left.”
“What’s with the sides?” Fozen asked, inquiringly.
“Excuse me?” Akira said, just a little too politely.
“I mean, why are we assigned separate sides to cover? Wouldn’t it be more efficient just to charge them straight on?” Fozen continued, either not getting, or choosing to ignore Akira’s cold hints.
“Maybe where you come from, but in this operation, I want to make the most of the element of surprise.” Akira said, patiently. “Moreover, the guards will be expecting a head on charge, should they encounter an unexpected guest. That’s what they’ve been trained to deal with, and we can’t afford to do anything expected. Besides that, Sumiko has always had more trouble with her right side rather than her left, and I don’t think you would want to handicap her, should it come to a fight.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked, indignantly.
“You know perfectly well that I am referring to your visual handicap.” Akira replied smoothly.
“Akira!” I said, taken aback. “Well you know that it’s never been a problem before. Besides, I can handle myself.”
“Sumiko, these guards are quick to spot an enemy’s weakness, and quick to take advantage of it. In your case, that could be a very big problem.”
“But it’s never been a problem before! I’m not as weak as you think!”
“I never accused you of being weak,” Akira said calmly. “I simply said it would be better for you to take the left flank should the need to fight occur, which it probably won’t. You might have better senses and reflexes than most, but you also know just as well as I that this is for the better. It’s safer, and then it wouldn’t matter that you have a… problem with you vision.”
“Okay, okay! I’ll take the left flank!” I said quickly. Of course Akira was right… and his reasoning made sense…. I just wish I didn’t have to feel so… so weak. It annoyed me.
“What are you talking about?” Fozen asked, a little impatiently, but not rude.
“We are simply discussing the matter of—”
Nothing! Nothing…. We aren’t talking about anything important.” I said, glaring at Akira. “So if we have to fight, I take the right side, Fozen gets the right. Anything else?” I asked testily, trying to change the subject. (Which had now gotten decidedly uncomfortable)
“No, not really… other than we have about a 30 minute timeline to pull this off, so time is of the essence. Also once you’re in the stairwell, you need to take it down about three levels, which should drop you off at the main hallway leading to the entry way where I’ll be waiting. Then we simply walk out of here.” Akira finished, shrugging his shoulders in a nonchalant manner.
“Hmm… that’s it?” I asked.
“Well, it’s a lot easier said than done, but yes, that’s pretty much it” Akira said.
“So when do we start?” Fozen asked.
“Tonight, at privy call. That gives us… about four hours to get ready.” Akira said, standing up to leave.
“Where are you going?” I asked, curiously.
“Out—I have some things that need to be done if we want this plan to go well. I’ll be back in about three hours or so.” He turned to me and said, “You should rest up, we’ll be traveling hard to get away from here, and you’ll need all to be strong to be of any use tonight. Try taking a nap, or something.”
“Okay,” I said, reaching up and hugging him around the neck. “I’ll try.”
Akira turned to leave. Then, just as he was about to go, he turned to Fozen, and said, “You should rest up too… lest you be, less than alert for tonight.” Then, before Fozen could fire back a retort, he was gone.

Whoop-de-doodle-dee, I'm finlly back!! lol, and I have some chapters for y'all! So this is a very lengthly chapter, I think, but I like it.
And yes, Akira came back. (was there ever any doubt?) I love him too much... That's not a good thing, I think.

I have to say though, my favorite line in this, is the 'triple homicide glare'. Seriously... one of my favorite quotes of all time. and there goes Akira being anti-social again. How will he ever make friends like that?? He doesn't need them though... he probably thinks their annoying. xDD

Alright, so, I don't think I have a lot more to say on this one. Other then, I for got to add this last time as well,

:star: Fozen does not belong to me! :star:
He actually belongs to a friend of mine... :iconxplutoniiumxstephx: and so does the rest of his story. Go check it out. It's awesome. :D

Okay, so I actually listened to too many things while writing this one. ;A; I don't remember them all. xD If you have any ideas, or suggestions, let me know. :D
Please read, enjoy, and let me know wht you think!

~:heart:~

Links

Previous chapter- [link]

Next Chapter- [link]









Fozen (c) Steph. (WHO IS AWESOME <33)
Sumiko story (c) me
© 2008 - 2024 Plot-Chick
Comments0
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In