Otaru grumbled and opened his eyes, squinting at the bright sunlight as it poured into the room. 'Stupid pirahna! Man, those suckers bit HARD!' "Well, good morning. I'm sorry I woke you. I was just changing your bandages. Are you feeling any better?" a young nurse smiled down at Otaru, hiding her amusement. "No. It still hurts," Otaru winced. The nurse fumbled with a piece of surgical tape, trying to peel it off as gently as possible. "Would you like me to speak with your doctor about possibly increasing the dosage of your Demerol?" Otaru nodded. "Yes, please." "All done!" the nurse chirped and replaced his blanket. "You should be out of here by tomorrow!" She swung open the curtain which seperated the double-room and quickly left. As she shut the door behind her, hysterical laughter echoed through the hall outside. "Yeah, yeah," Otaru grumbled. "Laugh it up." He glanced over at the other bed. "Hey! I know you! You're in one of my classes! What are you doing here?" Kazuhiro slowly turned his head towards Otaru and groaned. "Nothing. Had a little... accident at the lab yesterday." "Ew. Hope you're okay! Where've you been for the last few days? I haven't seen you at any calculus classes!" Otaru questioned. "I haven't been feeling all too well, so I took some time off to-" As Kazuhiro mumbled, trying to think of a good excuse, the door burst open, interrupting him. 'Saved by the door,' he thought to himself. With her hands on her hips and a glare on her face, Fumiko came stomping in and glared at Otaru. "I heard what you did! Your mom told me!" Otaru blushed. "How -much- did she tell you?" Fumiko smirked slightly. "Every. Single. Detail." Otaru whimpered and pulled the blanket over his head to hide his embarrassment. "Did you think you could just -buy- my forgiveness with a stupid fish?" Fumiko fumed. "I mean, all you needed to do was tell me that you're sorry and I would've forgiven you! That really hurts, you know? How do you think it makes me feel when you look at other girls! Insecure! That's how! It makes me feel like -I- am not good enough to look at for you or something! ...Besides, I already HAD that kind of fish anyway." "Just please go away, Fumiko. Can't we talk about this when I get home?" Otaru mumbled from under the blanket. "No, we can't! But if that's how you want it? Fine! I'll go away. But I'm not coming back!" Fumiko turned to leave, but stopped when she saw Kazuhiro. "You're Kazuhiro, right? Wow! You look terrible! What happened?" "School project gone awry," Kazuhiro mumbled. "Are you going to be okay?" "...Eventually." "Well, that's good! We've been worried about you in English class. You've missed several days and stuff. I hope you make it back soon! I'll tell everyone that I saw you, though! I've gotta split. If you need anything, give me a call!" Fumiko smiled sweetly, then smirked and turned to Otaru, who had come out of hiding. "Good-bye, Inch-worm." As soon as she shut the door behind her, Kazuhiro raised an inquisitive eyebrow at Otaru. "Inch-worm? What -are- you in here for, anyway?" Otaru groaned, pulled the blanket over his head again and rolled over to face the opposite wall. "Don't ask. Just don't ask." Darwin Society Created by: NeoPuu Chapter 4: See Rakiko. See Rakiko Splash. By: Neko-Neko "Give me a call!" The image ran through Kazuhiro's mind, again and again. 'Was she just being nice? Did she really want me to call her? She barely even knows me! Could she have really noticed I was gone? Did she really worry about me? I think she was just being nice, to either make me feel better or alleviate some guilt for never talking to me before. No reason to get my hopes up.' He sighed and rolled over, trying to get some sleep. "What about this one?" Rakiko held a three piece ensemble consisting of a knee-length blue skirt, a black blazer, and a lacy white blouse. Iruka glanced around the department store nervously. 'Clothing. Racks. Mannequins. Nothing potentially harmful.' "Hello? Iruka?" Rakiko tapped Iruka on the shoulder. Iruka jumped. "WHAT?" "Er... gomen nasai, Iruka. I didn't mean to startle you. What do you think of this one?" She held up the outfit again. "That's very nice, actually. I'll go try it on!" Iruka grabbed the outfit and ran into a dressing room. After a few moments, she emerged and twirled around in front of Rakiko. "So? How's it look?" "Oooooh!" Rakiko smiled. "That looks very good on you! It matches your hair!" Iruka smiled sincerely. She normally didn't like shopping, but she had some extra money and a date to prepare for. So far, nothing bad happened, and she was actually enjoying herself for once. Hopefully, it would stay that way until she got home atleast. "Okay, then! I'll buy it!" Iruka hopped back into the dressing room to change back into her clothes. Iwauchi Dokuro scanned over the whole display of chocolates, nearly drooling. "Bad Dokuro! We're here for Iruka!" he whispered to himself. "May I help you?" A young man looked over the display at Dokuro. "Umm, I need a gift for a date tonight. What's popular?" "Weeell..." the cashier scanned the display for a moment. "Ah! These are new and very popular so far! They're called 'Fran.' It's a chocolate cookie stick dipped in white chocolate syrup. They're very, very sweet. So far, people have gone crazy over them. Would you like to sample one?" "Sure!" Dokuro anxiously accepted a stick and munched. "Wow! These are amazing! I'll take 500 grams." "Half a kilo? That's an awful lot! How many dates did you say you had?" the cashier joked. "She's worth it. Trust me. If you saw her..." After paying the cashier for the chocolates and the giftwrap, he walked out of the store, back in to the mall. As he rounded one corner, Rakiko and Iruka rounded from the other side. Upon seeing each other, Iruka and Dokuro both quickly hid their bags behind their back and blushed. Rakiko glanced at the both of them and giggled. "You two are silly already!" She shook her head and wandered off. "So, we're on for tonight, eh?" Dokuro grinned. "I guess, yeah. Dinner and a movie, right?" Iruka confirmed. "Right! Well, I've got a lot of stuff to do between now and then, so..." As Dokuro stammered and blushed like a love-sick idiot, a loud splash and several screams were heard. Isuka cringed with her gut instinct that somehow, Rakiko was the source. She turned to see several people gathering around the a railing and looking down to the lower level. She blinked and found herself being dragged through the crowd by the arm. "Itai! Not so hard, Dokuro!" "Gomen nasai! I just want to see what happened!" he apologized. General cries of "Oh no!" and "Is she dead?" and "What was she doing?" filled the air. They both leaned over the railing to see Rakiko, laying unconscious in a penny fountain. The water surrounding her was beginning to turn red and security guards were already swarming around the fountain. One was on a phone, calling for an ambulance. "Oh no! Rakiko! What did you do this time?" Iruka gasped and pushed back through the crowd. She ran down the closest flight of stairs she could find. Nearly tripping over her own to feet, she ran up to a security guard. "That's my friend! Is she okay? What happened?" "Step aside, young lady. We have paramedics on the way." Iruka watched with worry. 'I don't get it. I don't even know how she managed this one, nor do I think I want to know. Hopefully, it will teach her a lesson. I hope she's okay. Wait.. what am I saying? I hope she's okay? This is the same girl that will probably send me to an early grave, and I hope she's okay? What has come over me lately? Oh well. I guess I do like her. Now if only she weren't so curious!' Iruka paced back and forth in the waiting room. Dokuro and Rakiko's father sat in chairs, doing general nervous things, such as biting their nails and tapping their feet. Three hours. Rakiko had been in surgery for three hours already. There was no way Dokuro and Iruka had time for their date now! Maybe next weekend? Tick, tick, tick... the clock on the wall kept time with Iruka's pacing. "Umm, Iruka?" Dokuro nearly made Iruka jump out of her own skin. "Sorry. Since we can't go on our date tonight, I might as well give you this now." "Give me what?" Iruka turned around and looked at Dokuro as he pulled out the plain white box with a silver bow. "Aww, a present? That's so sweet!" She sat and quickly excitedly removed the bow. Dokuro watched and smiled. Iruka sure was pretty when she wasn't screaming and running away from someone. Iruka squealed. "Fran! I've always wanted to try these! Thank you!" She turned and threw her arms around Dokuro's neck, pulling him into a tight hug. Realizing her reaction, she quickly backed off and blushed. Dokuro grinned ear to ear. Before they could say anything, a nurse came up to them and spoke to Rakiko's father. "Suriyama-san?" Mr. Suriyama fumbled to his feet and quickly bowed. "Yes. How is she?" The nurse gave a reassuring smile. "She'll be just fine. She ripped a few tendons in her left knee. We got the internal bleeding to stop, and we fixed her knee as best we could for now. She may need additional surgery later though. Until then, she just needs to stay in a wheelchair for the next six weeks. Putting any weight at all on her knee is too great of a risk right now. Here is a prescription for some painkillers. She'll be ready to go home tomorrow afternoon. She's very lucky. A fall from that great of a height could have done a lot worse! You can stay with her if you like, but her friends will have to come back tomorrow rather than stay overnight." "It's okay. I'll take them home. I'm sure she needs her rest. I'll be back tomorrow. Thank you, doctor!" Mr. Suriyama bowed again and directed Dokuro and Iruka to his car. Iruka sighed and collapsed onto her bed. Peace at last. Wait, if Rakiko was in the hospital instead of the club meeting, what happened to the club members? Iruka chuckled, imagining them still sitting in the classroom and waiting. Her fingers fumbled with the white box, opening it again and picking at the candy. "So much for watching my weight. Oh well." The candy was wonderful. It was sweet and rich and practically melted in her mouth. Half a kilo! This box should last a long while. While munching on one, she slipped the box into a drawer on her bedstand, then rolled back onto her pillow and stared at the ceiling. 'So now what, Dokuro? Are you just another omen to send me to an early grave as well? Are we exclusive or...' '...just friends?' Dokuro pondered simultaneously, in his own room. He rolled onto his side and firmly patted his pillow a few more times in a desperate attempt to get comfortable. He wouldn't be sleeping much tonight. That's for sure. In fact, no one would. Rakiko was awake with intense discomfort in her hips. She couldn't move. "Itai... all I wanted to do was climb up on the railing to catch that balloon for that poor little girl! How was I supposed to know I was too tall to balance?" Iruka and Dokuro were both awake with mixed emotions. "Should I ask for the next date or leave it up to him/her?" Kazuhiro was awake with a newfound hope and fear. "It sounded sincere, but what if it wasn't? I don't think I can stand another rejection!" Otaru was awake. "Wow. Who knew one hospital could have so many hot nurses? Let's see. I've already had my pillow fluffed and fresh ice water delivered. What next? I wonder if they'll give me any more Demerol?" Fumiko was awake with anger. "Oh, just who does that jerk think he is anyway? Did he really expect me to get all happy and giddy over a FISH? Oh well. He got what he deserved." And Mr. Suriyama was awake, of course. "Just like her mother. Clumsy and curious. Not a good mixture. How I miss that woman. It was so tragic..." -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Wow! That was so fun! ^_^ Thanks to JesseLman for pre-reading and his wonderful ideas and Todd for his patience! And for those who don't know, one kilogram is approximately 2.2 pounds. So half a kilo is approximately a pound. ^_^ And Fran is REALLY REALLY GOOD. Go to www.japanesesnacks.com if you want to see what they really are. Anyway, bye bye! Enjoy! Neko-Neko@sandwich.net 02/27/01