Ghosts We Once Knew (Private, Mature)

Akiko was astounded at the simple beauty of the woman. Yuriko's natural beauty was effortless and warming. She wore no make up that Akiko could see but she was the embodiment of an angel. Akiko shook herself out of the daze that she was in and walked into the apartment. It was simple but held elegance in its simplicity. She settled herself onto the couch and looked around the room, noticing everything in the place. It was a nice place for a single woman. She could feel the woman's gaze on her as she looked around the room.

Akiko turned her gaze back to Yuriko just as the young woman asked about her file. She hadn't even been able to look at her file yet since Kaname said it might be too much for her. It would make sense that she couldn't handle it since her memory was gone but Yuriko had been dealing with it for quite some time. "If you think it will help...", Akiko spoke softly. She didn't want to cause this nice woman to relive her own event but if the woman was sure then she would let her.

Akiko stepped outside the room, her eyes meeting Kaname's. A smile formed on her lips. She was glad that he stuck around. She felt like if he was there with her then nothing could harm her. She would be safe from whatever evil had caused her life to be put on the edge of a knife. With his help she was sure they could find her memories and the man that harmed her and his ex girlfriend.

Akiko nodded to his question, "I will go... I need to find answers. Plus it's not like I have anything else planned." She smiled at him playfully before following him out of the hospital.

~~~~~Yuriko's Home~~~~~

The drive to Kaname's ex-girlfriends was amazing. Trees, plants, cars, people, kids, houses and animals were everywhere. It seemed like each block held its own little community. She watched in fascination from the passengers seat as they had made their way to Yuriko's. She smiled when she saw children playing, frowned when she spotted the rare homeless man and a look of longing spread across her face as she spotted couples walking hand in hand or talking happily over coffee. The wonders of the world that she had been missing from and that she still felt that she was still missing from.

Akiko's thoughts were interrupted as Kaname put the vehicle in park. She turned her head to face him, her eyes held worry but her features determined. She stepped from the car, closing the door softly behind her and walked around to meet Kaname. She was nervous as she stood close to Kaname, facing the house. "I'm... ready...."

Akiko watched him carefully, seeing the unease that seemed to take him over. She instantly felt bad for asking him. She didn't know anyone else but the nurse and so she simply asked without thought on how he would feel about it. She wanted to know. She had to know despite how horrible it had to be. For a few moments she sat quietly lost in her own thoughts as she stared at the hospital. If she wanted to know what happened then she may have to do this by herself. She would find out what happened to her.

Akiko moved her eyes back to the Detective and sighed, "I'm sorry. I don't want to bother your ex-girlfriend. It's not fair to make her relive this." She couldn't possibly ask someone to go through such horrible things just to help her. It seemed selfish and wrong. "I'll pick someone to stay close by like you asked but....", she spoke softer at the end as her hands fidgeted in her hand. "... Can I choose you? You believed me... and... I mean, although my dream was crazy and was far fetched you agreed to look into it... I don't think many others would have done the same..." Truthfully, she had not idea if this was the way to ask but she knew that she sounded weird by asking Kaname to look up a house that she had in a dream while she was in a coma. Even though it was a crazy idea, he didn't even protest. It could have been out of kindness or belief but either way a person would scoff at the idea. At least she believed so.

The nurse came back out of the hospital and grabbed the wheelchair, heading toward them. She looked happy. It must be good news. Akiko turned her head to Kaname, a smile forming on her lips. "I think I may be getting released from here... hopefully." The nurse stopped in front of them, "Akiko, the doctor has reviewed your file and is ready to see you." She moved to Akiko's side and helped her get into the wheelchair. Akiko looked at Kaname, "Sorry to bother you Detective." She smiled as the nurse turned the wheelchair. The nurse turned toward Kaname, "It should be about a half hour before she is released fully from the hospital and we have made the arrangements for the apartment she'll be in." With that the nurse took Akiko back to the doctor.

~~~~~Half Hour Later~~~~~

Akiko was getting dressed in a pair of faded blue jeans, a white baby doll tee, fresh undergarments, and new black sneakers. This was all provided by the nurse after the check up from the Doctor. She passed with a clean bill of health as long as she rested often so she wouldn't tire and hurt herself. After that they fed her lunch, gave her the discharge papers and gave her these clothes. They fit her well and she brushed her hair out, adding some shine to it. She set the brush down and picked up her papers, leaving the room.

Akiko waited for Kaname to speak. She felt rude interrupting his thoughts and began to get lost in hers. Imagining the type of person that she was. Was she an awful person to sustain the wounds and the coma that she had? Was she a fighter? Or was it a mugging and she was really defending her life? There were so many possibilities that she could probably go on forever wondering about them. Kaname's voice brought her back to the reality, although it somehow felt like a dream. "Yes.. she said they were going to release me and set me up in some kind of halfway house type deal so they can check up on me and the memory I am sure." She sighed and hung her head a little. She didn't understand what kind of trauma would cause someone to be in a coma let alone lose all the memories of their life but remember how to speak, count, and tie shoes. It just seemed very weird to her.

Akiko listened to him, her full attention on his words and how he said them. Her face became a mixture of worry and confusion at the same time. "Protection... I don't know if I should make that decision...", her gaze moved to his face, taking in everything she saw there. Compassion and worry mostly. "I don't know who I am so I don't know if I am truly a good judge of character. I mean.... someone did this to me... it could be someone I trusted or thought was alright but I got it wrong..." She wasn't trying to say that she was fearful of the cops or that they had another agenda but just that she didn't know if she could trust herself.

"Detective? What injuries did I have when I came in? I am afraid the nurse will be too worried if I ask...", she spoke softly.

Akiko smiled weakly at his joke. She sat herself down next to him, unsure of what to really say to him. She settled down next to him with a comfortable space separating them. She watched as the nurse walked inside and sighed, she would have to remember to apologize for making the woman worry. It really was a stubborn thing of her to walk so quickly after being in a coma for so long but she couldn't just sit inside a hospital room waiting for them to release her. She wanted to find out who she was. Her parents, her childhood, school, work and everything else that shaped who she was had been lost to her and it was upsetting.

Akiko looked up at him, her blue eyes searching his face for a moment. She moved her head to gaze out at the garden, breathing in deep, "Nothing is wrong... except what you already know..." She folded her hands in her lap, unsure of what to really do with them. "I just don't want to sit here and wait. It is nerve wracking. I want to find out what happened to me despite what I may find."

Akiko nodded to the woman, "Thank you." She was happy that she could leave the hospital. It made her uncomfortable with all of the equipment and sterilization. She didn't know what to make of the orderly that came in and left without a word to her. She shrugged it off, "It would be nice to get some fresh air especially since I have been in here way too long." She smiled at the nurse and accepted her help into the wheelchair. When she stood on her legs they felt wobbly and ached slightly with the pressure, probably due to the lack of exercise. She grabbed a robe that was at the end of the bed and slipped it on before settling into the wheelchair. When she was situated the nurse began to move down the hallway and out to the garden. "I was in a pretty bad state wasn't I?", she whispered as they hit the fresh air of the garden. "Thank you. I am going to try walking."

Akiko stood from her wheelchair, her eyes on the Detective. She stood still for a few moments gaining her balance and her thoughts as she prepared herself to walk. She didn't want to fall because she was in a rush. She smiled at the nurse as she took her first step toward the fountain and the Detective. After a few more steps, she felt a little more secure in walking and kept at a slow pace as she neared the fountain. She sat down next to Kaname, wrapping her robe tightly around her body. She did not want to interrupt him right away and knew that he had noticed her. He looked deep in thought and did not want to mess up his thinking, especially if he was on to something on her case. She gazed out on the garden and smiled, seeing the arrangement of it was very Feng Shui. The sound of water, the smell of flowers and the decorations of the garden made her calm although she was still nervous on what Kaname was thinking about.

"I'm sure the police are doing everything in their power to help you," the nurse assured. "As for your release, hopefully within the next few hours. We just have to check you out again to make sure everything is alright and then the doctor will come in to speak with you." Smiling reassuringly, the nurse moved away from the doorway as an orderly came in with a wheel chair. "I imagine your legs having regained their strength just yet, but perhaps a trip to the garden will do you good?" The orderly left, seeming uninterested compared to the nurse.

"We'll take you in for x-rays soon to make sure your ribs have healed fully. A few of them had gotten broke and took the longest the heal." She moved the wheelchair over to Akiko's bed and helped the younger girl into it before beginning to maneuver it down the hallway. When they arrived outside, Kaname was outside sitting by the fountain, Akiko's file on his lap. He was looking something over, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

Akiko nodded to him as he left her room. She wondered if he truly thought that her dream would be able to help them or if he was just being nice to her because of her loss of memory. He could easily lie to her when he spoke to her again and say he never found anything without looking. Would he do such a thing? She was brought out of her thoughts as the nurses began checking her over.

Akiko looked at the nurse at the end of her hospital bed and watched her eye the medical chart in her hand. "I.. I feel fine physically anyway." Released? She didn't know who she was let alone have belongings so a safe house made sense. "Thank you. That's really nice of you....", she smiled back at the woman before her. She sighed at the woman's next question and her shoulders slumped a little, "Yes... though I think he knows more about me than I do..." She moved uncomfortably in the bed as her blood pressure and other vitals were checked. "I sincerely hope that he is able to find out something for me. No matter how small." She figured that something small could trigger a memory and that it would help with the amnesia. "When am I to be released exactly?", she inquired.

Akiko sighed, "I know it sounds weird but I felt like I knew the place.... it was old and falling apart. I am sure no one lived there in years." This was the only thing she could remember and it bothered her that she had no recollection of who she was. "I remember the house pretty well. It is the only thing I can remember." She looked at him sadly.

She took the pen and paper that was offered her and pulled the rolling table over her legs. She wasn't going to try and get out of bed with a hospital gown on her. Even if she did not have her memories, she still had modesty. She closed her eyes as she pulled the memory foward, looking at every detail that she could. It was hard to describe enough of the detail for him to see it as well. She thought for a moment before her pen hit the paper softly and her hand seemed to move on its own. She began sketching a rough outline of the house and yard. After a few moments details were put down on paper.

Akiko looked over the drawing she had made curiously. "It looks like I may have artistic abilities..." She handed him over the paper and pen. The house on it was a near perfect replica of what she saw in her dream. She was unsure of where the house was as she didn't recall seeing any house numbers near the door.

OOC: I made her an artist all of a sudden. I plan to make it a part of what happened to her.

Akiko turned her face back to him, "I don't know about not having memories. I am kind of lost. I do not even know what to think about...." She had been watching the news channel to keep her mind off the loss of her memories but it only caused even more confusion for her. She did not even remember world events. She had switched it off and stayed in her bed, looking out the window, until Detective Isai came. "At least you get to help others."

Akiko took the photo and looked it over with great scrutiny. That was her? She was pretty. It was also an older version of the young girl she had seen in her dream. Was the girl in her dream just her? She was silent for a few moments before handing the photo back to the detective. "I know that's me. I can feel it... but it also looks a lot like the girl in my dreams. Did I just dream about myself?" Why would she dream of herself it made no logical sense. She wanted to figure out what was going on. "If the dream is anywhere near the truth then I would like to try and find that house.... I want to know what happened to me."

Sadness was evident in her eyes as he spoke to her. "Thank you Sir." The doctors and nurses were polite but never truly nice. She was just another patient in the hospital of hundreds that walked through day in and day out. They had grown cold to the patients otherwise they would go mad to grief. With the detective, she could not tell if he was just like them or not. She was sure that he had seen his own share of gruesome scenes and terrified victims. He would have had to close off himself to keep his sanity as well. "Sure, company would be nice." She gave him a faint smile before casting her eyes downward to the blanket that covered her legs.

Akiko was quiet for a few minutes as she contemplated what to say to him. It wasn't like she remembered anything except that weird dream she had before she woke up. It was the only thing she had to talk about. She decided to share. If nothing else it might be a clue. He probably knew more about her than she did. "Detective Isai? I don't know if it means much but I had a dream before I awoke. A large two story home... it was beyond neglected... and a girl that looked a lot like me...." She cast her eyes down. "It may just be a dream but it felt so real. Like I had seen the house and girl before...."