Haibane Renmei Fan Fiction ❯ Kazakiribane ❯ Painful Dreams ( Chapter 4 )

Disclaimer: "Haibane Renmei" and its associated characters & places used within this story are based upon Yoshitoshi ABe's original concept: "Charcoal Feathers in Old Home". They remain the undisputed property of the owners that hold copyright. I am writing this story for free enjoyment and not for profit, but even so I maintain creative ownership of my own story concepts. None of this story is to be copied or reproduced etc. without my knowledge or permission.

This Fanfiction is a story concept that I'd had in my head for quite awhile now. There's quite a lot of it that I'm still tweaking here and there for continuity issues before the story can be completely finished, but I'll post it in segments as I finish editing them. Read on... and feel free to leave a review if you are so inclined.

In some parts of the story, I have tried to use italics to help indicate whenever any characters are supposed to be conversing in Japanese. After all, this is supposed to be a story not a language lesson, so I hope that you aren't disappointed if I stick with English for the most part. ;-)

Kazakiribane - Chapter Four: Painful Dreams
By Shizukana Sakka

Heather opened her eyes and looked around her darkened bedroom. She glanced over at the sleeping form of her husband and wondered what had awakened her. Suddenly, she heard a faint noise coming from outside of the bedroom. She listened carefully for a few moments and then heard it again, only a little louder. It sounded like someone was… whimpering?

She carefully eased herself out of bed so as not to wake her husband and quickly donned her housecoat. Quietly, she slipped out of her room and headed down the hallway towards the sound. It was coming from Joey's room.

She carefully opened the door and peered inside. Through the dim light provided by the bedside clock, she saw Joey fitfully tossing around in his sleep. He was probably having some kind of nightmare, she thought to herself. As she was letting herself into the room, she suddenly froze when she caught some of what he was saying in his sleep.

“… Itai…” Joey mumbled with a distinctive hint of pain in his voice. “Itami… senaka… itai…”

She crouched next to the bed and shook him gently to awaken him, but Joey continued tossing around in the bed and his voice got even louder.

“Itai!" He started to shout as Heather desperately tried to awaken him. She shook him a little harder but he still wouldn't wake up. A few moments later, she heard a sound behind her and was dismayed to see her two teenage children standing in the doorway, obviously awakened by Joey's shouts.

“What's wrong, Mom?” Tom asked. “Why is he making all that racket?”

“He's having some kind of nightmare and I'm having trouble waking him up,” she answered him worriedly.

Joey's voice continued to repeat those same strange words and started to rise in pitch, sounding almost like a young girl's voice.

“Itami yo! Domari!”

“WHAT did he just say!” Lisa asked incredulously.

“Never mind that right now!” Her mother barked back at her. “He obviously doesn't know what he's saying! Go to the kitchen and get a glass of water…”

She was interrupted as Joey suddenly stopped his shouting and thrashing about. His eyes fluttered open and he looked up at her, then back at the people in the doorway -- which now included Mr. Jameson as well. Suddenly, he was wide-awake and had a nervous expression on his face.

“Uh… wh..what's going on? What is everyone doing in here?” he asked nervously.

Everyone exchanged surprised looks with each other for a moment. Heather then turned back to Joey and spoke soothingly to him.

“It's okay, dear. You were just having a nightmare and you were… ah, talking in your sleep.” She looked back at everyone else and told them to go back to their rooms as she'd be along in a few moments.

Joey felt a bit worried about the idea that he'd been talking in his sleep and wondered if he should ask if they'd heard anything of what he'd been saying. Already, whatever the dream had been had faded from his mind, other than a residual feeling that he'd been in some kind of pain. Still, with all the strange things that had been happening over the last couple of days, it was probably better not to ask in case he'd said something really odd. He'd heard that people sometimes say all kinds of crazy things in their sleep and not be aware of it, so he'd hoped that whatever it was that he might have said that the Jamesons would simply assume this to be the case and leave it at that.

“Joey, is there something that's been really bothering you lately?” Heather asked him. “I couldn't help notice that you haven't been your usual self these past few days.”

As she was speaking, Joey caught his breath as he saw a brief flash of one of those strange glows around her. Damn, I must be getting worse, he thought to himself.

“Uh, no… not really. Maybe I'm just coming down with something.”

She nodded and gave him another of her knowing smiles. Obviously whatever it was, he wasn't quite ready to talk about it. She'd respect his wishes for now and hopefully he'd feel better about sharing it with her later. She gave him a quick kiss on the forehead and told him to try to go back to sleep.

After letting herself out of his room and quietly shutting the door behind her, she made her way back to her bedroom where the rest of her family was waiting for her.

“Mom… do you realize that he was speaking in another language?” Lisa said excitedly, while trying to keep her volume low. “At one point, his voice had even changed! Maybe he's possessed by some kind of spirit!”

Tom gave his sister an annoyed look.

`It figures that she'd be the one to think of that as a good thing,' he thought to himself.

Hank Jameson had been the last to arrive and hadn't clearly heard what Joey had been saying, as the boy had stopped just before he'd reached the door. Just the same, he dismissed his daughter's claim of anything paranormal and figured that the boy was just being incoherent in the throes of his nightmare.

“We don't know for sure exactly what Joey was saying, and I don't think it really matters at this point,” Heather answered. She fixed her daughter with a seldom-used stare that seemed to state `you'd better listen VERY carefully to what I have to say'.

“You are not to say anything to him about this. If he asks, you are only to mention that you'd heard him shouting, but couldn't clearly hear what he was saying. You will not mention anything to him about different languages or spirit possessions… or anything else of that sort. I don't want you scaring him with that over-active imagination of yours. Have I made myself perfectly clear, young lady?”

Lisa frowned slightly, but nodded her head in agreement.

After everyone had agreed not to talk about that night's events with Joey, they all returned to their beds to try to salvage what was left of their night's sleep.

----

“A boy? Are you certain?” asked the voice on the phone.

“Yes, Elder. Though I only glimpsed him briefly myself, my daughter had spent much longer with him. At one point, she was even able to see the Haibane's form through her spirit-sense,” replied Mr. Tanaka.

There was a long pause as the other party on the phone considered this.

“Elder?” Mr. Tanaka prompted nervously. “How do you wish for me to proceed?”

The voice cleared his throat before replying.

“Thanks to the information that you have provided, we should be able to locate the foster-family's name and address shortly. You should then make introductions as soon as possible.”

A brief pause.

“And Takashi?”

“Yes, Elder?”

“You should take the necessary steps to prepare your daughter in the event that her assistance might be required.” The voice paused again, then added, “…immediately.”

Tanaka Takashi confirmed his instructions and ended the call. Afterwards, he sat at his desk for a little while and thought about the significance of what he had been instructed to do. For his daughter to be called upon to assist them at such a young age was unheard of. The Elders would not have given their consent for it unless they'd truly believed that it might be necessary.

His mission to the United States had been to simply locate and confirm the identity of the missing Haibane, which was why he had been entrusted with the safe keeping of the artifact. It had been explained by the oracles that the artifact and the Haibane that it had been linked to would eventually be drawn to one another. It wasn't known what was supposed to happen when this finally did occur, but it was assumed that there would be some sort of significant reaction that would ultimately reveal the true identity of the missing Haibane. This was supposed to be confirmed in the presence of the chosen delegates of their order, so that their traditions would be properly upheld.

Thanks to his report, the Elders were already in the process of dispatching the members chosen for this duty, but it would take them nearly two days to arrive. If he was to prepare Hanako to assist them, then there was a real possibility that there might not be enough time to wait for the delegates to arrive.

He turned off the lights to his study and quietly made his way upstairs, trying to make as little noise as possible. It was still several hours until dawn and he didn't want to accidentally wake anyone up. He paused briefly at the door to his daughter's room and carefully opened the door to peek inside. Although dark, there was enough moonlight shining through the window that he could easily make out his daughter's sleeping form in her bed. He smiled as he watched her gentle, even breathing for a few minutes and then quietly closed the door.

He returned to his bedroom and gently got under the covers next to his wife so as not to awaken her. As he drifted off to sleep, he thought of the important role that his daughter could very well be called upon to play in the near future.

`I hope she takes the news well,' he thought to himself.

-----

The next morning, Joey awoke to the familiar sound of gentle tapping on his bedroom door.

“Joey? Are you up yet?” Heather's voice called from the other side of the door.

“Uh, yeah… I'll be out in a minute,” he answered back.

As he pulled himself upright into a sitting position, he felt a dull ache shoot through his shoulders and lower back. Almost immediately, his head started throbbing slightly.

`Damn, I really feel like crap this morning,' he thought to himself as he tried to reach behind himself to rub the sore parts of his back. Unfortunately, his arms weren't quite up to the task of reaching such an awkward position. His headache was a minor nuisance at the moment, but he was hopeful that it would disappear with the help of an aspirin and a bit of fresh air when he walked to school.

As he got dressed, he noted a certain amount of stiffness in his back and shoulders.

`I probably slept wrong or something,' he thought.

It probably didn't help that he still felt a bit tired from having his sleep interrupted during the night. A brief memory of waking up in the middle of the night with all of the Jamesons standing in his room flashed through his mind. For all of them to have been awakened, he had to have been a little louder than simply `talking in his sleep' as Heather had claimed. He felt a bit of embarrassment over the incident and decided to hurry down to join the rest of them at the breakfast table. At the very least, he felt that he should at least apologize for disturbing them all the night before.

Heather and Hank were both pleasantly surprised to see Joey actually arrive early enough for a proper family breakfast with the rest of them. Even Tom appeared to be a bit surprised, but other than giving Joey a few strange looks he said nothing other than a simple `good morning'. Lisa, on the other hand, was much more animated when Joey sat down at the table.

“Hey! How's it going, Joey? How are you feeling this morning?” she asked him pleasantly, though Joey could tell that there was something odd in the way that she was looking at him.

“Uhh… okay I suppose. I'm still feeling a bit tired,” he answered. He then directed his attention to everyone at the table. “Um, listen… about last night, I'm really sorry that I woke everyone up. That kind of thing doesn't normally happen with me.”

“Speaking of that, what does `Doh-ma...' ..ow!” Lisa started to ask before she was interrupted by a quick kick under the table. She glared over at her brother for a moment and then turned back to her breakfast.

Joey blinked his eyes in confusion for a moment and then shrugged. He winced slightly as the simple motion with his shoulders produced another dull ache down through his back.

Heather took notice of the stiff manner in which Joey was moving his arms and could tell that he was in a bit of discomfort. His complexion also appeared to be a little paler than usual that morning.

“Joey, are you feeling alright this morning?” she asked with concern evident in her voice.

“Well, I've felt better,” he admitted in a lighter tone of voice. “It's probably just because I didn't sleep properly last night. I'm sure it's nothing.”

Hank spoke up to echo his wife's concerns.

“You're probably right, but maybe you should consider staying home from school today to be on the safe side. Perhaps the extra rest will do you some good.”

As appealing as the idea was, Joey didn't really want to stay home that day. He felt badly enough that he'd had some kind of episode in the night that had awakened everyone and if he stayed home, he knew that Heather would spend the whole day fussing over him. He was eager to give the impression that everything was back to business as usual with him so that they'd forget about what happened the night before as soon as possible.

“Um.. no thank-you, Hank,” he replied as politely as he could. “I appreciate the offer but honestly, I'm okay. I'd really prefer to go to school today.”

“Well, okay. If that's what you want, just try to take it easy today, alright?” Hank said as he excused himself from the table. He gave his wife a quick kiss and then collected his briefcase before heading for the front door. He paused to wish everyone a good day and then quickly left the house.

Back at the table, there was an odd silence as everyone stared at Joey for a few moments. Joey noted that there was a certain curiosity present in the way that they stared at him that was absent from how Hank had been looking at him. It was making him feel more than just a little uneasy and he started to fidget uncomfortably. Noticing this, Heather quickly snapped herself out of it and turned her attention back to her two children.

“Well, look at the time! You two had best hurry up and finish your breakfast or you'll miss the bus for school. It's too bad that you never seem quite as eager to get to school as Joey does.”

Lisa looked as though she wanted to say something else, but was interrupted by a quick glare from her mother. She turned her attention back to her breakfast and grumbled something under her breath.

A few minutes later, after a bit of breakfast small-talk that sounded a bit strained to Joey, the two older teens excused themselves from the table and then headed out to meet their bus. Joey decided to wait a few more minutes before he left for school himself to minimize the chance that he might run into Tom and Lisa on the street before their bus came along. Undoubtedly they would want to talk about whatever had happened the night before out of earshot of their mother and he just didn't feel up to answering any questions at the moment. Besides, since he couldn't remember anything there wasn't much to tell.

When he did leave for school, Heather echoed her husband's advice that he should take things easy that day and then wished him luck. He couldn't help noticing the level of concern evident in her voice and wondered if he should just come right out and ask her why she was so worried. He put the idea aside for the time being and decided to focus on getting through the day first. His back and shoulders were really starting to bother him and he regretted not having asked for some aspirin before he'd left the house.

-----

“Mr. Jameson?” the secretary called politely from the doorway of his office. When he looked up at her from the paperwork spread out on his desk, she continued, “There's a Mr. Tanaka here to see you.”

Hank Jameson nodded to his secretary and she ushered the visitor in. The middle-aged Japanese man was dressed in a stylish business suit and carried an attaché case. He smiled as Mr. Jameson rose from his desk to greet him and both men made polite bows to each other.

“Good morning, Mr. Jameson. I am Takashi Tanaka. I apologize for arriving unexpectedly, but I was in the area on business and wanted to stop by to thank you personally,” said Mr. Tanaka in only slightly accented English.

Mr. Jameson widened his eyes in mild surprise.

“Thank me?” He said as he gestured for Mr. Tanaka to have a seat. “Have we met before, Tanaka-san?”

Takashi smiled appreciatively at Mr. Jameson's use of the appropriate address.

“No, but yesterday your foster son made quite an impression on my daughter. She was having some… `difficulties'… with a few of the other students from school when he'd suddenly appeared and came to her assistance.”

Takashi paused and gave a deep sigh.

“Unfortunately, my work makes it necessary for my family to move frequently. It's been hardest on my daughter, Hanako, who has difficulties making new acquaintances every time we move someplace new. As she had lived most of her life in Japan before we moved to America, her English isn't quite as good as that of her peers and at times they have been less than kind to her because of it. Fortunately, your foster son had interrupted one such incident yesterday.”

Mr. Jameson nodded in understanding.

“Joey is a very well-mannered boy. Although he typically likes to keep to himself, he probably identified with your daughter's situation due to the number of times that he himself has been treated as the `new stranger' by his peers. Joey has only lived with us for a couple of years, but prior to coming to stay with us he's had a history of numerous other placements.”

Takashi nodded as Mr. Jameson spoke. Of course, he'd already known what Joey's placement history was thanks to the thorough research that had been completed and forwarded to him that very morning. Remembering the confused state that the boy had been in when he'd left his house the previous night, Mr. Tanaka hoped the boy wouldn't remember that he hadn't actually mentioned the Jameson's family name. It would look far too suspicious that Mr. Tanaka had been able to locate them so quickly if that ever came up.

“Well, my wife and I are both grateful for the boy's help as well as for the friendship he has shown our daughter. He and Hanako both seemed to take an instant liking to one another.”

Takashi paused briefly as he thought of the boy's proficiency with Japanese. It was one of several things about Joey that had intrigued his daughter. Although he had a pretty good idea where it came from, he had a strong suspicion that the boy's foster family was unaware of this aspect of him. He decided it would probably be better not to mention that for the time being.

“One of the reasons that I came by to see you today, Mr. Jameson, was to invite you and your family to dinner at our home tomorrow evening. My wife and I rarely find the opportunity to entertain guests and would be honored if you could attend. Besides that, our Hanako is eager to see Joey again and we would like to meet with the rest of your family.”

“That is very generous of you, Tanaka-san,” Mr. Jameson replied earnestly. “But would it be alright to postpone for a couple of days? Joey wasn't feeling very well this morning before school and my wife and I are concerned that he might be coming down with something.”

`Not feeling well?' Takashi thought to himself. `It couldn't… be starting already, could it?'

“Oh, of course. Mr. Jameson. I'm sorry to hear that,” he answered.

He thought quickly for a moment when inspiration struck him.

“Hanako had mentioned that she wasn't feeling very well this morning, either. Perhaps she is coming down with an illness herself and might have accidentally passed it on to your Joey. What sort of symptoms has the boy had?”

“Well, it's hard to say. He's a bit of a stoic so although he wouldn't admit it, it appears that he was experiencing back pains of some sort, as well as headaches. My wife also mentioned that he'd had a slight temperature the night before, and then of course there was…”

Mr. Jameson's voice trailed off as he thought about Joey calling out loudly in his sleep the night before. He remembered his daughter's silly claims that Joey had been speaking in some other language. Lisa had been going though her various let's-see-how-much-I-can-shock-my-parents phases for a while now, and her latest interest was an intense fascination with the occult. As a result, she tended to have a bit of an overactive imagination. At the time, she had been adamant that Joey was possessed or some such nonsense but he'd dismissed it.

“Was there something else, Mr. Jameson?” Takashi asked politely.

“No, not really,” Mr. Jameson said as he quickly broke himself out of his brief reverie. “Joey hadn't slept very well last night and is probably just feeling a little under the weather due to fatigue. It's probably nothing to worry about.”

Takashi nodded, then rose from his chair and made a polite bow. Mr. Jameson rose and returned the bow.

“Well, I shouldn't take up any more of your time,” Takashi said as he offered Mr. Jameson his business card. “Please give me a call in a few days when you know for certain if your Joey is feeling better and we can arrange for our families to get together for dinner.”

“I'd like that, Tanaka-san. I hope that your daughter is feeling well, also.”

The two men shook hands and Takashi left, trying not to appear to be in too great a hurry as he headed towards the exit. He had to report this latest development to the Elders, though he already had a strong suspicion of what was happening. If he was right, then there was very little time left in which to prepare Hanako for what was to come.

-----

By early afternoon, Joey was starting to wish that he'd taken Hank up on his offer to stay home from school for the day. Instead of getting a little better as he'd hoped, he'd gotten considerably worse since that morning. His back pain had progressed to the point where he would feel shooting pain in his shoulder blades with even the slightest movement of his arms. If that wasn't bad enough, his headache was worse too… and those strange coloured glows had started to reappear around just about every person he looked at. As things stood, he was no longer as concerned about trying to conceal his discomfort as he was about simply making it to the end of the school day. He thought off-handedly about how Heather would undoubtedly go overboard trying to take care of him when she saw how much worse he'd become, but at the moment he was in too much pain to worry about that.

Mr. Gibson had suspected that morning that Joey wasn't feeling quite right, but now it was glaringly obvious that something was wrong with the boy. Although he tried to hide it, it was plainly evident that Joey was in some kind of pain and was having difficulty concentrating. When he'd summoned Joey to approach his desk for a private chat, it almost seemed as though it took everything the boy had simply to rise from his seat. He then staggered slightly as he made his way towards his teacher's desk.

“Joey, you don't look well. How long have you been feeling like this?”

“Ummm… jus' since thisss mornin',” he mumbled in reply. “But it wuzzn' this bad then.”

“Okay, Joey… I want you to come with me. I need to bring you down to the Nurse's office, alright?”

Normally, Joey would balk at such a suggestion but it would be something of an understatement to say that he wasn't quite feeling like his usual self. Whatever happened at the Nurse's office, he hoped that she wouldn't make too big a deal out of the situation. He figured that he was probably just coming down with some kind of illness like the flu or something along those lines. As far as he could remember, he'd never been sick once in his life so maybe now it was finally catching up with him.

Mr. Gibson announced to the rest of the class that he would be back in a few minutes and they were to continue working quietly at their desks until he returned. He then escorted Joey out of the room and noticed that Joey seemed to sway a bit with every step. Whatever was wrong with the boy, he hoped that it wasn't contagious.

When they'd arrived at the Nurse's Office, Mr. Gibson had a brief conversation with the Nurse to explain the symptoms he'd observed in Joey and then politely excused himself to return to his classroom. He gave Joey a gentle pat on the shoulder as he passed by him, but immediately withdrew it when the boy suddenly gasped out in pain. He and the School Nurse briefly exchanged worried glances, and then he left the office.

Immediately, the Nurse gave Joey a brief examination and checked his temperature.

“Oh dear, you seem to be running a bit warm. You definitely seem to be coming down with something,” she told him sympathetically.

She took note of how he had been gingerly moving his arms and shoulders and helped him remove his shirt so she could get a better look at him. The pains he was experiencing in his joints could certainly be attributed to whatever was ailing him, but she still had to rule out the possibility of any physical abuse. She was both surprised and relieved at what she saw when she began to inspect his back. Though there wasn't any bruising evident, she noted that there seemed to be some swelling in the tissues around each of his shoulder blades. It was a little curious, but didn't appear to be too serious. She'd recommend to the boy's family to keep an eye on the situation in case it got any worse, but she expected that all the boy would really require would be a few days of rest.

After the Nurse had contacted the Jameson's residence, Joey was a bit surprised at how quickly Heather had arrived at the school to get him. She'd had a bit of an anxious expression on her face when she'd arrived, but it had softened a bit as she and the School Nurse spoke briefly about him. Joey was to be excused from school for a few days -- or longer, if required -- so that he could recover from whatever he'd come down with. She'd mentioned his temperature as well as the tenderness in his back and recommended that Heather have Joey sleep on his stomach if his discomfort got any worse.

As soon as she'd gotten him home, Heather helped Joey up to the bathroom and explained that she wanted him to take a warm shower and then to lie down and rest in his room afterwards. She made a brief inspection of his back and noted the odd swollen areas that the school's nurse had mentioned. She resolved to make a Doctor's appointment for the following day, regardless of whether the boy was feeling better by then or not.

The shower had the desired effect of relaxing Joey. Although he still seemed to be experiencing some discomfort in his back, at least his complexion was now returning to a more natural colour. She helped him climb into his bed, and although he seemed to fall asleep almost instantly, she'd decided to remain in the room and watch over him for a little while. She hoped that she was only getting herself worked up over something which would turn out to be relatively minor. However, for some reason she couldn't quite put her finger on, she had a feeling that whatever was going on with Joey… this was merely the beginning.

More to come in the next chapter: Wings of Flight