23: After Effects
Boys vs Girls. Battle of the Century.
Regular - Korean | Bold - English | Italicized - Chinese | Underlined - Japanese
Narrator's POV
"I'll call you when I have signal" Kari said kissing Mark
"come back safe" he said softly, hugging her waist "don't get hurt"
"don't bang a girl" she said pecking his nose
"I would never" Mark said
"mhm" Kari said picking up the dog cage. Fear then filled his eyes "waegurae?"
"are you sure it's safe to fly there?" he asked
"that's what they said" Kari said and he looked down. The girl put down the cage and cupped his face "Mark, I'll be fine."
"do you have to go?" he asked quietly
"I do" she said kissing his pouty lips "I need to see my family right now, Mark. I'll be fine, trust me. I don't know how long I'll be gone, but I'll try to get back here as soon as I can"
"okay" he muttered hugging her again "call me"
"I will" Kari nodded picking up the cage again before heading inside the security entrance. She went straight to the terminal and boarded the plane, landing in Japan a mere 2 hours later. The airport was crowded with people and it took Kari 30 minutes just to get Noya. She tried calling Daiki again, but nothing. "man, I need to play this by ear"
The girl called a taxi and made it drive to her house.
"is anyone in here?" Kari said knocking entering the house. She saw from afar that part of the roof collapsed and the treehouse in her backyard was completely ruined.
"hello. Who are you?" A man asked. From his clothes, she knew he was a construction worker
"I'm Fuyuta Akari. My family lives here" Kari said placing the cage on the ground and letting Noya out. She picked him up in her arms "do you happen to know where they are?"
"they are at Jutendo Hospital in Tokyo, we are here repairing the house" he said
"arigatou gozaimasu" Kari bowed "I will be leaving my dog's cage here. Thank you for the information."
The girl entered the taxi again and got driven to Jutendo Hospital. She thanked the driver and paid him before entering the place. Kari wasn't surprised that the place was packed, she just made her way to the receptionist and rushed upstairs to the 15th floor. She spotted Daiki and Aki outside a room and ran towards them, Noya's bark catching their attention
"Akari ane" Aki said and crushed Kari in a hug
"are you okay?" Kari said "you're not hurt? Daiki, Aki, you're not hurt anywhere?"
"we're fine ane" Daiki said and she pulled him in the hug
"mama? papa? Arichi? Daichi?" she asked
"inside" Aki said taking the dog from Kari "Noya, oh my, I missed you"
Kari bolted through the door to see her mother on the bed, pale and lifeless.
"papa" Kari said running over to him. The man looked at her in surprise and hugged her tightly, kissing her crown
"why are you here? It's not that safe yet" papa said "you should have stayed in Korea."
"Daiki called me during the earthquake to let me know about mama" Kari said "how could I not come here?"
"oh I thank the gods for giving me a daughter like you" papa said. Kari turned in the hug and noticed Arichi and Daichi sleeping on the chairs. "your mama's in a coma. She fell unconscious during the 2nd hour of the earthquake."
"how bad is it?" Kari asked
"we don't know yet" papa muttered "did you take a leave from school?"
"iie...I sorta just hopped on the earliest flight here" Kari said cautiously
"we appreciate you coming here musume, but you still have school" papa said
"school can wait, mama's in a coma and I don't want to be in a different country" Kari said
"I'm paying for your schooling Akari" papa said
"papa, you're not seriously asking me to go back to Korea are you?" she asked "mama's in a coma! I can't leave"
"Akari, this could be a while, being in a coma could last weeks, maybe months" papa said "you need to finish school Akari, that's what both your mama and I want. I'm glad that you care about your family so much to just fly on out here as soon as possible, but you need to go to school. You can't stay here waiting for your mama to wake up"
"but that's what I want to do" Kari said
"Akari...you can stay here in Japan for a few days, but next week you have to go back to Korea. Whether your mother is awake or not" papa said "no exceptions"
"papa...but-"
"please Akari. Just follow this one request from me with no objections" papa said pulling away from the hug "our house, my company, it is part of the ruin that the earthquake has caused. I want to know that I'm paying well for your education, Akari."
"hai papa" Kari said quietly "can I have some time alone with mama?"
"of course" he nodded going towards the door "the little twins won't wake up pretty soon, but I'll go get some food with the older twins"
"hai papa" Kari nodded again, watching him leave. The girl grabbed her mother's hand, relieved that it was still warm, giving her comfort that she was still alive. Unknowingly, Kari started to feel drowsy, falling asleep on her mother's bedside.
***
Kari was awoken by her father the next morning.
"have some breakfast, musume" papa said handing her a bento.
"did I sleep here all night?" she asked and he nodded
"Daiki was going to wake you, but you were deep asleep so I told him not to" papa said "I'm sorry if you're stiff right now"
"I'm fine" she muttered "where's the others?"
"Daiki and Aki are playing with Daichi and Arichi. I already fed Noya so you don't have to worry about it" papa said
"thank you" Kari said "did you hear anything from the doctors?"
"nothing changed with your mama's condition" papa said "but she's alive, that's the important part"
"I know" Kari said "I just hope she wakes up soon"
"we all do, dear" papa smiled comfortingly "I need to check up on the company and the house today so I'll be gone for a while. The kids will be back here around noon, so just finish your breakfast and hang around"
"okay. You be safe, papa" Kari said as he kissed her head "I love you"
"I love you too" he smiled exiting the room. Kari obediantly finished the bento, putting it on the table when she was done. She checked her phone and was relieved when she had at least a bar of signal. The girl immediately dialed Mark's number, letting out a shriek of joy as he answered
"Mark!" she shouted
"Ai, are you okay? are you safe?" he asked worriedly
"I'm fine. I'm in the hospital" Kari said
"bwoh?! Why are you in the hospital?!" Mark shouted
"pabo, I'm here for my umma" Kari chuckled
"oh yeah...how is she?" he asked
"my umma's in a coma" Kari said "there's no change in her condition, but she's alive and I'm grateful for that"
"I hope your umma will wake up soon" Mark said sincerely
"thank you, Mark" Kari said sadly
The two of them were then engaged in a long conversation, when suddenly the lights flickered on and off, it wasn't long until the girl felt the ground shaking
"M-Mark" Kari's voice trembled as she ran towards her mother's bedside
"waegurae? what's wrong? Ai, what's happening?" Mark asked sensing the alarm in her voice
"the lights just flickered and the ground's shaking" she said "is this an aftershock?"
"you said there weren't any indications" he said
"th-that's what they said, but-oh !" Kari cursed as a vase fell from the table, shattering into pieces ", Mark I'm scared"
"where are you now? are you under an archway?" he asked
"I'm by my umma" Kari said
"Ai, please get under an archway, just for your own safety. Please" Mark pleaded
"but my umma-oh my God!" Kari shouted
"get under an archway!" he demanded, his tone of voice scaring her "Kari, please!"
"I can't just leave my umma here" she said desperately "Mark, if I die, I die with my umma!"
"Kari, you're so stubborn and I understand how much you want to be with your umma, but I'm not going to let the girl I love die during an earthquake. If you're going to die, I want to be the last face you're going to see" he said
"wh-what?" Kari asked "y-you love me?"
"yes, I love you" Mark said "Fuyuta Akari, I love you. Man this wasn't the way I planned to tell you"
"I love you too" Kari said flying over to the archway "I'm under the archway okay? I did what you said"
"what?" he asked "Ai, you're breaking up"
"hello?" Kari asked "Mark, hello?"
"Ai, hello? can you hear me?" Mark said
"Mark!" the girl yelled feeling more fear as the line disconnected. She sunk to her knees, her knuckles turning white as she gripped the side of the doorway, the ground shaking. Kari finally couldn't take anymore and started sobbing, looking from her mom to the hallway, hoping for her siblings or her dad or Noya. "please...Lord help me. I need to get out of this alive. I need to see my siblings. I need to see my mama and papa awake and alive. I need to see Mark."
***
"ane! ane wake up!" Aki shouted shaking Kari's shoulders. The girl awoke with a start, looking around her in panic "ane, it's okay. Take a breath. The aftershocks stopped, you're okay. We're all here. We're not hurt. You're not hurt."
"wh-what happened?" Kari asked
"it was just an aftershock, you fell asleep in the middle of it" Aki said hugging her sister "mama's wasn't affected."
"God, this is scaring me" Kari muttered holding Aki's hand.
"Akari, I know you want to stay here with your mama, but I don't think you can handle it here right now. It's not safe in Japan." papa said "you need to go back to Korea as soon as flights are okay-ed again"
"but what about you guys?" Kari asked
"this isn't our first aftershock. We'll be okay" Daiki said "ane, you look really shaken up by that...just go back to Korea with Noya. You'll be safe there."
"and we'll call you when mama wakes up" Aki said
"o-okay" Kari agreed. She looked reluctant, but deep down she was grateful. She loved her family and all and she didn't want to leave them, but Kari was scared out of her mind.
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