EPISODE 3; MISSING ZAN

Ayumi sat by Ai‟s bedside feeling sad and regretful. She thought Ai was beginning to enter the final stage of the Ultimate unconsciousness so she stayed by Ai‟s side feeling miserable. It was dawn and Ayumi had not been able to sleep throughout the night.

"I‟m sorry sis. I let my guard down. I didn‟t protect you like I promised. I‟ll make Zan pay, I promise" Ayumi said sadly. Boy was I in trouble or what! I tell you, it‟s not a good thing at all to be on Ayumi‟s hit list. I mean, Ayumi is mean when she means to be nice. So you can imagine how mean she is when she means to be mean. She‟s really, really mean and I mean it.

Ayumi placed her hand on the bed and wept. She was holding Ai‟s hand. She felt a light squeeze and looked up. Ai yawned and sat up.

"Why are you crying Ayu?" she asked tiredly. Ayumi stared at Ai in surprise.

"Ai! You‟re still alive a-a-and you‟re sitting!" Ayumi exclaimed in joy.

"Of course I‟m alive" Ai pretended to be offended by Ayumi‟s reaction.

"DAD!" Ayumi called and Mr Kirisawa rushed into the room.

Ai got up from the bed much to the surprise of Ayumi and Mr Kirisawa and walked to greet her father.

"Ai, you‟re walking!" Mr Kirisawa seemed to be more excited.

"Of course I am, didn‟t Zan tell you? He helped me fight the Nightmare king and break the curse and…he took me out to have some fun. I haven‟t had that much fun in a long time. I‟m still tired" Ai yawned again.

"Z-Zan did?" Ayumi stammered as she realized her mistake.

She stared at her father who seemed to be more ashamed.

"By the way, where is Zan? Why isn‟t he here? The house is so quiet" Ai said.

"Z-Zan left" Ayumi said in shame as she tried to avoid eye contact with Ai.

"Left? On an errand or something?" Ai asked.

"No, he‟s gone for good" Ayumi said sadly.

"He left? Of his own free will? Is there something you‟re not telling me?" Ai asked.

Ayumi turned away.

"Dad and I threw him out of the house. We fired him and threw him out" Ayumi struggled to say.

"You did what?!" Ai exclaimed in shock.

"W-we thought h-he was taking advantage of you and we thought…you had died" Ayumi said sadly.

She felt guilty admitting these things.

"Why? That‟s crazy! Did Zan ever take advantage of you?!" Ai asked.

"N-not really no" Ayumi admitted.

"Do you really see everyone as an enemy Ayumi?!" Ai yelled.

"Don‟t be angry with your sister Ai. I‟m responsible as well. I feel so ashamed for not trusting a fellow Dream Knight" Mr Kirisawa confessed.

"It seems like you and Ayumi are determined to make sure that there is no laughter in this house!" Ai accused them as she walked out of the room and slammed the door.

"What are we going to do dad? Ai hates us now and we really…mistreated Zan.

"Now I understand why he looked so hurt. Poor guy" Ayumi said sadly and hey, even I the narrator am shocked to hear Ayumi feel as sorry as she does now.

"We‟ll find Zan" Mr Kirisawa said.

"Just don‟t come looking for me after this" Ayumi recalled my words.

"Ayumi, get ready for school, Ai and I will search for Zan, and you can look for him at school. I‟m sure we‟ll find him" Mr Kirisawa tried to encourage Ayumi.

When Ayumi was ready, the jeep took her to school. She descended from the jeep and walked towards the school building. As she neared the school, the first thing she noticed was the stikomik on the notice board and this was what she saw;

As Ayumi read the stikomik, she burst into uncontrollable laughter.

"Zan is still as funny as always!" she exclaimed, and then she realized that it was the second time I‟d made her laugh.

She cleared her throat and entered the classroom but I wasn‟t there. She sat at her desk and glanced at mine but I wasn‟t there. Anytime a student entered the class, Ayumi would glance at the door hoping it was me but it was never me. During classes, Ayumi just stared at my desk remembering me trying to cheer her up.

"My name‟s Xan Bie!" she recalled my first introduction and chuckled slightly. Then she placed her hand under my desk trying to find something belonging to me. She only found a single folded sheet of paper and when she opened it and saw its contents, I tell you, wherever I was, I felt I was gonna die. That was because the paper contained a stikomik of one of my romantic fantasies I had about Ayumi. It was a picture of me saving her from an ugly creature, she calling me a hero and us KISSING! Now you know why I felt like I was going to die. Luckily for me, Ayumi actually thought it was cute. After classes, Ayumi waited for her dad and Ai to come and pick her up and they did.

"Did you find Zan?" Ayumi asked anxiously.

"No, we didn‟t. It‟s almost as if he‟s disappeared from the face of the earth" Mr Kirisawa said.

"Any luck finding him?" Ai asked Ayumi.

"No, Zan didn‟t attend classes today," Ayumi said sadly.

"We searched all of Lower East Side Dream City but we‟ve found no clues concerning his whereabouts," Mr Kirisawa informed Ayumi and the Kirisawas returned home.

At home, Mr Kirisawa called the servants. They remained silent because they feared the reason why he had assembled them.

"I apologize for my rude behaviour last night" Mr Kirisawa said.

"We humbly accept your apology Sir" they bowed humbly.

"I need to ask you something. Did Zan by any chance tell any of you where he was going?" Mr Kirisawa asked.

The servants remained silent.

"Look, we don‟t want to hurt him. We just want to apologize. Zan cured Ai, he didn‟t deserve the treatment we gave him" Ayumi said.

"Permit me to speak sir" one elderly maid requested.

"Go ahead" Mr Kirisawa consented.

"Forgive me if I sound rude but even if Zan took Ai out of the house while she was ill and brought her back ill, I don‟t believe he did a bad thing. In my opinion, keeping Ai in this house would probably have quickened her death and if she had died, it would have been regretful for both she and us all" the maid said.

"You‟re right. I was just trying to be a good father though I was a little overprotective of Ai" Mr Kirisawa admitted.

"If you know anything concerning Zan‟s whereabouts please tell us" Ayumi pleaded.

"We actually do but we can‟t tell you" one maid said.

"Why not?" Ai asked.

"Because you‟ll be hurt when you find out about Zan" another maid said.

"Mitsuki! You said too much!" the elderly maid scolded.

"I‟m sorry" Mitsuki apologized.

"What happened to Zan?" Ayumi asked worriedly.

Suddenly, they heard the sound of the television in the hall.

"An African boy has been found half-dead in the streets of Lower East Side Dream City" a voice said.

Ayumi and Ai quickly rushed to the hall.

"Apparently, he was stabbed. Luckily, he was found unconscious this morning and rushed to the Second Chance Hospital in Upper East Side Dream City. He is presently undergoing surgery. The doctors say he‟s lost a lot of blood and his wound is causing complications. He probably has a fifty-fifty chance of survival. This is a picture of the boy who was stabbed" the News reporter said as a picture of me was displayed and man I really hate that pic! I looked so uncool and zombie-like!

"ZAN!" Ayumi and Ai screamed in horror.

Then they rushed out of the house.

"I‟ll drive this time" Mr Kirisawa said as he took the keys from the driver and entered the car.

Mr Kirisawa started the car and sped off and boy could he drive or what!

Meanwhile, in Second Chance Hospital, I was undergoing surgery and I really gave the doctors a hard time. I was going through ventricular fibrillation and those of you who don‟t know what it is, I‟ll tell you. It means I was dying like a beheaded chicken! All I could hear was „CLEAR!‟ followed by a sharp electric current running through my body. The doctors were trying their best but my life force was quickly slipping away. In my mind, I was in a long dark tunnel and I was walking towards the light. When I reached the light, I saw a very beautiful woman with golden hair and golden eyes. She wore a radiant white gown and she was glowing. I saw Wanye looking young and standing beside her.

"Mom?" I called.

She smiled and stretched out her arms. I ran to her and hugged her but chillax guys, it didn‟t mean I was already dead though it meant on the outside nothing much, just that I HAD STOPPED BREATHING!

"My son" my mom said and I could feel her glittering tears falling on my head.

"How are you doing Zan my boy?" Wanye said with a laugh.

"I feel terrible. The Kirisawas hate me…especially Ayumi" I said.

"Zan, do not hate them. Do not hate anyone" Wanye said.

"He‟s right. The Dream Knights are after your life because they see you as an abomination. But Zan, you‟re the best mistake I‟ve ever made" my Mom said.

"Mistake huh? You‟re really crazy Mom. I get that from you right?" I laughed.

"You get most of that from your dad. He‟s really really crazy but even I can tell that he cares about you" my Mom said.

"I guess" I wasn‟t convinced, not an iota convinced at all.

"But Zan, you can‟t join us yet. It‟s not yet your time" my Mom said.

Outside, my body was totally limp. Ayumi and Ai stood outside the window screaming.

"ZAN! ZAN! DON‟T DIE! ZAN!"

If only I could hear their screams. Actually, I could hear them. It was kinda like God listening to prayers.

"What‟s happening Mom? I can hear Ayumi and Ai screaming" I said.

"It‟s probably because you‟re dying. They want you to live"

"But Ayumi swore to kill me" I laughed.

"Girls normally say such things when they don‟t want to reveal their true feelings to the guys they love. Now, you‟ve got to go back" my mom said as she flicked my forehead.

Suddenly, a powerful wind swept me off my feet.

"MOM NO! I DON‟T WANT TO BE SEPARATED FROM YOU!" I screamed.

"Make me proud, little dream boy" she said as she blew me a kiss.

I felt like I was falling. The doctors declared the time of my death and raised the bed sheets over my head.

Ayumi burst into the room with Ai.

"ZAN!" she called as she ran to my body and I kinda feel embarrassed to say this but Ayumi flung herself on me crying bitterly.

"It‟s all my fault, I always mess everything up. Ai got cursed because of me. And you Zan, you died because of my stubbornness. You are the first person to make me laugh in ages. Please don‟t die Zan!" Ayumi cried as she pulled back the sheets and guess what she saw, my wide open eyes staring at her.

"Hi Ayu!" I greeted eerily.

"AAAHHH!!!" Ayumi screamed.

"AAAHHH! A GHOST!!!" Ai screamed.

I leapt out of the bed.

"A GHOST?! WHERE! WHERE?!" I screamed in terror and everyone started laughing.

Then I realized that my gut still hurt like hell. I clutched it in pain.

"Lie down Zan" Ayumi said as she helped me to lie down without hurting myself.

"I think Zan‟s okay now so let‟s give he and Ayumi some time alone okay dad?" Ai said as she pulled Mr Kirisawa out of the room.

"Now what was that about?" I said with a laugh.

"How can you be laughing?! You nearly died!" Ayumi yelled angrily.

"Are you sure you want to know Ayu?" I teased.

"I told you to stop calling me that. Now tell me why you‟re laughing" Ayumi asked.

She didn‟t sound so mean anymore. Actually, she sounded nice.

"It‟s because I found it funny to see your scared face and hear you scream" I said.

"You jerk!" Ayumi growled.

"But most of all, I‟m glad you‟re here with me and you just showed me that you care about me" I said.

"You misinterpreted my feelings" Ayumi frowned and turned away but I could see that she was blushing. I pretended not to notice it though.

"Fine, so you don‟t care about me so why are you here?" I pretended to be offended and turned my back to Ayumi.

Remember the best medicine for Japanese girls? Yeah, just act like you don‟t care.

"I came to apologize" Ayumi said.

"Save that for someone you care for and just let me be. I don‟t really care about your apology" I said and waited for a reaction.

"Why‟re you getting so angry?" Ayumi asked.

"Oh nothing, oh what am I talking about. It‟s because you‟re annoying" I said and placed the pillow on my head.

"I‟m annoying? Well you‟re so…so childish and ugh you‟re so annoying!" Ayumi yelled angrily.

I ignored her.

"Plus I found that caricature you drew of us kissing kono hentai!" Ayumi roared.

Now here‟s where you should know two things about me.

1. I‟ve watched enough animes to know kono hentai means you perv…I won‟t say it for delicacy‟s sake.

2. I really hate it when someone insults my drawings.

"Who says that‟s you in the drawing? It could be anyone. Maybe it‟s even Ai!" I yelled and Ayumi became so angry that she began to yell curses in Japanese.

And let me tell you what I heard.

"$%&*^$£=+$%£!!!" and that pretty much means translation unavailable.

"I don‟t really understand Japanese but I know you‟re saying some pretty nasty things Ayumi!" I said angrily.

Ayumi sighed.

"I‟m really sorry Zan for treating you badly yesterday and calling you a useless wretch with your brains in your butt" Ayumi apologized.

"WHAT THE…?! That was really low Ayumi Kirisawa!" I accused.

"I know and I‟m sorry. Please forgive me Zan" Ayumi apologized.

"I never held anything against you to begin with, I already serenaded you didn‟t I? So though you don‟t care about me, I‟m crazy about you so I don‟t hate you" I confessed.

Ayumi stared at me for a while and smiled.

"What? You think I‟m weird?" I asked.

"No, just different" Ayumi said.

"I‟ve heard you laugh but this is the first time I‟ve seen you smile and I need to tell you, you may be beautiful when you‟re angry, but you‟re even more beautiful when you smile" I said and then I fell asleep.

"I‟m really glad you‟re okay Zan, I‟m honestly glad" Ayumi said as the tears she had held back for so long flowed down her face.

I was asleep but I could feel her holding my hand. Mr Kirisawa asked the doctor when I could be discharged and he said in about a week but I healed pretty fast.

Five days later, I was discharged from the hospital. I had to lean on Ayumi and Ai to be able to walk.

"You know? I actually enjoy this position" I teased them.

"You‟re really annoying Zan" Ayumi sighed.

"Maybe we should drop him sis" Ai suggested.

"N-no, no, no, don‟t even…" I protested.

"That‟s a good idea Ai" Ayumi agreed and they left me.

I fell to the ground.

"OUCH! IT HURTS!" I screamed in pain.

"Ayumi, Ai, please be gentle with Zan" Mr Kirisawa advised.

"You tell „em! It‟s just my luck to end up with the diabolic twins. I think I might end up losing half of my lifespan" I said and everyone started laughing.

Ayumi and Ai helped me into the jeep and we returned to the Kirisawa residence.

When we arrived at the residence, the servants lined up to welcome me.

"Welcome back Master Zan" they greeted with happy smiles.

"I don‟t know what to say" I said and they thought I was being modest but what I really meant was I‟m not sure whether I‟m glad to be back or not.

I‟m glad I didn‟t say it out loud though.

Ayumi and Ai took me to one of the numerous guest rooms in the mansion.

It was the room with everything I could ever want.

"This is where you‟ll be staying from now on Zan. Our home is your home so feel free to use anything you like" Mr Kirisawa said.

"Thank you but Ayumi, are you okay with this?" I asked.

"As long as you‟re not as annoying as you always are. I have no problem" Ayumi grumbled.

I could see she was happy but trying hard not to show it.

"That‟s probably impossible. It‟s just how I am" I said and everyone began to laugh, even Ayumi.

"Get some rest Zan" Ayumi said and everyone left the room.

I lay on the bed. It was far softer than the hard mattress I used to sleep on at home. I placed my hands on it and rubbed it gently and before I knew it, I was fast asleep.

Meanwhile, Ayumi and Ai were outside.

"Ai, how about a duel? It‟s been so long since we fought. Maybe your skills have grown rusty" Ayumi challenged.

"Fine, but don‟t be shocked if I defeat you" Ai said with a determined smile.

The two girls stood up and walked to opposite ends of the field and summoned their sigils.

"Your sigil still looks pretty good" Ayumi teased.

"Yours too Ayu, but it doesn‟t matter how good your sigil is, water always quenches fire" Ai challenged.

"Not always Ai, a strong fire can evaporate water" Ayumi retorted.

"For that to happen, you would have to be stronger than me and by that, I mean two-thirds stronger" Ai said.

"HERE I COME!" Ayumi roared as she charged to attack Ai.

The two sisters fought till sunset and I must admit that both of them had a really crazy amount of stamina and Ai was really good. I was asleep by then but man, Ai really showed me that kindness and gentility is also another kind of strength. Soon, the two sisters began to lose stamina.

"I must admit Ai, that I thought you would be much weaker" Ayumi confessed.

"I‟m actually taking it easy on you" Ai said.

"Don‟t be so conceited Ai!" Ayumi roared angrily.

"No, it‟s true. BEHOLD! UPGRADING LEVEL THREE WATER SIGIL

TO LEVEL TWO ICE SIGIL!" Ai roared as her sigil was engulfed by a strong blue light.

Her sigil began to crystallize and grow till it was completely covered in ice, very sharp ice! Ayumi stared in shock.

"Ai! Y-you‟ve upgraded your sigil?! But how?!" Ayumi exclaimed in shock.

Ai laughed.

"Zan taught me" Ai said.

"Z-Zan did? But Zan‟s more inexperienced than any of us" Ayumi wasn‟t convinced.

"He seems to understand everything related to the sigils. I‟d say he‟s a natural" Ai said.

"I see. Let‟s call it quits for today, I‟m really exhausted" Ayumi tried to avoid fighting Ai.

"Don‟t tell me you‟re scared of losing to your younger sister" Ai teased.

"It‟s nothing like that" Ayumi grumbled but even a sleeping man could tell that she was lying.

"Let‟s go find out if Zan needs anything" Ai said and the sisters entered the mansion but when they opened the door to my room, I wasn‟t there.

"Where the hell is Zan?!" Ayumi roared angrily.

I had sneaked out when the sisters were training and now I was roaming the streets of Lower East Side Dream City. It was night already and I had just one thought on my mind, SWEET PAYBACK.

As I roamed the streets, I suddenly became aware of the fact that I was being followed. I chuckled evilly and played along, walking into an alley till I reached a dead end. And when I turned to go back, I found myself surrounded by the same gang that beat me up.

"Hey, lookie guys, it‟s not every day we get to kill the same guy twice" the leader said.

"Look, I‟m kinda in a good mood so I‟ll forgive you for beating me up as long as you don‟t get in my way" I half threatened.

"Is that a threat?" the leader asked.

You can just see how foolish he is cos I just said I half threatened.

"Yes, it is a threat" I said coolly.

He pulled out a knife.

"I‟m gonna enjoy this" he said as he lunged at me but I caught the blade of the knife in my fingers and snapped it in two like a toothpick.

Next, he brought out a gun and began to shoot but I caught the bullets and dropped them coolly. Even I couldn‟t understand how I was doing all that but I‟ve gotta admit I felt like Neo in the Matrix.

The criminals stared at me in shock.

"What kind of freak are you? I stabbed you easily exactly six days ago!" the leader exclaimed in shock.

"Six days ago, I had a broken spirit. Before we fought, I was in a good mood but right now, I‟M ANGRY AND YOU WON‟T LIKE ME WHEN I‟M ANGRY!" I yelled and you‟ve gotta admit, I sounded pretty much like the incredible hulk.

I cracked my knuckles with an evil glare in my eyes.

"I quite remember someone saying something about enjoyment. Well, I‟m gonna enjoy this" I said in a dark sinister voice with a sinister smile.

"AAAHHH!!! PLEASE FORGIVE US!!!" they screamed but little did they know that my philosophy was „beatings now, forgiveness later.‟

I returned to the Kirisawa residence at around eight p.m. to meet Ayumi waiting angrily for me at the gate.

"Zan! Where are you coming from this late?!" she yelled.

"Oh hi there Ayu, I just had to take care of some business" I laughed.

"Why are you laughing?" Ayumi asked.

At that moment, Ai rushed outside.

"Ayu! You‟re not going to believe this! A gang of robbers have been found outside the police station in Lower East Side Dream City and here‟s the killer part, they were found hanging from a street light, tied together with a single rope" Ai laughed.

"KEH! KEH! KEH! KEH! HEH! HEH! HEH!" I chuckled gleefully.

"Zan, you didn‟t" Ayumi sighed.

"What did you do Zan?" Ai asked.

"You don‟t wanna know" I laughed.

"C‟mon Zan, tell us" Ai pleaded.

"Okay, maybe after supper" I said.