Chapter 35: House Arrest

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="95" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 46 WIDTH="91"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="46" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="91" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#003333" FACE="Arial" ><B>Ultra Symphony</B></FONT>  </div> <bR> <div> Chapter 35: House Arrest</div> <bR> <div> Mikono faltered as she took a step toward Jerry, and blinked as she tried to focus on Jerry's face. </div> <bR> <div> He immediately lost his smile and grabbed her arm. "What the hell is wrong with you?" </div> <bR> <div> "What..? N-nothing.... can I sit down?"</div> <bR> <div> His eyes narrowed as he looked at her figure, shaking with the very effort of standing up straight. Her eyes were half-shut, and rather tired-looking. </div> <bR> <div> "Goddamnit, are you drunk?" Jerry demanded. </div> <bR> <div> Mikono shook her head. "Of course not..."</div> <bR> <div> "What is it then? Huh? Heroin?!"</div> <bR> <div> "I'm not ON anything...." Mikono insisted, swaying. Her center of gravity was out of whack from going up and down the elevator so many times, and she finally stumbled back over and leaned against the wall. </div> <bR> <div> Jerry, meanwhile, was shaking his head. "I can not believe it. I mean... who the hell knew.. it really was drugs... " He trailed off, suddenly aware of where they were. He looked at Mikono, who was staring at the floor. He walked calmly over to her and grabbed her by the hand, leading her into his office. </div> <bR> <div> She fell into a chair, and Jerry slammed the door, then immediately went to the wall and gazed up at a picture of a slightly older woman, who Mikono knew nothing about except that she'd been a singer in the 80's. </div> <bR> <div> "I can't believe this, Mikono. I mean, after I.. I LIED to the execs about you. They heard it, 'Mikono Hayagane's on drugs. Almost ODs outside MEU.' But no, no I said. That's all a lie. It's not true. And now, you.. you show up at WORK like this. It was just 2 hours ago that we talked."</div> <bR> <div> Mikono was shaking her head, and when Jerry turned back to her, she still shook her head. "It's not drugs. I swear to you it is not drugs!"</div> <bR> <div> "Then what is it?!" </div> <bR> <div> She opened her mouth to say that she'd been attacked by some psycho pink Ultra with a sword, but suddenly it didn't sound all that convincing. </div> <bR> <div> "What? You can't remember?" </div> <bR> <div> "Some punk with a knife..." She spurted out, sliding her jacket off. <I>Better he sees that I'm injured than keep on this tirade about drugs. </I></div> <bR> <div> Jerry stared at her, and finally came over. He saw her shirt, stained with the greenish-brown liquid, and the slit in the fabric. </div> <bR> <div> "Who did this?" He asked. </div> <bR> <div> "Some burglar on the street. He tried to steal my money, but I didn't have any." </div> <bR> <div> "Why the hell didn't the police see you?!?" </div> <bR> <div> "I don't know..."</div> <bR> <div> She said it as her eyelids slowly closed, and as Jerry stood there, staring at her, for a couple minutes, she fell completely asleep. </div> <bR> <div> "Mikono... this won't do at all. You won't be running off to MEU anymore. Do you understand?" </div> <bR> <div> Her eyes shifted under her eyelids, and Jerry leaned in, whispering. </div> <bR> <div> "I know more about you than you think, Mikono. Come on, it's time to go home to Mama." </div> <bR> <div> She stirred in her sleep. </div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <A HREF="id77.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 36: Melted Heart, Part 1"><U>Chapter 36</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ultra Symphony"><U>Back</U></A></div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>