Trouble in paradise (official)

Chapter 53 "Uncle Oda?"

"Mr. Kurokawa? Mr. Kurokawa!?"

A voice. Calling to him over the hiss of the waves. Izana was drifting further and further away on an ocean, letting the water gently toss him back and forth. His eyes drifted up and the openness poured into him. His mind might as well have been a part of the sky. Tranquil, peaceful and quiet. Except for this voice.

"Mr. Kurokawa?"

"Kuro—- kawa? Is that my name?"

The thoughts faded away again. He sighed, preoccupied by the glittering ripples and foamy surfs crashing against the shore. Suddenly something in the air shifts. Pressure builds around him and the brisk salt smell intensifies to the point he can taste it. He doesn't seem to notice the clouds rolling in, but he feels the sea starting to churn.

"Was I always this far out? I thought I was next to the shore. Why am I in the middle of the ocean?" A chill crept up his spine. It was unnaturally still and calm, too calm like it was baiting him. Eerily silent like death, waiting for its moment to seize him and swallow him in its solemnity. "I gotta get back," he whispers. He lays flat on the board and paddles back.

There was nothing but ocean in every direction but one. The landmarks he'd memorized seemed to drift further away the harder he paddled. Forty-story skyscrapers looked like specks of dust on a white counter as the bright blue sky faded to a menacing gray. Izana plunged headfirst into the deep blue darkness. His board was upended from beneath him, something huge crashed into it. He reached up desperately grasping at the rays of light on the surface. But it slipped through his fingers. He couldn't grab hold. He panicked, wide-eyed with jerking limbs. Slicing the water in two, just for it to swallow him up again. "I gotta get out! I gotta get out!"

He was close to the top when a vine of seaweed grips onto his ankle, stopping him just shy of the surface. He looked down, holding on with what little breath he had left to tug on the vine. But it was no use. His vision marred a blurry gray as air bubbles swirled around his head. He desperately tried to free himself, opening his mouth to scream but nothing came out. He shudders looking into the darkness.

"GET OFF OF ME!!" He shouts, jolting out of the bed before taking in a huge breath of air.

"Mr. Kurokawa please! I need you to stop thrashing around!" The nurses around him try their hardest to restrain him. His body was covered in sweat as if he had chased down a school bus for several blocks. They couldn't get a firm grip on him. He slipped through their fingers like a slippery fish. Izana's body temperature was rising each minute. It was no wonder why he had been hallucinating for the past hour. He was suffering from a bad reaction.

"LET ME GO, YOU DUMB BITCH!" He shrieked in pain, slapping away one of the nurses.

"Is he going to be alright?" His assistant asked, gripping onto his face. She dabs his forehead with a cold towel while the doctors inject him with a new medication. His eyes were shut tight as he took quick shallow breaths. "Mr. Kurokawa it's me! You're going to be okay."

"Get away from me or I swear I'll kill you too." He huffs out.

"This medication should help with the pain and calm him down a bit." The nurse presses her thumb on the syringe, injecting with the medication for pain. The thrashing stops and Izana slowly starts to lose consciousness. "He's going to be out for a bit, and when he wakes up his pain should subside."

"Oh thank god. Thank you." She tears up, placing one hand on her chest. The sliding door to the room opens abruptly, startling the two women.

"Where the fuck is the boss?"