Riza Chronicles: Book 1

Welp, Here We Go

"Riza... I swear to shit if you don't wake up... I'll steal your manga collection! I'll-- I'll burn all of the drawings I made you!" 

"... Come on, don't do this to me too..." 

A lot less violently than the morning before, she once again obeyed the voice. 

The girl's elbow had been propped against the corner of the window, and her hand had been supporting her chin. Unfortunately, gravity decided to take over for a couple of seconds, and Riza came dangerously close to slamming her head against the glass pane. For a moment, she came close to panicking; due to her unfamiliar surroundings. But, once she actually looked around, it all came back to her. 

Gon had convinced the others to continue to stick with her on her quest to regain her memories. Which, at the moment, consisted of her tracking down three comatose people that she apparently knew. The article said that they were in Yorknew, so that's where the group was headed. Riza had been almost dragged onto a train, and was now sitting amongst a bunch of people that were barely above "stranger" level. 

Across from her sat Gon, Killua, and Kurapika. She was stuck on the same cushioned bench as Leorio; which honestly wasn't all that bad. At least they got a few inches more space than the three souls who had gotten stuck with each other. 

Earlier, the Hunters basically had to re-explain everything to the girl. What nen was, how jobs worked, how basically the entire Association worked; stuff like that. The younger males even got so curious as to make her perform a test where they got to figure out her nen ability. It was a bit difficult to get an accurate reading, seeing as though the train car was always moving at least a little bit. However, after placing a leaf in a glass of water, and instructing the bluette to focus her "aura" on her hands, and to hold them close enough to the cup. It was then discovered that she was a Manipulator, as the leaf moved on the surface of the water. 

According to the others, all that was left was to figure out how she fought; then at least the combat bit of her amnesia would hopefully be cleared up. 

The train ride was predicted to be a couple of hours long, since they were heading away from the country and into one of the busiest cities in the world. Hence why Riza had fallen asleep at one point. 

At the moment, Kurapika seemed to be the only one who was still awake. 

His nose was buried in a book, and he didn't seem to be paying attention to much else besides the words typed onto the pages; not that there was much to pay attention to. Everyone else was fast asleep--seemingly-- and it wasn't like every other passenger was looking to strike up a conversation with some random stranger. Even if  every person in the area had suddenly become extremely social, she doubted that he would've picked a separate pastime anyways. She wouldn't have. 

Still, that didn't mean that he was the type to automatically become oblivious to the entire world when reading. Moments after Riza had decided to hop right back out of the dream world, he turned his attention toward her. Or, rather, the slightly distressed look that she had taken on for a couple of seconds. 

"Are you alright?" The blonde questioned. His tone was hushed, so as not to wake up the others, but still loud enough for her to hear from only a small distance away. 

Giving the car another glance, the teenager turned her attention to the other passengers. None seemed to be looking there way; and none seemed like they would fit the young, male voice that she had previously heard. "Y-yeah. I'm fine." Maybe it had been a dream? That seemed like the most realistic answer, but Riza couldn't shake off how real it had sounded. She could've sworn that the speaker was standing right next to her, shouting right in her ear. Sighing softly, the girl settled herself back down in her seat; temporarily defeated on the matter. 

Apparently, Kurapika wasn't convinced; as he was staring at the bluette with a raised eyebrow and a look that said 'who the fudge do you think you're fooling? I am no idiot.' Placing a fancy looking card between the pages of his novel in order to save his place, he closed the book slowly. "You sure about that...?" 

A bit hesitantly, she shrugged. "Yes? I think so? I mean..." Drawing in a deep breath, she closed her eyes for a moment. "I think I already know the answer to this... Was someone... calling my name just a moment ago?" 

And here came the part where he no doubt thought her to be crazy. 

"No" was the immediate response. However, unlike what the bluette might've hoped for, the Kurta didn't automatically drop the subject. Of course, he had drawn the same conclusion as her: that it had just been a dream. However, to an amnesiac, dreams were more valuable than gold; especially if they held something unfamiliar. "Care to share?" 

Riza shook her head, and pressed herself further into the corner made by the wall of the train-car and her seat. "Not really..." 

The blonde stared at her for a good couple of seconds before sighing softly and opening his book back up. "Well, if it happens again, just know that I'm willing to listen. Even if it turns out to be nothing, then at least we won't be ignoring an important hint." 

~#~ 

Before reaching the building, she had been the one to be dragged around. The amnesiac had no idea where anything was inside of Yorknew, so the others had to lead her towards the hospital. However, once they reached it, and had explained who they were and who they were trying to visit, everything flipped. The nurse, who was supposed to lead the group towards the gang of comatose patients, had mistakenly said the room number while sorting through a bunch of different documents, and trying to find where Riza's friends were. And, of course at this point, the bluette couldn't have stayed sane if she had wasted another minute. 

So, naturally, she ditched everyone else and immediately darted towards her friends' shared room. 

She had to dodge various doctors, patients, and stray medical equipment as she darted through the halls. Riza was barely paying attention to anything beyond the labels next to each door, but easily managed to avoid the obstacles nonetheless. Behind her, the girl could hear her new acquaintances shouting her name, and trying to get her to slow down; but she absolutely refused. 

The bluette came close to missing her destination entirely, and had to skid to a stop in order to double back. Once she threw open the door... she couldn't bring herself to go in. 

Three beds filled up the fairly large room; and similar machines were hooked up to each one. The only variation between each were the people who resided in them; two girls, and a boy. From the doorway, Riza could hear the rhythmic beeping of the heart monitors, and a steady whirring of the hard working equipment. Besides that, however, she heard nothing. No greetings, or rustling of sheets. No teasing insults thrown her way, or even objects thrown her way. 

Nothing. 

The only thing that assured her that everyone was still alive were the machines that announced that their hearts were still beating. 

"Riza?" 

Looking back, the teenager saw that the others had caught up to her; and were just patiently standing behind her. The one who had spoken was none other than Gon, who was standing right up at the front. He wasn't wearing a mournful look of sympathy, or anything similarly false like that. Instead, the boy wore a reassuring smile; one that stretched from ear to ear, and was nothing short of genuine. 

"You've still gotta say hi, right? I mean, they're your friends and all. It would be mean to just ignore them."