Total rewrite of the original fic.
Reideen's always been a series on my mind mostly because of its loose ends. Hoshikawa for instance was heard saying that she's safe but there was no evidence that she was absorbed into Reideen like that one mechanic or if she teleported out. Then there was the fact that Riglas aka the Home Planet of the invading aliens had sent Gadion to deal with the situation says that they're not done with Earth. I seriously doubt that they're just gonna roll over and leave Earth alone.
Also Junki's almost psychic powers is interesting as well because let's face it- his premonitions and the fact that he saw life through his father's eyes briefly and also saw Hoshikawa's past just randomly out of the blue when dealing/dispatching alien destructobots is damned fascinating.
This fic also ignores the stupid 1 min epilogue in the ending credits.
Once in a Lifetime:
Chapter One:
Junki smiled at the nurses as he made his way past the reception area of the hospital toward the room that held Hoshikawa. They smiled and nodded in turn, he had visited enough times for them to recognize his face. In his hands he carried a simple bouquet of sunflowers for the tall esper who had saved his hide dozens of times. It wasn't much but in light of things, it was the least he could do.
Room 203 had its door open, though Hoshikawa's bed was placed far against the wall, preventing her from being seen in the hallway. Junki politely rapped on the frame prior to entering. Hoshikawa had apparently been gazing out the window because she turned her head towards him with a smile.
"Ah! Saiga-kun! Oh? Are those flowers I see? They better not be roses!" There was a teasing lilt to her voice.
A few months ago, he would have been flushed bright red at her teasing, but after really getting to know her, any embarrassment or awkwardness he had faded away.
"Sunflowers this time. I thought they'd liven up the place a little more." He replied as he set down his school bag and busied himself with rearranging one of the flower vases, carefully pulling out wilted pieces and discarding them. He carefully put in the bright, colorful sunflowers with the remaining daisies, until they were a well balanced arrangement. A cheerful riot of deep reds, oranges, yellows, dusty pinks and whites.
There were a few more cards from the White Heron team but that was the only sign that Hoshikawa had visitors. Nobody else from outside her work life.
Hana watched the teen fuss over the flowers a bit and wasn't surprised at his good sense of arrangement. It was his second visit with flowers after all. She had gotten over her initial surprise after the first time he had spent a few minutes going over the arrangements that were wilting and fixing them up. She didn't ask him where he learned to rearrange them in a tasteful manner, but had a guess that it had something to do with his deceased father and helping his mother.
"The doctors say that I'll be out in a couple more days. Foot's healing nicely enough to get me discharged soon." For added emphasis she wiggled her injured foot.
Junki saw the appendage bob up and down a bit under the blanket and took a seat in a chair near her bed.
"The other issues?" He asked, worry creeping into his voice, as well as some guilt.
The red headed woman waved it away as she stopped bobbing her foot. "Nothing to worry about Saiga-kun. All that stuff about backlash and whatnot aren't real. If anything else it makes me really hungry. But seriously, you should really stop worrying about it. I'll be back to haunting you along with Terasaki."
"Even so...it's still my fault you got hurt to begin with Hoshikawa-san." Junki said as he gazed into the esper's eyes.
"We wouldn't be here if I hadn't Saiga-kun."
It was the first time in a while they had a deep and private conversation with each other since the incident. This was the first time Junki had the courage to really voice some of the things that had been racing in his head. Digesting the entirety of what happened in the destruction of the alien spaceship, Ando's death, Hoshikawa's brush with death, Shiori finding out the truth, Akira's revelation, his near death experience and the aftermath of the battle.
He looked away. She was right, but it didn't make it easier to hear her say those words. She had almost died. Ando had died…
"I- I know you're right Hoshikawa-san but I have a hard time accepting it."
"Look at me."
Junki brought his eyes back to Hoshikawa. What levity she had earlier was gone and her dark eyes were penetrating. Despite her hospital gown and the thin blanket covering her, held a commanding presence.
"You knew what had to be done. That's what being an adult is Saiga-kun. It's making hard choices and hoping that you make the right one. You have a good head on your shoulders, keep it that way. I'm here and you're here, that's all that matters right now. Take it one day at a time."
His jaws clenched as he flexed his hands, gripping the fabric of his pants, biting back the denial that wanted to spill from his lips.
Hana could see the conflict and the guilt the kid carried with him and relented a little. Despite his rather quiet demeanor...he was still a kid, and a teenager to boot. She knew through Maedesaki that Junki had witnessed Ando's final moments. A rough thing for any kid to see. At least her own parents and the other victims had been buried under plane wreckage so she didn't have to literally see their bodies. Plus she had years to deal with her own experiences.
"There are men and women much older than you who wouldn't have the guts to do what you did. Nor the willpower to follow through. I don't regret my actions."
Didn't regret huh?
He wished he could have Hoshikawa's confidence in himself. The truth was that his focus had been on Reideen and Midorino...the aliens and the invasion...Hoshikawa had almost been an afterthought and the callousness he felt then frankly disturbed him. Same with his regard towards Shiori...another loose end to tie up. He was sick of dancing around the issue, he had already chickened out in his first visit.
"You may change your mind about that." Junki finally said as he got up to close the door.
"If it's about you putting priority in Reideen at the time, that's a given Saiga-kun."
He paused, studying the grain of the fake wood veneer of the door.
"We're government agents…Maedesaki, myself, Terasaki, the mech pilots, we know the risks that we take by being part of the government. Especially with military and law enforcement matters. Reideen chose you and right now it's the only thing that's keeping us alive, so whatever connection you share with it- will always be a priority.
I chose to stay behind to buy you time and it's not like you left me back there either. The fact that Reideen got me out is proof of the fact. If you're trying to apologize to me, stop it, there's nothing to apologize to me about. In fact I think you owe your childhood friend more of an apology."
Shiori…Junki always had a feeling that Hoshikawa liked Shiori. Looking back in hindsight, his treatment of his childhood friend was pretty horrid in light of the events. His apology to Hoshikawa had backfired spectacularly, not that he was completely ignorant that it could go wrong. The only thing going for him was that she wasn't mad at him- yet.
A wry grin, more grimace than a grin, twisted on his lips. "That I do...I haven't been all that nice to her."
"If you're not interested in her then be honest to her about that, instead of stringing her along."
"Wait a minute. Stringing her along? Interested in her?" He asked, wrenching himself away from the closed door to face Hoshikawa who gave him a fleeting glance of surprise before her expression became neutral again, her dark eyes studying him.
There was no way Hoshikawa was implying what she was implying...right?
"You had no idea that she likes you Saiga-kun?"
"Likes? As in romantically?" He asked, mentally glad that he hadn't choked out those words, though the revelation was a complete shock to him. Now that he really thought about it...No, he wasn't going to deal with that bit of information until he was home and could really digest that fact completely.
Hoshikawa's neutral expression turned into one of exasperation.
"What was that saying again about academics and denseness? Or was it something else?"
0o0o0o0o0
Thoughts continued to crowd Junki's mind when he bade Hoshikawa farewell and left the hospital. Her revelation of Shiori's interest in him was now an additional issue floating in his mind- though his apology or attempt at one to Hoshikawa didn't go as planned. He didn't feel better per say about the situation, however arguing with Hoshikawa on stuff like that was like arguing with a brick wall at times.
The sun was going down and evening was slowly falling upon the ruined city. It was impossible to miss the swathes of destroyed skyscrapers, houses, retail centers and more as he rode through what streets were still operational on his scooter. The ruins cut jaggedly against the flaming sky, shadows lengthening them into close grotesque figures that almost matched the designs that the aliens used. There were teams of volunteers, military, law enforcement and construction workers everywhere in varying stages of rescuing, securing or even rebuilding.
It had only been a week since that battle and yet it already seemed like a lifetime ago.
Today was a very rare day where he didn't have Terasaki tailing him. Citizens Patrol was requiring all man power to assist with the rescue and recovery efforts. In Terasaki's place was a GPS locator device that was immune to EMP, weatherproof and virtually indestructible. There had been no signs of further alien activity but Junki knew that it was just a brief respite. Going over all the data of him being a potential target for anything at the moment was extremely small. With the aliens gone for now, his safety wasn't exactly the highest priority.
Hardly anybody knew of his existence as Reideen's pilot, and those few in the government who did know were virtually told that he was completely hands off for now- thanks to Ando and whoever else that man was involved with. The only exception of course being White Heron, which was technically the agency 'handling' him.
Junki brought his scooter to a dead stop near a ruined shopping center a few miles from his home. Unlike other parts of the city, this section was absent of workers. Yellow and black tape flimsily cordoned off the ruins, hastily scrawled spray paint with abbreviations standing out in bright red telling those who knew their meaning that the area had already been searched.
Missing from the scrawl were markers for corpses.
He took off his helmet and got off the vehicle. Home seemed confining right now and he desperately needed space to think. The more rational part of him screamed that it would be safer to think at home, however he didn't have the heart to face his mother. No amount of verbal apologies would wash away the constant look of hurt in her eyes.
Being here felt right for the moment- away from having to walk on eggshells around his mother...of his own stupidity and becoming the very thing he promised not to...
Shiori…
Junki sat on part of a railing that hadn't been destroyed, staring at a surprisingly empty lot.
They had been childhood friends for so long, it was something of a surprise that she held feelings towards him in that manner. She had dated other boys in the past and never showed any interest in him in that manner. He had always viewed her as a sister, but even he had to admit looking in hindsight, her actions and his own treatment of her had been rather harsh.
Cruel even.
He had been called many things as a child growing up. Weird, freak, show off, cold, distant...that last part became more apparent after his father's disappearance. Yet in spite of that, Shiori had come crashing into his life like a train, going full speed ahead.
She was a total antithesis of himself-outgoing, personable and likeable. Shiori was just average enough in grades not to be considered a weirdo or freak and optimistic enough to hold some popularity in the schools they attended. Though she often dragged him into projects and other social events he would have avoided like the plague, he found that he hadn't minded at all.
Hoshikawa was right. He had to tell her the truth, no matter how much it would hurt. All this hiding and ignorance was what caused a lot of hardship and pain...would continue to do so. His case with Shiori was more willful ignorance about her feelings because she did find out that he piloted Reideen. The least he could do was give Shiori closure.
He promised all those years ago that he wouldn't become his father. That he wouldn't be so callous to put his selfish desires before those he cared about…A promise that he spectacularly shattered to pieces...starting with him missing his mother's birthday and then his treatment of Shiori.
'Take it one day at a time.' Hoshikawa's voice whispered in his mind.
Tomorrow...tomorrow he'll set things straight with Shiori.
With an inaudible sigh, Junki left the railing and made his way back to his scooter.
From the darkness of a ruined building, a small black shadow with bright yellow eyes watched. Once Junki left the area completely, it scampered out from its hiding place and scrambled up to the railing and licked a few small drops of blood that had been left behind.
Junki had been so preoccupied with his thoughts, that he never realized that he had gotten a minor scratch from the aluminum railing.
A wide grin stretched on the shadow's face as its whip like tail swung back and forth in pleasure for a moment before darting back into the ruins.