"If I ride this I am going to die. I'm going to die? I'm really going to die?" He sounds as if he still couldn't believe it.
"It's not only you, Kako-kun. I'm going to, too." She says it and she knows already that it is no comfort for him.
"But not until later! I'm going to die next. God damn it! Why?! Why does everything have to screw with me?" Kako is yelling now as he's kicking the bench. Chizu hears these stomps louder than the alarm sirens howling around them. "I couldn't care less about the Earth! What the hell does everyone on Earth mean to me?! Everyone should just die…"
"Stop it.."
"What did I do to deserve it? I was always made fun of, never treated as a friend. Dad doesn't come home in forever, my sister hates me, so does Mom… No one will be sad that I died."
"Don't say that."
"Why was I born? Damn… I can't just die like that. But Chizu… I like you, Chizu. I always have. You're beautiful, and smart and cute…"
Kako's eyes are wide and wild, his face disfigured by the pilot's brand, his fingers outstretched towards her like claws. He looks disgusting and Chizu wants to run. But she can't unhear his cry of despair. "Why was I born?" - he believes he got nothing from this life.
Nothing. And he will die in couple of minutes. Will he be able to fight? Where will he find motivation to fight so that others could live? If he only resents them?
Nothing. Really? Not a single thing? Chizu doesn't want to believe it. But if he thinks this way, then at this very moment it is his reality. The only reality that matters because he will die with it.
"Chizu… I like you so much…"
Chizu takes a shaky step back. "And I will die as well. Any day. What do I do with the rest of my days? I should do something good with them, shouldn't I?"
"I want to do it with you." Kako pounces towards her.
She buries her heels firmer into the ground.
And takes the impact.
Still, it knocks her down, falling uncontrollably she hits her head against the edge of a seat. It hurts and he is heavy.
How many people get a chance to change someone's life 180 degrees? From "why was I even born?" to… To what? Will he say afterwards that it was worth to live?
He's dying. He was warm and heavy and panting over her and he is half dead already. He is half dead already and she can do it. It's not that much of a big deal in the end in comparison to dying.
Kako's hands are on her legs, tearing her dress up. "I like you so much, Chizu. I always have." He's holding her down with brute force nevertheless, despite his kind words.
And for her? To do it finally with someone who likes her… Like she always wanted…
Fighting against his weight, Chizu opens her legs. Kako momentarily loosens his grip and edges away a bit, taken by surprise with her action. "Then do it."
His mouth falls agape; he blinks as if not understanding what she means. But only for a moment. With shaking fingers he starts tearing at the top of her dress. She manages to slip one arm free, the rest of the dress he pulls and it rips. Her bra goes up towards her neck and Kako gropes her breasts. "Chizu, you're beautiful, so beautiful…"
A loud thud and a tremble of an earthquake resonate through them as the enemy robot touches the ground. Kako looks up and starts shaking uncontrollably.
"Kako!" Chizu lifts her hand to his cheek, moves his head towards her. "Look at me! Look only at me!" With her other hand the pulls the dress up to her waist and pushes her panties to the side.
Kako's both hands speed towards her sex, he pushes his fingers between the folds and it hurts – the flesh is delicate and his fingers too rough.
Chizu hisses. "Lick your fingers at least."
Kako looks at her, confused, but shoves fingers into his mouth. His next touch is a bit less painful, as his digits slide more easily. He stretches her opening and Chizu has to fight hard not to close her legs.
He opens his trousers and before she knows he rams inside her. Chizu screams with a pitch so high that it makes him stop.
She gulps. She won't ruin it now, all her effort. She can do it, she can still do it. "Don't… stop. Girls… Girls make all kinds of noises when it gets… intense." He won't realize, will he? Poor Kako, not the sharpest knife in the drawer. Not particularly emphatic as well. No, he won't notice.
"Oh… I see." Kako seems to be processing new information. Not that he will have any use of it, Chizu thinks bitterly. Then he thrusts again and she manages to strangle the scream to a grunt. And then another. And another. It isn't getting easier; her insides are burning as with living fire, flesh completely dry and she has a feeling of tearing at the friction. The edge of the bank is biting into her back, scraping it bloody, for sure. She cannot breathe cause Kako's shoulder is on her mouth, his collarbone crushing against her nose.
She sneaks her hand between them, pushes at her sex seeking to elicit some excitement. She presses in the rhythm of his thrusts and tries responding with her hips. Tries imagining she is just responding to her own hand, not to that painful, foreign intrusion.
Looking past his shoulder Chizu sees Zearth materializing above the waters of the bay. He is visible to upper legs already, and progressing fast.
With effort Chizu pulls her legs up and crosses them behind Kako's back. "Harder." She says. "Do it harder."
He listens – grabs both her shoulder for leverage and pulls her against his thrust. He hits against some barrier she didn't even know existed in her. Pain changes from burning to sickeningly dull. Closing her legs is no longer an option even if she really wants to do it now. "Just a moment more. Just a moment and it will be over. I hope. Or it will all be in vain. Oh, please don't let it be on vain!" Chizu grits her teeth. "Deeper." She manages.
She can feel Kako arching his spine as he presses in and doesn't pull away. She wants to wiggle out because it hurts just too much but she can't, the grip on her shoulders immobilizes her too efficiently. And then he lets go and goes limp over her. The burning pain returns, as water on an open wound.
Kako rolls over from her; she sits up the moment she's freed from his weight. He's panting heavily. After couple of seconds he gasps as if remembering something. "Oh! Chizu… It was great, so great!" He looks at her with a funny expression on his face. What is it, this expression? "Was it good for you as well?" It's hope.
Chizu turns her head away. What is she supposed to say? "It was… It was like nothing I have ever experienced. In my entire life."
Kako shows her all his teeth in a smile. "Yeah! For me too!"
He looks so cheerful, so carefree, so full of life and energy and mischief that Chizu can't believe he will be dead in couple of minutes. She bents and strokes his cheek. "I cannot save him. I cannot save my child. If I am able to save anyone I will find out only when I sit to pilot that accursed machine. I did so many bad things in my life. So few good ones. I killed my child signing this damned contract. I did bad, bad things… Will heavens look at me more kindly because of what I just did?"
Black and white static flashes in front her eyes. Others are materializing in the cockpit around her.
"Chizu!" Takami Komoda exclaims at her sight. "Chizu, what happened to you? Why are you…" She doesn't finish as Kako materializes next to her. "What have you been doing?!"
Chizu doesn't answer. She gets up, absentmindedly registers burning pain between her legs, pulls up parts of her dress to give her chest at least some coverage. Looks down, where a rivulet snaking down her calf is shot with red. Looks down, where Kako is sitting. "Fight." She says with a bite. "Get up and fight."
He raises himself slowly. His breathing is steady, his eyes calm and smiling and serene as he looks at her. "I will. For you."