"I have concerns over what's about to occur."
- TieTuesday
"My God! What are you doing to the furniture?"
- Peter MacNicol, Dracula: Dead and Loving It
Attempting to raid Mikage International alone was not one of Yuuhi's brightest plans. After the riot guards captured him somewhere in the winding basement subcomplex, they threw him here, in this secluded industrial lab somewhere on one of the base's higher floors. It was a wonder they didn't kill him on sight. The only thing left protecting him in this cold and soulless place were the nunchaku on his belt and the headband around his brow, blessed with a Tennyo's celestial sigil.
"Thank you for assisting us in this experiment, Mr. Aogiri," a static-laden voice boomed over an intercom. "Please approach the central platform so we may begin."
Yuuhi noticed a long reflective mirror lining the scaffold above him. It was clearly part of a viewing deck. He couldn't see whoever was staring down at him, but they would be able to see him from their side of the glass. And only one person could be calling the shots in this freakshow.
"Is that you in there, Kagami?" Yuuhi called up. "I'm not going to do a damn thing to help you until you let go of Chidori!"
"Yes, your C-Genomer friend is here as well. She's in the care of our best specialists as I speak. I'm sure she would appreciate your cooperation, as well."
Kagami's implicitly threatening words angered Yuuhi as much as they terrified him. He remembered the hostage video Shiso had recorded, twisting Chidori's arm and threatening to rend her piece by piece unless Yuuhi came alone, while poor Shouta sobbed in the background. The video only he had watched, and hid from Aya and Touya to save them from the horror it might bring them. In the darkest pit of his imagination, he thought maybe he was too late, and they could already be dissecting Chidori in a sickening attempt to understand her magic.
But he didn't have a choice. What would they do to her if he didn't play by their rules?
Yuuhi begrudgingly stepped into the center of the metal floor panels. Hydraulic doors opened in every corner of the room, allowing a group of dark figures to enter the lab. They were the male members of the elite Mikage guard, each dressed in a sleek black suit and armed with a different flavor of deadly melee weapon. It was going to be an 8-on-1 brawl.
The men stared at each other in silence; Yuuhi with his nunchaku and his test opponents with their own sinister devices. If this were the Mortal Kombat movie, this would be the part when Johnny Cage says "Let's dance."
The test turned into a one-sided upset. The guards wound up on the floor with their necks broken, their throats slit, or, in one case, a katana impaling his heart. Yuuhi was unscathed except for a slash across the front of his hoodie, where one of the attackers had come within an inch of eviscerating him. Spurred by his own fighting skills, driven by his rage to protect Chidori, he had conquered them all.
But the test had taken its toll. He collapsed to his knees in exhaustion just after the last guard fell. Gasping for breath, it was a struggle just to keep himself awake.
On the opposite side of the reflective glass, Yuuhi was watched by menacing and scheming eyes. Workers in lab coats closely monitored the fight with every scientific instrument their infinite budget could afford. The head members of the C-Project were gathered at the console closest to the window.
"His strength and coordination are certainly above average." Gladys sounded sufficiently impressed.
"His survivability rate is still behind Touya's," Kagami replied coldly, his features hidden behind wireframe spectacles and the reflection of biometric screens.
"But you were never planning on matching Touya with me," Chidori added.
Kagami and Gladys turned their heads in unison toward the young woman who had been watching the examination just beside them. She was shorter than Kagami by at least a foot and Gladys by a couple of inches, but she possessed the figure of fully blossomed celestial maiden. Her black satin hair with its shimmering blue streaks was tied in two bushy and slightly unkempt pigtails. She was wearing a set of short blue overalls over a pink sweater, both several sizes too small for her compact but well-shaped frame.
"So can I have him?" she asked. Her eyes gazed intently toward Yuuhi through the window like shining amber orbs.
"I've been considering your requests." Kagami hesitantly answered. "We've already reached this month's quota for natural chromosomal pairings, and there's too much uncertainty involved."
Chidori's hopeful expression turned sour. Kagami remained unmoved.
"You're the only Type-A in your line, Miss Kuruma. It could be a waste of valuable resources if we don't use the external method for you."
"Oh, for Heaven's sake, Kagami," Gladys shook her head in tired frustration. "Chidori has always been one of our most reliable girls. It won't hurt to spoil her just once."
"And you owe me for getting Yuuhi here." Chidori stubbornly winced and rubbed her shoulder. "Next time tell Shiso to take it easy with the pretend kidnapper stuff."
Kagami sighed as he contemplated deeply. He crossed his arms behind his back and peered down into the examination room for some time.
"Very well," he finally said, never lifting his gaze. "I'll authorize the match. Consider your field duty complete."
"And will he be all mine?" Chidori tilted her head as her eyelashes fluttered.
"Yes, you'll be placed in a monogamous program like most of your peers," Kagami replied. "It's better to avoid cross-contamination for the first few generations."
Chidori twirled on the soles of her sneakers and left the command room with an extra skip in her step.
Kagami reached for the control board. He flipped to an isolated wireless channel and spoke into a small microphone.
"Take him to the incubation chambers."
Down on the examination floor, a pair of shadows loomed over Yuuhi. He glanced up to see two tender and innocent-looking nurses helping him to his feet.
"Aren't you bastards done already?" Yuuhi growled as they lifted him by the arms. "I finished your stupid test."
"Not quite," one said in a soft voice. "You still have to undergo a special therapy session."
"Therapy session?" Yuuhi gasped. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
Neither one would answer his questions as they gently but deliberately guided him out of the room.
"Let go of me!" he screamed in resistance. "Let me see Chidori!"
An instant later, he was completely silent and limp. The second nurse had slipped a tranquilizer into his neck.
In the viewing room, Kagami stood looking through the glass pane and shaking his head.
"Aren't you concerned we're giving this Pallas-type too much control?" he asked his assistant.
"Not at all," Gladys answered. "It's just that she's never been very supportive of your… sharper methods. Otherwise, Chidori's ideals are completely in line with ours."
"But her motives are another matter," Kagami objected. "She can be adjusted."
"And destroy what a rare and delicate creature she is?" Gladys chuckled in disbelief. "I don't understand you sometimes, Kagami. Pallas is the most helpful and willing specimen you could ever ask for, and you still want go trampling through her mind with your machines."
"Only as a safety precaution," Kagami said. "She may be driven by Tennyo instincts, but she still acts with a human consciousness."
"You're forgetting company policy, Mr. Mikage," Gladys replied. "You may be head of the intake committee, but I'm head of the nursery. Once you sign a C-Genomer off to this stage in the project, she becomes my responsibility. I don't want you hurting any of my girls."
There was no more debate after that. Kagami scratched his chin in silence while Gladys jotted a few small notes on her clipboard.
"I'll let you know the results of the procedure." Gladys smirked and gave her advisor a small nod, then left the room in the same direction as Chidori.
Chidori was already scrambling out of her clothes when Gladys entered her room. She was carrying Chidori's officially sanctioned uniform: A long white lab gown rolled up neatly in her arms, with a pair of matching pearl slippers sitting on top. Chidori gave the gown a quick glance and instantly appeared relieved.
"Am I going to have to use my bratty human disguise anymore? It was good for going undercover and keeping pervy guys off my case, but it's getting annoying," she said as she uncurled the thick black pigtails in her hair. Her natural Tennyo locks cascaded all the way to the curved dimples of her lower back.
"Of course not, Chidori. It's time to embrace what you are and remain in your true form," Gladys answered. "And you'll need the extra growing room after today, no doubt."
Chidori briefly struggled with her overalls. It took some extra effort to pull the denim down the widest part of her hips. The outfit was meant to fit her childishly thin human form, and it showed through the way it stretched around her fuller Tennyo features. Behind her, Gladys watched with a hidden smirk.
"If you don't mind my asking," Gladys finally said, "how are you so certain he's the descendant of your husband? We haven't had time to run any genealogy tests."
"I don't need silly Earth-science to tell me what I can already sense," Chidori answered. She was out of her overalls, her pink sweater, and now she was working on her comically snug bra. "Our Mana became linked the first time I met him. It's only become stronger every day I've been around him. If I don't seal the bond soon, I'll lose my chance to rekindle him in this era."
She stopped to glance toward Gladys.
"Haven't you felt it too?"
She shook her head after thinking her own question through for a second.
"No, I guess you wouldn't. You're just a human."
"Ah, you've always been one of the more pushy girls," Gladys chuckled proudly.
"What do you expect? Ceres always gets to fall in love with some dream guy every time she's reincarnated," Chidori said with a tinge of jealousy in her voice. "At least until she's forced into hiding or one of the Mikages kills her mortal shell. Her little sister Pallas deserves to be the star of the show once in a while."
She finished unclasping the bra and flung it over her dresser.
"Then why go through all the effort of seeking your husband?" Gladys asked curiously. "Someone with powers as great as yours could do anything they want in this world."
"I can't do everything by myself. Even Mother Nature needs a little help tending the garden."
Chidori bent forward and slipped her panties down to her ankles.
"When is the rescue team supposed to get here?" she asked as she pulled the last piece of her human clothing from her feet.
"38 minutes, according to the latest surveillance," Gladys answered.
"Hmm. I'll have to speed this along, then. I was hoping I could do this the slow and easy way," Chidori said with slight disappointment. "But we'd be cutting things even closer if we followed the Chief's plan."
"Very close," Gladys repeated to herself. Her eyes became like knives fixated on the soft contours of Chidori's bare waist.
Chidori took the gown and slid her arms through its short sleeves. It fit loose and light over her nakedness, making her feel like she was wearing lavender-scented air. It was a cross between simple elegance and medical practicality, buttoning together at two main dress seams/access panels on along her breasts and her waist. Chidori shifted her balance between her feet to test how the long white pleats swayed on her figure.
"Forgetting something, dear?" Gladys politely interrupted.
Chidori blinked as she turned her attention. Gladys still was still holding a small silver necklace in her palm.
"Oh, right!"
"It's encoded with one-time access to the east incubation wing. After that, it will switch over to being your personal room key until you've been assessed for a gold tag." Gladys explained as she handed Chidori her lab tag. "He's already been prepared for you."
Chidori latched the thin silver chain behind her neck, adjusted the name plate to the front of her gown, and quickly brushed her hair over her shoulders.
"Well, how do I look?" she asked Gladys with a nervous smile.
"Like a heavenly angel ready to perform her most sacred duty," Gladys answered in a nurturing voice.
Chidori stood on the toes of her slippers to give Gladys a small hug, then hastily whisked out of the room.
"Good luck, Miss Kuruma," Gladys said behind her.
The sounds of a gentle tide pulled Yuuhi back into the waking world. Hazy stars filled his eyes. Numb from heavy sedation, he couldn't move anything below his shoulders. He was lying on his back on a padded gurney. He was completely bare except for a pleated curtain draped over his waist and the Tennyo band still tied around his brow.
His head sank into soft white pillows and peered toward the right. He could see an ocean floor teeming with vibrant but primitive sea life directly beside him. The room was somewhere underwater, with one whole wall constructed like an aquarium window.
He rolled his head toward the left. The opposite wall was comprised of a giant mural carved in faux marble. It depicted a choir of celestial females flying in a circle. In the center of the ring, a new world hatched out of an enormous egg.
Yuuhi looked straight up, and became blind. A row of intense surgical lamps glared down on him. The stars in his eyes slowly formed a constellation. The constellation changed into a dark and wavy shape looming in front the lights. The shape gradually became solid.
Yuuhi recognized her the instant his vision focused. Her hair braids were gone, her eyes were glowing in an alien gold aura, and her entire body was reshaped into the smooth and slender form of a mature Tennyo, but she still had the same familiar innocent features peeking through her age-shifted countenance.
"Chidori… ?" he said in a confused mumble.
"Mmm… Just relax, Yuuhi," she playfully replied, the smooth ends of her nails tracing the lines of his pectoral muscles. "I'll share some of my Mana to make you nice and strong."
Yuuhi realized the "curtain" over his waist was actually the long flowing skirt of the strange medical gown Chidori was wearing. She was kneeling over the bed with her pale, warm thighs tucked against his sides. She coyly shifted her dress and slipped her hand somewhere beneath the crisp white fabric.
The touch of Chidori's fingertips was like five tiny streams of silk gently wrapping over Yuuhi's modesty. Small waves of warmth pulsed through him, turning narrow softness into rigid girth. She let out a small, breathy giggle when her powers began to take effect.
"Chi-… Chidori!" Yuuhi sputtered. "What are you doing? We have to save Shouta!"
"Oh, don't worry about him," she said in a voice that was both comforting and cheerful. "We're taking good care of the boy."
"'The boy?' He's your brother, Chidori!"
Another giggle escaped Chidori's thin pink lips.
"Let me tell you a secret."
She slowly leaned forward, keeping her nimble hand tucked behind the curtain. She gently stroked the side of Yuuhi's face with the other.
"Shouta never had any siblings. He became an orphan after his parents died in the bus accident."
Her eyes turned away in a small flash of regret. Her smile partially faded.
"His mother was supposed to be one of Andromeda's current incarnations. We didn't get to her in time."
Her cheer returned as she gazed back into Yuuhi's eyes.
"The Mikages took Shouta in while he was recovering in the hospital. The Chief thought he could useful in the C-Project once he was older and could be trained. They used that brain gizmo to alter his memories and gave him my human form's last name so he would think he still had a sister to take care of him."
Chidori's hand moved from Yuuhi's cheek to his forehead, brushing the strands of hair dangling over his headband.
"Gladys assigned me to him. It gave me a solid cover story while I was looking for other C-Genomers in the hospital. And she thought taking care of him would be good for brushing up on my 'latent motherly qualities' she's always talking about."
"You've been using him," said Yuuhi, his eyes filled with dread. "You were one of them the entire time. You've been lying to all of us."
"But it all worked out, didn't it?" Chidori smirked bashfully. "It was better than leaving him abandoned as a lonely little kid with no family to take care of him. He's the reason I was able to meet Aya. The reason I was able to find you."
The dainty silk threads unwound behind the curtain, causing Yuuhi to shiver and gasp as they brushed over his flesh. His body instinctively grew tense.
Chidori lifted herself up and bundled her gown up to her knees. Slowly moving her thighs apart, she guided herself back down. Tiny droplets of moisture dripped on Yuuhi just before he became trapped in a thick velveteen bed of roses. The feeling was so overwhelming that he started to lose sense of where he was.
"Ughn… you're bigger than last time, Miroku," Chidori whispered in sweet complaint. She nibbled her bottom lip as she clenched one eye shut.
She began by rocking her hips in tiny rhythmic waves. The gentle tide in Yuuhi's mind started to churn, washing over his ability to reason. Each time he tried to speak, all that came out were short gasps or grunts. His body succumbed to celestial euphoria. His consciousness stumbled somewhere between the present and past.
Chidori leaned all the way down so she was lying on top of Yuuhi, pinning him under her upper half while her thighs continued to move like pistons. Her eyelids dropped as she kissed the symbol on Yuuhi's forehead.
The threads of the sigil began to glow like a violet supernova. Yuuhi's pupils constricted as tiny flecks of gold flickered in his irises.
Slowly, he reached out. His trembling hand found its way to the side of Chidori's face, tracing her long rippled hair with his palm.
"Pallas…" he murmured in his half-sleep.
Chidori's eyes grew large and moist. Her expression radiated with joy.
"I've been waiting so long," she said in panting breaths. She rested her palms against his heaving chest as his hands gently grasped the slender sides of her waist. "I knew you'd come back for me."
Her voice became a sly, playful whisper.
"Now I just need you to come for me again."
The imaginary sea was swirling in a massive storm. Yuuhi clenched his teeth as Chidori threw herself back like a bullet had struck her in the spine. The turbulent waves crashed against the soft fertile earth, covering it in warm white froth. A tiny infant's cry echoed through the wall from one of the adjacent rooms.
Chidori lifted her hips and let her skirt flow back down as she quietly sighed. Yuuhi felt his essence being freed, but he wrapped his arms over Chidori only to bring her closer and entrap himself further. Their tongues intertwined in a deep, passionate kiss.
No words were spoken between them, but their embrace said everything. Yuuhi knew he was going to stay here. He would be a rooster in a small but comfortably furnished cage, a closely guarded stud of the C-Project. But with his celestial love finally back his side after eons of painful separation, he would never ask for a more fair trade.
This was where he belonged.
Author's note: My utter rejection of everything relating to AnC canon continues in… whatever the hell this was.
Author's other note: If you're wondering who this "Miroku" dude is, he's from "Kagami Makes an Omelette." He's basically Pallas's version of Mikagi, except he doesn't become a murderous psychopath drunken with power like Mikagi. He's more dorky and he takes care of his waifu.