Mercy 2
Natsuo, Youji, Soubi and Ritsuka were utterly confused, and it seemed that the girl on the ground was as well. They stood there, the boys staring at the girl, for a while. Suddenly a voice sounded from behind them.
"Asami, what are you doing on the ground?" Aimi walked out of the trees, brushing past the boys to pick up her fighter unit.
"Cho was in a fight, and she lost because Chieko and you were not around." Asami said, her voice still wavering with her distress. To her knowledge Cho had never lost a fight. And Chieko had never missed a fight when Cho needed her.
"Well, no use dwelling on it dearest. Lets go home." She brought Asami to her feet, brushing off her skirt. Natsuo rushed forward, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Hold on, I beat her, she has to tell me what is going on now! Why the hell can't she remember the fight we just had?" His voice cut through the silence of the park.
"Asami, we are leaving." Aimi walked forward, expecting her fighter to follow. She did not have the attachment to Asami that Chieko had to Cho, and so she did not feel when Asami stayed. She merely kept walking.
"Well, are you going to explain?" Natsuo asked.
"As I told you, my name is Asami, of the team Merciful. The one you fought was Cho, of the team Merciless. We are two separate beings, trapped in one body." Youji stepped forward when Natsuo stayed silent, trying to figure out what he had just been told.
"And what about his previous question? Why are you here? Who sent you?" Asami looked at him sadly.
"I cannot remember why I am here. That knowledge is Cho's. As for who sent me, I also do not know that. I must assume that it was our caretaker though. Nagisa-chan would have been the only one Cho and Chieko would have listened to." Youji and Natsuo gasped, taking a step back.
"You are from Septimal Moon as well? You are creations of Nagisa?" The Zero males looked at each other, then at Soubi.
"Nagisa is the woman who made us; she creates experiments that won't feel pain. She made both us, and the other Zeros, the females." Soubi turned to the girl.
"You are an experiment? A creation of this Nagisa?" He asked, his eyes running up and down her slender form, trying to decide if she was or not.
"Well, yes and no. We were born, just like you and Aoyagi-san. But Cho and Chieko were experimented on when they were kids, which is how Aimi and I came to have our own name, separate from Merciless." Soubi was still confused, but he made a decision.
"Where do you live?" He asked.
"An apartment with Aimi. Why?" Soubi smiled, as she looked confused.
"Not anymore. You are coming with us. I need to hear more about these experiments by Nagisa. And I can keep an eye on you while you are with me." Asami looked to the Zero boys, who smiled at her kindly. She was about to follow Soubi when a thought clicked. The Zero boys, smiling. That almost never happened. They only smiled when they were going to inflict pain on another. It was in their nature after all.
"Um, Agatsuma Soubi-san, why are they smiling? They are Zeros, they don't smile." Soubi turned slightly to look at the two boys.
"I have a feeling they are going to be torturing you a little while you live with us. After all, I'm not home all day. And you know they love to hurt people." Asami's eyes widened in shock. She had not realized that Natsuo and Youji lived with Soubi. The boys continued to grin as Soubi turned away, picking Ritsuka up again and carrying him. Natsuo and Youji took Asami's hands and pulled her along, so that she would not run away.
Soubi was dropping Ritsuka off at home just as Misaki Aoyagi walked out. She went straight over to Ritsuka and slapped him.
"You had me worried! You are past curfew!" She started to cry as she regarded him.
"My Ritsuka would never have done such a thing! Why won't you bring him back?" She fell against Ritsuka, clinging to him. Natsuo, Asami and Youji stood by, watching in silence. Both boys smiled at the slap she had given him, but looked upon her pitiful form in disgust. They could not believe she could be so weak. Asami stepped forward, her hands slipping from the Zero boys' grip. She placed a hand on Misaki's shoulder, smiling down when the woman looked up at her. Misaki stood up, now clutching Asami's shoulders as if they were a life raft in the ocean storm that was her life.
"You, can you bring my Ritsuka back?" She asked in a pleading tone. Asami's heart nearly broke, for what she saw in the woman's eyes was pitiful indeed. She wrapped her arms around Misaki's shaking form, holding her up.
"Your Ritsuka is still there, somewhere. You just have to be patient. One day, he will come back to you. But there is nothing you, or even the current Ritsuka can do about it. You just have to be patient." Misaki stared at her in silence for a moment, before stepping back and turning to Ritsuka.
"You bring my baby back, I don't how you do it, just do." She turned to Asami again.
"I have to believe that he will come back to me. I can't believe that there is nothing that can be done." With that she walked back into the house. Ritsuka turned to Asami.
"Thank you for calming her down. If only for tonight, I think I will be fine." Asami looked at him in shock. But nodded and said 'your welcome' nonetheless. Ritsuka turned to Soubi, waving farewell before following Misaki into the house. Soubi turned to Asami, regarding her silently. After a few moments he turned, walking down the street. Natsuo and Youji reclaimed Asami's hands, pulling her along as they followed Soubi home. At the house, Kio was waiting for them. He gasped at the sight of Asami.
"Soubi you pervert, now you are bringing a little girl home? How could you betray me like this?" Soubi rolled his eyes, closing the door as Youji and Natsuo pulled Asami further into the room. Both boys knew Kio was just being his dramatic self.
"Calm down Kio, she is just a friend of Youji and Natsuo's. She will be staying here with us for a little while." Kio walked over to Asami, bending down slightly to look at her face. He was about to say something else to Soubi when her eyes changed to Cho's pale lavender. Cho jumped back, surprised to see an adult peering at her face. Her ears flattened and she hissed slightly. Soubi laughed, grabbing Kio's arm and pulling him over to the door.
"Kio, now that I have more guests you shall have to leave. Things are to crowded, and since my injury has healed, you have no excuse to stay here." Kio's face fell as Soubi opened the door, shooing him out.
"Fine Soubi, I see how it is. I shall go for now, but I will be back! And all three of those kids had better still have their ears when I return!" Soubi closed the door, shutting out the sound of Kio's voice. He turned to Cho, who was regarding the Zero boys with malice.
"Does your connection with Asami allow you to see and hear what she does?" He asked.
"Sometimes. But now is not one of those times, so start explaining what I'm doing here, and why Chieko isn't with me." Natsuo and Youji sat down by the table, looking from Cho to Soubi.
"I'm having you live here with us. I want to hear about these experiments Nagisa is performing, and I want to keep an eye on you." Cho glared at him, opening her mouth to say something. She started to form the words just as her eyes changed back to Asami's fuchsia. Soubi looked over at Youji and Natsuo.
"I want you two to watch her. I don't want her to leave without an escort, since I can't be sure her other side won't run back to her sacrifice. Also, she will be staying out here, so you to can't get to her like you tried to with Shinonome-sensei." Both boys looked at Asami, then back at Soubi. They considered for a moment, and then nodded in compliance. Asami looked confused, but relieved.
"Well, I'm going to sleep, and so are you three." He walked over to a closet and pulled out a fold-up mattress that Kio occasionally borrowed. He laid it out on the floor in a corner, and the opened the door to his room, waiting for the Zero boys to walk in ahead of him. Once they were in he regarded Asami silently for a moment before closing the door. Asami moved the mattress into a corner, and then curled up. She was asleep almost instantly.
End
Ok, I'm ending it here for now. Please review! I'm on a roll with this story, so I have a lot of ideas for the chapters to follow, but I won't add them if no one is going to read them.
Kayt (aka sulphurwolf)