Foreword: Thanks, everyone. I'm glad you reviewed, and enjoyed. Hope you like this one too, even though I feel like I did a really crappy job on it...
Disclaimer: Nope… I don't own s-CRY-ed, as of right now.
Lost Territory
"Come on, what are we doing in here?" The native Alter wearily trudged into the lab, with sleep still on top of his priority list. Bleary eyed, he simply followed the shape of his doctor, and recently, his girlfriend.
She opened a cabinet and pulled out a shoebox sized metal container. Placing it on the dissection table, she placed a single hand on it, and said, "No, I woke you up so that we could come and see this… Besides, you should really wake up earlier. It was almost ten o'clock!"
His eye twitching, Kazuma spoke in dangerously soft and slow voice, "Mimori… you dragged me outta bed to come see a box?"
"Not quite…" She flipped a few switches, and watched as the top of the box fell away, allowing them to see the black shard that had been removed from his body. "This is what we had to surgically remove from your chest."
"Damn… That's a pretty big piece of… whatever it is." After a few moments of silence, he clapped his hands and began rubbing them together. "Anyway, that's nice. Can I go back to bed now?" With that said, he turned on his heel and started heading towards the door.
"No, wait! Come back here, Kazuma!" Mimori took hold of his arm and gently pulled him back over to the table where the box was resting, and softly squeezed his arm. "Kazuma, I have a theory about what this is… I just want to prove it. Back when you still had your memory, you told me about how your Alter evolved, and…" She trailed off, and snaked her fingers around the black shard in the box. Lifting it up, she handed it to Kazuma, saying, "Well, does this look familiar to you in any way?"
Kazuma took hold of the chunk of matter and carefully examined it, feeling the texture in his hand. "Sorta… I dunno… Whoa… Just got one of them déjà vu feelings… you know? Seems like I've held this thing before, but I just can't place it though." He tossed it up into the air and caught it again.
As it rested lightly in Kazuma's hand, the shard began to dissolve emitting a neon green mist of energy from it. The mist, swirling and turbulent, surrounded and covered the young man swiftly, catching him off guard.
Once the haze had cleared away, Kazuma ran his fingers through his hair, and exhaled loudly. "Stupid ass mist… Now I feel like I'm gonna puke… Jeez, I feel like I've been eating that slop Kimishima called food…"
Tears in her eyes, Mimori embraced Kazuma in a passionate hug. "It worked," she whispered. "It really worked…"
-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-
Footsteps echoed in the pristine, white halls, as they moved at a relatively leisurely pace. Resting a hand on the door knob, the strong hand quickly turned its wrist, granting him access to the room.
Letting out a small chuckle, Kazuma grinned deviously at the man in the bed, sneering, "Little under the weather?"
The green haired man, clad in multiple casts simply glared at the fiery brawler, grunting in anger.
It was generally tough for Kazuma to find this intimidating, however, because of the fact that Ryuho's leg and arm were both suspended by straps, and he was hooked up to multiple contraptions. He glanced over the whole room, eyes centering in on all of the different buttons and knobs he could push and play with.
As he made his way to the side of his enemy's bed, he accidentally jarred a box on the wall, making the bar drop all the way to the bottom. "Or are you just ashamed I kicked your face in? Eh, don't be… After all… I've done it before. Just like the last time we met, right after I kicked Mujo's ass. You should know that you're just not a match for a strong guy like me."
Kazuma sat down on the bed, looking curiously at the leg resting in a sling, elevated over the rest of Ryuho's body. "The hell's this thing for?" With a feral grin, he began tugging on a strap, watching his leg go up and down. "Heh, I feel like a puppeteer."
Though he could hear pained moans, Kazuma ignored them, saying, "Oh, quit your whinin'. I know you're a baby, but damn…" He shook his head and the golden irises of his eyes rolled, as Ryuho's growling increased in volume.
His head rose up in recognition, as Kazuma remembered something that he meant to say. "Oh yeah, and in case you haven't noticed, I got my memory back, just toda-"
"Kazu-kun? Are you in here?" The door opened once again, and a small girl trudged in wearily, dressed in clothes that made her look somewhat like a cowgirl, bandana included. "I've been looking all over for you, Kazu-kun! Why are you bothering Mr. Ryuho? He needs his rest! Come on, Kazu-kun, why don't you leave him alone?"
Before Kazuma could say any more, she ushered him out of the room briskly. "Um… I'm very sorry about that, Mr. Ryuho…" The little girl observed the Commander's facial expressions, when he watched Kazuma leave the room. 'I… I know that he must be angry with Kazuma… especially over Mimori…'
'You have no idea…' The voice sounded inside of her head. It was terse, and cold, easily discernable as Ryuho's.
Kanami, startled so much that she almost fell to the ground, remained silent, albeit astounded. She quickly and cautiously thought back, so as not to make a fool of herself if she imagined the voice. 'Y-You can h-hear me? You've got to let go… Mimori… She's happy with Kazuma. They're really in-'
'Do not say it!' The voice screamed back with ferocious intensity. "It could never be…" He trailed off for a moment, before slowly speaking again, "I was the one… I am her friend… I was meant to be more…' With each sentence, his voice became louder and more indignant, ire apparently rising.
Lapsing into silence, Kanami thought privately for a moment, refraining from transmitting her thoughts to the man incarcerated by casts. Quietly and sheepishly, the little girl, filled with wisdom far beyond her years, spoke aloud, "Mr. Ryuho… you say you're her friend… if you really are, you'll respect her decision…"
The little girl stepped out of the room, leaving Ryuho to his own devices, and letting him think deeply.
As soon as the door closed, the air conditioning kicked on, sending gusts of freezing cold air down on the immobile Commander of HOLY. 'Damn it… Kazuma…'
It was going to be a long night…
-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-
Kazuma deeply hugged Kanami, who, in all but blood, was his little sister. "Hey there, Kanami… Sorry I freaked you out by havin' to leave so fast… When did you get in? You doin' alright?"
"I just got here about fifteen minutes ago. Mr. Tachibana dropped me off, and I'm doing fine, Kazu-kun… Mr. Tachibana took good care of me… You're… You're all better now, right?" Kanami let go and smiled over at Mimori, waving to her slightly.
"Better? I'm twice as strong as I used to be. I'm a walking scar, but hey, I don't have to deal with those crappy side effects, like I used to." The Native Alter pulled his sleeve up, revealing the long scars adorning his right arm, as though he was proud of them. "Little missy just played doctor and patched me right up." Kazuma jabbed his thumb towards Mimori, with a grin.
"Little missy?" Mimori said, with an eyebrow raised to the sky. "You sure have a way with words, you know that, Kazuma?" As she stood there, her facial expression changed to one of surprise, as she felt Kanami hug her.
"I missed you too, Mimori…" The little girl held onto her tightly, and whispered, "Um… Can we talk more later?"
"Sure," the doctor whispered back. With a smile, Mimori patted the girl on the head.
Kazuma felt something in the pit of his stomach, as he looked at the two of them. 'Oh, damn… They've gotta be planning something… Crap…'
Yeah… It was definitely a bad feeling.
-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-
Kazuma looked forlornly at the bundle in Mimori's hands. "You're joking… right? Please tell me you're kidding."
Smiling, Mimori gently hooked his arm with hers and calmly said, "Kanami sort of convinced me… I mean… it would be nice, right? I think it would be splendid to spend an evening exclusively with you. We could get out of this stuffy building and go out for some fresh air." She gripped his hand steadily, as she felt contentment wash over her.
"I like the idea fine… but I can enjoy fresh air in these." The rough-and-tumble Alter User waved to his ragged clothes. "I mean… come on, they're clean and all."
The doctor gripped his hand and gently applied pressure, softly saying, "Come on, Kazuma… Do it for me, won't you? I think it would be good to dress nicely, at least."
"Ugh… Why do I always let myself get roped into these things?"
-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-
Sitting in silence, and shivering in the extreme cold of his room, Ryuho thought about what Kanami had told him earlier.
'Mimori… She seems happy… and she's practically beaming all the time that she is with Kazuma.'
'Perhaps it is best for her if I simply let her go… I am not the one that she is in l… in love with… Kazuma… treat her well.'
Author's Notes: And there you have it… The story, sadly, is slowly coming to a close… I'm thinking that the next chapter will be the last one. Very short chapter, and for that, I'm sorry. I also felt like this was crappy... Ah, well... The end is near.
Random Bonus: The song "Blue Monday" was originally created by , and a modern band, covered it. By the way… the cover is better than the original, in my opinion.
Last Chapter's Bonus: Aye, the first one was from "The Fragile" by Nine Inch Nails, and the last one was by Liquid Tension Experiment.
