The Left Side of Memories
Chapter 9
It took less than three seconds for Ryouta to process the implications – or, rather, the most glaring of them. 'No!' he cried, before the idea slipped away and he blinked, confused and quite possibly wondering why his heart hammered in his ears and his skin had flushed. In a little while, Nanami would help him remember it again, and more permanently, and a drawn out debate might have started if Kogorou hadn't been the adult. After all, he didn't need permission from his nephew to pursue a path that should benefit him.
And considering the girls had discussed it amongst themselves and agreed with him, Ryouta couldn't have even been their advocate. It was a shame when someone had no say in decisions that related almost entirely to them – but human society made it so there was no such thing as true independence. Again, not his area of study, but he knew enough to know it was impossible for something of this magnitude to affect only one person. There was Ryouta, yes, but there was also his family, his friends, his treating team, his classmates…and the girls who'd brought about the circumstance. In that sense, if one took the tree further and further, Vingulf was involved on multiple levels. He was perfectly justified in approaching them. But the world also didn't work on justifications.
That was a child's way of looking at things, and they were all experienced enough with the world to know better.
And he would be putting a lot of people's lives at risk in contacting Vingulf.
.
He didn't know where the others were, but he only needed Kazumi anyway. And he had to admit himself impressed with the system she'd set up.
Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, using it would be an unnecessary risk. So they'd taken a trip to Akihabara.
'You took your time,' Kazumi grumbled, getting off the bench. She was wearing a hat and sunglasses too. Probably to avoid her face being spotted if it came to that. "Of course," she'd said when the subject had come up, "Freya already knows it's me." And that was a concern in and of itself, but at least the other girls weren't put at risk by it.
'I walk,' Kogorou said calmly. 'I actually made good time.'
'You'd think, with your nephew's brain on the line, you might've taken the train for once in your life,' she sighed, but let it go. They weren't in any particular rush, after all.
The plan was, essentially, the same as Murakami's when he'd tried Hexenjagd's device. Except they didn't have a device like that. They had, instead, Kazumi's hacking skills and a private parlour. And a laptop and few other things with an external drive to help its processing power.
Hopefully enough to keep it from being traced back to his laboratory or the observatory, and the crowded environment of Akihabara was hopefully enough to stop Vingulf from being too hasty in their approach.
But they couldn't guarantee that, because they'd been willing to blow up an observatory to eliminate four witches from existence, after all. Still, Kazumi set up the computer without any hesitation, grumbling over brands in some cases but connecting everything nonetheless.
'My specialty is chemical sciences, not computers,' he shrugged.
'You certainly like delegating responsibility,' Kazumi muttered. She sounded almost amused as she hooked herself up. 'Okay, I'm ready.'
'Should I do something?' he asked, curious.
'Guide me.' She rolled his eyes. 'I'm the hacker witch. I don't know shit about science.'
.
Hacking into Vingulf once was insane enough. Hacking into it again was near suicide and Kazumi knew it, but she also knew it was unlikely Vingulf would have found a means to repel her so quickly. She stood a far better chance than she would say, a year down the track. Even if Freya got her act together, Kazumi could hold her own. She hoped.
In any case, she had a huge advantage against any witch from Vingulf. Love…or friendship or whatever Murakami would call it for himself. But it was love for her. She loved the life he'd made possible, but she loved him more than that life. She owed him for this. She loved him enough for this, no matter what the end. But she could take Freya. That wasn't the biggest danger.
Kogorou stood behind her, ready to instruct. If he was looking for a show, he'd be disappointed.
She locked into their system. 'Going in,' she said aloud, before plunging into the security.
The keyboard, at least, was top rate. Her fingers flew across the keyboard without catching or lagging in the least, and that was good because she couldn't really afford to let it lag. The security was patchy and had some holes that hadn't been there the last time, but they spotted her faster. They'd made up for the weaker security with more surveillance, then. She'd only just gotten past the firewall when she felt Freya's presence, attempting to override her.
But Freya was far weaker than Kazumi remembered, and she let a grin spread across her face. She shouldn't revel in another's torture. She knew that, and it was a witch too. But Freya was everything she could have been. Everything she hadn't wanted to be. Everything she'd almost been killed for –and gladly be killed, because she didn't want to kill before and she didn't now, either. Even though they were kind of the ones responsible for Valkyria's death…and the death of that scientist that had been with her. And Freya was the only time she'd ever hung up. So Freya was a bit of a special case.
Still, it wasn't as though she was glad the other had been tortured for her failure to keep her out. She was however glad it made for a weaker challenge. That made things easier, since she understood what she was looking for was less clear to her than what she'd searched for before. And she didn't have any witnesses she had to mislead, either. Just Kogorou, and Kogorou would help Murakami's even if it meant betraying them, so she didn't have to worry on that aspect.
They'd all made peace with the idea of sacrificing themselves for Murakami's sake a long time ago. She wondered when it had even been. When they'd met? Before that; when she'd first heard of him – and yelled at Neko for it too? Because it had been such as stupid move at the time…but it had turned out for the best at the time.
If it costed Murakami though, then no. It wasn't for the best at all. That was why they'd done what they'd done after Valkyria had killed him – and despite how Hatsuna acted now, she was sure the other would have done the same if she hadn't been reforming and incapable at the time.
After all, they'd thought she'd never return from that. And even if she did, her power still had limits. Time, for once. And the extent of the injury as well. She patched up a hole the size of two fists and it had melted her. How could she patch up anything more than that? A blast that, for example, blew away a whole half of the body? Vingulf had weapons of many calibre. Witches, machines…and whatever Kotori had been the vassal for. Too many ways to kill a mere human like Murakami. Too many ways they wouldn't be able to defend him or he them, no matter how clever he was with that brain of his.
Unconsciously, she searched for Murakami amidst the data plane. She was searching for brain and regeneration as well, but there hadn't been anything to suggest that Vingulf knew who'd been aiding them.
Except it did yield results, and Kazumi gasped and lost concentration enough to let Freya gain an inch against her.
'Damn it,' she cursed, as she tried to push him back.
'What is it?' she heard Kogorou, distantly, ask. 'Did you find something?'
'Murakami,' she panted. Seriously, give the witch an inch and she'll ask for a mile. She couldn't read the files without getting her further away. 'They know…Murakami. His name… They have a file on… his name.'
Kogorou said nothing. Maybe he was thinking. Maybe he'd realised she was fighting and needed to be entirely focused on her enemy. Or maybe he was in shock.
In any case, without having to answer or listen to instructions, she had a bit more capacity and managed to push Freya away a second time. 'This ought to keep you busy,' she muttered, putting up a wall. Not for very long against another hacking witch, but a few precious minutes.
And she opened the first of the files: that dated back several years.
