Chapter 10: Dealing With a Thing Known as 'Aftermath'
So I have a different type of chapter this time. It'll mainly focus on the aftermath of the recent fight, how events are affecting people, and you all get to start having that fun experience where you know something that the other characters don't as well. Also, I tried to keep everything at least mostly linear, but when I have to mention so many things and switch around so that you know what's happening better it gets a little hard to keep events in order. Just adjust any times that don't seem to fit exactly in your mind so that they do ok?
Review Response time:
Delphi: Yup, I figured that's a constantly overlooked element. I'm know you can't do that in Starforce (I guess it was kinda irrelevant with the Wave Roads and stuff), but meh. Obviously Tamotsu's far more agile, so he'd figure it out first, and the rest can learn later. And yes, he will more or less be unofficial leader simply because he's best for the job at the moment. Subaru being leader…will take a while. Just look at his character in general at this point in the series, he needs some work. The form changes…not sure. Yeah they'll be the changes Subaru gets in the series, so I may incorporate some equivalents, though I'm not sure how…Will probably use Axl Trigger or something like that then, unless someone comes up with an amazing idea. Don't worry, Recoil Rods will come soon enough, but those are close rang weapons…and like Tamotsu can get close with Ox Fire charging him.
Ultimate Black Ace: The waits fine, I'm just glad to see a review. Anyway, still using the AMFM thing, but it's not something I'm going to press until it becomes relevant later, just passing mention at the moment really (and the 'stronger' isn't the same as the sheer strength that you're probably thinking, but the FMs don't know that either). And yes, I agree about Gorida helping, having (I'm assuming) the main Satellite Police detective on their side will be a big help. For (mostly) obvious reasons, yes Gemini Black is the seemingly OOC character to anyone who's only watched the series, but I'll clear that up later. Everyone but Tamotsu can use Battle Cards to some extent until the Star Carrier thing; it's more fun to type up. No idea if that was a 'mega' attack, but if it was, yay ref without even meaning to. Ah yes, Ox Fire was never subtle, just wait tell the other FMs start attacking who can think more. It's fine on the name thing, but as for a 'darker twist' oh just wait, it'll get worse. Not everyone walks away.
LunaClefairy: Well it only makes sense, and it's made fun of in the series often enough anyway, making Ox Fire not attack the very red Zero Blade wouldn't make any sense. And yes, Zero screwed up, didn't know Battle Cards existed, so he only thought about how he could immediately cause the largest enhancement, hence why Tamotsu is so much stronger at the moment. Probably won't use that name, just cause someone came up with a better one, sorry.
Anyway, not as much action, but I tried to keep it interesting. And next chapter everything will be back to its previous speed.
Subaru had spent the past hour debating on what to do.
After the fight with Ox Fire yesterday, he had immediately gone home after using a few Recovery Cards to heal up any injuries he may have gotten, no matter how small. He mother had been extremely worried like he had predicted, asking him if he was ok, checking him over for injuries, hardly calming down even when he said he hadn't gone anywhere near the riot.
It was amazing how quickly Subaru was getting comfortable with lying to his mother's face.
After calming down, Subaru had quickly done the little homework he had, before sitting down to eat. They had turned on the TV, quickly changing from any channel that was featuring the riot until they reached a random channel they had never been on before. They had both watched a show from a series that they had never heard of, not having any clue who was who or what was going on, but not caring in the slightest.
It was then that his mother had said something that took all his will to not outwardly react to.
"You know, as much as I appreciate what Rockman and….Zero Blade are doing for us, but I still can't help but wonder…do their families know? If they got hurt or… would their families be able to know that they died protecting what they love? Do they have…someone that they can talk to, someone to comfort them, do such things must be hard on these kids…they shouldn't have to do this…"
There was a pause.
"Subaru, promise me, promise me that you'll stay safe ok?" She looked to him, "I don't want you to push yourself and try and be like those two other boys, they've chosen to do this because they can, but you…just don't try to do anything that could get yourself seriously hurt."
So he had lied.
Again, thought what as he supposed to say, 'Hey mom, I know this'll probably freak you out, but I've been risking my life running around as Rockman and trying to save the world from getting blown up. But don't worry, I've only almost died twice now!"
Yeah, that would go over well.
So the rest of the night had been rather awkward as Subaru tried to not let his mother's words bother him, instead trying to actually trying to figure out what was going on in the show that was on, trying to figure out who killed who, who was dying, who was actually dead and more things like that.
In the end all he managed to figure out was that some guy had shot some other girl's sister, who had been cheating on him with his best friend…
…Or something along those lines.
So after a restless night that ended with Subaru passing out on the overhang as he watched the stars, the question had finally come up that the brunet had been debating over for nearly an hour.
Should he go to school or not?
On one hand, he really just didn't want to go. It wasn't anything overly interesting and he was already a good ways ahead of the class. There was also War-Rock complaining and that he would just ditch Subaru if he decided to go to school, and with Gemini Spark's promise still fresh in his mind, that wasn't something he was comfortable with.
But then there was Gonta.
Subaru didn't particularly like the larger boy, but that was beside less important that an FM had possessed him. And then, thanks to Gemini Spark, had managed to get away before either he or Zero Blade could finish him off and free the boy. There was always a chance that someone had seen him, and if past experience was any indication, Luna or Kizamaro would know, or at least have a good idea of where to check.
And then Subaru also wanted to check with Tsukasa about what had happened yesterday.
So after thinking it over for a few more minutes, Subaru finally decided he would go to school again, just to check around for any clues or hints since everyone would be talking about yesterday. Plus it would help give his mom some sense of 'normality' despite what was happening, and the monotonous days helped him calm down, where he could trick himself that nothing bad was happening.
And there was also the sinking suspicion that Luna wouldn't be satisfied with him only attending for one day, and the last thing he needed was his unknowing fangirl tailing him constantly.
Taking another moment to sling his backpack over his shoulder, Subaru took off, calling out a goodbye as he jogged so he would make it.
"Please don't tell me you're going back to that 'school' place!" War-Rock groaned.
"Yup, someone may know something about Gonta, and thus Ox Fire as well, so it's at least worth checking out," And it would assure his mother more if he went as well.
"But what could anyone possible know!" War-Rock all but whined.
"At the very least, someone's gotta know where he lives, and maybe something there would give us a hint? Or someone could have seen Ox walking around while using Gonta's body; you said that FMs could do that, right?" Subaru asked, receiving a reluctant nod.
"Well yes but…"
"Look, if it bothers you that much you can go around the city and see if you can find anything. Just…check back every once in a while, ok?" Subaru cut War-Rock off, not wanting to have to listen to anymore whining.
"…I don't need your permission to do anything," War-Rock muttered, though he seemed to be thinking over the plan a bit, "but as long as I don't have sit through something that boring again, whatever,"
And then the FM left the blue Transfer, Subaru quickly slipping on his Visualizer so he could see the blue and green FM. War-Rock saw this and gave a short wave before taking off onto a random Wave Road, quickly zipping off to god knew where.
Subaru felt slightly guilty for what he had unleashed onto an unsuspecting world, but like hell he was going to listen to War-Rock's constant complaining. Let him go do something productive or at least terrorize that detective that was always bothering them.
Unknown to Subaru, Detective Gorida was currently trying his hardest to not start slamming his head into the nearest hard object.
It wasn't the sheer amount of paperwork and reports that needed to be filled out that had him so stressed and exasperated. As intimidating as the stack of papers was on his desk was (and those were just formality papers since most everything was digital now), he had slowly been getting used to the increase in work ever since the Skyway attack nearly two weeks ago (and that one incident had spawned enough work to keep him holed up in his office for several days) so this wasn't anything he was to worried about.
No, it was the people who employed him.
"…I mean, what made you think that it was a good idea to willingly let those two stop that creature? And even then they let it get away thanks to yet another one of those creatures! What am I paying you to do Gorida? It's defiantly not to let two kids, kids damn it Gorida, run around in costume and…"
Having finally had enough of the heavyset balding man ranting at him, Gorida stood up and slammed his hand onto the wooden desk, managing to silence the man.
"Look, I'm trying my hardest here," Gorida started, exasperation clear, "But to put it bluntly we can't so much as scratch these new creatures that are possessing innocents. As much as I hate to say it, we are lucky, damn lucky you hear; that these kids happened to show up at the same time. Because if it weren't for them that Skyway would have crashed, and those monsters from earlier would still be running around killing people, and we wouldn't be able to do a thing about it except add to the body count!"
There was a moment as Detective Gorida took a moment to calm himself down, the director to shocked at the outburst to say anything.
"Look, I'm, I'm just trying to do my job here, which is to keep the people of this city safe. And if that Rockman and Zero Blade can help and do a better job than I can, I'm not about to get in their way. As much as I don't want to trust them, because this seems far too convenient of timing to me, what other choice do we have?"
The two men stared each other down, Gorida's gaze telling the larger man that he wasn't about to change his mind. He was done being a liability. Even if no bystanders had been killed yet, he had lost three good men in this vain attempt to fight these creatures already.
"Fine, fine…" the director muttered with a sigh, finally giving in, "Do what you wish if you believe it will help in anyway. But, since you've brought up the point that what we have now doesn't affect these new creatures, I'm going to have to draft the labs to try and develop a better weapon, or something…I'll be drafting some of the personnel under your instruction to participate in the testing, since they have the most experience with these things."
And then the director was gone, closing the door to the office behind him with a tad more force than necessary. Gorida waited a moment before letting his head drop into his hands, fingers rubbing his temples as if that would ward of the headache he could feel. As much as what the director had said made sense, that was also code for 'I'm about to double your workload'.
But lack of sleep and stress had shot his nerves and even the medicine he kept in the desk drawer wouldn't do half the good that a solid nights rest would at this point. Of course, Detective Gorida didn't have that luxury, instead he had to fill out useless paperwork and try and convince himself that trusting the two boys with what seemed like the lives of everyone in this city was the right thing to do. They had been the city's saving grace up to now, but there was also the fact that it wouldn't be wise to relay on them so completely.
Not that they seemed to have much of a choice in the matter though.
But, at the very least, Detective Gorida could make a point of at the very least staying out of the way and trying to keep innocents out of the crossfire. Though they could hardly be blamed for it, the two seemed to have a habit for forgetting about things like property damage and friendly fire while fighting the creatures, and though he had seen Rockman get knocked through a truck and get right back up, a normal person wouldn't be doing that anytime soon. Not to mention the damn reporters didn't' care about safety and always seemed to be getting in the way, and even when (because it was really inevitable at this point) casualties started racking up they wouldn't stop.
So with a sigh, the detective starting shifting through physical and digital papers alike, deciding on what measures should be taken to account for all that had happened.
After all, Misora Hibiki was planning to hold a concert in the city in a few days, and though with modern repairs any damages would only take a day or two, everything needed to be perfect. Why such a popular pop idol wanted to sing here after all that happened was beyond the detective, though it was probably for the same reason so few people had left the city despite the attacks.
Since the closest thing to 'world peace' (relatively speaking, especially compared to about 150 years ago) that they would probably ever see had been achieved, people wanted a little action in their lives now.
Idiots.
Tamotsu muttered something under his breath as he snapped the led on his pencil again.
Once again glad he had long ago switched to mechanical, he clicked the end a few times until more of the graphite was visible and continued to work on the essay. He always disliked these written parts of tests that they just had to use paper and pencil for instead of typing it like everything else, but it wasn't like he could do much against that, not unless he didn't mind failing.
And his grades were low enough in this class. Not as if they were actually bad per say, but it just irked him that he couldn't seem to ever get up to a damn A for once in his life in writing; and only because he just wasn't good at describing what he thought through paper.
A few more minutes of angrily writing out his spotty response to the prompt only served to irritate the blond even more, each sentence sounding less and less convincing in even his own mind. Finally setting the pencil down when the led snapped again, Tamotsu decided to stop abusing the thing and to check over his paper.
Reading over it a few times and correcting a few misspellings here and there, Tamotsu glared at the paper as if it had personally wronged him, ticked off at the fact that he had only managed to answer about three-fourths of the questions asked, yet he was in no mood to try and answer the remaining ones. Instead, he ignored the large amount of blank space on his paper and quickly scribbled in the rather uncreative yet classic title of 'Question Answers' on the first line.
Getting up, he made sure to keep his face neutral (since the older man that taught this class seemed convinced he was some stupid street punk who only maintained a high B average due to sheer luck) and placed the paper on the teacher's desk with a bit more force than necessary. Turing, he started for the door of the classroom when the grey haired man spoke up.
"And just where are you going?"
"Bathroom." And then he was out the door and gone, not caring if the teacher tried to stop him or not, resisting the urge to just slam the door.
A brisk walk through the halls and he actually did arrive at the restroom, glad that no one else was in there. Finally letting out the breath he had been unintentional holding, Tamotsu put his hands to his face and tried to block out the world for at least a moment. After this failed horribly, he let himself lean on the tilled wall, trying to relax for a moment and failing just as horrible as before. It would be nice to just take a nap, but despite knowing he needed sleep he still wasn't tired at all…
"What's wrong Tamotsu?" Zero's voice asked from the red Transfer, noting the boys stressed expression.
"It's just…I'm mad at myself ok?" Tamotsu let out, looking at the mirror over the sink and almost winced at his own reflection.
After failing to save the person possessed by and FM again yesterday, Tamotsu hadn't been able to sleep (again), and instead pestered Zero into telling him as much as possible, and the FM life form was finally somewhat forthcoming.
He learned that Zero had been a very well-known army general of Planet FM, often the leader of many of the small wars (and how a war could be small was beyond Tamotsu, but Zero assured him that they were just that) with Planet AM. He loved the trill of fighting, though he tried to restrain himself now, because apparently that had let to his betrayal (and the FM let it slip that he had once been nicknamed 'Red Demon' because of his ability to slaughter AMs, but that had been forfeited when he had committed treason). At some point or another, Zero had risen among the ranks enough that he had been entrusted with a very important task. Of course the red FM refused to tell Tamotsu just what that was, but threatening to not say anything more had stopped the blonds whining.
Apparently he had eventually become so trusted he even knew FM King Cepheus, and though not on a truly personal level, it was something that few could claim because of the King's paranoia (apparently having your entire family slaughtered and multiple attempts on your own life did that to a, err…FM). So, due to his nearly blind loyalty at this point, he hadn't truly asked what the task had been at the time, and instead just done whatever it was since he trusted King Cepheus. Apparently whatever the effects of the task were, his did not like, and having never been told what would truly happen, he felt betrayed, going so far as to threaten the King in his own palace and storming off.
Though he still refused to say what he had done, Tamotsu knew it had to be big, because Zero had stormed into the Palace of the FM King Cepheus, demanding answers and not caring about whatever respect he had had before. Getting an answer he didn't like, Zero left angrily, throwing all loyalty out the proverbial window when he attacked a questionable research lab and killed most everyone there, destroying everything they had been working on. Finding the Andromeda key, he stole it and tried to escape with it, knowing that just breaking it would only lead to Cepheus simply restoring it.
And then a chase had begun, and Zero had almost been caught and taken back to be killed. So in order to get away he threw the Andromeda key away, forcing the ones chasing him to split so they wouldn't forever lose the key, and from there he escaped the remaining forces. Well, and he killed anyone who wasn't smart enough to just give up.
From there, he had wandered around a bit, before detecting the signal that their planet was giving off and deciding to head there since it was obvious there was technology and intelligent life. Zero had just taken the opportunity that presented itself when the attacks started to get some form of revenge where Cepheus couldn't as easily send backup.
After the extensive story, Tamotsu had been restless and drafted Zero into late-night training, wanted to be stronger for next time they fought Ox Fire, or for whenever Cygnus Wing decided to show up again. And then there was Gemini Spark, who Zero assured couldn't be easy, especially if what Zero was thinking was happening to the FM. So they trained all through the night, Zero teaching Tamotsu more skills with all the forms of the Z-Saber since it would be his only weapon. Tamotsu had managed to get back just in time to get a 'nice' ten minute nap before his alarm went off.
So after all he had done in a 24-hour period, it only made sense that he look like hell, what with was normally smooth hair frizzed a bit from the lack of care, a few bags under his eyes and just the general grumpiness that came with not getting anything that could be considered decent sleep in over two days.
It really didn't help that his mind felt the need to replay both failures in his head again and again.
Misora Hibiki absently tapped out a random tune on the seat in front of her, her manager ignoring her and letting the young girl do as she pleased.
Humming a bit, the dark magenta haired girl thought over the song that kept playing in her head, tapping out the beat so she wouldn't lose it. The tune itself had been easy enough to come up with really, but the lyrics, they never came out right. No matter what, they never 'flowed' or showed how she really felt, sounding forced and fake.
Well, it wasn't as if they were any faker than what she sang now, since her manager came up with them with the help of a few others she didn't know. They were nice, but they weren't her so to speak, and it made Misora a little irritated that she had become popular on what she considered 'fake' songs, since she didn't write them.
"…Where my dreams pile up so very high…" She sang quietly to herself, but just as quickly shook her head, "No… doesn't sound right…hmmm…"
Misora thought for a moment before typing up the line on the laptop in front of her, despite her distaste for them. Making sure her manager couldn't see, she watched as the part she had highlighted was quickly deleted and replaced with a new line, rearranged as the occupant of the laptop gave their input.
Where wishes and dreams pile up and wait?
Misora thought about it for a moment, humming out the words in the sentence a few times, letting the feel wash over her. The heavyset manager gave her a look before checking his watch again, starting to tap his foot again. Misora ignored him and took a moment to readjust her favorite pink hoodie before typing in her own idea.
Now look in the sky; in my heart; where the wishes and dreams pile up and lie?
A few moments passed as she tapped the screen a few more times as she completed the lyric, and listened as her manager let out a sigh.
"I'll go and see what's taking so long Ms. Misora," The man muttered, ignoring the face the girl made at being referred to as 'Ms.'
As soon as the door was closed, Misora kicked her feet on the table and laid back more on the couch in the waiting room. Waiting a moment to make sure he was gone, her rather strange friend finally appeared on the screen, shifting the typed lyrics off to the side so they were still visible.
Misora never thought of herself as necessarily 'normal', considering she wasn't boy crazy or into makeup or jewelry or things like that. But even she had to admit being friends with an extraterrestrial green eyes blue harp-like creature that was apparently called an 'FM Life form' took 'strange' to a new level. But, despite the recent trouble that the other FMs had been causing, Harp was nice enough, and had long ago abandoned the idea of destroying the earth. In fact…
"I think that's prefect Misora!" The FM said happily, enjoying that they were almost done with Misora's first 'real' song. The blue FM loved music for obvious reasons, and adored creating it even more.
"Yup, we only have to tough up on a few of the lines and we'll be good! And he said I wouldn't do it! Ha!" Misora cheered, taking no small pleasure in that she had proved her manager wrong. Of course, she had Harp's help, her ideas helped to almost instantly fill in any gaps or correct anything that didn't sound right. And with the two working together they had made a nearly complete song in less than a week.
The blue FM smiled before leaving the laptop, letting the windows open take up the full screen once more. Though Misora couldn't see it, she could just barely feel the hairs on the back of her neck stand up as Harp moved invisibly through the air before entering the magenta haired girl's guitar. The FM appeared a second later on the small panel installed onto the interment, confirming that she had transferred with no trouble.
"So…these old allies of yours…there all going to be in the city?" Misora asked again, Harp nodding.
"Yes, they'll be here since War-Rock is still here. And he obviously still has the Andromeda key, so they will want to get that back. I'm not sure what Zero is doing here…if it's really him of course, but he seems to at least have the same goal as us for now. We should still be cautious, not just of Zero, but all the other FMs as well, they'll be the strongest Cepheus will be willing to send, only second to his own personal guards of course," Harp paused for a moment, "Misora, are you sure you want to do this? To fight against them like this? You could be hurt, or killed you know…"
The girl smiled brightly at the worried FM.
"Don't worry so much Harp, I can fight, so I might as well. Cause if they do win, not fighting to stay safe wouldn't do any good would it?"
"Yes but…"
"I'll be fine Harp, it's not like the other FMs can hurt me now that we've formed a bond, right?"
Tsukasa stumbled into his foster parents' home, clinging to the doorknob like a lifeline as the world suddenly tilted and nearly sent the green haired boy sprawling. He was grateful that the school helped get him a ride home early since his parents couldn't pick him up before the afternoon, but now he had to walk himself the rest of the way since he refused the help.
Just barely managing to stumble inside, Tsukasa pushed the door closed as he leaned against it, panting with exhaustion as sweat covered his forehead that made his long bangs stick to his skin, slightly obscuring his already blurred vision. Letting a few more moments go by, Tsukasa waited until the pounding in his head reached a manageable point, and the room's violent spinning was reduced to the equivalent of a rocking boat.
Taking a few shaky steps forward, Tsukasa risked moving away from the wall and towards the bathroom, just barely stopping himself from collapsing as his headache suddenly returned to full force. Biting his lip hard enough to draw blood, Tsukasa tried to bear the pain as best as he could, forcing himself onward and barely resisting the urge to just curl up and sob until the pain passed.
After a few agonizing minutes of inching forward, Tsukasa had only made it halfway across the room, the slightly ajar door to the bathroom seeming to mock him as it refused to get any closer. He glared at it before taking another half step forward, having to stop again at the dizziness. As soon as it passed he repeated the process he had been doing for the past five minutes, making sure to not go to fast lest he make it any worse…
Tsukasa only had a chance to gasp as the horrible headache suddenly amplified to the point that it felt as though something was pounding his head from the inside, the feeling making his whole body hurt.
Collapsing onto the ground and curling into a ball, Tsukasa screamed as he gripped his head in pain, trying to will whatever it was to stop, please…As if to mock him, the pain somehow got worse, and the boy's screaming turned into an unholy screeching sound that echoed throughout the empty house, the sound resistant walls preventing anyone from hearing his pain and coming to help.
And then it stopped.
Not completely, but the agonizing feeling subsided enough so that Tsukasa could cautiously open his eyes, slowly pulling his hands away from where he had been grabbing at his hair as if that would stop the pain. His ears were ringing slightly, and it took him a moment for his hazy mind to realize that it was from his own screaming.
His vision was little more than a blurred mass of colors as tears and weariness clouded his eyes, and the room was once again spinning enough to make the boy tilt violently as he tried to push himself up. Collapsing once more onto the ground, Tsukasa finally decided to pull himself forward over the ground as best as he could, pushing himself forward with his slightly numb legs and practically clawing at the ground to pull himself forward.
Ironically, this method was much faster than his previous one, and it only took another minute to cross the rest of the room and push open the door so he could get into the bathroom. Though his pain hazed state, Tsukasa winced as the headache started to grow nearly unbearable for an agonizing moment before going back to dull throb as before.
It took a moment for his mind to process that he was still on the ground and the median cabinet was above the sink, far out of reach.
Letting one hand reach up and grasp the granite edge of the sink, Tsukasa managed to pull himself up with no small amount of effort, body trembling so much that he almost crashed onto the hard tile below once more, just barely managing to save himself. There were a few more moments of struggling before Tsukasa managed to get his chest level with the sink counter, grasping onto the slick dip of the sink as best as he could.
Looking upwards, Tsukasa squinted his eyes as he tried to limit the blurriness of his vision enough to make out the handle to the glass cabinet above him. Fumbling for a few seconds with the small knob, Tsukasa let out a sigh of relief as he managed to pull one door free.
Reaching inside, various pill containers and first aid supplies crashed into the sink as Tsukasa fumbled around, reaching for the bottle jammed into the corner and nearly forgotten. After another few moments of reaching blindly around within the cabinet and pulling out wrong bottles, Tsukasa's hands wrapped around the small blue bottle, the color contrasting sharply with the orange and white pill bottles scattered about.
Relief washed over the boy that was strong enough to overcome the pain for a moment, allowing him to pull himself up a bit more, though his legs wobbled. Tsukasa took a moment to look over the small blue bottle, skimming the label that had the warnings for the still in-progress drug that he had been a guinea pig for not so long ago. Having worked far better than anyone had ever expected when combined with normal therapy, he had continued to receive the medication even after it had fully taken effect, just in case of a relapse.
Like now for instance.
Tsukasa took a moment to allow himself a moment to relax, he attempted to pry open the lid with one hand, feeling dull exasperation as he couldn't open the twist top properly like that. There was a moment's hesitation as Tsukasa debated a moment on whether letting go of the sink was wise or not considering his condition. But since his shaking had reached a minimum, Tsukasa decided to let go so he could open the medication, after all, the sooner he got it the better.
Struggling to open the top with his shaking hands, Tsukasa glared at the small pill bottle as he continued to vainly fumble with it. Muttering a few choice words that he would never say if he wasn't in so much pain, the green haired boy continued to try and open the top. At least, he did until he suddenly dropped it as his hands went impossibly numb in a mere second.
And then, not a second later his head suddenly exploded with pure, indescribable agony, causing the boy to let out a gasping, choking shout of pain, freed hands quickly shooting up to cradle his head. Attempting to take a step, Tsukasa's foot slipped out from under him on the slick tile, causing the boy's eyes to go wide as he fell.
Before he could do little more than registered that he had even slipped, the side of his head slammed hard into the sink edge with a sickening thud, and Tsukasa's eyes rolled into the back of his head as he blacked out and crumpled limply to the ground like a broken doll.
After being forced to sit through class after class and take a very long written exam, Tamotsu was in an even worse mood despite trying to calm down in the bathroom for nearly fifteen minutes, grumbling and wishing nothing more for the day to end so he could go sleep.
It was actually quite lucky for him that he had decided to take the long way back to the classroom, and happened to walk by an empty classroom.
No matter what day or age you were in, there were always people who wanted to be better than others. So there were always people who thought that they were tough as nails, and somehow thought beating up people who couldn't even defend themselves somehow proved it. Of course, this was often done secretly since such people still feared those more powerful than them wrath; so you had to just be in the right place at the right time to ever even know about it.
Hearing a muffled cry from behind the closed door, Tamotsu looked in just in time to see two boys shove another, much scrawny one down onto the ground. The two had attempted to look 'tough' by dressing like rather stereotypical punks, though this image was ruined by the fact that neither of them had hit really puberty yet, making the cloths just look awkward. Of course, they were more than 'tough' enough to knock down the other boy who was even shorter and scrawnier than they were.
The taller of the two (not that that was saying much) picked up the scrawny red head on the ground, and brought his fist back to punch him, the boy just cringing back and not even bothering to try and escape at this point..
Tamotsu felt his blood boil. Deeply ingrained hatred for such acts flared up once more, preventing him from even considering leaving the scene even brief enough to get an authority figure of any kind.
"The hell are you two assholes doing?" Tamotsu yelled into the room as he flung open the door and stormed inside.
Taking advantage of his superior height, he made sure to stand tall and look imposingly down at the two, a scowl on his face. To their credit, the two 'punks' only looked slightly startled at his appearance before glaring at him in a way they thought was intimidating.
"Get outta here Blondie, this doesn't concern you!" The one standing off to the side spat.
Tamotsu had to roll his eyes at that. Because really? Really? Did they just watch a couple of movies about a few gangs or mobs and decide to copy what they said and or did and suddenly think that they were tough stuff? Heck, from the way the one holding the innocent kid was pulling back to throw his punch, it was obvious they hadn't even really learned to fight.
"Like hell it doesn't. Now you two listen to me, drop the kid, and I won't have to deflate your massive ego and show you just how not-tough you are, ok?" Tamotsu said in an annoyed tone, vaguely wondering if he could wrap this up and get back before classes changed.
The one holding the shaking red head nodded to the other and he started walking up to Tamotsu, trying to look imposing and failing since he was about three inches shorter. Tamotsu just gave him an impatient look, tapping his foot and giving him an 'I'm waiting' look.
And suddenly the boy charged, obviously determined to take the taller blond off guard with this and score a cheap shot or two. Blinking at the yelling boy, Tamotsu quickly corrected his stance to counter the sloppy move. As soon as the boy got close enough, Tamotsu stepped aside before grabbing his arm roughly as he passed. Turning so he could use the momentum properly, he flipped the boy so he landed hard on his back on a desk next to Tamotsu, breath knocked out of him enough that he couldn't yell at the sudden pain, a strange wheezing sound escaping him.
Ignoring the boy now since he wouldn't be getting up anytime soon (unless he was really stupid), Tamotsu turned just in time to let out a yelp as he had to dodge a flash of silver because holy shit when did that kid get a pair of scissors?
"Whoa there kid!" Tamotsu shouted as he easily dodged the clumsily slashing of the boy, "You don't want to go to jail for stabbing someone do you?"
This seemed to shock the other boy, and he looked in his hand as if he just noticed that he was holding it. But just as quickly his expression dissolved into pure uncontained rage before he screamed;
"I'm NOT a kid!"
Taking another slash at Tamotsu, the blond could vaguely hear someone at the door shouting for help, but chose to ignore it. Instead, the next time the other boy slashed at him, he managed to grab his wrist. Squeezing tightly and twisting, Tamotsu forced him to drop the scissors, which the blond just a quickly kicked away. The boy thrashed and started snarling so much that he seemed more like a rabid animal than anything else before suddenly freezing and going almost limp, trembling a bit. The sudden change in behavior startled Tamotsu so much that her nearly dropped the shaking child.
A high-pitched scream caused Tamotsu to look up from the boy and see that a small group of students in the doorway, pointing at…him? No, something behind him…Tamotsu quickly turned and froze in shock.
Floating (probably on a Wave Road) outside the window with a smirk, Gemini Spark grinned even wider when he met Tamotsu's gaze before he quickly disappeared from sight.
Everyone seemed frozen at shock, many people recognizing Gemini Spark from the incident yesterday. Those that did could at least figure out that the 'boy' they had seen wasn't normal, since they were currently on the second floor of the school.
Tamotsu on the other hand felt like he wanted to vomit from the sickening feeling in his gut, fear quickly spreading throughout his being.
'…what is he doing here?' was the only thing the blond could think for several moments, letting reality set in as he remembered what Zero told him about Gemini Spark's ultrasonic waves, 'Why did he attack here, only to leave? What does he want…?'
Unable to take it, Tamotsu helped the abused boy up, and noting the bruise he sported on his cheek, he pushed past the people crowded at the doorway helping him to the nurse as an excuse to not go back to class just yet.
Gonta wasn't at the school.
Not that Subaru every really expected him to be…but still, it never hurt to hope.
Because of all that had happened, it was no surprise that the rumors about, well most anything really at this point, were flying around, twisting and changing as they passed to each new person until they were unrecognizable from what they were originally.
Subaru spent most of the day not really paying attention to anything the teachers said, instead doing something he had never really done before; make a point of listening to the local gossip. In between classes Subaru asked about Gonta, trying to seem as discrete as possible, though he had a feeling he was failing horrible at it if the looks he was getting were any indication. Or maybe it was just him being at school in general. Thankfully most people seemed distracted with the fight that had happened near the middle of the day, and the busted water line that got them out of school hours early.
As the filled out so repairs could be made, Subaru managed to catch sight of Luna for the first time on the school grounds as the girl looked around rather worriedly, the two boys that normally followed her nowhere to be seen.
"Hey Luna," Subaru said as he walked up to the blond who looked at him oddly, "Have you seen Gonta anywhere?"
"No, I haven't, not since yesterday when he ran off…" Luna trailed off, seeming to be lost in thought for a moment before she snapped back to attention, "I bet that idiot is just off somewhere, deciding that he didn't want to come to school today to dodge that test we had in history…"
Luna fumed at the thought before crossing her arms with a huff and seeming to ignore Subaru as she muttered angrily to herself. A few moments of near silence passed like this, and Subaru debated on whether or not to ask if she knew where Gonta could be found or where the larger boy lived.
"Hey…Subaru…?" Luna suddenly asked in a quiet voice, "You were near where the riot was yesterday, right?"
Subaru blinked at this before nodding, "Yeah?"
"…was that really him? That bull…Minotaur…thing that fought Sir Rockman and Zero Blade….was it him?" And then the girl turned to him, a nearly pleading look in her eyes, "Was that monster really Gonta Ushijima?"
Subaru didn't answer immediately. It was obvious that the girl wanted him to dispel all the rumors she had to have been hearing and say that no, it wasn't her friend, that no, he wasn't taken over like Utagai had been. It was tempting to lie, to prevent her any more hurt or pain…
But Subaru couldn't lie, not when she would find out the truth eventually, not when she knew the truth and was just in denial.
"…Yeah, that was Gonta…"
Hurt and sadness washed over Luna as she was forced to accept it, that her friend had been turned into a monstrous creature. That he and the one she admired so much had fought with the intent of killing each other, and very nearly did just that.
"You know, from what I've heard, other people have been turned into creatures like Gonta was…" into Virus-Humans, not a Denpa-Human, though the concept was similar enough, "And whenever either Rockman or Zero Blade would defeat them, the human that was being used chanced back, and they were unharmed."
And then Luna brightened at hearing that Gonta could, no, would be saved and unharmed, instead of hurt or even killed like she had thought.
"I know that my Sir Rockman will surly save Gonta then, he never fails!"
Subaru winced a bit at that, at just how wrong she was. He had already failed twice; both times were with saving people he knew who had been taken over by FM life forms. Not counting the Skyway incident, to him those were the only fights that really mattered, where people had been being used, and he had lost both.
"Come on Kizamaro, we have to go!" Luna declared as she grabbed the smaller boy's arm as soon as he walked up, and all but drug him with her and out the school gate to do whatever she had deemed important.
Subaru just shook his head at the girl, she baffled him endlessly and there was nothing that he could do to understand her better in anyway. And her crush on 'Sir Rockman' was something that the brunet had mixed feeling about. On one hand, it was nice that someone appreciated him that much, but then again it was Luna of all people, who had been overly adamant about dragging him to school and rather annoying in general. And there was the fact that she clearly didn't like him, so if she ever found out the truth…
Subaru just shrugged off the thoughts and walked off to the school planetarium, deciding to kill a little time before he started to look for any hints of Cygnus Wing, Ox Fire, or even Gemini Spark. Subaru remembered that he had forgotten to ask Luna where Gonta lived or may be, but he dismissed those thoughts, reasoning that Ox Fire wasn't Gonta, and thus wouldn't return to those places.
Pushing open the door, Subaru was rather pleased when there was no one inside, which made it easier to look at star formations or constellations or galaxies or whatever he wanted. Taking control of the projection system, Subaru scrolled through the controls as he plopped down in the main seat before relaxing.
After a few minutes, Subaru let himself frown as the thought that had been nagging him for most of the school day. It wasn't that he hadn't gotten any closer to finding anything about Gonta or Ox Fire, it wasn't that he had had to attend school again, or that the odds simply kept stacking against him as time went on, he and Zero Blade were now outnumbered, and Gemini Spark had hinted that there were at least five other FM life forms that would make themselves known soon enough.
No, it was that Tsukasa had suddenly had a fit of something within the first hour of the day, nearly collapsing at his desk and complaining of horrible headaches and weakness. When dismissed to the nurse, the boy had almost collapsed before Subaru had shot out of his own seat and caught the boy, silently being elected to help the weakened boy to the nurse.
Subaru had actually been somewhat hesitant to do this, remember what Tsukasa had told him yesterday, but the green haired boy was obviously incapable of walking on his own. And instead of lashing out, Tsukasa had been grateful for his help, none of the hate or malice present in his voice from yesterday.
Their pace was slow and clumsy, as if Subaru tried to move to fast, Tsukasa was unable to keep up and ended up being half dragged then. So the two were at a rather odd limping pace as Tsukasa was forced to stop every so often as his body pitched forward when an especially strong wave of dizziness hit him. Subaru didn't complain about the snail's pace they were at, instead constantly asking if he was alright.
"T-thanks Subaru…" Tsukasa said with a gasp as he leaned on the brunet after he almost fell again, his arm slung over Subaru's shoulder the only thing preventing him from gracelessly face-planting the floor.
"It's no problem Tsukasa, but I'm seriously worried about you…" Subaru said, looking over the sweating and shaking boy.
"It's fine, really. It happens occasionally, and if I can just get home, I can get something to stop it…" Tsukasa managed to say steadily, and as if to prove his point he straightened himself a bit and managed to wobble less.
The two of them managed to get to the nurse in another minute or two, their pace speed up as Tsukasa seemed to be getting over whatever fit he had been experiencing little by little. As soon as the nurse saw Tsukasa she immediately pulled him away from Subaru, quickly shooing the brunet back to class despite his protests.
"Hey, don't worry Subaru, I'll be fine!" Tsukasa said with a smile before the nurse nearly shoved him onto the bed in the room, fussing over him about walking around like that.
It didn't help calm Subaru's nerves that Tsukasa had sounded like he was trying to assure himself more than the brunet's.
After class, he had gone straight to the nurse, hoping to check on the green haired boy, only to learn he had gone home hours earlier for bed rest.
Subaru switched the settings on the projector, trying to take his mind off it, but the nagging feeling wouldn't leave him. Maybe it was just everything adding up over the past few days, making him overly weary and cautions, but the foreboding feeling wouldn't lessen.
Subaru stood up after a moment and triggered the planetarium to turn off. Picking up his bag, he turned and left, not caring about waiting for War-Rock and instead electing to check on Tsukasa, just in case.
So, no real action, but I do think I made it interesting, and plus I think it's nice to not have constant fighting, show some real life once in a while. And all this was basically prelude to the next chapter where any illusion of peace will be shattered completely as it always is. Let's just say Gemini will decide to take a very direct approach, since I've introduced him very early so he can begin manipulation early on.
Oh and anyone know the Japanese name of the city? I've forgotten and I can't seem to find it and I really don't want to have to skip the episodes for that one easily missed detail. It would really help out so I can type more than just 'The city' all the friggen time…