A/N: Hello everyone...today I bring you chapter 9 of Arpeggio of Blue Steel, today we get to see the aftermath of the battle against Kirishima and Haruna and get to see what happened to them afterwards. I spent a good while watching the episode where all of these events take place, and I wrote it afterwards, so some of it maybe linear with that episode. I tried to make it as different as I could, but sometimes that's a little difficult. Regardless, here is the chapter so I hope you all like it.
Arpeggio of Blue Steel
Emerald Eagles
Chapter 9
She didn't know how long it had been, but the first thing that came to Haruna's mind was the explosion. She had been on the deck of her ship, watching as everything around her caught fire. She remembered, feeling regret, for what had happened and what she had done. She also remembered jumping off the bridge of her ship to catch Kirishima's core. She felt like she was floating on a cloud, enveloped by it's warmth. In her mind, she thought she was dead, who could survive a grand explosion after a failed attempt at firing a Super Gravity Cannon?
She felt something on her face, as if she was being poked. That's when she realized she wasn't dead, that she had just been unconscious. She instantly jumped to her feet, eyes wide as she looked around the room, however the after effects of the battle had quickly caught up to her, and she fell back down onto the bed she was laying on, groaning a bit in pain.
"Um...are you okay?" a quiet voice asked. Haruna forced her eyes opened and she turned onto her back, glancing lazily to her left.
She was met with the wide brown eyes of a little girl. She had light colored skin, and medium to dark brown hair, tied into two ponytails with bright green ribbons. She had bangs over her eyes, though they were parted to the left. She was wearing a long sleeved shirt over her small frame, with bright blue overalls. Haruna groaned in pain, her eyes widening a bit when she saw her black coat in her hands. She reached a dainty hand up, trying to grab it.
"That...coat." she mumbled. The little girl pulled it away from her just before she could grab it.
"So it is yours. It's pretty big." the girl said. Haruna tried to reach for it again, though the girl pulled it away from her. She tried several more times, only to fail. Her lower lip quivered a bit and she sat at the edge of the bed, small tears slipping from her eyes.
"Sniffle sniffle."
The little girl found it a bit odd that the older girl was crying over a coat. It must have meant a lot to her if she was crying over it. She smiled and climbed onto the bed, placing the coat over her shoulders.
"Here you go!" she said happily. Haruna looked at her, a small smile on her face.
"Thank you." she said quietly. She slipped her arms through the sleeves, hopping onto her feet.
"Shazam." she said in a monotone, regaining her composure. She was stiff and had an emotionless, blank look on her face. The little girl looked at her in confusion, seeing just how big the coat truly was. Her long blond hair barely visible from it, served as the only thing to look at in the sea of black and yellow.
"Um...my name is Okasabe Makie. What is your name?" the little girl asked curiously.
"Haruna."
"What's the rest of your name?" she asked curiously.
"Just Haruna." the blonde replied, little emotion in her voice. The girl's brows knitted together, eyes widening a bit.
"Oh right, Haruna I found this in the barn along side you. Is it yours?" she asked, holding a small purple object in her hand. It was slightly round, with several antenna like protrusions from it. It also had a pink marking in the center, the crest that was once on the side of Kirishima's vessel. Haruna gave her a nod.
"Yes, that belongs to me." she said, holding her hand out.
"It's really weird. It seems like it's made of metal, but it's really light." Makie said, handing the core over to Haruna. She looked at it closely, an invisible pink glow appearing around the core.
"Kirishima, are you alright?" she asked.
"I am, the union core seems unscathed. What's going on Haruna?"
"I'm not sure. It seems we landed on this young girl's property when we flew off the ships. I was unconscious for awhile, so I'm not sure what happened."
"Hmm...alright, I'll leave reconnaissance to you." Kirishima said firmly.
"Understood."
Haruna felt someone poking at her eyebrow and she suddenly turned her head, causing Makie to fall off the chair she was standing in and land in a beanbag. She cleared her throat, looking at the girl.
"Is something wrong?"
"You just froze, I was worried."
"I didn't freeze..I was just lost in thought." she replied. The girl hummed to herself, leaning onto the bottom of the chair.
"Oh right, why were you unconscious on our property?" Makie asked curiously. Haruna looked away from her, focusing on the far wall.
"That's um..." she paused, the memory of her ship exploding once again filling her mind. She couldn't very well tell the little girl that, as it could compromise her position, so instead she remained silent.
"And you were practically naked." the girl continued, looking up at the girl who had remained silent for the last few seconds.
"I re-purposed the material that made up my clothing into crushable structure to absorb the shock of impact."
"Crutchable-what?" the girl asked, confusion written onto her face.
"Crushable structure." Haruna corrected. The girl huffed and looked away, hopping into the seat.
"Whatever. Say why don't you stay here for awhile? You've got something going on, if you want to walk around outside, just wearing a coat and underwear is in bad taste." she replied.
"Bad Taste?" the she asked softly. She placed Kirishima's core on top of the little girl's head, causing her to look up for a bit. She glanced over to the mirror and unzipped the coat, looking herself over.
"Transmitting information of woman's apparel throughout history. If we wish to be active on land, we have to find you more suitable clothes." Kirishima said. Haruna subtly nodded.
"I've come to the same conclusion."
She turned back to Makie, who was kicking her feet while looking at the core in her hands, poking at it with her finger. She was still curious to see what material it was made out of. She thought it was made of metal, but it was too light for it to be. Haruna cleared her throat, catching her attention.
"In your opinion, what can I wear that would not be in bad taste?" she asked.
"Oh that's easy. I got plenty of clothes of all different sizes, there must be something here that fits you!" she said cheerfully. She placed Kirishima's core on the chair and hopped off, running toward her dresser. Haruna watched her curiously.
"Okasabe Makie, why are you helping me? I'm a stranger." she said firmly.
"Why am I...I dunno...but I think it's some sort of fate!" she said.
"Fate?" Haruna asked.
"Yeah, like we were destined to meet. Don't you know what fate means?" Makie asked, as she grabbed several sets of clothes from her dresser. Haruna blinked for a second, opening her status window up, instantly searching the word up.
"Fate, referencing a connection between people, a fateful encounter. Entree has been tagged, cataloged and saved."
"Haruna, you talk funny, almost like a dictionary. You sound almost like a machine" Makie said, finally appearing from behind the screen, just in time for her to miss the rings around Haruna's body.
"No, that's not true." she replied.
"Oh well, this is sort of fun isn't it?" the girl asked, walking toward the table. She set the clothes down, a smile on her face. She yanked the coat off Haruna's shoulders, and just as fast put a fancy blue dress on her, which was rather small on her. Haruna's face reddened a bit and she grabbed the edge of the skirt, tugging it a bit.
"Um...maybe this one. It looks really cute." she said. Makie hummed to herself, shaking her head. She rapidly took it off, grabbing a plain white tee shirt instead. She handed Haruna a pair of blue shorts which she hastily put on, the blush on her face only getting darker.
"Hmm...not this one. It seems a little...tight on you...is that the right word?" the little girl asked.
"Could I..have my coat back?" Haruna asked quietly, the nervousness from before washing over her entire body.
"Nope, not yet. Here, try this one on next!"
Kirishima could only watch as Haruna was shoved into different dressed, each one worse than the last. She tried not to laugh as that would cause her core to shake a bit. She was having a bit of trouble though, especially with Haruna's deepening blush. It was rather cute to see her sister being doted on so much.
"I can't ignore this one either." Makie said, forcing the final outfit onto Haruna's frame.
Kirishima had to admit, this last one fit really well with Haruna's overall look. It was a nice yellow dress, with black colored sleeves that had a poofed look to them, and frilled white edges. The edges around the bust were also white in color. The dress extended downward, toward her knees. It had a pleated look, and a white line near the border. Along with the black stockings she was already wearing, she had added some black heels to the outfit, which had a white flower on the top.
Haruna fell to her knees, clearly having enough of the little girl's antics. She started crawling toward her coat, her hand reaching for it. She could already picture herself being wrapped around it's warmth.
"We're not done yet, we need to fix your hair!" Makie cried, grabbing her by the ankles.
"Please...spare me!" Haruna moaned, reaching for her coat, only to be yanked further away.
"Oh, I like this one. You look so cute with straight hair." Makie cried, placing a black ribbon in Haruna's hair. She looked at herself in the mirror, the blush on her face ever present. She was about to stand up when Makie placed her hands on her shoulders.
"I'm not done, let's try a drill style next!" she cried.
Haruna honestly felt like she wanted to die. Here she was, a powerful Fast Battleship of the Fleet of Fog, known world wide for her destructive power. Her ship alone could handle an entire fleet of human vessels. She had sunk many of them in the past and was feared among the humans. Yet here she was, being man handled by a little girl with a hair brush.
"Haruharu, you need to be more stylish. I know, we can go out tomorrow, I'll ask to see if we can go shopping!" Makie said, holding Haruna's hand tightly. The girl honestly looked like she had just taken a spoonful of the worst medicine known to man. She could only nod as the girl raved on about all the shopping they were gonna do, at least until a firm knock caught her attention.
"Yes, come in!" the girl said, glancing back toward the door. It slowly opened, and one of the maids walked in, a small smile on her face.
"It's time for your check up miss."
"Alright, take your time picking your clothes out Haruharu, I'm sure you'll make the right choice!" the girl said happily, leaving the room alongside the maid. Haruna waited quietly for a few seconds, slowly pulling her coat off the bed. She slipped her arms through the sleeves, a content look on her face.
"Shazam!"
Kirishima finally lost it, breaking into laughter, her core vibrating on the wooden table.
"She likes you "Haruharu". She really likes you." she said, ignoring the glare Haruna was giving her. She cleared her throat, holding back her laughter.
"Hey Haruna, would you mind giving me some nanomaterial? I'm sort of helpless right now." she said. Haruna nodded, picking her core up from the table, she looked around for something to use as a disguise for her sister, a small smirk tugging at her lips. She grabbed the teddy bear that had been on the table and opened the back, placing her core inside it. With a little bit of her processing power and her nanomaterial, Kirishima finally had a physical body.
"There you are, that should be sufficient, yes?" Haruna asked. Kirishima struggled to move a bit, slowly getting the hang of being in a bear.
"I...believe so. Couldn't you have given me a little more?"
"I cannot. If Makie saw another person with me, she would ask questions, besides this is all the nanomaterial I can spare at the moment." she said. Kirishima sighed, shaking her head.
"I suppose it will do for now. Should we start searching this place?" she asked, earning a quiet nod from Haruna. The two of them made their way toward the door, with Haruna slowly opening it, a loud creak filling the empty hall. Kirishima looked around for a few seconds before walking out into the hall, stumbling around a bit.
"This is going to take me awhile." she muttered quietly. Haruna stopped in the center of the hallway, looking straight forward. Her eyes looked around for a second as her scanner checked all of the rooms.
"All of these rooms are free of human occupancy." she said.
"Not just here. There are very little life forms within this large house. I wonder why that is." Kirishima muttered quietly. She heard footsteps behind her and quickly dropped to the ground.
"Ma'am. Dinner has been prepared, the young miss is waiting for you, if you'd please follow me." the maid said, turning around. Haruna turned to follow her.
"Oi, take me with you." Kirishima cried out. Haruna chuckled quietly and knelt down to pick the teddy bear up, wrapping her arms around it. She turned back to the maid who had been patiently waiting.
Haruna remained quiet as she followed the maid around the house. She continued scanning every room, just to make sure they were truly alone. They finally made it into the dining room, the maid held the door for her to enter. Makie gave her a smile, noticing the teddy bear in her hands.
"Why do you have him with you? Oh, do you like him?" she asked.
"That's not...necessarily wrong." Haruna replied, glad that a reason had presented itself. Makie grinned.
"I know...let's all eat together!" she said, jumping from her seat across the table. She took third seat from Haruna, with the teddy bear being to her right. It wasn't long before the other two maids placed their dinner in front of them. Haruna gave the woman a nod, looking back at Makie.
"Are there no other humans here?" she asked.
"No one besides the maids. I live a lone here, I never met my mom, and my daddy died a few years ago." Makie replied, the smile on her face betrayed her emotions. It was clear to Haruna that she was still mourning the loss of her father. She felt a twinge in her core, not exactly knowing what it was.
"It doesn't matter, I have you here now. I had them make lots so eat all that you like!" she said cheerfully. Haruna looked at the plate in front of her, not really knowing what kind of food it was. A quick scan revealed it was a flame broiled steak, with a side of steamed vegetables, carrots in particular. She grabbed the for and stabbed one of the carrots, looking at it oddly. She glanced back at Makie, hearing a light tapping on her plate. She noticed a small pink box in front of her, and she was pulling several things from inside it. Upon further inspection, she realized they were pills.
"What are those?" she asked.
"This is my medicine. It would be really bad if I didn't take any of these, so I lay them out on a plate so I don't forget." she replied. Haruna looked away from the pills, remembering what had happened a few minutes prior, when the maid had mentioned a check up. Now she understood why she needed one in the first place.
"Haruharu, do you hate carrots?"
"Um...no." she replied, not really knowing how to answer.
"That's not good, you have to eat your carrots so you grow up big and strong. Right Youtarou?" she asked, looking back at the teddy bear next to her, holding a carrot in front of its mouth.
"So this one is named Youtarou." Kirishima said, inwardly smirking. She turned her head, taking the carrot Makie had offered her. She took an inward deep breath, it was then that Kirishima knew, she had fucked up.
"Kirishima, stuffed animals don't eat food." Haruna said, eyes wide in shock at what her sister had done.
"I am aware of that. Shit, I wasn't expecting to blow my cover this soon."
Letting go of the fork, Kirishima grabbed the table in front of her, forcing herself onto her stubby feet. She turned to Makie, paw raised into the air.
"I have to do this. Forgive us Makie!" she cried jumping at the girl. Haruna stood up, aiming to grab the teddy bear, but Makie beat her to the punch, hugging it tightly.
"Wow! Wow, wow wow! You can actually move? Did you make this Haruharu? Are you a robot expert working secret jobs like me?" she asked, looking at the blonde who was still poised to attack. She lowered her arm, clearing her throat.
"Oh um...yeah." she replied.
"I knew it! Still, this is awesome. I can't believe you made this."
"If you like him, I'll give him to you." Haruna said, earning a shocked look from Kirishima.
"Really? This is so cool." Makie cried.
"Um, excuse me Haruna..." Kirishima said, reaching for her sister, only to be pulled back by the little girl, who proceeded to hug her tightly.
"You hear that Youtarou? Now that you can finally move around and walk, you are free!" she cried.
"Congratulations Youtarou!" Haruna said cheerfully, placing a carrot into her mouth.
"Shut up, Haruharu!"
xxx
"Are you alright Jonas? You've been quiet all day today...you've barely said a word to anyone." Miku said, standing next to her captain. He had spent most of the day on Maya's hull, just glancing out toward the ocean. He was sitting on the railing near the starboard bow, just looking at the calm waves. The hole in the barrier was still visible, but a work crew had already been dispatched. It would take them two months to fix the hole, but they would also take the chance to build an even stronger wall than before, and to reinforce the rest of the structure.
"I'm fine Miku, just thinking things over. We've got a long journey ahead of us, we have to make sure the 401 is protected from enemy ships, we also have to ensure that Vibration Warhead makes it back to the states in one piece. It's just...a little nerve wracking." he said.
"I understand what you mean. That confidence you had on Shimakaze was because you had grown used to everything, but now we have to travel on Theta's hull until we can go back home." she said, standing next to him. The soft breeze blew her hair back a bit, and she shivered from the cold. He gave her a nod.
"We're thousands of miles away. Thousands of miles of open ocean, where things can go wrong. We've avoided most of the vessels we've run into, but now that we've taken out two fast battleships, it won't be long before Kongou comes after us, especially because we killed her sisters. We also have Maya to deal with, it's become such a hassle." he said, taking a deep breath. She placed a hand on his shoulder, a frown on her face.
"Gunzou...he told me about what had happened. He felt the need to inform me as I am your First Mate and second in command. Why didn't you tell me about the union core?" she asked curiously.
"I didn't know how to explain it. When Hyuuga scanned me, Serina was with me, apparently Shiki and Isuzu knew about it from before but felt the need to keep it under wraps until the time was right. I agree with them...I mean, how can I tell my crew that I've been experimented on?" he asked.
"Well, you could tell us out right."
Jonas stiffened a bit and turned around, seeing Taco, Nick and Chloe, along with Serina, Shiki and Theta. All of them were standing beside the piano on Maya's hull, looking directly at their captain. Miku straightened up, prepared to talk for him, only for him to shake his head.
"I felt like the time was right...sorry captain." Shiki said, looking at the ground.
"Don't be...I'm glad you did. What she said is the utmost truth, inside my body, in the center of my chest, is a Union core belonging to the Fleet of Fog. It's call sign is that of the USS Iowa, an Iowa Class Battleship. Apparently it was a vessel thought to have struck a reef near one of the islands in the Hawaiian archipelago. I'm not exactly sure how they did it, but the United States Army were able to purge the mental model that previously owned the core, the personality at least. That's when they started designing cores similar to it, and testing them to see if they could be implanted into humans, so that we could have the same abilities as the Fog. 300 children between the ages of 6 and 16 were selected and of those 300, only one survived. This is also the reason why we were wanted felons in the eyes of the Government. The President doesn't know a thing about this, so it's still under wraps. All of the information I know is things that have been extracted from my data base, thanks to Tohka and Hyuuga who have been working closely." he said.
"Man...this shit is crazy...the thought of those people, doing this to kids? It's insane." Nick said.
"It's reality. You must realize that after awhile, people get desperate. Desperate enough to do vile things to our fellow humans. Hearing this, it makes me sick, it makes me detest those bastards. It also frightens me a lot, I grew up on those islands, who's to say they would have chosen me?" Chloe said, a scared look on her face.
"Same here...it could have been anyone of us...seems like Jonas got the short end of the stick." Nick said.
"Not really, because Hyuuga confirmed something an hour ago, thanks to Shiki. It seems the USS Iowa is being kept in Pearl Harbor's underground dry dock. Supposedly, when my core activated I was supposed to have a crew aboard me, but that didn't happen because I made contact with the Fog. It seems all of my time with Shiki and the others has awoken some of my processing power. Currently my core sits at 10% processing power. If Hyuuga were to release the other 90% and fully turn on the core, then I could take over my ship body." he said.
"We would have another battleship in the fleet. Not just that, an Iowa Class battleship at that." Nick said.
"But are you willing to trade your humanity away for that? Think about it, you are only half mental model now, if you fully access that core..wouldn't you become a full mental model?" Chloe asked curiously.
"I don't think so. Union Cores are designed to control a ship body, it's like a quantum super computer, in fact it actually is. Just because the core is active doesn't mean Jonas is a mental model. He's 100% human, just that his heart has been removed. His body runs on the Union core and it's processing power, so if he activated it, he wouldn't loose his humanity, in fact, he would become something else, superhuman, he wouldn't need to eat or sleep and he wouldn't age either, because of the processor in his body." Theta said, looking over some of the information Hyuuga had assembled.
"He would be the perfect human, someone who the government can use against the Fog. Jesus Christ, that was their plan all along wasn't it?" Taco asked.
"I don't know, but when we get to Hawaii, I'll have my answers." he said firmly.
"Are you ready Jonas? Hyuuga said she would increase your processing power to 25%. That will be enough to access your specifications, take over another vessel and activate your Klein field. However it will also be rather taxing...you might pass out." Shiki said.
"I'm ready..let's head to the bridge just in case." he said.
"Understood."
"Everyone...thanks for understanding, until we leave Yokosuka, please do what ever you want. Enjoy yourselves while we have the chance, we may not experience this luxury for much longer." he said.
"Aye sir, you heard him guys. Let's hit the town, I want to try some Takoyaki before we leave!" Miku said excitedly.
"Jeez, you really want to make those balloons bigger by eating all that fat?" Serina asked firmly.
"Says you, you could actually use some fat on you so those thumb tacks can grow bigger."
"What did you just say you fucking bitch?" Serina snapped, racing after the purple haired girl. Chloe sighed, shaking her head.
"Come on, let's keep an eye on the children so they don't get hurt." she said.
Xxx
Having finished dinner, Haruna was quickly taken back to Makie's bedroom. After playing for a bit, she got to experience another horrible thing. She was dragged into a bathroom and had her clothes taken off, including her beloved coat. She struggled for several minutes, trying to get it back on, but Makie wouldn't let her have it. Now she was kneeling on a raised plat form, her hair up in buns, covered with two cloth caps. She was soaking wet, her arms and legs being covered with white soapy suds.
"Stop struggling Haruharu, you are making this harder on me!" Makie cried as she grabbed a sponge from beside her. She lathered it up with soap and started scrubbing Haruna's back. The warm squishy feeling of the soap on her skin was something new. She noticed Kirishima was in the bathtub, soaking in the warm water with a white towel on her head.
"Here in Japan, friends wash each others backs. But if you keep struggling it makes it harder on me." the girl continued.
"Friend, a person whom one shares close contact with. The entree has been tagged, cataloged and saved." she said softly. She moaned loudly, feeling the warm sponge on the crook of her neck. It was a tingly feeling she hadn't experienced yet. Her emulator values were jumping all over the place, making her more confused than before. Thankfully, Makie finished soaping the both of them up and it wasn't long before she was dragged into the bath tub. The warm water felt vastly different than what she had felt before.
Even out on the ocean, she could feel the salty spray on her face. On warmer days, the water was a nice temperature. Other times it was cold due to how north she was sailing. This time though, she wasn't sailing the seas, she was in a bathtub with a little girl, enjoying the feeling of the warm water on her skin. She felt her muscles relax a bit, her nervousness washing away, almost like it wasn't there in the first place. She noticed Kirishima not far from the tub. She had been laying on the ground, letting her insides dry out after having absorbed so much water.
"Splash! A white whale has surfaced! It won't be long until he dives again!" the little girl cried, playing around with her wash cloth. Haruna looked at her, an unreadable look on her face. She wanted to say something, but she didn't know what. It was unlike her to have trouble speaking. She narrowed her eyes a bit, finally settling on something.
"Makie...you're free."
"Hmm...I am? I never really thought about that stuff." she said. She frowned and continued bobbing her hands in the water, remaining quiet after that. The frown on Haruna's face deepened, knowing she had been the cause of Makie's silence. She glanced at the girl, seeing a black QR bar code near her collar bone. She wanted to know what it was for, but she chose not to say anything.
It wasn't long before they finished their bath. Haruna had placed her hair back into it's usual style, accepting the light green nightgown the maid had given her. Kirishima had also been fully dried off, and she couldn't help but sniff her hands, the scent of strawberries lingering long after her bath was finished. The girl urged the two to get into the bed, turning off the light from the bed side lamp.
"Good night Youtarou." Makie cried happily. Kirishima rose her hand up, giving her a small salute before settling into the bed. Makie turned to Haruna, giving her a bright smile.
"Goodnight Haruharu."
"Goodnight Makie." Haruna replied softly. The girl closed her eyes, wrapping her arms around Haruna's body. The blonde didn't know what to do, instead she wrapped her arm around the girl, who snuggled tightly against her body.
"You're so warm Haruharu." she said softly.
A few minutes passed and her breathing became even, finally having fallen asleep. Haruna just lay there, looking at the ceiling in silence, not really knowing what to do. Sleep would not come as easily as she thought it would. She finally decided on going for a walk. The maid's were most likely asleep, so they wouldn't mind. She slowly got out of bed, making sure not to wake Makie. She pulled the blanket over the sleeping girl, making sure she was tucked in.
"Haruna, maybe we should report to Kongou. Surely she wants to know if we're alright."
Haruna just looked at her sister, not really disagreeing with her.
She blinked a few times, finding herself in the familiar pavilion. Kongou was sitting in front of her, legs crossed and tea cup in hand. Haruna bowed slightly before sitting across from her. Kirishima was sitting down on the table, still in her bear form. Kongou looked at her sister, a single brow raised.
"Have you taken a liking to that form?" she asked.
"I-It's only temporary! More importantly, we should apologize. We weren't expecting to be defeated by 401."
"I had been monitoring the both of you. I'm glad you survived, even as a core. First, the both of you should head to Sagami Bay, I have Hiei on standby, it seems Maya is once again shirking her duties." Kongou said, placing her cup down, ignoring the pained look on Kirishima's face.
"Maya has been captured by humans, she was part of our attack. However it seems like her hull was taken over, I'm sure her reluctance as been of some use." Kirishima said. Kongou adopted a frown on her face, though it was only to hide her anger.
"I see." she said simply.
"Anyway, we can't head to Sagami Bay just yet. We found some interesting information, I'll share it to our joined network." she said, standing up on the table. Her rings appeared before her as she uploaded the new data. Kongou looked it over, her lips pursed in curiosity.
"The Vibration warhead? The new weapon the humans made?" she asked.
"Indeed, we are currently in the dwelling of one of the developers, Okasabe Toujuurou. Okasabe is deceased. I don't want this to be a mean for us to save face but.." Kirishima left the sentence hanging, watching as Kongou was staring at them, judging their every breath, taking in every single movement. Though this was mostly toward Haruna who had remained eerily silent. She turned to Kirishima, giving her a nod.
"Fine, handle it. I shall tell Hiei to remain on standby."
"Then we will begin the operation!" Kirishima said, hopping off the table. She walked to the other end of the pavilion, looking back at her sister.
"Let's go Haruna."
The blonde stood up, her emotionless look still present. She brushed past Kongou who set down her cup of tea.
"Humans change their deposition due to emotion. But we are the Fog, we are merely living a temporary persona." she said. Haruna stopped for a second, eyes narrowed in thought. It wasn't long before Kongou was once again alone.
"Captured huh? I knew sending her out was a mistake." She muttered dryly to herself.
Finding herself back in Makie's bedroom, Haruna grabbed her coat and placed it over herself. She knew Kirishima just wanted something to use so that they wouldn't get reprimanded. The Vibration warhead had been quick thinking on her part. They left the bedroom and stepped into the hall, looking around.
"It seems we're alone. There seems to be something in the basement taking up a lot of energy. That's where it might be, let's go retrieve the data." Kirishima said firmly. Haruna took a step forward, seeing all of the hallway lights come on. At the end of the hall stood one of the maids, a warm smile on her face.
"I've been waiting for you miss. This way please."
The two mental models shared a look before walking down the hall, following the young woman. The walked for what seemed like ages, finally stopping before a wall. She pressed on a picture, which slowly rose to reveal a hidden panel. She pressed the glowing button on it and the wall opened up, revealing an elevator. Haruna wordlessly stepped into it.
"Oi, Haruna." Kirishima cried, trying to stop her sister. She sighed and followed suit, knowing it was much better than to wait for her to return. They stood there in silence for a few minutes, wondering just where the elevator was taking them. Finally, it reached the bottom floor, when it opened up, revealing a long dark hallway. They walked down it for several minutes, unsure of what it would lead to. Finally they reached a door, which opened into a large room. They stepped inside the large room, which was almost as large as Makie's room above them. Haruna looked around, seeing all of the screens and medical equipment. She saw a bed in the center of the room and instantly knew who was laying on it. She stepped up to it, looking at the man before her.
"Thank you for coming." the man said, though the voice sounded entirely synthetic. Haruna just gave him a nod.
"You are..."
"Okasabe Toujuurou. The master of the house." the man said, glancing at the two, a tired expression on his face. He looked like he had been in that bed for years. There were several different wires hooked up to his body, all serving different functions. Haruna glanced around for a second, taking it all in.
"Aren't you supposed to be dead? That's what human records say anyway. Whatever, it suits us better if you are alive...so why don't you hand over all of the data on the Vibration Warhead?" Kirishima said firmly.
"My apologies, but I wasn't the one who created that device." he said.
"What do you mean?" Kirishima asked, greatly confused.
"So, it was Makie." Haruna said, earning a curious look from Kirishima. The man chuckled.
"So you noticed. Makie's abilities far exceed my own, because she's..." he paused glancing at the screen to his right. A file opened up, showing them detailed information on Makie. Haruna looked it over, eyes widening a bit at the information.
"She's not human." the man finished. Kirishima gasped, not believing what the man was saying, even if the proof was right before her eyes. Haruna said nothing, wanting the man to explain himself.
"I was once in charge of developing new weapons against the Fog. It was a tiring process, one that always ended in failure. I never got over it, it was then that I realized all of my limitations. As a human being, there was only so much I could do..so..if I were to create someone with super human ability, then we might have a chance.
The Design Child Initiative created 109 lives. Of those lives, only seven made it past the first year, and of those seven only one lived past three years." the man said.
"That was Makie wasn't it?" Haruna asked, earning a nod from him.
"Yes...she was an exceptionally bright child. She exceeded all of our expectations...but the government was indifferent. No, rather they were afraid of her abilities, just as they feared the Fog. So they ushered us into this mansion. You told her she was free, but due to her abilities, she can't have a normal childhood, but that didn't matter to me...I came to see her as my daughter, my love for her blossomed. I wanted her to live a good life, so that she could be strong and have whatever she wanted.
However, one day the government gave me an order...they wanted me to create another child to serve as Makie's backup. They looked at her as some computer that needed to be replaced when it was outdated. I couldn't handle it, the anger that coursed through me...it was unreal..so I faked my death, so that Makie could remain unique...with my death, went the information needed to make another design child.
The government had no choice but to look after her. They still need her to fine tune the Vibration Warhead, which is why she's still protected." the man said.
"I don't understand...wouldn't it complicate things if they ever found out your ruse?" Kirishima asked, crossing her arms. The man looked at her, a frown on his face.
"You could call it, Lingering Attachment." he said.
"Lingering Attachment, a phrase indicating regret, the inability to let something go. The entree has been tagged, cataloged and saved." Haruna muttered, adding the phrase to her ever growing collection.
"I wanted to watch over her as she grew up, to see her smile." he said. Kirishima sighed, shaking her head.
"Humans really are selfish aren't they?" she asked.
"Indeed, we are. As you can see, I don't have much longer to live...which is why I must ask a favor." he said. Haruna stood by his bedside, looking directly at him.
"What is the favor?" she asked. He gave her a smile, taking a deep breath.
"Please, watch over Makie...become her friend."
"Heh, you really are selfish. Asking us to become friends with her." Kirishima snapped, not believing what the man had just asked.
"You are aware that we are mental models of the Fleet of Fog, correct?"
"She laughs so much when you are together. I think that is enough, yes?" he asked. Haruna remained silent, not really knowing how to answer the man. She looked at Kirishima who just gave her a shrug.
"Please." the man said weakly. Haruna gave him a nod.
"We will take care of her. We will be her friends." she said firmly. Without another word, she started out of the room. Kirishima looked between her sister and the man, and ran off, following the silent Haruna as she made her way out of the room. It was late at night now, the moon had already risen high into the sky, it's bright light washing over the dark land scape. Haruna made it back to Makie's room, watching as she slept peacefully. She sat down beside the girl, softly brushing her hair from her face. She seemed to be having a nightmare, but as soon as she felt Haruna's presence, she calmed down, settling into a more comfortable sleep.
"Makie...my friend." Haruna whispered. She jolted a bit, glancing out the window. Her sonar picked up the sound of incoming vehicles, she counted at least eight of them. Kirishima seemed to have sensed them as well. She glanced outside the window, seeing one of the lamps blinking on and off for a second before it finally shut off.
"Haruna...this is bad...there are humans, several of them in organized squads." Kirishima said.
"The Government...they must be here for Makie." she said.
"She isn't our responsibility Haruna..we have a mission!"
"I'm sorry Kirishima...but I can't...I have to protect her...please...keep an eye on her while I handle our guests." she said firmly, standing up from the bed. Haruna was pissed off, pissed off at Toujuurou for being so selfish, pissed off at 401 for having sunk her ship and put her in this situation, and most of all, pissed off that the army was going to kill her friend. She wasn't going to let that happen, not on her watch.