NOTE: continues directly from previous chapter – read that one first if you haven't already (and again, better formatting on AO3 if you'd like to hop over there). last part to happen whenever it does, and happy new year in advance if I don't see you before then!
.
.
.
← PAGE 2 OF 3 →
WE'RE NEARLY THREE HOURS INTO what is proving to be a very enlightening interview when another holographic screen pops up with a muted ping.
Miyano-san barely spares it a glance before standing up and striding around the table to the door. "Your new wings are done, Hattori-kun, I need to do the flight test."
"Huh?" Hattori-san looks up in apparent surprise, even though I'm certain that this moment has been planned all along.
"I'm going to tell the fabrication bots to paint them red and gold if you're not at the lab in fifteen," comes the reply from the hallway.
One exclamation of extreme dismay later, and we're left with the three of us and a suddenly-awkward silence in the room. I take the chance to swap out my voice recorder's batteries – I have the feeling that I'm going to need them, for whatever's coming up next.
When I look back up again, the two remaining Avengers are apparently having a silent but slightly heated discussion by looks and the occasional shrug.
It's Toyama-san who looks away first, while Kudo-san takes a deep breath, as if he's bracing himself for something. "You know who Ran is, right? Mouri Ran."
It's almost a ridiculous question, in this context.
Among most of the younger generation, the first thing that comes to mind about the good Captain's second-in-command is not the utter scandal (at the time, at least) of her having been revealed to be a woman all along, while the dust of WWII was still busy settling down.
Or perhaps it still is, just in a different sense – her story has morphed into a second Mulan of sorts, a fierce fighter who'd taken up arms to stand beside her childhood friend on the other end of a war. Girls grew up wanting to be that brave, to be just like her, never mind the staggeringly complex politics of the situation.
So to answer the question: yes, I know who Mouri Ran is.
This much is evident, because Kudo-san continues on a surprising turn. "What about the Winter Soldier?"
Now this question, unlike the last, is rather more complicated.
This much is known: somewhere between the events spanning the attack on SHIELD director Yamato Kansuke and the smoking ruins of that same agency in the Sumida River, the Winter Soldier went from an unlikely ghost story to a too-real spectre of death.
Eyewitness reports agree on the salient details: a woman of slender build, metal arm, and long hair. Filling the blanks of history with the SHIELD files gives us the rest: a list of kills confirmed or suspected, stretching back an improbable number of decades.
But that is all we have – facts that sketch the outline of a person, and nothing that fills that gap. We know increasingly more of what the Winter Soldier is, but nothing about who she is.
Not just yet, at least.
I say as much to Kudo-san, who nods, then hesitates for the first time in our time so far. "That was the first time I met the Soldier, yes. But the truth is – "
His voice falters and stops.
"It's alright, Shinichi, I can speak for myself," says a soft voice from the door, and I turn to see Mouri Ran standing there, metal arm and long hair gleaming dully in the low light.
THERE IS NO EASY OR KIND WAY to say this: Mouri Ran, one of the heroes of WWII, has also been the Winter Soldier in the intervening decades since.
None of it was by her will, as both Cap and Widow make certain to emphasise to me several times afterwards.
(There is also no mistaking that the two are acting as something larger than their usual selves, in this matter. They are each the quiet to the other's fire, and it is not at all difficult to see the same people who stared down both the Cabinet and National Diet – and, by all accounts, 117 of the UN's 193 countries – and willed them to blink first.)
At the time of this interview, the wheels of judicial systems both domestic and international have already begun to turn. Japan abolished its statute of limitations on murder in late April of 2010, meaning that cases dating from 1995 and onwards are still up for prosecution, and the possibility of extradition is still not entirely off the table yet.
But any and all trials will be strictly closed to the public, at least until the final verdict is released, and Mouri-san will be accorded all considerations due her status as a prisoner of war under extreme duress.
"I made it a non-negotiable condition of accepting the Accords," Kudo-san explains, in a brusque summary of what must have been an uphill fight against the many parties involved. "If we're going to sign over any part of our rights as enhanced individuals, we also need to recognise what happens when that power and responsibility falls into the wrong hands."
All this comes later, though. What follows is a short transcript of that initial conversation between myself and Mouri Ran, in what will likely be the first of many accounts of her time as the Winter Soldier and beyond.
HH: Thank you for taking the time to speak to me today, Mouri-san.
MR: Just call me Ran, please. I'm sorry if this came as a bit of a nasty surprise, we weren't sure how you would react to the news.
HH: It's – honestly speaking? I'm still trying to process it, but I almost can't believe that I'm actually talking to you in person. You've always been one of my heroes.
MR: [with a slight smile] If it's any consolation, that's a little weird for me to hear as well. Most of the publicity was focused on Shinichi during the war, no one outside of SSR and the Army really knew who the rest of the Howling Commandos were, but then we ended up here and... [she cuts herself off with the wave of one hand] I'm sorry, that's not really what you wanted to talk about, is it?
HH: Well, I think most of us want to know what happened between 1945 and now, but I'd be happy to discuss whatever topic you prefer, Ran-san.
MR: To be frank, I don't really remember all of it – I'm still getting memories back here and there, but most of it's badly scrambled, both in terms of time and place.
TK: Like when you wake up from a long nap and suddenly don't know if it's still the same day, y'know? Except worse.
HH: That must've been very confusing for you, Ran-san.
MR: It was. I had all these notebooks that I wrote things in, I was so afraid of forgetting again. It was really lucky for me that K- I mean, Widow released all those SHIELD files online, otherwise I really would've wondered if I was just going crazy. [turns towards Toyama-san] I don't think I've ever thanked you for that, Kazuha-chan.
TK: That's the first time anyone's ever said that to me! [chuckles] You're definitely welcome, Ran-chan.
MR: Really, I don't know what I would've done without you. All of you. [turns back to me, taking out a piece of paper] It's not entirely complete – my lawyer's instructed me to redact the details until after the trial – but we've been able to piece together the events from then until now. Most of them, at least.
[An annotated version of this document has been reproduced on the following page of this article.]
HH: I'm a reporter, I understand having more questions than answers. I really appreciate you trusting me with this information, Ran-san.
MR: I don't like talking about it, but – [shrugs] Like Shinichi's always saying, there's only one truth, right?
KS: [a little tersely] Yeah.
MR: Shinichi? [reaching for his hand] I thought we'd agreed on this, people are going to find out after the trial and –
KS: – and you want to do it on your own terms, yeah. It's just... [he takes her hand with a sigh] All those years, and I never had a clue.
TK: You were off bein' an ice cube for most of those years, Shinichi-kun, I think you're excused. Don't think even Holmes solved any mysteries while he was dead.
KS: Well, actually –
[All three of them laugh at some apparently shared joke, breaking the tension in the atmosphere.]
MR: You found me in the end, that's what matters. [glances over at me, still smiling] These parts I definitely remember – this tiny scrap of a detective picking fights everywhere, trying to solve every mystery in town. Even though he was sick most of the time. Like having the worst younger brother you've never wanted, I swear.
HH: [laughs] Oh, I can definitely relate to that, I know the type.
MR: Right?
HH: Yeah. To wrap this up, then – is there anything you want to say to the readers?
MR: Just... I'd like to apologise to everyone I've hurt by my actions, both directly or otherwise. I know it won't fix anything, and I understand if you never accept this apology, but – [she bows] I'm very sorry, and I'll do everything in my power to make up for it.
HH: And what would you like to do after this? Anything specific?
MR: Well, there's the trial first, of course. Who knows how long that'll take. After that – I really have no idea, actually. Kazuha-chan's invited me to go crash dojos –
TK: Hey now, I don't crash things, that's Heiji you're thinking of –
MR: – with her anytime, but I've been thinking about travelling a bit with Shinichi and everyone else? See places when they're not halfway being blown up, catch up on the things I've missed.
HH: Wherever the wind takes you, then?
MR: [smiles and nods] Yeah, just like that. I think I've had enough of plans for a while, you know?
← PAGE 2 OF 3 →
