"Boss! I brought you the copies you asked for!" Nisei announced formally.
"Boss! I brought you coffee!"
"Boss! There's a visitor here for you!"
The whole day was like that. Over and over, Nisei jumped up out of nowhere to announce some job that he had completed. He'd bow stiffly and shout. Several times I had to hush him because I was on air.
"Can't you go…" I was sorely tempted to tell him to go find radio cable fluid, but I was sure he would break himself trying to find something nonexistent, "Go organize the break room or something?"
"Yes, boss! Thank you for giving me this chance!" Nisei said, bowing again.
When he was out of earshot I collapsed on Meiko's shoulder. "That boy..."
"Are you bored of having an intern already?" she asked. "This morning you were excited, now that he's not pretending to be Year anymore."
"I'm not bored. I'm the opposite of bored," I grumbled. "Why are you so amused by this?"
"He's nervous. He'll get better," Meiko said serenely, pushing me off her shoulder and disappearing into the booth to get some paperwork.
Just as Nisei came up to me, and bowed sharply. "I finished, boss!"
I escaped by the grace of Okuda-san waving me over to her office. "Sorry, kid. I gotta go to a meeting. Just… you can go home," I said.
He thanked me again and excused himself.
It was blessedly quiet in Okuda-san's office. I sat down on the chair. I hoped she had changed her mind and was going to tell me she was firing the intern after all.
"Meiki-san, I want to thank you for today's show. You handled questions from listeners about yesterday's events very gracefully… And I said I would do something to make things up to you for the Year Event," Okuda-san said, pacing in front of her desk. I watched her from the couch. She hadn't said anything to that effect, but I wasn't about to argue with her. "So. I've decided. I'll let you plan the next event. Whatever you want to do. I'll okay it."
"Anything?" I said, surprised. I was a little disappointed it wasn't getting rid of noisy intern, but I liked the thought of having a special show. Maybe something with meat… We did review new restaurants sometimes.
"Well. You know the radio's guidelines. If you can stay within those, then yes."
I thought about it. "Alright! I'll get back to you by the end of the week," I said.
Okuda-san nodded and dismissed me. I met Meiko at the exit of the radio station.
"So?" Meiko asked. She shifted her purse from one hand to another. She had waited so that she could go home with me.
"She said I can decide what to do for our next event," I said, as I put on my outside shoes. "I'm not sure what to do. Maybe we can check out some restaurants or something…"
Meiko laughed. "I'm not surprised."
"Or we could do a concert!" I said, needling her back, "I like it when you sing."
"I suppose that could be arranged," Meiko said, leading the way out of the radio office.
"Really?" I said, lighting up like a puppy getting a ball pit for Christmas.
"You're such a cute doofus, I can't handle it." She laughed, covering her face. "Yes, you nerd. If you give me enough advanced warning, I don't mind."
"That's so tempting," I said as we got to the parking lot. But there was another thing that I was thinking about doing, and I wasn't sure yet how to put it into words.
We drove back to Momiji Café. Inside, Akito was wiping down tables as Rou sat at the counter with Sharky and Arachne and a pile of origami paper. "Heeey, ladies!" Akito said, pausing his work to shoot finger guns at us.
"Good afternoon, Aki Aki," Meiko said politely. "It sure is slow again today, isn't it?"
"Ouch! Right to the heart!" Akito said, clutching his chest dramatically.
"You just missed the rush," Rou said, looking up from his work.
"What are you making?" I asked, sitting down next to him.
"I'm not sure yet," Rou admitted, "I was hoping to figure out a way to track Summer, or at the very least warn us of when he's near. But… We don't know enough about him."
"He's got summer colors, right?" I asked, toying with the light blue and yellow origami papers.
"He did," Akito said, suddenly serious, pulling up a chair and sitting in it backwards to talk to us. "He absorbed that moth's light too, which was a fall color."
"So… Does that mean he's cannibalizing other ReMares for power?" I asked.
"We can't be certain he's a ReMare yet. He could be a human that they've got confused," Akito said.
"Oh right," I said.
"Regardless, it shouldn't kill spirits any more than putting them in Memokas or origami would," Rou said, "but I don't know how they've modified the Driver. It's not something your drivers can do. I designed those to be like a tripod of power. It was the strongest and sturdiest number to make them with, since they're not backed with the Bright Lady's energy like Year is. I'm worried his power is going to be… difficult to deal with."
"Unpredictable and wild," Meiko said thoughtfully as she sat in a chair properly, giving Akito a look as if insulting him for doing it backwards, "He certainly seems like the type."
"I'm not sure he can even speak. All he did was scream," I said.
The three of them looked at me, surprised. I blinked at them, confused at their alarm. "Then… He could be someone who Mothren attacked!" Akito said.
"Oh!" I said, "I suppose so, but he didn't talk after Mothren was defeated either."
"It's worth checking out," Rou said. "But we kept an eye on the victims during the fight."
"Not all of them. Nisei-kun didn't evacuate right away, and who knows how many people Mothren attacked before coming to the event," Meiko said.
"The kid? I left him passed out in the tent. I doubt it," Akito said, making a face. "It really was a terrible idea to have him pretend to be Year.
"It could just be a ReMare that can't talk. Like how the weird otter turtle thing spoke in rhymes," I said, shrugging. "If it was Nisei-kun, why wouldn't he say anything after Mothren was defeated? And he certainly was loud at work today." I said, sighing. "He's like a dog, barking all the damn time."
"It's sort of cute," Meiko admitted.
"It's so annoying!" I whined. I noticed Rou had started folding origami. "Did you decide something?" I asked.
"I can't figure out his energy signature like this. But, if we fight another ReMare, I want to be ready for him." He held up a paper throwing star. He had made it with two different dual colored origami papers. One was orange and indigo, and the other was yellow and sky blue. Only small slivers of indigo and yellow showed, but they were there. "If one of us throws this at him, we'll be able to track him," Rou explained and handed it to me, "Could you write Summer on it?"
I nodded and carefully wrote the kanji for Summer with the colorless Memoka. "To that effect… I was thinking of an event we could cover at the station," I said slowly.
Meiko glanced at me, but said nothing.
"I was thinking… What if we did something for the old Meiaki Togo Memorial Hospital?" Akito stopped cleaning, and his expression got kind of intense, so I continued quickly, "People… They think it burned down, but it's still there. I want to do something to clean it up and maybe… I don't know. If people want to use it as a hospital again, they should be able to." I shrugged awkwardly, "But I didn't want to do anything like that without talking it over with you, Aki. I'm worried it would definitely attract strong ReMares, so… I don't know. I want to do something, but it seems like it's not in the spirit of the apology I'm being given, since it still would put listeners in danger…" I trailed off and glanced up at Akito. "It was named after your brother, right? So, your parents donated, right? It doesn't seem right that it's been forgotten."
Akito was quiet for a long moment, leaning his chin on his fist. "I'd like that. I miss my little bro." Meiko reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. He glanced up at her. "You might be right, though. I'd worry about it being a dangerous move."
"It doesn't have to be," Rou said, suddenly.
"What?" I asked.
"Akito's mom is a sweetheart. And she'd probably be willing to get my mother involved. They're both pretty powerful ladies. They could organize a small group of volunteers to help. We wouldn't have to noise it around," Rou explained.
"We could do something safer for the show," Meiko said, liking that plan better.
"No, if she wants to do a show… Why not prerecord it? Then, when it goes live, if a ReMare or Summer gets wind of it, they'll show up then," Rou explained, "And we'll be ready for them."
"I always thought they just sort of, showed up because they sensed something was going on," I said, still concerned.
"Maybe… But things you report seem to have a higher chance of ReMares showing up. It's why I listen to it, remember?" Rou said.
"Or one of the reasons anyway," Akito commented with a smirk. Rou shot him a glare.
"The other concern is, are we ready to fight another High General if one happens to show up?" Meiko said.
"I think we can. If we do it right, we could have a plan ready. And we wouldn't have an audience like with Mothren," I said. "Akito?"
"It sounds dangerous." Akito broke into a grin. "Let's do it!"
Preparations went smoothly. Akito's mom was still thrilled that he remembered her again, and wasn't just showing up randomly after having subconsciously transformed into Fall. She was willing to do anything for us. And that included convincing Meiji Katsumi into rounding up some volunteers to help us.
Rou had made himself absent for that meeting. After it was finished, I went to find him. He was out in the alley, covered in grease and kneeling next to his motorcycle.
"You doing okay?" I asked, sitting down next to him and leaning on his shoulder.
"I'm fine," Rou said, focused on his work.
I was quiet on that one, just sitting there with him. Finally he sighed and said, "You don't believe that."
"Not for a second," I said, looking up at him.
"You and your puppy dog eyes," Rou said. He sounded annoyed, but his expression had softened.
"Mmhm. So?" I asked.
"It's just hard. I miss my family," he sighed. "I miss you guys too, even though you're here…"
"We've still got a lot of memories missing. I know. I felt like that with Meiko, too," I said.
"Yeah," Rou said, "And… I can't do anything about it. And every time I think I can… I can't." He clenched his fists over his knees.
I lifted my head so I could look directly at him. "Rou. You've done so much for us. Even if you're not the one throwing punches, we wouldn't have made it this far without you. We'd still be stuck in a loop about that stupid city mascot. Or worse."
"And if it wasn't for you, I'd be dead," Rou sighed, "It's not really a comparison, is it?"
I reached out and smushed his face between my hands. "Don't be so melodramatic. You've saved my life too. It's not a contest. You're my friend and I will protect you. You're an important member of the Mei Brigade, and your battles are ours. So." I let his face go and rested my hands on his shoulders, "We will fight the ReMare that stole your family's memories. We're getting stronger every day. Because of you. And we'll make it safe for Ki and the other spirits again. And we'll do it together, okay?"
Rou nodded, and then stood up. I pretended not to see him rub at his eyes with the back of his wrist. "Come on. I need to wash up," he said, reaching down to help me up.
I clasped his hand and pulled myself up. "Are you going to come to the event?" I asked. "Katsumi will be there."
"I… Yeah. It's important to Akito," Rou said, squeezing my hand. "And to you."
I nodded solemnly. "Thanks. It'll be reassuring to have you there," I said. "Last time I was at the hospital..."
"Asuka?"
I nodded.
"I'll be there."
And he was. The day of the event was sunny. Nothing about the hospital had changed. It still was overgrown, and dusty. But my friends were there, and a crew of thirty volunteers, ran by Akito and Rou's mothers. There was laughter and chatter, and it made the place feel alive.
"Thank you for coming out to help us today, Katsumi-san," I said.
"Well. It's not a problem. I was surprised this place still exists. I thought it burnt down years ago," Katsumi said, looking around. "Hey! You! Bring the water coolers over to the tent!" she shouted at a couple of volunteers. "Although it doesn't surprise me much after I realized I had done that event for Puffy-kun like, ten times." She glanced suspiciously over towards where Akito and Rou were chatting with Akito's mother. "I suppose I owe that boy an apology."
"I'm sure he would appreciate it. It's hard on him, not being acknowledged by his family," I said.
Katsumi gave me a sharp look, "I didn't say I'd go that far. He was right about the monsters. I don't believe he's my son though. Even if I forgot, there's no record of it. There would have to be a record of it."
"I'm… I'm sorry you feel that way, Katsumi-san," I said, cringing inwardly for Rou's sake. "I've got to go get set up for an interview with Doctor Meiaki." I bowed out politely and escaped to the radio van that Meiko was setting up.
"Any luck?" Meiko asked.
"None. At least she might talk to him like he's not totally crazy though," I sighed.
"Do we have any idea who took her memories?" Meiko asked.
"He thinks it was Shika. Which is pretty scary, considering," I said. The image of Year's compound eyes shattered and the creepy deer ripping the Time Driver off of me was horrifying. And it was terrifying to think that if we did manage to defeat Shika, I'd have to remember how it actually felt. I shuddered, and reminded myself what I had told Reina. It would hurt, but it would be better to have those memories.
Or at the very least, I thought it was a suitable price to pay for the huge chunk of memories of my friends that it had stolen. I had forgotten going to school with Akito and Rou. And forgotten that I was Year for years. It was too big of a chunk of my life to have missing.
"It is. But you've grown a lot stronger since then. And so have Aki Aki and I," Meiko said.
"Thanks," I said, feeling bolstered. "Let's get our fall boy over here and get this started." I waved at him and he strolled over after clapping Rou on the shoulder. He sat between Meiko and I. I set him up with a microphone and head set.
"This isn't live, so please be careful not to give away the date or anything like that," I reminded him.
"I know, I know," He said, waving it off dismissively. "Let's begin."
Meiko took that as her cue to turn on the mics. I started our sign in phrase, "Good morning, Oara! This is Kimura Mei."
"And Koda Mei. This is FM 98.4 Mei Brigade!" Meiko announced.
"Today we've got a special program lined up for you! We're here at Meiaki Togo Memorial Hospital," I announced.
"I know some of you might be confused. It was rumored that it burnt down a few years ago, and warehouses were built in its place." Meiko continued.
"But, as many of you are aware, we've been experiencing some difficulties in Oara because of ink monsters called ReMares. It turns out that this hospital specialized in protecting victims of their attacks," I explained, "So of course, ReMares tried to make everyone forget about it."
"Today we have Doctor Meiaki Akito here with us. Good morning, Meiaki-sensei," Meiko said politely.
"Good morning, Meiko and Meiki. I'm happy to be here today," Akito said, his voice professional, but there was a glint of mischief in his eyes. "Just let me say, I'm a huge fan of your radio show." He winked at Meiko, who fixed him with a bland look.
"Is that so? I am terribly grateful for," Meiko started, and I noticed she was slipping from polite to ridiculously formal.
"Thank you!" I interrupted, covering before the two managed to make the contrived politeness into obvious teasing. "Your name is on the hospital, can you tell us a little bit about it?"
"Ah, well, it's my little brother's name. Not mine. Meiaki is pretty common around here, so I'm not related to all of them, but…" I frowned at him. This was a dumb time to object to associating another Meiaki to him. He seemed to realize it, so he stopped himself. "Right. My family made a donation to the hospital when he suddenly lost all of his memories. It was my pride to help people like him recover, or at the very least, remain safe from further attacks. Unfortunately, my brother passed away shortly before the place was abandoned," Akito explained.
"I'm sorry to hear that," Meiko said, genuinely polite this time.
"Me too. Aki- I mean Meiaki-sensei," I started. Akito smirked at the slip up, and Meiko elbowed him in the side, "What would your family like to see happen with this place?" I asked.
"Well, for now, my mother and I would like to see it cleaned up and restored as much as possible, with an aim for eventually hiring new doctors and reopening the place as a sanctuary for people who have been injured by ReMares. And of course for those who have other brain injuries and ailments as well. For a long time, we were the top hospital in Japan, if not the world. In Togo-kun's honor, I'd like to restore that," Akito said, and his voice had a quality to it that I hadn't really heard with him before. I'd gotten used to him being the sarcastic tease who fought beside me. And I knew he had a serious side, but this was something different. There was a lot of passion behind his words and it moved me.
"That's really beautiful," I said, meaning it.
"Well, I have you to thank for helping us organize this event, Meiki. And Year. You've really helped me remember my dream," Akito said seriously.
"Well, you know. I was really inspired by your story," I said, embarrassed.
Meiko looked up sharply at the sound of arguing across the parking lot. "We'll take you to a music break now as we get started clearing up garbage and dust here!" Meiko announced, cutting the mics off. "Rou's getting into a fight with Katsumi," she said, tilting her head over towards him. Akito didn't need much other warning besides that. He was striding confidently towards them before I could get my headset off. Meiko shouted at Akito for throwing his headset to the ground and sighed when he didn't listen. "Go ahead. I'll take care of things here."
I went.
"I won't hear another word!" Katsumi-san shouted, spinning away from Rou. "I don't care what you say! You're not my son!"
Rou balled his fists, "Why the hell would I lie about this?" he shouted after her. A few terrified volunteers quietly retreated to avoid getting pulled into their argument.
Akito flung an arm over Rou's shoulders. "Hi there, Katsumi-san. Did my mom show you were the face masks are?" he asked casually. She froze and turned back around.
"Good morning, Meiaki-sensei," she muttered. "Yes, she did."
"Good. I'd hate for her to have to hear such things on today of all days," Aki said, "I mean, her son died." He wielded his words like a weapon. "You just forgot yours. At least you have a second chance, you know?" He smiled, and I could see the tension slowly dissipating from Rou.
The same did not happen with Katsumi. "I'm sorry you heard that," Katsumi said, coldly, and she bowed formally.
"Oh no worries. As I said, I am glad you have a second chance. Here! I'll help. Did anyone properly introduce you to him? This is Meiji Rou. He's a very close friend of mine. After the hospital was abandoned and I lost my job, he took me in and helped me start a café." Akito said, ruffling Rou's hair.
"I have no idea who he is," Katsumi said, crossing her arms. Rou tensed up again.
"Enough, I don't know why I thought I could deal with her," Rou snapped, and pulled away from Akito. He stomped off to the supply tent.
"Of all the," Katsumi snarled after.
"Excuse me. Please be civil today or I will ask you to leave," I said, my tone cold. "I appreciate your cooperation, but I will not have fighting today."
Katsumi stared at me, and I stared back, looking down at the shorter woman. She broke away first, and stomped off to go tell some volunteers to get to work.
"Good lord, I don't know how she doesn't see that they're related." Akito let out a sigh and shook his head. "What a stubborn mother-son duo."
"Do you think one of us should go after him?" I asked.
"Nah. I just saw Meiko slip into the supply tent. She'll calm him down."
I thought about it and agreed. Meiko and Rou had become pretty good friends over the past month. And she stayed pretty calm, even when others were riled up. "Alright. Let's get to work then." We started sorting bits of rubble into a large dumpster. Weeds were pulled up. Not long after, Rou and Meiko appeared, working quietly beside us.
After the parking lot was mostly tidied up, we took a break to interview Akito's mother. "Hi, Meiaki Honatsu-san. Thank you for sponsoring and organizing this event," I said.
"It's no trouble at all! You know I'm always happy to help you lovely girls. Akkun has been so happy lately, and I know it's because you've befriended him," Akito's mother said, sounding a little dreamy.
"I'm glad you think so," I responded, "You've done a lot of community service work for Oara. Funding the hospital, the president of the local PTA, and more. I really want to thank you for all your hard work and dedication."
"Oh, yes. My husband, Takahito-san, he loves this town so much, and since he's so busy, I'm happy to do both our share of community work. You know we met at a garbage clean up just like this when we were in university? It was lovely," she said happily.
"Meiaki Takahito? Your husband is Congressman Meiaki?" Meiko asked, her eyes wide. I glanced at her, confused. The name sounded familiar, but I didn't pay much attention to politics.
"Oh yes. Sweet man," Honatsu agreed.
The interview ended after a few more pleasantries. We tried not to mention Togo. It seemed she still didn't really remember him. Or rather, it was really hard to tell what she remembered and what she didn't, and we didn't want to upset her, especially on record.
Akito came strolling over with a few cans of tea. He tossed one to me, and then handed the other two to Meiko and his mother. "You didn't tell us your dad was a congressman," Meiko said.
"Didn't I? Oh well. What would you have done? Start being super formal with me?" Akito asked, raising his eyebrows. "Oh, Aki Aki-sama?" he said, mimicking her soft voice.
"I was a political science major in university and I'm in charge of the political news on the station," Meiko said sternly, ignoring his jest.
"Aha. See, I'm not gonna talk to that guy, so I'd rather not be your connection. Sorry. You can ask my mom though, I guess." Akito's voice was light and cheerful, although his words were edged with the sarcastic bite that had surfaced frequently when he had forgotten about Togo and his desire to fight the ReMares.
"I see. I'm sorry I brought it up then," Meiko said quietly.
Akito faltered. I think he had assumed she'd banter back in her quiet deadpan way. He didn't expect a sincere apology. "Don't worry about it. Let's get back to work. I think Jiro disappeared into the building to clean. We should go find him in case he decides to get into an argument with Katsumi-san again."
"I don't see why they don't get along. Rou-kun is such a lovely boy. Helping my dear Akkun so much. Maybe I'll talk to her," Honatsu mused.
"Don't worry about it, mum. We'll take care of it. She just doesn't understand what's going on. Like what happened to me." Akito hugged her and we went into the hospital.
The volunteers were doing their best. All of the broken glass had been swept up, and a few people were running bent over down the halls, pushing dust clothes with their hands. "I better take charge of the medical equipment," Akito said. "Remind anyone you see that medical waste and such needs to be handled by an expert."
Meiko and I decided to help with personal effects. Things with names on them that weren't badly damaged were sorted into neat little boxes and labeled. Things without names were put into unmarked boxes. We weren't sure if anyone would be able to claim them, but they at least deserved to have a chance to be found by their proper owners. Katsumi had promised that they would go to a special lost and found in the city hall.
A couple hours later I found Akito standing in front of his old office, his expression unreadable. Rou was working on a nearby door's electronic lock. "Do you remember, Jiro? When you came here with the Autumn Driver?"
"Yes," Rou said. "It was after... You went right back to work."
"Kind of a cold thing to do, wasn't it?" Akito laughed bitterly.
Rou put down his work, and moved to Akito's side. "No. You didn't want it to happen to anyone again. That's why I brought you Autumn instead of using it myself. You needed to be able to do something."
"I need more than that," Akito said, and it sent chills down my spine.
"I know," Rou said, and his voice also was hard with frustration and helplessness. I backed away slowly, and continued working, feeling a knot of guilt that I had eavesdropped. Guilty that I had hesitated when someone I cared about had forgotten.
By the end of the day, we had made a lot of progress. We still would have to call in some specialists, although Rou had surprised me by making a few handy fixes. He even got the big electronic locked doors open with the help of a small generator.
I applauded him when the first one clicked open.
"I do this kind of stuff all the time," Rou said, standing up and tapping my vest pocket where I kept my Time Driver. "This is easy." Still, he held himself with pride, so I don't think he was actually that annoyed. And there were limits to his skill. We would still need plumbers and construction workers and more before the hospital could be used.
But it was a start. And we had done enough to set our trap.
We aired the show a week later. Meiko and I had taken special leave to lay in wait at the hospital. The tents were still set up, to give the appearance of activity. Rou passed out throwing stars to each of us. He seemed a bit surly about something, but we let him be.
"It'll start airing soon," Meiko said, listening in with one ear bud from her portable radio.
"What do we do if nothing shows up?" Akito asked, stretching lazily.
"It's not like it'll be a waste. We did this for the hospital. Searching for Summer just kind of was a side effect," I said. "We'll find him one way or another though."
"It's on!" Meiko called. We all froze, but nothing happened.
I laughed nervously. "Of course something wouldn't happen right away. Let's see if we can bring some more garbage out," I said, heading towards the hospital.
Blots appeared throughout the parking lot. A lot of them. "Or we can take care of this garbage. Guys?" I asked, already getting the Time Driver out. "Henshin!" Meiko and Akito echoed me. I swiped the Time Driver with the colorless marker, and white light swirled around me. Fall and Winter's sigil passed over Meiko and Akito.
We quickly got to work, punching and kicking down blots. I sliced one down that was advancing on Rou. "Find cover!" I shouted at him.
"Shut up!" he snapped, "Behind you!" I spun and slashed at the sneaking blot with the Prism Blade.
I turned back to see what he was doing and he had disappeared. "Rou?!" I shouted.
I didn't hear an answer. I punched a blot as I looked around desperately for him. There was a dull roar, and he came crashing through some of the blots with Fall's motorcycle. He revved the Harvester's engine and spun the bike, knocking over several blots that sought to take advantage of his lack of armor.
He glared at me from under his helmet, daring me to say something about it. I saluted him, convinced he had a handle on things. He was a better motorcyclist than me, and he knew how they worked. He'd be fine. I jump kicked a blot that was creeping up behind Fall, and ended up back to back with him.
"Is it just blots?" Fall grumbled, "They're such a pain."
"It's not like they're actually strong," I said, slicing through three of them. They were a lot easier than fighting a full-fledged ReMare, let alone another High ReMare.
"Yeah, but there's so many. It's like swatting at gnats," he said.
Winter cleared a wide berth with her massive sword, "Knock on Wood," She said, joining us and thumping Fall on the back of his helmet with her fist.
"Ow, what was that for?" He said, rubbing his helmet.
"Don't go inviting trouble," she said.
A second motorcycle pulled up. "Too late," I said. It skidded to a stop, and the rider stood up, ignoring the blots around him. The blots scattered away from him, but made no move to attack him.
"Who is that?" Fall demanded, "Hey! You! It's not safe here!" Fall shouted, waving a hand as if to shoo him away like an annoying dog.
The rider took his helmet off.
"Nisei?" I said, at the same time Fall said "Togo?"
"Togo! Get out of here!" Fall said, running towards him. Meiko caught him by the arm, and he shook her off. Rou drove in front of him to cut him off. "Get out of my way!" Fall snarled, "That's my brother!" He went around Rou.
"Fall! Think! Your brother died! We went to his funeral!" Rou called after him.
"Go to hell! He's here, and he's in trouble!" Fall shouted, running towards him. He stopped short of the boy, who was merely watching Fall with incurious eyes. "Togo, you're alive! It's me, Akito! I was… I'm so sorry…"
The boy smiled slowly, "Hen. Shin." The sigil for Summer passed over him, and Summer's armor appeared.
Fall took a step back, staggering. "Togo?"
Summer made a feral growl and launched himself at Fall. Fall couldn't even defend himself. Summer crashed into him, throwing him across the parking lot. Winter and I rushed forward to put ourselves between Fall and Summer.
"I won't let you hurt him!" I said, switching out Year for Golden. The claws of light seemed like a better weapon against him. We clashed, grappling on the ground. Winter stepped back to Fall, making sure none of the blots descended upon him.
Fall was starting to get up, staggering in pain. "Don't… Golden! Stop! That's Togo!" he begged, shrugging off Winter again to go running towards us. He pulled me off and shoved me back. He stood between us. "Please! Togo! It's me!" He dropped his transformation and Akito stood there, vulnerable.
"Akito!" I shouted, trying to go after him as he walked calmly towards Summer, but a crowd of Blots had started swarming around me.
Summer snarled and launched himself at Aki. Summer kicked Akito again, and he went sliding back, clutching his side. I caught him before he hit the side of the building again. There was no time. He was coming at us again. I turned so that I was shielding Aki with my body.
"No. You. Don't!" Rou shouted.
Summer stopped short. I glanced back. Rou had thrown Arachne at him. She had landed on the ground near him, and placed a web trap on the ground. A multi-colored throwing star stuck to Summer's shoulder. "Get Akito out of here!" Rou shouted.
I nodded and scooped Akito up and threw him over my shoulder. He struggled weakly, kicking me as I carried him off. Winter followed us, threatening any blots with her massive sword to keep them off of us. "Can you add my bike to Rou's?" I asked. She nodded and pressed the button to make it change into a side car. I dumped Akito into it, and put up a forbidding hand when he tried to struggle out.
His eyes fairly glowed with hatred and anger. I flinched, but he was too injured to keep fighting.
Rou retreated back to us. "Here. Switch," he commanded, taking back his own bike, and giving me Fall's. "We'll regroup for now. I don't think Arachne can hold him for long, and I don't want to be around when the web breaks. Not with..." he glanced at Akito. I nodded and mounted the Harvester, Winter climbing on behind me.
We escaped, just as Summer broke free of Arachne's webs.