Unknown date and time in the darkness – Team 1 in the Frozen Hell Universe
Mikio, Iwao, Mayonaka, and Kishiyami were making good headway through the snow, but not fast enough for one of the members.
"I… I'm sorry guys, but… I'm really burning up." Kishiyami panted.
"All right. Everyone hold up for a second." Mikio stopped and looked around. There was no rule that one world had to be like the others, the weather here certainly proved that, but most of the worlds had a sporting goods store near where they were. "This way. There should be a store there where we can get out of the weather."
"Let me take dat." Iwao said as he pulled the backpack from Kishiyami's shoulders.
Mayonaka pouted that her partner was carrying someone else's backpack, but no-one noticed.
After a few hundred meters down the street, they came to the store, At first they thought it was closed since it was all boarded up, but the door opened when Mikio pulled on it. He started to walk in but came to an abrupt stop. The entrance had been converted to a mantrap with only enough room for two people… or one carrying packages. Mikio guessed it was for keeping the intense cold out. Turning around, he pulled Kishiyami into the room with him and closed the outside door. Then he was able to open the inside door.
"What the hell?" Kishiyami asked.
"They are using a mantrap to keep the cold air out." Mikio replied over the radio so that Iwao and Mayonaka would know. As soon as they were in the shop, Mikio closed the inside door so that the other two could enter.
Both of them started taking off their heavier outer layers. The heavy mittens, hats, and parka's came off first. The inside door opened to admit Iwao and Mayonaka about the time Mikio was taking off his balaclava and goggles. That was when he noticed something odd. It was dark inside the store.
"Iwao, Mayonaka… you two stay alert. It's dark in the store." Mikio told the other two so he could concentrate on helping Kishiyami with her overheating issue.
"It doesn't look dark." Mayonaka disagreed.
"You're wearing the goggles." Kishiyami reminded her friend while working with Mikio to strip her torso out of her layered clothing, "They have infrared, light intensification, and image enhancement features built into them."
"Whoa, no shit?" Mayonaka sounded impressed. Through her goggles she could clearly see Kishiyami's frosty breath when she was talking. "Huh? Why is there frost on your breath inside the store?"
"It's cold in here." Mikio answered as he finally got down to the thermal underwear layer of Kishiyami's clothing. The next step would be to remove Kishiyami's torso piece. Beneath that, there would be nothing left but her bra… "Kishiyami-chan..."
"Just do it. I feel like… I'm melting." Kishiyami panted.
Deciding to take Kishiyami at her word, Mikio pulled the garment over her head and removed it as quickly as he could. Mikio knew something was wrong as soon as the thick fabric was puddled around his hands. He could feel the heat radiating off the thing, even through his gloves. Just then, the lights in the store came on. He was only aware of it when his goggles flickered to adjust for the increased ambient light.
"Who's there?" a voice called out from the back of the store.
"Four customers in the front." Mayonaka replied with a complaining tone, "Why were your lights off? I coulda got hurt in here!"
"Oh… uh… sorry about that but no-one called to say they were coming over. I wasn't expecting anyone." the old man said as he rounded the aisle of merchandise and stopped in his tracks. He was carrying a field hockey stick in one hand but didn't notice when Iwao took it away from him. He was much too focused on the young woman, standing in the front of his store, wearing nothing on her top half but a bra.
Kishiyami was a bit upset at first, but then thought it was hilarious how they had just used her boobs to disarm the man. Instead of complaining about the old man staring at her too much, she hefted her large breasts in her small hands and asked, "Hey old man, why isn't it warm in here? Looky, it's so cold I've got goose-bumps!"
"Yeah… s… sorry about that." the man finally snapped out of his fascination and only then noticed that Iwao had his impromptu weapon. He didn't seem too upset about it though. Apologizing, he explained, "I can't afford to run the heater and I used up my ration of kerosene already."
"Zat so?" Iwao asked as he handed the hockey stick back to the old man.
"What do you youngsters need from me?" the old man was now eyeing their gear and could tell that the quality of what they already had was beyond anything he carried. In fact, it was beyond anything he could special order. And that made him worried. It would be strange, but not impossible if they were there to rob him.
"Take it easy pops. The only reason we came in here was to fix Kishiyami-chan's thermals. It looks like the thermostat might be defective. Can you look at it?" Mikio said calmly.
"I could look at it, but I dunno if I can help. We don't carry any high-tech stuff like that around here. You kids must be up from Tokyo?" the old man asked as he took the garment that was handed to him. He was immediately surprised by the level of heat that it was putting out.
"Um, something like that." Mikio pretended to be attentive to what the old man was doing with the garment, but he caught a glimpse of Iwao looking at a newspaper on the counter by the register. Good job Iwao! "Um, I know this is going to sound like an odd question… but is that today's newspaper?"
"Huh?" the old man glanced around and saw what Iwao was holding up, "Oh no. That rag is at least a month old. I haven't seen a newer one since Kyou worked here."
"Kyou… Fujibayashi Kyou?" Mikio asked.
"Yeah, you a friend?" the old man seemed hopeful the way he asked.
"You could say that Kyou is someone we're trying to connect with." Mikio decided to try his luck for their main objective as well, "We're also looking for Ichinose Kotomi. You wouldn't happen to know anything about her, would you?"
"Ichinose… Ichinose…" the old man tapped his head, "She wouldn't happen to be related to those scientists that lived up the hill?"
"Yeah, she's their daughter." Mikio answered.
"Then she's probably moved to Okinawa with her parents. They left just after the ice age announcement… about five years ago. We used to think they were some of the lucky ones, but even Okinawa ain't no better than this now."
"The snow is even down to Okinawa?" Kishiyami asked in shock. She had never been there herself, but she always fantasized about going there some day. And in her fantasies it was always a sunny tropical island paradise.
"Well, yeah… most of the year now." the old man answered with growing concern and suspicion. These four people were acting surprised at things that should be common knowledge to anyone in Japan.
"Old man," Mikio asked, "What is your ration of kerosene?"
"I get ten liters since I'm takin care of my sick wife." the man answered defensively. Then, remembering his suspicion about these people he quickly added, "But I ain't got any right now."
"What is your wife sick with?" Mayonaka asked. She could tell that he was starting to act panicky too and wanted to try and calm him down.
"The usual… pneumonia." the man said coarsely.
"Bacterial or viral?" Mayonaka asked.
"Dunno." the man sounded angry as he answered, but the anger didn't seem to be directed to them, "The doctor didn't come to town last month… and it looks like one ain't comin this month either."
"Old man," Mikio could see the white knuckled fists and anger at the helplessness of the old man's situation. He decided to take a chance on that as a bargaining point, "I know we've been nothing but trouble since we got here, but… if you are willing to take a chance on us, I think we can help you."
"Oh? Are one of you a doctor?" the man huffed.
"No. But we can get one here within six hours." Mikio saw the man's doubt, but also his hope. Before he had a chance to vent those doubts, Mikio doubled down on the lure, "If she needs antibiotics, we can get her those. And, if you can arrange transportation, we can get you ten… no, twenty liters of kerosene."
The man's eyes were opened wide. Sure there was disbelief, but there was also hope. A feeling he had not had for some time was bursting from his disillusioned heart. "You kids… you can really do that? What… what do you want for it?"
"Just information." Mikio replied.
"An a little money." Iwao added, "Not much. Jus enough ta buy a current newspaper an mebbe a book."
"Sure… sure, that won't be a problem!" the old man immediately ran over to the cash register to open it.
While Mayonaka thanked the man for helping them, Iwao brought the newspaper over to show Mikio.
Mikio noticed the date first. September 23, 2003 was the date on the front page. The old man said that issue was at least a month old, so that puts us in October or early November of 2003. That would mean… Mikio's musings screeched to a stop when he read the headline of the front page.
Bodies of the Hikarizaka Students Killed in Last Spring's Avalanche Recovered.
.
Team 2 in the Frozen Hell Universe
Kenta and Kimera got to the Furukawa bakery first. Of course, with Kimera clinging desperately to the back of Kenta's parka, she was bound to arrive at the same time as him – wherever they were going.
"It doesn't look good." Kenta called out to the two that were bringing up the rear. "The bakery sign isn't here and it looks like the place is boarded up."
"That don soun right." Takeshi replied. He was about to say more, but was cut off by his girlfriend.
"Language!" Kohaku growled.
"Ah dint say nothin bad?" Takeshi balked.
"Grammar then. It's not what you said but how you said it." Kohaku pointed out.
"Ah don think ah said nuthin wrong." Takeshi grumped.
"We could always bring it up with Kyou-sama, Yukine-sama, The Boss..." Kohaku started rattling off the names of the people who had been urging all of them to have better manners.
"Okay, okay!" Takeshi sighed but did say it better for his annoying girlfriend, "That doesn't sound right. Isn't the Furukawa Bakery one of the places that should always be in a world that is touched by an Ushio?"
"Yeah…" Kenta wasn't familiar enough with all of Kotomi's complex theories to be able to debate Takeshi's question. He only knew what it looked like. However, the boarded up door moved when he pushed on it. "Huh? The door moved… maybe they're open after all."
The boarded-up door did open up, but he found the same thing that Mikio was discovering at the sporting-goods store – there was only a short distance before there was another door that didn't open.
"Huh?" Kenta thought he could see light from around the edges of the door, so he knocked to see if anyone would let them in.
"What's wrong?" Takeshi asked from outside the building.
"There's another door and it's stuck or something." Kenta told him.
"Maybe it's like those doors in the jails. You know… where you have to close the one behind you before the one in front will open." Takeshi suggested.
"Baka, why would a bakery need…" but Kenta stopped in mid derision. "Huh… you could be right. Maybe they do this to keep the cold air outside, ya think?"
"Could be. I'll close the door out here." Takeshi closed the door that was behind Kimera, forcing the two of them to be packed into the small space pretty tightly before the inside door finally opened.
"Looks like you're right." Kenta said as he and Kimera entered the storefront part of the house and closed the door behind them. He could hear the others saying they would cycle through the doors next, but he was taking in the difference between the bakery he was familiar with and what he was seeing now. The cash register and counter were in the same place, but the few shelves and display cases in the store were completely bare. Instead, there were signs along the walls explaining the legal repercussions against violating the 'ration program' and ugly locked cabinets along the walls and in front of the windows.
"What do you people want? The new ration supplies aren't available until the end of the week." Akio's bitter voice called out from the doorway that went up into the residential part of the house.
"Akio-san… are you okay?" Kenta had been about to try one of his gambits but was taken aback by the old man's appearance. He looked haggard and worn. His face was too pale and gaunt. He had his trusty baseball bat in his hands but held it like it might fall out of his fingers at any moment.
"Huh, do I know you?" Akio gazed at Kenta and looked like he was trying desperately to remember something.
"Aw come on!" Kenta pulled the balaclava off completely and gave the old man his best you remember me dontcha smile. He was about to launch into some confusing references when the situation suddenly changed.
Akio's eyes rolled up and he collapsed where he stood in the doorway.
"Akio-san!" Kenta ran for the door and checked the old man over. He was still breathing and he didn't appear to have broken any bones, but he didn't look well at all. Turning back to Kimera, he told her to let the others know that he was taking Akio back into the house. Then he picked up the old man and carried him.
The inside of the Furukawa home was messy and cold. Bachelor pad messy. And there was a shrine prominently displaying two pictures… Kenta knew the Furukawa family well enough to guess what had happened here.
"What's going on?" Takeshi asked when he barged into the room. Kohaku and Kimera followed in his wake.
"Akio-san looks sick. There is a shrine over there. I didn't get a good look, but… it might explain why this place is so f… messy." Kenta explained while he opened his pack to pull out the small medical kit.
"Here." Kimera stuffed her balaclava and hat into Kenta's hands while taking the medical kit away from him, "You look at my broken radio. I'll do the first-aid thing with Furukawa-san."
"Ah!" Kohaku gasped from across the room. She and Takeshi were looking at the two pictures on display and easily recognized Nagisa and Sanae. "What… what could have happened?"
"Let's see if we can find some kerosene for these heaters." Takeshi said as he gently pulled Kohaku away from the shrine. The inside of the house was bitterly cold, but not nearly as bad as it had been outside. Neither of them could imagine poor Akio living in such cold and squalor.
"Wait," Kohaku now looked around the room more carefully, "I'm going to start cleaning up. You can look for the fuel, but don't light up any of the heaters until I tell you."
Takeshi was about to ask why when he noticed what it was she was looking at. The mess wasn't just a disarray. Spoiled food was out on tables and counters. The only thing keeping the rotten smell from filling the room was the intense cold. "Yeah… you got it."
An hour later, and the room looked much better. Takeshi never found a store of fuel for the heaters, so he had helped Kohaku with the cleaning. Kenta hadn't been able to fix Kimera-chan's radio, but that wasn't really his forte anyway. Giving up on repairing it himself, he pulled out the communicator device and was setting it up to make a transmission. Kimera joined him at the table and her news wasn't happy either. She suspected Akio's problems were from malnutrition and dehydration… but she lacked the medical skill to know more than that.
In terms of the mission goals, they could have simply packed up and left to find a convenience store or some other place that would give them the current date, and the precise time. But this was Akio… The Boys had know him for quite a while. But even the girls had come to know him during their training. Since the bakery was often a first stop after arriving in the park on a new world, Tomoyo had asked Akio to train her new recruits on the different jobs that they might have in a bakery.
So now, a few meters away from where Akio rested on a couch, the four of them were deciding his fate. They were gathered around the small table and the communication device was powered on and ready to take their recording.
"I want to call for help." Kohaku said quietly. Her head was bowed. She knew that asking for this, made her look weak to the two experienced guys on the team.
"I don't think we have a choice." Kimera added. She glanced back at the couch and told them, "If we don't do something, he's going to die. I don't think his body has the energy left to fight this cold."
"I hear what're sayin, but… they might say no. If it's too hard to help him, they might just tell us to leave." Takeshi told both of the girls.
"Takeshi!" Kohaku shouted at her boyfriend while the other girl glared at him.
"I dint say it was what I wanted!" Takeshi said defensively, "I just wanted ya to know what might happen."
"What do you think, Kenta-kun?" Kimera asked.
"I dunno." Kenta didn't look over at the couch but the others could see his concern. "He's lost so much… and this world is shit. If he had the chance to just drift off now and leave all this pain behind..."
The others felt like they should argue with what Kenta was proposing, but they could see his point too.
"But hey… I ain't playin God today." He reached forward and hit the recording stud on the communicator before the others realized that he had come to a decision, "This is Kenta. We have a situation at the Furukawa Bakery and I am requesting assistance."
.
Wednesday morning, July 20 – The Park across from the Furukawa Bakery
Tomoyo, Isamu, Ryou, Takeo, Melissa, and Kobayashi Jun sat at the table where they had just listened to two messages. Others, that had listened to the recordings, stood behind those six. Both of the teams had made assistance requests. No-one was surprised at how dire the situation was on that frozen world, but hearing about the other world's Akio made it a lot more personal for some of them.
"I wonder how many people were killed in that avalanche." Melissa's voice was barely above a whisper.
"We won't know how many or… who, until we get more information." Kobayashi cleared his throat and continued, "I guess the question now is… do we send help to Mikio's team, which is poised to give us more information, or do we send help to Kenta's team?"
"And save Akio's life." Ryou said while a chill passed through her.
"He's not the Akio you know here." Dr. Sasashi tried to comfort Ryou from where she stood behind the young medical student. But her intended kindness chafed at a few of the others.
"Even if he's not our Akio, he is an Akio. And every Akio we've seen so far has been a kind and good person." Tomoyo rebuked the doctor's sentiment.
"Why can't we help dem both?" Takeo asked. "They'll both havta come back to da park to pick up da stuff they've asked for, right?"
"They've both asked for large quantities of kerosene. Twenty liters of kerosene and the container for it will weigh almost twenty kilograms." Melissa replied, "Unless the gentleman at the sporting-goods store has a vehicle to help haul it, they'll need both teams to move it safely."
"How is Ryota doing with getting more arctic sets?" Kobayashi Jun asked.
"He's had some success. It doesn't look like we'll be able to source the powered thermal underwear locally… so it won't be here in time." Tomoyo answered.
"And in those temperatures… without that stuff, we wouldn't last very long." Isamu said apologetically.
At that moment, one of the recovery team members entered the tent and searched the room as if he were looking for someone. Surprisingly, having found who he was looking for, he made his way over to Kobayashi Jun instead of Ryou.
Jun took a note from him and read it. A smile spread across his face as he read the message from the Secretary New Komeito. Glancing up at the expectant and curious faces, he was happy to tell them, "Let's send help to both teams. We now have the means to do so."
.
Wednesday morning, July 20 – The Kobayashi villa on Tanegashima Island
Tomoya awoke to see Kyou coming out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her hair and another around her waist. Watching her sizable breasts wobble and bounce as she walked was fascinating, but he knew they would never make it out of the bedroom if he watched for much longer. Glancing at the clock, he saw that it was just after five in the morning. He knew she was the kind of person to wake at a responsible time, but on vacation… "Kyou, you're up early."
"I want to watch the sunrise this morning." Kyou said as she turned to hide her breasts. She had thought he was still asleep or she would have taken the precaution to… Waitaminit… why do I need to hide from Tomoya? He's my husband now, dammit! Jeez, even when he was Kotomi's husband, he saw me naked lots of times. So… why do I feel embarrassed now?
Hands reached around her and grasped her breasts. She could feel Tomoya's body behind her and his lips on her neck. All of her embarrassment fell away when she felt his touch and the heat of his body on her skin. She moaned and put her hands on his.
"Mmmm, I'd like to keep going but we'll miss the sunrise if I do." Tomoya whispered into her ear.
"Ohhh," Kyou whimpered. She wanted more, but he was right. Pulling away from him, she pouted, "Why do you get me all fired up if you're not going to follow up?"
"It's your fault." Tomoya replied while pulling on some shorts.
"My fault!" Kyou rounded on him.
"Yeah, for being so beautiful and amazing… how am I supposed to defend against that?" Tomoya said matter-of-factly.
"I… oh." Kyou blushed. Turning away from Tomoya so he couldn't see the smile he had given her, she grabbed a light sundress. Deciding not to wear a bra just yet, she pulled the sundress on over her head and headed for her sandals.
"Hey, after the sunrise, you wanna go for a ride across the island? Tomoya suggested.
"Yes!" Kyou's eyes lit up with joy at the idea of riding the big Kawasaki cruisers in the morning air before the heat of the summer made it too hot. She wondered how long they might ride today. She didn't really have anything particular she wanted to do, but it seemed that Tomoya had already made plans.
"Pack for an overnight. There is a place I want to check out with you." Tomoya told her while he opened the door to the veranda.
"Oh? Is it someplace that you and Kotomi went?" Kyou wondered. As soon as she asked the question, she realized that it could be seen as petty jealousy, but she hadn't intended it that way.
"No. I wanted to, but Kotomi was afraid of riding the motorcycles and got sick on the ferries." Tomoya replied.
"Ferries? Are we leaving the island?" Kyou was interested.
"Yeah. It's not far, but there is another island just west of here that Kobayashi told me about. The middle is a national park with mountains and forests, and there is a highway that runs along the coast all the way around the island." Tomoya told her.
"Mountains?" Kyou sounded skeptical.
"That's what he said." Tomoya shrugged his shoulders then added, "On the coast, they have a couple of onsen hotels, but if you're not interested..."
"I never said I wasn't interested!" Kyou wanted to throw something at him for teasing her like that. He knew that she liked riding the motorcycles through winding roads about as much as she liked onsens. To wrap both of those into a one or two day trip was a gift that she would treasure.
"All right then, let's go watch that sunrise." Tomoya beckoned for her to join him on the veranda. The sky was starting to get pretty bright and he didn't want her to miss what she had taken the trouble to wake up early for.
They wouldn't have to go any farther than the railing on the veranda. The Kobayashi villa was at the top of a cliff on the east coast of the island. It was blessed with an amazing view of a private beach down below, and the soothing blue of the pacific ocean in the distance.
Kyou leaned against the railing next to Tomoya and watched the place on the horizon where the sky was the brightest. A light breeze blew in from the ocean and wafted her gauzy sundress and her long lavender hair. She felt Tomoya's arm on hers and looked down to see him offering her a pair of sunglasses. "Thanks."
"Gotta protect those eyes." Tomoya said with a smile, "they're your fifth best feature."
"Fifth?" Kyou took the bait. She could see why he might say second since a lot of people were fascinated with her hair, but fifth… "What are ahead of my eyes?"
"In order?" Tomoya seemed to be judging something in his mind, then held up a finger and said, "First would be your ass. I really love the way I can…"
"Stop!" Kyou's face was red from both embarrassment and anger. Some of the anger was toward herself though. She realized that she should have guessed he would go… there? "My ass?"
"Yeah… why?" Tomoya asked. He hadn't expected that question from her.
"Not my tits?" Kyou hefted them up to remind him that they were there, but there was no need.
"Well, your tits are great, but..." Tomoya stopped when he noticed the surprise in Kyou's expression. "What?"
"All this time and I never knew… that you're an ass man." Kyou looked at her husband as if he might not be the real Tomoya.
"I wouldn't go that far." Tomoya countered, but her statement made him think. After consideration he told her, "With Kotomi, I would have to put her tits ahead of her ass… so I guess I couldn't really be called an ass man."
"So, you're saying Kotomi's tits are better than mine?" Kyou pouted.
"This is one of those unwinnable arguments, so I'm not going to play." Tomoya said while keeping his eyes focused on the horizon where the sun was now halfway above the darker blue line of the distant ocean. "I will say this though – your reaction was typical female. It was so typical, I would call it a stereotype."
"What do you mean?" Kyou's pout had changed to anger when Tomoya refused to answer her question, and was now blended with strong curiosity – with denial waiting waiting to pounce on whatever he said.
"Why did you have to take what I said as some kind of criticism of your body? Why couldn't it simply have been another reference that stands alone? You are you and Kotomi is Kotomi." Tomoya challenged, "Or, better yet, why didn't you come to the complimentary conclusion that I was saying that you had the better ass?"
"You…" Kyou couldn't think of any way to argue against what he had just said… but she didn't have to like it. And, now that he had pointed it out, a part of her mind was doing a victory dance that she had a better butt than Kotomi. However, she was a competitive person and she knew that the exchange had been an overall loss for her, and a bitter one since he had used her own nature to defeat her. Returning to the pout, she kept her gaze on the horizon while she muttered, "You're a meanie."
"Kotomi sometimes called me a bully, and you're calling me a meanie." Tomoya sighed while running his hands down Kyou's back and firmly grasping the previous point of discussion. "Will I ever find someone that will accept me for who I am?"
"Don't you dare!" Kyou spun around and faced her husband. His arms were around her now, but she was still able to raise a hand and waggle a lecturing finger in his face as she told him firmly, "Just because you're a bully and a meanie doesn't mean that we didn't accept you. So, don't you dare go looking for someone else!"
"Am I really so bad?" Tomoya asked softly as he grasped Kyou's firm butt and pulled her body up against his. He could feel the pressure of her sizable breasts against his chest and the heat of her body. More importantly though, he could feel her arms encircling him as she accepted the hug.
"Yes," Kyou kissed him softly before she finished her answer, "you are completely and totally incorrigible. You are a scoundrel of the worst sort. A bane to all the refined women of the world."
"That bad?" Tomoya kissed her back then asked, "So, do you want me to change?"
"No," Kyou kissed him again, "if you weren't such an impertinent delinquent, someone might try to take you away from me." She kissed him once more, then spun out of his arms and headed back into the villa. "I'm ready to go find that island you were talking about."
A few minutes later, Tomoya was dressed in his riding gear and heading outside to prep the bikes for the ride. He opened the door and came face to face with the girl he had found in the kitchen of this place the year before, "Oh, the spatula girl."
"The gangster!" the short girl retorted. She was still the short, well tanned girl with black hair that she had been the previous year. She anticipated seeing Tomoya and his wife this time since she recognized the big Kawasaki motorcycle parked under the carport. Although there were two this time, they were just like the one she had seen the previous year. Her gaze moved to the other woman and she looked vaguely familiar, but not quite the same as the lady she had seen a year before. "Um, who is that?"
"I'm Okazaki Kyou, Tomoya's wife." Kyou replied to the cute little girl.
"You… look different." the girl sounded doubtful.
"She is different." Tomoya told the girl, "It's part of a new program to encourage families. I get a new wife every year."
"What? That's terrible!" the girl gasped.
"Don't blame me. It's a government program." Tomoya shrugged, "I don't even get to choose who the wife is."
"I didn't get a choice either." Kyou joined in on Tomoya's little game, "One day the phone rings and… just like that."
"No way! I can't believe you. That's an awful idea!" the girl looked back and forth between the two of them but they seemed serious.
"Don't worry, they won't put you on the list until you're eighteen." Tomoya assured her.
"When do you graduate high school?" Kyou asked innocently.
"Ah!" the poor girl looked terrified. Turning, she screamed as she started running back up the street, "Okasaaaaaaaaaaan!"
"Hpft!" Unable to hold it in any longer, Kyou started laughing. Between gasps, she told Tomoya, "That was terrible."
"I know… and you played along with it. That surprised me." Tomoya said in a praising way.
"I can be mischievous too, you know." Kyou said defiantly.
"Yes, yes you can." Tomoya laughed. It was a good sign that Kyou was truly relaxing, that she was able to be impish like that.
"Oh, I forgot my overnight bag." Tomoya turned back into the room to collect the bag and make a last sweep to make sure they didn't forget something they would need. While scanning the room, he spotted their cell phones. They were still in the side pocket of one of the travel bags and had probably lost all of their charge.
Kyou noticed where he was looking and asked, "Do you want to call them… just in case?"
"In case of what?" Tomoya asked. He did have an urge to call Kobayashi or Tomoyo to find out how things were going, but that wasn't why he was here.
"In case they need you for something. Or, you know… just to see how things are going." Kyou said while putting on her protective riding vest.
"Nah," Tomoya picked up his overnight bag and headed for the door, "Kobayashi said they were just going to check up on the status of the Ichinose family, get the time and date, then bail out. This should be a quick in and out mission for them."
"Huh. If that's the case, they're probably already done." Kyou said. She wondered if The Boys would be disappointed with a quick and boring mission.
"Right. For something like this, they shouldn't need you or me." Tomoya opened the door and headed out to the bikes with Kyou. He did miss the exhilaration of watching over the missions, but he doubted there would be all that much excitement this time.
.
Wednesday morning, July 20 – The Park across from the Furukawa Bakery
At the same time that Tomoya and Kyou were mounting up on their motorcycles, there was something being unloaded from a flatbed truck at the edge of the baseball park. After Kobayashi Jun made his call to the Secretary New Komeito, an entire staff of people were called into action. Phone calls were made to airports, ski resorts, and emergency services across northern Japan. Asking for the use of a snowcat in the off season wasn't all that difficult. Getting it from the Japanese Alps to Hikarizaka City quickly, had been the hard part. But it was here now, and just in time.
Ryota was already in the cab of the sleek red machine with a representative from the ski resort that had loaned them the use of their small, five passenger, tracked vehicle. He was going over the operation of the vehicle even as they unloaded it from the bed of the truck into the outfield. He liked the way the machine looked and the bright red color made it look important and fierce. There were stylized letters on the side of the cab, but his ability to read English wasn't the best. "What does it say?"
"Pisten Bully Scout." the ski resort person told him.
"Let's call it Scout." Ryota smiled, "Bully is not a good word around here.
While the two of them were busy in the cab of the vehicle, the scientists and technicians were taking measurements and entering their calculations into tablets running their simulator program. They looked hopeful, but seemed concerned.
"Will we be able to transport it?" Kobayashi asked the lead engineers as they watched the thing start up and drive into the baseball field.
"It should… we're just concerned about the size of the thing." an engineer replied.
"Size? Not mass?" Kobayashi asked.
"No, not mass. The readings never change based on the mass of what we transfer. Whether it's just the sensor ball or all the guys and their gear, there is no change." the engineer explained, "But we've never pushed the limits on just how far the field could be extended."
"I understand." Kobayashi replied, "Do your best. This is the smallest snowcat that could be found."
"You're not thinking of having your fancy toys doing experiments with my boys, are you hakase?" Tomoyo asked warily. She had overheard the conversation with the engineers and had some concerns of her own.
"Not at all." Kobayashi said as the two of them walked along with the snowcat toward center field. "I want to do this in two moves. First, we'll send the crew across and give them time to get out of the transfer area. Then we'll send the snowcat across without anyone in it."
"...I like it." Tomoyo said after she tried to think of anything that could go wrong. Reaching up to touch the side of the baseball cap she was wearing, she called out, "Ryota, don't take it to center field just yet. We're going to send you across first, then the machine. You got that?"
"Yes boss." Ryota replied.
"What?" the snowcat operator said from the seat next to Ryota. He hadn't noticed the communications suite that was built into the cap that Ryota was wearing.
"Nothing." Ryota changed the subject, "I need to park the Scout in a safe place, then they are going to want you to drive it from there to the middle of center field. Can you do that for us?"
"Sure, but why?" the man was baffled from the moment he got awakened early in the morning, and the confusion wasn't getting any better. "Why would anyone need a snowcat at this time of year? And in a baseball field? None of this makes any sense!"
"Do you like magic tricks?" Ryota asked with a smile.
"Uh, sure. Who doesn't." the man replied.
"Today, you're going to see this big machine vanish from center field, right in front of your eyes." Ryota told him.
"Whoa… I'd like to see that." the man sounded dubious, but he did enjoy a good magic trick and this promised to be more than a bird coming out of a hat.
.
Tomoyo entered the preparation pergola to find an argument that sounded like it was getting heated. Isamu had called her and told her that they were having an issue with Ryou.
"What's going on?" Tomoyo asked calmly. The room had gotten quieter after they noticed that she was there.
"This is a medical response mission." Ryou replied, "You can't possibly be thinking about sending help without one of us." Dr. Sasashi nodded her head in agreement from where she stood behind Ryou.
"Ordinarily, I would agree with you, Fujibayashi. But because of the extreme cold…" Tomoyo started to deny the Recovery team's request, but the older doctor stepped into the fray.
"It is exactly for that reason that we need to go." Dr. Sasashi challenged, "Just like with machines, the human body responds differently in extreme cold. Someone who only has triage or first-aid skills will be confused and may make the wrong diagnosis."
"I see." Tomoyo hadn't considered that issue, but what the doctor said did make sense to her. Also, her heart was telling her that since one or two medical types needed to go, she could make an excuse to keep her Isamu from going to such a dangerous place. But Ryou would be going… and that changed everything.
"I know what you're thinking." Isamu said as he put his hand on Tomoyo's shoulder and gave her a gentle squeeze. "I promise to look out for Ryou's safety."
"Hey, I'm here too." Dr. Sasashi reminded them.
"Yeah?" Takeo raised an eyebrow as if the doctor had just said something nonsensical.
"Ouch." Dr. Sasashi winced.
.
October or November of 2003 – The Park across from the Furukawa Bakery
in the Frozen Hell Universe
Thirty minutes later, Ryota, Isamu, Ryou and Dr. Sasashi were all standing in waist deep snow a safe distance from where they had arrived in center field. All of them were cold and shivering as they stood against the gusting wind that tried to topple them over.
"I hope this works." Dr. Sasashi said through a chattering jaw. She had known that they wouldn't be traveling with the powered thermal underwear that the explorers normally wore to cold places like this, but she hadn't expected that missing them would make so much of a difference.
"Ten seconds." the voice in their ears told them. Never had only ten seconds seem to take so long before. Finally, the count got to zero and…
"There it is!" Ryou exclaimed while Ryota took off through the snow to get to it. Isamu would be pulling his gear along so that Ryota could get the vehicle powered up as quickly as possible.
Climbing in through the driver's door, Ryota noticed that it was still quite warm inside. Of course, the snowcat had been sitting under the hot August sun for quite some time, before it was suddenly dropped into this blizzard. Ryota smiled at their luck. The fact that Scout kept it's heat meant that it should be easy to start and wouldn't have to work too hard to make the cabin's area warm. His hopes were realized when he hit the starter and it sprang to life. Just as the instructor had showed him, Ryota checked all the gauges and screens.
He was paying attention to the startup sequence while he peripherally heard the back doors opening and closing for Ryou and the doctor to climb in.
"How is it?" Isamu asked as he climbed into the front passenger seat, next to Ryota.
"It's good. No problems… it started right up." Ryota checked his seat belt a second time before putting the thing into gear.
Isamu let the people back home know that all was well through the sensor ball just before the snowcat lurched into motion. He was about to tell Ryota to be careful, but he also knew it was his first time to drive this machine in snow. All things considered, he's doing all right.
.
The red tracked vehicle was extremely capable in snow, if not fast. Used to the speed of cars and trains, it seemed like they were crawling to Dr. Sasashi. "Is this as fast as this thing can go?"
"Would you rather walk?" Isamu reacted. Then he sighed and tried to answer more civilly, "It can actually go a little faster, but with the blowing snow obscuring our vision, it's best not to take any chances. After all, if this thing crashes, we'll have to walk back to the pickup point in the park."
"Oh… right." Dr. Sasashi realized Isamu had a good point. In these conditions, they wouldn't last very long without the powered thermals. And, giving credit where it was due… even if their conveyance wasn't moving at impressive speeds, it was certainly keeping them quite comfortable.
"Kenta, can you hear me?" Isamu called out through his hat radio.
"Yes boss," Kenta replied, "you guys gonna be here any time today?"
"Yeah… we're movin pretty slow. Driving in this snow storm is a b… bad. We can hardly see five meters ahead of us." Isamu adjusted his words for the benefit of the two passengers in the seats behind him.
"You should try walkin in it." Kenta laughed. "That's not so easy either."
"I guess not." Isamu honestly thought he could have walked from center field to the bakery faster than the tracked snowcat. Then again, the snowcat was having to take the long route around the park, and it was also carrying all the cans of kerosene and other supplies. Plus, there was the little fact that he probably would have frozen to death before making it there. "We're going to be there in about two minutes. Meet us outside if you can. We have a lot of stuff to unload."
.
It would take a full hour to unload all the things that had been sent for the bakery destination. There was fuel for the kerosene heaters, food to bring the emaciated Akio back to health, and medicines that they suspected he might need. While they were there, Ryota replaced Kimera's communication suite. They had all moved as quickly as they could, but it would still be another three hours before Ryota was able to get Scout up to the sporting goods store.
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Wednesday morning, July 20 – The Ferry to Yakushima Island
Tomoya and Kyou kept their riding pants on, but they left the jackets with the motorcycles down on the vehicle deck. At the moment, the ferry was half way to their destination and they could already see the near shore of the island, as well as the mountainous region in the distance.
"I guess it really does have mountains." Kyou was surprised. She had thought that most of the islands in this region were remnants of ancient volcanoes. As such, they would fit a profile of a conical rise, surrounded by a mostly flat terrain. However, neither Tanegashima nor Yakushima seemed to fit that profile. Note to self – just because you're a teacher, it doesn't mean you know everything.
"Yeah… they look a lot bigger than I thought they would." Tomoya said.
"That's probably just an optical illusion. They seem taller because we're seeing them from sea level." Kyou looked down at the water that was racing by… fifteen meters below. "Well, almost sea level."
"You think it's any cooler up there?" Tomoya asked as he wiped the sweat from his forehead with a hand towel.
"Maybe," Kyou said hopefully. She was hot too, but she remembered that they wouldn't be heading into the mountainous interior of the island until the following day… if they stayed on their schedule. "We'll feel cooler when we get on the bikes."
"Yeah." Tomoya looked at Kyou as she leaned against the railing. The protective leather pants she was wearing fit her like a glove and that part of her that he liked so much looked like a work of art. Without the protective jacket on, her bare arms were soaking up some sun while her torso was covered in a black spandex tank top that was designed to wick the moisture away, but also served to make her look incredibly sexy. Tomoya desperately wanted to pull her into his arms just then, but it was so damned hot… and there were people watching. "Tch!"
"What?" Kyou turned to see a look of disappointment on Tomoya's face.
"Nothing." Tomoya said with a half smile.
"Tell me." Kyou demanded. She was mostly worried that he might be masking some pain from his arm. It had been a constant worry of hers, that he was not protecting it enough on this trip.
"If you must know," Tomoya moved a little closer to her so he wouldn't have to say it too loud, "Wearing half of your motorcycle gear and leaning over the railing like that… you look really sexy. So, I was just wishing I could run my hands all over you and kiss you until we get to port."
"Ah!" Kyou gasped and trembled a little as if her knees were about to give out, "Tomoya…" She wanted to chastise him for saying something like that… for suddenly making her feel… like that. And worst of all, not being able to do anything about it. It was like a person that didn't realize they were hungry until they smelled something delicious… that wouldn't be ready to eat for several hours. "Dammit Tomoya!"
"You asked." Tomoya said with a wicked smile.
"But Tomoya," Kyou decided to return the favor, "inside these leather riding pants, every time I move it feels like a thousand fingers caressing my skin. They caress me all over… from my ankles all the way up to… my waist. Is that where you want to put your hands?"
Tomoya's eyes flashed wide open from Kyou's taunting. Her words had been well played and he now felt the hunger that could not be sated. "You…"
"Perhaps we should head straight for the onsen when we get off the ferry." Kyou bit her lip and tried to look as innocent as possible to the man she had just teased so mercilessly, "We could always ride around the island tomorrow."
"Yeah, okay… let's do that." Tomoya knew that going directly to the onsen meant they wouldn't be able to drive into the island's interior like they had planned for the next day, but if Kyou wanted… Oh who am I kidding? She got me good! About the only thing I can think of now is ripping all her clothes off and… AHHHH! Why is this boat moving so slow?
.
2:24PM, November 3rd 2003 – The Sporting Goods store
in the Frozen Hell Universe
The old man was stunned. Even though he had given them money from his cash register, he had only half believed that these kids would be able to fulfill their promise. If they had asked for more money, he likely would have turned them down, but just enough to buy a newspaper and a book… that was easily an amount he was willing to gamble. And that bet had paid off an unbelievable return.
The kids had friends that showed up in a snowcat, and a new looking one too. It wasn't anything like the untrustworthy, broken down crap that he usually saw around town. Smaller than anything he had seen before too, yet strong enough to bring a few more friends and the promised medical help. And they didn't just bring a doctor! In addition to the kerosene, they had all kinds of medical gear with them. Some of it looked like science fiction to him, but the lady doctor seemed to know what she was doing. Before he knew it, she had given his wife several injections and had her hooked up to an IV bag.
He was so happy to see his wife getting the medical treatment she needed, he had to wipe the tears from his eyes. And still, the miracles didn't stop.
They brought coffee… real coffee. The smell of it filled his nose and reminded him of the better days of his youth. Wonderful days when the world wasn't so cold, coffee shops were still a thing, and school children didn't die in avalanches.
"Do you have the later issue of this paper? The one where they release the names of the bodies they found?" Isamu asked the old man while holding the paper in his hands.
"No… and they wouldn't do that anyways." the man said apologetically, "Since they was all youngsters, the papers wouldn't be allowed to print their names."
"Oh yeah… I guess you're right." Isamu looked disappointed to hear that. He doubted they could request that information at the local city hall either.
"Ifn ya want to know more about it, you can ask Fujibayashi Kyou." the old man suggested, "They was all friends, ya know."
"Does Kyou live at the Fujibayashi house here?" Ryota showed the old man his tablet that was displaying a map of Hikarizaka. There was a cursor on a specific house and the address was displayed next to it.
"Um yeah..." the old man's eyes opened wide, "You kids sure do have some interesting gadgets!"
"Doc," Isamu called out when he noticed that Dr. Sasashi had emerged from the bedroom where she had been treating the ailing woman, "How is she?"
"She is responding well, but I want to watch her for a few hours… if that will be alright with you?" she asked the old man.
"Yes! Please do. Stay as long as you like, Doctor-sama." the old man bowed.
"In that case," Isamu quietly said to Ryota, "I want you to take me back to the bakery. We're going to pick up Ryou and go pay a visit to this world's Kyou. She should like that."
"Yes b… Sakagami-san." Ryota said with a smile. He was pretty sure Ryou-sama would be pretty excited to see yet another of her parallel universe sisters.
.
Ryou was surprised to see Isamu and Ryota back so soon. She wanted to spend a little more time with Akio… at least until he woke up enough to talk for a bit. But it seemed that Isamu was in a hurry to collect her.
"We need to see another person that may be in pretty bad shape." Isamu told her.
"They can wait. I am already dealing with someone in bad shape here." Ryou declined.
"You can give Kenta and his team instructions." Isamu insisted.
"You know we all like Akio, right?" Kenta added his promise to Isamu's request, "We'll do everything we can for him. You can trust us."
"Unh," Ryou groaned. Kenta had used a phrasing trick to make it more difficult for her. If she didn't go now, it would look like she didn't trust him or his team. Angry at being played, she turned on Isamu, "Why is this so important? Who is this person that might or might not need or want my help?"
"This person is important because she might know about the avalanche… and what happened to some of the key people we need to check up on." Isamu then gave Ryou an unexpected half smile and said, "She knows about them because it is Kyou."
"Ah!" Ryou gasped. She hadn't expected that answer at all. Having just come back from a world with a Kyou that was like the way her sister used to be, there was certainly an appeal to seeing another Kyou from another world. Will she be more like my sister, or more like the other Kyou? Waitaminit… it's the Fall of 2003 in this world. We're still in high school! We… we both just turned eighteen years old. Ryou remembered her own eighteenth birthday. There was the big party at Nagisa's house, that amazing cake that Tomoyo had made… she and Kyou had been so happy then.
"Ryou-sama," Isamu could see the anticipation and joy building in their lavender haired medic and decided that he needed to give her a dose of reality before her imagination set her up for a huge fall, "Ryou-sama… we need to check on Kyou for another reason. The shopkeeper said Kyou hasn't been back to her job since the issue of that paper came out and… he hasn't heard from her for several weeks."
"What?" Ryou felt as if a wave of icy water had just rolled through her. She looked to Isamu to see if he was making a sick joke, but he looked completely serious.
"How soon can you be ready to go?" Isamu asked.
"Ten… no, five minutes!" Ryou said as she jolted into motion.
.
Ryota drove the Scout with more confidence than before. It also helped that the winds had died down somewhat and he could see considerably farther. Still, it seemed to poor Ryou that the little snowcat was barely moving at all.
"How fast..." Ryou started to ask the question that she had asked many times already.
"Forty-five kilometers per hour." Ryota answered in a bored monotone.
"How soon..." Ryou started to ask the other question that she kept repeating.
"At this speed, we should be there in forty minutes." Ryota answered that question too.
Ryou went back to fretting. She opened her medical bag to check the contents… again.
"Ryou-sama," Ryota asked when he heard the sound of the bag opening behind him for the dozenth time, "can you tell me how long it will be until we get to the Fujibayashi house?"
"Huh? Why should I know that?" Ryou reacted with irritation. He's the one driving this thing! Shouldn't he know the answer to that question?
"Ryou-sama, I just told you how long it will be until we get there. I told you less than a minute ago." Ryota said flatly.
"..." Ryou didn't remember that conversation, but the look on Isamu's face backed up what the team techie was telling her.
"You are asking questions and not listening to answers. You have checked the contents of your medical bag a dozen times since we left the bakery." Ryota continued addressing Ryou in his halting monotone voice, "Your actions suggest panic which could lead to shock. You need to calm down."
"Baka, I know I'm tense! I don't need you to tell me that!" Ryou yelled at the back of Ryota's head, "I should be allowed a little panic… this is my sister we're talking about! Onee-chan could be in trouble!"
"And if she is, then what?" Ryota challenged Ryou's emotional outburst with his calm monotone, "will you be any help at all if you are in a panic?"
"I…" Ryou's mouth hung open. I'm almost a doctor, dammit! How can this thug… No… he is right. And he isn't a thug any more… and I'll never be a good doctor if I can let myself get wound up like this. "I'm sorry, Ryota-kun. Thank you for helping me see my error."
"It was no error, because you're not a machine." Isamu told her, "It's understandable for you to be worried when it's your sister that might be in trouble. But Ryota has a point. In addition to being human, you might be the only one with the skills to save your sister's life… if things turn out that way. So, you're just going to have to tough it out for a while… for the sake of your sister."
"Yeah." Ryou tried some of the relaxation techniques she used to help her get to sleep, but none of them seemed to work for this situation. "Isamu-kun, do you ever help Tomoyo-chan relax."
"...yes." Isamu answered carefully.
"Can you help me?" Ryou wondered if there was some advice she might learn from someone that could help the powerful Tomoyo relax.
"I… don't think so." Isamu tried to decline the request as politely as he could.
"Why not? Do you think I'm not strong enough to handle it?" Ryou asked.
"No… that's not it." Isamu squirmed in his seat. He was desperately trying to think of a safe way to tell Ryou why his techniques wouldn't work for her.
"Isamu's techniques will require you to take off your clothes. When he is done, you may have to apologize to Nagisa and he will certainly have to apologize to The Boss." Ryota said casually. Since he was focused on driving the snowcat, he couldn't see their shocked and blushing expressions, but he had an idea from the silence that now filled the vehicle's cabin. "I know a technique that might work. It is much less… personal, than Isamu's methods. Would you like to try it?"
"Yes… please." Ryou squeaked.
"Imagine the scent of lavender and a shade of blue. Now slowly take a deep breath and hold it for a moment. When you release the breath, keep thinking of lavender but slightly change the shade of blue. The smell of lavender is a constant, but the blue should change with every breath.
Lighter or darker.
Maybe greener like the ocean water close to shore…
or redder for a purple like the sky at sunset.
Constantly changing, but always blue.
Many blues, but always the scent of lavender.
The scent of lavender, can you smell it? It's everywhere isn't it.
The world around you is a slowly changing blue like the evening sky slowly getting darker.
Darker and darker until the stars start to come out, but the blue is still there.
You can see the blue between the stars.
Light blues and dark blues.
Twinkling stars surrounded by many shades of blue.
The scent of lavender…
"Ryou!" Isamu was shaking the unconscious medic. His face was close to hers and he looked concerned.
"Yes? What is it?" Ryou looked around and saw that Ryota was looking at her too. He was twisted around in the driver's seat and the snowcat was not moving. "What's going on?"
"We're here." Isamu told her. "Time to brave the cold."
"Yeah… Okay, I'm ready." Ryou looked around for her bag and the heavy outerwear she would need in the short walk from the street to the door of her house. For some reason, she not only felt less stressed out, but a bit refreshed as well.
.
The walk to the front door was far less difficult than Ryou thought it would be. Since the front yard was buried under a meter or more of snow, Ryota parked the Scout in the front yard – just a few meters from the door. He didn't want to leave it in the street anyway.
The windows were boarded up, just like all the other places they had seen. The outside door was locked and the bell didn't seem to be working… or at least, no-one was responding to it. The three of them didn't have any of the powered thermal underwear, so they were starting to lose their warmth. Before they retreated back into the Scout's warm cabin, they decided to walk around the house once just to see if they could detect any signs of someone living there.
Unfortunately, they could find nothing to indicate that anyone was there, or that anyone had been there for a while.
"I'm getting really cold." Ryou didn't want to give up, but her whole body was trembling from the loss of heat.
"Let's go back to the Scout. I have an idea." Ryota said.
The warmth inside the scout was perceived, more than real. Just getting out of the wind did a lot to help them start warming again. But Ryota cranked up the little vehicle's heater as far as it would go as well.
"Hey!" Ryou cried out when she felt the Scout start moving.
"Don't worry, we're not leaving. I just need to turn this so we're facing the house." Ryota assured her. When he finished several minutes of maneuvers, there was a blast of cold air in the cabin as he suddenly left the vehicle.
"What is he up to?" Ryou ducked away from the cold air and put her face closer to the heater vents.
"Don't worry about it. That guy from the ski lodge trained him real good. I'm sure he knows what he's doing." Isamu said calmly and moved so that Ryou wouldn't be able to see anything out of the front window of the snowcat. He had a pretty good idea of what Ryota was up to, and he didn't want to give Ryou a chance to object before the deed was done. "Ah, put your head down, I think he's coming back in."
There was a swirl of very cold air in the cabin as Ryota climbed back in and took his seat. "Here we go." he said as he put the thing in reverse and slowly took up the slack in the cable that connected the hook on the front of the vehicle with the front door of the house.
"Wait… what?" Ryou saw the cable for the first time just before she felt the tracked vehicle lurch a little bit.
"Whuff!" A sound like a muffled thud was the only noise that came from the door being yanked off it's hinges and landing in the snow.
Ryou was shocked that Ryota would do such a thing, but she wasn't the only one shocked at the vandalous act. A figure stood in the doorway where the door had previously been. It was clear that the person had been watching them the entire time… and not answering the door.
"Kyou?" Ryou said the name as a question.
It was a logical guess, but with all those winter clothes on, it could be anyone. The three in the warm cabin sat and watched out the front of the Scout's wide window as the figure turned to flee back into the house. But there seemed to be some trouble getting through the inside door.
"I see." Isamu casually observed the other person's struggles, "This house has a man-trap like the sporting goods store and the bakery."
"Then, why isn't she getting in?" Ryou asked. She was also watching the other person's panic through the big front window. Her clinical eye saw the frantic motion and her mind warned her that this may not be Kyou after all.
"Since we ripped off the outer door, the mechanism that allows the inside door to open is probably broken." Isamu replied.
They all watched as the person's frantic actions seemed to slow down. Exhaustion was setting in, but the person wasn't defeated yet. The three watched as the trapped figure turned around and took up a defensive stance with arms raised as if ready for a fight.
"Does that look like Kyou to you?" Isamu asked Ryou. He knew that his world's Kyou knew martial arts, but he had never seen her with a form like that. It was either highly advanced or pathetic. And, considering this Kyou should only have just turned eighteen, it was probably the latter.
"No… something seems off." Ryou agreed with the doubt in Isamu's voice.
"Can we just drive off?" Isamu asked.
"I'm going to have to untangle the door from the cable first." Ryota replied.
"Let me try something," Ryou started to put on her hat and heavy gloves.
"I'm not letting you out there with that moron." Isamu said as he reached out to stop Ryou from dressing up. "Even if that person has lousy fighting skills, you might still get hurt."
"I just want to say that I'm looking for Kyou." Ryou told him.
"Oh," Ryota pulled something down from an overhead pocket and handed it to Ryou, "Scout has loudspeakers like a police car. Just hold the button down and talk into this thing."
"Okay." Ryou took the small microphone and pushed the button. The others turned with her to watch what the bundled up person would do when they heard Ryou's question.
Outside the Scout, the wind was still blowing pretty hard, but the speakers were quite loud. Loud enough for the person to hear the question and even the quality of the voice.
"Hello, my name is Fujibayashi Ryou. I am looking for Fujibayashi Kyou. Kyou may be in trouble. I just want to help…" Ryou stopped talking when the figure suddenly dropped into the snow.
"You stay here. Let's go!" Isamu gave the first instruction to Ryou and the second to Ryota as he opened the door and ran toward the fallen figure. Ryota was right on his heels.
From inside the cabin, Ryou watched the two grab the body and carry it toward the cab. Ryota was fully dressed but Isamu had run out without his heavy hat or gloves. After unceremoniously tossing the body into the back seat with Ryou, he climbed back into his seat and tried to control his shivering. "D… d… damn it's c… cold!"
Ryota stayed outside to clean up. He disentangled the cable from the door and put it away in the back before he climbed back in.
Ryou spent the time to check the body that was sharing the back seat with her. Reaching under the figure's balaclava, she pressed her fingers against the neck and felt a pulse. Then she started pulling off the headgear.
When she got the balaclava off, she could see a face that was vaguely like Kyou's, but more masculine. Next, she pulled off the knit cap and could see the lavender colored hair. Her brain was not accepting what her eyes were seeing though. Not until the eyes suddenly opened and she could see those familiar purple eyes gazing back into hers.
"Ryou? Ryou, is it really you?" Kyou's slightly deeper voice came from the mostly familiar face.
"Kyou?" Ryou also asked the person next to her.
Isamu noticed the differences too and got himself turned around in his seat so he could get a better look at this kid.
"I… I thought you were dead!" Kyou's eyes were tearing up and he was reaching for Ryou, but his whole body was suddenly thrust away from Ryou by a very strong arm.
"Boy, you lay a hand on Ryou-chan and I'll break your gahddam arm." Isamu growled."
"Ryou… chan?" a stunned Kyou asked.
"Kyou...kun?" an equally stunned Ryou asked back.
"WHAT!"