The bus abruptly stopped, tossing the passengers to the side. Muttering under their breath, they dragged back their belongings. The pouring rain slid down the windows, the cabin light unsteadily flickering over the glass.
Crap weather?
Giyuu didn't answer, silently handing the man sitting across the briefcase that was thrown to his side. The man took it and thanked him with a nod. Giyuu briefly glanced underneath his own seat. The tennis bag remained where it was. Satisfied, Giyuu leaned back and, crossing his arms, glanced into the window.
The air highway was teeming with yellow and red lights. The cruisers jittered, frustrated that they couldn't get through. Small, spherical robots eagerly jumped from aircraft to aircraft, the blinking holograms reciting their miserable existence. Sometimes, a window would roll down, and a hand would hesitantly stretch out a card. For a few moments, a lucky robot would happily chew on it, before returning it back with a sincere beep of thanks.
Giyuu took his gaze off of one of those and, reclining his head a little bit, closed his eyes.
Yeah, bad weather.
He heard a tone-less sigh of the AutCo in his head.
That makes it the third day in a row. Seriously, we have to consider a different route.
The bus slowly inched forward. Low voices quietly talked amongst each other, the electric lamps fizzing in the background. Head tilting to the side, Giyuu felt himself dozing off.
There's no point thinking about it now. The routes are blocked wherever you look.
There was another long, heavy sigh.
I know, the AutCo wearily replied. It didn't start speaking afterwards, guessing that the owner was tired. Giyuu was silently grateful for that.
The autobus continued creeping after the traffic, softly stopping and starting. The voices of the passengers gradually thinned out into an unobtrusive hum, and the lights dimmed. Head slowly dropping down, Giyuu's breathing evened, and the fingers gripping the sides of the arms finally relaxed.
A siren deafeningly screeched in the cabin, lights immediately flashing red. A couple passengers jumped up from their seats, someone yelped. Giyuu's eyes instantly opened.
"ATTENTION ATTENTION. DEMON SPOTTED IN AREA. PLEASE REMAIN CALM. ATTENTION ATTENTION. DEMON SPOTTE—"
AutCo!
I know, I know, the voice quickly responded. Komatsu District.
That's close, Giyuu tensely thought. His eyes quickly traversed the cabin: the passengers were frightened, clinging to their belongings and looking over their shoulders into the black void outside the windows. Giyuu slightly leaned forward, right hand holding his left wrist as he waited for the AutCo to get the demon's blood type. Realistically, it didn't matter at this point, but whatever it was, the demon certainly had some amount of strength to be able to break through the Wisteria District...
The door from the front cabin slid open. The passengers instinctively jerked and nervously looked at the second conductor. He had a breathing apparatus attached to face, tubes extending down his neck and under the T-shirt.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we are currently following the emergency protocol. Please remain in your seats..." With the apparatus and the warning which continued rolling, it was practically impossible to hear him.
This is not helping, Giyuu thought and briefly eyed the passengers; a couple of them were beginning to lose it.
AutCo... he mentally started.
I got it, AutCo seriously responded, almost simultaneously as Giyuu. Type B.
Like his own. Giyuu knelt down and, catching the strap with his fingers, dragged out the tennis bag from under the seat.
Where is it going?
It's between 213th and 215th Avenues, consistently moving upwards. That's on the right side. Right now, we're in the farthest left lane. There was a kind smirk. Sorry.
Giyu sighed, standing up and flinging the tennis bag over his shoulders. Everyone's heads whirled in his direction. The conductor faltered in surprise.
Continue reporting, AutCo.
Sure thing, the voice easily agreed. Next to the bus there is a flyer, about a meter away. That shouldn't be a problem. Giyuu carefully lowered his knee on the seat and began prying off the locks on the window.
And then?
Another flyer, a bit farther, but still manageable.
"Hey there, sir?" Someone took him by the shoulder, and Giyuu looked around. The conductor stared back at him. The plastic walls of the apparatus clouded with each breath.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"I'm sorry," Giyuu apologetically said and slightly turned his wrist. He felt the gazes of the passengers anxiously watching him, and it made him unnerved. The watch blinked, his ID projecting as a hologram.
"I wish to depart this bus," Giyu enunciated, sensing that he's losing more and more time. The flyer in the window slowly began crawling forward. Giyuu tensed.
"I'd be grateful if you let me go."
The conductor gawked for a moment, then awkwardly released his shoulder.
"Yes, sir. My apologies, sir."
Without another word, Giyuu turned back to the window. He roughly jerked the locks open and pushed the window up. That act alone seemed to break the panic that was previously suppressed.
"Hold it, pal, what are you doing?"
"Close the damn window, the demon will get in!" someone shrieked.
"If you wanna die, do it from your frigging balcony!"
"Ladies and gentlemen!" The conductor shouted, voice breaking. He wheeled around, turning back to Giyuu and stretching out his arms, as if wanting to protect the young man.
"This sir is a hashira! He's going after the demon!"
They don't change, AutCo sighed. Giyuu ignored it, not really paying attention to the passengers. With one foot on the window frame, the other on the seat, he squinted into the highway. The weather was far, far worse than what it seemed: the wind slashed the rain sideways, blurring all vision, all ads, holograms, and lights switched to red, creating a bloody inferno. The echo of the emotionless warning tossed around in the wind, mixing with the rumbling engines, pumping of exhausts, and sirens. Blinking away the rain droplets from his eyes, Giyuu looked at the flyer to the side of the bus. It was moving very slowly, a perfect landing ground for a trained jump. The city stretched downwards below.
Holding the metal sides with both hands, Giyuu carefully placed his other leg on the frame. He barely heard what was going on inside the cabin.
Good luck, the AutCo curtly wished. Giyuu strained his legs and jumped.
His tie swatted to the side, and the tennis bag rattled against his spine, but he hardly processed that: the trunk of the flyer vastly increased in size, signaling a close landing.
Giyuu's feet crashed into the flyer.
Instantly losing height, the aircraft sloped under his weight.
The driver began incessantly, almost hysterically honking and tossing to the side. Giyuu slipped and slid to the edge of the trunk. Gritting his teeth, the young man dug his fingers into the cracks between the trunk plates and tried to get a firm footing. The soles of his shoes slightly shifted, but it was close enough.
Rain drenching his face, Giyuu looked up. The traffic was still slow, but several fliers already began dangerously squeezing in between lanes, trying to run to the tight alleyways. The flier he was on was angled at nearly sixty degrees, and everyone around them jerked away in fright. A rather large radius of space was forming around the flier.
Not good.
Giyuu tried checking upwards: a large airway truck was creeping forward, around five meters to the northeast. About fifteen meters to its right was a billboard, the hologram flashing large warning signs. Doable.
The steel ropes were fastened in small, unraveling cases on his belt. Giyuu quickly undid one of them and, spinning the anchor end around his hand, firmly hurled it towards the truck. The rope, slicing air droplets into nothingness, whirled through the air, before harshly trucking the truck's tailgate. Giyuu slightly pulled, checking the sturdiness, then roughly angled the rope. He didn't have time for a take-off run, so he immediately jumped.
The wind, lights, honking narrowed into one long tunnel way - that he had to get through, regardless the circumstances. The rope yanked taut, and he swung to the right, towards the terrified flyers and aircrafts, but Giyuu didn't care.
Undoing the second rope on the way, he ran across a paralyzed flyer's hood, jumped right in front of a speeder, and knocked a begging robot, about to tag him, to the side. Almost simultaneously he jerked the first rope off the truck and pressed the retract button. The rope zapped back into the case, the anchor hitting him in the hip, and, briefly, he was without any harness.
The second rope launched into the air and swung around the billboard's platform. Giyuu swung to the right and was momentarily blinded by the incoming flier's lights. Giyuu grouped himself, preparing to smoothen out the impact as much as possible, but the flier swerved to the left. The railways marking the pedestrian platform appeared in front of him, and the young man collided into them.
Giyuu waited a second, then slowly breathed out. The muscles on his stomach, absorbing the impulse, slackened. He tentatively felt the grip with his fists, making sure his fingers weren't loose from the rain, then looked over his shoulder.
The rope quietly rattled, droplets shimmering red from the reflecting lights. The fliers were cautiously crawling underneath it. Giyuu waited for one of them to get out of the rope's trajectory, then pressed the retract button. The rope swiftly sliced through the air, but Giyuu caught it before it could click back into the case.
Holding to the railing with one hand, Giyuu stared into the neon-red darkness in front of him.
"AutCo?" He wouldn't have been able to get the thought in his head; he was too concentrated.
You squandered a lot of energy. You'll stand after this?
"I'll be fine." Giyuu hoisted the anchor around the railing and carefully stepped around the rope. The city stretched beneath him, fathomless. The rain harshly hit him on the back of his head. "What's the location?"
He swore he could hear a quiet snort. About seventy flights down. I'll tell you when.
Giyu instinctively nodded, even though there was no one there. He released the belay device.
The lights flashed into his eyes, and Giyuu grimaced. He was traveling at such high speed that the rain droplets flew into his face, scratching his forehead, lips, and cheekbones. The wind pushed his breath back into his throat. Through half-closed eyelids, Giyuu eyed the passing platforms. He must have descended past fifty now...
You can begin to slow down.
Firmly holding with his left hand above, Giyuu released the right arm and took rope dangling below with his right. He instantly jerked, roughly stopping, and his palms burnt blood. The young man slightly shook his head, getting the thoughts in order, then slowly released both hands, occasionally stopping and regulating the speed. His eyes cautiously traced the passing platform openings.
"Which one?"
You didn't reach it yet. See that one about five meters down, with the traffic lights?
Giyuu followed AutCo's instructions down until he saw the entrance that the mechanism was talking about. It was wide, but the sharp pipes jagging from every direction compensated for the easy opening.
Giyuu carefully lowered a bit more, wondering if the pipes will be able to hold his weight.
They should.
The pipes were conveniently long enough and protruded slightly beyond the opening; if they were sturdy enough, they would be a perfect landing spot. Coming to a stop, Giyuu hesitantly stepped down on the pipe. They were slightly vibrating from the rushing current inside, but otherwise seemed robust.
Giyuu fully stepped down, untangled himself, and jerked the rope. Standing at the edge of the pipes and slowly wrapping the rope around his hand, he gazed at the petrified highway.
"Where is it headed towards?" His voice was inaudible in the buzz of the city. There was a short silence.
About your direction, unintentionally of course. It didn't interact with any humans yet.
Giyuu was quiet for a moment, wrapping the rope around his hand. His eyes traveled over the lights, flyers, and warning posts, barely registering them - if registering them at all. The anchor hit his palm, and he hung the curled up rope around his belt.
"Let's go, then."
AutCo didn't reply, but Giyuu felt its silent support. Suppressing the melancholic shiver, the young man turned away from the red landscape.
It was a dimly-lit alley. The pipes ran all the way from the entrance, entwining and coiling until it was impossible to see the asphalt beneath. There were several pipes sticking several meters high out of the walls, and the rainwater, mixing with sewage waste, cascaded in murky waterfalls.
Giyu crouched down, knees brushing the pipes, and unzipped the tennis bag. The katana dully glistened inside. Tucking the bag under a pipe, Giyuu stood up. His eyes narrowed.
His footsteps quietly echoed through the metal carcasses. The drizzle from the waterfalls softly landed on his shoulders. One time, Giyuu had to hold against the wall, fingers catching up in crumbling, grey mold; the pipes were slippery.
The demon is heading towards you, after a while, reported AutCo. Giyuu, balancing on a thin pipe, tensed.
"Is that certain?"
Yes. It recognized you as human, and now it's heading full speed, eighty kilometers per hour.
He had to think quickly. Giyuu hastily scanned the alley; he was at a clear disadvantage. It was tight, with no room for maneuver or escape route. His eyes glimpsed upwards and slightly narrowed.
"So it's heading straight on?" He asked out loud. The AutCo seemed to think over his words before answering.
If you're thinking about piercing it headfirst, that's stupid... and regarding your question, yes, for now.
Instead of responding, Giyuu simply unraveled the rope; however, he unhooked the case as well. Squinting at the farthest pipe from above, he quickly whirled the rope with the case at the end and hurled it across. The rope struck against the pipe and swatted across, trapping the case against the metal. Button side up.
Giyuu took a couple of steps back, looking over his shoulder for a good pipe to push off.
You sure this'll work? AutCo, of course, caught on. Its voice was soft. You're heavy, you know.
"I don't need a complete fly-over, just enough for the demon to miss my vital organs," Giyuu, also softly, responded. His right foot was bent and higher, while the left was strained, prepared to push off. The young man was quickly tying the rope across his waist.
"Besides, don't underestimate my equipment."
I wouldn't if you weren't so stingy about them. It was obvious, teasing sarcasm. Giyuu smirked, lips just slightly tipping upwards.
"Well, deal with what I have."
Roger that, hashira. Giyuu lightly moved his shoulders and didn't say anything. He silently grasped the rope with his left hand and gripped the katana. His eyes trailed upwards towards the pipe. He hoped he didn't miss.
Demon approaching at full speed.
Giyuu smelled it first: metallic blood and rotting muscles. In almost an instant, a thin, gangly creature stumbled out of the adjacent alleyways. It was greyish-white, and Giyuu saw only two yellow eyeballs, wildly trembling in the sockets. The greyish-white flare leaped towards the young man, and Giyuu gritted his teeth. It's unstable, he noticed, glancing down at its feet: the claws slipped across the pipes, catching up in the cracks. It would be great if it turned a nail or something.
Yo. Don't get distracted.
Giyuu simply glanced upwards. The demon was approaching him, extraordinarily fast. His left sole pressed with all its might on the pipe. Just one more second.
The pupils enlarged, both the demon's and the human's.
Just as the demon's hand reached for his chest, Giyuu flung his sword into the air. It wheeled through the air and crashed into the case with the entire blade.
The rope violently jerked, and Giyuu instantly pushed off the pipe, jumping up. His legs hit the demon face on, and the creature wailed, clutching its eyes.
Hitting a lower pipe, Giyuu nimbly scrambled up and, unfastening the second rope, lassoed it across the demon's neck, and harshly pulled. The demon, saliva gargling out its mouth, tripped and felt on its back.
He had approximately three seconds.
Water splashing over his clothes, Giyuu jumped up the pipes as if on stepping stones, never releasing the second rope and dragging the demon with him. Blocking away a waterfall with his elbow, Giyuu sprang up and yanked out the katana from the pipe. Whirling around, he leaped, straight down on the demon. Falling, he raised the katana over his head.
He wasn't able to tell the demon up close either.
The blood splashed over his face, getting in his mouth and nose. It was salty and nauseating.
Giyuu was alone in the alley, crouching on top of a pipeline. A small waterfall ran down his shoulders, sinking into the suit. The puddle of blood was slowly mixing in with the sewage and flowing away.
Giyuu slowly stood up. His knees hurt, bruised from the fall, but otherwise he seemed alright. He glanced over his shoulder. The rope was loosely swinging from the pipe, the case completely shattered.
"I'll have to ask for a new one," Giyuu sighed and released the other end. It lonesomely shivered, lightly swinging side to side.
Mmmm.
... regardless how weak the demon was, they were still exhausted, mentally.
Walking towards the entrance, Giyuu slightly shook the second rope from the blood. It grudgingly came off, splattering the pipes.
Stepping out on the entrance, empty tennis bag swinging over his shoulder, Giyuu noticed that the warning lights hadn't come off yet.
Wanna hitch a ride? AutCo wearily suggested.
"No." Giyuu absently passed his metallic fingers through his hair. "If another demon appears, I don't want to repeat that."
AutCo smirked. You're planning to walk?
"Yeah." Giyuu closed his eyes and smiled. Despite the drenched clothes, the sewage odor, and the bloody sword in his hand, he felt unusually pacified.
"So I wouldn't mind directions."
It was as if there was laughing in his head.
You know, I only work as the GPS when you're on duty.
Giyuu chuckled and slowly began down the platform.
"I know, Sabito."
A/N:
Hi, Hi Folks!
The idea for a cyberpunk KNY has been sitting in my head for a long time and, since season 2 is coming out, I thought it'd be neat to finally get it out on paper. I allocated most of my inspiration from digital artists on Pinterest, Instagram, DevianArt, and other possible platforms that pop up in Google Images who rendered KNY characters in a cyberpunk setting, and I'm really grateful to all the artworks still providing me with loads of inspiration.
Also... um, Ghost in the Shell SAC... (even though I never watched it, the soundtracks by Yoko Kanno are amazing)... heavily played in getting this story to start.
I'll try to update every week, though that may get jeopardized really easily. Also, this fic does have a lot of things going on, but I promise all of it will be answered!
Lastly, comments, feedback, follows, and favorites are appreciated and warmly received. Enjoy! :)