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Epilog:
Slowly, Noa's eyes blinked open. There was Asuma, sitting over her, an
expression of concern on his face. Her expression softened into a smile,
and so did his. He started to lean over, almost as if in habit, when a
loud throat-clearing from across the room startled them both.
Noa looked over to see that Gotoh, Shinobu, Inspector Matsui, Takeo,
Utsumi, Hiromi, and Kanuka Clancy were all in the room as well. Perhaps a
nice wake-up kiss wouldn't be a good idea, after all. Besides, her mouth
tasted funny, as though she hadn't brushed her teeth in a while.
"How's Alphonse?" she croaked out, surprising herself with her own
hoarseness.
Asuma quickly raised a paper cup full of water to her lips as the others in
the room tried to supress their laughter. To her surprise, she noticed
handcuffs on his wrists. She drank, but as soon as she could, she said,
"You've been arrested again?"
He smiled and shrugged. "Just a technicality."
"A judge is writing up the court order to release him officially as we
speak. As it is, we have permission to keep him out of prison 'for his own
safety' as long as he's secured," Matsui clarified. "I've got my pager, so
I'll know the moment it comes through."
Noa hesitated. "What happened? I don't remember much after the
explosion...."
"Shinobu saved us from certain death," Asuma explained cavalierly, sending
a significant look to the others telling them to let him tell the rest of
the story later, in private. "You were badly hurt by the blast, however.
The doctors think your heart might have even stopped briefly, but it
miraculously started again before they were on the scene. You were badly
cut by flying glass, and your shoulder restraint dislocated one arm. The
worst of it was internal, though- you had a collapsed lung... and a few
other things." The look of anguish on his face while he listed these
injuries was palpable. Anyone in the room could see that he was feeling
sympathy pains as he talked.
Wong continued where he left off after being nudged by Takeo. "They had to
remove your spleen... and your appendix, too, but that was incidental- it
was going to have to come out anyway." He smiled. "Nothing you aren't
able to live without."
"I'm not sure I lived through the battle," Noa said curiously. "I remember
the explosion, sort of... then this light at the end of a long tunnel I was
approaching... then waking up to see Asuma crouched at my feet. The rest
is kind of a blur, but I could have sworn I wasn't breathing until I saw
Asuma again...."
A nurse came in and said a few words to Gotoh. He stepped out of the room
with her for a moment, while everyone else chatted. Mostly, it was people
telling Noa to get better soon, wishing her well, and the like. Any topics
dealing with the actual incident, however, were completely ignored. Noa
felt as if they were something, but decided she'd dig it out of Asuma
later.
Gotoh stepped into the room, and cleared his throat to attract everyone's
attention. "Ah... ah. Excuse me, everyone, but I've been told our visitor
hours are almost up. Asuma, you could probably stay, but they want to give
her family a chance to see her, as well."
"My FAMILY is here?" Noa exclaimed, startled. They never left their home
island- never!
"Come on, people, let's get out of here," Gotoh said, ushering everyone but
Asuma out of the room. Before he shut the door, he turned to the two of
them. "Asuma, you aren't allowed out of this room until Matsui gets
confirmation of your release. Noa, I'm going to have to talk to you later
about some unresolved issues with all this." After waiting for their nods
of acknowledgement, he left.
Suddenly, Noa remembered something. "Asuma, how's Alphonse?"
Asuma grimaced. "Uh... I'll tell you when your parents are done visiting,
okay?"
"What? Why? Can't you just-"
"MY LITTLE GIRL!" a pair of voices sobbed from the door. Two people, Noa's
parents, burst in and ran to her bedside. Her mother quickly grabbed her
hand, holding it fiercely. Her father glared at Asuma venomously before
joining his wife in her vigil, putting a hand on Noa's good shoulder and
squeezing reassuredly.
"Mom! Dad!" Noa said, smiling and clasping her mother's hand tighter.
"I'm so happy to see you."
"Oh, my poor little angel," her mother whimpered back, tears dripping from
her cheeks.
"Relax, mom!" Noa cried. "I'm all right."
"No, you're not," her father said sternly. "I feared this would happen. I
warned you over and over again it could, and you never listened. Now,
you'll probably never get married- how many men like women with scars all
over them? I hope you'll finally take my advice and just leave this
horribly dangerous line of work." Asuma twitched slightly.
Noa glared at her father. "Dad, I've told you once, and I'll tell you
again. I LOVE labors. Furthermore, I don't want to be seperated from As-
Alphonse," she said, barely catching herself. Asuma twitched again. "I
won't leave the force until they force me out."
"And YOU!" her father said, moving in on Asuma. "How DARE you let her get
hurt like this! You should have known better then to send her into this
kind of situation- and after she risked everything to save you, too!" The
labor officer winced, but didn't say anything in his own defence.
"Dad!" Noa snapped. "Leave him alone!"
Her father changed tacts instantly. "Dear... don't you WANT to find
yourself a husband? You're already going to have problems, with all of
these injuries, but-"
"Yes," Noa said, her eyes quickly glancing over at Asuma before returning
her attention on the man in front of her. "I DO want to find a husband.
But I won't be able to live with a husband who won't let me be who I am-
and I am a labor pilot in the SV2."
"Do you really think you ever will?!" her father snapped. "Who could want
to marry someone who spends their days risking their lives in order to
publically HUMILIATE themselves! A labor pilot for the SV2, huh? You DO
realize that makes you a laughingstock, don't you? If I had my way, you-"
"Shut up," Asuma snarled, clanging his handcuffs against the metal railing
on Noa's hospital bed. "She just got out of surgery, damn near lost her
life, and yet all you can do is yell at her and insult her to her face. My
father may have been bad, but at least he had some common sense and DIDN'T
get into an argument with me the one time I was hospitalized."
"She's an ingrate!" her father shouted. "Do you know how much we spent on
her education? We were setting her up to be the perfect wife for a
wonderful husband, and instead she goes off on this foolhearty quest to
become a patlabor pilot!"
"DEAR!" his wife snapped. Everyone turned to look at her as she comforted
a tear-filled Noa. "I can't believe you said that!"
Asuma looked at Noa for a little while, then back to her father. "If she
wants a husband... WHEN she wants a husband... she'll have one, whatever
she is. Now, leave her ALONE!"
Noa's eyes widened at that proclamation. "Asuma..."
Finally, her father 'got it.' He now, finally, understood why his little
girl had risked everything to protect this man, why she got upset when he
yelled at the boy, why she didn't want to stop working with labors, and why
she was so adament about not leaving the SV2.
"I'm sorry, Noa. It's just... I see you there, in that hospital bed, and
it's just like what I've been seeing in my worst nightmares." He sighed.
"I haven't slept much since I heard you went AWOL, and all of my fears came
out at once... I think I need to step out for a bit and calm down. I...
don't really mean most of what I said."
Noa sniffed slightly, wiping the tears off her face. "I understand,
dad...."
Her mother went over to lead her husband out of the room so they could all
calm down, leaving Noa and Asuma alone. Asuma sighed, pulled a tissue, and
started dabbing her face, clearing away the tear stains.
Noa hesitantly smiled up at him and took the tissue away. "Asuma. Was...
what you just said... was that a proposal?"
He scratched the back of his head uncertainly. "Well... I wasn't thinking
about what I was saying, really. Your dad just got me angry enough to say
just about anything.... If you DO want to get married some day, I wouldn't
have any problem with it, though."
Noa smirked. For some reason, she wasn't surprised- or upset- by that.
"I'll hold you to that one day," she said.
Asuma half-smiled nervously. "In that case, I have a feeling your father's
going to get most everything he wants. Noa... we need to talk a bit.
About some of the things Gotoh's going to want to talk with you about when
he comes back."
Noa's face fell. "Uh oh. I don't like the sound of that."
"You're not going to like this," he said. Taking a deep breath, he
continued, "Noa... you can't pilot for the SV2 any more. While they are
not pressing charges, you DID damage police property while 'rescuing' me,
and you WERE technically aiding and abetting a fugitive from the law.
Gotoh knows that his superiors, especially those whose friends are going to
be disciplined for being a part of the whole Schaft conspiracy, are going
to want to do something to you... like transferring you or forcing you to
resign. But you aren't likely to be in the SV2 any more."
Horror dawned on Noa's face. "No... but, but... what about Alphonse?!"
"He's being retired," Asuma stated slowly. "He's the only surviving
Ingram- Ohta's in unrecoverable. Alphonse is in such bad shape that they
plan to retire the whole line, and bring in more Zeros...."
"But..." Fresh tears dripped down her face. "I guess I'd gotten used to
the idea of one day losing him, but... I hadn't thought I'd be losing you,
too."
That took him by surprise. "What? Why would you be losing me?"
Noa looked at him sadly. "Don't you see? You'll be part of the SV2 and I
won't... and we BOTH know how little personal time that leaves us off-base.
However we feel about each other, if we never are able to see each other-"
"Well, actually, Noa," Asuma interrupted, somewhat uncertainly. "I'm not
going to be part of SV2, after all."
"You're not?"
"No. I'm going to be part of Shinohara Heavy Industries."
"You are?! But-"
"Dad didn't quite leave me with the company," he explained. "He didn't
trust me with it- instead, he put it in the hands of a 'board of trustees.'
But I inherited a large portion of it- and his life insurance is actually
paying off the inheritence taxes. It included one stipulation, however...
one I'm not too happy with. I was planning to turn it down, inheritence or
no inheritence, but after all of this I guess... well, the stipulation is
that I have to leave SV2 and-"
"Work for the company."
Asuma nodded. "I selected my own job, though- I'm going to be involved in
special project. The Patlabor contract, specifically... I'll be in charge
of developing new labors for the police, fire and rescue, and maybe even
military units." He paused, considering. "We may need a police liason
with labor experience... know anyone who might be willing to take that
position?"
Noa smiled up at him. "Yeah... maybe I do. Maybe I do." She yawned.
"Get some sleep. You need it."
"Officer Noa Izumi, doing as ordered, sir," she said, smiling sleepily,
before closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep.
* * * * *
In the waiting room, Takeo sat sipping coffee with Richard Wong, Gotoh, and
Shinobu. "By the way, Lt. Kumagami," Shinobu said, "Gotoh and I have a few
things to discuss with you. An opportunity, if you will."
"Oh?" Takeo said. "What is that?"
"There's going to be a lot of turmoil in the police- and especially the
SV2- after this. Section Chief Fukushima's being asked to resign, and I've
been told I'm going to be promoted into his place," Shinobu began.
"Izumi's going to be transferred out of the SV2," Gotoh continued. "Much
to my disgust. Best labor pilot I've ever seen, and she's not going to be
very effective anywhere else, I fear. At any rate, she's not the only one
going, either- Ohta felt that he needed a transfer, fearing he'd ruined his
ability to work with the others after his single-minded pursuit of
Shinohara. I fear for our future, as he's going to be put in charge of
labor training at the Academy. Shinohara, himself, is likely to resign due
to some details in his father's will. Kanuka is, of course, returning to
America some time soon, which means we're down both of our pilots and my
two best substitutes."
"We can't afford to lose another pilot," Shinobu continued. "Gomioka will
remain Unit One's top labor pilot, whatever you decide, but you are not a
pilot at all, and have never recieved any training in that regard. We were
thinking of transferring Captain Gotoh to command of Unit One, and
promoting you into Captain of Unit Two...."
"I like the offer, Sir, Ma'am..."
* * * * *
ONE MONTH LATER...
"As usual, it seems Shinohara Heavy Industries is making the best offer,"
the police representative said to the gathered negotiators. "Especially
since we only have to pay for two of the three Zeros. But I'd like to
know, why are you willing to trade a perfectly good Zero for an obsolescent
Ingram?"
Asuma Shinohara, the representative of Shinohara Heavy Industries, smiled
slightly. "Well, Captain, I happen to have some experience with that
particular Ingram. And, I believe, you'll note that we're insisting you
let the maintenance team for Special Vehicles Second Section to repair it
to the best of their ability before the trade in."
"Yes, I noticed that."
"Well, while I was WITH the SV2, I noticed that specific Ingram performing
better than any other labor out there... including our Zeros. Since we
developed its architecture, I know it has recieved a number of upgrades and
customizations from the maintenance squad, and we wish to study them."
The Captain frowned. "That could very well have been thanks to the pilot,
you know. And we will not release the movement disk, as some of that
information may compromise them."
Asuma tried to stifle a laugh, and failed. "Didn't you know, Captain? My
fiance piloted that Ingram for its entire career. I already HAVE a copy of
the movement disk."
The Captain flushed slightly. "Oh... of course. Well, I don't think there
were any other irregularities... so, the Special Vehicles labor contract is
being awarded to Shinohara Heavy Industries. We are currently undecided
about the Traffic Control labors, however... will the negotiators of
Shinohara Heavy Industries and Sangria Enterprises please return at 0800
tomorrow to continue discussions?" After a couple of nods, he continued,
"Very well. This meeting is adjourned."
The representatives of a dozen labor manufacturers started milling about
the room, talking to their peers and catching up on old times- or, in some
cases, ribbing them good-naturedly. Asuma quickly made his way to the
negotiator for the newest of these, Sangria Enterprises.
"Well, well, well. Maybe I shouldn't have helped you out after all,"
Richard Wong, president of Sangria Enterprises said, raising his hand.
"Good job."
Asuma took it, shaking his hand warmly. "Hello, Utsumi. I see the
downfall of Shaft hasn't hurt you very much. In fact, seems to me you've
made out like a bandit in the aftermath."
Wong laughed. "Of course, of course. Surely you didn't expect otherwise?"
They both laughed, then settled down and served themselves a cup of coffee
each. "So, how did you wiggle all of Planning Division Seven away from
Shaft, anyway?" Asuma asked.
Wong shook his head dismissively. "Bah... I just took my stock in the
company and used it to purchase away the only thing I wanted- namely, the
development team of the Griffin and the construction facilities aboard the
Sangria. They threw in the rest of the division because they were trying
to get out of Japan, I guess- there are at least four other spinoffs, you
know." He paused, then his watch alarm beeped. "Looks like I've got to
go. Why don't you come with me? I want to know what you think of my new
Vice President of Ethics. So you and Noa made it official, huh?"
Asuma's smile turned rueful as he followed the other man out of the room.
"Not... exactly. Oh, we're planning to get married someday, but not any
time soon. But all of the tabloids are now talking about how the 'son of
the greatest businessman in the history of mechanical industry' was seeing
a lady cop, and so we said we were fiancees to the press. Well, I guess we
did make it official, but we haven't set a date or anything."
"I'm surprised the police agreed to keep her as the liason to Shinohara
Heavy Industries after that was revealed."
Asuma scratched his head. "Well, Gotoh and Shinobu both spoke up for her,
and I added that if they forced her out of that job just because we'd
gotten engaged, they could forget ever doing business with my company
again. They relented." He paused as they approached the car. Wong
knocked on the door, signalling to the person inside. "I had to do it.
She wants to work in labors, and I want her with me. What can I say? I'm
in love."
They left the building, and approached the car that was waiting for Wong.
He tapped on the door and signalled to the woman inside. She stepped out
of the car, and Asuma gasped. "Asuma Shinohara... allow me to present my
new Vice President in charge of Ethics... Takeo Kumagami."
"Takeo!?"
She smiled slightly. "What can I say? I'm in love, too."
-------------------------
I have an idea for a side-story sequel to this, where Ohta and the gang
reunite during the second movie, and they talk about what happened in this
story- sort of a redemption piece for Ohta. But this fic frustrated me so
much that I'm not likely to do that for some time, if ever. Just know that
Ohta's redemption was planned, even if it won't be written....
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Subject: OtRep.txt
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Epilog:
Slowly, Noa's eyes blinked open. There was Asuma, sitting over her, an
expression of concern on his face. Her expression softened into a smile,
and so did his. He started to lean over, almost as if in habit, when a
loud throat-clearing from across the room startled them both.
Noa looked over to see that Gotoh, Shinobu, Inspector Matsui, Takeo,
Utsumi, Hiromi, and Kanuka Clancy were all in the room as well. Perhaps a
nice wake-up kiss wouldn't be a good idea, after all. Besides, her mouth
tasted funny, as though she hadn't brushed her teeth in a while.
"How's Alphonse?" she croaked out, surprising herself with her own
hoarseness.
Asuma quickly raised a paper cup full of water to her lips as the others in
the room tried to supress their laughter. To her surprise, she noticed
handcuffs on his wrists. She drank, but as soon as she could, she said,
"You've been arrested again?"
He smiled and shrugged. "Just a technicality."
"A judge is writing up the court order to release him officially as we
speak. As it is, we have permission to keep him out of prison 'for his own
safety' as long as he's secured," Matsui clarified. "I've got my pager, so
I'll know the moment it comes through."
Noa hesitated. "What happened? I don't remember much after the
explosion...."
"Shinobu saved us from certain death," Asuma explained cavalierly, sending
a significant look to the others telling them to let him tell the rest of
the story later, in private. "You were badly hurt by the blast, however.
The doctors think your heart might have even stopped briefly, but it
miraculously started again before they were on the scene. You were badly
cut by flying glass, and your shoulder restraint dislocated one arm. The
worst of it was internal, though- you had a collapsed lung... and a few
other things." The look of anguish on his face while he listed these
injuries was palpable. Anyone in the room could see that he was feeling
sympathy pains as he talked.
Wong continued where he left off after being nudged by Takeo. "They had to
remove your spleen... and your appendix, too, but that was incidental- it
was going to have to come out anyway." He smiled. "Nothing you aren't
able to live without."
"I'm not sure I lived through the battle," Noa said curiously. "I remember
the explosion, sort of... then this light at the end of a long tunnel I was
approaching... then waking up to see Asuma crouched at my feet. The rest
is kind of a blur, but I could have sworn I wasn't breathing until I saw
Asuma again...."
A nurse came in and said a few words to Gotoh. He stepped out of the room
with her for a moment, while everyone else chatted. Mostly, it was people
telling Noa to get better soon, wishing her well, and the like. Any topics
dealing with the actual incident, however, were completely ignored. Noa
felt as if they were something, but decided she'd dig it out of Asuma
later.
Gotoh stepped into the room, and cleared his throat to attract everyone's
attention. "Ah... ah. Excuse me, everyone, but I've been told our visitor
hours are almost up. Asuma, you could probably stay, but they want to give
her family a chance to see her, as well."
"My FAMILY is here?" Noa exclaimed, startled. They never left their home
island- never!
"Come on, people, let's get out of here," Gotoh said, ushering everyone but
Asuma out of the room. Before he shut the door, he turned to the two of
them. "Asuma, you aren't allowed out of this room until Matsui gets
confirmation of your release. Noa, I'm going to have to talk to you later
about some unresolved issues with all this." After waiting for their nods
of acknowledgement, he left.
Suddenly, Noa remembered something. "Asuma, how's Alphonse?"
Asuma grimaced. "Uh... I'll tell you when your parents are done visiting,
okay?"
"What? Why? Can't you just-"
"MY LITTLE GIRL!" a pair of voices sobbed from the door. Two people, Noa's
parents, burst in and ran to her bedside. Her mother quickly grabbed her
hand, holding it fiercely. Her father glared at Asuma venomously before
joining his wife in her vigil, putting a hand on Noa's good shoulder and
squeezing reassuredly.
"Mom! Dad!" Noa said, smiling and clasping her mother's hand tighter.
"I'm so happy to see you."
"Oh, my poor little angel," her mother whimpered back, tears dripping from
her cheeks.
"Relax, mom!" Noa cried. "I'm all right."
"No, you're not," her father said sternly. "I feared this would happen. I
warned you over and over again it could, and you never listened. Now,
you'll probably never get married- how many men like women with scars all
over them? I hope you'll finally take my advice and just leave this
horribly dangerous line of work." Asuma twitched slightly.
Noa glared at her father. "Dad, I've told you once, and I'll tell you
again. I LOVE labors. Furthermore, I don't want to be seperated from As-
Alphonse," she said, barely catching herself. Asuma twitched again. "I
won't leave the force until they force me out."
"And YOU!" her father said, moving in on Asuma. "How DARE you let her get
hurt like this! You should have known better then to send her into this
kind of situation- and after she risked everything to save you, too!" The
labor officer winced, but didn't say anything in his own defence.
"Dad!" Noa snapped. "Leave him alone!"
Her father changed tacts instantly. "Dear... don't you WANT to find
yourself a husband? You're already going to have problems, with all of
these injuries, but-"
"Yes," Noa said, her eyes quickly glancing over at Asuma before returning
her attention on the man in front of her. "I DO want to find a husband.
But I won't be able to live with a husband who won't let me be who I am-
and I am a labor pilot in the SV2."
"Do you really think you ever will?!" her father snapped. "Who could want
to marry someone who spends their days risking their lives in order to
publically HUMILIATE themselves! A labor pilot for the SV2, huh? You DO
realize that makes you a laughingstock, don't you? If I had my way, you-"
"Shut up," Asuma snarled, clanging his handcuffs against the metal railing
on Noa's hospital bed. "She just got out of surgery, damn near lost her
life, and yet all you can do is yell at her and insult her to her face. My
father may have been bad, but at least he had some common sense and DIDN'T
get into an argument with me the one time I was hospitalized."
"She's an ingrate!" her father shouted. "Do you know how much we spent on
her education? We were setting her up to be the perfect wife for a
wonderful husband, and instead she goes off on this foolhearty quest to
become a patlabor pilot!"
"DEAR!" his wife snapped. Everyone turned to look at her as she comforted
a tear-filled Noa. "I can't believe you said that!"
Asuma looked at Noa for a little while, then back to her father. "If she
wants a husband... WHEN she wants a husband... she'll have one, whatever
she is. Now, leave her ALONE!"
Noa's eyes widened at that proclamation. "Asuma..."
Finally, her father 'got it.' He now, finally, understood why his little
girl had risked everything to protect this man, why she got upset when he
yelled at the boy, why she didn't want to stop working with labors, and why
she was so adament about not leaving the SV2.
"I'm sorry, Noa. It's just... I see you there, in that hospital bed, and
it's just like what I've been seeing in my worst nightmares." He sighed.
"I haven't slept much since I heard you went AWOL, and all of my fears came
out at once... I think I need to step out for a bit and calm down. I...
don't really mean most of what I said."
Noa sniffed slightly, wiping the tears off her face. "I understand,
dad...."
Her mother went over to lead her husband out of the room so they could all
calm down, leaving Noa and Asuma alone. Asuma sighed, pulled a tissue, and
started dabbing her face, clearing away the tear stains.
Noa hesitantly smiled up at him and took the tissue away. "Asuma. Was...
what you just said... was that a proposal?"
He scratched the back of his head uncertainly. "Well... I wasn't thinking
about what I was saying, really. Your dad just got me angry enough to say
just about anything.... If you DO want to get married some day, I wouldn't
have any problem with it, though."
Noa smirked. For some reason, she wasn't surprised- or upset- by that.
"I'll hold you to that one day," she said.
Asuma half-smiled nervously. "In that case, I have a feeling your father's
going to get most everything he wants. Noa... we need to talk a bit.
About some of the things Gotoh's going to want to talk with you about when
he comes back."
Noa's face fell. "Uh oh. I don't like the sound of that."
"You're not going to like this," he said. Taking a deep breath, he
continued, "Noa... you can't pilot for the SV2 any more. While they are
not pressing charges, you DID damage police property while 'rescuing' me,
and you WERE technically aiding and abetting a fugitive from the law.
Gotoh knows that his superiors, especially those whose friends are going to
be disciplined for being a part of the whole Schaft conspiracy, are going
to want to do something to you... like transferring you or forcing you to
resign. But you aren't likely to be in the SV2 any more."
Horror dawned on Noa's face. "No... but, but... what about Alphonse?!"
"He's being retired," Asuma stated slowly. "He's the only surviving
Ingram- Ohta's in unrecoverable. Alphonse is in such bad shape that they
plan to retire the whole line, and bring in more Zeros...."
"But..." Fresh tears dripped down her face. "I guess I'd gotten used to
the idea of one day losing him, but... I hadn't thought I'd be losing you,
too."
That took him by surprise. "What? Why would you be losing me?"
Noa looked at him sadly. "Don't you see? You'll be part of the SV2 and I
won't... and we BOTH know how little personal time that leaves us off-base.
However we feel about each other, if we never are able to see each other-"
"Well, actually, Noa," Asuma interrupted, somewhat uncertainly. "I'm not
going to be part of SV2, after all."
"You're not?"
"No. I'm going to be part of Shinohara Heavy Industries."
"You are?! But-"
"Dad didn't quite leave me with the company," he explained. "He didn't
trust me with it- instead, he put it in the hands of a 'board of trustees.'
But I inherited a large portion of it- and his life insurance is actually
paying off the inheritence taxes. It included one stipulation, however...
one I'm not too happy with. I was planning to turn it down, inheritence or
no inheritence, but after all of this I guess... well, the stipulation is
that I have to leave SV2 and-"
"Work for the company."
Asuma nodded. "I selected my own job, though- I'm going to be involved in
special project. The Patlabor contract, specifically... I'll be in charge
of developing new labors for the police, fire and rescue, and maybe even
military units." He paused, considering. "We may need a police liason
with labor experience... know anyone who might be willing to take that
position?"
Noa smiled up at him. "Yeah... maybe I do. Maybe I do." She yawned.
"Get some sleep. You need it."
"Officer Noa Izumi, doing as ordered, sir," she said, smiling sleepily,
before closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep.
* * * * *
In the waiting room, Takeo sat sipping coffee with Richard Wong, Gotoh, and
Shinobu. "By the way, Lt. Kumagami," Shinobu said, "Gotoh and I have a few
things to discuss with you. An opportunity, if you will."
"Oh?" Takeo said. "What is that?"
"There's going to be a lot of turmoil in the police- and especially the
SV2- after this. Section Chief Fukushima's being asked to resign, and I've
been told I'm going to be promoted into his place," Shinobu began.
"Izumi's going to be transferred out of the SV2," Gotoh continued. "Much
to my disgust. Best labor pilot I've ever seen, and she's not going to be
very effective anywhere else, I fear. At any rate, she's not the only one
going, either- Ohta felt that he needed a transfer, fearing he'd ruined his
ability to work with the others after his single-minded pursuit of
Shinohara. I fear for our future, as he's going to be put in charge of
labor training at the Academy. Shinohara, himself, is likely to resign due
to some details in his father's will. Kanuka is, of course, returning to
America some time soon, which means we're down both of our pilots and my
two best substitutes."
"We can't afford to lose another pilot," Shinobu continued. "Gomioka will
remain Unit One's top labor pilot, whatever you decide, but you are not a
pilot at all, and have never recieved any training in that regard. We were
thinking of transferring Captain Gotoh to command of Unit One, and
promoting you into Captain of Unit Two...."
"I like the offer, Sir, Ma'am..."
* * * * *
ONE MONTH LATER...
"As usual, it seems Shinohara Heavy Industries is making the best offer,"
the police representative said to the gathered negotiators. "Especially
since we only have to pay for two of the three Zeros. But I'd like to
know, why are you willing to trade a perfectly good Zero for an obsolescent
Ingram?"
Asuma Shinohara, the representative of Shinohara Heavy Industries, smiled
slightly. "Well, Captain, I happen to have some experience with that
particular Ingram. And, I believe, you'll note that we're insisting you
let the maintenance team for Special Vehicles Second Section to repair it
to the best of their ability before the trade in."
"Yes, I noticed that."
"Well, while I was WITH the SV2, I noticed that specific Ingram performing
better than any other labor out there... including our Zeros. Since we
developed its architecture, I know it has recieved a number of upgrades and
customizations from the maintenance squad, and we wish to study them."
The Captain frowned. "That could very well have been thanks to the pilot,
you know. And we will not release the movement disk, as some of that
information may compromise them."
Asuma tried to stifle a laugh, and failed. "Didn't you know, Captain? My
fiance piloted that Ingram for its entire career. I already HAVE a copy of
the movement disk."
The Captain flushed slightly. "Oh... of course. Well, I don't think there
were any other irregularities... so, the Special Vehicles labor contract is
being awarded to Shinohara Heavy Industries. We are currently undecided
about the Traffic Control labors, however... will the negotiators of
Shinohara Heavy Industries and Sangria Enterprises please return at 0800
tomorrow to continue discussions?" After a couple of nods, he continued,
"Very well. This meeting is adjourned."
The representatives of a dozen labor manufacturers started milling about
the room, talking to their peers and catching up on old times- or, in some
cases, ribbing them good-naturedly. Asuma quickly made his way to the
negotiator for the newest of these, Sangria Enterprises.
"Well, well, well. Maybe I shouldn't have helped you out after all,"
Richard Wong, president of Sangria Enterprises said, raising his hand.
"Good job."
Asuma took it, shaking his hand warmly. "Hello, Utsumi. I see the
downfall of Shaft hasn't hurt you very much. In fact, seems to me you've
made out like a bandit in the aftermath."
Wong laughed. "Of course, of course. Surely you didn't expect otherwise?"
They both laughed, then settled down and served themselves a cup of coffee
each. "So, how did you wiggle all of Planning Division Seven away from
Shaft, anyway?" Asuma asked.
Wong shook his head dismissively. "Bah... I just took my stock in the
company and used it to purchase away the only thing I wanted- namely, the
development team of the Griffin and the construction facilities aboard the
Sangria. They threw in the rest of the division because they were trying
to get out of Japan, I guess- there are at least four other spinoffs, you
know." He paused, then his watch alarm beeped. "Looks like I've got to
go. Why don't you come with me? I want to know what you think of my new
Vice President of Ethics. So you and Noa made it official, huh?"
Asuma's smile turned rueful as he followed the other man out of the room.
"Not... exactly. Oh, we're planning to get married someday, but not any
time soon. But all of the tabloids are now talking about how the 'son of
the greatest businessman in the history of mechanical industry' was seeing
a lady cop, and so we said we were fiancees to the press. Well, I guess we
did make it official, but we haven't set a date or anything."
"I'm surprised the police agreed to keep her as the liason to Shinohara
Heavy Industries after that was revealed."
Asuma scratched his head. "Well, Gotoh and Shinobu both spoke up for her,
and I added that if they forced her out of that job just because we'd
gotten engaged, they could forget ever doing business with my company
again. They relented." He paused as they approached the car. Wong
knocked on the door, signalling to the person inside. "I had to do it.
She wants to work in labors, and I want her with me. What can I say? I'm
in love."
They left the building, and approached the car that was waiting for Wong.
He tapped on the door and signalled to the woman inside. She stepped out
of the car, and Asuma gasped. "Asuma Shinohara... allow me to present my
new Vice President in charge of Ethics... Takeo Kumagami."
"Takeo!?"
She smiled slightly. "What can I say? I'm in love, too."
-------------------------
I have an idea for a side-story sequel to this, where Ohta and the gang
reunite during the second movie, and they talk about what happened in this
story- sort of a redemption piece for Ohta. But this fic frustrated me so
much that I'm not likely to do that for some time, if ever. Just know that
Ohta's redemption was planned, even if it won't be written....
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