Chapter 2: Heart
Earth: 2238 July 1st, 8:00 am
Yelo Heights Suite # 172, Isaac City
This feels familiar. Linay thought to herself. Linay in her lightly configured Armored Core, the Crystal Blue, flew beneath an overpass filled with cars attempting to drive out of that section of Isaac City The blue- haired Amazon pilot was in her AC flying toward the ensuing battle between Vance and Kiros. Besides the cars that were trying to get away from the carnage, there were even citizens running. Following her not too far behind was Mia and Kounji side by side in their units. The furious pilot continued her ground level run towards Vance's last reported position. She came up closer to where her 2D map said it was marked, and saw it was a highly elevated. She boost jumped over an overturned car and continued upwards until she reached a high overpass common in cities like Isaac. She flew over the side of the street and has she hovered comfortably over the edge she cut off her boosters and landed perfectly on the middle of the street.
Linay looked further down the street attempting to locate Vance. There was smoke and flames billowing out of a building nearby. She cringed as she noticed burned corpses of those who tried to escape. Suddenly she heard a loud spraying noise. She quickly rotated her AC in the looked in the direction of the noise and she saw a few missiles plow into a skyscraper in the distance. The middle of the building's structure cracked and she could hear it breaking apart from as far away, as she was. The top half of the building cracked, broke off from the middle of the building, and began to fall towards the city floor below. My god it is looking bad over in that direction, he has to be there. Linay maneuvered down the street. After a few seconds of walking down the street, the skyscraper finally hit the ground causing it to shake violently. This is that part where the overpass is supposed to fall and Kounji nearly gets killed Linay thought. Suddenly the street felt like it was going to give way. The concrete street began to buck and collapse. Linay instinctually jumped and boosted out of the way just has a large portion of it had given way. The large pieces of the broken portion tumbled down towards where Kounji and Mia were boosting there way up. Mia ducked out of the way with ease but Kounji on the other hand couldn't make it in time. Linay heard him gasp and then curse has his AC got nicked by a the end of the street s. "My left arm actuator is screwy" Kounji said. "Don't complain to me about it Kounji." Linay responded. A few seconds later, the street hit the ground making the earth surrounding it shake crushing the overturned car like a tin can. Linay landed back on the rest of the street that was remaining, and boosted off in the direction of the skyscraper explosion. Mia reached the broken overpass shortly after and so did Kounji.
Linay boosted her way along the highway towards the Skyscraper explosion. As she reached a highway sign, Linay's vision became blurry. Suddenly she felt the straps that bound her to her AC disappear. The confines of her cockpit also faded. This part she remembered all to well. She was running down the street speaking to Vance over her headset. Her heart was beating rapidly so much that anyone close to her could have easily heard it." Don't do it Vance there might be another way out of this- I'll fight Kiros." Linay said She fell to her knees panting. She began sobbing uncontrollably. "You don't have to die here Vance." Linae continued. Linay lunged her fist into the concrete. She didn't even notice the blood that dripped from her knuckles. "Why it's not like I mean very much to you Linay." Vance said.
"I do care Vance but there was nothing I could possibly do" Linay replied defensively.
"If you really cared enough you would be here my love." Vance said back to her.
"Don't say that!" You don't understand" Linay begged
"Good bye Linay.
Then an explosion hit engulfing the landscape into a blue light until it completely covered Linay's vision. Suddenly Linay was in the darkness; cold and naked she looked around for any sign of reality. She then saw the silhouette of four figures appear from the void.. Three of them were about the same height while the other one was about a foot shorter. As they moved forward the shadows around them faded and Kounji, Mia, Roc and mousy little Kai were revealed, "You failed all of us, Linay." The one she saw was Roc said "You only care about yourself and not anyone else." His body was decaying and very cadaverous. Linay felt nauseated when she saw that his left arm was still missing from a terrorist attack a few years ago. Suddenly more figures came from the darkness. All of their bodies were either burnt beyond recognition or zombie-like. "That's why we're all dead its all rest on your shoulders, on your shoulders." They all said. They were all saying this while surrounding around her. "I love all of u no its not true". The talking continued. "You never cared about anyone but yourself how could deserve someone has caring as Vance". Mia said. "Traitor, Coward. " Kai screamed at Linay. "Stop it there all lies, stop it." Linay fell to her knees gripping her ears but the chanting still rang within them. "I should have never saved you if I knew this would happen, I guess you weren't really worth the trouble." Kounji said. Linay could not bare the repetitious chant. "It's your fault, all your fault," they said. A dark silhouette of a male floated down to the kneeling Linay. "Lineous!" The voice called her. There was something odd about the voice it sounded like the voice of men and women and even synthetic voices all rolled in to one Linae looked up at the figure. "Linay I know your secret." The people continued to press Linay further and further until darkness came.
Linay woke up in her bed alone, sweating and panting. It was only a dream she had, an inaccurate one at that. She flicked her blue white stranded hair back and sat up on her bed. It had been two weeks since Vance's funeral and she still was not able to push Vance from being the number one thing on her mind. What could this all mean? Why would Vance say something like that? She peered over to the right of where she was laying and saw a picture of herself and Vance kissing at one of the many Banquets that Kensei held over the years. She remembered that particular one fondly. It was the one where Vance asked Linay to marry him. She remembered the way he kissed her and how his touch felt. The way he always moved his hands across her shoulders. She knew she was never going to have those feelings again. " I love you so much Vance." Linay said to the picture. "I'm sorry I failed you." It was the one where Vance asked Linay to marry him. She sat up on her bed holding the picture. As she looked into Vance's eyes, tears began to flow from hers. Why couldn't I save you Vance? Linay thought to herself. She held the picture close to her and began to cry.
It took her several minutes to bring herself back to control. She placed her picture back on the nightstand and whipped her tears away from her face with her left index finger. Linay then turned on the holovision. "The news was defaulted as usual. It was Katherine Thompson from Isaac Global News on the screen. She her eyes looked a bit droopy. Linay had a confrontation with Thompson a year earlier. Ever since, she hasn't liked the reporter. " Hi welcome back to the morning Isaac Global News, With news correspondent Katherine Thompson." A voice of screen said "Today Kensei Corporation is due to announce the beginning of the rebuilding of Southern Isaac City, as you know three weeks ago was the attack pressed upon Isaac by Armed Forces allegedly connected to Chrome. In related news, public hero Vance Kurasagi..." Linay turned off the television before she saw Vance's face on the TV again. Every time she looked at something or went somewhere that reminded her of Vance, it hurt her.
Linay eased her way out of her double bed and walked in to her bathroom. She slowly shut the door behind her.. Why couldn't I have just gone with you Vance? Linay slipped out of her nightgown and stepped into her shower. She closed the shower door before shutting the water on and cranking up the heat. She felt that maybe the warm water would help her wake up and stop thinking about the strange dream that she had. Nevertheless, has she soaked in the water for several minutes, the effects that she had hoped for had not come.
***
Earth: 2238 July 1st 10:00am GMT
Kensei Corporate HQ, Isaac City
Mia Vinosec stepped off an elevator on to the 35th floor of the Kensei Corporate headquarters building. Accompanying her was Kounji Takagi. They were both in formal civilian dress. Mia felt great actually getting back to work again. Just something about not being active just bothered her. Today would involve her meeting with the C.E.O of the Kensei Corporation and many of its Military leaders. This would be the Demons' first official day back on the job. The two stepped into an off white hallway that was virtually bare of any other decor except for the Kensei "Fan" logo along the walls. The floor of the hallway was a black contrast. It was ironic to Mia that the hallway was black and white while executives normally favored gray areas. Mia walked ahead of Kounji taking a guiding lead ahead of him. As Kounji and her reached a turn, she looked off to her left appearing to be checking the passageway when she was really just trying to get a look at Kounji out of the corner of her eye. She had to admit he looked pretty attractive all dressed up in suit and tie. She noticed that he was bit nervous because of how stiffly he was walking. She didn't know exactly why he so nervous; he had been to important meetings before with him. Maybe he worried if the Demons would get a chance to avenge his mentor's death or maybe it was something as simple if his hair looked right. Still he definitely caught her eye. She could not quite put her finger on why she liked him. He seemed to be more into his mecha and running around with Kai than into relationships.
The two up to this point had been catching each other up on the past few weeks' events. "I wonder why exactly Jinkai called us here for today Kounji-san?" Mia asked. " Probably something about the rebuilding efforts, a reassignment perhaps." Kounji said. Kounji, always so serious you would expect him to tell a joke here and there. Mia thought, "Have you gotten a chance to talk to Linay at all?" Mia asked.
The duo stopped. "No, she hasn't picked up her phone at her and Vance's suite at all in the past week." "Have you had contact with her?" Kounji asked back. "Well, I wouldn't be asking you if I did." She said sarcastically. " Though I do hope she is alright, it reminds me of what happened to my aunt." She said.
"Your aunt?" Kounji asked
"My aunt killed herself about a week after she lost her fiancé in a car crash. It was tragic my mom told me after that to always look after someone's brother, sister, or lover. I wouldn't want Linay to turn out the same way. "Mia continued. " Having Linay die right after Vance would be the last thing I think any of us would like to see."
"Ok then it's settled I'm going to go see if she is all right after we're done here. Her place is only about twenty miles from here." Kounji said. Mia grabbed Kounji's arm. "It's good that you've decided to take some initiative Mr. Takagi, it's a change" Mia replied back smiling. "If another person's life is in danger, especially someone I care about then there isn't much decision to be made. " Kounji stated. " I'll hold you to that Kounji-san." Mia said giggling. The two continued their walk down the long corridor. Mia noticed while they continued their long trip to Kensei's Boardroom that Kounji's head was looking slightly upward at the ceiling. "What's got your head bobbing Takagi?" Mia asked. " Oh nothing, its just that their have been cameras following us the whole way in. Does Kensei have some big secret he's hiding in here or something.? Kounji said. "Oh, yeah I forgot you've never been cleared to this area of the building before now." Mia said. Kounji nodded. " Well it's always been like this except there is an absence of guards this time very strange." " But in addition to those camera's heat sensors sound, everything the most secure floor in the entire building, well next to the central computer floor but that's in the lower regions" "Mia continued. She reveled in how astute the two of them were and wondered if Kounji was astute enough to notice the same thing.
"So now after listening to your small talk I get to ask something." Mia said. Mia halted her walking Kounji noticed then followed suit. She put her hands behind her back grasping her fingertips and then turned toward Kounji. Wait what's wrong with me I can't go for the kill, not yet at least. "Oh never mind it can wait" Mia said, "I'll tell you when this thing is over.
They continued walking down the large white hallway, which seemed like an eternity to Mia, until they reached the desk of Jinkai's personal secretary. The black-haired Japanese woman looked up at the two. "Hello Ms. Vinosec, Mr. Takagi you are here for the briefing this morning I presume." she said. "Um, yeah he said it was supposed to be at 10:00 am we got a little caught up in traffic this morning" Mia replied. The woman then buzzed a receiver on top of her desk. "Mr. Kensei, your visitors: Ms. Vinosec and Mr. Takagi are here to see you". She said. A second or two later Kensei responded, "Send them on through" he said. "By the way Ms. Vinosec, I thought the speech two weeks ago was great. You really should try going into politics or you should be a celebrity." The woman mentioned. "Thank You, it just came from the heart really. " Mia said. "She practically is a celebrity." Kounji mumbled under his breathe. Mia kicked Kounji in his left leg. Kounji muffled his yelp as best he could. The secretary tried not to laugh but to no avail. "You guys should hurry now." She said back still sort of laughing.
The two turned perpendicular to the woman's desk and walked forward to the two large doors of Jinkai Kensei's Boardroom. Kounji went forward and opened the two doors lightly. It opened up into Jinkai Kensei's Boardroom, which had a mostly tan interior with an outlook of downtown Isaac City behind him. Jinkai stood at his black marble table, which had many of the Kensei Security Council members already seated. The ones Mia noticed were Renault Kensei's personal security coordinator, the always shady Mr. Asashi Noda, Kensei's Chief Advisor, and Veteran MT pilot turned Technical advisor Iora Conniver who was Kensei's temporary General presiding over Isaac City. Furthermore was Kensei's Liaison with the Raven Mercenary Core, Yune Kukuchi. Across from her was Alvin Drake, the Commanding Officer of the Kindred mercenary group and his Executive Officer, Phillip Wilde. Across from them was the CO of the Blades Ken Sho Long and his XO Rela Helson. Continuing around the table there was Eric Reynaldo the Acting Chief General of the Kensei Above Ground Forces and Frederick Greenfield Leader of the small yet resilient Space Forces finally at the head Mr. Kensei himself.
"Good Morning Captains." Kensei said. "Morning Mr. Kensei" the two said in tandem while bowing. "Have a seat we have much to discuss." He continued. Mia and Kounji both sat down facing in Kensei's direction. Kensei promptly seated himself." Would you two like any coffee or anything, sake?" he asked. "No" the two said at the same time. "Ok, if we would continue with this meeting please before we get interrupted with anymore late arrivals." Conniver said. Mia smirked at her older superior. That bitch, if only she wasn't a General. If there was tension between anyone in this room, it was between those two. "With the apparent absence of Chrome and its leader, Motobo Nazuka, their corporate building and all of its assets are to be processed by this corporation and its security forces."" Hopefully through this acquisition, many of their trade secrets such as the human plus project and many other of its technical patents can be used to better our military forces and give us a better understanding of them." The initial processes should take place later in the week; on top of that, there will also be a speech in the Dekano district later this afternoon. Mr. Renault and Mr. Okinada will be in charge of my personal defense during this time also; " Kensei said taking a small breath with the precision of an established speaker before he went on. " In regards to protecting the internal parts of the city I have asked Ms. Kukuchi to begin drafting protection contracts to the independent mercenaries to help support our forces against external powers such as Verge, and Iseko Unlimited and other potentially hostile corporations on the outer perimeter of Isaac City." While we have the 3rd, 7th, and 15th armored MT Battalions guard the inner perimeter with the added protection of the Blades, Kindred, and Demons who will be tackling both the inside and out when we deem necessary". Kensei said
"Mr. Kensei this is obviously a given, but if I may ask a question." Kounji interrupted
" Go ahead."
"Are we going to be pursuing Nazuka at all?" Kounji asked.
"That will be our corporation's goal eventually, but for now our main focus is going to be controlling the populace in the wake of the terror that occurred last month and rebuilding the city's structure." Kensei explained. Kounji strained himself in his chair while Kensei told this to him. . Mia looked out of the corner of her eye while Kounji was struggling. She took in a deep breath has her comrade let his true feelings be known. "But how can you let this bastard escape again all he'll do is rise to power we need to focus our time on getting him now before its too late." Kounji said. "We simply can't spare the resources to start a massive manhunt for him right now." Kounji exploded from his seat. Many of the personnel stared at Kounji shocked at his vehemence. "Damn it Mr.. Kensei we need to..."
"Kounji leave the room now" Mia interrupted. Kounji stormed out of the room slamming the door back has he left Kensei's office. Mia then looked back at Kensei. "I'm sorry for my counterpart's behavior" Mia said. "If he was under my command I'd have him booted for such blatant insubordination" Iola stated, "It's forgivable given the recent situation." Kensei said. "The kid has been seeking justice for quite sometime now and he was really hoping that he would get a shot at it." Mia said. "Funny, I don't remember Kensei Corp being an open forum for vigilantes," Conniver said. Anger burned in Mia's face. Mia barely subdued the urge to lash out, but doubted she could control herself much longer. Kensei looked like he ignored Conniver's outburst and focused more of his attention on Mia. This act appeased her temper. "It will happen eventually, but now is not time there are more pressing matters that must be attended to first that go far beyond tracking down old enemies." Kensei said showing a sense of sympathy. "Of course, sir." Mia replied.
"As I told you earlier I'm supposed to officially deliver a speech announcing the reconstruction of Isaac City in one hour with Mayor Enki Hermann." Kensei said. "Only the problem is there have been a few death threats passed in my direction and in the mayor's by the Divine Sphere." he continued. " This terrorist organization takes a far more secretive military approach then Imminent Storm ever did; assassinations, bombings, but no real takeovers or hostage situations to date. " Iola stated. "As far as there background goes they're responsible for the bombing of a Fortgarden mall, the downing of Chrome civilian airliner, and the shooting death of that pop singer Talya Keyes during a live concert. " she continued. "But get this there is a connection between all these occurrences- they all happened during deciding moments of the corporate wars.
"Sounds like these terrorists know when they can do the most damage." Long said.
"That could be a problem, I'm guessing this where us mercenaries come in." Mia remarked. "
Exactly, since our corporation's intelligence in this region is still not the greatest and I'm sure we don't have the guard's full cooperation, you mercenaries will be our only way at stamping out the Divine Sphere. Mr. Renault and his team will still be in charge of my personal security for noon's speech plus we do have cooperation with the guard in that area to handle a 1 mile perimeter although 2 miles might have been more sufficient." Kensei said.
"Alright, In addition to this situation report you will each be receiving your last assignment for this contract period." Kensei said. Kensei stood up out of his chair and motioned his hand over to Conniver and Reynaldo. The two of them both stood up and went to the front of the room. Before Kensei sat down, Mia saw him look over in Kukuchi's direction. "Ms. Kukuchi I'm sorry but for security reasons I'm going to have to ask you to leave." Kensei said. Yune picked up a briefcase she had set out on the table and locked it up. "I understand" Yune said. She stood up from the seat she held and quickly walked over to the double doors of the boardroom. Mia noticed Yune turn around as she opened the door. "I wish all of you the best of luck in the coming months. " Yune said. She made her way through the doorway, letting the leftward door close itself behind her.
Kensei extended his left hand towards the generals of the table" Generals Conniver and Reynaldo." Kensei said. The two Generals left their seats and walked up to the front of the table nearest to Kensei where there was a holographic projector and laptop fixated. Conniver hunched over and began typing in some commands for the laptop first. Immediately the projector came alive and began displaying a 3D image in front of the table. Mia noticed right away that it was a building and it looked strangely familiar to her. Then a rotating C symbol appeared in a window next to it. It's the chrome HQ. She thought. Mia and the Demons had made plenty of visits to the Chrome HQ in the past. The most recent one was an attack aimed at capturing the same facility intact. Finally, Conniver moved from the laptop and began to speak. "This if many of you remember it is the chrome HQ. Currently it is the subject of an intelligence inspection by our corporation." Conniver took a short breath and then spoke again. "This operation up until now has been protected by the 5th battalion's ground and mobile forces and the Kindred. Beginning next week the Demons will take the place of the Kindred in guarding this operation." Conniver said. Drake from the Kindred raised his hand. "General where exactly does this put my unit?" Drake asked. "I think General Reynaldo could better answer this question than I." Conniver said
Reynaldo stepped up to the laptop as Conniver moved over to the side. He typed in a few commands that removed Conniver's 3D data from the room. After punching in some more commands, a map image filled the space that the chrome HQ occupied before. Mia could tell from the map's oranges and reds that it was a desert. The map zoomed in on a point. A slight magnification made a small base appear dead center on the map. "This is where the Kindred will spend the remainder of their contract period. The eight and ninth battalions are currently posted at this outpost, which is located near the Seka Dunes region of the Zahm desert. Recent attacks on patrols in their surrounding perimeter suggest that Iseko Unlimited's formidable Gemini Force is only weeks away from taking the base in this Area. Their forces severely outnumber our own. This is why we have decided to move the Kindred into this area in hopes of edging off a major offensive." Reynaldo said. Reynaldo moved from behind the table and took his seat and Conniver shortly followed suit. As the two set down, Kensei motioned over at Colonel Greenfield, who seemed to be a little disconnected from the room to Mia. Of the three times she was around Colonel Greenfield, he seemed to be too quirky for a military officer. "Colonel Greenfield, I believe you had a few words." Kensei said. Greenfield shook his head and then stood up from the table. "Yes, thanks Mr. Kensei." Greenfield said.
Greenfield faced in the direction of Long and Helson's direction then he began to speak. "Your unit's assignment is very simple, you will remain on defensive duty onboard the space patrol frigate Vigilant. Recent build up of Verge's space armor and vessels have dictated that they are also preparing for an offensive. Once you and the blades are in space again you will be given more specific orders referring to mission roles." Greenfield said. Greenfield quickly sat back down.
"The same goes for the rest of you. The specifics of your missions will be sent to you via terminal very soon." Kensei said. "Now if any of you have any further questions you may now ask them?."
"Is there anything else I might need to know" Mia asked. "Just one small thing really, I would like for Demon Squad to work close together with our intelligence bureau. We are hoping that with your intelligence expertise and your leadership abilities we will be able a force to be reckoned with. Kensei said "Understandable, well if there is not anything else I'll be going now." Mia said." Well we are also suggesting that you take charge of your unit, the Demons." Conniver said, Mia sat up in her chair shocked. She did not just say what I thought she said did she. She certainly knew that the word "suggesting" in military terms usually meant you were going to whether you like it or not. Mia stood up, her eyes glowing and straining her face not to smile ecstatically. "Thank you ma'am it's an absolute honor but why not someone more senior like Ms. Valione to do it. She has proven her self to be a far more capable leader than I under her belt." Mia said. Mia completely despised the idea of working with anal Ms. Conniver but even more, she did not like taking a responsibility that someone, a close friend of hers, Linay Valiyone rightfully deserved. Mia's last experience working with Conniver started out nice from what Mia remembered. Mia had gathered that Conniver loved the idea that Vance had made a woman his executive officer, and she would enjoy working with her. However, Mia even knew that she was not an adequate leader and would still need much work to become one. Ever since Conniver came to that realization, she had been watching Mia like a hawk. "Well her loyalty is still questionable by many people throughout our ranks yours, however is has good as gold as they say." Kensei said." "Understandable, well if there isn't anything else I'll be going now." Mia said. Mia got out of her chair and then bowed to Kensei, which he then returned. "Congratulations Commander Vinosec." Kensei said. Kensei then turned his chair back, sat down, and looked outward to the view of the downtown area. By that time, Mia had left the room.
Mia walked next to the receptionist desk that she had encountered at first. "Ms. Vinosec, Mr. Takagi just stormed out of here really fast all of a sudden is there some type of emergency or something." The woman said. "Only a really major one, his heart's broken." Mia replied. "Why, what happened?" Mishinta asked. "Um, it's a short story but I really don't feel like getting into it right now." The secretary smiled stared back into Mia's eyes. "Is there something going on between you two?" Mia stood there and actually thought about a response. "We're really just friends." Mia replied blushing slightly. "Aw come on I can tell you like him at least. I can see you smiling whenever I see you two around each other." Mishinta said. Mia could see she was getting pressed into a conversation but had to break it off. "I have to go Ishi maybe I can talk to you about it more later" Mia said. "Oh alright I'll quit pestering you about your man. Mishinta replied. Mia began walking away but thought she ought to say something. "By the way I got been promoted but like I said I got go, we will bump into each other again though. Bye!" Mia said. "Oh, well congratulations Mia" Mishinta said. Mia heard the secretary's thanks but had already began moving down the corridor
The newly appointed leader ran down the corridor to the elevator that her and Kounji stepped through before, and pushed the button calling the elevator to the floor up to her floor. Upon its opening, Mia moved into the elevator quickly and pushed the button for the second the garage level. To avoid anyone on her floor from entering she slammed the door close button. Mia laid back against the rear of the elevator enjoying the solitude that would allow her to think about things more. How could Conniver suggest that I be made leader of Demons?- I thought she despised me. Even more so am I even ready to become a leader. I can barely keep the group together as it is let alone lead them to the victories Vance lead us to before. She thought. The trip down was much quicker than the trip up since there were not any stops made the entire time. As the doors opened up on garage level two, Mia ran out of the elevator at a fast pace and proceeded into the lot area. As she stepped next to one of the exit lanes, a blue sports car turned in her direction and rolled to a stop right in front of her, its tires screeching to a halt. Sure enough, it was Kounji.
Mia ran to the driver's side of the Nikoni sports car and tapped on the window. The driver's side window of the vehicle rolled down partially. Looking through the window, Mia immediately saw Kounji angered pale face. "Kounji I had to excuse you from the room because you had pushed too far. I'm sorry if you took it personally." Mia replied. "Do you know how long I've been trying to find the guy who was responsible for my father's death?" Kounji asked angrily "Yes Kounji I know but don't forget we have an obligation to Kensei and to the people of this city." Mia reminded him. "Don't give me the people of this city crap, you just don't get it do you, if you had lost your father and knew that the person who killed him was still running loose wouldn't you try and do everything possible to stop that man? " Kounji said. Mia paused. She thought back to her past and instantly her mind came back with nothing, absolutely nothing. "I can't answer that question Kounji there is no way I would know how that feels. " She said dolefully. "I guess that's what keeps us apart, huh. I'm going to see if Linay's ok that's one obligation I actually believe in." Kounji said. "As for a ride to the Supply depot catch a taxi, I really don't feel like talking to you right now." Kounji mumbled.
"Kounji wait a minute we still need to talk though." Mia called out to him
The sports car screeched as Kounji slammed down the gas, drove down the rest of the parking level passing by a row of cars before it, and went up the exit ramp.
"Damn You Takagi!" Mia shrieked after him. The green-haired hacker turned leader stamped the ground before walking back to the elevator and calling for the Lobby. While she felt the rush of heat that all feel when they are in love, she also felt the cold let down when they are not loved back. Every time someone tries to help him or get closer to him the further, he pushes himself away from them the further, he gets away from me. Mia knew that her fondness of him might be the only way she could even deal with his fiery behavior.