by Famira Damaris
Disclaimer: I don't own Generator Gawl or its characters! No
sue! Sue is bad!
Author's Notes: Wargh, looks like I'm getting long-winded with
this fanfic! Sorry, sorry! I do tend to babble with writing - but yes,
there is ACTION! *false gasp* How could this be, with a Famira-fic? Koji
and Ryo each do their fighting in a chapter: don't know if I'm any good
at describing fighting tho I'll do my best :P Anyway, this fanfic is going
to have some *major* spoilers! If you didn't watch up to DVD 3, then I
wouldn't read this: certain surprises will be ruined. This isn't really
a romance fanfic: but if it were, the pairings would be Masami+Gawl and
Koji+Ryo or Koji+Natsume. I'm thinking this is going to be a multi-chapter
thing: it depends, if people hate this or not.
Count Down takes
place two days after the end of the third Generator Gawl DVD: I haven't
seen the fourth, and so this fanfic is probably veering off into a totally
different direction then the cannon. This is basically from Koji's view
(but third person). If you need anything cleared up or have any questions,
e-mail me at shampoo_famira@yahoo.com. Thanks for reading. ^_^;
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Second Vision
The bell rang as the group entered the classroom. The other students were gathered in clusters: a few looked up and chorused hellos to Masami and Natsume. The teacher entered, edging around Koji and Gawl. For several moments, the other students ignored the stout man's efforts to gain their attention, still chattering away. Koji watched as the man's worn face made the transition from attentiveness, to irritation, and finally to frustration. He rapped his hand sharply on the surface of his desk several times.
"Class will now commence! Get to your seats now!" He roared. Another bang on the surface to emphasize his point.
The students, with muffled giggles and chuckles, complied, hurrying to their individual desks. Koji seated himself, as the teacher took in a breath, as he faced the classroom of suddenly serious-faced teenagers. The short man opened a drawer in his desk, pulling out a sheaf of papers. There was a collective groans. They recognized the papers: the math tests.
"Don't complain," he scolded the students, "I gave you fair warning: you should have spent the last two days preparing for this."
[We don't exactly have free time to study, now do we?] Koji glanced over at Gawl: he was yawning, and looking dangerously close to falling asleep on the spot. Masami was fixing a disgusted expression on the drowsy boy, as the teacher began to pass out the tests.
"As soon as you've received your test, you may start. If I catch anyone cheating, expect to have your paper taken away from you: you'll get a fail. No talking – raise your hand when you have finished, and I'll come and take your test."
Koji glanced down at the small slip of paper as it settled on his desk. He'd no doubt be the first to finish: it looked easy enough, and his specialty was mathematics. There was silence, except for the occasional cough and fidgeting as everyone bent down to concentrate on the test. He absently scratched out a formula, reaching up with a slender hand to tuck a lose strand of fine green hair behind his ear. It was too bad that their situation wasn't like these math problems: set, and easy to resolve. There were clear rules – one only had to know them to know all the answers. Nothing was determined, like mathematics. [Anything can still happen] Another problem's answer went onto the paper.
Koji set down his pencil, not bothering to check over his answers. He glanced out the window as the teacher swept away with his test. The clouds outside had darkened from an innocent white fluff to ugly thunderheads. It was probably going to rain soon. He was about to look away, when a slender pillar of blue light shot down from the sky. [Another generator!] He glanced quickly at Gawl and Ryo. Ryo was still bent over his paper, but from where Koji sat, he could see him grimace. The tall boy only could see Gawl's back, but he thought he saw the other's muscles tense. So they had also seen the incoming capsule. The other students hadn't, which was a relief.
[They don't want the generators to be seen. The attack will probably be after school…but who's the target going to be this time?] Koji's eyebrows drew together. He looked away. He'd have to have a meeting with Gawl and Ryo to discuss the matter. However, until the period was over, he couldn't do anything.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
"Well, back to the john. I'm starting to feel like this is a second home."
Koji flicked a withering expression at Gawl's little quip. The three were the only boys in the restroom – Ryo had made sure of that before Koji spoke up. The blond was leaning against one of the sinks, stretching out his legs as he tried to pretend that he was relaxed, glancing at Koji and Ryo. Gawl grinned widely. Koji didn't smile – this wasn't the time to do so. He planted his hands on his hips, shaking his head. The roguish grin on Gawl's face slowly faded away.
"Another generator." Ryo murmured.
"I'm not *blind*, Ryo." Gawl muttered, "I think all off us happen to have something called *eyes*."
"Stop it, Gawl. Focus on the situation at hand." Koji said. He glanced around the empty bathroom, "We can expect to be attacked today. Are you up to it, Gawl?"
The black-haired boy clenched his hand into a tight fist. "Bring 'em on!"
"So you're feeling better then?" Ryo asked. Gawl nodded vigorously.
"Still, don't forget that we have to be *careful*. Especially you, Gawl." Koji continued. "We can't be surprised again like that. Ryo was almost killed last night." Koji pursed his lips, "We also need to decide our future course of action before the end of this week: Professor Nekasa isn't of any use to us now."
Gawl blinked. He hadn't exactly been conscious when Ryuko Saito had told the man that he was no longer needed. He still needed to be filled in on the current situation.
"The thing is, Gawl, they know of your abilities. They only need to capture you once more, and Professor Nekasa's work will become obsolete," said Ryo.
"That's something to look forward to."
"You lose control too easily, Gawl. You're going to have to be doubly careful," Koji added, and looked from Gawl to Ryo. "Stay together, if you can."
"Yo, Prof Koj!" Gawl pretended to wave his hand, "What if one of us has to go pee or something and we're separated?"
Koji grunted in exasperation, "First of all, don't call me 'Koj'. And second: in the event this happens, wait at the front of the school until we're together."
"Gotcha."
"Alright, Koji."
Gawl was the first to leave the bathroom, Masami's voice piping up outside as she started to make jibes concerning Gawl's digestive track. The door closed behind him, cutting off the boy's reply. Koji turned to Ryo: the blond had pushed his slight form away from the sink, watching Gawl leave as he ran a hand through his golden hair in a nervous habit.
"You're still worried, Ryo?"
The blond nodded, "I can't help it. I thought we'd have a moment to rest."
Koji leaned against the tiled wall next to his companion, crossing his arms over his chest.
"What happens, happens. We can't erase any mistakes we make now. You just have to try your best."
Ryo suddenly flashed him a smile, and, reaching out, tentatively patted his elbow, "I worry about the wrong things. I'll do what I can. We'll do all we can to prevent our future from being repeated."
With that said, he left Koji alone. The taller boy looked down at his elbow, which was tingling faintly from the other's touch. Never before had Ryo or anyone ever touched him. He didn't know what to think of it. He was suddenly concerned for the other scientist's well being. Would he fall at the next attack? He hoped not. Koji closed his eyes, leaning his head back against the smooth surface – he was suddenly exhausted. Wouldn't it be nice to just sit down on the floor and doze off?
But he couldn't. Not until everything was resolved.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Everything continued as normal up to lunch. Gawl fell asleep in his class: both he and Masami had been sent out into the hallway with four buckets of water. Their quibbling could be heard through the walls. Ryo sent Koji a resigned expression. The two seemed to argue about anything. At least it took the generator's mind off his worries.
Not soon after was lunch. Natsume knelt down on the grass next to Masami, Gawl plopping down on his back as Ryo and Koji seated themselves close by. Masami's mother and Masami had made the lunch: rolls of meat encased in rice, which were actually quite good. Koji glanced at Natsume – she hadn't taken part in the conversation, instead keeping to herself. It troubled Koji, a little – something was on her mind, keeping her preoccupied. He fiddled with his PDA, glancing discreetly at the pink-haired girl. She was avoiding his glance, and he was suddenly uneasy. Ryo fidgeted next to him: had he noticed anything amiss?
At that moment, the PA rang. Gawl and Masami looked up curiously, as did Koji and Ryo. Natsume was the only one to not react - she ducked her head, her thick pink hair hanging down in a curtain that hid her face from the others.
"{Suzuki. Koji Suzuki, please report alone to the biology department. Koji Suzuki, report to the biology department.}"
Koji turned: the others were staring at him with curiosity. They were wondering what he had done, or what he had lost. He himself hadn't the slightest clue. As far as he knew, he hadn't lost anything, and he had nothing to do with the biology classes. He stood up, brushing the grass from his pristine uniform. He didn't really have much of a choice. He still had to act like he was a normal Oju student.
"Excuse me."
What was going on?
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Ryuko was once again sitting in the small room of computers. She had finished teaching her biology classes for the moment, which consisted of the boys trying to hit on her and receiving failing marks for their lack of attention. The fools. They'd never amount to anything, if they actually had a chance of surviving. Kennai was still gone, but a generator had arrived not long ago. At least she'd see something amusing today – the students had been testing her patience for a while. And usually she was a *very* patient woman.
She watched as a slender figure headed slowly down one of the hallways on an interior camera. Behind her, a small form shifted impatiently. The buxom woman glanced over her shoulder.
"You'll get your turn. But I don't want you engaging in combat in *my* lecture hall. Find somewhere else to fight – I don't want to be held responsible for trashing school property. You got that?"
A faint giggle of acknowledgement.
"Good. Go out and 'escort' him to better battlegrounds." Ryuko turned back to watching the screen, keying another camera to focus. "There's an empty auditorium in the back. It's scheduled to be torn down – no one should be there."
A shrill voice, full of laughter, "Okay. See Muse people will not. Muss happy!"
"Just go. Don't dally around and keep me waiting."
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Koji had his own suspicions. He wasn't one to walk blindly into something – he thought this was obviously a trap. But then again, one had to take risks to gain knowledge. He passed no fellow students in the corridor – his soft footsteps were pounding back at him, bouncing off walls and echoing. [Still, it's better than if all of us went] Something was up: why else would he be told to come alone to the biology department for no reason? He wanted get whatever it was over: time *wasn't* on his side, and delays like this were only slowing down their progress.
He paused before the double door of the biology classroom, only glancing at the plaque identifying the teacher. Ryuko Saito. He knew the who and how – but he still didn't know the why. From his impression, his brief talks with the older woman, she had reasons for being involved: that, if it hadn't been necessary, she wouldn't have been part of it. He had seen her two days ago, when she had revealed the capture of Gawl. Only through the intervention of Ryo and Koji, had Gawl been able to escape.
The door hissed open: it was unlocked. Koji cautiously stepped into the sprawling white lecture hall, looking about. It appeared empty: only a mess of papers on the podium showed that anyone had been inside previously. He hadn't seen the little girl when he had entered, for she had been half-hidden behind the podium, which was dwarfing her. The fine hairs on the back of his neck began to rise, and he instinctively had identified her. A generator. Here.
The girl turned to face him: she couldn't have been over twelve, her long chestnut hair spilling down in curls to her small back. Overall, she appeared quite human, except for the disconcerting fact that her eyes seemed to be far too large for her head. The violet orbs had fixed themselves on him, as the generator-girl skipped around the podium toward him, her sundress billowing around her small form. Koji tensed: a battle could erupt at any time - though if it had been his decision, he wouldn't fight in such a crowded environment. Too many people and risks.
As if reading his mind, she chirped up, "Too many people for fight! Muse uncomfortable. Muse sad when too many people!"
Muse suddenly whirled, and started daintily for a door at the far end of the lecture hall. She looked over her shoulder – nothing actually was stopping him from just turning and running away down the hall, to avoid the generator. Her expression shifted from blank innocence to a sly one, "No come with Muse, and Muse attack other people. Muse want kill now, make worthwhile time to Muse!"
He didn't have much of a choice, did he? It would be hell if the people here at Oju saw a generator before they were ready, could easily blow his cover. He'd have to go along with the girl-generator. [There's less and less choices presented to me. But I always am the one that has to make the final decision, despite the lack of options] He stared hard at the smaller generator's quite human back. She was leading him across a weed-strewn yard, hopping from broken flagstone to the crabgrass, toward a large building. All the entrances had been boarded up with plywood.
[And I suppose that's where we can fight. No one to notice anything] Muse stopped next to a sided door, tapping her little feet with impatience. She wasn't going to open the blockaded door: she wanted him to do it.
Koji hesitated before the building. The plywood didn't look that strong – even *he* could handle it. The tall boy reached out, and, grabbing the two slats of wood in both hands, ripped them from their nails with a crack, his muscles straining a little. Muse made a small noise at this…disgust? Or admiration? He couldn't know – generators were emotionally lacking. So far, most generators took fulfillment from killing – something that didn't require much thought on their part. He stalled as the girl let herself in: a brief flash came from within. She had shed the little girl disguise.
"Now. In!" An inhuman voice, horribly garbled. He could barely understand the words, "Generate!"
Koji complied. He could vaguely make out the segmented form of the Muse generator, the curves of its body, in the feeble light of the abandoned auditorium. Her long hair had shifted into two nasty tentacles, armed with pincers. He knew Gawl had once fought one of these – but that generator had been a full adult. This one could only have been in late adolescence. [I guess I have no choice, then]
Koji clenched his hands into fists, and with a shout, quickly began to shift to his own generator form. A momentary flash of light blinded him, and he could feel his insides shifting in protest as his skin hardened over into dark olive plates. Sparks were flying off him, as the forming organic plates clashed against each other. His face was changing, as his eyes were covered and armored. It only took a brief moment, but as the mist cleared, Koji was no longer recognizable as a human. The only distinctive traits that remained were his two-legged stance and the tail of armored plates hanging down where his ponytail had been. Power was rippling through him – though his eyes had been covered, he somehow had retained his vision, superior to his as that of a human's.
The shadow of the generator Muse took a step back, as Koji straightened. A second's hesitation, and Koji dashed forward, bringing back his fist in a punch. His opponent weaved out of his way, sliding away like water from his blows. They had moved backward in auditorium, dust rising in clouds. It was getting hard to see Muse, the particles beginning to irritate the sensitive olive skin covering the plates of his organic armor.
Muse danced away, tauntingly close, yet far enough to be out of his reach. So far it hadn't made any moves to attack: Koji was lulled into the false impression that it was too slow, didn't think that it was toying with him. Thus he was taken by surprise when the enemy generator suddenly vaulted over his head, catching a glimpse of one of its hands as it morphed into a blade. The next moment, he felt the something slide into his right shoulder, a sharp spear. He had been so astonished that had first he didn't feel the pain, whirling around as the blade was ripped out. He was nearly bowled over by the lances of fire that seemed to be ripping his whole right side apart, staggering. It wasn't a serious wound, but he had been so startled…
Muse has apparently gotten bored of playing. Its face began to split vertically down as jagged dagger teeth gapped at the appearing mouth. With a high-pitched shriek, it dived toward him, toward the throbbing, glowing "jewel" on the left side of his torso. The most vulnerable spot of any generator, the core. To strike the fatal blow.
This realization prompted him to *move*. With sudden strength in his legs, Koji leaped straight up toward the rafters. He didn't quite make it, having to reach up with his hands and heave himself over the wood, scrambling to his feet. He landed heavily, stumbled, and regained his balance. He could hear the strange musical warbling of the Muse's antennae as it gave pursuit. He ran down the decaying rafters, picking directions at seemingly random. The warbling was much louder: a high-phrase generator, Muse was faster than he, and gaining ground. The ceiling was only a blur: at this rate, he'd run out of places to run, and would soon be cornered. The other generator was tailing him like a hunting dog, making a shrill yip that sounded like a warped girlish giggle.
He didn't have much of an advantage in this battle, except that the Muse generator didn't show any creativity or imagination: it could be tricked, if he had the opportunity. Its mentality was rather close to the dogs of the hunt than anything else. The Muse was almost upon him, the musical warbling having changed to screams as the antennae began to flail viciously at his back like barbed whips. He could feel the back plates starting to peel off under the blows, as pain assaulted him. He didn't have much time to plan a trap.
Suddenly, he *knew* what he was going to do, spotting thick netting hanging from one of the rafters. Would the Muse generator fall for it? Not enough time to worry about it – he had to act now. Koji abruptly veered left.
He leaped, flying to open space. He hung there for a tenth of a second, and suddenly began to drop like a stone. He stretched out his clawed hands as far as he could: they caught the netting, stopping his descent and nearly wrenching his arms out of their sockets.
A form shot past him: Muse had indeed thought he was still falling, had fallen for his trick. Koji let go of the netting, propelling himself with a kick against the wall and falling toward the other generator. He ploughed into Muse's back as gravity took hold of him. The ground was rushing up, and he could feel the slender generator struggling wildly under him to escape, a blow on his face, to his torso. With a deafening explosion, both hit the ground, dust rising up in a thick cloud.
Koji fought to remain on top of Muse, who was squirming, trying to buck him off. He could only see the red core of the enemy generator shining through the dust particles, the scarlet light to guide him. He wasn't thinking now – only acting on instincts, actions that seemed natural. His claw-tipped hands shot out, and plunged into the Muse generator's chest, ripping even through the strong plated armor, closing around the glowing core. Muse gave a strangled shriek, and in a last attempt, wound one of its antennae around Koji's throat, squeezing his breath away.
Dark spots were dancing in his vision: somewhere in the distance, he could feel his arms regain their grip on the core, and rip it out. An ear-piercing wail, and slowly he was able to breath, no longer being constricted. The generator pushed the dying Muse away, unable to push himself up to his knees. His breath was coming in ragged gasps: it was his first one-on-one battle, and he had underestimated the effort required. He couldn't maintain his generator form, suddenly able to *think*: he started to shift back to his human one, hardly feeling the shrinking, weak sensation.
Koji opened his eyes to see his human hands splayed out before him. He was still wearing the Oju uniform, could still feel the pain in his shoulder, the ropes of fire across his back. But he knew that only his clothes would show perhaps a tear or so, but not much more. The wounds were still there, but they were hidden. That was the difference between Ryo, he, and Gawl: Gawl's wounds usually were visible, usually kept external, though he was a faster healer. Koji and Ryo could hide most wounds, as they were made internal – one of the reasons it wasn't good for them to generate a lot. A blow to Gawl was cushioned by his flesh: any blows against Ryo and Koji completely bypassed any cushioning, hitting the inside completely.
He glanced over at Muse: the generator was gone, its body destroyed by its death. He felt no regrets, though the Muse had taken the form of a little girl. No shame. He rolled up his sleeve, awkwardly looking at his shoulder: only residue blood. A few more moments, and perhaps he'd be able to stand up. He was still amazed that he had actually survived.
[I can't stay resting too long.] Koji looked up – his hair had torn lose in his transformation, and was in his face. He'd have to put it up, to see that he didn't look like he had been rolling around in the dust. He was tired: he knew how Gawl felt after every battle. He just wanted to lie down on the spot, to sleep for hours, to gorge on food. He felt somewhat sick: he wasn't used to generating. Or perhaps it was his stomach? He hoped not, hoped that nothing, none of the stomach wall was torn – everything hurt too much for him to make much of a diagnosis, and his healing abilities couldn't deal with such a serious injury. Koji sucked in a breath of stale air, heard his own gasps sound alien. It was pretty obvious what had just happened.
He'd been the target this time: he inwardly hoped next time it would be someone else. He wondered how many generator battles he would be able to survive on his own if they were all like this.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Ryuko raised an eyebrow. She'd seen the battle – there had still been cameras operating in the condemned auditorium. She was a little surprised: she hadn't thought he'd be strong enough to actually gain the upper hand against the Muse generator so quickly. The whole thing had taken only twenty minutes: only ten for the actual battle. She tapped a long nail thoughtfully against the metal surface with sharp clicking sound. He had fared better than expected…
She was still regarding the row of screens with a thoughtful expression when door behind her hissed open and shut.
"So…how did your first little trial run work, Ryuko?"
"Good enough." Ryuko pushed herself to her feet, fitting her glasses on the bridge of her nose. She had to return to her job as biology teacher in a few minutes. Of course she had to look the part. She began to pull her long hair into a ponytail. "I think that's enough for today."
"Got tired of the sport, didn't you?" Amusement.
"I wouldn't say *that*, Kennai," she pushed the rim of her glasses further up her nose, "rather that this has to be spaced out. Tomorrow, it will be the other scientist, then both of them against Sound…unless you have objections."
Kennai quirked an eyebrow, "I have none. We have generators to spare."
"Good. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a class to teach."
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Koji had recovered well enough to return to class, as the bell signaling the end of the lunch sounded. He was hurting all over: it pained him to move his left shoulder. He was stumbling toward the lecture hall drunkenly – for some reason, his feet were having a hard time following his orders. He'd wiped away the residue blood: he couldn't put his hair back in a ponytail, as he hadn't any more hair ties. The touch of the cloth against his back was agony, rubbing occasionally against the injuries caused by the whip-like tentacles. His dark eyes were clouded with pain as he leaned against the wall with his good shoulder, the sky of dark clouds rumbling with thunder.
He could hear the shouts of the students returning to their classes. He should probably join them – he thought he could ignore the pain throughout the rest of the day. He looked down at his uniform – there was a small, quarter-sized hole in the right shoulder, though his own blood had sloughed right off, his skin to all appearances unbroken underneath. If he positioned his hair…just so…good. The hole wasn't visible at all now, neither were the tears in the back of the uniform. He knew that Ryuko Saito had a hand in this: but what could he do? The only thing he could think of was try to come up with a fast plan that would accomplish their mission as quickly as possible before the generator attacks overwhelmed them.
[I'll give them warning when we return to Masami's house] Koji pushed himself away from the wall – his balance was improving, and he was able to stand without swaying. Was this how Gawl had felt after a battle? But then again, he had to remember that everything regarding Gawl was improved, superior. He was getting a little bit nauseous: from the tests, he knew that Gawl had experienced no internal sickness. He supposed it would pass: his main concern was finishing the school day and having a conference with his colleagues about the situation. Sure, he had said that the generators would probably get stronger. He hadn't realized that they'd be so much stronger: he knew from his research in the future that the Muse type was at least double the strength of Locusts.
Koji forced himself to stand straight, and headed around the building: he didn't want to run into Ryuko Saito by chance. It was easy enough to blend into the crowd, though he couldn't spot Gawl or Masami, or even Ryo, for that matter. People were continuing to jostle past him, occasionally brushing his wounded shoulder or his back. He'd bite his lip: it was instinctive, his reaction to make a verbal expression of the pain, and he was doing his best to conceal it. He didn't notice the short girl join his side at first.
"Koji?"
He looked down at the low voice. Natsume was walking next to him, looking up with a worried expression on her face.
"Hm-m?"
"Are you alright?" The girl, without any prompting, slipped her arm through his, lending some support. He leaned against her a little, feeling a pang of gratefulness. [Thank you, Natsume. Though I'm wondering why you're suddenly *here*] She was once again avoiding his gaze, refusing to meet it.
"I'm fine. Where are others?"
"They all went back to the classroom. Did you find what you needed at the lecture hall?"
"No."
In this manner, the two headed back to their classroom. They were the last ones into the room, and Natsume left him to return to her own desk. Gawl and Ryo shot him curious looks, but he only sat down – another jolt of pain – at his desk. Koji stared forward with half-closed eyes as the teacher began to drone on about the morals and themes of a novel that had been assigned a week ago. Koji kept up well enough, giving the appearances that he was actually paying attention: a good number of the students were beginning to droop with boredom.
Half way into the lecture, Koji began to feel ill. He could feel the bile rising in his throat, swallowed it bitterly. [It must be the after effects. I've never generated so long before] Another few moments, and he had the feeling that he was going violently ill. The idea of him throwing up in the class wasn't particularly appealing.
He raised his hand. The teacher stopped in his lecture, as several of the students that had fallen asleep stirred. Masami and Gawl swiveled in their seats to stare at him. No doubt wondering what he was doing.
"Yes, Mr. Suzuki? Is there a problem?"
"I'm not feeling very well." Koji stood, pushing himself up with his hands flat on the surface of the desk.
"Go to the infirmary."
Koji slipped out of the classroom as the teacher resumed the one-sided discussion. His footsteps quickened as he headed down the corridor. Actually, he had no intentions of going to the nurse's office. He turned the corner, and spotted the restroom. He promptly became sick, and was unable to hold back any longer.
He spent the rest of the day there.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
"Koji, what's wrong?"
Ryo had trailed after him. Koji was more than a little dizzy: he had spent the second half of school throwing up in the bathroom. A side effect: a nuisance, but it would eventually go away: he thought it was his stomach, but so far hadn't seen any signs that it had ruptured from the battle. Most likely the fact that his organs weren't meant to take a pummeling. He was feeling a little bit better, a good sign that he was starting to recover. Masami and Gawl were walking ahead, conversing with Natsume – something about the brown-haired girl's cooking, no doubt. Or something equally silly. He rubbed at an eye, his mouth turning down.
"Now's not time, Ryo," he made a gesture toward Masami and Natsume.
The blond continued rebelliously, "Don't give me that. What happened at the lecture hall?" He suddenly squinted his bright blue eyes, "And where'd you get that bruise?
Koji touched his cheek gingerly: sure enough, he could feel the tenderness of a huge bruise under his left eye. It hadn't been there when he had been at school.
"Another generator."
Ryo's eyes widened. Usually the generators never fought on the school grounds: such actions would surely draw the attention of the public. The only generator so far that had been on school grounds before had been a Locust generator: the beast had driven Koji out of the restricted computer lab before he had been able to finish his work there at the time. Ryo was shaking his head at the taller boy, keeping his voice to a near whisper, "You must have killed it, otherwise you wouldn't be here. What about the wounds sustained?"
"Internal," a shrug.
Ryo shook his head again. Koji had made it clear he would continue later. Gawl glanced over his shoulder at the two.
"Hey, what's with the depressive crap?" Gawl grinned. He hadn't caught anything that had passed between the two – he had a knack, however, for sensing general emotions. He had no doubt picked up on them.
"It's nothing, Gawl." Ryo said automatically.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Gawl had almost exploded at Koji. It was actually rather rare for the boy to turn his anger to his companions. Sure, he'd be sarcastic and bitter, but almost never in a fury. Still, he had been furious when he had seen that Koji and Ryo had generated two days ago. He had almost started spitting in his anger as Koji related his story: Koji hadn't left anything out, finishing up with the bouts of illness. Before Gawl could say anything, Koji dryly told him that these were all expected after effects: *he* didn't happen to be a generator of Gawl's abilities, that his "bugs" hadn't been all worked out. There were bound to be problems.
"Still, how could you go in like that? You *knew* it was a trap, Koji!" Gawl protested.
"It couldn't be helped. And I didn't *know* it was a generator until I actually got there. She threatened to attack the students if I didn't fight her."
"But…" it was appalling to Gawl that Koji would just give in.
Ryo, who'd been sitting cross-legged on the tatami mats, spoke up, "Gawl, he didn't have much of a choice. Muse generators just *don't* make bluffs. It's proven on the tests that had been run decades ago on the Muse types."
"Still…"
"It's pretty obvious that we've become serious targets," Koji said, "Ryo and I can be called out at any time: we *are* going to have to generate to protect ourselves. You can't be there all the time." He, however, didn't add that there was a chance either one could be killed: best to let Gawl believe that there was always a way out of a situation, "The last time I checked, we're not helpless children."
Gawl twitched at the sarcasm, "You don't see *me* getting beaten up though! I mean, you guys are way weaker'n me: and you go still go waltzing around! You're going to get killed one day – a good punch is all it takes to squash your guts."
Ryo stared down at his hands, "We can't help it, Gawl."
"What do you want me to do? I'm not some instant-genius, I can't just break my way into Kubere by myself!" Gawl was going out in full rant, "I'm supposed to be protecting you guys!" And unspoken, the question of where would *he*, Gawl, be if the two scientists weren't there? He needed their help as much as they needed his.
"Don't concern yourself with it." Koji replied. Gawl was traveling off topic again, and he steered it back to what they had originally been talking about, "Something needs to be done. We have only little over a week before *it* happens."
"We had thought that by reaching Auge, we could reach Professor Nekasa…." Ryo added. He was silent, tracing with a finger the length of the tatami mats, then looked up, "He still might know something though. Maybe we should try to locate him again – he must know of Auge's setup at least. He had to have some limited access to work there. If we find him, we could try to gain access to Auge's databanks...?"
Gawl flopped down on his back, folding his hands behind his head with a disgruntled snort, "I can't believe neither of you thought of that before-" he cut off, as there was a soft step outside the door. It opened without waiting for an invitation.
"What part of knocking don't you understand?" Gawl, sitting up, growled.
Masami poked her head in. She nodded cordial greetings to both Koji and Ryo, and made her face into a leer as she turned to Gawl once more.
"All of it. You're going to flunk out of Oju if you keep ditching out on the homework, so get downstairs for tutoring!"
Gawl got to his feet, mumbling something, and followed her out. Koji and Ryo were suddenly left to their own devices. For a few moments, Ryo began to tidy up the room, his movements making the tatami mats rustle quietly under his shifting weight. Koji didn't move to help him – he knew he probably should, but it hurt like hell to move. Not to mention that he was feeling a bit ill again – eating dinner with the others hadn't helped much. He hadn't noticed that he had started to stare off into space until a slender hand waved itself in front of him. He blinked, looking up at the blond boy.
"We should see about those wounds. I can't do anything about the more internal ones, but any bruises or welts can be patched up," the lithe boy plopped down next to him, holding a small case of medical medicines and bandages.
Koji sat stock still as Ryo began to examine him. He dabbed at the swelling bruise on his face with a cotton swab, sitting back on his socked heels when he had finished. The blond glanced at the other's back, but made no move to continue his administrations. [Rather nice of Ryo to volunteer] From a bystander's point of view, he supposed it did help if the leader was in good health. But he knew Ryo didn't necessarily think like he did.
"How's your back?" Ryo was fishing about in the little case, his voice quiet and unhurried.
"I can't see. Maybe you can tell me." Koji reached – despite the pain screaming in protest from his shoulder – and lifted the back of his black tank top. The blond scientist scooted over, vanishing from his view. There was a moment of silence, and then Ryo returned into his line of sight. "How bad is it?"
"Many, many welts, very large blisters: some might rupture soon. Still, we should get them bandaged up: you can't be bleeding all over the place, you know. It would draw a lot of attention, to say the least. People would start asking why you've got whip-marks all over your back."
Koji didn't reply. Ryo pulled out a roll of gauze and a bottle from the little case.
"Your backbone, it wasn't damaged or anything, was it?"
"No. The internal injuries weren't very serious there – flesh wounds, actually."
Ryo scooted over again. He began to wind the gauze around Koji's torso, his thoughtful sky-blue eyes focused down on the task. With Gawl, neither of the scientists had to worry too much in patching him up: most of his wounds earned in battle had been only skin deep, easily healed with his generator abilities. More silence, broken by Ryo.
"I've heard something rather troubling not too long ago…Professor Nekasa has been moved to another complex."
So that had been why Ryo had brought up the man in the conversation, why he'd been so concerned with the Auge's database. Koji couldn't help wincing as the cloth pressed against a particularly painful spot, "We're going to need to find him again, you were right about that. However, unless they capture Gawl again, Nekasa is the only link to the development of the include cells." He couldn't have been finished with his work yet – he probably has some interesting information regarding the organization of Auge/Kubere. Koji could probably find his registration number and get into Auge -
"His ID number's no longer registered at Auge," Ryo raised his voice as Koji started to reply, "I already tried using the phone terminal here to find a lock on his database. I came up with nothing: they've blocked all possible access from public modems." Slash that idea. Looked like he couldn't just hack away from the relative safety of the rented room. Too bad.
"The professor needs to be found by other means then," Koji shifted his long green hair over his shoulder as Ryo began to tie off the ends of the gauze bandages, "I'll see what I can do. The public lines aren't reliable…I could probably hack into Auge's database, if I was direct connection with it – they probably have records, most likely some information as to where he was moved. Again, the problem we have is that we're almost constantly being spied upon."
"What about this Oju Festival? Lots of people should be there. It's the perfect distraction, don't you think?"
"Everyone will be busy. Festivals usually *are* distractions, Ryo."
The blond scientist started to put the gauze roll back into the case, "We can't all go to Auge – we'll attract to much attention if we do."
"We'll decide about this later, when Gawl comes back."
Koji stood up stiffly, "The festival's still two days away anyway. We need
to be as ready for this was we can. No more mistakes, no more miscommunications.
We've failed too many times."
To be continued...
>>>>>>
Aigh, probably too long-winded again! The story'll
pick up as the generator attacks do, so please bear with me! *gets on knees
and grovels pitifully for five minutes* This is probably going to end up
as a deathfic - again, major spoilers/guessings to the Generator Gawl plot.
If anyone's having problems with the plot, PLEASE e-mail me - I'm practically
begging to be flamed or something. I usually put up chapters according
to number of reviews, so...(I usually have the chapters done ahead of time:
they just stagnate on my disk. ^_-).
Wyna and I finally started on the PEARL HARBOR
MST. It's based on the early script tho (I couldn't find the movie's final
script tho. Sort of a bummer). I wanna say thanks for those that reviewed
my fanfic, and apologize for my long-windedness. And to shamelessly promote
our PEARL HARBOR MST when we finish it. Thank you. ^_^
Flames, suggestions, feedback, whatever, feel free
to e-mail me at shampoo_famira@yahoo.com or AIM me at S Duo Maxwell 02.
Thanks for reading. ^_^