The Forces That Control You And I: Return Of The Prodigal Son

The wind tugged slightly at his tie as he walked down the staircase of the plane slowly. The bright orange glow of the setting sun reflected off his black-rimmed spectacles, obscuring one's sight of his eyes. Taking a step one at a time, with his hands situated in his pockets, he moved to the bottom of the staircase. The cool Japanese air smelt crisp to him, and the airfield around him was practically deserted. He was wearing a black jacket, with its zip up to his chest only. In addition, he wore black long baggy pants that were folded up the end to prevent the ends from touching the floor. He was about 17 years old, 1.8 metres tall, with short-cropped hair. He had short facial hair, indicating that he had neglected to shave. Now, the sunlight was out of his eyes, and they exuded a sense of melancholy. Eyes that pierced right through you, but now they were glassy and vacant. However, they changed in a minute, as he heard the soft noise of an automobile approaching. His eyes changed to a look of intense concentration. He dug deeper into his pockets, feeling for a metallic item. He gripped it tightly and turned to face the vehicle.

It was a Toyota, black-coloured, and unregistered. He narrowed his eyes. The back door of the car opened and out came a moustached man. He wore a pair of tinted spectacles, and behind them were a pair of ageless eyes. He had an aura of superiority of him, and he observed him from afar. The man was obviously satisfied, and he approached the juvenile. The boy stiffened, but relaxed as he saw the identification card the man held.

A.E.G.I.S Far East Branch Japan Commander Shirei.

The boy saluted Shirei, and he looked visibly relieved to see a familiar face. But he spoke the first words on this new country for him. " The password is." he asked expectantly. His voice was muffled and raspy, as he had just finished an exhaustive flight. His grip on the item tightened.

" The grass is greener on the other side of the mountain." The authoritative voice of Shirei came back. Satisfied, the boy's grip on the item slackened. Shirei rummaged through his pockets before coming up with a card. " I believe this is yours."

The juvenile took the card, flipped it slowly, allowing the sunlight from the setting sun to reflect off it in all directions. The card just read:

A.E.G.I.S Far East Branch Agent Ichiro Kaketa.

He allowed himself a smile before laughing out loud heartily.

"Why are you laughing?"

"Because I never thought there would a day like this." He replied darkly.

Shirei nodded in understanding. "It's getting late. We better get you to headquarters as soon as possible." With that, he motioned Ichiro to the car. Ichiro got into it dutifully, while the chauffeur put his luggage into the boot of the car.

Shirei got into the car and opened his palm. "I'll take that."

Ichiro shrugged, and from his pocket he fished out the metallic object. A gun. He placed it into Shirei's outstretched hand, and Shirei's fingers closed over it.

The chauffeur restarted the engine and drove towards the city. It was already dark, and the bright city lights twinkled like stars. Ichiro stared out of the vehicle as the beautiful scenery passed by him swiftly. He was lost in his thoughts, and could not hear Shirei talking to him.

"Ichiro."

"Huh? Sorry, I didn't hear you."

"You understand your mission, don't you?"

"Absolutely." Ichiro replied grimly.

"We will arrange for you to meet the rest of the party later. You will be staying in the school's dormitory for the period of your stay."

Ichiro nodded, before looking out of the window again, apparently lost in his thoughts again. Peering with those eyes of his. They had a haunting feel to them, and one could tell from them that he had seen and felt more things than a normal 17-year-old. Tragic things.

He observed the buildings as they entered the city district. The streets were bustling with people returning home from work. Cars zoomed past them. He was lost in the atmosphere, feeling again the buzz that was unique to Tokyo. However, under it, he felt a sense of fear, and it twisted his guts inside out. He suppressed the thought and his eyes trailed off, giving its normal vacant and lifeless look.

The air was cool and crisp, the road quiet. It was early morning, about 6 a.m., and there was the sound of two people walking slowly, the leaf litter rustling softly under their feet. The boy was 17, had spiky hair, and wore a nose patch. He wore a dark blue jacket and long pants, in addition to gloves that exposed his fingers. He had a sling bag over his shoulders. Opposite him, was the other person, a girl the same age as him. She wore a big yellow ribbon tied into a bow at the right side of her head. She had brown, flowing waist-length hair that swayed in the early morning breeze. She wore a traditional japanese schoolgirl school uniform, and in her hand held her school bag.

Shun Ukiya and Ruriko Ikusewa, A.E.G.I.S Far East Branch Agents.

They walked along the deserted road quietly, until Shun decided that he had enough of the silence and spoke up.

"Hey Rurippe, thanks for accompanying me to school at this ungodly hour. I put my latest manga comic in the classroom and want to get it before someone steals it."

Ruriko did not reply. She was staring at the ground, cheeks blushing red. Shun, puzzled by the fact that there was no answer from her, stood in front of her and asked, "Are you alright? You have been awfully quiet the whole morning. I am astonished by the fact that you actually followed me in the first place. Normally you would just get angry with me. Do you have something to say to me? You look like you are going to burst."

Ruriko looked away, not wanting to look at him straight at the face. "Ukiya-kun, I.I.actually.I.Look out!"

Shun, puzzled by the chain of events, turned around slowly. "You are weird Rurippe, doing one thing then. Wow!" He saw the red invader in the form of tree standing erect in the middle of the road. In his monotonous voice, he intoned, "Unite with the nucleus."

Out of the shadows caused by the trees on both sides of the road, black invaders leaped out of their hiding place and into the tree invader, which gradually grew into a 3 metre tall tree. It had two branches plus its main trunk, and leaves black in colour.

Shun, stunned by the events happening right in front of eyes, stood rigidly in his position. Ruriko, having recovered from her initial shock, took out her portable bow and fired one of her arrows.

"Arrow of Light!"

A brilliant streak of light cut through the air and struck the tree invader in the trunk. It was thrown back by the impact of it. Shun, on seeing the beam of light, came to his senses and immediately jumped to a side. Just in time as well, as the tree invader brought its right branch down on where he was a few seconds earlier. He took cover behind a rock and removed his retractable kendo sword from his back pocket. He muttered to himself, "Damm. Now I will be late for school!"

Ruriko also took cover. She thought to herself, "A good opportunity wasted! Sigh." Just then, Shun's voice rang out. "Give me cover! I'll try to get close to it!"

With that, he broke into a run and charged towards the enemy.

"No! It's too dangerous!" But her words fell on deaf ears. Fuming, she stood up behind the rock and loosed three arrows at her target. The trees used its branches to sweep them aside, before now concentrating on Shun. Ruriko, sensing something was wrong, shouted, "Watch out!"

The tree invader drove its roots through the ground, before erupting through it behind Shun. The roots binded him, and Shun dropped his kendo sword in shock. Horrified, Ruriko fired two more arrows, one cutting the roots holding Shun, the other exploding on the trunk of the tree invader. Shun, free again, grabbed his weapon and continued with his mad charge.

The tree invader bent forward, and suddenly at one instant, all the leaves on the tree shot forward at Shun. Half of them became black ball bearings, the rest were sharp-edged leaf projectiles. Ruriko could only let out an anguished scream.

The projectiles slammed into Shun's body, bruising or cutting him in many places. Winded, he fell to ground on his knees, using his wooden sword for support. His breath came out in raged gasps, as pain from a hundred different wounds hurt him. Dizzy with pain, he tried to focus on the enemy.

The black projectiles now had returned to the tree, which then menacingly moved towards Shun. Ruriko just froze in her spot, unable to do anything. The tree raised its right branch again, ready to strike the fatal blow.

It never came. Shun looked up at the very last minute, his Gate of Gales glowing in his eyes. He summoned the strength to jump back, thus avoiding the blow. "I will never give up!" he shouted, as he opened his gate with the end of his sword. Air was sucked out, as Shun drew his sword back to fire a light blue ball of crackling energy.

"Vacuum Missile!" he cried. At such close range, the shot found its target, damaging it severely, but not finishing it off. It also caused the tree invader to be pushed back. Its bark at the centre of the trunk was blown away, exposing its weakness, the red invader.

Knowing that this was his chance, Shun rushed forward, drawing energy from his gate. He gripped his sword tightly with both gloved hands. "Ultra Whirlwind Slash!" he shouted, moving his weapon in a slicing action. Two columns of air ripped past at breakneck speed, cutting cleanly of the two branches of the tree. They fell to the ground, each becoming a cyan crystal. The invader was now defenceless.

Continuing with his run, Shun opened his gate once again at the tip of the sword, creating a sharp column of air in front of him. "Ultra Whirlwind Thrust!" he called out, putting his wooden sword through the red invader's body. The core destroyed, the tree disintegrated, sending a shower of cyan and red crystals into the air.

Shun, breathing laboriously, saw that his enemy was defeated, slumped down to the ground with a dull thud, worn out by the exhaustive battle he had just fought.

Ruriko half-carried, half-dragged the badly beaten up Shun into the deserted school building. She was annoyed by the way Shun also killed the both of them by his reckless actions, but after thinking about it for a while, she realised he had for once, a plan. She smiled to herself and continued with the task at hand. Fortunately, they were very close to the school.

She brought him through the deserted school, before placing him on the bed of the Sick Bay. She drew the curtains and looked at the unconscious Shun. Then, she remembered the reason why they were here so early in the morning. She went their classroom and retrieved the manga comic on top his desk. She returned to the Sick Bay and sat next to Shun. She stroked his hair and thought of the words he said before the invader attacked. "Do you have something to say to me? You look like you are going to burst." Sighing softly, she opened her Gate of Life and started to heal him. Slowly, she could see his wounds closing and bruises clearing up.

Shun eyes fluttered open. He felt a warm feeling around his body and his mind was in a state of calm. Out of a corner of his eye, he saw Ruriko collapsing on to the floor. He stretched out her hand and grabbed her to stop her fall. Her eyes met his, and she smiled faintly, before falling unconscious. Shun returned her smile, got up and carried her on to the bed. He stroked her flowing tresses and sighed.

Dawn broke on 1970 Japan. The sound of birds chirping perforated with the sound of school-going teenagers, the bright future of the nation. Excited laughter and incessant chattering filled the halls of Tategami High School. Inside the Sick Bay, Shun Ukiya could hear muffled versions of the din outside. He glanced at his watch, and saw that it was thirty minutes to the start of school. He got up from the swivel chair, which groaned at the release of pressure, to open the curtains. Soft morning sunshine bathed the room, and Ruriko Ikusewa stirred in her sleep. Shun smiled, and sat next to her to wake her up.

"Huh? What happened?" Ruriko asked dreamily. Shun opened his mouth to speak, but he was cut off immediately by the sound from the announcement speakers, informing the special committee members to go to the designated places. Shun recognised it as an emergency call. He helped Ruriko to stabilise herself, before the both of them left the Sick Bay to go to the nearest secret entrance to the A.E.G.I.S Headquarters deep underneath.

"Why are you so heavy?" Shun muttered under his breath as it was his turn to half-carry, half-drag the half-conscious Ruriko. She blushed as she was hoisted by Shun, as this was the closest they have ever got ever since they met each other again after eight years. They passed by classmates, who coughed politely at the weird incident happening right in front of their faces. Ruriko blushed brightly while Shun wondered what was all the commotion about. They entered the broom cupboard amid gasps. Shun was really mystified by their behaviour. Oh heck, he thought, I will ask them after I respond to the emergency.

Ruriko was still weak, so Shun entered the secret elevator with her by his side. Ruriko insisted on standing, and Shun did not want to waste anymore time arguing, thus he relented.

The dull whirr of the elevator descending and the laboured breaths of Ruriko was all Shun could hear on the trip down. Concerned, he asked, "Are you alright, Rurippe?" Ruriko, angered by Shun's choice of words, flared up, "I'm alright! You don't have to repeat yourself." At this point, she felt faint, and collapsed on to Shun. Shun, stunned to see Ruriko's body on top of him, murmured again, "Trying to be the heroine again. Sigh. How many times do I have to tell you that that is my job?"

Ruriko could only smile at the stupidity of that remark. The truth was she was relived to have Shun's warm body for comfort. The dizzy feeling in her head cleared, but she did not want the moment to end.

Suddenly she realised that the elevator door was opening. Her eyes widened as she understood what was coming at them. Shun, in his normal relaxed tone, cried out, "Ah! We are here Rurippe! Now can you get off my lap as we have an emergency to attend to."

She could have used a sledgehammer to bash his head in. She blushed bright red, and hurriedly extracted herself off Shun and faced the other Gatekeepers. As she expected, they were surprised but she could almost hear a collective sigh of relief from them. However, not all of them shared the same sentiment, as Kaoru felt pangs of jealousy while Megumi merely turned away and muttered the word "Indecent" to herself. Kaoru calmed down after the initial knee-jerk reaction. She now knew that Ruriko loved Shun, and in the ultimate self-sacrifice, gave Shun to her in no certain terms. But some residue of Shun still laid within, waiting to be revived to wreck havoc on her consciousness.

Shun eagerly bounded forward and asked, "What is the situation? I'm sorry that we were late. An invader attacked us this morning, and Rurippe had to heal me with her gate, thus she was weakened and I had to carry here. What's up with all those weird looks? In fact, they were the same looks my classmates gave when I carried Rurippe."

The Gatekeeper party composed themselves and were called to attention by Shirei's cough, who otherwise was quiet throughout the whole exchange. "Never mind. This is not an emergency. However, this concerns all of you greatly. All of you take a seat."

The still-blushing Ruriko sat down, not wanting to look at anyone's face. Shun was once again puzzled, but gave up thinking about it. The things that happen here, he thought to himself.

Shirei continued. "We have a new arrival here in Japan to boost our abilities to combat the invaders. A new Gatekeeper." That got everyone's attention, and they sat up on their chairs and listened intently.

"But why? There are already six of us here." Asked Feye.

"The invaders in Japan are rapidly multiplying, and Shadow, or Reiji Kageyama, has now been exposed. They will make their final strike soon, and we need as much as we can get."

The mention of Kageyama sent shivers down Kaoru's back, as she remembered the desperate battle she fought to save the rest of the Gatekeepers against the enraged Kageyama as she found out his true identity. She barely survived his onslaught, fortunately for her the others appeared when they did, or she would have been finished. She still could feel his Shadow Edge move cutting through her flesh. The mention of Kageyama also provoked a reaction from Megumi, but it was of a more sinister kind.

The trapdoor in front of the conference table opened, and with a dull mechanical sound the figure rose slowly. As the platform rose to the ground level, he took one step forward, away from the silhouette formed by the walls.

"May I now introduce the newest recruit to A.E.G.I.S Japan, Ichiro Kaketa. He was formerly based in Singapore, but is now going to be with us for a while."

The first thing the Gatekeepers party noticed about this strange new arrival was his eyes. He had the usual vacant and distant look in his eyes, but they could feel that it was an act, a mere diversion to hide something else. He had his hands in his pockets, giving himself a devil-may-care look.

He walked up to the conference table, then turned to face Shun. "You must be Ukiya Shun, the Captain of the Gatekeeper party here. Pleased to meet you." He slowly extracted his right hand from his pockets, and extended it to Shun. Taken aback, Shun hurriedly shook his hand. "Err.Hi! Pleased to meet you as well."

Ichiro went around the whole table and shook hands with all of them.

Kaoru felt something weird again. Ichiro had a sense of familiarity about him and she just could not shake off that feeling that she had met Ichiro before.

Megumi could only sense that Ichiro may had not been always so angelic. She could feel a sense of bonding with him, almost as though she had met a kindred spirit.

Done with the introductions, Ichiro looked up to the podium where Shirei sat. Shirei stood up, and walked down to the conference table. "Ichiro will be joining Ukiya's and Ikusewa's class. I hope that both of you will show him around the school. That's all. Please return to your classes."

Shirei himself took an elevator to his office, and the rest of them dispersed as well. Shun, Ruriko and Ichiro shared an elevator to the surface.

"So you came from Singapore, but you are Japanese. What's the scoop?"

Ichiro smiled slightly. "My father was Japanese, my mother Chinese."

Shun nodded in understanding, then continued. "Nice to have you in the team. I hope we can work together and defeat the enemy."

"We'll see, we'll see." Ichiro replied icily, eyes trailing off to the distance again.

The classroom was empty except for three schoolgirls. On the side of the blackboard displayed a sign prominently stating that this was the 2- A classroom.

"The new guy, Ichiro, is real cool. Literally. He hardly smiles, speaks in low tones and mutters to himself all the time. He is creepy." The first schoolgirl spoke up.

"I think he looks handsome! We should give him some time! He has only been here for a week!" The second one cried.

"Sigh.Distracted, as usual. Anyway, I think that guy has some serious problems. He always has this weird look on his face, like his mind is somewhere else or what. It gives me the creeps." The last one interjected.

"I agree. It is like he is. haunted, by something."

The shrill sound of a whistle being blown cut through the air. The next instant, the soccer ball in the middle of the field was launched towards the opposite side of the field.

Ukiya Shun, wearing a dark blue jersey, collected the ball at the far right channel of the field. He dribbled for a while, before being confronted by an opposing player. He feinted right, before sticking the ball between the opponent's legs and galloping onwards. He passed the ball to a team-mate, who twisted himself to get into a better position to shoot. He was immediately surrounded by a swarm of defenders, but was still able to squeeze the ball to Shun. Shun controlled the ball, and realised the only thing preventing him from scoring was the goalkeeper. The players on the opposing side sighed and waited for the inevitable.

"Submarine Shot!" Shun exclaimed as he drew his foot back and shot low and hard to the bottom right-hand corner using his gate power. He was certain it would a goal, and so were the other twenty-one people on the field. But the goalkeeper displayed unbelievable agility, diving low to the right to push the goal-bound shot wide of the post. The other players watched in amazement, and Shun had his mouth open. But he composed himself, and ran up to the goalkeeper. "Great save, but I will score eventually."

"The game's still early." Was Ichiro's reply, adjusting his goalkeeper's gloves.

Shun did not score. It was a 1-0 reverse for his team, a real shock. Ichiro had pulled off save after save to deny them on countless occasions. Later in class, Ichiro extended his hand to Shun. "Good game. You were hard to stop."

Shun, on hearing these words, felt a sense of frustration to Ichiro. He wanted to vent it on Ichiro, but stopped himself. What am I doing? He thought. He shook his head to clear it.

"Is everything alright?" Ichiro probed.

"Huh? Yeah! Everything's fine. Great game it was today. But I will beat you the next time."

Ichiro smiled faintly, then turned around to leave the classroom. As he walked slowly, he said aloud to no one in particular, "It's starting again."

The announcement came again, and the Gatekeepers assembled before Shirei again. "Everyone is here, Shirei!" Shun reported.

Shirei nodded. "Good." The screen behind him changed from an A.E.G.I.S sign to a topographical map of a mountainous area. A blinking object was moving at high speed towards the city.

"Thirty minutes ago we detected a strange alien frequency. This seems to be the cause of it." The image changed again, this time showing a demonic car. The front bumper has turned into a mouth with sharp teeth, on the sides of the vehicle were two gleaming cannons.

"Your mission is to neutralise this threat before it enters the city. Now, move out! Captain Ukiya, use your Toyota to chase down the car. Immobilise it, then finish it off."

Shirei turned to face Ichiro. "The Singaporean branch sent this over. You will need it."

The screen flickered again, this time an image of a sleek black car was on it. "My car!" Ichiro exclaimed.

"Use it to hunt down the invader. We are counting on you, Gatekeepers."

"Roger, A.E.G.I.S!"

The sound of footsteps echoed around the quiet garage. Beside Ukiya Shun's Toyota was Ichiro's car. Ichiro lovingly adjusted the rear mirror, before getting into the driver's seat. The unique feature of the ZY-75, as it was called, was that it ran entirely on Gate energy. In simpler terms, the car derives its source of energy from the Gatekeeper driving, making him or her its battery.

"Hey, we better get moving or we will be unable to stop the invader!" Shun exclaimed as he started his Toyota.

A smile curved on Ichiro's face as he placed his palm on a panel with his palm imprint in it. He closed his eyes for a second, then re-opened them. They glowed of grey light coming from a doubled-ring of light in his eyes.

"Gate Open!" A grey gate opened at the end of his open palm, and the various machinery in the car began to hum and vibrate. Ichiro pressed down hard on the accelerator, and the car shot forward. The garage door opened, blinding Ichiro momentarily, but he continue to race towards the designated intercept point. Shun took a second to admire the power of his automobile, before gunning his engine to catch up with him.