Chapter 4: The Truth is Gonna Give Up the World
Shiro puffed away on his third cigarette of the evening. "Well?" he asked.
"Well what?" she asked with annoyance. Keiko shifted in her seat on the floor.
"You know what."
She narrowed her eyes at him. "I don't think that's any of your damn business."
He puffed. "Heh heh. Don't wanna tell me anything?"
"Pervert!" She said a bit too loud, causing Kyosuke to look over at them briefly.
"You're way too loud when it comes to him, doll-face." Shiro told her.
"Shut up."
"Heh heh."
"Anyway, what's he doing over there?" she asked him.
"He said he's looking for something."
"Duh. You are so not helping my attitude right now, by the way."
Shiro snubbed out the used cigarette. "Well fine then. Ask him instead."
"I did. He wouldn't tell me anything."
"Hm. Not good."
"Why?" she asked.
"Because your relationship will stalemate very fast."
"What do you know about relationships? You brought home half-a-dozen girls in the last three weeks." She pointed accusingly at him.
"Just trust me."
She stood and looked at him. "You're psycho-babble isn't going to work on me this time. I don't buy that Three-Part-Heart thing or that Four-Part Connection deal. It's all a bunch of garbage."
He looked at her with seriousness. "Mark my words; you're going to find out the truth in the system. Saki convinced me of that."
Keiko sighed. "Yeah well, whatever. I still don't buy it." She waved it off. "I'm going to dig the box up now. It's getting that time."
He looked over his lighter. "No problem doll."
She took a step and then stopped. "Shiro, why is all of their stuff in the church? I don't get that."
He eyed her. "His mother, Mio, was incredibly dedicated to this church .As soon as the church's pastor heard what had happened, he had all of their belongings to the church as a her final donation."
"So the pastor stole their things from their house, to supply his church with things he could sell for cash?"
He simply shrugged.
"What's this world coming to?" She asked as she walked towards the back of the church.
*
Shiro strolled over to where Kyosuke was shifting through his mother's belongings. He lit another cigarette. "You find what you're looking for?"
He tossed aside a candelabrum. "Not yet."
Shiro picked up the old, silver candelabrum and looked it over. Selling it could make him some quick cash. "So…umm…"
Kyosuke eyed him. "What?"
Shiro could not beat around the bush anymore. "You enjoy yourself with her?" he asked jokingly, putting his hand on the back of his head.
Kyosuke scowled at him.
Shiro put down the silver candleholder and backed up a step. "Sorry man, I'm just trying to look out for her interests."
"I think that goes beyond simple interest." He told him, going back to digging in his pile.
Shiro sat down on the floor and puffed. "She's the only real family I got man; I've got to take care of her."
He softened. "She's your niece right?"
"Yep."
"Can I ask what happened to her family?"
"I don't think she'd mind if you asked her."
"I meant…" Kyosuke started.
"I know what you meant," Shiro told him getting off the floor. "I just think it'll be better coming from her."
"I suppo...," he stared to say, then changed his mind..
Kyosuke pulled a high-density diskette out of the pile. "I found it."
*
"The diskette's no good?" she asked him while removing stone blocks from the church's alter.
"No." Kyosuke told her, sitting down on the stone floor beside her. "And neither is the computer. The system's infected with something now."
"Shiro's good at that stuff, did you ask him to try and remove it?"
He leaned back in his seat and looked up at the crucifix on the back wall. "He said it was 'designed by the Kirihara Group' and the chances of him being 'able to get it off are slim to none.'"
She sighed. "They make it hard to live, don't they?" She knocked over several more of the altar's bricks and pulled out a large wooden box.
"Shiro says I'm their number one enemy now." He told her quietly.
Keiko pulled the box on the floor and dusted it off. "That's no honor. It's not fun being hunted." She told him, mildly disgusted with him.
He looked at her with concern. "I realize that." He sat up and looked at the box's lid.
On the top of the box, inscribed in kanji was –
He who wields that within, opens oneself to darkness.
Keiko opened the box.
Inside was a set of Tokugawa-era samurai weapons.
"These belonged to my Grandfather, Satoshi Kirihara. They are supposed to have been cursed upon their creation, and contain Masamune blades made from the steal of ever older swords."
Kyosuke simply stared at her.
She removed the katana(1) but left the wakazashi(2) and tanto(2) in the box.
"He was rumored to have been a monster, a vampire perhaps, but it's unfounded speculation." She continued. She tied the katana to her obi. "Three days before he was killed he showed me where he kept them, and I have continued the ritual cleaning of them since."
Kyosuke sat in silence.
"There. There's your answer to what happened to my family. I don't know my father very well, and my Grandfather …is…is dead. My mother is Yui Kirihara, the woman who put a price on your own head." She told him, pointing at him.
He finally broke his silence, staring at her sternly. "Why didn't you tell me who you were?"
She ignored him for the moment and called over to Shiro. "I've taken what I want. Come for the box when it's time."
"Gotcha!" he yelled over to them, waving.
Kyosuke stood and stared at her intently. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Tell you that that whore is my biological mother? It's not of concern. I have no connection to her. She may have given birth to me, but she's not a mother to me." She told him as she started to walk away.
He grabbed her arm and pulled her back. "But you're still a Kirihara."
She looked at him. "Only in name.
A moment of silence passed between them. Then blood trickled down his cheek from his left eye.
"There is nothing in a name. I am tied to it, but only to have a chance to change things. I am not a Kirihara in blood."
"You choose to have the name. It doesn't matter now." He told her. He let go of her and stepped around her.
Keiko crossed her arms across her chest. "I will not let myself be punished for my namesake. Not even by him. I carry it in honor of Satoshi, not Yui."
She turned and looked at the crucifix. Looking at it bothered her for some reason.
God abandoned me, why should I care if I become darkness? I enjoy embracing to the world that way. Those who are all-good don't survive, they get stepped on by Fate.. She pondered.
A moment of silence passed in the church.
Shots rang out and a young girl screamed.
But Keiko could not bear to look. He would see me cast out for my family's name, yet I am supposed to come to his sister's rescue? And these Flicker things aren't even really his sister. Why should I help? What's in it for me now? Why should I sacrifice myself for someone who can't see past my name? I will not let myself be used anymore. I am not a pawn anymore. Not anymore…
She knelt next to the wooden box and pondered her fate.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. A Chinese/Japanese long sword – around 28" long.
2. A Chinese/Japanese short sword – around 18" long
3. A Chinese/Japanese knife –around 15" - used usually in place of the wakazashi.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 5: I'll Look at You, You'll Look at Me
Keiko nudged Shiro in the arm with her sword. "A little hyper, don't you think? Hope his real sister ain't like her." She continued to polish the katana with her obi.
He looked at her and chuckled. "I'd be careful wearing that without a belt or something. It'll fall right open. And ya know, that would be a terrible thing."
She brought the hilt of the sword down on his head.
"OW! Damn you, what's your problem all of a sudden?!?" he asked, rubbing his head with his hand.
"Sorry, I have issues." She went back to cleaning the sword.
"No crap. Relax." He stopped rubbing his head. "I know you don't like the girl, but you could at least put up with her for Kyosuke's sake."
"She's annoying me! She keeps ranting about going and killing all of the Kirihara Group."
Shiro shook his head. "Why do you care what she says? Asuka doesn't know who you or any of the real Kirihara are."
Keiko tied her purple obi back on. "I know. But I'd rather not be reminded about my Kirihara relations right now."
Shiro suddenly looked at her. "Before…you said 'his real sister.'"
"Yeah, so?"
"Well she said she is Runa."
Keiko leaned back against the wall and watched the goings-on across the church. Asuka, the petite, purple-haired girl dressed in rags, had taken apart her gun and was cleaning it to perfection. She continued to rant on about how it was Kyosuke's duty to destroy the Kirihara conglomerate to secure their safety. She also mumbled something about changing or transforming, but she was not specific. Kyosuke simply sat on the floor, back against the wall, staring into space.
Keiko thought for a moment, and then looked at Shiro. "You're kidding me, right? I never heard her say that."
"You were still muttering over the box. You didn't see her grand entrance."
Keiko laughed. "My god…and I thought I was desperate. She's so willing to put everyone's life at risk for her selfish butt." She sighed.
"I heard that sigh. What is it?"
"People like her irritate me, people who want everyone to sacrifice for them, but all they give is grief in return." She told him, putting a hand to her forehead. "I could so go for a drink right now."
"After this is over, doll-face." He told her, leaning back again the wall.
Asuka stormed over to them. "You!" she told Keiko, pointing at her nose.
"What?"
"Who are you?" She asked, continuing to point
Keiko looked her in the eye, and pushed her hand away. "That's none of your damn business, as far as I'm concerned."
"Well if you don't plan on doing something right now, you're going to end up dead!"
Keiko shut her eyes and looked away. "Ooh, sounds like fun."
Asuka raised her voice. "Don't you get it?" She then turned to Shiro, then to Kyosuke. "The Kirihara's hunting troops are coming back any moment! Don't you care?!?"
Keiko turned to Shiro. "Do we care?"
He shrugged. "I dunno. Do we care Kyosuke?" He asked, calling over to him.
Not surprisingly, he didn't respond.
Shiro chuckled again. "He's no fun when dealing with these Flicker-situations."
Asuka took a step back and stared at him. "You…you guys knew?"
Kyosuke stood and walked over to them. "Knew that you weren't my sister? Of course. I got the same feeling from you that I did from the last Flicker. If you were Runa, it would have been a stronger connection."
Asuka grew nervous, and took another stop back. "But…but how did you know?" She asked Keiko, pointing at her.
Keiko realized then that she had no idea how she had come to that conclusion.
Umm…Ya know, that's a damn fine question, she thought.
She smiled to cover her discomfort. "I'm telepathic. You don't hide stuff like not being a full person terribly well, I'm afraid."
Asuka stormed away in response.
Shiro looked at her. "Since when are you a telepath?"
"Since now." She told him with a shrug, and then sighed. "Let's not discuss this right now, okay?"
Bother men simply looked away from her.
"So what are we going to do?" She asked.
"What do you mean?" asked Kyosuke. "What do you mean we?"
Oh, here we go again. Keiko thought.
"You know what I mean, damnit. You're not stupid." She told him, harshly.
Kyosuke walked away, and rejoined Asuka at the other end of the church.
Shiro turned to her. "Stop it."
Keiko simply was not in the mood. "I don't want to. I'm tired of this waiting, I'm tired of being harassed by him about who I am."
"You're kidding me, right?" Shiro asked. "He has no idea who and what you really are."
"'…what I am?'" She asked, glaring at him. "I am not a what, Shiro."
He stood and looked down at her. "Don't give me that bull, Keiko. This isn't the time"
Uh-oh, he said my name. Not good, she realized.
He continued. "In six days you're going to go waltzing into the streets and repeat a day in history that hundreds, hell, thousands of people would rather forget. You have no soul that day, do you? No mercy…Keiko no seishinbyo kanja!"(1) He pointed at her accusingly.
She slammed a fist into his gut, causing him to fall back a few steps.
Keiko shook from anger. "How dare you…You have no idea…"
Shiro tried to catch his breath, and stayed back from her.
She pointed back at him. "'I,' the 'I' right here, is NOT the 'I' I will be in six days. 'I' am NOT the same person as the 'Bloody Monday' Murder."
He panted. "You aren't…going to be able to hide from it forever…they will one day realize that it's you. They may already have." He regained his strength. "Then what do I do? Turn you in? Let them kill you? Huh? Have you ever considered what your actions do to other people, Keiko?" His last words came out in a full yell, causing Kyosuke and Asuka to look their way.
No more! She decided.
Keiko stormed outside.
*
As Asuka had predicted, the Kirihara hunting troops returned on schedule.
Unfortunately, they didn't come alone. They brought the nerve center for them as well; in the form of a black, four-door sedan.
But Keiko refused to look at what was going on. She simply choose to ignore the situation and at the outskirt of the church's small graveyard. She watched the battle from afar, and it didn't seem to be going so well. For all of her enthusiasm, Asuka was not the greatest shot, and could not even make a dent in the sedan's exterior. Shiro barely avoided being run down when the car came at him, and Kyosuke had managed to get himself run over in the process of saving some other little girl. He had managed to destroy the few remaining mutants that arrived on the scene with the "progressive" knife Shiro had lent him, but the sedan continued to drive in mad circles.
What's with the saving of strangers? She pondered. Him and Shiro. I so do not get that yet. And I hate that term "progressive." I have no idea why though.
Asuka lost her guns and was on the run through the graveyard.
What am I doing? Keiko wondered. Why am I still sitting here? I watched him get run down and I just sat here. Maybe I am that soulless monster they think I am.
The trio took momentary shelter in a grove of trees too narrow for the sedan to get though.
And the sedan took notice of Keiko's position. It headed for her end of the cemetery.
She took off running. "Oh I am SO not in the mood for this right now!" She shouted back at the sedan. Gaining enough of a lead on the car, she stopped and turned around, bringing her face-to-face with the approaching car. She put her sword up in a samurai-fighting stance, ready to take on a one-ton sedan with a quarter-inch of steal.
The others had left the trees, and Kyosuke started to approach her.
"Wait!" Shiro told him, grabbing his arm. "Watch."
Keiko's hair fluttered about her as the sedan approached.
Kyosuke appealed to Shiro. "She's going to get run down, Shiro! Not even I could stop the car fully! And now it's at full-speed!"
Shiro ignored him. "Just watch."
When the sedan was within a few feet, Keiko leapt up, letting the sedan finish the last few paces to reach her former position. She landed on the hood and the shock to the car caused it to spin its wheels in place for a moment.
"Is it kendo training, Shiro? I mean, I could only do something like that after training for years."
Shiro shook his head. "No. And keep watching."
Keiko drove the sword through the center of the car hood, causing the car to rattle internally. It sputtered a few times, and stayed in place.
There was a sudden moment of silence.
Keiko ripped the sword out through the side of sedan, slicing open its right-front tire. A short hissing sound was heard, and the car tilted towards that side, coming to a full stop finally.
Shiro let go of Kyosuke's arm finally and gave Keiko a few small courtesy claps of his hands. Kyosuke and Asuka stood silently in confusion.
She scowled at him. "Don't patronize me, Mibu."
"Bringing out the last names, ouch." He told her in response.
Keiko turned back to the car and was ready to drive the sword through the driver's side area of the windshield. But something didn't seem right.
She cocked her head to the side and peered in.
Shiro and Keiko reacted almost simultaneously to the vehicle.
There was no driver.
"Get off the car!" Shiro yelled.
But confusion kept her paralyzed.
"Hey! Get down! NOW!" He yelled.
Keiko watched the windshield fold back on the inside roof of the sedan.
Huh? She wondered, bending down to the left of the steering wheel to get a better view. Nothing's there!.
The remains of the car hood titled up suddenly and she was thrown forward into the front seat. The windshield returned to its original position, locking her inside.
"Shit!" Shiro yelled.
Oh this sucks… She thought. It's really tight in here, I can barely move. I'm not going to be able to get out of here on my own.
"And that sucks…" She said aloud to the darkness.
Then things took a turn for the worse. The car's engine restarted.
"Son of a…" Shiro started. "Back up!" He pushed Asuka back. "It's going to come back at us."
The sedan turned around in place to face them, but without a tire, it was not going to be moving in any other direction.
Keiko pounded on the dashboard. "Let me out! Let me OUT!"
Nothing. The car's engine ran, and it sat in place.
Keiko brought her fist down on the center of the steering wheel and a clunking noise was heard from the front of the car.
"Something's loading." She realized. "Oh crap…"
The sedan adjusted its position slightly and fired a mini-missile, having picked Asuka as its target.
But Kyosuke stepped in front of her, taking the hit in the chest. Despite being blown several feet back, blood splattered the windshield, robbing Keiko of her window on the world. She screamed in response, but no one could hear her.
Shiro started firing again with his gun and the car responded. It reversed suddenly and came to a sudden stop several feet. The cabin tilted upwards, throwing Keiko into the back set.
DAMN! It's can't just be some damn car! It has to be an Assault Doll(2) too! Her mind screamed.
Several tense moments ticked by.
Keiko started to pant. It's really hot in here all of sudden. Something's on fire She thought, sniffing the air. Oh man, that's wood burning! The church must be on fire Oh god, Satoshi's box! I'm going to lose it!
The temperature continued to rise and Keiko began to hallucinate from the lack of cool air. She pounded on the hood, but it would be impossible to get though since she was in such a tight position.
I can't even increase my power! I can't afford to get any bigger or I'll be stuck for good in here! Damn! Damn! She realized, her sanity starting to give way.
There was a sudden rush of heat towards the Doll.
"Oh shit…" She started.
The Assault Doll's midsection exploded towards the rear, taking Keiko with it. The remains of the machine then fell backwards, landing on top of her.
*
Keiko crawled on the ground for a few inches to grab her sword from the burning debris. She used it as a cane to force herself upright. She was not in overwhelming pain, but realty had become distorted.
The explosion had forced a state change, something she had not been planning for. Forced state changes could result in any number of monstrosities to be created from her.
The Doll had been blown up a small incline, allowing Keiko to look down on the cause of the explosion.
I didn't think he'd do it. He tried to kill me to honorably save that lying, little brat. She realized. And they consider me the monster here. For shame!
Kyosuke had gone though his own transformation to take on the Doll, having taken the form the Kirihara Group had tagged Soul Taker. Although no real recording of his powers in that state existed, most creatures that actually managed to survive an encounter with him had a decent idea. One shot of his Lighting Breaker had been enough to take out the Doll. The form was considered a nearly perfect mutant form, supposedly second only to whatever form Runa had.
But now it was not just the loss of status, it was the pain. It was like looking in the mirror and looking at her destroyer at the same time. Her wings even mirrored his.
But I can't fly… She wondered. At least my suit isn't that ugly.
To Keiko he looked rather moronic wearing his grey body armor and horned helmet, simply standing there.
I was once considered the most powerful mutant. I was even once considered the strongest of the "Soul" lines. And now my skills take a backseat to his? Why? What is it I'm lacking? Power? Brute strength? What?!? Keiko pondered.
Kyosuke took a step towards her.
She bared his upper teeth, causing Shiro to respond.
"Kyosuke, stand down, anything you do she won't remember. That's the form of 'Bloody Monday.' That is Kyuketsuki Keiko,(3) the Controller of the Bloodlust(4) power.
He stopped in his tracks, but he showed no fear.
They stared each other down.
I don't have time to deal with this now. She realized.
Keiko turned suddenly and walked away from the group, and from the situation. She had a massacre to rule over.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Japanese for "psychotic," making her name "Psychotic Keiko." This is one of the "official" name-tags given to Keiko by the Kirihara Group. This is considered one of her many "unstable, fractured soul" states (more information on the name-tagging of states later).
2. "Assault Dolls" are several varieties of transforming humanoid-style fighting machines used by the Kirihara Group. Literally, they're a form of "mecha" that are assigned to various tasks.
3. Japanese for "vampire," making her name "Vampire Keiko." This is considered an "official" tag, and she is known for having committed acts of amazing cruelty under this persona. It is the only state in which memories are lost (more on this later) and is one of only three "whole soul" states.
4. "Ketsueki Yokubo" or "Bloodlust" refers to an ability thought originally to be only achievable in this state (full vampire status). As one (as a vampire) ingests blood from its victims, the vampire establishes a telepathic connection to the victim. The victim in is then held in the "pain-pleasure" scenario due to the exchange of bodily fluids, and is driven to seek out the vampire afterwards. This constantly strengthens the bond with each encounter. Unfortunately, insanity can be a result of (continued?) exposure to the vampire, and very few are strong enough to survive the initial encounter. It is considered the origin of most vampirism.
**The term Yokubo ni karareteiru ("motivated by lust") has also been used to describe it, but not as accurately.**
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 6: I've Been Here Before
"I still don't understand why we aren't going after her." Kyosuke asked, sitting down at the kitchen table.
Shiro picked the sit across from him and sat down. He moved the ash tray from the center of the table in front of him, pulled a cigarette out of his breast pocket and lit it. "Because she's an out of control mutant with a big sword and pointy teeth. I think that's reason enough to stay put."
Kyosuke pounded a fist on the table, cause the ash tray to jump. "If she kills someone, it'll be your fault for not stopping her!" he told him.
He puffed. "Actually, it'll be your fault. You got her rage going."
"What?!?"
"Yeah, ya see, this whole 'Keiko runs around and bleeds people' thing is supposedly triggered by anger."
He calmed down slightly. "I see. Then how is it stopped?"
"Do you mean this time, or permanently?"
"Either."
"Normally, she runs around for one night, cuts a few people open, and it's over. That night is called 'Bloody Monday' because it happens every third Monday in the month of August."
Kyosuke eyed him. "And that's six days from now."
Shiro eyed his cigarette. "Yep. It'll be more than one day, and it'll be more than a few people this time. It's too bad, really."
"How can you be so calm about this?" Kyosuke asked in disbelief. "She's your family, don't you even care?"
Shiro snubbed out the cigarette in anger. "It's because I can't stop it. Just like I couldn't stop half of the other crap she's gone through. I couldn't help then, and I can't help now." He leaned back in his chair and looked at the ash tray. "I would help her, I would, but I can't. I can't stop it from happening, and I can't stop her rage."
"What 'other crap'?" Kyosuke asked quietly.
"It's a long story; you don't want to hear it." He told him.
"We have six days; that's enough time, Shiro. And I think I need to know."
Shiro looked up at him. "Should I even ask 'why?'?"
"No."
"Didn't think so." Shiro told him standing up. "I'm going to make some coffee, you want some?"
"No."
"Okay. You probably don't want this stuff anyway, all we have is Instant." He told him, looking in the cupboard above the sink. He found the box of packets, opened one and poured it in a mug on the sink. "We'd have a coffee maker, but I broke the pot on it, and it's no good without the pot. Right?"
Kyosuke didn't answer him, but Shiro had learned not to expect answers most of the time.
He yawned and stretched. "Yep, a broken coffeepot. I just wish that was my biggest concern." Shiro pulled a small teapot from the storage area below the stove and filled it with tap water. He put it on the back right burner, and turned that burner on. "That would be nice; having my biggest problem be not having real coffee in the morning." He looked over towards the table. "Isn't that right, Kyo-"
Kyosuke was slumped down in his chair, sound asleep.
Darn, and I put on coffee for nothing. Shiro realized as the tea pot whistled.
*
The next day…
"Can you go over that again, I couldn't understand you." Asked Kyosuke of Shiro.
Shiro stuffed the rest of his powered donut into his mouth. "Yeah sure," he mumbled. "I'll tell you again in a minute."
The apartment was unusually quiet. The only action has been Shiro suddenly deciding to purchase a video screen to watch television, and abruptly doing so. He was now attempting to eat, hook up the screen to the public television feed lines, and talk with Kyosuke at the same time.
And he was not doing any of the three well.
"I think…" he started. "I think I got it this time!"
It was the third time he had announced that, and Kyosuke had become doubtful of his technical abilities. He can hack the Kirihara's mainframe computer, but he can't hook up a video screen. I'm sure there's something wrong with that. He pondered.
Shiro attempted to pull himself from under the screen's hookups, and whacked his head on the screen's bottom edge. "Damn! Now I know why I leave this stuff to Keiko!" he said aloud, standing.
Kyosuke, who had been staring at the same cup of coffee for little over an hour at the kitchen table, looked over at him. "Then why didn't you?"
Shiro rubbed his head. "The whole point of the screen is to watch what she's doing, I can't exactly wait for her to come hook it up. That wouldn't make much sense, now would it?"
Kyosuke simply turned back to the coffee cup.
Shiro turned his attention to the video screen. "Alright, let's see what's on." He said, pushing the "power" button.
It refused to power up.
"Huh?"
He pushed it again. Nothing.
"Damn, stupid, techno-crap!" He ranted. "Half on the stuff available nowadays doesn't work worth crap!"
He was tempted to kick the machine, but after remembering the mess Keiko's "gift" had made, he decided against it. Instead, he joined Kyosuke at the table, opposite him.
Shiro looked at the coffee cup. "I know I can't make coffee worth two-cents, but if you aren't going to drink it, you might as well pour it out."
Kyosuke was sullen. "I know."
Shiro leaned back in his chair. "Don't like my story so far, do you? Or her story, I suppose."
"No."
Shiro looked off into space. "I suppose it's quite an ugly story: abandoned by her father at age four, radiation poisoning at five, cancer at seven…"
Kyosuke put a hand to his forehead. "Stop it."
Shiro looked at him. "You're the last person I excepted to be squeamish about this."
"It's not that. It's just that you're so… candid…about all of this."
"She doesn't shy away from anything that happened, and neither can I for her sake. It's her past that fuels the need for her to find the truth, to have revenge. And we will have it. Change will come, and she will be at the forefront of it. Whether anyone else plans on being there too, remains to be seen." Shiro told him, frankly.
A moment of awkward silence passed between them.
"Then finish your story." Kyosuke told him, leaning back in his chair.
"Only if you pour out that damn coffee." Shiro replied with a slight chuckle.
Kyosuke ignored the demand.
"Oh fine," Shiro told him. "Be that way. No one listens to me anyway, I'm used to it. But see, if I had told that to Keiko, she would have poured it out over my head."
"I figured as much." Kyosuke told him with a slight smirk.
Shiro had a moment of confusion, due to his reaction. "Huh?"
"Never mind. Just finish the story."
"Well, umm, after the first stint in the hospital, her mother tried to take her home. But they wouldn't let her. They told her she had some sort of slow-growing cancer that gradually overawes the body."
"Her mother's Yui Kirihara, I'm surprised they told her no."
"Most people were, and some people wonder if it wasn't a ploy. That maybe she knew it wasn't just cancer."
"Hm."
"Anyway," Shiro continued. "Her mother turned her over permanently to Tokigawa General's cancer ward then, and left the staff in charge of her care. Things seemed normal enough, because many high-society folks had been doing that. This type of cancer had suddenly because more prevalent, and not everyone could devote the time necessary to taking care of its victims.
Things went on smoothly for several years, I guess. I occasionally got a letter or something from her, and despite being hospitalized, she seemed cheerful. She never saw her mother though, and I know that hurt her. Keiko was one of the only children who didn't have regular visitors. I would have gone to see her, but they only let parents and siblings visit the cancer ward in fear of cross-contamination."
Kyosuke was puzzled. "But cancer isn't spread like that."
"Yeah, I know. It was bizarre, but I couldn't do anything about it. Then one day, when Keiko was eleven, I got a strange note from her. She said she had been attacked by a man who worked in the hospital, and that he had raped her. I went immediately to Tokigawa to investigate, but they told me they had had no complaints with the staff lately, and that I still wasn't allowed to see her. I showed them the letter, but they said it was probably due to a hallucination because the drug then administered to patients caused people to see things."
Shiro stopped suddenly and rubbed his face with his hands.
Kyosuke eyed him with concern. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah. It's just hard to think about the fact that I couldn't do anything then."
"I can imagine."
He regained his composure. "Well, three years past, and she never mentioned it to me again in any of her notes. But she said she no longer felt ill, and that she didn't know why she was being kept there. This was also around the time she mentioned a conversation she overheard in one of the adjoining rooms about 'the administering of certain drugs for the Kirihara Group in the past.' She also mentioned how after she had been visited by a man suddenly with a "KG" badge that she had started to feel better.
By this time I was convinced that the Kirihara Group was involved in her continued hospitalization, but there was still nothing I could do. About a month later, there was a fire on the cancer ward of Tokigawa General that was burning out of control, and I decided to act. Knowing her condition was good, I knew time wasn't so much of an issue. I arrived at the lunar colony not long before the fire was put out."
"What did you do?"
"I kidnapped her from the hospital grounds, what do you think I did?"
Kyosuke was a bit stunned, but stayed silent.
"So I brought her back to the surface, and we tried to lay low for a while. But the Hospital has surveillance in nearly everyone's backyard, and they eventually caught up with us. They told us they she was to be turned over to the Kirihara Group for research purposes, and they kidnapped her from our old apartment. There was nothing I could do; they shot me three times in the chest, and I was helpless to stop them." He ran a hand over her his chest where one of the bullets had hit. "I lost track of her for the next three years.
When she was fourteen, there was a mysterious explosion at the Kirihara Group's headquarters, and sources reported that some sort of monster was the cause. Surveillance had no record of it, but Keiko's name suddenly disappeared from the daily records. Three days after the explosion she showed up at that door." He gestured towards the front door of the apartment. "And we've been here since. They don't try to storm the apartment any longer, but they've been trying to catch her off-guard. She's a threat to them, just like you, and they plan on stopping her. You two are going to be under constant watch if they put together the fact that you're working together. Heck, I'm sure they've already figured that out, it isn't that far-fetched. Along with Runa, you three are on their number one enemies' list."
"Then I suppose we are better off being apart, we're just a larger target right now." Kyosuke added.
"On the contrary, you're better off together, especially since Tokigawa General is hiding behind the Kirihara Group. You have common enemies, and it'll be better to stay teamed up until this is over."
"You're telling me to go look for her, aren't you?"
"Actually, no. She's quite dangerous in her vampire state. The best time to look for her would be on Monday, when the Bloodlust period ends."
"That's what I don't understand, Shiro. I don't follow the state-change problem ."
"Basically Keiko has multiple souls, and each one has a different physical makeup that it corresponds too. Unfortunately, it's not as simple as it sounds. She has many souls that are split, making her part evil and part good; and several souls that are fractured; making personality changes a real pain."
"Sounds…messy...." Kyosuke started, in confusion.
Shiro stood and stretched. "Don't worry, about it, you'll get it. She tends to show things better than I can explain them."
Kyosuke was now absolutely confused. "Eh…"
Shiro slapped a hand on his shoulder. "Now will you please pour out that damn coffee, it's starting to smell."
*
Five days later…
"Now remember," Shiro told Kyosuke. "She's probably not going to have any regard for you." He paused. "Or your safety."
Kyosuke straightened the cape he had been given by Asuka after Shiro's shirt had been ruined. "I know." He told Shiro as he headed towards the door.
"So you're doing this willingly?"
Kyosuke added Asuka's soiled pink scarf to the cape. "Yes."
Shiro scratched his head. "Alright. But you know there's a really good chance she's gonna kill you doing this."
Kyosuke shot him a look of stoicism and left.
"Man, they really are hopeless." Shiro realized. "But he's gonna make my life easier, right?" He recalled what had happened six days earlier, and sighed. "Maybe not…"
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------