A/N – Thanks all for the latest reviews! I can't tell you how much I appreciate them. Seriously, without the great support you guys have given me I probably wouldn't have made it this far into the story so really, thanks a lot.
Apologies that this chapter has been a while coming. It took a while to complete because a) I've just started university so my life's a bit hectic at the moment and b) I had some real trouble writing the last section. Anyway, its all finished now so I hope you like it!
Twenty
At the moment, Miss Inez Fressange was a very busy woman. Not only was she in the ongoing process of writing up her theories on bosun jumping, incorporating the revelations from Mars, but she now had a new project to work on – decoding the message on the disk given to her by Ai, her younger self. So far neither task was going as well as she'd planned despite the absurd amount of time she was spending each day on both of them.
Her lack of success was making her very short-tempered towards other people, not that she'd seen so many over the past couple of weeks. In fact, she'd barely left the darkened hovel of her apartment. That was often the way when she had such important projects on her agenda, but the isolation didn't bother her so long as she was making good progress. This time, that wasn't the case she admitted to herself with a dark frown. With her eyes fixed rigidly on the screen in front of her, she reached down for her mug and took a sip of coffee, only to spit it out when she realised it was two days old.
Right, that decided it. Stuff that stupid disk – she was taking the afternoon off. It was Sunday after all and maybe some fresh air would make the devilish disk seem a little more comprehensible when she returned.
Just as she was about to leave her apartment to go for lunch, she remembered that it had been three days since she'd last checked her e-mail. Sitting back down at her computer, she sighed in grim anticipation as she called up her inbox.
"Welcome. You have one hundred and sixty-eight new messages,"
"Perfect," muttered Inez, clicking the icon to filter out all non-priority e-mails. That left thirty-two, still a large number, but at least realistic.
She scanned her eyes down the list of senders. Predictably most of them were from Nergal, with a few from Chairman Akatsuki himself. Chances were that he was checking on her progress. Well that counted as work so she ignored them for now. None of the others seemed to require urgent attention. Just as she was about to close the program and hit the café, she noticed one strange e-mail near the bottom of the screen. She was amazed to see who its sender was – Ruri Hoshino, the Nadesico's other sane mind. She chewed her lip in puzzlement as she opened it. Why would little Ruri send a priority message to her? It certainly wouldn't be like her to send a personal e-mail, Inez thought with a wry smile.
'Dear Miss Fressange. I apologise for interrupting your busy schedule, but I'm afraid I'm in urgent need of assistance and you may be the only person who can help me.'
This was interesting. It was rare enough for Ruri to struggle, but knowing her she would have to be really desperate to actually ask for help from someone else. Inez read on curiously.
'To summarise the situation, current circumstances mean that Mr Akatsuki wants me dead and has sent an assassin to kill me,'
The sudden shock of reading that caused Inez to jolt, knocking her mouse of her desk. She immediately scanned over the rest of the e-mail, which contained the details of the events leading up to Ruri's current predicament. Her jaw dropped slightly further with every passing sentence – was all this true?
Well, it certainly wasn't like Ruri to joke.
"Akatsuki. How could you?"
All thoughts of lunch and a restful afternoon were instantly discarded as Inez's lashed out for her phone and frantically dialled a number. As the dull tone started up in her ear, she bit her lip anxiously and cursed herself for not checking her mail more often.
* * *
Akito wondered why on earth he was feeling this nervous. All they were doing was visiting an old friend. But then again, it wasn't so simple was it? Ruri had been thrown into this life without any say in the matter and they had no idea as to how she'd adapt to it. Would they find a happy girl revelling in the joy of youth or would they find a miserable one, bitter at being cast aside like nobody wanted her anymore? In Akito's mind the latter was the more likely possibility, though he hadn't admitted it to Yurika. Of course, knowing Ruri's stoic nature it would probably be hard to tell either way. But would she blame them for allowing her to end up here? Probably not, Akito decided, she was far too logical for that. He shook his head clear. There was little point in theorising – he'd learn the answers himself in a few moments when they entered the building in front of them.
He'd barely pulled up the handbrake before Yurika had exited the car to look up at the long red-brick structure which they knew to be Ruri's home. Her face revealed her distaste clearly and Akito had to agree that it didn't look very welcoming. Its layout was very plain and every window was square and regularly spaced. The namesakes of the facility surrounded the building like seven ominous sentinels, making the atmosphere even more sinister. So much so that even in today's glorious sunshine, the orphanage grounds seemed to embody only darkness.
"This is a home for kids? Man, you wouldn't think it,"
"It looks like a prison," Yukina commented, not caring to disguise her disgust. Minato reprimanded her with a disapproving glance.
"Come on, let's go on in," said Yurika, her good humour returning. She took Akito's hand and together they walked through the gates and along the path leading up to the entrance. The other two followed a few paces behind, still looking up at the building. A group of three preteen kids watched them from one corner of the garden, whispering quietly amongst themselves. They seemed particularly interested in Yukina - clearly they thought that the Jovian girl was to be the newest member of their household.
"Ring the doorbell Akito," Yurika said.
He complied. For several seconds nothing happened, then suddenly they heard the rush of approaching feet from inside and the door was opened by a small tanned boy, no more then ten years of age. He stared up at them with, his dark eyes alight with curiosity.
"Hello?" He said it as a question.
"Er, hi there," said Yurika, crouching down to speak to him. "We're visitors. Is there a grown-up around who we can talk to?"
"Yeah, hang on," the boy turned and ran off down the hall, shouting out, "MISS NISHIDA!" A moment later a plump elderly woman appeared from a doorway and came their way. She appeared healthier then her form suggested, but she had the look of someone who hadn't slept for days. Despite that, she put on a smile for them as she approached, though Akito could tell that something troubled her beneath it.
"Hello there!" she said, beaming at the group. "Mina Nishida at your service. May I help you?"
"Er yes," said Akito uncertainly. "I'm Akito Tenkawa and these are Yurika, Minato and Yukina," He scratched the back of his head nervously. "This may seem a little strange but a friend of ours was put in this orphanage a few weeks ago. We were wondering if we could come in and visit her?"
"Well, I don't see any trouble. You seem like decent young folks!" she said cheerfully, revealing some yellowed teeth. "So who is it that you'd like to see?"
"Um, her name's Ruri. Ruri Hoshino," said Yurika, taking over the reins. "She's a quiet girl with white hair and golden eyes?"
Upon hearing that Miss Nishida's face fell dramatically. "Ah. Right," she coughed tentatively. "I'm afraid there's a problem with that,"
"Huh?" they all said in unison.
"Yes, I'm afraid she isn't here anymore,"
"Not here?" Akito asked, his voice filled with dread. "Then where is she?"
"We don't know," continued the elderly woman, who now looked on the verge of tears. "A couple of nights ago she vanished without a trace,"
"You mean she disappeared, just like that?" Yurika screeched, her bright eyes sticking out like headlamps.
"Yes," she replied, speaking slowly and cautiously – clearly talking about this was difficult for her. "Yesterday morning she didn't come to breakfast so I went up to look for her and she wasn't there! None of the other children had seen her that morning and we couldn't find her anywhere!" She gestured helplessly with her left hand. "We've had the police search the whole area, but there's been no sign of her. They believe she's run away," She bit her trembling lower lip then said, "I can't understand why she'd do a thing like that. She was always a very quiet girl, but I always thought that she was happy. I mean, if she was having problems, she could have always come to me. I've always tried to be approachable to the children, it's my job to take care of them. Oh, I'm sorry!" She turned her head away, covering her eyes with a hand.
The other four all swapped stunned gazes not sure of what to say, do or even think. Ruri had run away? Why? Had she really found it that bad here? Minato was the first to break out of her trance of trepidation to comfort the old lady.
"No, its okay," she said, touching her arm reassuringly. "Please don't blame yourself. Ruri has always been very independent. She probably just left to come look for us. I'm sure nothing was wrong."
Miss Nishida dabbed at her eyes with a tiny handkerchief, then folded it and returned it to her pocket, giving them a weak smile. "Thank you. I'm sorry, I do tend to get emotional," With a quick shift, she stood up straight, trying to regain her dignity.
"I'm very sorry that you can't see her, but we're doing all we can to try and find her. I'm afraid I can't be any more help, but I can make you a cup of tea if you'd like. Would you like to come through to the games room?"
"Well, if it's no trouble," said Minato, still the only one with enough composure to speak properly. "I could certainly use a nice warm drink,"
"No, it's the least I can do for you. Please, please come this way." She started off through the doorway next to them.
"Come on Yurika," whispered Akito, taking her limp hand and pulling her along. She didn't say anything, or even wear an expression. Hearing about Ruri's disappearance had shocked her into silence. Clearly guilt and worry were running riot inside her.
"Aren't you coming Yukina?" Minato asked over her shoulder when she saw that the Jovian girl was still standing in the hallway.
"Um, I don't think so," she replied, "I want to have a look around before we go,"
"Go on ahead, but stay out of trouble!" said Minato.
"And if you see a boy with short black hair, tell him to tidy his room!" added Miss Nishida.
"Okay!" said Yukina, dashing off upstairs.
"Always an explorer," muttered Minato to herself as she walked on into the games room.
* * *
"So Ruri's disappeared eh? Very suspicious!"
Yukina trod lightly along the landing, peaking into bedrooms through open doors, or keyholes if they were closed, as she progressed. Though she didn't know Ruri that well, she still found it hard to believe that she would just suddenly vanish into thin air. She must have left some kind of clue for them to follow. Surely she knew that they would come for her once they were free, so she must have left some lead for them. Of course, to find that lead she first had to locate Ruri's room.
So far she hadn't had much luck. Every room she'd inspected either contained no sign that it had been Ruri's or had too many other kids in it to permit a closer look. Still, she kept at it, her heightened opinion of her own investigative skills pushing her onward.
"Phew! Glad I didn't have to come here. It smells like a dump! No wonder Ruri wanted to leave!"
Just then she saw the sign she'd been looking for dangling from the ceiling in a room near the end of the landing. Way back when they'd just escaped from Earth, Yukina had briefly seen the inside of Ruri's quarters and remembered the fish mobile well, since it had been the only decorative object in the whole room. Seeing it there was a dead giveaway – this was Ruri's bedroom for sure! Feeling smug at her detective work, Yukina checked both ways down the landing before nipping in to have a closer look.
It seemed that most of Ruri's few possessions had been left untouched, probably for the police investigation. There was still a large stack of books on the bedside table, most of them far too advanced for a normal child's mind. This was Ruri's room all right, thought the Jovian girl with a satisfied smirk. The books held no visible clues (which had disappointed Yukina – she'd thought that there might have been a note between the pages), so she turned her attention to the suitcase under the bed. Bringing it out, she flung it open and began to examine its contents.
"Hey,
who the hell are you?"
Yukina
yelped and spun right around. Two children stood facing her, both of them
girls, perhaps a year or two younger then her. The one who had spoken had harsh
blue eyes, high dimples on her face and twin violet plaits hanging behind her,
each one ending in a yellow bow. The other one had shorter, sky-blue hair and
freckles. Neither of them looked very friendly.
Upon seeing them, Yukina's shock died down and she became indignant. How dare someone younger then her address her like that! She took a step towards them, with her hands on her hips and a frown on her face.
"Hey, don't sneak up on me like that!" she snapped, trying to make use of her very slight height advantage.
"What are you doing in our room!?" demanded the blue-haired girl, scrutinising her with hostility.
"Nothing. I'm just having a look," replied Yukina matter-of-factly.
"We don't like strangers messing around with our stuff!" said the same girl, not dropping the aggressive glare. "Get out now or we'll tell Miss Nishida!"
"Yeah!" The purple-haired girl seconded her.
Perhaps she should have walked out while she had the opportunity, but Yukina's pride demanded that she stand her ground. She was outnumbered but she wasn't about to let some prepubescent brats boss her around!
"I'll go where I like!" she snapped. "Why don't you kids go play with your toys and stop bothering me!?"
"Right, that's it!" declared the blue-haired girl. "I'm getting Miss Nishida!" She turned on her heel and strode off down the landing, leaving Yukina alone with the plaited girl, who was now wrinkling her nose angrily at her.
"Crybaby," muttered Yukina under her breath.
"Hey, you're not new her are you?" the other girl asked suddenly. There was a slight trace of curiosity beneath the aggression in her tone.
"Huh? No way! I'm no orphan!" she exclaimed defiantly. "I only came here to look for my friend!"
"What?" replied the other girl, visibly startled. "Hey, wait a minute…" For a moment, she squinted at her thoughtfully, chewing her lip and touching her chin with a finger. Then suddenly her eyes rocketed wide open and her jaw plummeted down with a gasp of realisation.
"You're Yukina!"
The Jovian girl had never been so surprised as when she heard this stranger say her name. The shock knocked the breath from her. How on earth did she know that? Yukina overlooked the logical explanation and said, "Yeah! How did you…"
All the purple-haired girl's energy for anger had now been transferred to excitement. Her large eyes shone with wonder as she said, "Then, you're Ruri's friend, right?"
"Yes, that's right!" Yukina suddenly found herself sharing the exhilaration. "Did you know Ruri?"
"Know her? I was her roommate until a few nights ago!" she laughed. "I'm Mikoto!"
"Er yeah hi, I'm Yukina,"
"I know! You're her Jovian friend from the Nadesico!"
"You mean she told you about me?" Yukina was genuinely surprised.
"Of course! She told me all about you and Captain Yurika and Akito and everyone! She showed me photos and everything! Wait a second," she said, pausing. "Are they here too?"
"Yeah, Miss Minato, Miss Yurika and Mister Akito are all here…"
"Really!?" Mikoto's eyebrows flew up her forehead, as if they were trying to take off. She was breathless as she stuttered, "Oh wow, this is so exciting! Can we go see them?"
Yukina found it ironic that it was her wanting to calm someone else down. This preteen girl was acting like a five-year old on Christmas morning. She replied in a calming voice, "Yeah, yeah in a minute. But first I want to ask you something," She delivered the question that she'd wanted to ask someone for, well, nearly ten minutes now.
"Do you know where Ruri is?"
Mikoto's gusto suddenly faded. She was quiet for a second, before saying, "Well not really. She wouldn't tell me," She met the elder girl's eyes. "But I do know a few secrets. Like why she wanted to leave."
Secrets? Naturally Yukina was intrigued. "I'm listening," she said, infinitely more eager to hear then she sounded.
Mikoto poked her head out onto the landing, scanned around, then shut the door. She then came in closer and, using a very soft voice, told her the truth behind Ruri Hoshino's mysterious departure from the orphanage. Yukina listened to every terrifying detail with bated breath. Then, once Mikoto had finished, she nearly broke through the door in her eagerness to get downstairs.
"MINATO!"
* * *
Normally he was not the kind to get angry easily. When he did it was usually for one of two reasons. The first was when people forced him to fight, even though he never wanted to. The second was Nagure Akatsuki. Sure enough, this time around it was the latter reason that was causing him to slam his fist against the bedside table in rage.
"That bastard! That lowlife scumbag!" he roared, rage forming glistening beads of sweat on his forehead. He drove his fist down again, his whole body quivering tumultuously and his breathing slow and deadly.
Yurika, who was sitting next to him on Ruri's old bed, had chosen sheer disbelief over anger. "I can't believe Akatsuki would want to kill Ruri," she murmured in wonder.
"That man has no conscience at all!" declared Minato, horror adding acid to her voice.
After Yukina had dragged them up here to Ruri's old bedroom, the young orphan called Mikoto had told them everything. About how Akatsuki had tried to hire Ruri for some new super battleship, how he had sent an assassin after her when she had refused him and about how she had left the orphanage a couple of nights ago after the second attempt on her life. They had all listened intently throughout her story, not willing to accept the facts they were getting, while at the same time knowing it was the terrible truth.
"He really sent an assassin to kill her?" Yurika asked softly. Her voice was vague and her eyes were eerily vacant, as if she were in a daydream.
"Ah-huh," said Mikoto, nodding insistently. "I even saw the assassin myself! He broke into the orphanage so he could take her away!"
"Well, this really is news," murmured Minato, contemplatively putting a finger on her left cheek. "I guess it's no wonder that she wanted to leave,"
"That Akatsuki," growled Akito. "He's gone too far this time!" He vaulted to his feet, pushing his fist into his other palm. "I'll kill him! I swear next time I see him…"
"Please, Akito," pleaded Yurika, breaking out of her trance. "We can deal with Akatsuki later. Our biggest concern is Ruri at the moment."
Yurika's reason seemed to break through Akito's fury, but he was still stewing in his own anger as he roughly sat back down next to her. He had trouble controlling his voice as he said, "Yeah, you're right. But how do we find her?"
"Very good question," said Minato, looking over to the orphan girl. "You said that she didn't tell you where she was going, right?"
"No, she wouldn't even give me a clue," replied Mikoto. "I tried to make her tell me, but she wouldn't no matter how many times I asked her."
"She could be anywhere by now," murmured Yukina, holding her chin in her hands despondently.
"We have to think of where she would want to go," said Minato, staring up into space as she racked her brains. "But nowhere comes to mind. She's never really been allowed to roam free in the world before, so it's hard to even think of a possibility,"
"Yeah," said Akito, whose tone still contained a hint of rage. "She probably thinks we're still locked up so she probably didn't leave to meet up with us,"
"Unless she did hear that we'd been freed," put in Yurika suddenly.
"I don't think so. She left two nights ago and even we didn't know we were being released until today," Akito scratched his chin thoughtfully and ran his eyes around the drab room, looking for inspiration.
"She left no clues at all?" Yurika asked Mikoto.
"No, nothing. She definitely had some place in mind, but she wouldn't tell me," She shrugged helplessly. "I don't know if it means anything but she was wearing her Nadesico uniform when she was left. I thought that might mean she was going back to the Nadesico."
The four visitors exchanged a united four-way glance as they considered this. "The Nadesico? Well, it's out of service now so I doubt she'll have gone there," said Akito.
"What about Nergal?" asked Minato, fretfully pursing her generous lips. "You don't think the fact she was in uniform means she joined Akatsuki after all, do you?"
Akito grimaced at the thought. "Well there would have been a certain logic to that," he conceded reluctantly. "It would be the only sure way to stop Akatsuki from killing her."
"She wouldn't have joined him. Not after what he's done," stated Yurika. There wasn't a single trace of doubt in her voice.
"Are you so sure about that?" asked Yukina dubiously.
Yurika nodded with total conviction. "She knows what Akatsuki is. She knows what he does is wrong. I can't see her joining his cause, even if it did mean saving her own life."
"Yeah, you're right," murmured Akito. "It just doesn't sound like her,"
"This is getting us nowhere!" put in Yukina, scowling in frustration. "There's no way of finding her if she hasn't left us anything to go on," She drew her knees up to her chin. "That idiot…"
There was a moment of silence as everyone struggled for a useful contribution. None came for a while. Ruri had clearly gone to pains to cover her tracks for obvious reasons, but that made it almost impossible for even her closest friends to find her. There were so many potential locations, but no likely ones. It was hard to even suggest where she could be. Perhaps two minutes of contemplative silence went by before Akito broke it with an abrupt burst of inspiration.
"Wait a second," he said, suddenly sitting forward. "I've just thought of something. Maybe she has gone back to the Nadesico."
All eyes turned to the former pilot. "But why Akito?" asked Yurika. "The ship's been decommissioned. There's nobody there now."
"No, you're wrong," said Akito quietly. "Someone very important to her is still there."
"Who?" Everyone, including Mikoto, asked in unison.
Akito's expression was grim as he said, "Omoikane."
"Omoikane," repeated Minato, tilting her head back and pondering the idea. "Yes, of course. The computer was closer to her than anyone else. It makes sense that she'd want to see it again."
"Even if she had to break into that UEAF facility?" asked Yurika.
"Well, knowing Ruri, she could probably work her way around their security," said Akito, spreading his arms indifferently. "It's just a guess, but I really can't see where else she would go. After all, the Nadesico has always been home to her,"
"Well I think that's the best idea yet," said Yukina, bouncing up and down impatiently on the bed. "I say we go and check it out,"
"I agree," said Yurika, grinning gleefully at her boyfriend. "You're so brilliant Akito! I knew you'd work it out eventually!"
"We still haven't found her yet," pointed out Akito. "For all we know she could be on Mars. But searching the Nadesico would be a good first step."
"So, back to Hiratsuka then?" inquired Minato.
"Yes!" shouted Yurika jumping up on her feet, her face once again alight with her characteristic passion. "We'll go back to the Nadesico and find her before Akatsuki gets his filthy hands on her!"
"Okay!" said Akito, standing up beside her. "I suppose we'd better get moving," He started towards the door, but then turned back to Mikoto, who had been watching them quietly throughout the whole discussion.
"Look, thanks for telling us everything. You're a very good friend to Ruri,"
"Yeah, thank a lot!" added Yurika.
The small orphan girl smiled back at them and gave a tiny shrug. "Hey, no prob! I'm glad I could help in some way, you know?"
"Right. Well we'd better be off," said Akito. He held the door open for Yurika, Minato and Yukina, but before he left the room he dug his hand into his pocket, pulled out a crisp green note and offered it to Ruri's former roommate.
"Here, take this as a token of our appreciation,"
"Really?" Mikoto eyes became a pair of full moons when she saw how much money it was. She nearly snatched it from his hand in her eagerness. "Aw thanks mister!"
"That's okay, you've earned it. Well, seeya," He raised his hand in farewell before following the three girls out onto the landing.
"Good luck Mister Akito!" Mikoto called out after him. "When you do find Ruri, tell her I said 'hi'!"
"Will do," he replied, waving one final time as he descended the stairs.
* * *
And so the three former Nadesico crewmembers, along with the teenage girl from Jupiter, continued their quest for the precocious albino child by returning to the city they had left earlier that afternoon and the place which they had called home for more then a year. Whether they would find her there was another question entirely. As it turned out, Akito's theory was a reasonably good guess. What they didn't know at the moment was that Ruri had far more on her agenda then just plain survival.
The kitten's claws were being sharpened…
A/N – Just for the record, the blue-haired girl was Tina, Ruri's other roommate, in case you hadn't worked it out. (Like anyone cares!)
You know, I've just reread that last section and realised it's quite hard to read because the names are all so similar (Yurika/Yukina and Minato/Mikoto)! Can't be helped I guess.
Okay, a bit of bad news. I'm afraid to say that updates are going to be coming a little bit slower since, like I said earlier, I've just begun university so I'm having less time to write. But while new chapters won't be as frequent, they WILL come eventually. Just give me time! To be honest, there's not much further to go until the end (seven chapters by my current plan, two of which are practically written already) and the whole thing will be up by the end of the year, one way or another.
In the next chapter, you'll finally find out what Ruri's up to and Yurika has an important announcement to make. Hope to see you then! ^_^
