Chapter 9: Awakening

*Present Day, Psi-Corp Tokyo Lab*

[Damn it! Answer me! What is so funny?!] Ling demanded. Even from her expression alone, Naomi and Kanako could tell that Ling was flustered, enraged.

"You've been lying to yourself all these years that you've forgotten the truth." Kanako answered, as if controlled by some higher power. "I have no birth parents. You had me made. An altered genetic duplicate of the world's most powerful telepath, isn't that true?"

"That would explain everything…" Naomi muttered. Yes, that would explain how Kanako was found. How Ling came to find the girl, claiming that it was lost in the woods near one of their bases when Naomi knew she had just come from the lab. "No wonder there was something strange about the child when I first saw her…something so familiar about the structure of her basic thoughts…"

[How did you find that out? Your powers aren't enough to penetrate my telepathic firewalls.] Ling asked. She wasn't concentrating as hard as before, which allowed Naomi to pick up the message as well. Everything Kanako had said was the truth, every person who heard her knew that now. [I made sure that was impossible!]

"Yes, you did ensure that. You needed to ensure that so that I would develop the proof for your theory. The telekinesis you exhibit, powerful though it is, is only rudimentary compared to what you had planned for me." Kanako didn't understand where all this knowledge was coming from; it felt as if it was just popping into her head, like data being sent through a cable, with her mind receiving it. "You intended me to be the next link in the evolutionary chain for telepaths. What I don't know is…what powers I am supposed to develop as a result of the alterations."

Everything stopped for several minutes, all three women keeping perfectly still. Ling then slowly began to concentrate on a small wooden figurine lying around the room. With barely even a hint of concentration, she levitated herself and the small kitsune figurine from the ground. Then, she closed her eyes and concentrated hard. Focusing every last ounce of her powers on the object, to the point that she could no longer keep herself off the ground, it made Naomi and Kanako stop and observe the figure. Slowly, they all saw a spark appear on the surface of it. This spark slowly developed into a full fledged blaze, setting the figurine aflame and reducing it to ashes in a matter of seconds.

[That…] Ling managed to send as she broke concentration and slowly lifted herself up physically. [That is what you mere wade to do, Kanako.]

"How is that possible? No mental power is capable of setting something on fire!" Naomi shouted. She believed it impossible but she knew the theory. "A telekinetic can only affect on what can be seen!"

[Wrong. Given a mind focusing enough power, that mind can alter the very molecular bonds of almost anything. To increase the speed of the molecules to increase temperature and start a fire or to slow them down, to eventually freeze it.] Ling answered, her eyes staring at a shocked Kanako. [That is what she was made to do. I knew very well that my powers weren't enough. The only way to produce a telepath of that kind of power is to have the areas of the brain used for our powers to be focused on that and that alone. Telepathy, the base power, could not be eliminated but it need not be powerful for it to work.]

"Telekinesis…" Naomi muttered. "On the molecular level…I thought it impossible."

[I myself am capable of duplicating that power but only on the basic level and it is extremely taxing.] Ling continued. [However, if her powers were ever fully awakened, she would be able to freeze all the water in a human body with hardly even a thought. All she needs is to focus on it.]

"You grew fearful. You grew fearful that if my powers were to be fully developed, I would destroy you, take your place." Kanako looked at Ling with her usual unreadable expression and cunning smile. "That's why you had my powers and memories sealed. That's why you're so determined to do that now."

Before any of them could speak any further, the alarm sounded. Naomi looked at the security monitor and looked in horror as a veritable army of KGB operatives and commandos stormed into the lab. There weren't enough telepaths with offensive capabilities to fight them off and the few that could were obviously prime targets. They witnessed it, dead bodies being shot three times in the head just to make sure, those who surrendered shot in between the eyes or their throats were slit. Gustave was at the lead of this butchery, he didn't care whether his victims were normal or telepaths, as long as they were in a Psi-Corp facility then they were fair game. It was clear what the three of them had to do.

"We'll have to work together then." Naomi noted as she got up and armed herself with a high powered, experimental rifle nearby. "Unless any of you want to make this lab our final resting place."

"If anything, I have to thank you." Kanako smiled as she got herself a rifle. "I finally know why…"

[There's too many of them. We'll have to escape.] Ling noted, using her telepathy to open a secret escape route. [We can leave through here.]

……….

*Present Day, somewhere in Tokyo*

"Could you repeat that for me?" Keitaro asked stupidly from the backseat.

"We're rogue telepaths." Sakura answered, loading ammo into her rifle. "That lab back there was once a KGB research center. Now it's just rubble."

"Then the KGB has telepaths?" Naru asked. "Am I…"

"No and no. The KGB's out to destroy telepaths. That device you and Ms. Otohime were hooked up to was designed to detect telepathic minds, allowing the KGB to hunt us down and kill us." Tyler answered. "And you, Ms. Narusegawa, are no telepath. You are a rare example of someone whose mind is capable of re-directing and even magnifying telepathic signals. That's why you were hooked up to that machine. They needed you to enhance Ms. Otohime's powers."

"So, where are we headed?" Naru asked. "And where's Kanako-san?"

"We're going to a Psi-Corp lab in Tokyo. If the machine was right, that's were their leader and founder, Ling Xiao Yin, is and likely that Kanako is there too." Sakura answered. "I just hope we're not too late. Gustave has one hell of a head start but if she's as powerful as the rumors say she is, she'll be fine."

"That's a pretty big if." Chris noted as they neared the lab's back entrance. "We're here."

"Just what is this Psi-Corp? And what does it have to do with us?" Keitaro asked as they got out.

"Psi-Corp is an organization of telepaths, founded after the Cold War. They intend to wipe out all Homo Sapien Sapiens from the planet, replacing them with us, Homo Psychosis." Chris answered as he approached the door and was promptly knocked several feet away by the door being blasted off its metallic hinges. "What in the…?"

Naru gasped in relief as she saw Kanako come out of the long, dark tunnel that leads to the underground lab. Naomi and Ling were close behind her, along with a large number of KGB troops, all heavily armed and all wearing specially designed helmets that prevented telepathic attacks on their minds. The cockroach leapt into Kanako's arms, forcing her to drop her rifle, almost crying in the dark girl's arms. Kanako embraced her, trying to calm her, remembering vaguely Naru's thoughts and her own and trying to sort them quickly. Then, slowly, Naomi separated the two of them, pressing their attention to more important matters. When they turned to run to the open street, they found that they were already surrounded.

"End of the line, Ling." Gustave declared proudly, his rifle aimed at Ling's head. "Time's up."

Gustave grinned, he could feel it. The hour of his greatest triumph was at hand, he had the most powerful telepath on earth captured and awaiting summary execution. Not only that, Naomi Winters, another high ranking Psi-Corp operative and several rogues were there, this was a prize worth all the trouble and resources he spent in this raid. Then, he looked and pointed his gun at Kanako. He knew that Kanako was the infamous Subject# 666, a rumored super-telepath whose powers rivaled if not surpassed Ling's own. He decided that she was a greater threat than the others and prepared to execute her quickly. While Kanako simply stood there, unmoving Naru realized what was going to happen.

"No!" Naru shouted as she jumped in the bullet's path, pushing Kanako out of the way but getting his herself. The bullet hit her in the chest, her blood floating into the air as she fell down, into Kanako's arms. She looked at the dark girl, caressing the pale, smooth skin of Kanako's face. "Are you…"

"Why? You don't have any reason to care about what happens to me!"

"I…care…because…I…" Naru couldn't finish what she said, she had slipped into unconsciousness.

"Naru-san? Naru-san?!" Kanako shook her body to no avail. Putting the body telekinetically in Motoko's hands, she stood up, not realizing her hairs were turning snow white. "Damn you…"

"Kill them all." Gustave ordered.

Upon being given the order, the KGB operatives set their sights on all of them. Ling had the power to stop bullets but there were far too many of them, she knew that at least ten percent of them would hit and that would be enough to be lethal. Even with Naomi and Kanako's powers, she thought, it would be impossible to survive. Mutsumi ran t Keitaro's arms, holding each other tight in anticipation of their demise. The Hinata Sou residents huddled together, hoping that they might live but knowing that they had no chance. Naomi and Motoko bent down over Naru's body, Naomi scanning the mind to see if there was still a chance at saving her. Ling however, saw that Kanako hadn't moved, even after the shots were fired.

"Return to your masters." She whispered. In an instant, every single one of the bullets stopped in mid-air and changed directions, aiming straight for those who fired them. "Now kill them."

As quickly as she said those words, every single bullet hit the operatives in the head, right between the eyes. Naru's injury and possible death brought out her powers and perhaps, she was using Naru to magnify her already dreadful abilities. Naru was all Kanako could think of at the moment, Naru and revenge. She professed to have nothing but hate for Naru with a passion but that passion was slowly replaced with confusion over the years. She hated Naru for taking Keitaro away but couldn't find the reason why Naru left him, leaving him available for Mutsumi. Why Naru tried so hard to befriend her, to be close to her also puzzled Kanako, until now. Before she slipped away, Kanako picked up her last thought. It was an emotion, an emotion that they shared.

"And now, it is your turn. This is for you, Naru-san." Kanako turned and looked at Naru. Then, lifting her hand, she extracted the bullet from Naru's body and made the damaged cells regenerate faster, to prevent further bleeding. It was an example of Ling's theory; she was controlling the very molecules of the cells to do what they did. "Gustave…do you know what it's like to feel pain? To slowly, painfully die? I do. I've been feeling that all my life."

"What are you…" Gustave was about to ask when she pinned Gustave to the nearby wall, the bullet mere inches from where his heart was. Kanako smiled, walking closer to him. She used her powers to slowly remove his Kevlar vest and whatever might get in the way of the bullet and smiled.

"Bullets are interesting things. They are such efficient, quick killers, piercing flesh, muscle, fat and bone, all within a single instant. It's quick, compared to other means but…ever wonder how painful it would be if it were a slow one?" Kanako then telekinetically drove the bullet into him, slowly spiraling, drilling through his skin. It was all too slow; Kanako was taking her merry time having the bullet rip through his body, listening to his screams and pleas for mercy. "You're screaming? Begging me for mercy? Tell me, how many people have you killed? How many telepaths have you slain mercilessly? I can hear their screams echoing through your miserable mind…"

"No…more…please…" Gustave moaned in severe pain as Kanako stopped the bullet just after the tip of it drilled through the breastbone. "…"

"I'll let you live." Kanako said as she turned around, dropping Gustave to the ground. Closing her eyes, she suddenly lifted Ling, Gustave and the three rogues from the ground, slowly choking them. "But mark my words, if any of you, Psi-Corp, rogue or KGB touch me or any of my friends again, I won't be so merciful. Do you understand?"

……….

*Three weeks later, Hinata Sou*

Three weeks had passed no word or sign from Psi-Corp, the KGB or the rogues. Tyler and Sakura, who had both had Todai student IDs as covers, had vanished completely, as expected. Naomi had decided to stay in Hinata Sou, to train Kanako and Mutsumi in the use of their new powers. Mutsumi was easy to teach, to an extent, but Kanako was a different matter. The white-haired telepath, who had dyed her hair black once more just to blend in with the crowd easier, had powers beyond what Naomi knew to control. Now, despite the fact that she would rather not leave, Kanako knew she had to leave. It was for her own, as well as everyone else's good. Her powers were too dangerous; she had to isolate herself again.

"My powers are too dangerous. If I stay here, I'll be a danger to myself and everyone else." Kanako said as she bowed to everyone. She was wearing the garb of a typical female monk, down to the circular straw hat. She walked away, leaving her home. "Goodbye."

"Kanako! Wait!" Naru shouted as she ran down the steps.

"What do you want?"

"You're a telepath, read my mind and find out about it."

"We want the same thing." Kanako smiled after scanning her. "But we can't always have what we want…"

"Do you have to go?" Naru asked, holding Kanako's hand.

"You know I'd rather not go." Kanako answered painfully. "But I have no choice. Maybe someday, I'll come back…"

"Well then…" Naru suddenly grabbed Kanako by the arms and stared into those beautiful light brown eyes, their gazes locked in the moment. Suddenly, Naru let go and kissed him. It was a slow, passionate, loving kiss as Kanako slowly kissed her in reply. They lost track of time as they wrapped their arms around one another, not bothering to come up for air. Finally, despite it being against their better judgment, they ended their sweet kiss, Naru smiling happily, having said in that one show of affection than she could ever have said with words. "Now, you have to come back."

"And why is that, cockroach?!" Kanako asked with shock. Of course, even with such rudimentary telepathic abilities, she knew what Naru meant. And besides, she knew she would one day come back. Hinata Sou was her home; the residents were her friends, her family and Naru…

"You owe me a kiss, you little snake." Naru smiled before kissing her again on the cheek and turning around. "Got it?"

"I'll keep it in mind."

"Keep in touch."

"I will." Kanako smiled as she walked away, sending her answer telepathically. "And I will pay you back."

"Pay it back with interest, of course." Naru answered. "My kisses don't come cheap."

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

"I'll miss the way you'd freeze my drinks and burn my clothes when you get angry." Naru cried on Kanako's shoulder, embracing her tight. "I'll miss the way you hold me, insult me and trap me into giant tanuki jars…"

"I'll miss our arguments, our fights and our shouting matches." Kanako looked up, gently pushing Naru away. It was tempting but she had to go. "I'll miss you, Naru-san."

End…

Kanako: Yeah, I'm a sucker for Kanako/Naru but admittedly don't have the skill to pull a real fic on it off. So, we have this sudden shift in the story. Hell, if Kana can't do a Kanako/Naru, no one can. Well, here's the end. I'm bored with this, busy with everything and I no longer think doing this is worth the effort, so I'll just pack up and leave. Not like anyone wants an insane, obsessive, vindictive, conniving, manipulative, vile, under-handed, lying, cheating, psychotic, back stabbing snake like me here anyway. And on another point, we have an original story up over at Fictionpress.net. Anyone here who has an account there may want to check it out. It's a far cry from anything either Kana or myself have done in the LH area. And no, I have yet to convince him to change the penname. It's still Chocolate Fudge. *shrug*