Chapter 6
A/N: *sweatdrops* Sorry for the delay, I meant to post this chapter up sooner,
but I couldn't use my laptop for a week -and all of my stories are saved onto
it. But I have gotten it back!! Muahaha! Anywho, I really really like this
chapter. You'll see.
Thank you for your patience. *bows* Here's chapter 6.
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Haruko's footsteps were silent as she walked down the leaf trodden sidewalk. She
couldn't risk contact with someone that might recognize her... or someone that
knew Naota.
It was a comfortable autumn day in Mabase. Haruko had returned in hopes of
finding of help... answers... nostalgia -no, she wanted to find Canti. She had
dressed appropriately for the weather, but also in a way that put her incognito.
She wore an US military style jacket over a black turtle neck and faded old
jeans. At this rate, someone would just think of her as some Yankee girl.
Haruko wasn't bold enough to sneak back into the Nadaba residence yet, much more even spend too much time around that area of Mabase -maybe later. A knot
twisted in her stomach, if she found nothing here then she would just have to
continue on without. The first place she decided to check was the area of the
old MM plant -it had been demolished and all that resided there now a large hill
of grass displaying a lovely view of Mabase. There was a slight breeze, creating
waves in the grass as she sat down cross legged on the hill.
Though out this whole ordeal, she realized that she hadn't taken a break and
really pull herself together. Her recent failure stung in many ways.
Her pride was hurt first of all; it was a rare occasion when she could just let
so many things go wrong like that. It hadn't been that way since... she had let
Atomsk escape. Although, despite her pride -which had been hurt before and would
heal just as quickly- she could not ignore the dull throb of sadness that came
from the second thing that hurt her from her most recent failure. Her mind
refused to erase the image of Naota's face as she turned to him -not aware of
what she was about to do. Why did the memory hurt so much? It was as if an
important part of her had been ripped out.
Haruko's vision went from Mabase's skyline to the blue sky above as she threw
herself back into the grass -what could she do now? Obviously go back to save
him -she knew that much, but how? What were they planning on doing to him
exactly? How would she rescue him without being caught herself? She had to find
Canti.
Her search resumed a little while after she had resolved to just take things a
step and a time -she'd deal with what she had to when she had to -y'know? For
now, she was looking for any trace of where Canti might have gone. He had a
tendency of picking up odd jobs sometimes, so she looked through the odd and
ends of Mabase -checking to see if any funny looking humans had been employed
recently. That turned out useless.
Just as she was about to enter another useless shop -something caught her eye. A
newspaper left out by a bench. Suddenly, she felt ill to her stomach as a block
of ice seemed to pass down her spine. The headline read:
MISSING TEEN CLAIMED DEAD
Like a train wreck, she could not help but pick up the paper and let her eyes
roam the words written on it.
Nadaba Naota, age 16, who has been missing since 14 May, 2002, has finally been
claimed dead after a two year long search. He had gone to school that day and
was returning home alone, when it was said that he was kidnapped. It was when
Ninamori Eri, a classmate of his, filed a missing persons report a week later
that it was brought to everyone's attention that he had gone missing. His
father, Nadaba Kamon, was questioned on why he had not realized his son's
disappearance. Well, it wouldn't have been the first time that he had skipped
school and run off somewhere. I wasn't aware that he could have been kidnapped
-he seemed like he could take care of himself. It was not until their robotic
housemaid had gone missing a few days after Naota's disappearance did either his
father or his grandfather suspect that something had been wrong.
A search had been set out for the boy, at age 14 when he first disappeared. It
combed through all of Mabase city, and later outside cities. A few months later,
Tokyo was alerted of Naota's absence, and soon after all of Japan had been
searched. Unfortunately, no trace of the teen was found. It had been ruled out
that he had left the country, for no trace of anyone described similar to Naota
had taken a plane or ship out of Japan anytime after his disappearance. A body
had not been found, which led people to believe that he may have still been
alive.
Nine months have passed since then, and a body has still not been found. The
head of the Department of Missing Persons of Japan, Sakurazuka Subaru, has put
out the statement that Nadaba Naota is dead, as of 20:15 last night. It is
suspected that the body may have been thrown into the ocean.
A funereal for Naota will be held 27 October in Mabase city.
Nadaba Naota is also the younger brother of Nadaba Tasuku, the famous baseball
player playing in America. Tasuku will also be attending the funereal, and he is
deeply grieved.
Haruko could have vomited. It was insane, this was total bullshit. Of course she
knew that Naota was alive presently, but reading the words of the newspaper
deeply disturbed her. She threw it down violently as if it were trying to bite
her. An intense inferno burned in her soul. She would rescue Naota.
With new determination, she formulated a plan to get Naota back, with or without
Canti.
The world seemed to spin again. The white of the doctors coat blurred into the
darkness of the rest of the sickbay. Oh, sorry -there might be a slight after
effect from the serum. It shouldn't last too long. the doctor spoke up, seeming
far away. Naota couldn't recall the rest of the checkup until two of the guards
hauled him up by the arms off the table. They left sickbay and made their way to
the left, down another dimly lit hallway. he noticed that the doctor was
following them. He was speaking, Naota could make out most of what he was
saying, although slowly.
You would normally be held in the Detainee's Level, but seeing as your such a
special case, you get to be held in the test subjects level. -We have a special
room just for you. the doctor spoke almost gleefully. Surprising himself, words
came out of his mouth. What d'you mean? he slurred.
He suffered a forceful nudge to the gut from one of the guards, singnaling him
to shut up. No no, he has a right to know, you know. You see... the man
started, coming to a rather large door where he slid a card key through after
taping in some numbers into a keypad. A light ding' noise was made as a little
screen flashed an unhappy face to a happy face and the door slid open.
You have the capability of reaching an awesome amount of power somewhere inside
of you. And this... he trailed off as they entered the room, the lights turning
on. In the room was a massive structure that reminded him of a sewing machine
with the needle pointing outwards toward a table that was tilted about 65
degrees up. The doctor proceeded. ... is going to help us reach it.
It was like the judge proclaiming his execution.
The Earthling Vespa was parked outside a grungy looking shop that bore a sign
that read:
Guitar Repair
-acoustic and electric, guitars and basses-
Haruko had really gone out of her way to reach this place, in fact -it was
totally in the opposite direction of where she needed to go, the Medical
Mechanica HQ. She had done it for a reason though, she hadn't been here in years
-four years in fact. What could she say? She missed this pitiful little planet
-the food was good... and then there was this shop.
She causally sauntered in, the two Gibsons and Rickenbacker in toe. Haruko
stopped and leaned at the front counter, she smirked. she called out into
the hall behind the counter. Lazily, a gruffy man walked out. He was in his
early 30's it looked like, with dark purple eyes and salt and pepper hair going
from his head to stubble on his chin. He was on the verge of being buff, with
defined muscles that were adored with number of tattoos, ranging from abstract
symbols to the initials: GSPB, to Japanese kanji. Once he had fully stepped out
into the hall, it could be seen that he was holding a crutch in his right arm,
for his right leg was missing. Once he saw who had just walked into his shop,
his eyes widened.
Haru-chan! I haven't seen you since you were -what? 15? 16? He greeted her
cheerfully. Haruko sweatdropped at the old nickname before responding. Hiya,
Yuto-kun. What's been goin' on?
Nothing much, you know how it is here. How's the GSPB been? Heard you almost
got kicked out -what have you gone and done now? he asked grinning at her. She
sweatdropped yet again, It's a long story and I don't really have the time to
tell ya... but that's one of the reasons why I'm here. she finished, placing
the basses and guitar on the counter. He looked then over. Wow, you've gotten
quite a collection -what have you been doing? ... I see you've been taking care
of the Rickenbacker I gave you... -Oh fuck! Is this what I think it is? Isn't
this - Yuto trailed off as he ran his hand over the Gibson EB-0. Calmly, she
nodded. He continued, What have you been up to?
Haruko started, looking up from the Gibson EB-0. The Rickenbacker
doesn't belong to me anymore... she spoke, looking down at it. He was the one
who gave her the bass while they were on Earth as a gift to her for getting
accepted in to the Galaxy Space Police Brotherhood. Yuto paused. You gave it to
that Amarao kid didn't you!? he exclaimed.
Haruko gagged, Wah! No! she was practically ill at the thought, remembering
what that Amarao kid was like today.
Yuto looked over her shoulder. Maybe we should continue in the back. he
stated, motioning to the hall behind him. Shrugging, she nodded and hopped over
the counter. He picked up the Rickenbacker and she picked up the Gibsons. They
made their way into a medium sized room that held a grungy green couch and a
radio in the corner. Worn forest green leather beanbags chairs were littered
throughout the room along with guitar strings, music tab books, and machine
parts. All in all, it fit Yuto perfectly.
Placing the basses and guitar on the couch, they sat down on the beanbag chairs,
Yuto placing his crutch down on the ground. So, what happened with your bass? I
fixed it all up for you and everything and you just go and give it away! he
said half jokingly. Haruko chuckled and decided that she could share a second or
two explaining things to him, he needed to know to help her, after all. She
started, rather disgusted with at the memory of the ordeal, That kid was a
hack! His N-O gate sucked. I only spent a good few months with him and I
bolted. He nodded at this, So, what happened to the Rickenbacker? You gave it
to someone?
They sent me another kid a few years later. I was looking for Atomsk- she was
cut off. Like always. Shit, I find it amazing that you can be so single minded
-you joined the GSPB when you were only 14 because you were looking for Atomsk
and you still are. You power hungry bitch. he shook his head chuckling. Her
mouth cracked into a grin. Shut up. There's more to it then that and you know
it. Anyway, so they sent me this new kid. Well -he's not a damned hack, that's
for sure.
You in love with him? Yuto asked, raising an eyebrow.
Haruko felt something her in her chest flutter, to her dismay. What?! He's just
some kid. He.... Her voice trailed off as she tried to think of the word she
was looking for, and she angrily looked away from him. What was Naota to her
anyway?
But you do have to remember our affinity for little dirtball planets. Yuto
added, nodding thoughtfully. I mean, look at where I live! he added again with
a laugh. He knew Haruko would never admit that fact for anything- except maybe
Atomsk.
This was true, when Haruko was accepted into the GSPB, they had taken a trip to
Earth to celebrate. That was the day that Haruko received the Rickenbacker as a
gift from him. He fixed it up for her so it could manipulate N-O, because he
could see that see was an excellent N-O user(and she did end up being the best
N-O user the GSPB had). Although, shortly after Haruko had been accepted into
the GSPB, Yuto had lost his leg in a battle. He had been honorably discharged
after that. He was going to move to Earth and open a guitar repair shop, but due
to the fact that Earth was neutral and that their defense network sucked -he was
unable to as a GSPB veteran. Yuto ended up moving to the planet he was at
presently, for it was controlled by the GSPB.
Haruko laughed with him. This man was the first person to befriend her at GSPB
Headquarters, where she was sent by the Foster Parent Association of her section
of the galaxy. She couldn't remember much except that her parents had died in a
battle between Atomsk and MM. At GSPB HQ, she was schooled until she could apply to enter the force, where she met Yuto. So, he was the closest thing to family
that she had, so she owed him a lot, y'know?
So, you said you were here for something? Yuto spoke up, looking at the
collection' she brought. He was amazed that she had gotten a hold of Atomsk's
Gibson. Haruko was scary when it came to Atomsk. He couldn't really explain why
she was so obsessed with getting his power, but she did not let anything stand
in her way, not even whole planets. He guessed that this all had to do with the
reason why she was nearly kicked out of the GSPB -she's the best they got! Why
would they kick her out? Yuto surprised a shiver. That must have meant that she
did something they didn't like in order to get to Atomsk, and he knew that MM
had captured Atomsk... which didn't sound good at all. This new kid had
something to do with this too, but he didn't know what.
Which was why Yuto helped Haruko when it came to Atomsk, he was slightly afraid
of what would happen if he got between them. As close as they were... which was
as close as Haruko would let anyone get to her, he didn't think it would save
him. He would ask her about the details of current events later, it was time for
business.
Haruko started, Yeah, I need you to tune' these for me. She smirked again.
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Yeah, kinda cliffhanger-y I know.
What do ya think of Yuto? I think he's cool, I wish I knew him personally. For
anyone who's ever heard of CLAMP and X/1999 -there are two names I used in this
fic from it. Sakurazuka Subaru is my favorite manga character ever, and Yuto is
another character in X. Just thought that'd make a nice note. lol