Well this is it, the last chapter. Um....it took about a week to get this in
but its here. I'm personally not very fond of the ending that I WROTE but
I've found that someone likes it. Anyway, final thanks to QS for all her
help. I really appreciate it. Thanks! This is this is it. After this I'll
probably work on my manga for Fiction-press.....maybe. Enjoy!
=====================================
For the first time in a long time I felt confident about something; I felt good, unbeatable, or maybe that was just the Atomsk part talking. Like before it seemed to take control over me. I saw perfectly fine, my body felt like it was mine to manipulate, but my thoughts didn't seem to be all Naota. It's like all I wanted to do was attack, to kill my opponent and not hold back in the least—which, I might add, wasn't at all what I really wanted at the moment.
I hesitated; Haruko, however, didn't waste any time going on an all out offensive. She charged at me in a flash and I found myself guarding my head from the swing of her weapon. The connection of her guitar and mine, when I used it to defend, set off a loud sound, like lightening striking the ground, and a mysterious wind kicked up from inside the house, blowing fiercely and wrecking my room. If that wasn't bad enough for the place, when I finally got Haruko to back off for a moment, I caused even more damage.
She took a slight step back to regain her composure, probably preparing to attack again, when I saw my own opportunity to attack. I held my guitar up high and swung down hard at her. I apparently forgot that she had the ability to levitate because that's what she did— straight up and I missed her completely, blowing a huge hole in my floor. Part of me was pissed off but the other part just didn't care. It only wanted to kill. Had I more control over my own mind, I might have seen what was coming next.
Without the slightest bit of warning, Haruko went back into attack mode. She was back in my face in no time, before I even thought of my next move she had swung again and hit me like I was fastball pitched low, and like an excellent batter she turned the pitch into a high fly-ball to center field. Unfortunately, my bedroom isn't as large as a baseball field so when I went flying, so did most of the roof on my house. I'm not even sure how far I flew before I landed, hard and loud with a crash into the street; a clear homer. If this was it, right now, I wasn't really liking Amarao's little plan.
It did seem like he knew though. He gave me the bass guitar, dropped me off, and told me to go inside; and then he just left without a word and it just so happens that Haruko is inside waiting for me. It's like he wanted this to happen.
Well, I didn't have much time to think about any of that either. In a flash of light, Haruko again stood before me but she didn't attack at first; she just stared at me. So I stood to my feet a little nervously and stared back in the same manner.
For the next few minutes the two of us stood like that while people began to gather around us but at a distance. Most of them were inside their homes, watching us through the windows while others hid inside or behind cars. Some stuck their heads out their doors to see and others did the smart thing and just took off from the scene.
After another moment, Haruko took a step toward me. "Hey, Ta-Kun," she said after looking around a bit. "You ready for round two?"
No! I thought to myself. Although, I don't know why, I nodded in response to her question. She obviously understood better than I did because she immediately made a dash for me. I jumped into a defensive stance, ready to take the force of whatever strike she would try, but she didn't attack. Instead, she flew straight up into the air, stopped and held her guitar up high as it began to glow brighter. Then, in one fluid motion, she swung it down and kicked her legs up as a huge red beam came flying down at me. I unintentionally, or rather, instinctively flew out of the way, taking nothing more but a little blow from the blast wave as it hit the ground. I was the lucky one.
/_\
That little blow from the blast wave came from the huge explosion that the beam made. From the time it began its decent to the moment the dust finally cleared from the explosion it caused, you could hear the people screaming below us. The crater it made alone took up about three blocks in either direction and the blast wave that extended toppled just as many buildings.
Haruko didn't seem to care though. She just stared down, waiting for me to move. For some reason, I didn't care either.
But I didn't wait any longer; I went on the attack. On this one I caught Haruko off guard. I rushed in at her as she had done to me earlier, but I didn't swing. She evaded me anyway though, so I swung in the same direction as she moved. I hit hard and sent her flying just as I had when she hit me. She recovered quicker than I did though but I was ready for that.
I wasted no time following after I got my hit in, so by the time she turned back to see me, I was over her and attacking again. This time I swung down which sent her sailing into the ground and again I followed up on the attack. I went straight down after her and tackled so when she hit the ground, she hit harder with the extra weight that I applied from my holding on to her.
The two of us hitting the ground together brought about another flash of light and the destruction of even more of the city and yet another large crater. But I did not move, I stayed on and pinned her down the moment we hit. Strangely, Haruko didn't struggle or cuss, nor try to force me off. She just looked at me.
"This remind you of anything?" she said.
I thought for a moment. "You were on top last time," I said in response. It was a fine time to make a joke. She just smiled at me and after all that attacking I just did, you'd think she'd be mad or something, but it seemed more like she was enjoying this.
Haruko's smile turned into a grin before she finally kicked me off. I landed softly but I was too slow to stop Haruko from retrieving her weapon and mine as well.
"Fun's almost over, Ta," she said. From there the fight became a one sided one. Haruko rushed in and smashed me with one guitar and followed up with the next one. She seemed to be a whole lot faster than she was before. I'd go flying from the hit and barely get my balance back before she was at it again. I managed to avoid a few shots but not enough of them. This just kept on going until the end. The final shot that she put in to end the fight really ended the fight.
It ended here. I was on the ground when it hit me, struggling to my feet. I was still on my knees when she struck me. She held both guitars high in the air, then had slammed them both down hard on my back. My body immediately returned to the ground where I'd lay for a while to come; Haruko also got tossed to the ground by a blast as the two instruments smashed into pieces across me. It was painful but the thought of it was funny: she went through all that trouble to get that thing just to break it.
And that was it for our big fight. All the fun was over. I felt my entire body cool down in an instant as that power inside of me began to fade. The mark on my forehead left as did the red glow that surrounded me. My whole body ached and felt weak as I imagine Haruko must have felt as well. I watched as the glow left her too. What was strange though is how Haruko just laid there on her back smiling.
/_\
"Why so short though?" Haruko said as she laid there. I struggled up to my feet and made my way over to her, stopping by her feet and looking down at her. She looked up at me and said, "Too short, right, Ta?"
What? I thought to myself as I raised an eyebrow. "What's too short?"
"The fun," she said and sat up. "I wanted to have more fun."
"What are you talking about?"
"Ya know! That's the reason Med. Mechanica lost Atomsk in the first place. No one can hold on to him for too long. You taught me that." Again, I'm lost in confusion. Sometimes I swear that people do this on purpose—confuse me—like they think it's funny to see me stumped or something.
"Well, would you mind explaining that?"
"I will," someone said. And who would it be walking out of nowhere and without warning? Amarao, one of those people who always seems to show up when you least expect them to, followed by Ninamori, another one.
"Where'd you come from?" I asked.
"We were following you," he said. "We watched the whole thing." I guess that means they watched me get my butt kicked.
Ninamori wasted no time in running over and hugging me, asking if I was okay. I nodded but she didn't let go, she just turned to Haruko and glared at her.
"What's going on?"
"Okay," Amarao said. "Remember how you got Atomsk's power before, but it left you?" I nodded. "Well, that's only because it can't be contained for too long and your pink-haired friend over there knew that. That's why MM lost it in the first place."
Again I must say, I'm lost in confusion. If Haruko knew that she wouldn't be able to keep any of that power, what was the whole point of her even coming here? Should I bother asking and risk even more confusion? Or should I just leave it where it is and not bother? I'll bother.
"So what was the point of all this then?" Amarao shrugged, Ninamori shrugged, so I returned my attention to Haruko for an answer.
Haruko didn't say a thing at first. She just stood to her feet and glared back at Ninamori, who began to hug me tighter not in a fearful way but in more of a possessive manner.
"I just wanted to have a little fun with Ta-Kun," Haruko said finally. "For old time's sake."
Riight. I thought. Now it all makes sense—or am I just so confused that it just sounds right?
"That's all well and good," Amarao said. "But now that we've got all that out of the way, I'll do what I came here to do."
"And what's that?" I said sarcastically as Amarao walked in front of me.
"I'm taking her in. I've got a nice prison cell picked out and everything." Haruko's eyes lit up instantaneously as Amarao pulled out a pair of handcuffs and approached her. Haruko just staggered around there for a moment before she fell back down to her butt. I could tell she was weak, exactly how I felt. She was defenseless and she probably deserved it, but I just couldn't let it happen.
This was strange; Amarao didn't at all seem concerned with the fact that our once fair city was now separated in patches of rubble. He continued on without thought of it like a lioness stalking its prey and it was eerie how similar his face was to a hunting animal.
I broke away from the weepy Ninamori and dashed over in front of Haruko. Amarao looked at me like I was stupid, but I knew that wasn't the case. I set my feet and threw my arms out defensively to protect and I wasn't moving.
"Naota?"
"Was this your plan?" I asked. "Did you know about all this?"
"I knew she would come back and I've been waiting ever since, but I didn't think it would turn out like this," Amarao said. "Either way it's going to end here. Now move!"
"No. I'm not moving." And I just stood there, staring at Amarao while he stared back at me. I didn't know what he was going to do; he seemed to get very angry all of a sudden, but unless he was going to shoot me, I wasn't moving.
After awhile Haruko stood up slowly behind me. I could hear her moving and I looked back to see. She stepped up and hugged me softly around my waist. "That's okay Ta-Kun," she said. "I didn't plan on staying anyway." Again, I was confused but not too much. I was still more baffled by everything else that went on today.
"Naota, move before she tries to escape." I just glared back over at Amarao, unmoving and silent, but Haruko acted like she wanted to fight. She pushed me aside and stepped forward, almost as if she were inviting him to make a move. Amarao took that bait; he came running in at Haruko and without breaking a sweat, she stopped him dead in his tracks. All she did was hold out her arm and he stopped like he ran into a wall and she never even touched him.
All of a sudden Amarao grabs the side of his head like he's in pain and starts screaming. What was she doing to him? She was just using his head like she used to do me, I could tell. A second later his head lit up and something popped out of it. It was that little motorbike that Haruko was always on, the one she hit me with when we first met. Amarao fell to the ground immediately after, while Haruko just stood there smiling at the sight.
"N-Naota?" I looked back at Ninamori, who seemed to be horrified at what had just happened, I don't know why though. I ignored her while I continued to watch Haruko as she boarded her vehicle.
"Well, Ta-Kun, this is g'bye again," she said.
"Where are you going?" I asked.
"Somewhere. Hey, you wanna come?" I looked at her and blinked. The last time she said that she chose an answer for me and left. I didn't answer anyway, I just looked back at Ninamori as she walked over to me. "Nah. You're probably still too young. See ya," she said, jetted off down the road, and turned the first corner she got to. After that, I didn't hear her bike anymore. I just sighed and looked down at my feet.
It hadn't really been a question before and it still really wasn't one now but the more I thought about it the more compelled I felt to answer; how do I feel about Haruko?
When I saw her face for the first time, I felt relieved, I didn't care how much pain I had just been in, and when I saw her upstairs in my room, I began to feel better for some reason. I didn't even care that she had disguised herself as Mamimi and tricked me all this time. Even now I didn't care that, a few moments ago, she had been kicking the crap out of me. But now I had this real bad feeling in my stomach, a sick feeling, but I knew I wasn't ill. It came from me missing Haruko, and she'd only been gone a few seconds. I had to do something.
"Hey, Ninamori," I said without looking at her. "I have to go somewhere."
"Go? Where are you going? You want me to come with you?" It would be real strange if she came.
"No," I said. Right now I felt even worse knowing what I was about to do. So instead of saying anything else I turned to Ninamori and looked her in the eyes. She looked back at me, more confused than I've ever been, and before she got the chance to speak, I leaned in, kissed her lightly on her lips, and stepped back.
"Oh," she squeaked. I just had to smile at how hard she blushed, but I didn't give her any time to say anything else. I turned and took off down the road and heading toward that corner Haruko turned, trying my best not to look back at Ninamori who was probably just standing there and blinking in confusion. Once I turned that corner though, all thoughts of Ninamori were gone.
And it was just like I thought—Haruko hadn't left at all. When I hit the corner, I immediately spotted her leaning against her little bike, smiling and staring back at me. At that moment, nothing else seemed to matter to me. Not the town, not Ninamori, not Kamon or Amarao. I had fallen back in love with Haruko but I didn't want to say it, not yet anyway.
"I knew you wanted to come, Ta-Kun." I didn't know or care where she planned on going, but do know I'm glad she waited for me.~
For the first time in a long time I felt confident about something; I felt good, unbeatable, or maybe that was just the Atomsk part talking. Like before it seemed to take control over me. I saw perfectly fine, my body felt like it was mine to manipulate, but my thoughts didn't seem to be all Naota. It's like all I wanted to do was attack, to kill my opponent and not hold back in the least—which, I might add, wasn't at all what I really wanted at the moment.
I hesitated; Haruko, however, didn't waste any time going on an all out offensive. She charged at me in a flash and I found myself guarding my head from the swing of her weapon. The connection of her guitar and mine, when I used it to defend, set off a loud sound, like lightening striking the ground, and a mysterious wind kicked up from inside the house, blowing fiercely and wrecking my room. If that wasn't bad enough for the place, when I finally got Haruko to back off for a moment, I caused even more damage.
She took a slight step back to regain her composure, probably preparing to attack again, when I saw my own opportunity to attack. I held my guitar up high and swung down hard at her. I apparently forgot that she had the ability to levitate because that's what she did— straight up and I missed her completely, blowing a huge hole in my floor. Part of me was pissed off but the other part just didn't care. It only wanted to kill. Had I more control over my own mind, I might have seen what was coming next.
Without the slightest bit of warning, Haruko went back into attack mode. She was back in my face in no time, before I even thought of my next move she had swung again and hit me like I was fastball pitched low, and like an excellent batter she turned the pitch into a high fly-ball to center field. Unfortunately, my bedroom isn't as large as a baseball field so when I went flying, so did most of the roof on my house. I'm not even sure how far I flew before I landed, hard and loud with a crash into the street; a clear homer. If this was it, right now, I wasn't really liking Amarao's little plan.
It did seem like he knew though. He gave me the bass guitar, dropped me off, and told me to go inside; and then he just left without a word and it just so happens that Haruko is inside waiting for me. It's like he wanted this to happen.
Well, I didn't have much time to think about any of that either. In a flash of light, Haruko again stood before me but she didn't attack at first; she just stared at me. So I stood to my feet a little nervously and stared back in the same manner.
For the next few minutes the two of us stood like that while people began to gather around us but at a distance. Most of them were inside their homes, watching us through the windows while others hid inside or behind cars. Some stuck their heads out their doors to see and others did the smart thing and just took off from the scene.
After another moment, Haruko took a step toward me. "Hey, Ta-Kun," she said after looking around a bit. "You ready for round two?"
No! I thought to myself. Although, I don't know why, I nodded in response to her question. She obviously understood better than I did because she immediately made a dash for me. I jumped into a defensive stance, ready to take the force of whatever strike she would try, but she didn't attack. Instead, she flew straight up into the air, stopped and held her guitar up high as it began to glow brighter. Then, in one fluid motion, she swung it down and kicked her legs up as a huge red beam came flying down at me. I unintentionally, or rather, instinctively flew out of the way, taking nothing more but a little blow from the blast wave as it hit the ground. I was the lucky one.
/_\
That little blow from the blast wave came from the huge explosion that the beam made. From the time it began its decent to the moment the dust finally cleared from the explosion it caused, you could hear the people screaming below us. The crater it made alone took up about three blocks in either direction and the blast wave that extended toppled just as many buildings.
Haruko didn't seem to care though. She just stared down, waiting for me to move. For some reason, I didn't care either.
But I didn't wait any longer; I went on the attack. On this one I caught Haruko off guard. I rushed in at her as she had done to me earlier, but I didn't swing. She evaded me anyway though, so I swung in the same direction as she moved. I hit hard and sent her flying just as I had when she hit me. She recovered quicker than I did though but I was ready for that.
I wasted no time following after I got my hit in, so by the time she turned back to see me, I was over her and attacking again. This time I swung down which sent her sailing into the ground and again I followed up on the attack. I went straight down after her and tackled so when she hit the ground, she hit harder with the extra weight that I applied from my holding on to her.
The two of us hitting the ground together brought about another flash of light and the destruction of even more of the city and yet another large crater. But I did not move, I stayed on and pinned her down the moment we hit. Strangely, Haruko didn't struggle or cuss, nor try to force me off. She just looked at me.
"This remind you of anything?" she said.
I thought for a moment. "You were on top last time," I said in response. It was a fine time to make a joke. She just smiled at me and after all that attacking I just did, you'd think she'd be mad or something, but it seemed more like she was enjoying this.
Haruko's smile turned into a grin before she finally kicked me off. I landed softly but I was too slow to stop Haruko from retrieving her weapon and mine as well.
"Fun's almost over, Ta," she said. From there the fight became a one sided one. Haruko rushed in and smashed me with one guitar and followed up with the next one. She seemed to be a whole lot faster than she was before. I'd go flying from the hit and barely get my balance back before she was at it again. I managed to avoid a few shots but not enough of them. This just kept on going until the end. The final shot that she put in to end the fight really ended the fight.
It ended here. I was on the ground when it hit me, struggling to my feet. I was still on my knees when she struck me. She held both guitars high in the air, then had slammed them both down hard on my back. My body immediately returned to the ground where I'd lay for a while to come; Haruko also got tossed to the ground by a blast as the two instruments smashed into pieces across me. It was painful but the thought of it was funny: she went through all that trouble to get that thing just to break it.
And that was it for our big fight. All the fun was over. I felt my entire body cool down in an instant as that power inside of me began to fade. The mark on my forehead left as did the red glow that surrounded me. My whole body ached and felt weak as I imagine Haruko must have felt as well. I watched as the glow left her too. What was strange though is how Haruko just laid there on her back smiling.
/_\
"Why so short though?" Haruko said as she laid there. I struggled up to my feet and made my way over to her, stopping by her feet and looking down at her. She looked up at me and said, "Too short, right, Ta?"
What? I thought to myself as I raised an eyebrow. "What's too short?"
"The fun," she said and sat up. "I wanted to have more fun."
"What are you talking about?"
"Ya know! That's the reason Med. Mechanica lost Atomsk in the first place. No one can hold on to him for too long. You taught me that." Again, I'm lost in confusion. Sometimes I swear that people do this on purpose—confuse me—like they think it's funny to see me stumped or something.
"Well, would you mind explaining that?"
"I will," someone said. And who would it be walking out of nowhere and without warning? Amarao, one of those people who always seems to show up when you least expect them to, followed by Ninamori, another one.
"Where'd you come from?" I asked.
"We were following you," he said. "We watched the whole thing." I guess that means they watched me get my butt kicked.
Ninamori wasted no time in running over and hugging me, asking if I was okay. I nodded but she didn't let go, she just turned to Haruko and glared at her.
"What's going on?"
"Okay," Amarao said. "Remember how you got Atomsk's power before, but it left you?" I nodded. "Well, that's only because it can't be contained for too long and your pink-haired friend over there knew that. That's why MM lost it in the first place."
Again I must say, I'm lost in confusion. If Haruko knew that she wouldn't be able to keep any of that power, what was the whole point of her even coming here? Should I bother asking and risk even more confusion? Or should I just leave it where it is and not bother? I'll bother.
"So what was the point of all this then?" Amarao shrugged, Ninamori shrugged, so I returned my attention to Haruko for an answer.
Haruko didn't say a thing at first. She just stood to her feet and glared back at Ninamori, who began to hug me tighter not in a fearful way but in more of a possessive manner.
"I just wanted to have a little fun with Ta-Kun," Haruko said finally. "For old time's sake."
Riight. I thought. Now it all makes sense—or am I just so confused that it just sounds right?
"That's all well and good," Amarao said. "But now that we've got all that out of the way, I'll do what I came here to do."
"And what's that?" I said sarcastically as Amarao walked in front of me.
"I'm taking her in. I've got a nice prison cell picked out and everything." Haruko's eyes lit up instantaneously as Amarao pulled out a pair of handcuffs and approached her. Haruko just staggered around there for a moment before she fell back down to her butt. I could tell she was weak, exactly how I felt. She was defenseless and she probably deserved it, but I just couldn't let it happen.
This was strange; Amarao didn't at all seem concerned with the fact that our once fair city was now separated in patches of rubble. He continued on without thought of it like a lioness stalking its prey and it was eerie how similar his face was to a hunting animal.
I broke away from the weepy Ninamori and dashed over in front of Haruko. Amarao looked at me like I was stupid, but I knew that wasn't the case. I set my feet and threw my arms out defensively to protect and I wasn't moving.
"Naota?"
"Was this your plan?" I asked. "Did you know about all this?"
"I knew she would come back and I've been waiting ever since, but I didn't think it would turn out like this," Amarao said. "Either way it's going to end here. Now move!"
"No. I'm not moving." And I just stood there, staring at Amarao while he stared back at me. I didn't know what he was going to do; he seemed to get very angry all of a sudden, but unless he was going to shoot me, I wasn't moving.
After awhile Haruko stood up slowly behind me. I could hear her moving and I looked back to see. She stepped up and hugged me softly around my waist. "That's okay Ta-Kun," she said. "I didn't plan on staying anyway." Again, I was confused but not too much. I was still more baffled by everything else that went on today.
"Naota, move before she tries to escape." I just glared back over at Amarao, unmoving and silent, but Haruko acted like she wanted to fight. She pushed me aside and stepped forward, almost as if she were inviting him to make a move. Amarao took that bait; he came running in at Haruko and without breaking a sweat, she stopped him dead in his tracks. All she did was hold out her arm and he stopped like he ran into a wall and she never even touched him.
All of a sudden Amarao grabs the side of his head like he's in pain and starts screaming. What was she doing to him? She was just using his head like she used to do me, I could tell. A second later his head lit up and something popped out of it. It was that little motorbike that Haruko was always on, the one she hit me with when we first met. Amarao fell to the ground immediately after, while Haruko just stood there smiling at the sight.
"N-Naota?" I looked back at Ninamori, who seemed to be horrified at what had just happened, I don't know why though. I ignored her while I continued to watch Haruko as she boarded her vehicle.
"Well, Ta-Kun, this is g'bye again," she said.
"Where are you going?" I asked.
"Somewhere. Hey, you wanna come?" I looked at her and blinked. The last time she said that she chose an answer for me and left. I didn't answer anyway, I just looked back at Ninamori as she walked over to me. "Nah. You're probably still too young. See ya," she said, jetted off down the road, and turned the first corner she got to. After that, I didn't hear her bike anymore. I just sighed and looked down at my feet.
It hadn't really been a question before and it still really wasn't one now but the more I thought about it the more compelled I felt to answer; how do I feel about Haruko?
When I saw her face for the first time, I felt relieved, I didn't care how much pain I had just been in, and when I saw her upstairs in my room, I began to feel better for some reason. I didn't even care that she had disguised herself as Mamimi and tricked me all this time. Even now I didn't care that, a few moments ago, she had been kicking the crap out of me. But now I had this real bad feeling in my stomach, a sick feeling, but I knew I wasn't ill. It came from me missing Haruko, and she'd only been gone a few seconds. I had to do something.
"Hey, Ninamori," I said without looking at her. "I have to go somewhere."
"Go? Where are you going? You want me to come with you?" It would be real strange if she came.
"No," I said. Right now I felt even worse knowing what I was about to do. So instead of saying anything else I turned to Ninamori and looked her in the eyes. She looked back at me, more confused than I've ever been, and before she got the chance to speak, I leaned in, kissed her lightly on her lips, and stepped back.
"Oh," she squeaked. I just had to smile at how hard she blushed, but I didn't give her any time to say anything else. I turned and took off down the road and heading toward that corner Haruko turned, trying my best not to look back at Ninamori who was probably just standing there and blinking in confusion. Once I turned that corner though, all thoughts of Ninamori were gone.
And it was just like I thought—Haruko hadn't left at all. When I hit the corner, I immediately spotted her leaning against her little bike, smiling and staring back at me. At that moment, nothing else seemed to matter to me. Not the town, not Ninamori, not Kamon or Amarao. I had fallen back in love with Haruko but I didn't want to say it, not yet anyway.
"I knew you wanted to come, Ta-Kun." I didn't know or care where she planned on going, but do know I'm glad she waited for me.~
