The mirror rose over eighty feet from the lake emerging in almost the exact center. Kusanagi stood atop it while Murakumo flew above until in a rage Kusanagi sported the armor from his shoulders and neck calling on the full powers of his seven matamas. He had one goal, just as Murakumo died. He had to shatter the mirror, his enemy had to stop him.
"Good-bye Kusanagi." Murakumo said promising once again to rid the world of the Kushinada's protector. Momiji tried in a futile gesture to argue against their fighting but she knew Kusanagi's order to go back to the Iwatto to be the correct thing to do. In her minds eye she took a last look at the blue opaque mirror held by a plant of gigantic proportions and the man who had vowed to break it before tossing hersef back into the car and ordering Ryoko to take her back. Unlike them, she watched what she couldn't have normally seen.
Murakumo's blade pierced Kusanagi's flesh severing his arm from his body. The man was virtuously helpless while the dark haired Murakumo asked why he couldn't just die. He tried to break the mirror, shoving into the rock hard surface with all his strength but his efforts were rewarded by a crack along with a blossoming pain in his stomach. Vision dimmed as the pain spread.
Momiji tried to fly faster, preyed to reach him in time, but the dark form falling off the mirror was the form of her beloved and by the time she reached it, his body had already disappeared beneath the surface of the lack.
She watched hoping that her eyes had betrayed her but no, it was she who had betrayed him. Kusanagi had known she was coming and to keep the enemy from her he had taken death upon himself. Never should it have happened, it was all her fault.
Momiji sank to her knees in the cold water of the lake. Emerald eyes wide but unseeing as she felt the shock and the pain.
"KUSANAGI!" She yelled desperation filling her voice.
"Kusanagi." Momiji sat up panting. Her chest was on fire, her clothes soaked with sweat. Her eyes stared into the dark finding nothing to focus on except the blue light cast off by her matamas. Light came from under the sheets which she had all but kicked off as she tossed and turned during the nightmare.
Slowly her heart stopped racing, her thoughts stopped spinning like dust in a sandstorm and she was able to convince herself that it was only a dream, although she could clearly remember the time when it wasn't.
"Only a dream, only a dream, only a dream." She chanted over and over. Someday, maybe when she no longer felt like Judas, she would be able to believe it. On wobbly legs she crawled over the bed and made her way to the bathroom. She didn't bother turning on the light, she could see just fine without it. Silently she washed her face with water to clear the tears and sweat off.
For the first time since she'd woken she felt a small shiver of cold and knew she was calming down. It always worked that way, first she was boiling hot, then freezing cold. She took a towel and wet it to wipe off her neck and arms and feeling better for it she went back into the bedroom.
After finally convincing Kusanagi that she was perfectly capable of putting an air-bed together he'd gone home and she'd done just that. The old steel frame was leaning against the wall in the corner and the other corner was taken up by the blown up mattress and it's black and blue sheets. Momiji looked at it and knew she wouldn't be able to get back to sleep. Instead she walked to the center of the room and stood, eyes closed.
There was one good thing about the nightmares, and it was that the horrid dream had reminded her of what it felt like to fly. A few things were different, number of matamas and the fact that when she'd done it on her own it had been out of sheer desperation or under the influence of something/someone, but still it was flying.
So now, as she'd done to track the Aragami in the past, she spread her awareness to her eight matamas tracing the lines of bower that emanated from them to herself, memorizing the way they felt and flowed. Then, after building up her courage, she pressed into them the need to fly. She formed a picture of it in her mind including the sensation of air against her face, the absence of ground beneath her feet, the joy of controlling ones movement and the desire to be somewhere else. When Momiji opened her eyes she found herself hovering three feet of the ground.
"Very good for a beginner." A decidedly rude and male voice broke her concentration. The tenuous link with her matamas broke and she began to fall. Instead of hitting the ground, arms caught and held her keeping Momiji from harm.
"I was trying to concentrate." She remarked in a vain attempt to sound mad. She couldn't manage it because of the insane joy she felt by being in Kusanagi's arms. The joy lasted but a brief moment as he tossed her on her bed. She glared up at him but in the dark he might not have seen it clearly.
"What are you doing here Kusanagi? Aren't there other young women in greater Tokyo to torment?" She covered her awe of him with sarcasm trying to get herself back under control as she moved over to sit at the edge of her bed. Kusanagi leaned against the traitorous window that had let him in unannounced.
"Don't flatter yourself. I just wanted to see what the TAC's latest recruit was up to." For a moment he turned serious his eyes narrowing down to focus on her. "Did you feel something about half an hour ago?" The question reminded Momiji of one he'd asked years ago that she'd taken the wrong way. This one, she knew better now, was all about Aragami and she wondered if it could have anything to do with her dream.
"When I woke up, my matamas were glowing. That was about half an hour ago." It was a perfectly truthful answer that gave nothing away. Momiji was proud of herself.
"Hmm... That might have been caused by the same thing, anything else?" She shook her head and he sighed. "Well then since we're both awake let's see you try to fly again." He made her last success sound like she'd just been fooling around and Momiji resented it. Even so she tucked the anger away for future use and got to her feet. A cold draft from the window made her shiver bringing to her attention that she was only wearing her new back skin tight tank-top and matching shorts. All the times that Kusanagi had barged in on her made Momiji almost to the effect of indignation at him seeing her in her pajamas. That did not make her immune to the cold.
"Shut he window, jeeze what where you born in a barn?" She asked knowing that he knew little about his birth. She turned it into a joke and Kusanagi, after giving her an odd look, complied. Momiji resumed her stance in the middle of the room aware that he was watching her every move. She wondered what he saw.
"Don't make any noise or I wont be able to do it." She warned turning her back to him and closing her eyes. This brought a chuckle from him. It was a good sound and she looked over her shoulder at him taking in his appearance for the first time that night.
His red jacket was present as always but he didn't wear black on black underneath. Instead he had a pair of blue jeans and a white tee shirt on. His hair wasn't slicked back but tousled making Momiji's fingers fairly itch to smooth it back. All in all he looked rather boyish. She could easily make out the ripple of muscles hidden by the shirt proving that hew was no boy.
"You wont even know I'm here." He made a joke of his own albeit a bad one to which Momiji rolled her eyes.
"What-ever." She said exactly as Akiko had said in English. Without seeing his response she turned back and began the process of sensing her matama's and feeding them the picture of flying.
During this she didn't have much time sense but still she knew that it took much longer than last time. True to his work Kusanagi made now sound. She floated almost a foot off the floor but no more than that and after an hour of trying to get higher she got so frustrated that her control snapped completely. As she fell back to the floor she had the urge to curse and throw something, preferably something that would shatter. The old patient and serene side of herself managed to keep her from doing such an unladylike thing, but she wanted to do it.
"You'll get better." Kusanagi told her from beside the window. Momiji turned to face him wondering how he could know. He probably didn't but was just saying it to try and make her feel better. Unfortunately she didn't want to feel better. She walked into the kitchen flipping on the light before rummaging in the fridge. She pulled out two single sized cartons of orange juice, knowing that Kusanagi liked it, she tossed him one before opening her own.
Then she slid down the wall by the fridge to sit on the floor. Kusanagi came forward to join her under the light pulling something from the inside pocket of his jacket. It was a book. Momiji wondered what Kusanagi would be doing with a book, any book.
"Matsudera sent this over." He said. Momiji set her juice on the floor so she could catch the book which he tossed to her. The cover and binding were blank so she opened it. The book was about martial arts. "I guess she figured that you might be able to learn something from it." He said. Apparently he thought it was highly unlikely. Momiji thumbed through it.
"The Aragami King Orochi taught me. When I was a baby he murdered my parents and implanted me with seven seeds. After that he took and raised me as best a plant could always training me to fight, to protect." Kusanagi's voice was soft and his eyes slid halfway shut as he spoke remembering. Momiji drank a sip of her drink eyes only for him. She knew the story, but it meant much more coming from him.
"My first memories, other than those few of my parents, are of fighting stances and lessons of diversions and stealth. I knew of nothing else until I met the first Princess Kushinada. She was the first human to know of my existence, the only one who felt my presence, saw the fruits of my work. I protected her not only because it was what I had been created for, but because what I did finally mattered to someone." He took a few steadying breaths. It wasn't hard for Momiji to see the trouble in his eyes. Some of these feelings he had put away years ago, or tried to at least. Momiji now realized that his feelings for Kadee had been more than friendship but had not been the love he'd thought.
"You cared for her because there as no one else?" Momiji asked as she was supposed to. It was a question to make him think, not for him to answer specifically. He nodded anyway. "And what about Momiji?" It felt odd speaking about herself in this manner.
"Oh Momiji." He let out a soft breath. "My time with Kadee was like the twilight between day and night. Momiji was the promise of a new day, the sun on the horizon. I don't think I truly lived or felt before I met her." Never before had she heard him be so poetic about anything and she thought for a moment he might cry. She almost snorted at that thought. Kusanagi had never been willing to let Momiji see him in any other way than the arrogant self he pretended to be. Dorien wasn't about to see it either. His self assurance would kick in before that happened.
"You probably think I'm a moron, but maybe that's why I don't think she's dead. I'm just not willing to let go of hope." He tried to sound sarcastic, turn his words into some sort of joke on him. Momiji knew better.
"I bet that you'll manage to bring her back from wherever she is. If anyone can do it, you can." She gave him her winning smile hoping to cheer him up. It had some effect for he finished his juice quickly and stood up.
"You ready to learn some of those moves?" He asked with a smile that promised torture. Momiji finished her own juice and stood up.
"Do I have a choice?" She knew they didn't, either of them. In a way being an Aragami had been forced on both of them and now was the time to make something of it.
She slammed against the mattress that had been set against the wall just for that reason. Despite rapid regeneration Momiji felt every bruise that she'd received since talking Kusanagi into showing her how to throw someone. She had though that this would involve him showing and her practicing, but no that was to be saved for later.
Their neighbor on the side of the wall yelled loudly making a rude suggestion to which Kusanagi gave an even more vulgar reply. The man subsided with a threat to call the management. Momiji asked that if he did, could he please ask to have the bed frame removed. She giggled to herself over the thought and sat down to rest.
"Ugg I think four hours is enough" She told Kusanagi who was just as sweat soaked as she. He nodded and opened the window letting in a refreshing blast of cold air.
"Can't take more of me huh?" He asked facing the cold wind. Momiji tried to remember if he was always this full of himself and knew the answer right away.
"No, I'm just so hungry I might try eating you. To bad I don't have any pots." She leaned back as the wind ruffled through her short hair. Kusanagi watched her closely for a moment. "What do you say we split and get cleaned up, then meet somewhere for breakfast. My treat this time." She offered and he nodded grabbing his jacket on his way out the window.
"Don't you ever use the door?" She asked pulling herself upright. Oh her body hurt.
"Only when I'm in respectable company." He mooch saluted her then made a show of climbing out the window and shutting it behind him. When she heard it close she went into the bathroom.
"JERK!" Her voice was muffled by the water of the shower but if he'd been there the tone of voice would have been unmistakable. Half an hour later and clad in a horrid purple top and black pants she almost ran into him leaving the building. The store where she'd found the bed had an awful choice in clothes even for her chosen disguise. She only stopped messing with it when Kusanagi asked if she was taking off her bra.
"I can't believe anyone who loved you would put up with being treated like that." She told him sharply as they entered a resturaunt. TO her surprise he actually thought about it.
"She put up with a whole lot of things I never thought of till now." The door shut behind him and she didn't speak again till they were seated.
"Maybe I'm doing her a favor then." Momiji told him trying to point out the small bit of irony in it. He wasn't to happy, but he saw it. All she got for that was a maybe.
Afterward they walked to the TAC building, to Kusanagi's dismay. She wasn't about to try a repeat of yesterday's attempt at flight. Because they walked the person left to watch the roof missed them and the people inside the main office were in the middle of a heated discussion.
"I don't care what the government reports say, I still don't trust her." Kome yelled over her husband who was trying to calm her down. There was a murmur of agreement from someone else, probably Sakura.
"Aragami are not to be trusted. Carrot boy has proven he's human enough but this new one could become just like Murakumo. They don't know where the blue seeds came from, weather or not they were evil. They couldn't have been anyone including Orochi's second set." Sakura sounded intelligent for once in her life, something that astonished as much as hurt Momiji. True she hadn't mentioned anything about Dorien's past, she didn't know what it was, but she hadn't given them a reason not to trust her.
"We don't have to trust her. Kusanagi's going to be with her most of the time and it's easy enough to make sure she's not in the building alone. The government is watching her as well so she can't take anything to the media." That was Kunikeda trying to placate everyone. Momiji crept closer to the open door, Kusanagi a silent shadow at her back. He could have given her away but he didn't.
"What about Momiji?" Matsu's voice was just as soft as ever but Momiji had a hard time believing that she was in on this. Of all of them she'd thought Matsudera would be the most understanding.
"As long as Kusanagi thinks there's a chance, there's hope. We don't have sanction for another search but I've been keeping an ear out in all the right channels. If someone has her they'll show eventually." Kunikeda didn't sound hopeful but Momiji thought he might be blaming the younger man for not letting his faster daughter go.
"So we watch Dorien." Ryoko ordered. "Make sure she isn't anywhere near anything important. We can use her inexperience to keep the government from getting mad that she isn't in the thick of things. Both Kome and Sakura are right, this creature is not to be trusted. She could very well be an Aragami spy." And that was it. There was movement in the office but not in the hallway. Momiji was frozen in shock. Finally she blinked and her throat worked. She spoke out loud but it was only for her won benefit.
"Creature... I'm a creature now. Do they think i asked for this?" Didn't they understand that she'd been kidnapped, taken from her life and forced into the one she now lived.
Momiji knew of little else but the extreme unjustness of it ad the desire to be somewhere else, anywhere else. Without thinking she bolted for the stairs faster than thought taking them three at a time until she burst out into the morning light. She barely registered someone's startled face but her focus was on the cool, fresh air. It wasn't enough.
She kept moving to the edge where she threw herself into the sky. Her feet didn't touch the ground as she raced forward looking for some measure of safety and comfort. What comfort she had once found both in her own home and in Kusanagi's strong capable arms was denied her by actions she herself had committed. Now all she had was a fake home with fake furnishings, a fake name, fake identity, a fake life. The only constant was that he man she loved but couldn't touch would follow her and that she was one of the monsters she had sacrificed her life to destroy.
It was a cough or a sneeze or some such noise that woke her up. She was sure that he hadn't meant to, the absolute stillness following told her so, but now she was awake so it didn't matter. She rolled over to face Kusanagi tears in her eyes. She knew her eyes were puffy and red. That her face was splotched was a given. What she didn't know was how someone could say or even think such horrid things. Until now almost everyone had liked the sweet innocent sacrifice girl that would and had given her life for a beloved country. It was so different being unknown, not trusted and unliked.
"You look like Momiji used to when she cried." Kusanagi told her bluntly, no compassion in his voice. Momiji wanted to turn back over and start crying again, to say 'that's because I am Momiji'. Instead she sat up and dried her eyes.
"Do you believe what they said about me?" She asked looking right at him so he couldn't dodge the question. He looked right back pushing off the wall and coming to stand right before her. He held out a loved hand and pulled her upright so he could look closer.
"No, I don't. There's a look in your eyes that I've seen before, and no one with that look could betray someone."Momiji flinched at his words. She had done just that. Betrayed him.
"Don't say that, you don't know me." She said trying to look away. Kusanagi wouldn't let her.
"You're right, I don't know you, but I doubt you purposefully betrayed anyone." He slit his eyes to bore holes into hers and his gloved hand captured her chin.
"I got someone killed." She told him flatly. He didn't look shocked or even phased. Kusanagi looked like Kusanagi. Finally he let her go.
"It happens all the time, I've done it myself. It doesn't always mean betrayal. It was a different life." And that was his final word on the subject. Momiji didn't have the heart to continue arguing so she sat back down on the bed and closed her eyes wondering who he had gotten killed.
"So what's the plan? You keep me locked up and out of the way so they can do whatever it is that they do?" She opened an eye to watch him nod, then shut it again.
"Something like that." He ran his fingers through his hair which Momiji took note of. A quick peek let her take in his black shirt and pants. Someone must be doing his laundry.
"I don't believe this." Momiji muttered throwing herself back on her bed to look up at the ceiling. "What a crappy week." A clink of bottles from the kitchen area made her lift her head. Kusanagi had a small six pack of bottles that looked remarkable like bear. Instead of accusing him of something she waited to see what he would do. He came over and handed her a bottle then removed his coat and sat on the floor by her bed. Inspecting the bottle she found it not to be beer, but something called Vanilla Crème Soda.
"Something I discovered a few days ago." he told her opening his bottle and taking a swig. His eyes closed languidly and he let out his breath slowly. Momiji giggled at his little ritual. "Something that makes the world right again for a moment." He said it with such honesty that Momiji quickly sat up and opened her own bottle. Kusanagi held up his and she clinked her bottle against his.
It was sweet and syrupy without being thick or making a horrible aftertaste. Cold and smooth she savored the taste her expression much like the one he'd just made. She didn't care when he laughed at her. She decided right then that she was going to do whatever she could to make him laugh more.
"It's really good. I've never had this before." She took another sip knowing he was going to reach the end of the bottle soon enough.
"I figured. I just barely found it and I thought that after a day like this we could both use it." At that he had her confused. Around Momiji she had to drag any act of kindness out of him. He'd gotten better over the years but still this was highly unusual. He must feel really sorry for her. That was it, pity. He was being nice because he pitied her. The thought depressed her so she took another swig choking when he spoke again.
"What was it like?" He asked absently. He was trying to pretend that he wasn't really interested but for some reason he was.
"What did what feel like?" Momiji's throat was sore from trying to inhale liquid. She laid back on the pillow.
"The matamas, what was it like?" His back was to her so she could only guess what his face looked like. His shoulders sloped pulling his shirt crooked and his deep bronze skin contrasted sharply. This gave her little fore knowledge about what to say so she started at the beginning.
"I was kidnapped outside a club, I'm not sure where exactly it was. All I wanted was a little freedom from my life, a little time to myself. It was a dumb idea, one I've regretted every moment since. They put me in a government car and dragged me into the dead zone and drugged me to knock me out. When I woke up I was in a large room with glass walls and there was a stand on the wall with the matamas in glass beakers. I didn't know what they were then.
"When the people, three of them, came in I tried to ask what was going on, tried to figure out what they were doing but all they would tell me was stupid stuff about incisions and the like. It wasn't till they were done that it began to hurt. I thought I was going to explode from the pain, then I blacked out. Later they told me that i Died. They had to bring me back with a crash cart. Other than being scared and angry I don't remember much about how it felt.
"I guess it's to much like the rest of my life. Always something or someone else making choices and decisions for me. The one time I did something for myself, this happened." She stripped off a mitt so she could look at the matama and the slightly greenish skin around it. Flexing her hand Momiji watched how the muscles and veins moved around it. Kusanagi watched out of the corner of his yes.
"Are you still afraid?" He asked so softly that she almost didn't hear him which was considerable for her new hearing.
"Of the matamas? No. I haven't been afraid of them since the first one. I'm scared of what might happen to be, but I'm also scared of what might happen to you. You're my anchor in all this." She rolled on her side and looked at him making sure to catch his eye. Yet again she seemed to have startled him. It was unusual. As long as she'd known him he'd protected her even against his will. She'd always depended on him for safety. No she depended on him for training, knowledge even maybe friendship a little. Things were so different now, she wondered if they would ever be the same.
Apparently all the seriousness was to much for Kusanagi. Momiji could have cataloged the changes as they came over his face and he settled on an amused 'I know you want me' look.
"Can't live without me can you?" He asked joyfully knowing she should have to say yes. Momiji rolled her eyes and bashed him with her pillow.
"I hope Momiji beat you, often." She sat up, careful of her drink, waiting for him to throw the pillow back. He did and she laughed at him. He had a grin as well and she was glad it wasn't the one he'd had before. This one was much more natural. Slowly she finished the drink and got up to throw it away.
"So now what?" He threw her his empty bottle which she put in the recycle bag. He was already moving the mattress.
"Time to practice those holds and throws I taught you." At Momiji's gleeful grin he grimaced. Pay-back time.
"FOR THE LAST TIME, I'M CALLING THE POLICE!" The overly grumpy man next door had threatened them at east once an hour for the last six. Neither Momiji or Kusanagi believed him, but they did stop. Momiji was sore from throwing around Kusanagi all afternoon and he looked slightly squashed. Her air-bed had two holes in it that were drying with patches. Relieved she flopped on the ground.
"I haven't worked so hard in my life!" She informed Kusanagi who glowered at her as he sat down gingerly.
"Never would have guessed." He told her. Earlier he'd said that he thought she was purposefully trying to rip his arm off. Momiji's own arms felt about ready to drop from the sockets. Just then her stomach growled.
"Think I can move to eat?" She asked herself mostly before managing to get up. Maybe she'd just order out for both of them. She asked what he wanted then called getting extra for herself. They made quick work of the meal.
"I understand the importance of learning to fight human sized Aragami, but what about the really big ones. Like the fire breathing toad." The boxes had to be thrown out so she hurried and did it.
"Generally you go for the matamas, where ever it is. Once the matama is gone, usually either the creature dies or reverts to what it was." he leaned back against the wall his eyes closed. Momiji thought he looked tired.
"So do they try to do the same to us? Destroy the matamas?" These were questions she already knew the answer to but ones Dorien wouldn't. She kept trying to do the things Dorien would do but was often forgetful.
"No, the matama's aren't what give us intelligence, just everything else. Generally they just try to kill us. Matamas are second." Now he was completely slumped against the wall.
"Kusanagi, why don't you go home, take a hot bath ad get some sleep. You look terrible." He made a face at her despite her kind voice. It was the first time Momiji had seen him look anything but neat or at least orderly. She doubted that he was sleeping much and her nightmares weren't helping. She was going to go to the store and get some sleeping pills so she wouldn't dream.
"I'm supposed to keep an eye on you." He said half heartedly. It wouldn't take much to convince him.
"Let's go down to the store, get something to help us sleep, and then you can go home. I'm not going anywhere till you barge in on me in the morning." She grabbed her coat and brought him his. He opened one eye and looked at her. "I don't need a baby-sitter, I swear." Pointedly she held out the jacket which finally he took.
It was much darker now than it had been say half an hour ago when they'd started out to the store. A car accident nearby had clogged up the streets and it had taken them much longer to walk to the store than either of them liked. Finally pills in had Kusanagi had taken off for home flying so he wouldn't have to deal with any more people. Momiji herself walked watching the people around her. She was dismayed at how they all flocked to the accident to goggle at someone else's misfortune.
So intent on watching she never noticed as a group of people surrounded her and started herding her down a darker side street or that they had effectively cut her off from anyone who could help her. When her eyes lost sight of the lights and her ears could barely hear the klaxons from the police cars was when she finally started paying attention to her surroundings.
"Hey pretty, wanna play with us?" A young man with a small baton in his hands stood before her and it was to this man that she was being led. He had dyed black hair more earrings than brain cells and a nose ring that looked like one you'd find on a bull. His clothes here barely more than tatters his pants full of holes. His shoes were obviously stolen because they were the only new clothes on him. From five feet away Momiji could pick up a reek of fried food.
"Come on little girl, we know you wanna party with us." Someone else called. Momiji was poked in the side by another youth who also carried a baton. This one looked almost identical to the one in front of her minus the nose ring and the new shoes. Even his hair was dyed the same way. There was someone else on her other side, just out of view and two people behind her.
"What do you want with me?" She asked her voice sounding weak and frightened. The nose ring guy laughed at her reveling in her fear. Momiji swallowed a couple times then tried to sound braver. "What do you want? You can have my wallet, just let me go." That got a round of laughs from everyone and she cringed back from the sound eyes going back and forth between the two she could see. It really didn't look good and she knew she didn't have anything to use as a weapon.
"We just want to party." The people behind her snickered and she was shoved forward almost into the guy before her. She was poked again with the batons drawing a his of pain from her. This they seemed to like for she was faced with a malicious gleam from the ones she could see.
"I don't want to party, or play with you. Can't you just take my money and leave me alone?" She pulled out her wallet and offered it to the guy before her. He took it but didn't open it.
"Why don't you want to party with us? We promise it will be a blast!" They all howled with laughter this time. She was missing something and she knew it but she did know what happened to most women who were assaulted like this. It wasn't something pleasant. Someone behind her flicked out a knife and make a long gash in her purple shirt before she could jump away. He hadn't gotten any skin but that wasn't the goal.
"Please, let me go. I'm not any fun, I'm boring really." There had to be a way to convince them that they didn't want her. Momiji had to find a way.
"Now what do you mean by that? Just you being here with us makes it a party. Our gang doesn't have any women in it, and we've missed they're company." It was the one on her right side and he jabbed her again with the baton. If they treated their women members like this she wasn't surprised at it.
"It's time to party." They had all treated the one with the nose ring as the leader and it was he who gave the verdict. Momiji was struck from behind with such force that she fell to her knees. She heard someone unzipping their pants nearby.
"No, no... just take my money. Come one, there's a card in there with plenty of money on it." It was her last gamble. She didn't realize what a mistake she had made. Tired of her offering it the leader did indeed open her wallet and pull out the card. With a sharp intake of breath he looked from the card to her then motioned some of the others by him. It was only Momiji's advanced hearing that let her know what they were saying.
"Doesn't your cousin have one of these?" He asked one of the look-a-likes. The boy nodded. "And he works for the defense department doesn't he?" Again a nod. The leader's eyes narrowed and he looked at Momiji who looked back at him fear creeping up in her throat. "She can identify us to them, and they'll get everyone out looking for us." It was true enough. The government stuck together. "We'll have to kill her, then have our fun."
He was looking right at Momiji as he said it knowing that she couldn't hear her and smiled sadistically. Some of the other boys looked just as maniacal and Momiji began to fear not for her virginity but for her very life which they showed no remorse in taking. Again they surrounded her and she froze not knowing what to do. It was the arm that grabbed her shoulder that spurned her into action. It was exactly one of the moves that Kusanagi had showed her earlier and she grabbed the wrist and pulled her body down dragging the boy with it so he flew over her shoulder and into one of the boys in front of her. She missed the leader by a foot and he continued to watch her with a look that reminded her of Mr. Smith. This, perversely, made her mad.
The next person who tried to grab her met a wall with a sick thunk when his head hit giving Momiji one less attacker. She paid far to much attention to it and missed the kick aimed for her chest. They missed and got her stomach instead forcing all the air from her lungs and pain the blossom throughout her body. She went down on all fours trying to get air back into her lungs before she passed out. A baton rapped her on the shoulder and that arm dropped out from under her.
Not for the first time in her life Momiji felt an overwhelming felling of helplessness and anger pervade her entire being. She grew hot, then cold, then hot again as the rage fed her matamas until finally something burst. Her jacket erupted off her back in shreds from the blades of seemingly steel that appeared on her arms just above the elbow. The rose out of her flesh over two and a half feet till they were over her head and curved to almost the same angle as her body. She could hear a cry of astonishment from the boys and at that point her mind became a spectator while her body flew into action.
One of them had made the mistake of trying to come up behind her and the nanosecond his stench reached her nose, her ears caught the footstep and the boy was evicerated. A wave of blood drenched Momiji covering her from head to toe. The other boys were frozen in shock and she used this moment to approach the leader. The moment he saw her he turned to run which was a big mistake. She was on him in an instant using her blades to rip and slice. The only sound he made was a bloody gurgle as he died. When she turned around to the others, the ally was empty. Slowly she walked back towards the street picking up her wallet where it had fallen. After tucking it in her pocket she looked around.
It was only then that Momiji's mind returned from it's seat in the passenger side of her brain. She took one look at what she'd done, the smell of blood and vomited. When se could throw up no more she stood and looked again horror filling her very being. Someone how she escaped.
Cold air made her flinch and that was the first thing she'd felt in what seemed like forever. She heard someone at the window beside her but it had been open all night and he needn't open it to get in. Not moving she continued to stare at the puddle she'd made on the floor.
"My GOD! What happened?!" Came Kusanagi's voice somewhere between frantic and shocked. Momiji was to locked in herself to answer. "Dorien," He called someone else's name, one she didn't recognize. "Dorien, look at me." He called it again and she vaguely wondered why. "Don't just stand there like some sort of princess, look at me!." Princess was a familiar term, just enough to make Momiji look at him. He saw the vacant look in her eyes and knew something terrible had happened. She was in shock. Quickly he moved over to her and picked her up not caring that she was covered in blood or that he'd probably just ruined everything he was wearing. Walking carefully so he didn't jar her, he managed to get her into the bathroom and out of the bloody clothes leaving her underwear on before turning the shower on. She was facing the water and choked before he turned her away from it. Then gently he started rinsing the blood off her.
After a moment or to he drew back surprised. What he'd thought were long gashes on her arms hand turned out to be very sharp and Kusanagi barely managed to keep from cutting himself on them. When washed off they turned out to be two very long and sharp blades, somewhat like his own but not quite. There were more like Murakumo's than Kusanagi's. Carefully he massaged the muscled just below and beside the blades and after what seemed like forever the finally began to retract.
It took him another half an hour to get all the blood off of her. Thankfully enough none of it was her own, and she only had a few bruises on her back and abdomen that were rapidly fading. Turning off the water he wrapped her in a couple towels before carrying her back into the other room. She was shaking now and he tried to use one of the towels to warm her up. After a while she finally stopped and the blank look was slowly going away. He kept toweling her arms and hair till it was dry.
She knew what was happening, the shower, the clothes, him drying her off but it took so much effort for her to want to care. Why should she care? The people she had sacrificed herself for had almost successfully killed her, had tried to violate her in one of the most personal ways. A soft murmur broke into her thoughts, an almost hum something she recognized. It was the same song she had hummed when she'd bandaged up Kusanagi after a battle. She'd found him in her backyard cut up and bleeding. He probably didn't know he was humming it, but Momiji looked up and met his eyes. He looked so concerned for her it was heart warming.
Wrapped only in towels she threw herself into his arms a sob escaping her throat. Surprised, he held on and let her cry herself out continuing to hum and stroking the back of her neck with his fingers. She was far from finished when she managed to pull herself out of his arms and look up at him. Momiji had finally realized how wrong he would think this was.
"I'm sorry." She whispered between hiccups. His eyes were questioning but he didn't say anything. "I didn't mean to throw myself at you, with Momiji gone, it's kind of um.. inappropriate. I don't want you to think that I'm..." She couldn't bring herself to say what she was thinking. That maybe somehow she was using his hurt to put herself into his life. Kusanagi shook his head and pulled her back into his arms.
"If anyone would understand one friend comforting another it would be Momiji." She rested her head against his chest the tears coursing down her face silently this time. She was able to draw strength from his touch and for once she couldn't sense any of his emotions through their contact. Somehow this comforted her.
"I didn't realize what was happening until they'd gotten me out of the flow of people on the street." She told him using the towel to wipe tears away from her eyes. Kusanagi sensed that this was hard for her made no changes to what he was doing but tried to be supportive.
"There were five that I saw, but there could have been more, I'm not exactly sure but I know that there was a leader and everyone seemed to be listening to him. They wouldn't take my wallet at first, they said they wanted to party. They didn't, they wanted me. Just before they would have ... They finally took the wallet and opened it. Someone recognized the government card, they knew I'd turn them in, knew that the government would be after them. After that I just felt so frustrated, got so angry that I think my mind took a hike, my body took over. I grew blades on my arms kinda like the ones on that anime the Guyver, that one.... " She caught herself before saying 'the one that we watched together. Kusanagi missed it. "Well I killed two of them for sure maybe more I don't really remember." The tears had stopped and she shuddered with horror at the memory of all the blood.
"I hope I never have to do that again Mamoru." She used his first name as she rarely had as Momiji. Somehow it made her words more personal. "I don't think I was ever meant to kill like that." She closed her eyes and listened to him breathe for a moment.
"Somehow I don't think you were either." He agreed.
"Good-bye Kusanagi." Murakumo said promising once again to rid the world of the Kushinada's protector. Momiji tried in a futile gesture to argue against their fighting but she knew Kusanagi's order to go back to the Iwatto to be the correct thing to do. In her minds eye she took a last look at the blue opaque mirror held by a plant of gigantic proportions and the man who had vowed to break it before tossing hersef back into the car and ordering Ryoko to take her back. Unlike them, she watched what she couldn't have normally seen.
Murakumo's blade pierced Kusanagi's flesh severing his arm from his body. The man was virtuously helpless while the dark haired Murakumo asked why he couldn't just die. He tried to break the mirror, shoving into the rock hard surface with all his strength but his efforts were rewarded by a crack along with a blossoming pain in his stomach. Vision dimmed as the pain spread.
Momiji tried to fly faster, preyed to reach him in time, but the dark form falling off the mirror was the form of her beloved and by the time she reached it, his body had already disappeared beneath the surface of the lack.
She watched hoping that her eyes had betrayed her but no, it was she who had betrayed him. Kusanagi had known she was coming and to keep the enemy from her he had taken death upon himself. Never should it have happened, it was all her fault.
Momiji sank to her knees in the cold water of the lake. Emerald eyes wide but unseeing as she felt the shock and the pain.
"KUSANAGI!" She yelled desperation filling her voice.
"Kusanagi." Momiji sat up panting. Her chest was on fire, her clothes soaked with sweat. Her eyes stared into the dark finding nothing to focus on except the blue light cast off by her matamas. Light came from under the sheets which she had all but kicked off as she tossed and turned during the nightmare.
Slowly her heart stopped racing, her thoughts stopped spinning like dust in a sandstorm and she was able to convince herself that it was only a dream, although she could clearly remember the time when it wasn't.
"Only a dream, only a dream, only a dream." She chanted over and over. Someday, maybe when she no longer felt like Judas, she would be able to believe it. On wobbly legs she crawled over the bed and made her way to the bathroom. She didn't bother turning on the light, she could see just fine without it. Silently she washed her face with water to clear the tears and sweat off.
For the first time since she'd woken she felt a small shiver of cold and knew she was calming down. It always worked that way, first she was boiling hot, then freezing cold. She took a towel and wet it to wipe off her neck and arms and feeling better for it she went back into the bedroom.
After finally convincing Kusanagi that she was perfectly capable of putting an air-bed together he'd gone home and she'd done just that. The old steel frame was leaning against the wall in the corner and the other corner was taken up by the blown up mattress and it's black and blue sheets. Momiji looked at it and knew she wouldn't be able to get back to sleep. Instead she walked to the center of the room and stood, eyes closed.
There was one good thing about the nightmares, and it was that the horrid dream had reminded her of what it felt like to fly. A few things were different, number of matamas and the fact that when she'd done it on her own it had been out of sheer desperation or under the influence of something/someone, but still it was flying.
So now, as she'd done to track the Aragami in the past, she spread her awareness to her eight matamas tracing the lines of bower that emanated from them to herself, memorizing the way they felt and flowed. Then, after building up her courage, she pressed into them the need to fly. She formed a picture of it in her mind including the sensation of air against her face, the absence of ground beneath her feet, the joy of controlling ones movement and the desire to be somewhere else. When Momiji opened her eyes she found herself hovering three feet of the ground.
"Very good for a beginner." A decidedly rude and male voice broke her concentration. The tenuous link with her matamas broke and she began to fall. Instead of hitting the ground, arms caught and held her keeping Momiji from harm.
"I was trying to concentrate." She remarked in a vain attempt to sound mad. She couldn't manage it because of the insane joy she felt by being in Kusanagi's arms. The joy lasted but a brief moment as he tossed her on her bed. She glared up at him but in the dark he might not have seen it clearly.
"What are you doing here Kusanagi? Aren't there other young women in greater Tokyo to torment?" She covered her awe of him with sarcasm trying to get herself back under control as she moved over to sit at the edge of her bed. Kusanagi leaned against the traitorous window that had let him in unannounced.
"Don't flatter yourself. I just wanted to see what the TAC's latest recruit was up to." For a moment he turned serious his eyes narrowing down to focus on her. "Did you feel something about half an hour ago?" The question reminded Momiji of one he'd asked years ago that she'd taken the wrong way. This one, she knew better now, was all about Aragami and she wondered if it could have anything to do with her dream.
"When I woke up, my matamas were glowing. That was about half an hour ago." It was a perfectly truthful answer that gave nothing away. Momiji was proud of herself.
"Hmm... That might have been caused by the same thing, anything else?" She shook her head and he sighed. "Well then since we're both awake let's see you try to fly again." He made her last success sound like she'd just been fooling around and Momiji resented it. Even so she tucked the anger away for future use and got to her feet. A cold draft from the window made her shiver bringing to her attention that she was only wearing her new back skin tight tank-top and matching shorts. All the times that Kusanagi had barged in on her made Momiji almost to the effect of indignation at him seeing her in her pajamas. That did not make her immune to the cold.
"Shut he window, jeeze what where you born in a barn?" She asked knowing that he knew little about his birth. She turned it into a joke and Kusanagi, after giving her an odd look, complied. Momiji resumed her stance in the middle of the room aware that he was watching her every move. She wondered what he saw.
"Don't make any noise or I wont be able to do it." She warned turning her back to him and closing her eyes. This brought a chuckle from him. It was a good sound and she looked over her shoulder at him taking in his appearance for the first time that night.
His red jacket was present as always but he didn't wear black on black underneath. Instead he had a pair of blue jeans and a white tee shirt on. His hair wasn't slicked back but tousled making Momiji's fingers fairly itch to smooth it back. All in all he looked rather boyish. She could easily make out the ripple of muscles hidden by the shirt proving that hew was no boy.
"You wont even know I'm here." He made a joke of his own albeit a bad one to which Momiji rolled her eyes.
"What-ever." She said exactly as Akiko had said in English. Without seeing his response she turned back and began the process of sensing her matama's and feeding them the picture of flying.
During this she didn't have much time sense but still she knew that it took much longer than last time. True to his work Kusanagi made now sound. She floated almost a foot off the floor but no more than that and after an hour of trying to get higher she got so frustrated that her control snapped completely. As she fell back to the floor she had the urge to curse and throw something, preferably something that would shatter. The old patient and serene side of herself managed to keep her from doing such an unladylike thing, but she wanted to do it.
"You'll get better." Kusanagi told her from beside the window. Momiji turned to face him wondering how he could know. He probably didn't but was just saying it to try and make her feel better. Unfortunately she didn't want to feel better. She walked into the kitchen flipping on the light before rummaging in the fridge. She pulled out two single sized cartons of orange juice, knowing that Kusanagi liked it, she tossed him one before opening her own.
Then she slid down the wall by the fridge to sit on the floor. Kusanagi came forward to join her under the light pulling something from the inside pocket of his jacket. It was a book. Momiji wondered what Kusanagi would be doing with a book, any book.
"Matsudera sent this over." He said. Momiji set her juice on the floor so she could catch the book which he tossed to her. The cover and binding were blank so she opened it. The book was about martial arts. "I guess she figured that you might be able to learn something from it." He said. Apparently he thought it was highly unlikely. Momiji thumbed through it.
"The Aragami King Orochi taught me. When I was a baby he murdered my parents and implanted me with seven seeds. After that he took and raised me as best a plant could always training me to fight, to protect." Kusanagi's voice was soft and his eyes slid halfway shut as he spoke remembering. Momiji drank a sip of her drink eyes only for him. She knew the story, but it meant much more coming from him.
"My first memories, other than those few of my parents, are of fighting stances and lessons of diversions and stealth. I knew of nothing else until I met the first Princess Kushinada. She was the first human to know of my existence, the only one who felt my presence, saw the fruits of my work. I protected her not only because it was what I had been created for, but because what I did finally mattered to someone." He took a few steadying breaths. It wasn't hard for Momiji to see the trouble in his eyes. Some of these feelings he had put away years ago, or tried to at least. Momiji now realized that his feelings for Kadee had been more than friendship but had not been the love he'd thought.
"You cared for her because there as no one else?" Momiji asked as she was supposed to. It was a question to make him think, not for him to answer specifically. He nodded anyway. "And what about Momiji?" It felt odd speaking about herself in this manner.
"Oh Momiji." He let out a soft breath. "My time with Kadee was like the twilight between day and night. Momiji was the promise of a new day, the sun on the horizon. I don't think I truly lived or felt before I met her." Never before had she heard him be so poetic about anything and she thought for a moment he might cry. She almost snorted at that thought. Kusanagi had never been willing to let Momiji see him in any other way than the arrogant self he pretended to be. Dorien wasn't about to see it either. His self assurance would kick in before that happened.
"You probably think I'm a moron, but maybe that's why I don't think she's dead. I'm just not willing to let go of hope." He tried to sound sarcastic, turn his words into some sort of joke on him. Momiji knew better.
"I bet that you'll manage to bring her back from wherever she is. If anyone can do it, you can." She gave him her winning smile hoping to cheer him up. It had some effect for he finished his juice quickly and stood up.
"You ready to learn some of those moves?" He asked with a smile that promised torture. Momiji finished her own juice and stood up.
"Do I have a choice?" She knew they didn't, either of them. In a way being an Aragami had been forced on both of them and now was the time to make something of it.
She slammed against the mattress that had been set against the wall just for that reason. Despite rapid regeneration Momiji felt every bruise that she'd received since talking Kusanagi into showing her how to throw someone. She had though that this would involve him showing and her practicing, but no that was to be saved for later.
Their neighbor on the side of the wall yelled loudly making a rude suggestion to which Kusanagi gave an even more vulgar reply. The man subsided with a threat to call the management. Momiji asked that if he did, could he please ask to have the bed frame removed. She giggled to herself over the thought and sat down to rest.
"Ugg I think four hours is enough" She told Kusanagi who was just as sweat soaked as she. He nodded and opened the window letting in a refreshing blast of cold air.
"Can't take more of me huh?" He asked facing the cold wind. Momiji tried to remember if he was always this full of himself and knew the answer right away.
"No, I'm just so hungry I might try eating you. To bad I don't have any pots." She leaned back as the wind ruffled through her short hair. Kusanagi watched her closely for a moment. "What do you say we split and get cleaned up, then meet somewhere for breakfast. My treat this time." She offered and he nodded grabbing his jacket on his way out the window.
"Don't you ever use the door?" She asked pulling herself upright. Oh her body hurt.
"Only when I'm in respectable company." He mooch saluted her then made a show of climbing out the window and shutting it behind him. When she heard it close she went into the bathroom.
"JERK!" Her voice was muffled by the water of the shower but if he'd been there the tone of voice would have been unmistakable. Half an hour later and clad in a horrid purple top and black pants she almost ran into him leaving the building. The store where she'd found the bed had an awful choice in clothes even for her chosen disguise. She only stopped messing with it when Kusanagi asked if she was taking off her bra.
"I can't believe anyone who loved you would put up with being treated like that." She told him sharply as they entered a resturaunt. TO her surprise he actually thought about it.
"She put up with a whole lot of things I never thought of till now." The door shut behind him and she didn't speak again till they were seated.
"Maybe I'm doing her a favor then." Momiji told him trying to point out the small bit of irony in it. He wasn't to happy, but he saw it. All she got for that was a maybe.
Afterward they walked to the TAC building, to Kusanagi's dismay. She wasn't about to try a repeat of yesterday's attempt at flight. Because they walked the person left to watch the roof missed them and the people inside the main office were in the middle of a heated discussion.
"I don't care what the government reports say, I still don't trust her." Kome yelled over her husband who was trying to calm her down. There was a murmur of agreement from someone else, probably Sakura.
"Aragami are not to be trusted. Carrot boy has proven he's human enough but this new one could become just like Murakumo. They don't know where the blue seeds came from, weather or not they were evil. They couldn't have been anyone including Orochi's second set." Sakura sounded intelligent for once in her life, something that astonished as much as hurt Momiji. True she hadn't mentioned anything about Dorien's past, she didn't know what it was, but she hadn't given them a reason not to trust her.
"We don't have to trust her. Kusanagi's going to be with her most of the time and it's easy enough to make sure she's not in the building alone. The government is watching her as well so she can't take anything to the media." That was Kunikeda trying to placate everyone. Momiji crept closer to the open door, Kusanagi a silent shadow at her back. He could have given her away but he didn't.
"What about Momiji?" Matsu's voice was just as soft as ever but Momiji had a hard time believing that she was in on this. Of all of them she'd thought Matsudera would be the most understanding.
"As long as Kusanagi thinks there's a chance, there's hope. We don't have sanction for another search but I've been keeping an ear out in all the right channels. If someone has her they'll show eventually." Kunikeda didn't sound hopeful but Momiji thought he might be blaming the younger man for not letting his faster daughter go.
"So we watch Dorien." Ryoko ordered. "Make sure she isn't anywhere near anything important. We can use her inexperience to keep the government from getting mad that she isn't in the thick of things. Both Kome and Sakura are right, this creature is not to be trusted. She could very well be an Aragami spy." And that was it. There was movement in the office but not in the hallway. Momiji was frozen in shock. Finally she blinked and her throat worked. She spoke out loud but it was only for her won benefit.
"Creature... I'm a creature now. Do they think i asked for this?" Didn't they understand that she'd been kidnapped, taken from her life and forced into the one she now lived.
Momiji knew of little else but the extreme unjustness of it ad the desire to be somewhere else, anywhere else. Without thinking she bolted for the stairs faster than thought taking them three at a time until she burst out into the morning light. She barely registered someone's startled face but her focus was on the cool, fresh air. It wasn't enough.
She kept moving to the edge where she threw herself into the sky. Her feet didn't touch the ground as she raced forward looking for some measure of safety and comfort. What comfort she had once found both in her own home and in Kusanagi's strong capable arms was denied her by actions she herself had committed. Now all she had was a fake home with fake furnishings, a fake name, fake identity, a fake life. The only constant was that he man she loved but couldn't touch would follow her and that she was one of the monsters she had sacrificed her life to destroy.
It was a cough or a sneeze or some such noise that woke her up. She was sure that he hadn't meant to, the absolute stillness following told her so, but now she was awake so it didn't matter. She rolled over to face Kusanagi tears in her eyes. She knew her eyes were puffy and red. That her face was splotched was a given. What she didn't know was how someone could say or even think such horrid things. Until now almost everyone had liked the sweet innocent sacrifice girl that would and had given her life for a beloved country. It was so different being unknown, not trusted and unliked.
"You look like Momiji used to when she cried." Kusanagi told her bluntly, no compassion in his voice. Momiji wanted to turn back over and start crying again, to say 'that's because I am Momiji'. Instead she sat up and dried her eyes.
"Do you believe what they said about me?" She asked looking right at him so he couldn't dodge the question. He looked right back pushing off the wall and coming to stand right before her. He held out a loved hand and pulled her upright so he could look closer.
"No, I don't. There's a look in your eyes that I've seen before, and no one with that look could betray someone."Momiji flinched at his words. She had done just that. Betrayed him.
"Don't say that, you don't know me." She said trying to look away. Kusanagi wouldn't let her.
"You're right, I don't know you, but I doubt you purposefully betrayed anyone." He slit his eyes to bore holes into hers and his gloved hand captured her chin.
"I got someone killed." She told him flatly. He didn't look shocked or even phased. Kusanagi looked like Kusanagi. Finally he let her go.
"It happens all the time, I've done it myself. It doesn't always mean betrayal. It was a different life." And that was his final word on the subject. Momiji didn't have the heart to continue arguing so she sat back down on the bed and closed her eyes wondering who he had gotten killed.
"So what's the plan? You keep me locked up and out of the way so they can do whatever it is that they do?" She opened an eye to watch him nod, then shut it again.
"Something like that." He ran his fingers through his hair which Momiji took note of. A quick peek let her take in his black shirt and pants. Someone must be doing his laundry.
"I don't believe this." Momiji muttered throwing herself back on her bed to look up at the ceiling. "What a crappy week." A clink of bottles from the kitchen area made her lift her head. Kusanagi had a small six pack of bottles that looked remarkable like bear. Instead of accusing him of something she waited to see what he would do. He came over and handed her a bottle then removed his coat and sat on the floor by her bed. Inspecting the bottle she found it not to be beer, but something called Vanilla Crème Soda.
"Something I discovered a few days ago." he told her opening his bottle and taking a swig. His eyes closed languidly and he let out his breath slowly. Momiji giggled at his little ritual. "Something that makes the world right again for a moment." He said it with such honesty that Momiji quickly sat up and opened her own bottle. Kusanagi held up his and she clinked her bottle against his.
It was sweet and syrupy without being thick or making a horrible aftertaste. Cold and smooth she savored the taste her expression much like the one he'd just made. She didn't care when he laughed at her. She decided right then that she was going to do whatever she could to make him laugh more.
"It's really good. I've never had this before." She took another sip knowing he was going to reach the end of the bottle soon enough.
"I figured. I just barely found it and I thought that after a day like this we could both use it." At that he had her confused. Around Momiji she had to drag any act of kindness out of him. He'd gotten better over the years but still this was highly unusual. He must feel really sorry for her. That was it, pity. He was being nice because he pitied her. The thought depressed her so she took another swig choking when he spoke again.
"What was it like?" He asked absently. He was trying to pretend that he wasn't really interested but for some reason he was.
"What did what feel like?" Momiji's throat was sore from trying to inhale liquid. She laid back on the pillow.
"The matamas, what was it like?" His back was to her so she could only guess what his face looked like. His shoulders sloped pulling his shirt crooked and his deep bronze skin contrasted sharply. This gave her little fore knowledge about what to say so she started at the beginning.
"I was kidnapped outside a club, I'm not sure where exactly it was. All I wanted was a little freedom from my life, a little time to myself. It was a dumb idea, one I've regretted every moment since. They put me in a government car and dragged me into the dead zone and drugged me to knock me out. When I woke up I was in a large room with glass walls and there was a stand on the wall with the matamas in glass beakers. I didn't know what they were then.
"When the people, three of them, came in I tried to ask what was going on, tried to figure out what they were doing but all they would tell me was stupid stuff about incisions and the like. It wasn't till they were done that it began to hurt. I thought I was going to explode from the pain, then I blacked out. Later they told me that i Died. They had to bring me back with a crash cart. Other than being scared and angry I don't remember much about how it felt.
"I guess it's to much like the rest of my life. Always something or someone else making choices and decisions for me. The one time I did something for myself, this happened." She stripped off a mitt so she could look at the matama and the slightly greenish skin around it. Flexing her hand Momiji watched how the muscles and veins moved around it. Kusanagi watched out of the corner of his yes.
"Are you still afraid?" He asked so softly that she almost didn't hear him which was considerable for her new hearing.
"Of the matamas? No. I haven't been afraid of them since the first one. I'm scared of what might happen to be, but I'm also scared of what might happen to you. You're my anchor in all this." She rolled on her side and looked at him making sure to catch his eye. Yet again she seemed to have startled him. It was unusual. As long as she'd known him he'd protected her even against his will. She'd always depended on him for safety. No she depended on him for training, knowledge even maybe friendship a little. Things were so different now, she wondered if they would ever be the same.
Apparently all the seriousness was to much for Kusanagi. Momiji could have cataloged the changes as they came over his face and he settled on an amused 'I know you want me' look.
"Can't live without me can you?" He asked joyfully knowing she should have to say yes. Momiji rolled her eyes and bashed him with her pillow.
"I hope Momiji beat you, often." She sat up, careful of her drink, waiting for him to throw the pillow back. He did and she laughed at him. He had a grin as well and she was glad it wasn't the one he'd had before. This one was much more natural. Slowly she finished the drink and got up to throw it away.
"So now what?" He threw her his empty bottle which she put in the recycle bag. He was already moving the mattress.
"Time to practice those holds and throws I taught you." At Momiji's gleeful grin he grimaced. Pay-back time.
"FOR THE LAST TIME, I'M CALLING THE POLICE!" The overly grumpy man next door had threatened them at east once an hour for the last six. Neither Momiji or Kusanagi believed him, but they did stop. Momiji was sore from throwing around Kusanagi all afternoon and he looked slightly squashed. Her air-bed had two holes in it that were drying with patches. Relieved she flopped on the ground.
"I haven't worked so hard in my life!" She informed Kusanagi who glowered at her as he sat down gingerly.
"Never would have guessed." He told her. Earlier he'd said that he thought she was purposefully trying to rip his arm off. Momiji's own arms felt about ready to drop from the sockets. Just then her stomach growled.
"Think I can move to eat?" She asked herself mostly before managing to get up. Maybe she'd just order out for both of them. She asked what he wanted then called getting extra for herself. They made quick work of the meal.
"I understand the importance of learning to fight human sized Aragami, but what about the really big ones. Like the fire breathing toad." The boxes had to be thrown out so she hurried and did it.
"Generally you go for the matamas, where ever it is. Once the matama is gone, usually either the creature dies or reverts to what it was." he leaned back against the wall his eyes closed. Momiji thought he looked tired.
"So do they try to do the same to us? Destroy the matamas?" These were questions she already knew the answer to but ones Dorien wouldn't. She kept trying to do the things Dorien would do but was often forgetful.
"No, the matama's aren't what give us intelligence, just everything else. Generally they just try to kill us. Matamas are second." Now he was completely slumped against the wall.
"Kusanagi, why don't you go home, take a hot bath ad get some sleep. You look terrible." He made a face at her despite her kind voice. It was the first time Momiji had seen him look anything but neat or at least orderly. She doubted that he was sleeping much and her nightmares weren't helping. She was going to go to the store and get some sleeping pills so she wouldn't dream.
"I'm supposed to keep an eye on you." He said half heartedly. It wouldn't take much to convince him.
"Let's go down to the store, get something to help us sleep, and then you can go home. I'm not going anywhere till you barge in on me in the morning." She grabbed her coat and brought him his. He opened one eye and looked at her. "I don't need a baby-sitter, I swear." Pointedly she held out the jacket which finally he took.
It was much darker now than it had been say half an hour ago when they'd started out to the store. A car accident nearby had clogged up the streets and it had taken them much longer to walk to the store than either of them liked. Finally pills in had Kusanagi had taken off for home flying so he wouldn't have to deal with any more people. Momiji herself walked watching the people around her. She was dismayed at how they all flocked to the accident to goggle at someone else's misfortune.
So intent on watching she never noticed as a group of people surrounded her and started herding her down a darker side street or that they had effectively cut her off from anyone who could help her. When her eyes lost sight of the lights and her ears could barely hear the klaxons from the police cars was when she finally started paying attention to her surroundings.
"Hey pretty, wanna play with us?" A young man with a small baton in his hands stood before her and it was to this man that she was being led. He had dyed black hair more earrings than brain cells and a nose ring that looked like one you'd find on a bull. His clothes here barely more than tatters his pants full of holes. His shoes were obviously stolen because they were the only new clothes on him. From five feet away Momiji could pick up a reek of fried food.
"Come on little girl, we know you wanna party with us." Someone else called. Momiji was poked in the side by another youth who also carried a baton. This one looked almost identical to the one in front of her minus the nose ring and the new shoes. Even his hair was dyed the same way. There was someone else on her other side, just out of view and two people behind her.
"What do you want with me?" She asked her voice sounding weak and frightened. The nose ring guy laughed at her reveling in her fear. Momiji swallowed a couple times then tried to sound braver. "What do you want? You can have my wallet, just let me go." That got a round of laughs from everyone and she cringed back from the sound eyes going back and forth between the two she could see. It really didn't look good and she knew she didn't have anything to use as a weapon.
"We just want to party." The people behind her snickered and she was shoved forward almost into the guy before her. She was poked again with the batons drawing a his of pain from her. This they seemed to like for she was faced with a malicious gleam from the ones she could see.
"I don't want to party, or play with you. Can't you just take my money and leave me alone?" She pulled out her wallet and offered it to the guy before her. He took it but didn't open it.
"Why don't you want to party with us? We promise it will be a blast!" They all howled with laughter this time. She was missing something and she knew it but she did know what happened to most women who were assaulted like this. It wasn't something pleasant. Someone behind her flicked out a knife and make a long gash in her purple shirt before she could jump away. He hadn't gotten any skin but that wasn't the goal.
"Please, let me go. I'm not any fun, I'm boring really." There had to be a way to convince them that they didn't want her. Momiji had to find a way.
"Now what do you mean by that? Just you being here with us makes it a party. Our gang doesn't have any women in it, and we've missed they're company." It was the one on her right side and he jabbed her again with the baton. If they treated their women members like this she wasn't surprised at it.
"It's time to party." They had all treated the one with the nose ring as the leader and it was he who gave the verdict. Momiji was struck from behind with such force that she fell to her knees. She heard someone unzipping their pants nearby.
"No, no... just take my money. Come one, there's a card in there with plenty of money on it." It was her last gamble. She didn't realize what a mistake she had made. Tired of her offering it the leader did indeed open her wallet and pull out the card. With a sharp intake of breath he looked from the card to her then motioned some of the others by him. It was only Momiji's advanced hearing that let her know what they were saying.
"Doesn't your cousin have one of these?" He asked one of the look-a-likes. The boy nodded. "And he works for the defense department doesn't he?" Again a nod. The leader's eyes narrowed and he looked at Momiji who looked back at him fear creeping up in her throat. "She can identify us to them, and they'll get everyone out looking for us." It was true enough. The government stuck together. "We'll have to kill her, then have our fun."
He was looking right at Momiji as he said it knowing that she couldn't hear her and smiled sadistically. Some of the other boys looked just as maniacal and Momiji began to fear not for her virginity but for her very life which they showed no remorse in taking. Again they surrounded her and she froze not knowing what to do. It was the arm that grabbed her shoulder that spurned her into action. It was exactly one of the moves that Kusanagi had showed her earlier and she grabbed the wrist and pulled her body down dragging the boy with it so he flew over her shoulder and into one of the boys in front of her. She missed the leader by a foot and he continued to watch her with a look that reminded her of Mr. Smith. This, perversely, made her mad.
The next person who tried to grab her met a wall with a sick thunk when his head hit giving Momiji one less attacker. She paid far to much attention to it and missed the kick aimed for her chest. They missed and got her stomach instead forcing all the air from her lungs and pain the blossom throughout her body. She went down on all fours trying to get air back into her lungs before she passed out. A baton rapped her on the shoulder and that arm dropped out from under her.
Not for the first time in her life Momiji felt an overwhelming felling of helplessness and anger pervade her entire being. She grew hot, then cold, then hot again as the rage fed her matamas until finally something burst. Her jacket erupted off her back in shreds from the blades of seemingly steel that appeared on her arms just above the elbow. The rose out of her flesh over two and a half feet till they were over her head and curved to almost the same angle as her body. She could hear a cry of astonishment from the boys and at that point her mind became a spectator while her body flew into action.
One of them had made the mistake of trying to come up behind her and the nanosecond his stench reached her nose, her ears caught the footstep and the boy was evicerated. A wave of blood drenched Momiji covering her from head to toe. The other boys were frozen in shock and she used this moment to approach the leader. The moment he saw her he turned to run which was a big mistake. She was on him in an instant using her blades to rip and slice. The only sound he made was a bloody gurgle as he died. When she turned around to the others, the ally was empty. Slowly she walked back towards the street picking up her wallet where it had fallen. After tucking it in her pocket she looked around.
It was only then that Momiji's mind returned from it's seat in the passenger side of her brain. She took one look at what she'd done, the smell of blood and vomited. When se could throw up no more she stood and looked again horror filling her very being. Someone how she escaped.
Cold air made her flinch and that was the first thing she'd felt in what seemed like forever. She heard someone at the window beside her but it had been open all night and he needn't open it to get in. Not moving she continued to stare at the puddle she'd made on the floor.
"My GOD! What happened?!" Came Kusanagi's voice somewhere between frantic and shocked. Momiji was to locked in herself to answer. "Dorien," He called someone else's name, one she didn't recognize. "Dorien, look at me." He called it again and she vaguely wondered why. "Don't just stand there like some sort of princess, look at me!." Princess was a familiar term, just enough to make Momiji look at him. He saw the vacant look in her eyes and knew something terrible had happened. She was in shock. Quickly he moved over to her and picked her up not caring that she was covered in blood or that he'd probably just ruined everything he was wearing. Walking carefully so he didn't jar her, he managed to get her into the bathroom and out of the bloody clothes leaving her underwear on before turning the shower on. She was facing the water and choked before he turned her away from it. Then gently he started rinsing the blood off her.
After a moment or to he drew back surprised. What he'd thought were long gashes on her arms hand turned out to be very sharp and Kusanagi barely managed to keep from cutting himself on them. When washed off they turned out to be two very long and sharp blades, somewhat like his own but not quite. There were more like Murakumo's than Kusanagi's. Carefully he massaged the muscled just below and beside the blades and after what seemed like forever the finally began to retract.
It took him another half an hour to get all the blood off of her. Thankfully enough none of it was her own, and she only had a few bruises on her back and abdomen that were rapidly fading. Turning off the water he wrapped her in a couple towels before carrying her back into the other room. She was shaking now and he tried to use one of the towels to warm her up. After a while she finally stopped and the blank look was slowly going away. He kept toweling her arms and hair till it was dry.
She knew what was happening, the shower, the clothes, him drying her off but it took so much effort for her to want to care. Why should she care? The people she had sacrificed herself for had almost successfully killed her, had tried to violate her in one of the most personal ways. A soft murmur broke into her thoughts, an almost hum something she recognized. It was the same song she had hummed when she'd bandaged up Kusanagi after a battle. She'd found him in her backyard cut up and bleeding. He probably didn't know he was humming it, but Momiji looked up and met his eyes. He looked so concerned for her it was heart warming.
Wrapped only in towels she threw herself into his arms a sob escaping her throat. Surprised, he held on and let her cry herself out continuing to hum and stroking the back of her neck with his fingers. She was far from finished when she managed to pull herself out of his arms and look up at him. Momiji had finally realized how wrong he would think this was.
"I'm sorry." She whispered between hiccups. His eyes were questioning but he didn't say anything. "I didn't mean to throw myself at you, with Momiji gone, it's kind of um.. inappropriate. I don't want you to think that I'm..." She couldn't bring herself to say what she was thinking. That maybe somehow she was using his hurt to put herself into his life. Kusanagi shook his head and pulled her back into his arms.
"If anyone would understand one friend comforting another it would be Momiji." She rested her head against his chest the tears coursing down her face silently this time. She was able to draw strength from his touch and for once she couldn't sense any of his emotions through their contact. Somehow this comforted her.
"I didn't realize what was happening until they'd gotten me out of the flow of people on the street." She told him using the towel to wipe tears away from her eyes. Kusanagi sensed that this was hard for her made no changes to what he was doing but tried to be supportive.
"There were five that I saw, but there could have been more, I'm not exactly sure but I know that there was a leader and everyone seemed to be listening to him. They wouldn't take my wallet at first, they said they wanted to party. They didn't, they wanted me. Just before they would have ... They finally took the wallet and opened it. Someone recognized the government card, they knew I'd turn them in, knew that the government would be after them. After that I just felt so frustrated, got so angry that I think my mind took a hike, my body took over. I grew blades on my arms kinda like the ones on that anime the Guyver, that one.... " She caught herself before saying 'the one that we watched together. Kusanagi missed it. "Well I killed two of them for sure maybe more I don't really remember." The tears had stopped and she shuddered with horror at the memory of all the blood.
"I hope I never have to do that again Mamoru." She used his first name as she rarely had as Momiji. Somehow it made her words more personal. "I don't think I was ever meant to kill like that." She closed her eyes and listened to him breathe for a moment.
"Somehow I don't think you were either." He agreed.