Patlabor: Personal Files
An Episodic Patlabor Fanfic by David A. Tatum
Disclaimer: Insert legal junk here...
Episode 02: The Tournament
December 29, 1999
Takeo Kumagami stood before the captains' office, report in hand. She made
three quick raps, and waited. "Enter!" Gomioka's voice echoed through the
door. She stepped in and looked around. Gomioka was the only person in
the room, busily putting files into the drawer of his new desk.
"Where's Captain Gotoh?" she asked.
"Outside with Captain Nagumo," he sighed, grimacing. "They're getting
everything prepared for the placement tournament today. We got the
training labors ready this morning for the combat to be held in, but they
still need to get the awning set up for the tournament's spectators, and
didn't want to wait for everyone else to wake up."
"You don't seem too happy about it," Kumagami observed, smiling slightly.
"Huh?" He blinked, only just realizing he had been frowning. "Oh, I'm
just annoyed that I can't join them. Too much to do in order to set up the
new unit."
"Oh? Do you want me to help you out?"
Gomioka considered her for a moment. "Perhaps you can. When they offered
you the command, did you think of things like what type of labors you would
request, or whether you would want two four-hour shifts a day or one
eight-hour shift, should you be given that option? Or what sort of basic
rules you would establish?"
"Hmm..." Kumagami considered. "No, I was too busy trying to decide if I
wanted to take the job or not, but I can probably help you at least with
the labor question. I'd order two Ingrams and one Peacemaker."
"You would? Why?"
She smiled. "Well, I've hung around Shinohara a bit, and he seems to know
quite a bit about the technical details of our labors. I've heard him
explain it before. It's like making a choice between a manual or an
automatic car- a manual transmission has much better handling and works
much smoother than an automatic, IF you're familiar with it, though an
automatic is easier to use, regardless. The Ingram is like a manual,
whereas the Zero is like an automatic. Given that the Academy still only
has the Ingram trainers, I'd say the cadets will probably know the controls
well enough to put it to good effect."
Gomioka nodded. "Makes sense... but then why get the Peacemaker?"
Kumagami shrugged. "It doesn't happen very often, but occasionally the
second unit has needed to use all three labors in its operations. If your
team ever encounters a similar situation, one of the command car officers
would need to pilot it, and since they rarely get time inside of a labor
unless the unit is having a refresher course at the Academy, it would be
better for them to get one which would work pretty good whether you're
familiar with the controls or not."
Gomioka nodded. "I think I'll take your suggestion," he said, writing down
something on a form in front of him. "Too bad I can't make this order
until the factory re-opens on the second. It's already supposed to be
three weeks at the earliest before they'll be able to send me the new
labors, and until they do my unit will have to use the old 97's we had
mothballed from before the Zeros showed up." He sighed. "So, any chance
you can help me with my other problems?"
She smiled, walking over to Gotoh's desk and setting her report on his
chair for when he got back. "Sorry, but I've got other things to take care
of. I'm supposed to give the pre-tournament lecture to the cadets in five
minutes, so I've got to get going. I'd suggest you ask Shinobu for advice,
however. Don't ask Gotoh, though- while he's a good captain, his methods
are... unconventional, and probably wouldn't work for you."
"Ask... Captain Nagumo... for advice. Yes, that sounds like a good idea.
Thank you, Luitenant Kumagami."
"Any time, Captain Gomioka..."
* * * * *
"Are you sure you don't want to stick around and see the tournament,
Kanuka? It seems a shame for you to do all this work and not at least see
how things turn out," Shinohara urged. He, Noa, and Kanuka Clancy had
joined Gotoh and Shinobu nearly a half-hour beforehand, and were helping
them set up the folding chairs.
"I'm only in Tokyo for a few days, this time," Clancy replied. "I should
really visit my grandmother while I'm here, but if I stay for the
tournament..."
"You won't have any time for her," Noa finished. She looked over at Asuma
briefly, her stomach clenching. 'Why does he want her to stay, anyway?'
She couldn't forget Ohta's drunken proclamation of her being Shinohara's
girlfriend, and the thought that he might like Kanuka better than her- or
worse, that he might want both her and Kanuka to be a sort of harem for
him- troubled her. She still wasn't sure she regarded him as her
boyfriend, though, so why should she be so upset?
"Hey, Noa," Shinohara began, attracting her attention. "Is something
wrong? You look like you've got another toothache!"
"Huh?" Noa asked, startled. "Oh, no, I was just thinking about
something..."
"Good. You were unbearable the last time," Asuma grinned before turning
back to his work.
"So who's going to be the guest participant, now that I'm unavailable?"
Kanuka asked.
"Huh?" both Izumi and Shinohara asked.
"Captain Gotoh asked me to participate in the tournament as the experienced
guest, like Gomioka did when we had our tournament. I assumed that, since
I wasn't able to do it, he'd have asked someone else..."
"I did," Gotoh said, surprising them all as he slipped in behind them.
"Who?" Noa asked, curious.
"Officer Ohta. I've told him he's not allowed to use his gun... supposedly
to give him a handicap against the rookies."
Shinohara smirked. "That might make him a good test, if he listens."
"If he doesn't, he's going to have problems- we've taken the gun out of his
training labor," Gotoh commented. "Say, Kanuka, shouldn't you be heading
to your grandmothers shortly? You told me you'd promised to fix her
lunch."
As he spoke, Kanuka's watch started beeping. "Perfect timing, captain.
I've got to go."
"Are we going to see you again before you go, Kanuka?" Shinohara asked.
Noa's stomach clenched again.
"No, I don't believe so," Clancy answered. Her eyes flashed towards Noa.
"You might not have a toothache, but something's sure bothering you...
maybe you should rest for a bit."
"Uh, maybe," she answered noncommittally.
* * * * *
"First match," Shinobu announced. "Kenji Iguchi vs. Yoshi Tobe."
"Bow!" Gomioka, officiating the tournament, called to the two labors
through his megaphone. When both rose to their full height, he waved the
flag he was holding signaling the start of the match.
Yoshi's labor charged in, throwing a punch as it reached within an arm's
length of Kenji's, but he misjudged the range and missed by inches.
Kenji's own labor stepped forwards, delivering a punch of its own. Yoshi
raised his labor's arms to protect his face, but the blow landed in the
breast-plate, knocking him off-balance. The labor waved its arms
frantically in a desperate attempt to remain upright, but only succeeded in
looking foolish and dismembering itself as it fell.
"Enough!" Gomioka cried, waving the flag again to indicate the end of the
match. "Winner, Kenji Iguchi!"
"Pathetic," one of the higher-ranking visitors in the seats muttered. Most
of the other observers agreed with the sentiment.
Shige looked over the damaged labor as the maintenance squad carried off
its remains. "Sheesh... this will take a week to fix, at least."
Yoshi Tobe, his face flaming enough to make his scar look even more
pronounced, walked over to the stands. "I didn't think I'd do THAT
badly..." he said apologetically.
Gomioka grimaced the moment Tobe couldn't see him. He knew Yoshi would
wind up in his unit before the day was over, after a performance like that.
'First Ohta, now this... am I going to have a unit staffed entirely by
incompetents?'
* * * * *
"Next match, Ueki Mashimo vs. Yamane Seiroku," Gotoh called. Shinobu was
inside reviewing the tape of the first fight, and when Ueki and Yamane were
done he would switch with her and review the tape of this match.
"Hopefully, this will be better than the last fight," Shinohara commented.
The others of Unit Two around him could only nod in agreement.
"WELL!" the mop-haired Mashimo called out to Seiroku as the later's labor
joined his on the battlefield. "Looks like we can have this out once and
for all!"
"That we can," Yamane answered calmly. "That we can."
"BOW!" Gomioka's voice cried out. The flag came down, and the battle was
joined.
It was, indeed, a better fight than the last. Mashimo launched a furious
offensive, striking out repeatedly with his electromagnetic baton like a
katana. Seiroku coolly blocked with his own, waiting to his opponent to
finish blowing off steam. When the attacks slowed, he struck.
With one strike, the hand Mashimo's labor was wielding the baton with lay
on the ground. With another, the legs were cut out from under him, and the
match was over.
"Winner, Yamane Seiroku!" Gomioka called.
"Wow..." Noa, sitting in the third row back, breathed.
"Impressive," Shinohara, sitting next to her, agreed. "But I think their
rivalry might have let them learn how to fight each other better than they
would fight someone else. In a real fight, I'm not sure Yamane would have
known when to counterattack."
"You think so? Still, it was an impressive battle," Takeo, listening in
from behind them, commented.
Before they could say anymore, Gotoh passed in front of them, holding the
tape of the fight in his right hand.
"Kumagami, could you take over for me?" he asked. "Shinobu isn't finished
reviewing the tape of the first fight yet, and we need someone to announce
the fights and keep an eye on the recording equipment."
"Yes, sir," Kumagami acknowledged. Smiling as Gotoh left, she turned to
Noa and Asuma. "Do you two want to join me up front? You might be able to
get a better view of the fight from up close..."
"Yeah... I'm tired of having to crane my neck to see over everyone's head,"
Shinohara answered for the both of them. Noa was a little uncertain she
wanted Asuma to speak for her, like always, but decided to go along with
him anyway- so far, he'd never made her do something she hadn't wanted
eventually wanted to do, anyway. Perhaps he just knew her that well- the
thought seemed to warm her a bit. If she was his girlfriend, at least he
understood her. Maybe.
They made their way to the front table, and Takeo set the video camera up
to record the fight. Shinohara and Noa sat at the end of the table, almost
to the right of most of the rest of the seats, and chatted a little while
the labors got into position.
"The next match," Kumagami announced, "Is Joudo Ishikawa vs. Natsume
Kawai."
Natsume looked very nervous sitting in her labor, waiting for the fight to
begin. Being nervous made her tremble, and trembling made her look even
cuter than usual. Being cuter than usual caught Asuma's attention.
Noa growled a little when she notice Shinohara ogling the young girl, and
got out of her seat and walked away from him, standing outside of the
awning that was covering the spectator area.
* * * * *
"Now that's odd," Gotoh said, reviewing the tape of Yamane and Ueki's
battle. "The hand came off almost too easily." He punched the intercom
button. "Mr. Sakaki?"
"Yes?" his hoarse voice rumbled back.
"Can you make a close inspection of the hand joint for Officer Mashimo's
labor? Something about the way it fell off looks funny."
"I already did," Sakaki's voice replied. "Training needs a better
maintenance squad. The bolt holding that hand on it was rusted through,
and was only supported by the wires that controlled the fingers. It was
amazing it stayed on as long as it did."
"Hmm..." Gotoh said. "So no foul play involved, but Officer Seiroku had an
unfair advantage which may have effected the outcome. I'll note that."
* * * * *
The flag came down, and again a pair of labors faced off against each
other. Natsume, despite her nerves, put up a decent fight, but it was
obvious after the first minute that she was overmatched- she had already
lost her baton and was on the retreat. In desperation, she drew her gun,
before being knocked onto her side.
Asuma caught sight of the trigger-finger moving, and leapt to his feet. It
wasn't aimed at him, but he saw who it was aimed for and made his move.
"NOA, LOOK OUT!"
"Eh?" Noa asked, in shock. All she could think of was that silly lesson
Gotoh and Shinobu tried to give to Unit 2 when they went for retraining,
where he tried to convince Ohta of the dangers of using his gun too much by
faking an accident with a training gun, and how closely this resembled it.
She was startled back into reality when she felt herself bodily shoved
aside, landing several feet out of the path of the paint cartridge as it
flew passed the audience and into the building behind them.
Shinohara stood up painfully. "Are you okay?" he asked, pulling Noa to her
feet.
"I... I think so..." Noa answered, dazed. 'He risked his life for me?' she
wondered.
* * * * *
It took a full half hour for order to be restored after the gun accident.
Asuma took Noa back into the compound with the intention of getting her a
drink to calm down, and Natsume had to be taken off by the medics- she
wouldn't have squeezed the trigger is a piece of wire jarred loose by the
fall hadn't jabbed her in the arm, forcing her hand to clench. Some of the
guests went home, but most had stayed and were waiting for the tournament
to resume. The maintenance crew cleared the field, taking the damaged
labor back into the shed for inspection, and the final match of the first
round was ready to begin.
"Next match, Ohta Isao vs. Koichi Miyagi," Shinobu called. Gotoh still had
to finish reviewing the tape he'd been working on, and then would have to
watch the Joudo\Natsume fight as well.
"Bow." The two labors bowed, and then the fight began.
The fight was even matched for a long time. When Ohta attacked, Koichi
dodged. When Koichi attack, Ohta blocked. Both occasionally went for the
kill, but neither delivered a decisive blow. The battle lasted for several
hours, but soon the two labors were both in trouble.
Ohta was the first to notice the problem. His labor's main monitor went
black, and began blinking 'Low Battery' in big red letters. He cursed. He
was out of time.
Koichi's battery started failing less than a minute later, but he was
lucky. By that time, Ohta's power was gone. The match was over.
"Winner, Koichi!"
Ohta growled. 'Not again!'
* * * * *
"I'm home, grandma!" Kanuka called.
"Hello, Kanuka," a hoarse female voice answered.
"Grandma, are you okay? You sound horrible!" Kanuka exclaimed.
"Oh, it's just a cold... don't mind me," her grandmother said, coughing a
little. "How are things?"
"Well, I was promised a raise and possibly a promotion in a few months. My
partner in New York, Leslie Desaix, recently found out that his sister is
pregnant... Special vehicles is gaining some new officers. But I'm only
here for a few days, and wanted to visit, not talk about my job. Is your
cold too bad to go out with?"
Kanuka's grandmother looked at her granddaughter with a sad smile. "Well,
maybe. I'm feeling a little weak, but I think if I bundle up I'll be fine,
if you want to go out to dinner."
"I'll get your coat," Kanuka said.
As she walked out of eyeshot, her grandmother took out the report the
doctor had given her and hid it underneath the seat cushion. 'I can't tell
you yet, granddaughter... Maybe when you aren't able to come back and take
care of me, but if I told you now you'd fuss over me so much and all you
would try to do would just aggravate my condition... No, I can't tell you
yet...'
* * * * *
"Hey, Noa, you okay?" Asuma asked, a note of concern in his voice.
Noa just sat next to him, a few feet away from Alphonse, staring off into
space. Shinohara repeated himself, trying to get her to snap out of her
shock. Slowly, she turned her head towards him, her eyes unblinking.
"Why?"
Asuma looked confused. "Why what?"
"You could have been killed saving me. Why did you do it?"
Shinohara shifted uncomfortably. "Well, a backup and forward have to look
out for each other, you know?" He smiled nervously. "Besides, who else
would let me order them around so much?"
"Asuma, do y-" Noa began.
Ohta stormed in, a long line of curses following him. "Low batteries! I
lost because of some stupid BATTERIES!"
The moment, such as it was, was ruined. They turned towards Ohta in
surprise. "What are you talking about?" Shinohara asked.
"The tournament! We were tied, but then I lost because I ran out of
power!"
Noa and Asuma looked at each other in confusion. "Uh... that's not bad,
actually," Shinohara soothed.
"What do you mean?" Ohta snapped. "I lost- they're going to put me in the
second labor again!"
"No they won't!" Asuma snapped back. "Gomioka didn't lose his spot as
first labor pilot- in Unit 1, I might add- when he lost in our tournament.
In fact, you were fighting at a disadvantage, remember?"
"Well, maybe," Ohta growled. He still wasn't happy, but then again he was
rarely happy unless he could work with his guns. "We'll see what he does,"
he continued, turning and stomping off back to his room.
"I guess Ohta's still not over his sudden transfer," Noa commented.
"Guess not," Shinohara agreed. Then he smiled and turned back to her.
"So, what was it you were going to ask me before we were so rudely
interrupted?"
"Oh, uh..." Noa wasn't sure what to say. She was going to ask him how he
really felt about her, but it didn't feel right to talk about that right
now. The mood was gone. "I was going to ask... if you wanted to go out
for a drink next time we're off duty- my treat-a way of saying thanks."
Asuma noticed her hesitation. It was almost like she wasn't going to ask
him that originally... but he figured she could hide whatever it was from
him if she wanted. Besides, he wasn't one to pass up a free drink. "Sure
thing..."
* * * * *
"Second round, first match! Yamane Seiroku vs. Koichi Miyagi!" Gotoh's
voice called out. He was finally back from reviewing the tapes, and
Shinobu had taken his place in the video room.
"Bow!" The flag came down again, signaling the start of the next set of
fights. The battle was short and violent- both labors started
disassembling each other. Seiroku slapped off a chest plate, and in return
lost an arm at the elbow. The good arm pulled Koichi's labor into his
knee, but then the leg said knee was connected to disappeared as an
electromagnetic baton was stabbed into it and violently ripped out.
Keeping its balance only from it's one good arm, Seiroku directed his labor
to one last attempt for victory- his free elbow descended upon the
sensitive head of his opponent- but didn't do enough damage to finish off
Miyagi- it lacked the added mass the forearm would have provided. A few
seconds later, Yamane's labor dropped.
"Winner, Koichi Miyagi!"
The two former combatants stepped out of their labors and met at the
sidelines while the wrecks they had left behind were carted away.
"Impressive win... Koichi, was it?" Seiroku began.
"Thank you, Mr..." Miyagi answered.
"Seiroku. Yamane Seiroku. Call me Yamane," he smiled. "If you do that
well in the final round, you're certain to win the First Unit slot. Would
you mind talking a bit about the tactics you used there? I don't remember
seeing a labor move like that before."
"Well..." Miyagi considered, then smiled. "Sure thing- come on, lets sit
over there so the next match doesn't disturb us..."
* * * * *
The final match of the round was already in progress by the time Noa and
Asuma returned to the field. Joudo Ishikawa and Kenji Iguchi were fighting
fairly evenly, though every now and then one labor would score a point on
the other. It was getting late into the evening, and several of the
observers had already gone home. One person who left once already, though,
had returned.
"Ms... Ms. Izumi?" Natsume Kawai began, after walking over to join her. "I
want to apologize- it was clumsy of me to be holding on to the gun like
that when I fell- I should have let go... I could have killed you..."
"That's right- you could have," Shinohara growled. "Be more careful in the
future!"
"ASUMA!" Noa berated, turning to glare at him. He didn't normally snap at
cute girls like that- well, actually, maybe he did. After all, didn't he
basically order her around all the time? Still, he almost made it seem
like a game to her- she'd realized that when he'd been visiting her at her
parents home over the family liquor store one time. Looking at him, she
could tell he was sincerely angry at the young girl. Almost like he was
when Ohta's obsession with firearms got them in trouble, only a bit more
serious than that.
"I'm so sorry..." Natsume groveled, almost in tears.
"Oh, that's okay," Noa soothed, warning Asuma not to say anything else with
a glare. "It was just an accident- if you hadn't been hurt, the gun never
would have gone off. And I wasn't hurt myself, so don't worry about it."
"Really?" Kawai sniffed, still looking awfully apologetic.
"Really."
Further conversation was cut off by a loud crash as Joudo Ishikawa sent
Kenji Iguchi's labor tumbling. Another match was over, and the effects of
a previous one were healed.
* * * * *
"The final match," Gotoh announced, Shinobu on hand. "Is postponed on
account of darkness."
"What?" "Postponed?" "But labor battles have been fought at night
before!" "Darkness?" "What's going on!" came various cries from the
remaining spectators. Joudo Ishikawa and Koichi Miyagi looked at each
other curiously.
"Yes, the battle COULD still be fought, if we wanted it to be," Shinobu
began, backing Gotoh up. "But it won't- our video equipment isn't
sophisticated enough to record the match in enough detail."
"Then who's in which unit?" Ueki Mashimo's voice echoed from somewhere in
the midst of the crowd that had started to converge on the three captains
who had made the decision.
"I'm afraid that will have to wait until the tournament is over," Gotoh
answered. Groans were heard, and people seemed exceedingly disappointed.
Joudo looked over at Koichi and whispered something in his ear. A few nods
later, the two recruits approached the captains with a request.
"Sirs," Ishikawa began. "Koichi and I have talked, and in the interest of
speeding up our assignments, we'd like to call off the last match, consider
it a draw, and decide who won the tournament by a coin toss."
"Yeah, I analyzed his style from that first match," Miyagi added in
support. "And I think we're about an even match. A coin toss is all
that's needed."
Gotoh looked at Shinobu. "What do you think?" he asked.
"I don't know," she considered. "This is a highly irregular request, but
then again postponing the last match to the next day is also pretty
unusual..."
Gotoh nodded. "Yeah. I think we should allow them to decide it by coin
toss." He searched through his pockets. "Except I don't seem to have any
coins... anyone got change for a hundred-yen note?" he asked, holding up
the bill.
"Here," Gomioka supplied, holding out a few coins. "Use one of these."
Joudo picked up the coin. "Call it in the air," he said, and tossed it.
"Heads!" Koichi cried.
Gotoh picked up the coin and looked at it closely. "Heads it is. Koichi,
you've just won the tournament. Congrats!" He looked over at the other
two captains. "We'll retire to the office for a while, and we'll post the
positions in a couple hours. Hold on, people- we'll be done shortly."
* * * * *
"This is fabulous food, don't you think, Grandma?" Kanuka asked.
Her grandmother nodded. "Yes it is, child. But it's not as good as some
of your home cooking."
"Oh, quit trying to compliment me. I'm an excellent cop, but as a cook I'm
only slightly above average."
"I think you underestimate yourself, granddaughter, but I won't push the
point. You can be very stubborn when you want to be."
The two of them ate on in silence for a few minutes. Kanuka's grandmother
smiled and looked up at her. "So, have you found anyone special yet? Is
there a chance I might become a great-grandmother?"
"Grandma!" Kanuka blushed. It took her a few seconds to recover from the
question before shaking her head. "No, grandma, no-one yet. One of the
Special Vehicles cops I work with, Asuma Shinohara- I think you remember
him- and I have flirted with each other off and on, but nothing serious has
happened, and I don't really think anything will happen with him. I'm
pretty sure he's too hung-up on his partner for him to get too deeply
involved with anyone else." She chuckled. "Though considering how she
seems to love her Patlabor, I wouldn't be surprised is he never makes a
move on her, either."
"What do you mean, 'love her Patlabor?' Tell me more about them- they
sound like an interesting pair," her grandmother asked. Kanuka went in to
a long-winded explanation of Noa Izumi and her labor Alphonse, and how she
seemed to take better care of her labor than she could herself. Little
bits about how Asuma seemed to deal with her floated in every now and then-
how he would both order her around and basically control her and yet allow
himself to be roped into doing things like cleaning Alphonse from head to
toe. Eventually, Kanuka's grandmother started fading away.
It wasn't until her grandmother nearly slumped into her food that Kanuka
realized something was seriously wrong. "Grandma, are you okay? What's
wrong?"
"Oh, don't worry too much about me, child. I guess the cold I had was
worse than I thought," she answered faintly. "And I'm probably not able to
deal with it as well as I used to be able to deal with colds- I am over
seventy years old, after all. Maybe you should take me home."
Kanuka hailed a waiter and paid for the food. She grabbing a doggy bag and
helped her grandmother home, wrapping an arm around her to support her.
When they finally got to the apartment, she dropped her grandmother off
into bed and covered her warmly in the blankets. She stuffed the food into
the refrigerator and sat down.
'That's funny,' Kanuka thought. 'Sounds like I sat on some papers...'
Searching underneath the cushion, she encounters a folder full of paper and
pulls it out.
"What's this? A medical report?" she says, opening it and starting to
read.
'No!' she cried out to herself. 'It can't be! Why didn't she tell me!'
* * * * *
Soon, a printout was posted onto the door of the Captains' Office.
"To the new recruits of the Special Vehicles, Section 2-
As of tomorrow at 0600 hrs, you are to report to the following assignments:
Koichi Miyagi- Unit 1 (Labor Pilot, Labor 2)
Joudo Ishikawa- Unit 2 (Labor Pilot, Labor 2)
Kenji Iguchi- Unit 3 (Labor Pilot, Labor 2)
Yamane Seiroku- Unit 3 (Command Car, Labor 2)
Ueki Mashimo- Unit 1 (Transport Driver, Labor 2)
Natsume Kawai- Unit 2 (Transport Driver, Labor 2)
Yoshi Tobe- Unit 3 (Transport Driver, Labor 2)
That is all."
--------------------------
Next Episode: The recruits meet up with their units, Kanuka confronts her
grandmother about the medical report, and Yamane Seiroku approaches Gomioka
with a request he's not sure how to deal with.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Sir Desaix, member # 116 of the Knights of the True Fiancee
desaix@sysnet.net
fanfics available at
http://www.geocities.com/zednik.geo/fanfics.htm
An Episodic Patlabor Fanfic by David A. Tatum
Disclaimer: Insert legal junk here...
Episode 02: The Tournament
December 29, 1999
Takeo Kumagami stood before the captains' office, report in hand. She made
three quick raps, and waited. "Enter!" Gomioka's voice echoed through the
door. She stepped in and looked around. Gomioka was the only person in
the room, busily putting files into the drawer of his new desk.
"Where's Captain Gotoh?" she asked.
"Outside with Captain Nagumo," he sighed, grimacing. "They're getting
everything prepared for the placement tournament today. We got the
training labors ready this morning for the combat to be held in, but they
still need to get the awning set up for the tournament's spectators, and
didn't want to wait for everyone else to wake up."
"You don't seem too happy about it," Kumagami observed, smiling slightly.
"Huh?" He blinked, only just realizing he had been frowning. "Oh, I'm
just annoyed that I can't join them. Too much to do in order to set up the
new unit."
"Oh? Do you want me to help you out?"
Gomioka considered her for a moment. "Perhaps you can. When they offered
you the command, did you think of things like what type of labors you would
request, or whether you would want two four-hour shifts a day or one
eight-hour shift, should you be given that option? Or what sort of basic
rules you would establish?"
"Hmm..." Kumagami considered. "No, I was too busy trying to decide if I
wanted to take the job or not, but I can probably help you at least with
the labor question. I'd order two Ingrams and one Peacemaker."
"You would? Why?"
She smiled. "Well, I've hung around Shinohara a bit, and he seems to know
quite a bit about the technical details of our labors. I've heard him
explain it before. It's like making a choice between a manual or an
automatic car- a manual transmission has much better handling and works
much smoother than an automatic, IF you're familiar with it, though an
automatic is easier to use, regardless. The Ingram is like a manual,
whereas the Zero is like an automatic. Given that the Academy still only
has the Ingram trainers, I'd say the cadets will probably know the controls
well enough to put it to good effect."
Gomioka nodded. "Makes sense... but then why get the Peacemaker?"
Kumagami shrugged. "It doesn't happen very often, but occasionally the
second unit has needed to use all three labors in its operations. If your
team ever encounters a similar situation, one of the command car officers
would need to pilot it, and since they rarely get time inside of a labor
unless the unit is having a refresher course at the Academy, it would be
better for them to get one which would work pretty good whether you're
familiar with the controls or not."
Gomioka nodded. "I think I'll take your suggestion," he said, writing down
something on a form in front of him. "Too bad I can't make this order
until the factory re-opens on the second. It's already supposed to be
three weeks at the earliest before they'll be able to send me the new
labors, and until they do my unit will have to use the old 97's we had
mothballed from before the Zeros showed up." He sighed. "So, any chance
you can help me with my other problems?"
She smiled, walking over to Gotoh's desk and setting her report on his
chair for when he got back. "Sorry, but I've got other things to take care
of. I'm supposed to give the pre-tournament lecture to the cadets in five
minutes, so I've got to get going. I'd suggest you ask Shinobu for advice,
however. Don't ask Gotoh, though- while he's a good captain, his methods
are... unconventional, and probably wouldn't work for you."
"Ask... Captain Nagumo... for advice. Yes, that sounds like a good idea.
Thank you, Luitenant Kumagami."
"Any time, Captain Gomioka..."
* * * * *
"Are you sure you don't want to stick around and see the tournament,
Kanuka? It seems a shame for you to do all this work and not at least see
how things turn out," Shinohara urged. He, Noa, and Kanuka Clancy had
joined Gotoh and Shinobu nearly a half-hour beforehand, and were helping
them set up the folding chairs.
"I'm only in Tokyo for a few days, this time," Clancy replied. "I should
really visit my grandmother while I'm here, but if I stay for the
tournament..."
"You won't have any time for her," Noa finished. She looked over at Asuma
briefly, her stomach clenching. 'Why does he want her to stay, anyway?'
She couldn't forget Ohta's drunken proclamation of her being Shinohara's
girlfriend, and the thought that he might like Kanuka better than her- or
worse, that he might want both her and Kanuka to be a sort of harem for
him- troubled her. She still wasn't sure she regarded him as her
boyfriend, though, so why should she be so upset?
"Hey, Noa," Shinohara began, attracting her attention. "Is something
wrong? You look like you've got another toothache!"
"Huh?" Noa asked, startled. "Oh, no, I was just thinking about
something..."
"Good. You were unbearable the last time," Asuma grinned before turning
back to his work.
"So who's going to be the guest participant, now that I'm unavailable?"
Kanuka asked.
"Huh?" both Izumi and Shinohara asked.
"Captain Gotoh asked me to participate in the tournament as the experienced
guest, like Gomioka did when we had our tournament. I assumed that, since
I wasn't able to do it, he'd have asked someone else..."
"I did," Gotoh said, surprising them all as he slipped in behind them.
"Who?" Noa asked, curious.
"Officer Ohta. I've told him he's not allowed to use his gun... supposedly
to give him a handicap against the rookies."
Shinohara smirked. "That might make him a good test, if he listens."
"If he doesn't, he's going to have problems- we've taken the gun out of his
training labor," Gotoh commented. "Say, Kanuka, shouldn't you be heading
to your grandmothers shortly? You told me you'd promised to fix her
lunch."
As he spoke, Kanuka's watch started beeping. "Perfect timing, captain.
I've got to go."
"Are we going to see you again before you go, Kanuka?" Shinohara asked.
Noa's stomach clenched again.
"No, I don't believe so," Clancy answered. Her eyes flashed towards Noa.
"You might not have a toothache, but something's sure bothering you...
maybe you should rest for a bit."
"Uh, maybe," she answered noncommittally.
* * * * *
"First match," Shinobu announced. "Kenji Iguchi vs. Yoshi Tobe."
"Bow!" Gomioka, officiating the tournament, called to the two labors
through his megaphone. When both rose to their full height, he waved the
flag he was holding signaling the start of the match.
Yoshi's labor charged in, throwing a punch as it reached within an arm's
length of Kenji's, but he misjudged the range and missed by inches.
Kenji's own labor stepped forwards, delivering a punch of its own. Yoshi
raised his labor's arms to protect his face, but the blow landed in the
breast-plate, knocking him off-balance. The labor waved its arms
frantically in a desperate attempt to remain upright, but only succeeded in
looking foolish and dismembering itself as it fell.
"Enough!" Gomioka cried, waving the flag again to indicate the end of the
match. "Winner, Kenji Iguchi!"
"Pathetic," one of the higher-ranking visitors in the seats muttered. Most
of the other observers agreed with the sentiment.
Shige looked over the damaged labor as the maintenance squad carried off
its remains. "Sheesh... this will take a week to fix, at least."
Yoshi Tobe, his face flaming enough to make his scar look even more
pronounced, walked over to the stands. "I didn't think I'd do THAT
badly..." he said apologetically.
Gomioka grimaced the moment Tobe couldn't see him. He knew Yoshi would
wind up in his unit before the day was over, after a performance like that.
'First Ohta, now this... am I going to have a unit staffed entirely by
incompetents?'
* * * * *
"Next match, Ueki Mashimo vs. Yamane Seiroku," Gotoh called. Shinobu was
inside reviewing the tape of the first fight, and when Ueki and Yamane were
done he would switch with her and review the tape of this match.
"Hopefully, this will be better than the last fight," Shinohara commented.
The others of Unit Two around him could only nod in agreement.
"WELL!" the mop-haired Mashimo called out to Seiroku as the later's labor
joined his on the battlefield. "Looks like we can have this out once and
for all!"
"That we can," Yamane answered calmly. "That we can."
"BOW!" Gomioka's voice cried out. The flag came down, and the battle was
joined.
It was, indeed, a better fight than the last. Mashimo launched a furious
offensive, striking out repeatedly with his electromagnetic baton like a
katana. Seiroku coolly blocked with his own, waiting to his opponent to
finish blowing off steam. When the attacks slowed, he struck.
With one strike, the hand Mashimo's labor was wielding the baton with lay
on the ground. With another, the legs were cut out from under him, and the
match was over.
"Winner, Yamane Seiroku!" Gomioka called.
"Wow..." Noa, sitting in the third row back, breathed.
"Impressive," Shinohara, sitting next to her, agreed. "But I think their
rivalry might have let them learn how to fight each other better than they
would fight someone else. In a real fight, I'm not sure Yamane would have
known when to counterattack."
"You think so? Still, it was an impressive battle," Takeo, listening in
from behind them, commented.
Before they could say anymore, Gotoh passed in front of them, holding the
tape of the fight in his right hand.
"Kumagami, could you take over for me?" he asked. "Shinobu isn't finished
reviewing the tape of the first fight yet, and we need someone to announce
the fights and keep an eye on the recording equipment."
"Yes, sir," Kumagami acknowledged. Smiling as Gotoh left, she turned to
Noa and Asuma. "Do you two want to join me up front? You might be able to
get a better view of the fight from up close..."
"Yeah... I'm tired of having to crane my neck to see over everyone's head,"
Shinohara answered for the both of them. Noa was a little uncertain she
wanted Asuma to speak for her, like always, but decided to go along with
him anyway- so far, he'd never made her do something she hadn't wanted
eventually wanted to do, anyway. Perhaps he just knew her that well- the
thought seemed to warm her a bit. If she was his girlfriend, at least he
understood her. Maybe.
They made their way to the front table, and Takeo set the video camera up
to record the fight. Shinohara and Noa sat at the end of the table, almost
to the right of most of the rest of the seats, and chatted a little while
the labors got into position.
"The next match," Kumagami announced, "Is Joudo Ishikawa vs. Natsume
Kawai."
Natsume looked very nervous sitting in her labor, waiting for the fight to
begin. Being nervous made her tremble, and trembling made her look even
cuter than usual. Being cuter than usual caught Asuma's attention.
Noa growled a little when she notice Shinohara ogling the young girl, and
got out of her seat and walked away from him, standing outside of the
awning that was covering the spectator area.
* * * * *
"Now that's odd," Gotoh said, reviewing the tape of Yamane and Ueki's
battle. "The hand came off almost too easily." He punched the intercom
button. "Mr. Sakaki?"
"Yes?" his hoarse voice rumbled back.
"Can you make a close inspection of the hand joint for Officer Mashimo's
labor? Something about the way it fell off looks funny."
"I already did," Sakaki's voice replied. "Training needs a better
maintenance squad. The bolt holding that hand on it was rusted through,
and was only supported by the wires that controlled the fingers. It was
amazing it stayed on as long as it did."
"Hmm..." Gotoh said. "So no foul play involved, but Officer Seiroku had an
unfair advantage which may have effected the outcome. I'll note that."
* * * * *
The flag came down, and again a pair of labors faced off against each
other. Natsume, despite her nerves, put up a decent fight, but it was
obvious after the first minute that she was overmatched- she had already
lost her baton and was on the retreat. In desperation, she drew her gun,
before being knocked onto her side.
Asuma caught sight of the trigger-finger moving, and leapt to his feet. It
wasn't aimed at him, but he saw who it was aimed for and made his move.
"NOA, LOOK OUT!"
"Eh?" Noa asked, in shock. All she could think of was that silly lesson
Gotoh and Shinobu tried to give to Unit 2 when they went for retraining,
where he tried to convince Ohta of the dangers of using his gun too much by
faking an accident with a training gun, and how closely this resembled it.
She was startled back into reality when she felt herself bodily shoved
aside, landing several feet out of the path of the paint cartridge as it
flew passed the audience and into the building behind them.
Shinohara stood up painfully. "Are you okay?" he asked, pulling Noa to her
feet.
"I... I think so..." Noa answered, dazed. 'He risked his life for me?' she
wondered.
* * * * *
It took a full half hour for order to be restored after the gun accident.
Asuma took Noa back into the compound with the intention of getting her a
drink to calm down, and Natsume had to be taken off by the medics- she
wouldn't have squeezed the trigger is a piece of wire jarred loose by the
fall hadn't jabbed her in the arm, forcing her hand to clench. Some of the
guests went home, but most had stayed and were waiting for the tournament
to resume. The maintenance crew cleared the field, taking the damaged
labor back into the shed for inspection, and the final match of the first
round was ready to begin.
"Next match, Ohta Isao vs. Koichi Miyagi," Shinobu called. Gotoh still had
to finish reviewing the tape he'd been working on, and then would have to
watch the Joudo\Natsume fight as well.
"Bow." The two labors bowed, and then the fight began.
The fight was even matched for a long time. When Ohta attacked, Koichi
dodged. When Koichi attack, Ohta blocked. Both occasionally went for the
kill, but neither delivered a decisive blow. The battle lasted for several
hours, but soon the two labors were both in trouble.
Ohta was the first to notice the problem. His labor's main monitor went
black, and began blinking 'Low Battery' in big red letters. He cursed. He
was out of time.
Koichi's battery started failing less than a minute later, but he was
lucky. By that time, Ohta's power was gone. The match was over.
"Winner, Koichi!"
Ohta growled. 'Not again!'
* * * * *
"I'm home, grandma!" Kanuka called.
"Hello, Kanuka," a hoarse female voice answered.
"Grandma, are you okay? You sound horrible!" Kanuka exclaimed.
"Oh, it's just a cold... don't mind me," her grandmother said, coughing a
little. "How are things?"
"Well, I was promised a raise and possibly a promotion in a few months. My
partner in New York, Leslie Desaix, recently found out that his sister is
pregnant... Special vehicles is gaining some new officers. But I'm only
here for a few days, and wanted to visit, not talk about my job. Is your
cold too bad to go out with?"
Kanuka's grandmother looked at her granddaughter with a sad smile. "Well,
maybe. I'm feeling a little weak, but I think if I bundle up I'll be fine,
if you want to go out to dinner."
"I'll get your coat," Kanuka said.
As she walked out of eyeshot, her grandmother took out the report the
doctor had given her and hid it underneath the seat cushion. 'I can't tell
you yet, granddaughter... Maybe when you aren't able to come back and take
care of me, but if I told you now you'd fuss over me so much and all you
would try to do would just aggravate my condition... No, I can't tell you
yet...'
* * * * *
"Hey, Noa, you okay?" Asuma asked, a note of concern in his voice.
Noa just sat next to him, a few feet away from Alphonse, staring off into
space. Shinohara repeated himself, trying to get her to snap out of her
shock. Slowly, she turned her head towards him, her eyes unblinking.
"Why?"
Asuma looked confused. "Why what?"
"You could have been killed saving me. Why did you do it?"
Shinohara shifted uncomfortably. "Well, a backup and forward have to look
out for each other, you know?" He smiled nervously. "Besides, who else
would let me order them around so much?"
"Asuma, do y-" Noa began.
Ohta stormed in, a long line of curses following him. "Low batteries! I
lost because of some stupid BATTERIES!"
The moment, such as it was, was ruined. They turned towards Ohta in
surprise. "What are you talking about?" Shinohara asked.
"The tournament! We were tied, but then I lost because I ran out of
power!"
Noa and Asuma looked at each other in confusion. "Uh... that's not bad,
actually," Shinohara soothed.
"What do you mean?" Ohta snapped. "I lost- they're going to put me in the
second labor again!"
"No they won't!" Asuma snapped back. "Gomioka didn't lose his spot as
first labor pilot- in Unit 1, I might add- when he lost in our tournament.
In fact, you were fighting at a disadvantage, remember?"
"Well, maybe," Ohta growled. He still wasn't happy, but then again he was
rarely happy unless he could work with his guns. "We'll see what he does,"
he continued, turning and stomping off back to his room.
"I guess Ohta's still not over his sudden transfer," Noa commented.
"Guess not," Shinohara agreed. Then he smiled and turned back to her.
"So, what was it you were going to ask me before we were so rudely
interrupted?"
"Oh, uh..." Noa wasn't sure what to say. She was going to ask him how he
really felt about her, but it didn't feel right to talk about that right
now. The mood was gone. "I was going to ask... if you wanted to go out
for a drink next time we're off duty- my treat-a way of saying thanks."
Asuma noticed her hesitation. It was almost like she wasn't going to ask
him that originally... but he figured she could hide whatever it was from
him if she wanted. Besides, he wasn't one to pass up a free drink. "Sure
thing..."
* * * * *
"Second round, first match! Yamane Seiroku vs. Koichi Miyagi!" Gotoh's
voice called out. He was finally back from reviewing the tapes, and
Shinobu had taken his place in the video room.
"Bow!" The flag came down again, signaling the start of the next set of
fights. The battle was short and violent- both labors started
disassembling each other. Seiroku slapped off a chest plate, and in return
lost an arm at the elbow. The good arm pulled Koichi's labor into his
knee, but then the leg said knee was connected to disappeared as an
electromagnetic baton was stabbed into it and violently ripped out.
Keeping its balance only from it's one good arm, Seiroku directed his labor
to one last attempt for victory- his free elbow descended upon the
sensitive head of his opponent- but didn't do enough damage to finish off
Miyagi- it lacked the added mass the forearm would have provided. A few
seconds later, Yamane's labor dropped.
"Winner, Koichi Miyagi!"
The two former combatants stepped out of their labors and met at the
sidelines while the wrecks they had left behind were carted away.
"Impressive win... Koichi, was it?" Seiroku began.
"Thank you, Mr..." Miyagi answered.
"Seiroku. Yamane Seiroku. Call me Yamane," he smiled. "If you do that
well in the final round, you're certain to win the First Unit slot. Would
you mind talking a bit about the tactics you used there? I don't remember
seeing a labor move like that before."
"Well..." Miyagi considered, then smiled. "Sure thing- come on, lets sit
over there so the next match doesn't disturb us..."
* * * * *
The final match of the round was already in progress by the time Noa and
Asuma returned to the field. Joudo Ishikawa and Kenji Iguchi were fighting
fairly evenly, though every now and then one labor would score a point on
the other. It was getting late into the evening, and several of the
observers had already gone home. One person who left once already, though,
had returned.
"Ms... Ms. Izumi?" Natsume Kawai began, after walking over to join her. "I
want to apologize- it was clumsy of me to be holding on to the gun like
that when I fell- I should have let go... I could have killed you..."
"That's right- you could have," Shinohara growled. "Be more careful in the
future!"
"ASUMA!" Noa berated, turning to glare at him. He didn't normally snap at
cute girls like that- well, actually, maybe he did. After all, didn't he
basically order her around all the time? Still, he almost made it seem
like a game to her- she'd realized that when he'd been visiting her at her
parents home over the family liquor store one time. Looking at him, she
could tell he was sincerely angry at the young girl. Almost like he was
when Ohta's obsession with firearms got them in trouble, only a bit more
serious than that.
"I'm so sorry..." Natsume groveled, almost in tears.
"Oh, that's okay," Noa soothed, warning Asuma not to say anything else with
a glare. "It was just an accident- if you hadn't been hurt, the gun never
would have gone off. And I wasn't hurt myself, so don't worry about it."
"Really?" Kawai sniffed, still looking awfully apologetic.
"Really."
Further conversation was cut off by a loud crash as Joudo Ishikawa sent
Kenji Iguchi's labor tumbling. Another match was over, and the effects of
a previous one were healed.
* * * * *
"The final match," Gotoh announced, Shinobu on hand. "Is postponed on
account of darkness."
"What?" "Postponed?" "But labor battles have been fought at night
before!" "Darkness?" "What's going on!" came various cries from the
remaining spectators. Joudo Ishikawa and Koichi Miyagi looked at each
other curiously.
"Yes, the battle COULD still be fought, if we wanted it to be," Shinobu
began, backing Gotoh up. "But it won't- our video equipment isn't
sophisticated enough to record the match in enough detail."
"Then who's in which unit?" Ueki Mashimo's voice echoed from somewhere in
the midst of the crowd that had started to converge on the three captains
who had made the decision.
"I'm afraid that will have to wait until the tournament is over," Gotoh
answered. Groans were heard, and people seemed exceedingly disappointed.
Joudo looked over at Koichi and whispered something in his ear. A few nods
later, the two recruits approached the captains with a request.
"Sirs," Ishikawa began. "Koichi and I have talked, and in the interest of
speeding up our assignments, we'd like to call off the last match, consider
it a draw, and decide who won the tournament by a coin toss."
"Yeah, I analyzed his style from that first match," Miyagi added in
support. "And I think we're about an even match. A coin toss is all
that's needed."
Gotoh looked at Shinobu. "What do you think?" he asked.
"I don't know," she considered. "This is a highly irregular request, but
then again postponing the last match to the next day is also pretty
unusual..."
Gotoh nodded. "Yeah. I think we should allow them to decide it by coin
toss." He searched through his pockets. "Except I don't seem to have any
coins... anyone got change for a hundred-yen note?" he asked, holding up
the bill.
"Here," Gomioka supplied, holding out a few coins. "Use one of these."
Joudo picked up the coin. "Call it in the air," he said, and tossed it.
"Heads!" Koichi cried.
Gotoh picked up the coin and looked at it closely. "Heads it is. Koichi,
you've just won the tournament. Congrats!" He looked over at the other
two captains. "We'll retire to the office for a while, and we'll post the
positions in a couple hours. Hold on, people- we'll be done shortly."
* * * * *
"This is fabulous food, don't you think, Grandma?" Kanuka asked.
Her grandmother nodded. "Yes it is, child. But it's not as good as some
of your home cooking."
"Oh, quit trying to compliment me. I'm an excellent cop, but as a cook I'm
only slightly above average."
"I think you underestimate yourself, granddaughter, but I won't push the
point. You can be very stubborn when you want to be."
The two of them ate on in silence for a few minutes. Kanuka's grandmother
smiled and looked up at her. "So, have you found anyone special yet? Is
there a chance I might become a great-grandmother?"
"Grandma!" Kanuka blushed. It took her a few seconds to recover from the
question before shaking her head. "No, grandma, no-one yet. One of the
Special Vehicles cops I work with, Asuma Shinohara- I think you remember
him- and I have flirted with each other off and on, but nothing serious has
happened, and I don't really think anything will happen with him. I'm
pretty sure he's too hung-up on his partner for him to get too deeply
involved with anyone else." She chuckled. "Though considering how she
seems to love her Patlabor, I wouldn't be surprised is he never makes a
move on her, either."
"What do you mean, 'love her Patlabor?' Tell me more about them- they
sound like an interesting pair," her grandmother asked. Kanuka went in to
a long-winded explanation of Noa Izumi and her labor Alphonse, and how she
seemed to take better care of her labor than she could herself. Little
bits about how Asuma seemed to deal with her floated in every now and then-
how he would both order her around and basically control her and yet allow
himself to be roped into doing things like cleaning Alphonse from head to
toe. Eventually, Kanuka's grandmother started fading away.
It wasn't until her grandmother nearly slumped into her food that Kanuka
realized something was seriously wrong. "Grandma, are you okay? What's
wrong?"
"Oh, don't worry too much about me, child. I guess the cold I had was
worse than I thought," she answered faintly. "And I'm probably not able to
deal with it as well as I used to be able to deal with colds- I am over
seventy years old, after all. Maybe you should take me home."
Kanuka hailed a waiter and paid for the food. She grabbing a doggy bag and
helped her grandmother home, wrapping an arm around her to support her.
When they finally got to the apartment, she dropped her grandmother off
into bed and covered her warmly in the blankets. She stuffed the food into
the refrigerator and sat down.
'That's funny,' Kanuka thought. 'Sounds like I sat on some papers...'
Searching underneath the cushion, she encounters a folder full of paper and
pulls it out.
"What's this? A medical report?" she says, opening it and starting to
read.
'No!' she cried out to herself. 'It can't be! Why didn't she tell me!'
* * * * *
Soon, a printout was posted onto the door of the Captains' Office.
"To the new recruits of the Special Vehicles, Section 2-
As of tomorrow at 0600 hrs, you are to report to the following assignments:
Koichi Miyagi- Unit 1 (Labor Pilot, Labor 2)
Joudo Ishikawa- Unit 2 (Labor Pilot, Labor 2)
Kenji Iguchi- Unit 3 (Labor Pilot, Labor 2)
Yamane Seiroku- Unit 3 (Command Car, Labor 2)
Ueki Mashimo- Unit 1 (Transport Driver, Labor 2)
Natsume Kawai- Unit 2 (Transport Driver, Labor 2)
Yoshi Tobe- Unit 3 (Transport Driver, Labor 2)
That is all."
--------------------------
Next Episode: The recruits meet up with their units, Kanuka confronts her
grandmother about the medical report, and Yamane Seiroku approaches Gomioka
with a request he's not sure how to deal with.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Sir Desaix, member # 116 of the Knights of the True Fiancee
desaix@sysnet.net
fanfics available at
http://www.geocities.com/zednik.geo/fanfics.htm