Love Hina - Nijuuhachi Hi Ato
Chapter 05
Sorrow and Regrets
9:30am
A hollow sunrise a few hours earlier was unnoticed by all except Seta, who took over from Haruka for the night shift. He enjoyed bathing in the cool rays that enveloped him. Deciding that now was the ideal time to move, he got up and walked over to the tents, happy in the knowledge that the Mecha-Tama will protect them all for another few minutes. It continued to scan the area, moving it's head and walking rarely to issue a deeper scan.
Within ten minutes, everyone was up, and Seta had some breakfast made with their portable gas heater. After everyone tucked in, Keitaro and Seta began to pack away the tents.
"Yo, Keitaro?"
"Mmm?" Keitaro picked up pegs as Seta spoke to him.
"Shinobu have a good night?"
Keitaro slumped his shoulders. "Yeah, she managed to sleep at least." He gave Seta a sombre smile. "Still, that won't stop the nightmares..."
Seta nodded in reply. "I suppose... Still, being with someone special would make them less scary."
"Seta-san..." Keitaro gave a grin, "Don't say that..."
"You must've noticed it Keitaro. Shinobu thinks a lot of you..." Seta finished removing the rods from one tent, and packed them away into one of the bags. "You helped her a lot yesterday, though you probably don't know it."
"Heh... Come on... I'm just a ronin..."
"Not any more, you got in remember?" Seta folded away the tent covering and placed it in the bag. He began to help Keitaro with his. "You're not going to be able to attend Toudai ever again though..."
Keitaro mused over it mildly. "I guess you're right..."
"Come on you two!" Haruka yelled from the van. "We haven't got all day!"
"Coming!" Keitaro shouted back. They quickly finished off the last tent and went off.
Mitsune was in her leather outfit to prevent the cold, and had put on her helmet. "Ready Keitaro?" He gave her a thumbs-up and looked to Suu, who held out a remote control to her Mecha-Tama.
She pressed the button, and they all saw it stop the scanning, and transform into a hovercraft of sorts, still with the numerous weaponry pointing out the sides.
"Suu, will you alright?" Keitaro was still concerned about her massive wound in her side, and for her general wellbeing.
"Of course!" She was insulted. "Have you ever seen me ill? I'm fine, get in the van, I'll go first and blast anything out of our way."
"Okay..."
Keitaro walked off to the van, but failed to see, beneath the closing hatch, Suu coughing once, leaving a trickle of blood from her mouth. She smiled once at the departing figure of Keitaro, and spoke some words. Yet, even though her lips were moving, none could be heard. A moment later the hatch slammed shut, and the internal viewer was activated with a built in scanner. She wiped the trail and licked the remainder away, and started flicking some switches and engaging the thrusters. The vehicle moved forwards in front of the van and motorcycle. Tuning the radio she had in the cockpit, she found the frequency of the radio in Seta's van by location, and spoke.
"Everyone ready?"
This startled everyone as they weren't expecting it. Seta spoke back.
"Yep, lets go." He looked at Mitsune and gave a 'revving' symbol with his hand, and she started her engine.
Several seconds later, they were off.
20 minutes later
In the van
Keitaro was getting bored of seeing the same old scenery, that of the beautiful countryside dotted with multiple car skeletons and corpses, the flies having a field day on each one. He rummaged inside his backpack and found the clockwork radio he swiped from the large convenience store. Charging it up by rotating the handle for two minutes, he turned it on.
"Don't bother." Haruka began, after seeing him from the corner of her eye, driving carefully behind Suu's machine. "After two weeks, all broadcasts were put off the air as everyone tried to escape."
"It doesn't hurt to try..."
Keitaro indeed found it receiving nothing but static. He moved it slowly through the lower bands, higher up. After reaching the 91 mark, he gave up and just flicked it quickly to the end. However, he noticed something strange, instead of the constant sound of static, there was a quiet portion, he flipped it backwards quickly again, and narrowed it down to one of the upper regions. He'd got the attention of everyone in the van by now with his tinkering. Trying again slowly, he went through what seemed like hours of static, until he reached a different sound, that of silence. A few seconds went by before a voice spoke.
"... I repeat, this is sub-commander Anji Uramura. We are soldiers of the JSSDF. If there is anyone alive out there, find us, we have the cure to infection right here. We are located at the tenth blockade on the main highway to Kyoto. If there are any survivors, we have the cure for infection!" The next ten seconds were silent, until the beginning started again.
"Sounds like an automated system." Seta remarked.
Keitaro looked up with hope. "Does that mean -"
"No." Haruka spoke before he even begun. "They're probably dead, if it's on a loop, they may have been killed already." Seta was quiet, as he knew this was the same possibility too.
"I think we should go there." Keitaro stated. "We're not too far from there, we could make it in a day the way we're driving."
Shinobu and Naru were scared, the cure sounded too good to be true.
"Could they have found the cure?" Naru asked, unsure. "Maybe they could protect us as well, since they're soldiers."
Motoko was suspicious. "Why are they there though? They must have abandoned their posts and hid away somewhere instead of waiting in such a dangerous area."
Sara said nothing, as she was still clinging onto Seta. He picked up the radio.
"Suu-chan, can you hear me?"
"Roger!"
"We're going to stop somewhere, find us an open space and protect us."
"No problem!"
One small, contained, nuclear explosion later, a crater appeared in front of them, but shallow enough to allow all vehicles to get out of it. Indicating to Mitsune to stop in the hole, they all converged there and got out, Suu ensuring that the Mecha-Tama was set to kill any intruders.
"What's wrong?" Mitsune asked, taking off her helmet.
"Keitaro's found a signal." Haruka answered. "Some soldiers are alive near Kyoto, and they say they have the cure to infection."
Even Suu was stunned. "Really? That's amazing!" The machine gun of the Mecha-Tama flared up, stopping short two of the Infected that left a vehicle.
"The question is..." She persisted. "Do we go look for them near Kyoto, or continue to Osaka to find a boat to get to Mutsumi? We need a show of hands... The ayes first"
Keitaro, Shinobu, Naru, Suu and Mitsune put their hands up.
"Now the nays..." Haruka sighed, already knowing the answer. She, Seta and Sara put their hands up.
Motoko kept hers down, and upon the questioning looks she got she clarified as to why. "I'm torn between getting more help and finding a cure, but also to get out of Japan as soon as possible, so I cannot make this decision lightly."
Seta smiled. "It doesn't matter, we're going there, and this time at full speed, right Suu-chan?"
"Hehehe..." She had her remote control out and everyone suspected she'd been wanting to blast more things out of the way.
"Alright then, off to Kyoto!" Mitsune shouted, putting her hand up in the air.
"YEAH!" Everyone else did the same, though Haruka had a strange feeling about this decision. In the distance, the clouds loomed over, a sign of things to come.
An hour later
"Keitaro, we're low on petrol..." Haruka mentioned.
"How bad?"
"Let's just say another 20 miles before we're in trouble."
"Hmm... Kitsune's probably got the same problem, and Suu runs on nuclear power so she won't have any trouble..." While he was musing he saw something strange in a nearby field on the right hand side, across the dual carriageway. "Hey... What's that?"
All turned to see the strange ship, a conical shape with two protrusions at the sides where jets were built in. Suu marvelled at it on the radio. "What beautiful technology! My scanners can't even penetrate that metal! Let's go see!"
"Hang on..." Naru recognised it. "Isn't that Sakata Kentaro's ship?"
"What, you mean that freak that made Shinobu and I sing?" Motoko recalled that event, but wasn't sure of how or why she became the idol a while back.
"Yeah, I remember him..." Shinobu blushed at the time he tried to seduce her, though Naru and Keitaro pushed him away.
"Okay, we're going there." Haruka veered to the left in order to prepare a sharp right turn, and picked up the radio. "Suu, give us a path to the ship."
"Roger!" She employed the use of her lasers again to cut through the barrier on the right to get to the other side, and then blasted her way through, making a relatively smooth ride into the field. Mitsune followed close behind.
Five minutes later
"Wow!" Suu was excited, even jumping up once as she couldn't hold it in. "I never got a chance to check it out last time he was here..." She was about to open the door, before being stopped by Mitsune.
"Hang on a sec... We don't know what's inside, or why it crashed." She pulled out a sake cocktail. "We might need reinforcements."
"Umm, what does this mean?" Shinobu spoke once. "Emergency Fuel Source?"
Seta ran over to it, as did Mitsune, her engine was running on 'E' for a few minutes and needed fuel too.
"Amazing!" Seta pulled open the small door and a compartment opened out showing several types of fuel, including diesel and unleaded petrol. "There's more than enough here for two trips to Hokkaido and back! We'll need to take a bit to get to Kyoto..."
"It even has my petrol, very useful..." She looked at her motorbike. "I'll need to fill it up now, and I don't think you can take these out of there..."
"No worries, I have some empty containers in the van." Seta beamed, going there to get them.
Suu went back to her Mecha-Tama, now in its battle form, ready for killing any of the Infected, and even analysing the metal of the ship.
Keitaro wondered over to the door and placed his hand on the turn-switch to open it.
"Urashima, what are you doing?" Everyone stopped and stared.
"I'm just going to go inside, see if there's anything else we need or can salvage."
She shook her head. "It's too dangerous, we don't know what's inside."
"It's okay, I have this..." He pulled out the Hina blade, the black metal glinting in the light, the ki in it momentarily flaring up. He spoke up for the others. "I'm going in for a few minutes, I'll be back soon."
"Be careful Keitaro." Haruka warned, as Shinobu whimpered behind Naru, who recognised the look in his eyes. He thinks he'll find Kentaro dead in there, but just wants to be sure...
Katana at the ready, he twisted and pulled out the lock, hearing a loud click, and a hissing sound as the door pushed in and slid away quietly into the hull. The corridor was well lit and clean, so he went inside, the door closing automatically behind him. He double-checked and found that it would open fine for him.
Walking inside more, he opened the door at the end of the small tunnel into a larger room. This seemed to be the living room of sorts, things were scattered about the place and it was a chaotic place, complete disarray. The television was smashed, tables overturned, and the sofa was torn up with bloody streaks.
It moved into a kitchen where several kitchen knives were missing from their holders, and the body of one of the Infected lay there with multiple stab wounds in its back, it was dead by the way its neck was broken, and by the large trophy nearby. Keitaro saw that the blood was dry, but still chose to avoid it completely.
He went into the bathroom, and saw it was relatively clean, just that the sink had flecks of blood at the edges and that taps were bloody too. He probably tried to wash it off himself...
He went back into the living area and climbed the metal circular staircase, through a silent metallic door, into where the cockpit was. There lay the bodies of three of the Infected; Keitaro could sense they were dead too. A handgun was nearby, its clip spent. At least he went down fighting... Walking past the bodies, despite the odd vibration in the blade, he saw the chair of the pilot, Kentaro.
His chair was facing outwards, but through the reflection in the dark window, he could see the blood that at one point had poured out of his mouth, his eyes closed in a peaceful sleep. From what he could see, there were many cuts on his arms and legs, but he still held one large butcher's knife in his right hand. Poor guy... Despite his technology, he couldn't save himself...
Keitaro turned around, lowering the blade, thought out a prayer and walked towards the door. "I'm sorry Kentaro..." He said out loud.
Kentaro's eyes opened immediately, the scarlet red irises that resulted in the thick copper-tasting tears to pour down his face. He gave a malicious grin, his teeth were more canine than usual, and more blood from his stomach poured out of his lips, leaving another fresh trail over his old one. He jerked his head around to where the sound came from, and jolted upwards, his arms beginning to contort as his muscles has major spasms from uncontrollable rage. As his fingers went through the same convulsions, the knife fell.
Time went through slow motion. Kentaro with his inhuman strength and abilities clambered over and jumped over the secure chair and ran at Keitaro, arms flailing about in a vain attempt to grasp him. As the knife hit the ground, a low pitched 'clong' echoed in the cockpit, the sound cut out too. Keitaro glanced back, and gasped to see Kentaro leap at him.
Meanwhile
The lonely highway had experienced few people travelling down it, lately there was a group of people, with one massively armed lead which destroyed anything in their way. Now there was one other going the same way.
Closely following the path of destruction, the black monster, now tarnished with many red splashes and a cracked windshield, bore on the task at hand. Its occupant was set on one thing only, though what that thing was varied constantly. The mind wasn't entirely stable before everything happened in Japan, but since then it had shattered, been reborn anew, and finally fragmented into what is now Kanako.
Seeing her dead parents, she regained what little of her sanity she had left, and of finding another precious picture of her with Keitaro, of which she knew only two photos existed now. Her eyes were bleeding almost all the time, mostly by choice as she was crying, but sometimes, not so. The pile of tissues next to her was growing higher as she thought of what she wanted the most right now.
I want Keitaro... I must have Keitaro, no matter what... She gasped, her eyes widening suddenly as her other urge grew stronger. No... I won't... She gripped the steering wheel harder, leaving pressure marks there as her muscles began to flex. Her jaw cracked once as she attempted to prevent the same old pattern, but it bit down and her teeth gritted hard, making her gums bleed.
She gasped, her eyes widening suddenly as her other urge grew stronger. She gripped the steering wheel harder, leaving pressure marks there as her muscles began to flex. Her jaw cracked once as she attempted to prevent the same old pattern, but it bit down and her teeth gritted hard, making her gums bleed.Holding it back, she placed her foot down full on the accelerator, as it ploughed faster and faster through the motorway. She had lost over half of her body to the urge, until she saw the large crater ahead. She concentrated with all her remaining strength to reach that point.
A few minutes later, she did it, the lorry was perched on the edge of the crater. She breathed a sigh of relief, putting her head on the steering wheel. She got out and examined the area. There was a couple of dead Infected there. Machine gun fire... Odd... She glanced back at the crater. Then again, this whole place is strange... Could this be the work of that Suu I've heard so much about? She was about to leave before she noticed a small purple object in the centre of the crater. Walking towards it, she noticed it was a radio. Intrigued, she turned it on, only to find that it had no power, so she started to charge it up. After two minutes, she tried again, and since it was already set on a particular band, she heard the same message that the others did. So, there is someone else out there... Could this radio be a message to any other survivors? Why else would they leave it here?
As she walked back to the truck, her headache erupted, and she screamed from the pain, clutching her head. Running back and placing the radio on the dashboard, she threw herself on the ground, writhing about in agony as she wrested control of her limbs, unsuccessfully. The crazy grin returned for a second, before she rolled about, into the crater, still screaming. Her left arm was now jerking involuntarily; she'd lost it. Still holding her head with her right hand, she saw her left leg tremble, and even her toes were moving erratically.
Pulling herself up with what remained of her power, she clenched her teeth, bloody tears of pain staining her top, she let out a defiant yell, almost bordering on a screech. She carried on, making the screech sounds dissipate, and soon her ki grew, slowly, then exponentially, resulting in massive cracks appearing around her. Her red and black aura ignited, along with the tarmac around her, flaming rocks flying away from her position and part of the motorway behind her crumbling from the weight of her ki.
The sheer willpower she possessed has helped her constantly on her journey, but she knew she was losing the battle and that soon, one day, she would not be able to fight back. She made her ki grow further, so that even nature began to grow afraid. Clouds formed overhead from the atmospheric pressure she was creating, and a short burst of rain, along with thunder and lightning flashed around her.
Feeling her left arm again, and the other parts of her body, she gasped, and stopped summoning her ki, the shock making her drop to her knees as she kept her eyes on the sky. The rain stopped and the clouds parted in such a way to create what is known as the fingers of God, one of which illuminated Kanako only. Falling forwards onto her hands, she cried into the ruined tarmac beneath her, the tears leaving small red blobs on the cracks.
Meanwhile
Outside the ship
Seta wiped his forehead. "Well, that's sorted out then!" He managed to fill up the van, and the spare tank with lots of petrol. He helped out Mitsune refill her motorbike, and get some replacement fuel for her too.
"Thanks Seta, I needed that." She turned on the engine to check and smiled when it hovered past the 'F' mark.
Naru spoke to Haruka, "Why do you think Keitaro left that radio there? I know he has two spare but -"
"For someone to find the cure with us." She cut in. Naru, not understanding this was confused. Haruka looked to her with a steady gaze. "Kanako, his sister. Probably the only other person in Japan he wants to save..."
"Talking about Keitaro, I wonder what he's doing?" Seta pondered, looking up at the ship.
At that moment
Inside the ship
Keitaro currently wasn't thinking about why he left the radio there. He wanted to save his sister, and already knew that.
He only wished he could figure out how to save himself.
He was on his back, the slavering Kentaro above him having punched his katana away. Keitaro was struggling to hold his hand, which seemed to have sharper and deadlier nails on them, and of course avoiding any blood drops.
Seeing Kentaro pause for a second he looked up to see a half-perplexed expression, along with some strange guttural sounds. The horror Keitaro felt at that moment he hoped he'd never have to go through again. Wrenching his hands, he pushed Kentaro off him with all his might, and threw him to his left, using his foot for the extra effort. As Keitaro scrambled over to the Hina blade, Kentaro threw up copious amounts of fresh blood on the ground.
Now armed with a weapon, Keitaro felt bolder, but not any better. I don't want to kill him... The katana had other ideas though, and began spreading its ki to the hilt, and even grabbing control of his hands. He didn't notice this however, as he was staring in shock at the Infected Kentaro. It had now finished emptying his stomach, or what remained of his stomach having long since pureed most of his internal organs during his starvation, when no one had appeared for a few weeks. His eyes were no less sharp as he gave the former ronin a cutting glare, one that Keitaro was not used to even during the times Kentaro used his charm and wit to try to win over Naru, then any other woman he had contact with at Hinata-sou.
Of course all his attempts failed. Maybe because all his algorithms for calculating what they really looked for with regards to love were never exact, given that women's emotions changed as frequently as the weather does in England, at a moment's notice.
Yet, the only thing that rampaged through his mind was that of tearing the human object in front of him into many tiny pieces, first by removing the head, then the arms... For some reason, it felt another emotion, jealousy. The Infected usually weren't subject to that particular feeling, but this one did. It was due to the inherent emotion present in the normal Kentaro, who by the end of his life near Hinata Springs (and the end of his life in general) his green-eyed fury for the dorm manager increased ten-fold. Keitaro of course wasn't to know this, Kentaro frequently teased him that he had no money and was a worthless person to be manager and surrounded by girls. Eventually, Kentaro realised that he was describing his current self, and this only made him burn inside.
Lunging once more, with the arms angling for a view to grab Keitaro's head, he missed once, as his target dodged to his right, rolling on the ground away from the bloody claws. The Hina blade vibrated once more, eager to let its power out. Keitaro noticed this and didn't like it one bit. What's it doing? He saw Kentaro leap at him, again with one arm higher than the other to rip the head off. Keitaro ducked and rolled forwards. An agonised screech could be heard as the Infected grabbed its left wrist, blood gushing out in spurts in accordance with the pumping of the heart. Keitaro inadvertedly cut his hand off by having his sword arm held upwards.
"Oh my God!" Keitaro was shaking now seeing his one time friend in such pain. "Are you -"
"GRAAAH!" Kentaro ran, disregarding his lost hand as he ran at the thing he hated the most.
Keitaro closed his eyes as the sound of flesh came into contact with steel. Kentaro had impaled himself on the blade, the tip buried through his torso and out the other end. Kentaro gurgled more as the blood started to pour from his wound onto the already stained floor as he couldn't summon up any more strength to grab Keitaro. The tip of the blade began to light up, a tiny spark from it led to a small flame burning on the edge.
Keitaro opened his eyes, seeing his friend was already close to death in his undead state. He was crying fully now, tears pouring over his cheeks, much like the creature in front of him, except that they were clear, and not blood.
"Like I said... I'm sorry I couldn't help you Kentaro..." He looked down. "I considered you a friend... The last thing I can give you, or your body, is release from this suffering." He closed his eyes in another silent prayer. "Sayonara Kentaro..."
Instantly, the flame spread to the whole of the black metal, and Kentaro was aflame now, writhing in pain. Keitaro pulled out the blade quickly, took a few seconds to see that it was still crying inside the fire. Kentaro looked at his last friend, and a flicker of his old self came back, before he screeched again from the pain. Keitaro shut his eyes, and as if by reflex, he sliced Kentaro's head neatly from his neck. It rolled on the floor and stopped, still alight, and gave a hollow look at the person who defeated and killed him.
Keitaro left the room, his glasses turning opaque. The blade had tried to grab more of his arm, but he put a stop to that by his will. Going down the stairs he picked up a tea towel from inside one of the cupboards, and began to clean the blade. The fire had made it difficult to scrub off, but he did it by adding some water from the tap. Now reflecting his image in the dark sheen, he sheathed it for the next battle. He went to bathroom and gave himself the once over in the mirror, and miraculously couldn't see any blood on him. Leaving the rooms, he returned to the corridor.
Meanwhile
Outside the ship
"Well, we're all done here...- " Seta clapped his hands together from the dust that he picked up from the jugs; they weren't cleaned for a while.
He didn't finish what he said as Keitaro came out of the doorway. Motoko, Haruka and Mitsune went for their respective weapons, just in case. He walked straight into the van without saying a word. Everyone had stared and watched him go by, but couldn't say anything to console him, his face was that of a man who had lost something precious.
Motoko was the first to get out of her trance, and half-jogged to the van. Upon reaching it she slowed down and peered inside. "Urashima, are you okay?"
He acknowledged her and looked up, the sun moving off his glasses revealing his puffy eyes beneath. "Yes, I'm fine Motoko-chan, thank you..."
She nodded once, and was about to move off before Keitaro placed his hand over hers. "Could you stay with me for a while... I'm..." He began to cry again, no big sobs or anything, but enough to make Motoko crack from her cold exterior to open up her inner, fragile self. He's lonely...
Motoko said nothing and sat beside him, quietly holding his hand as Keitaro cried for a few minutes. I was the first one to find him, alone in Tokyo... He never cried when he saw all the dead people, though he was terrified of the Infected. Kentaro was a lowlife, but he didn't deserve to die... She glanced at him, but found him looking away, as if embarrassed to show tears. Did I cry when ane-ue died? No... I had to run... I took a memento of her though... She felt for and found the katana with two bells on it, making them jingle. Keitaro seems too heart-broken over seeing a dead person anyway... Someone who made his life hell... He even killed Naru-sempai's sister, but he didn't know her... Could it be...? She glanced back to see his hands, and sure enough, saw signs of a struggle. They seem tired and agitated. His clothes seem a little ruffled too... She looked at him in a new light. Poor Keitaro...
Eight days ago
Hinata-sou
The radio's been down for a few days now... It must be true. She heard some human screams in the town below, mingled with screeches, which were slowly growing in number. People are dying... And some are turning into these things... It's like an infection...
She heard some human screams in the town below, mingled with screeches, which were slowly growing in number.Motoko was the only person left at Hinata-sou, she still had a reason for living there... I might have to kill humans... This seems inevitable -
She saw one. She was inside her room, looking out to the city below, but one was perched on the brink near the steps below. She saw it lunge at a man running away and started ripping at it before throwing up over him. Motoko was nauseated by this, but the shock came back as she saw the man shake and soon stood up, and acting the exact same way as the one that attacked him. They both were acting as if in a pack, and the attacker ran off to chase a woman in the street.
However, the now Infected man happened to look up, and stared directly at Motoko. He started up the many stairs. So, they spread by their own blood... She ran downstairs to see off of the Infected. One minute later, she had met him as he reached the top step. She was poised at the entrance and the wind blew across them, making her hair flutter over her face. The Infected didn't care for ceremony, and just screeched once, lurching forwards and jerking his limbs sporadically. Motoko crouched down in a stance designed to pull the sword out quickly. When he got over halfway, she pulled it out along with her ki.
"Hi Ken, Jigoku No Ryu!"
A large ball of concentrated wind flew out. It morphed into the maw of a dragon, which looked threatening, eager to eat something. It plunged straight into the Infected, carrying him up into the air and then twisting to aim for the ground. It then drilled him into the earth outside. Motoko walked over to the body, the large hole in his chest was proof of how devastating the technique was. She had only used it once before, on a demon. Its obvious strength advantage is counter-balanced by the time it takes to build up the ki, and of course, allowing the demon to get close to you, a risky task.
However, this was not a demon.
She saw that it was a person who was no older than Keitaro. He was wearing casual clothes, and from what she could see, from the bottom of the steps, he was running away too, and he had a rucksack with him which the Infected tore off. He was quite dead, the eyes now a lifeless reminder to those who would pass him by that he was once, only a normal man.
Motoko dropped her sword in disgust. I killed a man... An ordinary man... Her hands began to bleed from her vision, as she saw the man's tears of sadness destroy one part of her psyche. The Shinmeiryu is used to eliminate the demons from this world... Instead of that, I murdered someone with one of their legendary techniques... Somewhere in the heavens, the clouds gathered together, letting the rain fall upon the scene. He was Infected, he had to be killed... Despite this obvious truth, she continued to inflict more self-hatred on herself. Yet, he was a man, a human... I should not have tarnished my name further... She was referring to the time when, in the past, the last man was killed under the Shinmeiryu, amongst the burning fire of Kyoto.
She had wanted to bury the poor individual in another place, yet knew that the risk of touching the blood was too great, and considering the fact that he was covered in it, it didn't give her much hope of doing so without getting some on her clothes. She grimaced at the body and looked up at the grey skies over Hinata Springs. The rain would prevent her from burning his body either. What she ended up doing, as the rain grew to a height, she took out a spade from the janitors closet, which hadn't been opened since Keitaro wound up in hospital, and buried the man where his body died (and not his soul, which was at the foot of the steps). Shovelling dirt over him, Motoko bore on in the unending rain, trying to give him some dignity in death. Soon, he was no longer in sight as the earth merged with the muddy ground around it, making it indistinguishable from the other parts.
Standing there for half an hour afterwards, she said a long prayer for the fallen, and for the sin she had committed. Going inside Hinata-sou, she did something she was unaccustomed to.
She cried.
Back in the present
I cried for a day... I couldn't figure out why, until now... Keitaro seemed to stop as he unsubtly tried to hide that he had been crying by adjusting his glasses with both hands, casually rubbing them up and then down his cheeks. Keitaro and I have both killed someone... We didn't mean to, but it was necessary for us to live. He must've killed Kentaro too, as he didn't really kill the Infected from the other time, the ki had taken over then. Only when the will is strong does another, invading, body hide away. Motoko looked back to give a knowing look at Haruka, who beckoned to the others to get to the van and motorbike. The next time I killed, it was a girl three days later, but I felt nothing... A part of me had died... She stared at her hands, and still saw the blood of the man on them. Will I ever be free of this curse?
Keitaro seemed to stop as he unsubtly tried to hide that he had been crying by adjusting his glasses with both hands, casually rubbing them up and then down his cheeks. Motoko looked back to give a knowing look at Haruka, who beckoned to the others to get to the van and motorbike. She stared at her hands, and still saw the blood of the man on them.The next few minutes went by in silence, people piling into the van, starting up and leaving the ship to its lonesome, never to be disturbed, for a short time at least.
Several hours later
South of Kyoto
"I don't believe it..." Haruka let her jaw drop, making her as yet unlit cigarette fall onto her lap.
"My God..." Even the unflappable Seta was staring as if it were a bad dream.
"Is... Is that Kyoto?" Shinobu spoke between the tense silence.
"It must be..." Motoko replied, "Without a doubt, that is certainly Kyoto..."
"The whole city... The whole of Kyoto..." Keitaro couldn't bare to look at the place he visited on his travels.
"With no one to put the fires out..." Naru didn't finish her sentence due to the near blasphemy of admitting it.
As the Mecha-Tama powered by, the van and motorbike close behind it, the view panned up to see an empty stretch of highway, then, in the far distance, the horizon was blurred with what the others saw.
Kyoto was burning to the ground. The smoke had hidden most of the city in a grey haze, the licks of fire reaching above some parts as the taller buildings had long since took light. The Pure Springs Temple, the one which Keitaro had first met Mutsumi, stood above most of the others, the very tip of it burning with a passion. Without anyone left to stop them, the Infected had frightened all those who could protect others. Some fought back with fire, and soon those who did get burned, ran into buildings, and the fire grew quicker than the rise of the Infected.
Five minutes later
On the same highway
"This is it... The tenth blockade... " Haruka spoke in hushed tones, the eerie look of the large metallic barriers with the ensuing smog from Kyoto floating in giving a sense of gloom.
Suu spoke over the radio. "I'm going in first to check if there are any Infected, follow me slowly."
They did as they were told, watching while holding their breath in case anyone jumped out at them. Thankfully none did. Suu declared it to be safe as the Mecha-Tama continued to scan the area for enemies. They all got out of the van, and Mitsune disembarked from her bike. Suu jumped out of the battle mode robot and got to the others.
"Guess what? I analysed the material from Kentaro's ship, turns out it was just an ordinary steel alloy, but he possessed a radar jammer..." She stopped after seeing mild frowns from Keitaro, who had remembered everything there.
"Sorry Keitaro..." She walked up to him and gave him a hug. "I didn't mean to...."
"It's fine Suu-chan..." He stroked her blonde hair. "I'm over it now."
Motoko didn't like the looks of the campsite based inside the blockade. It looks like they deserted a while ago... Their half-eaten meals were going mouldy, and ants were crawling all over the scraps to get them back to their nest. I wonder where they ran to? Haruka was thinking similar thoughts as she casually glanced at the place. This smells of disuse... something strange happened here. Seta walked to one of the van where a dead soldier lay, he saw his body had started rotting. Eww, not a nice way to die... "Hey, Haruka-chan..."
She threw a lead pipe at him, hitting his head. "Don't call me that!"
The small head wound began to spray blood in the same old Seta fashion, like a miniature fountain. However, the pipe hit one of the corrugated metal walls, above which, on the gantry, lay a corpse peppered with bullets, one of the Infected. The tremor caused by that led to three drops falling, straight onto Seta's head. By now, he had stopped his own bleeding, but the wound hadn't been bandaged yet. He felt it and looked up, after recognising the familiar body, he felt his heart wrenched out of his body. As Haruka turned her back, Sara was about to follow her.
"Hey Sara, come here..." His little finger twitched once.
"What's up papa?" She ran near to him.
"Sorry about not getting you out of here quick enough." His left hand began to crack the cartilage and muscles, he held it behind his back with his other hand. "I love you very much... I always thought of you as my daughter. I'm proud I could be a proper dad to you..."
"What are you saying?" Sara asked nonchalantly even though these were the words she had waiting for during her entire life with him. She walked closer.
"Keep away from me..." Seta warned, by now his other hand was reacting too.
"What?" Sara was a bit scared, he never took that tone with her, so she got a bit closer again to ask why.
"Keep away from me..." His voice rose as he knew the he would fall prey to the same pattern as everyone else who became Infected, as his mind gradually changed. "Keep away from me!" He ran to her, his arms outstretched, grabbing her roughly as his hands were no longer fully in his control, he fought back the thirst of tearing her young flesh up. "KEEP AWAY!" He carried her away and pushed her to the ground as he took the last perfectly human thoughts to get him far away from her. "KEEP AWAY!"
"WARNING! Human undergoing Infected procedure!" The Mecha-Tama bellowed out, using its jetpack to propel itself over the vans to where Seta stood, now doubled over in pain. By now, everyone was there as Suu held Sara close, the remote that the former held preventing the machine from killing Seta.
"KEEP AWAY, KEEP AW... AAGHAAAR!" Seta began to jerk and convulse, his arms making sudden movements.
"Oh my God!" Haruka cried.
The next few seconds, much was said.
"He's Infected!"
"Target Acquired. Time Remaining, 10 Seconds until complete corruption."
"Don't do it! He's my dad!"
"I'm sorry Seta... I really did -"
"Get the lighter."
"We have to!"
"Urashima, what are you doing? Let go of the katana!"
"... Seta-san..."
"Auuu... Suu..."
"Naru, get behind me."
"Don't kill him!"
Seta gave one last scream as his glasses broke, the red eyes beneath them had perfect sight. One of the lenses fell out as the frames fell to the ground. He snarled and launched at them, as the view darkened for the last time.
"NOOOOO!"
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Author's Notes
Translation:
Hi Ken:- Secret Sword
Jigoku No Ryu:- Dragon of Hell (inspired from X/1999)
Hope that was enough suspense for you... Did 7 pages while on the bus to and from London (a four and a half hour journey each way, not bad for a bumpy ride and typing on a small palmtop), hence the overall size of 17 pages is small.
There is the subtle hint to the past mentioned briefly in my other book (Book 3 I believe...), but it's not really important if you haven't read it.
I didn't hate Kentaro, seriously, in case some try to accuse me of bashing, he was noble in some way, but too naive and arrogant to realise it. I felt he was a bit of a tragic example of what Keitaro could've been if we placed ourselves in his shoes. Talk about self-insertion... An obvious case if I ever saw one.
I bet you're all surprised too, the speed at which I came out with an update! Think of it as a one time offer, unless I get huge inspiration for the Butterfly Effect story, which is next in line for me.
Please, review this story, and give me your best, hearing praise helps me keep on my happy cloud, and constructive criticism helps me to make the story better. Oh, and no asking about what happened in the end... That'll be for the next chapter. I envision another 4 chapters for this story, and an epilogue. Then I'll be doing the deleted scenes as a separate story, two are already on the cards, I'll try and find some more from this chapter to 'create'. There'll probably be alternate endings too, but those are top secret...
- Jason