Love Hina - Nijuuhachi Hi Ato
Chapter 08
Antithetical Antidote
Not long after the explosion
A solitary figure walked into the crumbling mansion, seeking out an infernal ki, ravaged by hatred and revenge, with a touch of insanity and irrationality to top it all off. Strolling past the smouldering remains of the corridors, the ceiling and upper floors having been smashed away by the air shockwave, he went straight to the central portion, still held aloft by some sturdy pillars and metallic framework.
Something was scraping away and pounding on a soft surface, followed by a wet sound of tearing cloth. A distinctly thick dripping liquid was constant throughout. Hearing footsteps around the corner, and then stopping in full view, the creature turned, its eyes glowing white in the dark.
Able to sense the attack, the man threw his weapon and dodged deftly to one side. The thing screeched in pain, clutching vainly at its left arm.
The man spoke. "You must be..." The other figure screamed again, pulling at the thin wires now tightly wrapped around the bloody hand and wrist. "I remember you... The only other person to escape from Tokyo after the Infection began to spread." The person snarled and stared into the man's eyes, rage, death and destruction clearly evident in her purple orbs.
"So what if I am?" Kanako sneered, her mouth caked in what appeared to be a recent, and very raw, meal.
"I saw you leaving in that truck outside. Were you lured here by this group?" The man replied. "I came to stop them before I leave Japan." He gripped the rope that was attached to her arm closer. "You possess tainted blood..."
She grinned knowingly, and the man reacted accordingly. "Unless you..." She started to pull the wires painfully out of her skin, her angry visage not able to disguise the extreme agony she was in. "There's no need for that." He twisted the rope forwards and the net loosened instantly, flying back to his side. He stared at her face intently. "Who are you?"
She cracked her knuckles and moved forwards threateningly. "Shouldn't you give your name first?"
He sighed. "My name is Aoyama Shin." He crossed his arms. "Anything else?"
Kanako faltered in her steps. "Aoyama..." Her brain struggled to return to its previous state, as to why that surname was so familiar. "Motoko..."
He arched an eyebrow. "You know Motoko? Then you probably know of Keitaro."
"K... Keitaro..." More images of an unremarkable man with brown hair and geeky glasses appeared before her eyes. She cried blood as her true memories resurfaced. "O... Oniichan..."
Oniichan...? Then, this must be... "You're Urashima Kanako, right?" The confused girl looked up and nodded. "Before you drown in the hatred of the blood within you, find that kanrinrin that Motoko was looking for, your brother." Kanako dropped to the floor, in front of the eviscerated corpse of Nakata. "Even if you did -" The wind suddenly picked up, covering up three words before dying down. "- you don't have long to live as a human any more..."
Standing up, no longer in control of the Infected mind, she strode off towards the exit, to leave that place forever, where she hoped that what was her first act of cannibalism, would be her last. Halfway to the truck, she threw up everywhere, enabling her to see first hand what (or namely, who) she had for dinner.
Shin went past the mansion to the radio transmitter, which was based outside, and smashed the satellite, burning the rest with his net. No more innocent people will come here...
Half an hour later
"I still don't get it..." Suu was poking at Keitaro's arms and legs. "How're you all better?"
"Oww!" The place she had just poked for the 39th time finally began to hurt. "Just leave me alone okay! I don't know!" He mumbled to himself. "I don't even remember..." Suu pouted and crawled back to her window seat next to Shinobu, who giggled at her sulking face.
Motoko, who was sat next to him, leaned forwards and looked up at his face. He seemed worried. Relaxing back in her seat she continued to put some weight on his shoulder due to her injuries.
"It's okay; you don't need to know how you acted back then. It was... scary." She winced, the burned arms throbbing and shaking with pain. "Urashima... Do you have that cream I leant you a while back?"
His expression changed quickly. "Of course! I forgot all about it!" He rummaged about in his bag that he packed back at Hinata-sou, pulling it out of the side pocket.
He gazed at everyone around him, sensing in front of him that Naru's anger was growing. Motoko gave him a trusting nod, and peeled off her arm bandages. Keitaro grew slightly greener seeing how badly the skin had ruptured, forgetting that once he had worse injuries himself. Applying the cream to the arms, she jumped at the cold but quickly the heat from the burns had returned, though with less intensity. Rubbing it in gently, he coated both arms from shoulder to fingertips in the white substance, turning into a clear shiny surface on her skin.
Changing the bandages with some new ones, he gingerly replaced them, while he was used to bandaging himself constantly at Hinata-sou to his frequent trips to the ionosphere, it was different when applying to someone else, especially a slender and more toned girl. Motoko noticed his reluctance, and wanting to reassure and help him, she placed her hand over his and made them sufficiently thin enough to allow her arms to move freely, but tight enough to keep the wounds closed and less likely to reopen. Soon, her arms were smelling fresh from the cream and clean bandages. Smiling at Keitaro, she was about to thank him when she gasped again. Her stomach wound, now that the pain from the arms had dissipated, was acting up again.
"Motoko-chan! Is it...?" She nodded once. "Okay, I... I'll put some there..."
Gulping once, he placed a healthy dollop of the cream on his fingers, looked away as she opened up her gi a little and let her use his hands to put the cream there. Respectfully, no one minded this act, though he would have been sent into orbit if he even got close to one of them in the past.
"Haruka..." Keitaro began, after cleaning his hands on some tissues, "How long till Osaka?"
Biting on her cigarette she looked at her surroundings and current speed. "Not sure... We definitely have enough petrol thanks to S... Seta." She calmed herself before speaking on. "We could be there within four hours if we're lucky."
"Then we just have to find a boat..." Naru continued. "They're probably all gone by now, or sunk..."
"It'll be okay Naru-sempai." Shinobu brightened up. "All we need is one boat, there must be just one left for us to take."
"Maybe we can get the dork to swim us there..." Sara spoke under her breath, which elicited a smile from Naru and Haruka.
Keitaro looked out the window. "It should be fine; we'll get out somehow..."
Motoko snoozed away on his side, letting the cream heal her body while resting for the first time without pain keeping her awake.
"Not to worry, if there's nothing good out there, then I have a secret weapon!" Suu ended the conversation with another enigmatic comment.
Another secret weapon... What next? Haruka wondered, and dreaded what that could mean. An image of Osaka vanishing in a giant mushroom cloud floated into her mind, but she hurriedly shook that off.
As the roads cleared up, silence returned to the van, Infected were drawn out by the bright light from the explosion, but they were too slow to get near either the van or the motorbike. No one dared to turn on the radio, lest they hear the message sent by the soldiers, not knowing that the signal has ceased a short time ago.
"I wonder..." Keitaro started. "Was Jiro right? Are we being quarantined here?"
Motoko woke up briefly. "Do you remember that...?"
"Only what he said, not -" He looked down. "- what I did to him."
She settled into the snug position she had again and drifted off to sleep. Haruka answered Keitaro's question. "Perhaps... Better than to risk sending in soldiers to retake the country. They might get Infected, then the problem gets worse. It would be impossible to kill everyone as well."
"Then..." Naru though out loud. "Would they stop us leaving? Even if we weren't Infected?"
"How could they tell? Does anyone know what Infection was like, how quickly it spreads?" Haruka sighed. "They might even think it appears after a week, not less than a minute..." She recalled the moment Seta changed, how fast it had all happened, and soon remained quiet.
"I'm not sure..." Suu said. "I was out of Japan when the WHO made an international alert of the pandemic level, within the hour all flights to Japan were stopped, and planes leaving from there in the first few minutes were..." She closed her eyes while remembering the news reports. "They were... shot down."
"What!" Sara cried out. "By who?"
"The US, who else?" Suu shrugged. "The UN put a stop to that. Only five out of the hundred jumbos were destroyed in the end. The rest were given safe passage with fighter escorts to nearby countries. A few... lost control in mid-air..."
"Infected got on, huh?" Keitaro stated truthfully.
"They were downed as well." Suu grew sadder. "To prevent Infection."
"What about the other planes?" Shinobu asked.
"They were held in the airports and left there for a week, without fresh food or water. The military had complete control by then, making sure that no one got out. Later, biohazard medics were sent in to check each and every person, and eventually they were released."
"How horrible..." Naru shook her head. "Even after all they've been through..."
Suu dropped the bombshell she'd been holding back. "There were unconfirmed reports of Infected appearing in Beijing, Sydney, and even as far as Los Angeles..."
"My God..." Haruka muttered. "It's worse than I expected... Some people got out then through some other means?"
"Probably... I don't know what's been happening since I left Molmol with my Mecha Tama."
"T... Then..." Shinobu stuttered. "What if we here leave by sea?" Wait, didn't she say Molmol? That's what the Mecha Tama said...
"I don't know..." Suu admitted. "After the planes, news became controlled by the UN, even my country can't tell what would happen..."
Keitaro darkened. "By now there's so few humans left in Japan they'd assume we were all Infected anyway..."
Silence reigned once more as they drove on to the ports at Osaka.
Meanwhile
Far behind them was Kanako in her trademark vehicle. She had an impromptu meal earlier, but she chose to eat some more nutritious food that was in her cabin, munching on some canned peaches.
I lost control of myself completely... Flashes of rage passed by and she shook her head of them. I was like... one of them... I ate that man... She gave an evil smile. Still, the others deserved what they got, a painful death...
Her left arm was still at her side, the bleeding more or less subsided. It seems like losing some of that blood meant losing some of that influence... The hand and wrist were less red than before, her nails almost completely white and normal. Could this be the key?
Trying it out, she turned the radio on and tuned it through to that frequency, sure enough, the 'cure to infection' was no longer being broadcast. Scanning all the channels, nothing came out, so once again static was all on the airwaves.
"Okinawa..." She read the manifest from Hinata-sou, under Mutsumi's profile. "The only place to go now..." Pressing the foot down on the accelerator she thought of one thing. What should I steal next?
11pm
North of Osaka
"We can't risk going into Osaka now, it's too dark and dangerous." Haruka stated as they all parked off road. "We'll camp here for tonight, but be alert and ready to move at any point." All nodded as she opened out the tents, which she managed to prepare in a few minutes with Keitaro's help.
Motoko, who was still fairly injured got the comfy van to rest her bones, Keitaro volunteered to stay in the front with her so she wasn't alone. Haruka stood guard, since the Mecha Tama X was no longer around.
"Urashima..." Motoko yawned later that night.
"Motoko-chan... You okay? Do your wounds hurt?" He replied with worry.
"No, they're healing well. I want to thank you again, you saved my life today. I owe you much..."
He waved it off. "But I didn't do much, without the sword I -"
"Even so..." She interrupted. "You were to the one to wield it. That makes you the one who saved me."
He put his hand behind his head self-consciously. "I… I guess so…"
"Without you, we'd probably all be dead sooner rather than later…"
He didn't reply to that, thinking about whether or not it was true.
Motoko might have chosen to die when her sister did. Haruka would have starved to death in the tea shop at one point. Seta and Sara would probably run out of petrol and be at the mercy of them once his ammo ran out. Shinobu… would probably die quickly when she saw her parents. Mitsune, without backup, might be caught by them. Naru… killed by her own sister.
And Kanako… He stopped there. What… is she? He flashed back to the Mecha Tama's declaration. Unknown species? So, she's not human? I'm sure I'll see her again before this is all over, when is the question…
Closing his eyes, he rested fully, having a peaceful sleep for the entire night.
The next day
8:32am
Keitaro awoke, the odd feeling of cold air bristling his nerves, sitting up, he felt his head and realised it was wet with dew.
Dew? But I should be in…
Fully awake now, he stood up in shock. The campsite where they were at was completely empty. The only signs that people were there was from the four indentations in the grass from the van tyres, and patches of dry grass from the tent flooring.
"N… NO!" He started running around in a panic, screaming it constantly. The land was bare, no people in sight, and no recent vehicles either.
He fell to the ground, pounding the moist earth. "We were so close… Just another few miles and we'd be free…"
Suddenly, an Infected rose up from behind him, and jumped on Keitaro, biting deep into his neck.
At that moment
"GAH!" He fell out of the open door onto the grass.
"Thanks for helping us pack up Keitaro…" Naru grumbled.
"Y… You're all still here!" He was on his knees, clutching at her skirt and had tears in his eyes.
"Gees… What's gotten into you?" She elbowed him into the dirt, leaving his arms skewed in the air. "We're leaving now, so get moving!"
"Okay…" He yawned loudly and got into the back seat. Motoko had already woken up and was sitting normally. He sat next to her, again by the window. "How're your arms and stomach?"
"There's no pain, though they're still warm."
"I just thought about this, but why not use the cream on Suu-chan?"
She shook her head. "No, remember I gave her that small sachet a few days ago? It should still be working. The cream wouldn't do any difference, the swelling needs to be stopped first by removing the radioactive particles."
Keitaro understood and watched as the rest got ready and into the van. Mitsune was putting her helmet on.
"So what were you on about?" She asked.
"Oh nothing…" He laughed sheepishly. "I just had a scary dream…"
Motoko smiled at his awkwardness. At that moment Haruka walked into the driver's seat, looking a little worse for wear.
"Umm, Haruka-oba – Haruka-san." She turned and everyone saw the massive black bags under her bloodshot eyes.
"What!" She seemed really grumpy, as one would when you have no sleep.
"Err…" He wasn't sure how to put it. "How about I drive us there, you rest back here, and maybe catch a kip."
She was about to reply after lighting up her cigarette, but given that her shaky fingers kept missing the lighter's button, she gave in, putting her hands up.
"Fine, you'd better be up to it though. There should be loads of Infected in Osaka from people trying to get to the port."
They got out and swapped seats, Haruka giving him a quick smile. Sitting next to Motoko, the moment she shut the door, she literally passed out against it. Motoko found it amusing, and picked up the blanket that she used to sleep and placed it over Haruka.
Keitaro started the engine, looked back at everyone and out at Mitsune.
"Next stop, Osaka!"
Skidding a little, he headed straight for the motorway into the ruined city.
10am
"Faster! GO!" Naru cried.
The van scattered away debris and burnt out cars as it headed into the city core.
Infected were coming out in droves, appearing from alleyways doors and even jumping out windows. Mitsune threw some of her cocktails to distract them, but still more came out.
"Damn…" Keitaro muttered. "This is getting tough –" The road narrowed sharply, catching them off-guard and having to swerve quickly.
"AAAAH!" A crashing to their right signalled the demise of Mitsune's bike, turning on its side and piling into the wall of a house. She clambered to her feet and threw some small bombs at Infected nearby.
Keitaro screeched to a halt. "Get on top, quick!"
Running fast, she jumped and caught the roof rack, then heaved herself up. Without a moment to lose, Keitaro sped on through the increasingly crowded streets.
"Save your bombs unless we really need them!" He cried up to Mitsune, hoping she'd heard.
Rounding a corner, they saw a road blockaded with several cars and buses. A group of four people with guns, roughly in their twenties, had guns and were leaping over and past the cars into a street filled with Infected.
"Let them be…" Keitaro swerved left into another street, ignoring the screams.
They passed through a large street, fairly quiet, save for another small group of survivors, no guns, just pure speed. They all appeared foreign, a man with a shaved head, a black woman with a machete, and finally a short girl in jeans. They were running through buildings and ignoring the Infected as much as they could.
Keitaro stared at the man for a moment, who also looked back, his pale blue eyes reflecting the same determination, to survive, to live on despite the hell they were in. Both nodding imperceptively, they continued on their way, the man and his group ducking into a building while Keitaro drove by, still not sure if he really saw them or not.
Naru pointed at a sign. "That's it! The third turning ahead is direct to the port."
"Okay. Everyone, get ready to bail out and run for your lives once we reach there, we need to be fast to get any boat. Only get the things you can carry, forget everything else."
Haruka woke up, fresh from her comfortable nap, and prepared her clips across her two shoulder holsters. Naru put on some special shoes she'd been working on, with steel soles. Shinobu prayed silently while Suu unveiled two more handguns. Sara worked on her lifting strength by flexing her arms. Motoko had both swords at the ready.
All were prepared for the fight up ahead.
Ten minutes later
The van stopped before an impenetrable army blockade, with only a small gap for people to walk through.
"OUT! GO!"
Bursting out of the van, Keitaro and Motoko took the front offence, Sara and Suu were the side lookouts, and Haruka and Mitsune were the rear guard. Naru and Shinobu, without any projectile weaponry were in the middle of everyone.
"No holding back this time Motoko…" Keitaro pulled out the Hina Blade. "Full power until we reach a boat, we'll have no chance otherwise…"
She nodded. "I was about to say the same thing to you…" Unsheathing both her swords smoothly.
"Here they come! Five on the right!" Suu cried from the right.
"Three on the left!" Sara shouted.
Keitaro ran to the left, his sword growing fiery. "Urashima Ken, Ho No Ame!" Making a vertical slice, fire darts flew from the blade and embedded themselves in the Infected, burning holes right through their bodies.
Motoko took the right. "Shinmeiryu, Zan Kuu Sen!" A meteor of compressed air exploded in the midst of the Infected, taking off their legs instantly.
Running on, Haruka and Mitsune prepared themselves as a group of ten approached from behind. Throwing three large bottles, Mitsune created a narrow corridor between the flames. Haruka used the chance to pick off those that ran into this space, not missing any with her limited ammo.
Sara picked up a motorbike that had fallen over, and tossed it onto some Infected, pinning them to the ground and causing the following ones to topple over. Suu blasted a car with a laser, hitting the petrol tank and sending it skywards while also carving into the side of a building. The blast took out around seven others, leaving another dozen or so in flame.
Naru and Shinobu kept close together, concerned only for any road signs. "There!" Shinobu cried. "Another fifty metres to the port area."
"Keep going everyone!" Naru encouraged. "We're nearly there!"
So, for the most important minute of their lives, they powered forwards, eliminating any Infected that got in their way. Each one did their bit to ensure the survival of the others.
One minute later
The port was spread out in front of them, dozens of docking lines stretching out into the water. Infected were coming slower from behind, seemingly none were in front.
"My God…" Sara muttered.
"But… Why?" Naru questioned.
"Survival instinct…" Haruka stated grimly. "Every man for himself, even if it means preventing others from leaving…"
Hundreds of boats were either burning, half sunk, vandalised, looted or adrift. The bay was littered with many such boats and ships. One cruise ship even had sunk, lying on its side only one side sticking above the surface. Some boats had dead bodies, indistinguishable from human or Infected.
"Keep moving…" Haruka ran forwards. "Infected are still here, we need to look for a good working boat."
"Okay…" Keitaro looked around. I wonder why the Infected keep away from the port… "We'd better lock up the gate here first…"
Everyone helped pushed it closed, Sarah helped greatly by placing three anchors in front of it to prevent the Infected, who were now slavering on the other side from getting through.
"It's good." Motoko said. "It won't hold forever… We need to spread out."
Splitting up into four groups, they each ran to a docking line and started the search.
With Keitaro and Shinobu
There were mostly abandoned boats on this one, and they were merely fishing boats. This isn't looking good already, all the best ones might have already been taken out.
Shinobu stuck close to him, always having one hand on his top, while checking each ship closely.
"Sempai… These are all old and abandoned."
"I know Shinobu-chan…" He admitted. "A shame really, we'll go right to the end though, just to be sure, then we can look at another line."
She nodded brightly. "Okay!"
He looked at her briefly. I haven't really spoken to her since her nightmare… "How… How are you?"
She was surprised that he actually wanted to know. "I… I'm fine, just a little tired and short of breath." Her cheeks were rosy, not from blushing, but from the long run a few moments earlier.
"Sorry about that, we had to get out of the van…"
"No, it's okay!" She waved her hands in front of her frantically. "A bit of exercise is good for me."
He smiled. "Right, let's keep looking!"
She grinned back and gave his arm a quick hug.
With Motoko and Suu
"These boats are too small…" Suu mumbled.
"What!" Motoko was looking up at a large personal ship, quite luxurious even from the outside. "This is massive, Suu!"
"I've seen better…" She walked on, hands behind her head, before doubling over.
"Suu!" Motoko ran to her side and helped her up. "You –"
A pool of blood was on the floor as Suu got up, her mouth and lower lip completely soaked in the red liquid.
"Suu is... I… don't have much time…"
Motoko closed her eyes. Even Suu, the liveliest of all of us, is struggling and in constant pain.
"Suu, if you want, you can ride on my back…"
"Nah…" She walked on ahead, wiping her mouth with some paper she got out of her bag. "If I walk I don't hurt so much…"
"I see…" Motoko understood, knowing that at this moment, Suu was crying, biting into her lip as the tears streamed out. "I think there should be a good ship out here, we'll need to look inside to be sure…"
With Mitsune and Sara
Mitsune watched the young girl walk; she no longer had the frightened eyes that she had when they first met. She smirked.
"You were impressive back there."
"I know!" She turned her nose up.
"My… What an ego you have…" Mitsune mocked.
"I don't have an ego!" She berated.
"Right, you're still a kid, I forget…"
"What!" She was about to hit Mitsune, before she spoke again.
"It's okay, I was only teasing you…" Things calmed down and they continued to walk side by side through rows of fishing boats and even some poor sailing boats (without the sails).
"Still, you're really strong, not even Naru could do what you did."
"Papa taught me a few things…" She walked on, her face covered in shadow. "I lifted up his fossils and things from his archaeology sites often, so that made me stronger."
"Not bad…" Mitsune patted the girl on the head. "You're a tough little warrior."
She growled a bit but said nothing in retort. "I suppose I am now… I've killed a few people now…"
Mitsune was on the same wavelength as her. "Same here. I didn't want to, but I… We had no choice. Kill or be killed. Against the Infected, against the soldiers, against anyone or anything that stops us from leaving." She lowered herself to face the blonde child and placed her hands on Sara's shoulders. "Don't regret what you have done. The past can't be changed. All you can do is try to create a better future for yourself."
Surprised by the sincerity and logic in the elder woman's words, Sara unwillingly shed tears of her own repressed sadness from her earlier actions. She lunged at and hugged Mitsune, squeezing her tightly.
"I… I… I'm a murderer… I killed a soldier…" She sobbed.
"There, there…" Mitsune stroked her long hair, as her wracked body shook. "You're human, killers wouldn't feel such emotions afterwards."
"R… Really?" Her bloodshot eyes stared imploringly at Mitsune, who opened her own in return.
"Really, really." She winked. She pulled Sara into the hug again, to allow her to subtly dry her tears in the leather bike suit.
The view pans away from them, still fixed in this position.
With Haruka and Naru
"Hmm, this could be promising…"
Haruka was looking down at an impressive collection of ships, obviously owned by the former wealthy people of Japan.
"If only one was good enough, we'll need to check out all of them Naru."
"Okay Haruka-san."
"Be careful for –"
A screech came from the boat Naru just boarded. Not hesitating for a moment, Naru performed a roundhouse kick to its neck, sending it over the edge of the boat into the water.
"Naru! You okay!" Haruka ran up beside her.
"I'm fine…" She looked at the splashing below them. "Hey, look at this…"
The Infected woman was screeching and clawing at the sides of the boat, presumably to get at the women above. However, she had her mouth open and was taking in water. Soon her scraping slowed and she floated down and away from the boat.
"Looks like they can't handle water, they drown easy…"
"Maybe that's why they keep away…" Haruka observed. "This might be to our advantage now." She looked to her colleague. "Promise me that we stay together now, one scratch and…" The sentence didn't need finishing.
"Let's check each one, just to be sure."
Ten minutes later
"Everyone!" Haruka cried. "We've found one!"
"Same here!" Suu shouted back. "No fuel though…"
"I found a large amount in a fishing boat!" Keitaro added.
Meeting up in the luxurious quarter, they were staring up at a large private vessel. There was an anime picture at the front in place of the name.
Keitaro packed in the fuel, in case they needed it during the journey. The others had raided the other boats for food and water, putting them in the kitchen downstairs.
"We're lucky to have found such a big ship…" Keitaro was glad.
"The others had dead people in there, we weren't sure if they were Infected, so we didn't go near the blood." She looked up at the one they were all boarding. "I think this one belonged to a manga artist." Haruka said. "I found loads of practice drawings, along with some final drafts that hadn't been sent out yet."
"Heh, poor guy… All that work and no one will be able to see it." Mitsune smirked.
"Okay, we're done." Naru stated, clapping her hands.
"All aboard!" Suu shouted enthusiastically.
"Oh wait…" Haruka explained what happened earlier, and that the Infected couldn't swim. "So, basically they can't get off the island."
"You okay Narusegawa?" Keitaro asked.
"Yes, yes, I'm fine." She was tired of constantly being asked that.
"Anything else?" Haruka asked.
Shinobu was quiet all along, but spoke up. "I… I'm just sad I'm leaving. This is… was my home…" She looked around, the city of Osaka was in front of her, desolate, some parts burning, the Infected still screeching at the gates.
Motoko put a hand on her arm. "This country was all our home, but we have to leave, it's a war zone all over."
"I know… It's just…" She began crying, so did Sara and even Naru. Shinobu hugged Motoko, who returned it gently.
"It'll be fine." Motoko stared ahead, recalling the memories she had of Hinata-sou. "You can make a new home somewhere else. We all have to do this, so you won't be alone… A new home will also have new memories…"
She stood there, still crying.
Ten minutes later
The ship cast off from the dock, pulling away slowly, Haruka piloting it out.
"You can drive this thing?" Keitaro asked, impressed.
She stubbed her cigarette into his forehead. "Don't doubt me nephew."
A crashing sound from the streets of Osaka made them turn their heads.
"Oh no…" Keitaro had a bad feeling. "Faster!" He pushed forwards on the thrust, making the ship lurch forwards, accelerating quickly.
The smashing sounds were followed by dozens of pained screeches, and metal breaking open.
"The gate! Look!" Shinobu yelled.
The black and red truck was steaming down the dock line towards them. Keitaro pushed the lever down all the way, so that they were too far from the docks to be reached. This didn't stop Kanako; she didn't slow for a second.
"She won't… She can't!" Naru said in a fearful voice.
Sure enough she did, she launched the truck of the end of the line. It hurtled through the air in slow motion. Ripping open the top of the cabin, Kanako jumped on the roof and looked straight into Keitaro's eyes. Calculating the distance, she realised they were too far away either jump to, or swim to. Screaming in frustration, she back flipped off the truck onto solid ground, as it splashed into the water.
"Soon oniichan…" She held her head as another migraine collided with her senses.
The horde advanced on her, now that the gates weren't in their way, though she ran over several of them, a large number remained.
She made a great effort to speak, her left arm growing more violent. "Get… out… of…" Her migraine reached insanity level. "My… WAY!"
She made an ear-splitting screech and ran at them.
Ten minutes later
"Kanako…" Keitaro wondered. "What's happened to you?"
He began to reminisce of the old days, a shy girl with a long fringe who he saw occasionally. He chuckled when he saw her and fed her loads of bread, since their family owned a bakery. They wrote to each other every week, talking about the smallest of things. He hasn't seen her in a few years since she started travelling with Grandma Hina.
Haruka recognised that look of his. "Thinking of the past Keitaro?"
"Mmm… Just of Kanako…"
"She really liked you a lot when you were both kids, she adored you."
"Nah… She couldn't have, I'm her brother." He stared out to sea, not knowing that Haruka was thinking the opposite. It's just that, she doesn't think of you as a brother, but as a man…
Elsewhere on the ship, staring out at the foggy sea, Sara sighed. The salt is making my eyes sting… Rubbing them hard, she was able to make the tingling sensation go away, though she noticed something and started to focus in the distance. What is that? She saw a small pipe sticking out of the surface of the water, then vanishing. Why? Wha- Soon, she saw something that gave her chills down her spine.
"EVERYONE!" She screamed in pure fear. "LOOK!"
Running to her side, looking out over the right side of the ship, they were stunned.
"What the hell…?" Mitsune shuddered.
Large objects had appeared from the cover of the fog, and were advancing on their position.
"Th… They don't seem happy to see us…" Shinobu shivered.
From all sides they were surrounded by a dozen battleships, including one or two aircraft carriers.
"HMS Illustrious on the left!" Keitaro shouted.
"USS Kitty Hawk as well!" Motoko added.
"FGS Hessen, D603 Duquesne, F 573 Scirocco, 170 Lanzhou…" Sara read out.
"Hey, some subs have surfaced behind us!" Suu pointed at the black shapes.
This can't be good news for us… Haruka thought. All the major countries are here…
Helicopters took off from the aircraft carriers and hovered over the small ship.
The speakerphone flared up on one of them "Stop your ship and lower anchor, prepare to be boarded!"
"Why? What have we done wrong?" Keitaro shouted back.
"Emergency biological contagion quarantine procedures. You're not going anywhere."
"Wait! We need to get to Okinawa!"
"No way!" The soldiers raised their weapons. "Keep your hands up until our contamination team arrives."
"Damn…" Haruka muttered, doing as the man said.
"More soldiers…" Everyone put their hands up. Mitsune was fed up. "Why do they always want to stop us?"
Suu's strange pendant around her neck, with the three eye symbol emblazoned on it, had started to glow and vibrate, attracting her attention.
She looked down, and widened her eyes. "Huh, oniichan gave this to me…What does this –"
An explosion of a shell landing in the sea was heard from behind the ship group. The people in the chopper looked around nervously. "Are we under attack?"
An immense vessel, at least twice the height and width of the tallest battle ship appeared from the fog, following by ten other normal sized ships. "This is the Molmol Defence Force. We are ordering the UN to pull away from their current positions. The princess aboard that ship has diplomatic immunity, and thus her companions also. This is a breach of international security and invasion of diplomatic rights."
The HMS Illustrious opened its loudspeakers. "Negative, each person is a possible carrier of the pandemic level Rage Virus Infection, and as such as under the WHO recommendations, should be taken in by the UN to be quarantined immediately."
The Molmol Behemoth Class ship ignored the comment. "If you do not pull away your helicopters from the ship in ten seconds, we shall attack without hesitation."
"To do so would be an act of war." The USS Kitty Hawk replied. "We will not hold back."
Five more seconds passed until the cannons of all the Molmol ships fired upon the UN fleet leading to warning klaxons sounding all over them. "Attack the enemy!" "Scramble all jets!" "Dive, dive, dive!"
"Molmol Air Force, launch missiles!"
From the low clouds, giant armoured zeppelins appeared, firing missiles at the fleet, disabling their weapons first. The radio on the small ship turned on, the voice of the Molmol commander was coming through clearly. "Be prepared to depart, we shall support you and provide safe passage to Okinawa by delaying the fleet. Good luck!"
"Don't you dare move from here!" The soldiers in the chopper were nervous, their ships were being damaged from the multiple cannon blasts. "Shit! Incoming!" A small, fast and manoeuvrable plane from the Molmol zeppelins flew at them. "Go! Go!"
Once the weapons were no longer trained on them, Haruka put the throttle and full blast, sending the ship hurtling towards the fleet.
"Arretez!" Soldiers on the Duquesne bellowed out, aiming their weapons onto the tiny ship.
The Molmol Air Force destroyed three of their cannons, and the Navy moved forwards, forcing a safe corridor between the fleet for the Hinata crew to get out. Jets from the carriers had started to take off, and they were engaging the slower larger foe.
"Everyone, keep your heads down, they might start shooting us from the ships, we're going at full speed so hold on tight!" Haruka enabled the booster to give it that extra edge.
One of the zeppelins had taken heavy damage and was smoking all over. There were several ships on both sides with plumes of smoke rising above the battlefield. Thankfully the speed of the jets was countered by the thick armour of its enemies. There were many chaff clouds and flares in the air to prevent them from firing missiles at the ship.
The subs had tried to torpedo the battleships, but the armour was more than enough to deal with them. Annoyed by the underwater threat, the ships deployed water drones that scouted the regions around them, and to automatically detonate any explosive device. This prevented any more damage to the ships
Soon the private ship had passed the blockade and was now on its way to the island of Okinawa. Passing by the commander's Behemoth, they all saw the crewmembers saluting them. Suu stood up and returned the salute, and beamed joyously.
"That signal meant that they were nearby I guess…" Suu smiled once more.
After they had left the war zone, everyone rounded on Suu.
"Nahahaha!" She laughed. "I'm a princess of a small country…"
In the end, they gave up trying to get any more details from her, and went about searching the seas for any trailing ships.
"Not sure how long it takes to get there, so relax for now." Haruka said to everyone. She kept the ship near top speed so they'd get there sooner rather than later.
The rest of the crew took this opportunity to rest, some going downstairs in the lounge to find a comfy armchair, others staying on deck.
All were thinking about what they could be expecting at Okinawa.
Meanwhile
Osaka
"Shit…" Kanako cut through another Infected child. "This is the last ship, they took the only good one left. There's no fuel left around here either."
Jumping up onto a flagpole to get away from the Infected crowding around her, she though. Where should I go now? Analysing her choice, only one seemed good enough. I see… It's like that is it?
She smirked. Looking down at her clothes, she saw it was completely covered in blood. I'd better change first… Leaping off the pole, she landed away from the Infected and ran into Osaka, her destination set.
Five hours later
South of Osaka
"I can't believe it…" The captain of the Illustrious was still in shock. "How could they disable our weapons so easily!"
The vice-captain came up with the completed damage report. "Sir, our primary weaponry is offline, as is our anti air defences."
The captain sighed. "Casualties?"
"Eleven injured sir, those stationed near the cannons. None dead."
They were both surprised. Did they mean to just stop us attacking that small ship? Not to sink us completely? The captain stared out at his ship, water spraying over some of the fires that had sprung up on the deck.
"Sir!" The radar lookout pulled off his headphones. "We have an unidentified plane heading towards our position!"
"What? From where?"
"Japan, sir."
Damn, we had no patrols over the south for a while, it must another one… "IFF status?"
"Japanese, the pilot refuses to respond to our hails."
They all looked up to see the shadow of the plane looming overhead. The UN fleet had all their SAM sites taken out, so all they could do was watch as it soared above, tauntingly slow.
The captain recognised the markings. "An F-4EJ Kai, damn…"
Meanwhile
Aboard the plane
Glancing down at the fleet, Kanako raising an eyebrow. Why aren't they firing? Turning on the afterburners, she heading straight for the island of Okinawa.
"Only a matter of time now…" Her fangs became visible over her lower lip, and her face became covered in shadow. "…until I finally get you…"
Panning away, the jet stormed away into the far distance.
At that moment
Aboard the ship
"There it is!" Suu cried. "Okinawa!"
"Slow down a bit Haruka-san." Motoko asked. "We need to see if the noise attracted any Infected…"
"True…" She cruised the ship to a small dock, awaiting any response from the island.
Someone walked out of the trees from a hidden path.
"Ara, ara…"
"I'd know that voice anywhere!" Naru beamed.
"Turtle girl!" Mitsune cried.
"Naru-san… Kitsune-san…" Mutsumi walked up to them, same as always, with a cheerful expression. Tama was on her head, giving a 'Myu' and a wave.
Running off the ship, everyone gave her a big hug. "You're alive!" Keitaro said, relieved.
"Weird new pet you got there…" Naru pointed out.
Mutsumi was stroking the strange black cat with large ears in her arms. "She seemed sad, so I gave her some food and she's stayed ever since. Tama likes her." The cat perked up, opening one eye, then 'nya-ing' once before napping again.
"But, aren't you afraid?" Motoko asked.
"Ara… Why would I be?" Face faulting, everyone picked themselves up and started speaking about the Infected. "Ah, that… No, none got over here…"
Haruka breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good, because -"
"Kyaaa! Suu!" Shinobu cried.
The foreigner was on the ground, blood leaking from her mouth and nose. "Oh no!" Shinobu lifted up her head. "Suu… Wake up…" She started to cry. We're running out of time…
"Ara… Let's bring her inside…" Mutsumi recognised the danger immediately. Motoko picked up the little girl and they rushed to her home.
4:02pm
Above Okinawa
"This seems to be it…" Kanako stared down at the tiny island. "No landing strip… Guess I'll have to…"
A few seconds later, the canopy burst open, and Kanako flew out via the ejector seat. Breaking away from the chair, her parachute opened up, and she began to float gracefully down onto the island.
Her eyes began to glow in anticipation.
4:27pm
Otohime household
"Ara… She's sleeping soundly now…" Natsumi came out of the room with her daughter, Mutsumi, following close behind. "Your friend needs a hospital quickly, we don't have enough resources here…"
"I know where we have to take her…" Shinobu whispered. "The kingdom of Molmol."
Everyone looked at each other, not having heard of the place.
"We… we should let her rest…" Keitaro spoke up, still shocked at how seriously she had deteriorated.
All agreed, and they went about the home, trying to relax, heal, sleep, or just to walk about, trying to get out the horrible memories of the Infected.
Seven minutes later
Shinobu was looking out at the grounds, Mutsumi lived on a paradise island, sandy beaches, palm trees, and hot weather.
"Haaah…" She sighed out loud, staring out at the calm sea.
Soft sounds of feet padding across sand came from behind her. Spinning wildly, she fell off the tree stump, and looked up to see none other than…
"SUU!"
Her friend seemed much better, a little unsteady on her feet. Her blonde hair cast a deep shadow over her face.
"You should be resting… You're…"
Shinobu stopped, the strange mood she had all day returning. Putting her hands to her mouth. "No… It can't be… Why, Suu?"
Staring up into the setting sun, Suu glared at Shinobu, her eyes crimson. Reaching out for her friend, she didn't give her time to scream.
Five minutes later
Mitsune was outside, taking stock of her supplies.
"So, that makes it four of the dragon, six of the medium tiger, and only one of the weak raccoon sakes left." She started to weep to herself. "My whole collection… down to these few…"
Someone came out of the bushes, Mitsune glanced back. "Hey Shinobu, any chance of a snack before dinner?"
While she was too preoccupied with her backpack of goods, Shinobu's red gaze bore down upon her.
Three minutes later
Sara sat in the quiet bathroom in the Otohime home. They had opened up the guest wing for all of them, so no one really used that particular one. She was staring into the mirror, her eyes still showing signs of recent tears.
"Damn it, need to put more water…"
Lowering her face, she splashed more water on her face, rubbing it gently into her eyes. Standing up, she recoiled when she saw Mitsune right behind her.
"Ah! Oh… Hey there fox lady…" She looked up through the mirror. "You been crying too, eh?" Her face grew whiter with realisation. "No, wait… that's not –"
One minute later
Elsewhere in the quiet corridor, Naru was lying down on her bed, not really focussing on anything in particular. We've been through so much… I can't believe we're still alive… She stopped when she though of one person who didn't make it. Seta-san… Y… You should be here with us…
Her door opened, and she saw the short figure of the American girl walking in. "Ah, Sara-chan…" Naru sat up, looking down at her golden locks. "What's up?"
Jerking upwards, her bloody eyes and sharp teeth were all that Naru remembered.
Meanwhile
In the living room
"It's a bit quiet here…" Keitaro wondered out loud.
Motoko nodded back, her swords were still at her side. "Still, perfect for relaxing…" She looked out at the dying sun. "Urashima, I'm going out for a walk, take care…"
"See you Motoko-chan." He continued to read a book he picked up from Mutsumi's library. Haruka-san has gone to speak with Natsumi-san and the other people on the island in order to get away as soon as possible… He turned the page. Not sure how long it will take though…
A sound at the doorway from the corridor caught his attention. Naru was staggering at the corner, holding on to keep her balance.
"Narusegawa!" Dropping the book, he ran to her and helped her up.
She looked up, her nervous brown eyes staring back. "K… Keitaro…"
Meanwhile
On the beach
Motoko was uneasy. What is this feeling… Have we forgotten something…? She ruled out Infected, as everyone swore there weren't any in Okinawa, even from unwilling leakages. Are any of us Infected? She shook that off immediately. We'd know in a few seconds anyway…
Walking on to clear her head, she came across a perfect view of the sea from a tree stump. Sitting down to appreciate it, she almost forgot everything till she placed her hand on the stump. What! Standing upright, she looked at the ground. Displaced sand… Two sets of footprints? Putting her hand to the stump again, she sensed something. Is this… ki? It's such a low level that unless I'd touch it I couldn't tell it was here…
"This is bad…" Running back to the home, she had a hand to her swords, ready for battle.
Meanwhile
The living room
"You sure you're okay, Narusegawa?" He passed her some rice cakes that Natsumi made. "You haven't said a word for ages…"
She lowered her head, a blush spreading across her cheeks. Shifting closer to him on the couch, she leaned on his arm, eliciting a similar redness on his face. "N… Narusegawa!"
Nearby on the island
Motoko ploughed through more foliage, trying to stay on the same path. I hope I'm not too late…
Back at the house
Keitaro was lying on his back, Naru on top of him, looking at him with sad, loving eyes. They were like that for a few minutes. "Na… Narusegawa, we can't do this… The others…"
"I don't care…"
She lowered herself, bringing their lips close to one another.
"Urashima! There's been a –" Motoko stopped dead upon seeing the two of them bare inches away from each other. The kendo girl's frustration grew as she unsheathed her trusty blade. "How can you be molesting Naru-sempai at…" Images of Keitaro flashed through her mind, his courage, strength, and heroics, and she shed a tear of betrayal. She flung an attack at him. "…at a time like this!"
Keitaro held out a hand, his eyes boggling outwards. "W… Wait I didn't…!"
The attack smashed up the sofa, sending debris and dust into the air. Motoko breathed roughly. "Urashima! Where are you?"
A hand appeared from the smoke, feeling the ground, and Motoko grabbed hold of it, dragging the ronin out.
"How dare you force yourself upon Naru-sempai!"
"How was I forcing her when she was on top of me?"
"Enough, you probably drugged her in some sick desire for freedom…" She lowered her face. "I thought we… You promised…"
"Hang on…" Keitaro turned around. "What happened to Narusegawa?"
Motoko forgot what she was saying and was worried. "I… I don't know…"
A female figure walked out of the smoke, striding out with a purpose. "Narusegawa! You're okay!"
"Naru-sempai, I apologise, I thought he -"
"Spare your excuses…" Naru got nearer to Keitaro. "I just wanted to be alone with my Keitaro, and you interfered."
"I…" Motoko was stunned silent.
"Narusegawa, that was mean. You're not being yourself lately…"
Motoko narrowed her eyes. She was on top of him, and she did initiate the kiss, but why…? She had little contact with him during our journey.
"Keitaro, do you love me?" Naru asked.
"Wh… Wh… What do you mean?" He stammered, veering back against the wall.
"I said…" She got up real close and planted both arms around his head, preventing his escape. "Do you love me?"
"I… I…" His face was bright red.
"I love you, Keitaro…" Her expression was determined and serious.
He blanched, his glasses cracking from shock. She… She loves me?
Motoko dropped more tears, her warrior's code of honour clashing with her jealousy as a woman. I won't accept this! She raised her blade up. "Shinmeiryu Ougi, Zanma Ken..." Keitaro looked over, recognising that ultimate attack. "Ni No Tachi!"
The wind blades powered up through the floor, reaching the two of them, destroying the wall in the process.
"Mo… Motoko-chan…" Keitaro coughed, walking towards her slowly. "I…" He looked down, his heart torn in two. Motoko too looked down, her blade lowered in disgrace.
"Now you've done it." A voice said from the cloud.
At the nearest town
Haruka was speaking to the town elders, discussing ways to get off Okinawa, when her nerve endings fired up. Oh my God… She looked back in the direction of the house.
"That's…"
Meanwhile
At the house
Naru walked out of the shadows, but her face bore many scars, even her clothing and hair seemed to be torn in many places. Her skin was peeling off bit by bit.
"NO!" Motoko unsheathed her sister's odachi.
Keitaro looked at Naru in horror. "Narusegawa, your face…"
"Looks like I don't need to hide any more…" In a flurry of motion, she tore off her mask and undressed to reveal her true face.
"K… Kanako…" Keitaro gasped. His sister was wearing a black dress with a white top, the edges looking like long petals. Her expression was cruel.
"There's no escape from here…" She walked closer to him. "I've been looking for you throughout Japan…" Her ki skyrocketed. "Now I have you at last…"
"Zan Gan Ken!" The slice shaved the floor in two, splitting the roof and walls apart. "Keitaro, let's get out of here!"
Shit… I don't want to fight her… He was half dragged by Motoko towards the large hole in the wall. His right arm vibrated, and from within the smoke the Hina Blade flew out and snapped to his hand.
"Seems like it knows there's going to be a battle again…" Motoko mused out loud. Once they were in a large open area they stopped and faced the house. "There's no way off this island, the boat has no fuel left, so we have to fight again…"
"Let's hope this is the last time…" Keitaro sighed.
Kanako calmly stepped out from the rubble and stood roughly ten metres away.
"I've been through hell to find you…" She clutched her head as her vision prickled. "I even went into Tokyo, from where 'it' all began, Toudai…"
"What!" Keitaro was amazed. "The Infected came from Toudai?"
"Hina-obaachan said it was too dangerous… But I still went… And… I found something." She put her hands up to her face, beneath her fringe.
"Wh… What was it…?" Motoko asked, the tense environment growing stiffer.
Kanako lowered her hands and held out two small round objects, brown in colour. "The cure…" Raising her face, she watched them closely, taking in their fearful expressions upon their first good look at her bright scarlet eyes.
"KANAKO!" Keitaro staggered back, disbelief halting him from either running or fighting. "Wh… Why…? How?"
She crushed the colour contacts and threw them away. "I guess it wasn't perfect… A cure to rage should be peace and calm. I don't think they were anywhere near close to the perfect antidote." Her left arm was moving independently, she couldn't hold it back with her other hand. "I just..." Her sight reverted to its motion sensing mode, changing everything into red and white. "No… Not again…" She doubled forwards, hugging herself in pain, before stretching back, arms wide and screeching to the evening sky.
"Urashima!" Keitaro dodged to his right as Kanako lunged forwards, her left claw first.
Motoko launched one attack, managing to cut the Infected across both legs, blood flowing freely.
"Shit, not good…" She warned Keitaro. "Don't touch her blood… It may be worse than the Infected…"
He nodded, and pulled out the blade, the black metal shaking, eager to taste more blood. I can't hit my sister… Not listening to his complaints, the sword ignited, flames spewing from its very surface.
Kanako jumped in, her arms forwards. Cursing to himself, Keitaro parried her hands with the blunt edge of the blade, throwing her back after burning her palms.
Not giving up, she punched the ground, letting off a stream of shockwaves that threatened to topple the others. Motoko got clear, but Keitaro tripped on a piece of rubble. Kanako took this chance to get closer.
"Urashima!" Motoko started to run to protect him.
This isn't fair… I don't want to attack her…! Keitaro lifted up the blade and sliced the earth in front of him, creating a pillar of fire around him and Motoko, surprising Kanako by stopping her tracks. Getting to his feet he began to formulate a plan.
"There must be another way… I'm not killing her…" He stated.
"You saw her! She changed like Seta did!" Motoko insisted.
"No…" He was firm but sombre. "She's lasted this long… We need to help her more than anything…"
"How do you suggest that? She's out to kill us both, one touch from her and we might 'change' also…"
The fire above them began to die down. "Damn…" He struggled to think of something. "Okay, keep fighting, but don't kill or maim her…"
Motoko sighed. "Fine, but if there is no alternative, I will not hesitate…"
He nodded, knowing how serious she was. "If the worst happens, kill her outright, and painlessly, she wouldn't want to suffer…" Keitaro played back the deaths of those he'd killed since the short time he woke up from his coma, the three most important being Naru's sister, Kentaro, and Nakata. He didn't want his own sister to have her unlife prolonged longer than necessary.
The fire level was just above their heads now, holding their blades, they rushed out of the column to the sound of screeching. Kanako was running on all fours at them. Leaping, she just missed Motoko and skidded to a halt.
"Zan Kuu Sen!" The ball exploded in front of the young girl, showering her with grass, sand and soil. Shielding her face with both arms, she was pushed back against a tree.
Keitaro held the grip with both hands, struggling to limit the energy flowing from within. Please, with the minimum of power… He swung the blade, sending out weak swirling flames that covered her body. Hearing her pain, he grimaced at thinking how she must be feeling.
When they died down, his thoughts immediately vanished, followed by major blood loss, staggering backwards, he held onto his nose desperately.
"Urashima…" Motoko was growling at him.
"It wasn't my fault!" He shouted back.
Kanako stood there, still in her Infected state, but with much less attire, almost all her bare flesh showing, the tiniest scraps of cloth protecting what remained of her dignity. Her expression changed to one of shock, with the faintest of blushes crossing her cheeks, but the maroon haze returned and she scowled down at him.
What was that? She almost returned to normal… Kanako placed her right hand on the palm tree next to her. What is she up to? Digging her fingers in, she roared and lifted the entire plant, roots and all, from the sandy grass.
Keitaro stood, his mouth agape. H… How strong is she! Grabbing it with the other arm, she swung it like a bat. Shit! He took the blow full in his stomach, unable to block with the sword, and flew backwards into several more trees, his bones creaking from the impact. Ouch… Not even Narusegawa's punches hurt this much… Another screech and she was in the air now, about to smash it into him.
Jumping from the side, Motoko sliced the tree in half, the front half falling harmlessly before Keitaro. She panted, feeling her arms gently. The pain… It's returning… Frustrated sounds were heard from behind her, and the rest of it was thrown at her.
"Motoko-chan!" Keitaro defended her, and called out some of the fire to cut it in two, through the middle, letting the rest fall besides them.
He ran forwards as Motoko picked herself up. Why did she act different when her clothes were burned off? Kanako moved in for the kill, her nails somewhat sharper than usual, and ki-charged, making it possible to repel his blows. She seemed to know that being naked was bad… And she was embarrassed…
Feinting for a second, she ducked and swept him off his feet. Now in mid air, he knew he was in deep trouble. Motoko screamed something in the distance but he couldn't quite catch it, his attention being on the bloody claw descending onto him.
The sound of fracturing was heard and he landed in a heap, Kanako's left hand breaking some of his ribs, her nails still embedded slightly in his chest. Keitaro gasped, blood building up in his mouth. Crap, internal injuries… Lifting him up by his flesh, his agony apparent in his shriek of pain, his sister thrust her other ki-charged palm to push him far away, into the arms of a horrified Motoko.
"K… Keitaro…" His chest was slowly oozing blood out, more specks of the life fluid spat out of his mouth. Her nails had her own blood on them…
Kanako licked the blood from her fingers, leaving a trail over her lips. Grinning maliciously, she ran to the survivor. Picking up her two swords, Motoko saw red.
"You… You hurt Keitaro…" Her swords began to crackle, white and blue lightning encircling the blades. Tears began to form as she too ran closer. "He's your own brother!"
The creature stumbled, the look of recognition flickering in her eyes. Not seeing this, Motoko swung at her with both blades. The katana was parried, yet the odachi got through her defences. The screeching merged with screams as it clutched at the left arm, a large gouge across the top of the arm releasing a fountain of blood.
Keitaro looked up, his movement almost non-existent as he felt to be a tad paralysed, perhaps with the fear that he might be dying. He saw the change in his sister, and knew that her true self remained locked away while she cried out in suffering. Th… That's it! He strained himself, his limbs feeling like a tonne each and jittery, unable to make a normal smooth motion yet. He was trying to sit up, to end everything.
Kanako writhed on the ground, her blood flow having slowed, but the pain remaining, enough to keep her from attacking anyone.
Motoko breathed raggedly. Keitaro is seriously hurt… I won't let her kill him! I… The wind picked up as she snarled, squeezing the hilt so tight that her own hands started to bleed. The wind started to gather around her, and the electrical charge in the air grew as her blades summoned up more strength.
"Shinmeiryu Ougi, Mahi No Kyuuden!"
Striking both swords together, a bolt of lightning flew out ad entwined into a large pulsing ball, hitting the younger girl and wrapping around her. She screamed more humanly, the shocks coursing through her body and setting off all her receptors and nerves. The energy pulses were stymieing her movement, the Infected girl's muscles incapacitated for the time being. Her body was buffeted by the continued onslaught.
Finally… She stared down at her swords and at the person in front of her. Somehow… I performed that attack, the one that all who inherit the Shinmeiryu need to master… She puzzled over that thought. Why did it work now? The jolts had stopped affected Kanako, who was now panting and sat awkwardly, her left arm held tightly by the other.
Keitaro was now on his knees crawling to his sister, his mouth still bleeding, the pain boundary having been broken a while ago.
Keitaro! Motoko started to walk, but the look in his eyes made her slow. He's still himself… What does he intend to do?
Finally, he reached the purple haired girl, who looked up, her eyes still red but no sign of rage or anger, only her true, unbridled emotions.
"Sorry Kanako-chan…" Keitaro apologised, bowing slightly, though that may be to do with him losing balance a tad. "I didn't welcome you properly, did I?" He smiled at her. I was always running away from her here… "I'm happy to see you again, oneechan." All she wanted was a friendly face…
Tears built up in her eyes, clear liquid as opposed to her own blood.
"Oniichan…"
She moved in quickly and pressed her lips against his, not trying to force his pair open. She held it for a few seconds, much to Keitaro's horror-filled, saucer shaped eyes and thin trail of hormonal blood leaking from his nose. Motoko ground her teeth for a moment, then let it go this time.
"I'm glad I found you…" Her smile washed away all doubt, as she began to teeter. "I…" She fell forwards into his hug as she whispered. "…love you…" Passing out, the smile remained on her face.
Motoko limped towards them, and sat down next to Keitaro, watching the peaceful expression on the girl's face, then to the blush on the person holding her.
"You okay Motoko-chan?" He asked, still looking down at his sister, gently stroking her dark hair.
"Yes, it's just my old injuries playing up…" Even now, she felt her body healing, the pain lessening. "Worry about yourself first… Your ribs are cracked, I could hear them break from where I was standing."
"Yeah…" He coughed up a tiny bit of blood, spitting it out to his right. "We all need the hospital soon, too much fighting…"
Motoko agreed and put her swords down. "This'll be the last time I use them for a long time… I need to recuperate…" She leant against Keitaro, her head resting on his shoulder, Keitaro placed an arm around her back to stop her from toppling, as she started to doze off.
"Keitaro!"
He looked at the house and saw Haruka running out then stopping once she saw Kanako there. Keitaro merely smiled 'everything will be fine'. Looking at the devastation in the region she shrugged, placed a hand to her face and sighed loudly.
"It's amazing how much trouble follows you around…" She smirked, then grew serious. "The others are inside, all knocked out…"
"You mean…?" He looked down at his sister, and Haruka nodded.
"The only two different were Suu, who's still sleeping off her medicine, with Shinobu lying on the floor, and Naru…" She shifted her gaze. "She's… a bit bruised up…"
Keitaro said nothing, his expression neutral. Kanako probably knew that I liked her… She might've lost control at that point, being the last of all of them. She dressed up as her when she saw me…
Suu wondered out into the afternoon sun, holding a hand over her face to block out the rays. Haruka turned and walked up to her.
"You shouldn't be walking about Suu… Go back to bed, we'll treat you somewhere…"
"Nah…" She gave one of her confident grins. "I've got a better way…" She pulled out her familiar control box that she used throughout the journey. Opening it up, she removed a smaller black box, the only markings on it being the three eyed logo and a biohazard symbol, the latter two being a shade of red.
"Wh… What is that?" Keitaro asked, knowing that her inventions with one button tended to be fairly violent.
She grinned happily. "Buster Call." She pressed the button as Keitaro and even Haruka braced themselves.
"Huh? Nothing happened…" He mused.
Meanwhile
Molmol Military Docks
"Sir… We have a Class 1 Critical Level rescue beacon…" The officer's supervisor strode over quickly. "Coordinates are –"
"No need…" The major said. "Only one person has that level of authority. Transmit those coordinates to the Behemoth and all four of the Juggernaut class ships for immediate pickup of Royalty, along with any guests. Inform them to be prepared for and requirements she may need fulfilled."
"Yes sir!" He saluted, before sending out the encrypted messages to those ships.
Meanwhile
Okinawa
"Ara, ara, what's Bus Treacle?" Mutsumi asked, her face red from running from where Haruka left her. She walked up to Kanako and put a blanket on her from the house, to cover up her skin.
"Suu made it!" She exclaimed, holding it out to her. "Buster Call, only used in emergencies, to send out the five strongest ships to help out or rescue the owner of this."
"But that means -" Keitaro sensed sounds from behind him, and saw in the distance five vessels headed straight for their island.
"Guess we'd better get ready to go then…" Haruka smirked, lighting up a cigarette.
Keitaro whispered to Motoko, who stirred and got up. Pulling up Keitaro, he lifted his sister, and held her in his arms.
"We'd better try and wake the others, and patch up Narusegawa…" He looked to his fellow Toudai student. "Mutsumi, would you and family like to come with us?" He realised what he was saying, looking to the princess. "Th… That is, if she can… Can she Suu-chan?"
"Sure! I like her!" Suu hugged the elder girl, who held a hand to her mouth giggling slightly.
"Ara, ara, it sounds like fun. I'll let my mum and siblings know…"
"Haruka… Could you explain the situation to the others… I need to stay with my sister for a bit longer, till we can cure her somehow…" Haruka raised her eyebrow but shrugged and walked in, followed by Suu and Mutsumi.
"I'll be there with you too." Motoko spoke up, a smile on her face. Even at the very end, he did his best… Now we're leaving this hellish land… She held out her hand, squeezing his arm with a warm emotion, one she couldn't quite identify yet but had been growing the past few days.
Keitaro smiled, the same warmth reflected in his eyes as they both turned to the beach front to await the fleet. I thought so… The only cure to rage and hatred, is love…
Unbeknownst to either of them, the red thread tied to both their little fingers glowed for several minutes, as the burgeoning feelings between the two only grew stronger from that day forwards.
---
Author's Notes
Mahi No Kyuuden – Ball Lightning of Paralysis (corny name, but sounds better in Japanese).
Ho No Ame – Rain of Fire.
Hoped you noticed the references there, One Piece for the Buster Call, the Love Hina Spring special for the Ken Akamatsu's boat they acquired to travel to Okinawa. I also included Jim, Selena and Hannah, though even Keitaro wasn't sure if he saw them… Note that those ships do exist, naturally the Molmol fleet was my imagination, but I had real fun writing that scene. The plane was a modified F-4 Phantom for Japan.
It was about time for a large scale onslaught by the Infected, we've only had scenes with one or two of them, and then it wasn't that exciting. The previous chapter did have a small fight, but hopefully the Osaka final run would have made up for it. I tried to make the fights as realistic as possible (although having ki attacks and fire arrows negates that somewhat) so instead of Sara summoning her clay figures, I had her pick up things with her immense lifting strength. Hopefully this went down well, besides, clay wouldn't really stop Infected if you think about it!
Thus endeth the saga however. I'm glad that I went this far, a story that was inspired by, and started during, the worst year of my life. I really enjoyed writing this story, it helped me to improve my own skills, although I have gotten used to using a thesaurus for alternate words for sword, red, ran, said, etc. I guess all authors do that nowadays.
I hope you all liked reading this as much as I did both writing and rereading it. I'll post up the short epilogue at a later date, which details what happened after they were picked up. This'll be the first story I have actually completed, and it has been a bit of an epic I'd say. Reviews and critiques of the whole story would be appreciated.
Thank you for going on this journey with me, it's been emotional…
- Jason