oops...I've had this for a while but fergot to post it...sorry

Standard disclaimers apply

Chapter 7

(Masago)

"Masago?" Kiriya shook me, but I couldn't take my eyes off the young man in front of me. He was the spitting image of the boy in Kai's memory, he couldn't be anyone else, but if he was, why wasn't he flipping out? Wasn't he crazy? Opening my mouth to say something, I found I didn't know what to say. My world was falling down around me and it felt like nothing could put it back up.

"Masago?" Kiyo touched my shoulder. "Will you go on a walk with me? I think there's something you need to know." Nodding to Kiriya that I was ok, she helped me out of the kitchen and apartment. When were in the hall she led me to an elevator that she had a key to. In silence we rode down toground level and she watched me closely as she wheeled out onto the street.

"How is it possible?" I demanded; there was no need to explain any further, as I could see Kiyo nodding her understanding.

"A very long time ago I was born into a home where I was unwanted; they put me into an orphanage.I was then transferred to a lab where they brought out my special talents. There were three others with me; Masaru, Takashi and Akira; we all had a certain power that they brought out. We merely existed; we had no purpose save to take tests and sometimes use our unique powers." Bitterness laced her voice as she guided us to a small park that was nearly empty. "Akira was by far the strongest, and for that he had to endure more tests than us. He never complained, and he was the one who kept our spirits up with jokes and smiles." Sitting down on the grass next to where she had stopped moving, I waited for her to continue. For a moment she sat there and just stared off into space.

"Our bodies' growth had been stunted by all the tests so we would neverbecome taller than we had been when we went in. The scientists had all these ideas; they tested everything out first on Akira, because if he could handle itthen we could. Then they stopped testing at all; we thought that maybe they would leave us alone. One of them had come up with this idea of ultimate energy, power that was just hidden within the makeup of your very cells. They worked on it and worked on it until they had come up with an idea of how to bring it out." Kiyo sighed and went quiet. "When they had a good idea of what to do they took Akira away. We didn't see him for months, and when he came back he was so very different." She broke off as a group of children ran by, giggling and having fun.

"He always looked tired and he would have awful hallucinations and seizures. When he was not being pumped full of drugs and was lucid, he would tell me and the others what had happened. The ultimate energy that had been brought out, it was slowly killing him because his body wasn't made to control it. He could see much further into the future than I could at the time and he told me in secret that some day we would all be reborn and that we would all be happy." Shaking her head Kiyo looked at me. "The next day they pushed him too far in their study. He completely lost it and destroyed Tokyo before they could kill him. After he was dead they took his organs so they could study them. When they figured out they wouldn't be able to figure it out they preserved them for future generations.

"They kept us alive in hopes that they could figure out what had gone wrong and fix it. So many years passed and the people of the city grew restless due to rumors that the God Akira was coming to save them. Takashi was kidnapped, and in that one night he was away, he set in motion a whole chain of events that changed the world. That night, there was an accident, and a young boy named Tetsuo was involved. In order to – what they called save him, but a better perspective was damn him – they awoke his powers. They did what they had done to Akira. Tetsuo was not ready for it, so his body overloaded, so when Akira was resurrected, the both of them weren't ready. In the chaos of Akira coming back I realized this couldn't have been what he was talking about, he took out almost the whole of Neo-Tokyo.The three of us – Masaru, Takashi and I – were able to save a few from the destruction, your grandfather was one, and we took Tetsuo away. We then waited in darkness until the time was right to be reborn."

"And so now that's happened?" I asked, and she nodded. "Doesn't that mean Tetsuo has ultimate power as well?"

"Yes, he has it, but since he was born with it this time, he was able to handle the gradual build up of it. When the power is forced upon you in one great wave your body can't handle it." Kiyo shuddered. "It's an awful thing to have to watch."

"Where's Akira?" I demanded. "I've seen Masaru, you, Takashi and Tetsuo, but no Akira."

"For some reason Akira wasn't born with his powers. We pray that his body will be able to handle the power,but we don't know how he'll receive it." Kiyo rubbed her neck, as if she was trying to figure out how to say what was on her mind. "We think that you're the key to helping him get his memories and powers back and maybe keeping him sane."

"Who is he?" I demanded; how could I know him? Who could he be?

"You already know him; his name is Akira Kiriya."

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