Standard Disclaimer
I own nothing of Nadesico or it's characters. I created a few to assist in the telling of said story but I really don't care I any readers use them for their own selfish gain :)
Hope you read and review for me thanks again.
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Anata no Ichiban Ni Naritai
Chapter 3- Acknowledgement
"I still can't believe you allowed another child into this facility without consulting me." The orphanage director bellowed.
Kyoko whipped a spot of sweat from her for head, "But sir, she was injured and obviously needs someplace to stay.
"She's been here three days and do you know how many times she's used the computer network?" he added by handing her a print out of log-on times.
Looking over the report. "Sir, you know how most shy children have on-line friends now a days. I bet she is just contacting some old acquaintances. It must be really scary for her like this."
"And how does an orphan have prior computer skill and have an ICS?"
"She was wearing Nergal issued clothing when we found her, it is possible her parents taught her and provided access before their…demise," Kyoko pleaded, not wanting the poor girl to be expelled.
"How do we even know her parents are dead, she could be a runaway or worse," the director readjusted his position in his chair.
"If she is a runaway her parents will eventually come for her. I really think we should allow her to stay, Akito-kun really seems to have taken a shine to her."
The director knew as well as Kyoko that Akito Tenkawa was a special case. Although his parents were not in the military before their deaths he was allowed to stay. The men that brought him in stressed he should be attended to as if his parents were generals. They never argued the point as doing so could result in a funding cut.
The director nodded, "Is that why you didn't reassign a male roommate for him, boys and girls sharing rooms is highly odd you know."
Kyoko mentally smiled as her using Akito to scare the director worked perfectly. "That is exactly why sir. This is the first time since Akito moved in that he actually talks to somebody."
Again the director nodded, as Tenkawa's psychological file stressed how his parents' death had caused him to withdraw into himself. "I guess we can allow this to continue for a while, but if this Hoshino girl causes any problems she's out on her ass.
Smiling sweetly at the older man, "You big softy I knew I could count on you," she leaned over the desk and kissed him on the cheek.
Blushing softly, "Don't 'softy' me Kyoko-chan…I can really get into trouble over this."
Nodding to her husband, "But you still do the right thing, that's why I married you. Well I have my rounds to do, bye." She smiled at her husband again and left his office to check on the other children.
Left alone in his office, "I just hope you know what you're talking about."
In another part of the orphanage Ruri was looking over the wardrobe that she was provided with. She was given four standard uniforms, two pairs of powder blue pajamas, a cheap dress for formal occasions, and her original uniform. She hung them up in the closet next to Akito's clothing and sat down.
She replayed the previous days accounts in her mind. During the past two days she spent considerable time on the computer system looking for as much information on Boson jumping as possible. The results were dim. 'Not surprising, we were only beginning to understand the process back when I first phased here.' Aside from her work on the computer the other children made her life hell. Commenting on her rather unique skin tone and hair. Terms such as freak and doll were now common identifiers for her. 'Children are idiots, is that how Akito-san thinks of me?'
She looked at her roommate, who was trying, all-be-it fruitlessly, to reattach an arm to his plushies' body. She smiled when Akito let out a small curse as he poked himself with the needle. The last two days had also been spent getting to know her one time elder. Ruri noticed the difference in the younger Akito. He was more reserved and kept mostly to himself, but would help her anytime she needed it, weather requested or not.
'He doesn't judge me,' she smiled, 'maybe being in this time isn't so bad.'
Ruri stopped her current thought and frowned. She knew she had to try and get home…to her real home. Thoughts about Akito would only distract her from her mission, but she couldn't help herself from acting.
"Would you like some assistance Akito-san?" she asked him from behind.
Looking over his shoulder at the girl that now shared his room, "You…think you can?"
She stuck her hand out and waited for him to place the doll in her hand. When he didn't react she grew mildly frustrated. 'Do all children require constant directing?'
She then spoke with a hint of agitation, "Give him to me and I will fix it."
Akito tentatively handed his prized and only possession to her, "Thank you Ruri."
Ruri examined the doll and made her calculations, 'I can improve it.' Quickly she wrote down a few items she'd need and handed it to the bewildered Akito.
"Get these items for me and I'll fix him," she smiled once she received the look of acknowledgement from Akito.
"Be back soon," Akito chirped as he ran from the room to procure the items on Ruri's list.
'Where can I find this stuff though?' he pondered. His first stop was a utility closet next to the nurse's station. He snuck in and began pilfering all the items on the list. Just as he grabbed the final item a sound registered in his ears, the door opened.
"What do we have here, the loner Tenkawa stealing?"
Akito nearly jumped out of his skin when he identified the voice, "No Maki I am not."
Maki smirked from her position by the door, "Then what's with all the stuff in your hands?"
Lifting his head slightly to look the older girl in her eyes, "Ruri asked me to get this stuff so she can help me fix Geki."
Walking over to him, "You and that freak girl seem to chum around a lot. The loser and the sick doll."
"Leave me alone Maki, I don't have time for this," he pleaded.
"Fine, what do I care what you lowly workers do. Being the daughter of an Admiral raises me above your petty class." With a final smirk at her pray, Maki spun around giving her dress a swirl and left.
Akito sighed in relief as Maki left, expecting her to belittle him a lot more, he left the room and shut the door.
He headed straight back to their room, while attempting to keep his purloined goods a secret. He walked backwards to assure he wasn't followed, but that left his front open.
'Why does she need all this stuff?'
For the second time that day Akito was nearly scared to death, as a hand was placed on his shoulder.
"Akito-kun," he knew the voice was the nurse's, "why do you have all those things?"
He looked into the face of the nurse, "Please don't tell on me Kyoko-san! R..Ruri asked for me to get this stuff so she can fix my Gekiganger plushy."
Kyoko was shocked. Akito looked near tears as he pleaded for her not to tell on him or Ruri. 'He's still an emotional wreck after all this time, poor boy.'
She made some soothing noises to calm the frightened child, and assured him he wouldn't be in trouble. She dapped a handkerchief to his moistening eyes and told him to hurry along to his room, which he did.
Back in the bedroom stuffing was lying all over the floor, and Ruri held the hollowed out carcass of Gekiganger. She was drawing a blueprint of the revisions she was planning on making to it. Her stomach rumbled. 'Not hunger again. I cannot abide by the terrible food they serve.' Ruri got up and headed to the dresser drawer that Akito provided her with.
She pulled out a near empty box of saltine crackers she had taken from the cafeteria on the second day of her stay. As she finished off the box and set a mental reminder to obtain another box that night, Akito returned.
The sight before him was chaos. Stuffing was scattered everywhere, as if discarded in great haste. He saw the hollow husk of his cherished toy and looked to Ruri for an explanation.
"Did you get what I asked you to?" she said as she spat out a little bits of cracker.
Akito set the assorted items down, "All of them. You didn't kill Geki did you?"
"He isn't alive so I cannot kill him, and do not worry," she smiled again, "he will be upgraded."
Akito's worry eased away with the smile the girl offered him. He sat on the lower bunk and watched as Ruri began working. As she worked, Ruri found herself smiling again. 'I've been smiling a lot since I've arrived here.'
Time passed quickly as Ruri's surgery progressed. For a brief time, Akito had left to gather some food for them to eat while she patched the doll. Ruri passed on the food, not wanting to have the taste in her mouth, announced that she had finished.
Akito looked dumbstruck, "He looks the same."
The doll then turned its head and looked at Akito, speakers declaring, "Target locked, proceed with destruction." Gekiganger then started to shoot cotton balls from its hands.
"He has been upgraded to Gekiganger V. 2.0" Ruri announced.
Geki was quickly lifted into Akito's arms and he hugged it. He thanked Ruri profusely for her work and apologized for doubting her. She remarked that it was payment for allowing her to stay in his room, but blushed all the same.
As the young children experimented with Gekiganger's new features a Nergal van arrived at the orphanage. The men inside reviewing a print out of possible sites of infiltration exited the vehicle. Several men in black suits approached the front gate and were greeted by Mrs. Takeshi.
"Gentlemen, it's almost lights out tonight. Why are you here disrupting our environment?" she asked of the approaching men, noting the Nergal emblem on their coats.
The smallest man spoke, "Miss, we're looking for any suspicious people you may have seen here over the past few days."
"It's Mrs., and what do you mean suspicious."
The small man again spoke, "We are lead to believe a potential spy has infiltrated the Utopia colony. Are reconosense pin-points they're arrival point to be just about fifty yards outside of this compound."
"I'm sorry but we haven't noticed any stran…" thought of Ruri entered her mind.
"Ma'am?"
Kyoko shook her head, "It's nothing, just a headache. We haven't seen anything like that around her. Now if you'll excuse me I have work to attend to before bed."
As the door shut in front of them the middleman spoke, " She's hiding something."
"Obviously, we'll put this instillation under surveillance and see what we come up with." The short man replied.
The tallest man finally spoke, "But what type of information could a spy gather at an orphanage?"
"That's not for us to worry about, we just have to find and eliminate the threat."
They returned to their van and returned to base. Upon arrival they ordered an increased amount of surveillance be utilized for finding the threat.
Ten o'clock reared its head and the children were hustled off to there rooms for bed. Akito again left the room allowing Ruri the privacy to change into her new P.J.'s. He thought of how this girl had invaded his life, just like another had when is parents were alive. His revelry about the dark blue haired girl was cut short as Ruri signaled he could come in.
Akito's face turned bright pink when he saw Ruri in her new pajamas. "Kawaii."
The single word set off a chain reaction in Ruri, whose face turned to match Akito's. She quickly climbed into her bed and turned to face the wall. Akito, thinking he upset the girl, apologized before turning the light off and climbing into his bed. Neither child had sleep on their mind however.
Two hours into lights out, Ruri stole from her bed and into the hallway. She snuck her way into the pantry where she had found her sustenance. Gathering a few boxes of crackers to live off of for the next few days, she turned to leave. 'Why did his words have such a strong affect on me; more so than when he was my elder. I must banish these thoughts. I'll be home soon and this will be nothing but a memory.'
She crept slowly back into the adjacent kitchen but stopped when she heard a scraping sound. Her whole body tensed as images of the potential burglar entered her mind. 'I must act my part to protect my temporary home.'
Grabbing a nearby frying pan, she waited for the sound to get closer. Clutching the pan tighter she anticipated a ruthless criminal stalking closer to her. When the sound was in range, she closed her eyes and sprang from her hiding place and swung the pan.
The target was so shocked by the assault he never had time to duck. The pan came crashing down on his head, which sent him to the floor. For the first time since her attack Ruri opened her eyes to see her burglar, Akito.
She dropped the pan and hurried to the boy's side. He was knocked unconscious. The bump on his head steadily growing in size, but no blood was spotted. She cursed herself for her rash actions in assaulting him, while gathering him and her food in her arms. She later found out that Akito occasionally snuck into the kitchen in attempts to learn how to cook.
With Akito slung over her back piggyback style, she retreated to their room. Ruri sent off a silent prayer to whoever was listening to not be discovered. Her encumbered walk was made more difficult as she passed several open doors.
Eventually she arrived back to the shared domicile. Dropping the crackers first, she placed the dazed boy on her bed. 'I can't lift him up to his own, he will have to make do.'
While she was checking his pupils to assure he didn't have a concussion, she noticed his necklace.
"He has a CC with him," she said above a whisper.
'A CC…a CC, I forgot I need those to Boson Jump!' Her oversight now made painfully clear, she had no way home. To obtain the CC's she needed to jump home she'd either have to steal Akito's and risk altering the time-line, or break into a heavily fortified Nergal base. 'Did he use the CC or did he lose it…he didn't have it when I met him.'
She took a seat on her bed next to Akito. "I'm stuck here. I cannot obtain any CC's without great risk to the time-line." The words she spoke sinking into her mind. She was trapped with no hope of recovery. She would have to adapt to her new situation, with the new people. A lone tear traced her cheek as she admitted to herself that she wouldn't see her friends on the Nadesico for a long time, if ever.
She lied down in crushing defeat. She drew her body into the fetal position and fell asleep, midway through the night Akito unconsciously drew closer to the girl that emanated a deep sadness. They woke with Akito still holding her.
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Author notes.
Yes Ruri is acting odd but the shock of realizing she's trapped in the past COULD do that to her. The time-line has already been altered by her presence but I've already got plans for that. I'm not going to make any MAJOR alterations to the time line…but it is my story so I guess its understandable.
I'm trying to get how a military group would set about tracking down a rouge spy, but could be doing it wrong.
And yes Gekiganger is now upgraded :)
Next chapter- Ruri tries to adapt to the new situation, but her previous hack jobs have alerted Nergal of her presence. The other children's reaction to the freaky duo.
Hope you still like it
First version 6/13/2002
Ja Mata
Zentrodie (zentrodie@secondimpact.com)