Chapter 6
Hoshikawa Subaru:
Aching didn't seem an adequate description of how Subaru felt after the fight the day before – more like, positively elderly. His joints felt as if they'd been fused together; his muscles stiff as boards. He'd fallen out of the waveworld with much less finesse than usual, leaving him with another few blocks to walk in order to reach home. Rockman had never sustained so much damage before, and it was unfortunate he hadn't been able to remain in denpa-henkan long enough to recover.
"Rock?" his voice was strained, "Will this feeling last for long?"
"Hmmm… it shouldn't. Twenty-four hours at max. That was a close call. The pain is from being forced apart. You injuries weren't as serious as we thought; none of them carried over."
Subaru nodded, "That's good. But my mom will be really worried if she sees me like this."
"So lay low."
"I think I can manage that. The 'laying' part shouldn't be a problem anyways. I feel like I need to sleep for an eternity."
"You don't have an eternity," Rock reminded him, "You have school tomorrow."
"Why do you insist on making me go?" Subaru whined, "You like it even less than I do."
Warrock's silence wasn't telling. But Subaru was too tired to care at the moment.
He pushed open the front door of his house as quietly as possible. Most of the lights in the house were dimmed. Only the flickering florescence of the television from the living room indicated where his mom might possibly be.
"Su?" she called, her mother's intuition catching him after only seconds, "You home?"
"Yeah!" he answered, ditching his shoes in the entryway.
Akane missed nothing, honing in on the exhaustion in her son's voice. She muted the TV and got up to take stock of her son. Subaru's hands shook a little as he dropped his backpack to the floor and he was acutely aware that his face was probably a few shades paler than normal. But those weren't things he wanted his mom to notice right now, for all her good intentions.
Instead, she just smiled. Cupping his check gently, Akane asked, "Long day at school?"
"You could say that." Subaru took the opening to be semi-honest, "I almost got pummeled in gym class by the biggest kid in my grade."
Akane hummed, "It will take a little while to adjust. But you're my strong boy. You'll do just fine. But..." She removed her hand to tap her cheek, "We could bulk you up a little. A high protein diet and more exercise would do the trick."
"Mom!" Subaru whined.
"Tennis! I love Tennis!"
"I know. You take the opportunity to annihilate me every weekend."
"Honestly, Su, you've been getting better recently. You're reaction time is much faster than it used to be; even better than when you were practicing karate." She winked and Subaru looked away, suddenly feeling dodgy again.
Akane picked up on it and let her son have his secrets.
"Why don't you go vedge in front of the TV for a bit while I make dinner," She said, gently nudging Subaru in the direction of the living room.
"Okay." Subaru was suddenly acutely aware of all the aches in his body again. "Thanks mom."
He settled into the couch, marveling. Had furniture ever felt this comfortable before? His limbs were swallowed by the cushions, allowing him to block out his pain and just feel numb for a few moments before the events of the day came crashing down around him.
Close, that fight with Taurus had been so close. And Warrock had made it sound like there were stronger FMians out there. If Taurus was one of the two FMians currently on earth, then that meant another fight might be closer than he wanted. Not to sound like a cliché anime protagonist, but he needed to get stronger.
He didn't feel strong right now.
Just reaching for the TV remote was enough to send his shoulder into spasms. Ugh. It was the arm he'd used to deal Taurus the final blow with his EM sword. Subaru felt like he needed to have a serious discussion with Warrock about the physical limitations of denpa-henkan, but now wasn't the time; not with his mom only a room away. He loved his mom, and he hated hiding things from her, but he didn't want to worry her. She might think he'd inherited his dad's crazy.
But that's stupid. His dad wasn't crazy. He was unbelievably right. Hoshikawa Daigo had come to the conclusion – the right one – that everyone else was too blind to see. And he had 'died' trying to save the world from an invisible threat that exceeded mankind's capacity to deal with.
That's why everyone thought he was mad.
Subaru sighed, not wanting to think about it; not wanting to think about how he was stepping into his dad's shoes by protecting earth.
He unmuted the television and a high, cheerful voice was the first thing to greet his ears.
"It seems that my love has fallen for another woman! Why am I so unlucky in love." The perky heroine of a clichéd soap opera mourned. She cast a hand over her forehead with dramatic flair, shadowing luminescent, green eyes.
"But," she continued her monologue. The heroine ran a hand through her candy-pink hair, flicking the ends so special effect sparkles glittered in a shimmering arch, "I will not let this tear me down. Instead, I will be stronger than before. I can live my life to its fullest and simply pray that the other end of my red string is not a frayed one."
With that, she winked at the screen. It went dark, cutting to a roll of credits.
"I'm on the edge of my seat." Warrock grumbled from the transfer, "I can't imagine what will happen next."
The FMian's alleged interest brought something Subaru had been meaning to ask, "Is this where you learned those curse words?" Subaru whispered without bothering to hold the screen of his transfer up to his face – he didn't have the energy for it.
"Maybe…"
Subaru rolled his eyes, "Oh my gosh."
"It's not my fault." Warrock's retort was hot, "I have to learn about earth culture somewhere while you're doing boring homework or whatever."
Subaru groaned, "Television is not really the most accurate representation…" he cut himself off. The entire time, a fragment of his focus had still been fixed on the TV screen. And now that the credits rolled through, he saw a familiar name: Hibiki Misora.
He must have unconsciously spoken the name aloud, because Warrock answered.
"Yeah, the pink haired girl. Humans really like her for some reason."
"Well she certainly has more charisma than you." Subaru mumbled, thinking back. Now he had a face to put with the name of Luna and her cronies' idol.
"I resent that." Warrock was saying, but his complaint was overshadowed as Akane called Subaru for supper.
Shirogane Luna:
It was a well-known fact that Luna didn't mind being busy. She loved to stay involved and stay active. Energy, fervor… well, whatever you wanted to call it: that's what defined her. For example, today she was going into school early, to meet with a student who had been on medical leave for the past month. Leaving the job of rounding up Subaru to Kizamaro and letting Gonta sleep in after yesterday's ordeal seemed like the best plan of action.
She pushed through the door to the academic offices. The student in question – Futaba Tsukasa – had been injured over the winter break, and hadn't yet attended a single second semester class. As class representative, Luna wanted to make sure he made a smooth transition despite its lateness.
"I'm here for Futaba Tsukasa-kun." She told the secretary, leaning over the counter. A tap on her shoulder made her turn her head.
"Present and accounted for, Shirogane-chan." came Tsukasa's familiar tenor voice.
Her classmates face and tall, thin form was easily recognizable, but not…
"What do you think, Shirogane-chan?" he asked with a crooked grin, indicating the feature in question. His hair: it was layered and grass-green, reaching just past his shoulders.
"It's, um… different," she stuttered, taken aback. Tsukasa chuckled, not seeming to take offense in the slightest.
"It's false," he said, rubbing the verdant strands together between his fingers, "I'm sure you could have guessed that it didn't grow eight inches in the past month while I was lying in a hospital bed. But, you see, I'm not a very attractive bald."
"Bald?" Luna should have been embarrassed by her outburst (and lack of tact for that matter).
"Well, I guess I do have some fuzz," he amended, "But the doctors had to shave off all my hair so it didn't get in the way during surgery. Invasive operations go hand in hand with severe head trauma, after all."
Luna nodded, recalling the news. It was a stroke of bad luck worse than anything she'd ever heard of before. Tsukasa was simply walking home from school when a semi-truck had lost control and fallen on top of him – the only pedestrian on the street. The miracle was that he hadn't been permanently disabled and, aside from his head, his injuries were minimal.
"I'm glad they're finally letting me up though," Tsukasa interrupted her thoughts, "the novelty of getting to stay in bed all day wears off real quick."
Luna tossed him a smile, hefting the stack of books the secretary had just gathered. The taller teen tried to help, but Luna reminded him that he shouldn't strain himself.
"What's your locker number?"
"5022."
"This way then!"
"Shirogane-chan," Tsukasa chuckled, "It's not like I'm a noob. I know where my locker is."
"I know!" she said with a half-smile, "but I like to feel useful."
Tsukasa grinned, slipping his hands in his pockets in submission, "If it makes you happy, Luna-chan, I'll cope."
"Perfect," she chirped, feeling a small blush rise in her cheeks, "That's what I like to hear."
"Has someone been telling you differently lately?"
Luna felt her bright mood falter just a bit. "Yes."
"Who?" Tsukasa intently fixed her with a stare from his honey colored eyes.
"Hoshikawa Subaru. I spent the last month putting all my effort into convincing him to come to school, and when he finally does, he's not grateful. He's a disrespecting little prick who doesn't appreciate anyone. He's…" she felt her anger rising and her words rambling. It was best to cut herself off before she got any further. Luna took a calming breath, giving Tsukasa's amused expression an apologetic smile, "Sorry, but I think we're here."
Tsukasa spun the dial on his locker, grin still in place, "Awww, but I wanted to hear more."
"Nope, sorry! You've got classes to sort out." With that she closed the discussion on Subaru. If she let her temper get away with her like that, she'd probably ruin the boy's reputation even more. And he didn't need her help with that.
"Kay," Tsukasa stepped back as she put his books in the open locker, scanning his schedule, "I have Algebra first period. Is that still in Seritelli sensei's classroom?"
"Yep," Luna chirped, grabbing the book for the aforementioned subject, "Let me see if all the classes are in the same place, though." Tsukasa handed over the list and she scanned it quickly, eyes widening in realization, "All your classes are the same as mine."
"Really!" a grin split his face, "Well, that certainly makes your job easier, Shirogane-chan."
"I guess it does." She admitted quietly, offering a small smile in return.
"And what about this Hoshikawa-kun, you were talking about before? Is he in all your classes as well? I really want to meet him!"
"Why?"
"He sounds interesting," Tsukasa said, adding a sly look, "And if he can resist your charms, he's bound to be an odd one."
Luna slapped Tsukasa on the arm for that comment, feeling heat rise in her cheeks, "Why do you say stuff like that?" she huffed, crossing her arms over his textbook and hugging it to her chest.
"Your reactions are interesting, Shirogane-chan." His serene smile wasn't helping matters at all.
"You've got a lot to catch up on, so save my reactions for when you aren't as busy." Luna shot back, "Let's go."
"Okay."
Tsukasa was just so much more agreeable, Luna thought. Why couldn't everything be this easy?
"If you're really that interested in meeting Hoshikawa-kun then you can join us for lunch."
"I wouldn't miss it for the world."
The morning was going by rather smoothly in Luna's opinion. Kizamaro, Gonta, and Subaru had shown up shortly after she and Tsukasa had taken their seats in their first period class. The boys – Kizamaro and Gonta, that is – filled the air with questions for Tsukasa: How was he? When would he make a full recovery? Was he excited to be back at school? Etcetera. Luna simply watched and listened, smiling proudly at her lackeys' enthusiasm. When the other students began to fill the classroom, they didn't miss the new addition of their verdant haired classmate. Luna's smile turned into a smirk. They would all know that she had been the one to welcome Tsukasa back.
"Don't look too smug." Subaru volunteered absentmindedly.
He was slouched at his desk like he'd run a marathon the day before. Maybe he had. As she recalled, Gonta's weird monster thing had been out to get him during gym class and she hadn't seen him again after the incident. Could he have ran home?
No matter, Luna was acutely aware of the purple bags under his eyes and how his movements seemed a little stiff. And despite his comment on her self-assurance, he wasn't looking at her, opting instead to stare out the windows. Subaru flicked his odd, green glasses down onto his nose, and not for the first time, Luna wondered what was so special about them. She'd never seen her classmate part from his shades.
"I'm simply confident in my ability to win elections for class president." She sniffed, "Is that such a bad thing?"
"Confidence?" Subaru mused, without turning to look at her, "No. But overconfidence is something to watch out for. However, I will admit: I don't think anyone else comes close to you in the running so far, so maybe it's not overconfidence."
His snatched a glance at her out of the corner of his eye, catching the wide grin that took over her face.
"Take that with a grain of salt." He cautioned, "I've been here, for what, a week?
Luna's only response was to pat him on the arm, "I presume, then, that I have your vote, Hoshikawa-kun?"
He shrugged her hand off, "I'm just being realistic. You put way more effort into things than what it's worth most of the time."
"Is that a compliment?" She asked with exaggerated surprise. Her friends' conversation with Tsukasa were completely in the background now. Her sole focus was her most troublesome classmate. "A compliment from the chilly, Hoshikawa-kun? Should I check and see if pigs are flying today?"
Subaru's sighed as he dropped both hands to his desk and turned to look at her. His brown eyes, usually so hard to read, were tinged with a hint of… guilt?
"Look." He said firmly, "I'm sorry about yesterday. I'm sorry for shouting at you. It wasn't fair. Gonta was right. Your efforts to help me have been well-meaning, even if it's not exactly what I want all the time."
Luna, to say the least, was speechless for a moment. Not that that moment lasted for long.
"Is this because you almost died yesterday when that thing targeted you?" a hint of her own guilt crept into her voice. She wasn't the only one that put way more effort into things; Gonta did it too, especially when it came to her. "It's not your fault things got so out of hand."
Subaru didn't look like he believed her.
"Sure, you said and did some stuff that set him off. I forgive you for that, by the way. But it wasn't right for Gonta to get that mad. And then that weird thing happened, what with the… the viruses. So was it really anyone's fault. Rockman saved the day. Everything is fine now."
Subaru's eyes closed off again. He shifted in his seat to face forward. Luna wasn't sure what precipitated that reaction, but clearly, her classmate had reached his limit for conversing. Not that it could have gone on much longer. Seritelli sensei entered the room and began class.
However, it seemed that her conversation with Subaru hadn't gone completely unnoticed. Tsukasa was sending covert, very covert, glances in the boy's direction and Kizamaro passed her a note.
What was that all about? It read.
We'll talk about it at lunch. She scribbled and snuck the note back.
Kizamaro nodded, glasses flashing with the movement of his head before he turned to face the front of the classroom, falling into perfect, note-taking mode.
Upon hearing that someone outside of the usual suspects – Kizamaro and Gonta – would be sitting at lunch with them, Subaru turned on his heel and nearly fled the hallway.
"Oh no. No way in hell am I sitting at a table flanked by your lackeys."
Luna rolled her eyes, "They're not my 'lackeys'," she argued, "They're my friends."
"They do whatever you tell them to. They're you lackeys."
"Well, Tsukasa-kun isn't like that. He wants to meet you. I bet you guys could get along."
Subaru looked over his shoulder, no doubt for her benefit, so that she could see the eyebrow he was raising at her, "Sure." Was all he said.
"C'mon, Hoshikawa-kun. I almost thought you were being nice this morning."
"I'm going to the observatory."
"You can't see anything during the day."
"It's quiet there." Subaru countered.
Luna swallowed, uttering the magic word that she hadn't wanted to use with him. "Please?"
Subaru paused. The magic word was kinda Luna's trump card. Usually she got her way just by being assertive – and well, demanding – so it really was a rare instance that she asked so nicely. But because it happened only on rare occasions, that made it even more powerful. That was the key.
"Fine."
"Excellent." She took his arm in hers. Very subtly, Subaru flinched. Whether it was from the contact or from whatever had made him look so miserable earlier that morning, she didn't know. But he let her lead him along. The hallway, now empty of students that had all migrated to the cafeteria, was quiet. But Luna thought she heard the soft, unmistakable sound of a chuckle. She glanced up at her classmate, but Subaru's grumpy expression looked to be the furthest thing from amused.
Luna dismissed the odd sound. It was probably just her ears playing tricks on her.
"Hey guys!" She called when they had made their way to the cafeteria, and then to Luna's usual table. Gonta roughly shoved the chairs back with his foot so they could sit. Luna flashed him a grateful smile. After explaining yesterday's events to the brawny boy, he had been very apologetic, both to Luna and Subaru – though he likely hadn't said anything of that sort to their surly classmate, nor was he likely to. Gonta was the kind of kid that showed how he felt through his actions.
"Hey, Prez." Kizamaro chittered, "Hey, Hoshikawa-kun."
Subaru offered a halfhearted wave and dropped into the offered chair, casting Gonta a sidelong glance. The bigger boy made no comment, clearly satisfied with his generosity.
"Hoshikawa-kun," Luna said, smoothing her dress underneath her and taking her seat, "This is Futaba Tsukasa-kun." She gestured to the lanky, boy, "He just returned from medical leave, which is probably why you haven't seen him before. Tsukasa-kun, meet Hoshikawa Subaru-kun."
"Nice to meet you, Subaru-kun." Tsukasa said in his usual, pleasant tenor.
The whole table might as well have frozen in place. Kizamaro made a startled meep. Gonta's eyes flickered between Subaru and Tsukasa. And Luna wondered just what in the hell did Tsukasa mean by greeting Subaru with such uninvited familiarity.
But Tsukasa's gaze was firm. And Subaru's brown eyes were as impassive as ever.
"You too, Tsukasa-kun." Subaru answered so casually that Luna thought her ears might just be playing tricks on her again. There was no way that prickly Hoshikawa Subaru had just… whatever. She needed to move the conversation along before things got awkward.
"Tsukasa-kun is really smart!" Luna gushed, the topic came out of the blue, "He really likes Biology, especially plant biology. Before the accident, he spent all his free time in the greenhouse. Almost like you do in the observatory and planetarium, Hoshikawa-kun!" She turned to the green-haired boy, "Are you planning to take up that habit again, Tsukasa-kun? I'm sure the plants are not doing half as well without your care!"
She was babbling, but, oh well. Subaru was watching the new kid with interest.
Tsukasa laughed, "Maybe. But I have to get through physical therapy first. And it really eats up a lot of my time."
"That's a bummer." Subaru commented.
"Yeah." Tsukasa's light brown eyes fixed on Subaru, "It sucks. Because gardening is really the best way to relax."
Subaru let out a chuckle, "I think stargazing is the best way to relax."
Luna blinked in surprise. Subaru – thorny, antisocial Subaru – was actually carrying on a conversation. Willingly. She really did need to check and see if pigs were flying today.
"Each to their own." Tsukasa offered casually, taking a sip of his drink. "Oh hey, by the way." He turned to Luna, "I heard there was an attack here yesterday. What happened? Something about viruses gone berserk?"
Luna, Kizamaro, and Gonta blinked out their haze. Subaru tipped his head curiously, "It was all over TV." Was his, somewhat unhelpful, response.
Tsukasa waved it away, "Yeah, yeah. I know. But you know how the media can sometimes miss things or just tell the public what they want to hear. I'm asking for a detailed, first-hand account." He flashed them a disarming grin.
Kizamaro shifted uncomfortably. Luna snuck a glance at Gonta. The giant boy took that as his cue. "Well," he rumbled, "It wasn't a typical virus."
"I knew it!" Tsukasa was on the edge of his seat, "I saw the damage to the school yard before I came in today. That didn't look like it could be caused by a typical virus."
"Rockman was here." Kizamaro chimed in, "Fighting the… thing."
Tsukasa's brow furrowed, "Rockman?"
"Rockman-sama!" Luna reiterated with enthusiasm, "He's a hero with virus busting powers!"
Tsukasa gave her a slightly disbelieving look, "Powers like what?"
That stumped Luna. But Kizamaro came to the rescue.
"Virus busting powers." The nerd elaborated, pushing his glasses up his nose, "Like hunters. They utilize weaponized cards or programs to eradicate bugs. The different codes are named after weapons, like 'sword,' 'bomb,' or 'ground wave.' But somehow, Rockman is able to materialize them in space. He makes the weapons real and then fights with them."
"But why would that be necessary?" Tsukasa asked, "Virsus aren't real. At least in the physical sense."
"Because," Luna explained, "These things that have been attacking lately are real. Physical. First time I saw it was on the wave rail. Then again at AMAKEN labs. Now here at school. They aren't the same as viruses, I think. They…"
"They're aliens." Gonta announced.
Kizamaro sighed, massaging his temples, "We've been through this Gonta-kun. That's a pretty far out theory. And we have no proof."
"Dempa-henkan." Was all the big boy answered.
"What?" Tsukasa pressed.
Subaru remained strangely quiet.
"It's what happened to Uta- me. It happened to me, yesterday."
Luna was glad that Gonta had the sense to keep quiet about their scientist friend. But she was surprised he was offering that information so willingly. Sure, Gonta had told her and Kizamaro about it yesterday because they had been there and they had seen it. But now he was telling Subaru and Tsukasa…
"I was really angry." Gonta continued, "Then that anger just got hotter and hotter until it felt like my insides were burning up like the sun. Those words were the last I remembered until Prez was yelling at me to let go of something." He shrugged in an 'I don't know' gesture, "When it wore off, I felt fine, just a little tired and dizzy."
"What does that have to deal with aliens?" Tsukasa sounded incredibly curious.
Kizamaro elaborated, "Gonta thinks that that these things are sentient. I mean, they do have enough power to materialize in real space. But it takes tons of energy to draw matter out of energy, so it seems pretty implausible to me."
"What do you think, Subaru-kun?" Tsukasa finally stepped on the land mine Luna had been purposefully avoiding for this entire conversation. Bringing in the budding scientist and astronomer wasn't the best move. What with his past and all. "Aren't you the physics expert?" was the proverbial final nail in the coffin.
Subaru was staring at his food, his face an immobile mask. But it would be weird for him not to say anything, Luna knew. Especially after he had been so friendly with Tsukasa from the get-go. And their verdant haired classmate probably knew nothing about Hoshikawa Daigo.
"They definitely aren't viruses." He said finally. Quietly.
"What do you think they are then?" Kizamaro just couldn't hold back the question. Luna knew it was tactless, but everyone listening really did want to know what he thought.
"You're right, Kizamaro." Subaru admitted, surprising just about everyone with his admission and his direct address of their residential nerd, "It takes a penta(kai)deca-joule of energy to form just a few grams of mass. That's ten to the fifteenth joules. If those creatures were solid, that would be an inordinate amount of energy. But, theoretically, if the creatures are a source of power unto themselves, then it might not be so implausible."
"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Kizamaro whispered.
He believes his father's claims, Luna realized. That aliens, invisible ones made of pure energy, are the source of earth's EM new technology.
"Aliens." Gonta was smug with satisfaction.
"That's impossible." Kizamaro sputtered.
And like a switch, Subaru's whole demeanor changed. He went rigid. Walls of impasse crashed down over his face. He was closing down – closing off.
He thinks he's said too much.
She wanted to put a comforting hand on his shoulder. She might not believe him completely – after all, she didn't want her hero crush to be an alien, how weird would that be – but she wanted him to know that they wouldn't leave him because of his beliefs. She wanted to let him know that they were his friends. But she was too slow.
"I'm not hungry." Subaru's tone was practically glacial. He stood up and tossed his, mostly uneaten lunch in the garbage. Without acknowledging them – looking back or leaving a departing word – he weaved through the cafeteria tables and pushed his way through the double doors. Luna knew, with absolute certainty, that he wasn't coming back. At least, not today.
But she couldn't bring herself to reprimand Kizamaro. They had needed to hear that. Luna wanted to know what in the world was going on, especially when it concerned her Rockman-sama. Kizamaro needed to see another side of the argument. Gota needed to know that he wasn't a monster. And Tsukasa… well, to be honest, she didn't know what he had gotten out of the conversation. But he certainly seemed to be gratified by it.
Hoshikawa Subaru:
Subaru dragged himself into his lab, entering his security passcode with clumsy fingers. He had just wanted out. He had just wanted to leave. The school – and all their questions – had become suffocating; or would have become suffocating if he hadn't run. Retreated. Yeah, that sounded better. The figurative cherry on top was that he was still recovering from the wave battle yesterday against Taurus.
He collapsed on a stool, leaning his head into his arms on the work bench. The cool steel was a welcome sensation, and he closed his eyes, enjoying it.
The bell buzzed from the door, signaling a visitor.
"Go away!" Subaru called, raising a hand for the purpose of shooing whoever it was out of his space.
But, to his irritation, the door opened anyway, "Subaru-kun?" It was Amachi's voice, "Some of the engineers said they saw you come in. I came to check on you."
"That's nice." Subaru waved his hand dismissively, not looking up.
"Are you okay?" the man asked, dragging a stool up to sit beside Subaru.
"M'fine. Just worn out."
"School taking a lot out of you?'
Subaru peered up at the researcher suspiciously, "I've only gone a few days now. How did you know?"
"Your mom called me," Amachi grinned, "I think she was crying she was so happy."
"Figures." He straightened, leaning his elbows on the table and sitting his chin on his palm.
The scientist cleared his throat, suddenly serious. He looked Subaru in the eye, his blue ones hard, "I saw the news about the attack yesterday. Those wave creatures were at your school, right."
"Yeah. But I didn't see anything. The students were 'taking cover.'"
Amachi hummed thoughtfully. But Subaru could feel his focus dissecting the situation. "Apparently it was a lot like the last time. But you didn't see it then either… didn't you leave to go home right before the attack on AMAKEN?"
"Yes."
Amachi pause for a beat before saying, "Subaru, I find it strange that you haven't asked about the details concerning the AMAKEN incident. Naturally, you would be curious. I've seen you here helping with cleanup. Heck, you even knew Utagai was hurt without my telling you. But not once have you asked what caused the crazy readouts we managed to get or what the source was that overloaded the grid."
"I heard about it from those guys from school. They were here when it happened!"
"They don't have any of the details on the technical ramifications, Su." Amachi shot back.
"I found out from some of the other employees."
"I highly doubt that."
"Well I'm sorry if I haven't been curious enough for you!" Subaru felt heat rising in his chest. Amachi's pressing remarks were rubbing him the wrong way, even if they were true. These conversations – the ones he didn't want to have – kept coming up.
"Subaru-kun," Amachi put a hand on Subaru's shoulder, feeling it tense beneath his touch, "What do you know? I'll fill you in on the rest."
Subaru turned away, "I heard that both times powerful EM signatures materialized in the form of virus-like creatures and wreaked havoc. Well, more like it was a battle between two EM… creatures."
"Yes. The news misreported it, calling the creatures viruses. But we released some of the footage from our security cameras, so I guess you figured it out from that."
A nod.
"What did you think about it?" Amachi asked.
"It's… strange."
"Subaru…"
The teen was quiet for a full minute, but Amachi knew that patience was a necessity when it came to dealing with Hoshikawa Subaru. Little did he know, it was the calm before the storm.
"So you believe it now." Subaru suddenly spat, turning on the young scientist, furious, "You finally accepted my dad's claim that EM creatures – aliens – exist. After all this time, you just had to see it for yourself and suddenly everything would make sense? You didn't trust him!"
Amachi tried to calm him. "Subaru-kun, it's not like that." He said weakly.
Subaru snorted, brown eyes boiling with anger and hurt, "You're my dad's best friend. He trusted you more than anyone else: trusted you with his work, his lab, even…" he choked, "even his family. And in the moment he needed you most, you didn't back him up. You stood by as the media labeled him a nutjob. The world remembers him as 'that crazy scientist that led a mass suicide mission'."
Subaru didn't know why he was saying all this now, but finally, pouring it out felt better than bottling it up. Amachi was his friend too – someone Subaru could talk to – but his admission revitalized the bitterness Subaru had felt all those years ago. His earlier confrontation wasn't helping his mood either.
"Why didn't you do anything?" he asked, eyes pleading for a painless answer.
Amachi sighed, no longer able to meet the boy's gaze, "You know I respected Diago-senpai more than anyone. I worked with him on his theories, followed his every move, hung on to his every word. Your father was a brilliant man; his leaps in technological progress astounded everyone. But when he told me that invisible aliens existed, well… it sounded like a bad conspiracy theory. In my heart, I knew Daigo had no reason to lie. But at that time, my brain wouldn't agree with me." He shrugged helplessly, "After the accident, I examined the data we had, searching for whatever had led him to that conclusion. But I never found anything."
He pressed on.
"I hated the slanderers and the liars that circled like vultures. The media was awful. I wanted them gone. But I couldn't do or say anything when I was critical as well; I wouldn't be able to defend him. All I could do before the mission was support him from the periphery. I… I tried, Su, but in the end, we still failed." He shut his eyes, fighting back the memories of the day he'd watched SS Peace explode, "Don't think I'm not haunted by that time. Even more so now that I know he was right."
Subaru was silent, digesting the confession. "'Is' not 'was.'" He said finally.
"Huh?"
"You're using past tense for my father. You're wrong."
Amachi placed folded hands on the work bench, shooting Subaru a sidelong glance, "What makes you say that?"
Gripping his star-pendant necklace, Subaru shrugged.
"Those are the communicators you two made, right?" the scientist inquired, indicating the accessory, "Does it have something to do with that?"
Subaru weighed the object in his palm, "We made them specially: internally sourced, encoded frequency, unique signal. No one can use them but him and I. Dad always joked that we would need them if the wave network ever collapsed. I thought he was kidding then, now I'm starting to think it might be a legitimate concern. It shouldn't activate for anyone but him…" he'd never told anyone this before, not even Warrock, "But twice since the accident, it's received… something. Mostly static, but I've been analyzing it for a message – anything really. Scared me half to death the first time, but it wouldn't do that if he were dead."
Amachi's eyes were wide, "You've kept this to yourself."
Subaru shot him a sharp look, "He's my father. This is my comm. The remains of the station held not a single corpse. Didn't anyone else think that was strange?"
"But it's been three years!" the scientist exclaimed.
"I received the last transmission less than a half a year ago. Something must be keeping him alive."
Amachi shook his head, "That's madness."
"Then let me be mad." Subaru said coldly.
Amachi sighed, deciding not to argue any further. It was obvious Subaru was upset. They wouldn't be able to have a rational conversation at this point. Which was when Amachi put a pause on his inner scientist and decided to channel 'friend.'
"AMAKEN is pouring all our resources into decoding the readings from the attacks. If this continues to happen, we'll do what we can to gather more information. Eventually, the Satellite Police are going to catch on to the fact that these creatures aren't normal viruses, and then they'll come here for answers. And weapons."
He moved a stool next to Subaru's and sat down, imitating the boy's pose: perched on the stool with hands folded on the surface of the steel work bench. Subaru was looking down, not making eye contact as Amachi continued.
"We'll do everything we can to figure this mess out. I hope you're right, Su. I hope we find your father. I think we need to be prepared for anything to happen."
Amachi placed a hand on Subaru's thin shoulder.
"Do you want to be a part of that?"
Subaru lifted his brown eyes to Amachi's grey-blue ones. The scientist had been around this boy since he was a child. He had watched him grow. He knew him very well. So he wasn't surprised to see those hints of hope, tinted by that scientific nature that accepted the facts. Right now, in Subaru's mind, there were a handful of facts that pointed to his father's continued existence; but there were innumerable facts that pointed to his father's death. The facts clashed and they hurt.
But Subaru was prepared for whatever he found. He wouldn't rest until he knew for certain, one way or the other.
"AMAKEN is like my second home." Subaru finally said, with a grin in his voice despite the fact that it wasn't on his face, "Why wouldn't I want to be a part of that."
Amachi clapped his hand on the boy's opposite shoulder, squeezing him in a tight side-hug. "Good. We'll be living and breathing wave technology for the next… well, for the foreseeable future."
Subaru answered Amachi's warm grin with a laugh.
You have no idea.
Hello! I'm back. That was an ugly hiatus... I've been pining to write recently, and all my other projects were stumping me (I think I'm overthinking it by trying to plan too much). ANyWay~ I wanted to say A MILLION THANKS TO YOU PLEASANTLY ANNOYING PEOPLE WHO ASKED FOR MORE! Here you go! Your reviews are amazing XD
I have a few comments to make. 1. Sorry for any inconsistencies/repetitive information because I haven't worked on this one in a while. 2. I was able to write this chapter because it was mostly character development, but if someone wants to be sweet and amazing I could really use a PM with a timeline of important events or boss battles (I don't remember and I don't have time to replay the games). I might consider offering a small reward in the form of spoilers ;) 3. I'm going to be honest, I really like this story, and I'll continue to write as I have inspiration. But that might come and go. However, encouragement and support really DO make a difference.
Thanks for reading!
