Chapter 12
Hoshikawa Subaru:
Luna had been giving him weird looks, but with Kizamaro's ceaseless chatter and Gonta's antics over the course of the morning, she hadn't had an opening to spill whatever was on her mind. Subaru was more-or-less okay with that. He was feeling kind of groggy today and he didn't want to deal with whatever was causing a twist in her ostentatious pigtails.
Class had been slow going. The substitute for Ikuta was trying to maintain some semblance of order in the class, but Subaru's classmates were doing their best to disrupt said order. It didn't help that they were in a completely different classroom and had none of the supplies necessary for the day's demonstration. It was a relief for everyone involved when the bell rang.
Subaru tagged along with Luna's group for lunch. Tsukasa was gone today for physical therapy. The message he'd sent explained that he was being assessed on his recovery progress, an event that would likely take all day. Which left Subaru a man down. And it wasn't like he could talk to Warrock while at school. It was shaping up to be a very long day.
"It sounds like Ikuta Sensei is going to lose his job." Kizamaro's voice nabbed Subaru's attention, "Apparently, he was already in hot water with administration. And then this happened." He looked extremely upset which successfully redirected Luna's attention from Subaru to Kizamaro.
"That's awful." Luna lamented, "Why? What happened isn't his fault. And he's such a good teacher!"
"What happened was just the straw the broke the camel's back, so to speak. Administration didn't think that his teaching methods would produce above-average scores on standardized tests. That we would bring down the school's reputation."
"That's bull." Gonta grunted.
"What makes you say that?" Luna asked the big boy.
"My dad's a professor at the university." Gonta explained, "He does studies on this kind of stuff all the time. He loves the way Ikuta teaches."
Subaru found himself honestly surprised. Gonta's dad was a professor?
"But how do we explain that to administration?" Kizamaro squeaked, "We need Ikuta Sensei! He's the backbone of the STEM program and one of the best teachers here at school! He really cares about the students!"
Gonta took a huge bite out of his sandwich, but spoke despite his full mouth, "My mom's on the school board. I'll talk to her."
"Thank you, Gonta-kun!" Kizamaro was practically crying with joy. He didn't even seem to mind when Gonta gave him a powerful pat on the back, knocking his glasses clean off his face and into his food. The two laughed about it. Luna watched the whole thing with fondness. Subaru observed more passively.
"While we're on the topic, Kizamaro." Luna began when the two boys had calmed down a bit, "I've decided on a fundraiser for the STEM club."
"What is it, Prez?" Kizamaro asked excitedly.
"A bake sale." Luna's voice was full of confidence, the kind she had when she gave a speech and made plans for her term as the next student body president, "I filed all the paperwork this morning. It will be next week. Akane-san has agreed to help me bake cookies, but you'll need to get the other STEM club members on board and ready to contribute."
"I'll ask my mom to make something too." Gonta pitched in.
"I'll make digital announcements!" Kizamaro added.
The three of them turned expectantly on Subaru. He paused, food only inches from his mouth.
"What?" he asked.
"Are you going to help out?" Luna queried. Her tone was neutral, not demanding but also not willing to just let his complacence slide. Still, Subaru felt cornered. There was something powerful about Luna being expectant. It's not that he didn't want to disappoint her, he'd done that plenty of times, but it was simply that she believed he wouldn't. Where in the world had she gotten that impression?
He stared at his food instead, "You're raising money to purchase parts for a quad-copter, right?"
"That's right." Kizamaro confirmed.
"Well, I don't have a way of helping with the bake sale, but I can help with the technical part. I know someone in the aviation department at AMAKEN that would definitely be willing to come in and talk to the students and or help with the construction. She's done a lot education programs in the past."
"That's a brilliant idea, Hoshikawa-kun!" Kizamaro oozed excitement.
Subaru couldn't help but offer a tired smile at that, "I was also thinking of coming to the STEM club sometime soon. I could help with programming. I'm pretty good at that."
Kizaramo's eyes shone behind his glasses, "Really!?" his voice had escalated a few octaves.
Subaru nodded.
"Oh my goodness!" The nerd gushed, "This is so exciting! Thank you, Prez. Thank you, Hoshikawa-kun!"
"Hey!" Gonta grouched, "What about me?"
"Thank you, Gonta-kun! You all are the best friends a guy could ask for!"
Friends, Subaru thought. First Warrock. Then Misora. Maybe Tsukasa. And now this group. So much for not needing them. They'd made themselves a part of his life without his permission. It wasn't so bad.
But deep inside, he didn't forget why he'd avoided friends for so long. Subaru knew that the most painful part of caring was losing.
The shooting star pendant felt heavy on his chest. It hadn't made a peep in over half a year now. He wouldn't let go of the hope that his dad was out there, still alive. But time plodded on. Where was he? What was he doing? Why wasn't he coming back?
Suddenly, his food didn't seem so appealing. He frowned at it. The conversation around him faded into a steady thrum of indistinct sound. His eyes felt dry and rubbing them didn't seem to help.
"Hoshikawa-kun, are you alright?" that was Luna.
"Fine." He mumbled, but even he didn't believe himself. Luna was bound to be much more suspicious. He could practically feel the stares of the tables other occupants on him. It made his skin crawl. People all around him. Chatter that droned on and on. An indistinct whine in his ears.
"Hoshikawa…"
Subaru cut Luna off, standing suddenly. For a millisecond the world tipped and he felt too light, like maybe he was in wave change. But he retained his balance and hoped against all hope that no one had noticed his slip-up.
"I'm leaving."
He ignored Luna's calls for him to 'come back.' They were just added noise in his suddenly busy brain. He wanted to talk to Warrock. Was this another side effect of wave change or was he just sick?
Subaru picked up his pace when he reached the empty hallway, sprinting to his locker. Thirty seconds later he had spun the lock to the right combination, grabbed his backpack, and headed outside. He was pretty done with school for the day, that much was obvious.
"What's up, kid." Warrock asked, his voice sounding both concerned and tiny as it emanated from the transer speakers "You kinda had a mini freakout back there."
"I thought it might be your fault, Rock." Subaru muttered back as he pushed open the main doors of the school and slipped out. It was sunny, but the chill in the air and the icy breeze negated any warmth he might have otherwise felt. Subaru pulled his red jacket closed and zipped it up, wishing for his heavier AMAKEN jacket. But no, Luna still had that one. Crap. He needed that back.
"I didn't do anything." Warrock said, "I've been good and stayed in your transer all day like a good little alien tag-along."
"Hmmm… that's strange because I was experiencing audio-visual impairment that usually comes with your EM exposure. What's up with that?"
"Couldn't tell you, kid. But I can tell you that there wasn't any spike in EM activity. Nothing within the radius I've been monitoring. It might have been a figment of your imagination. What's on your mind, kid?"
Warrock was certainly getting more in touch with human things if he was asking those kinds of questions.
Subaru sighed, "I was thinking about dad."
Warrock was silent for a while as Subaru walked. AMAKEN was his destination of choice, but he felt like taking the scenic route. Amachi might get suspicious if he showed up too early. So he found his feet following the bank of the river, near the bridge where he had first wave-changed.
"Kid," Warrock finally sighed, "Are you feeling okay?"
"What's up with this? Are you a doctor now?"
"I watched Grey's Anatomy."
"What's that?"
"It's an American TV show about doctors and junk and…" Warrock cut himself off, "Don't change the subject, Subaru. I just want to know if there's something wrong with your body. EM creature here! We don't have that! I don't know what could go wrong with you! We've already seen evidence of that!"
Subaru thought about it for a bit. He looked down at his arms, clad in this too-light jacket, hugged tight against his chest to conserve heat. Now that he thought about it, it was colder than this last night when he walked home without his jacket. He wanted to curse. It was so obvious now that he thought about it.
"I think I'm coming down with a cold." He mumbled.
"Well that's better than having more, freaky wave-change side effects." Warrock attempted to make Subaru feel better and failed abysmally.
As he walked, Subaru became more aware of the fact that his head felt heavy and his sinuses ached. Decreased appetite, feeling dizzy, short emotional fuse. Yep. He was probably sick. He just hadn't noticed it with all the weirdness that had happened to him lately.
"Not to stress you out any more, kid. But I think you have another tag-along."
Subaru paused and attempted to discreetly look around. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed a very distinct, drab khaki coat. Inspector Goyouda was peeking over at him from the sidewalk across the street. The policeman was sucking what looked like a carton of orange juice. In less than ten seconds, he finished the carton and tossed it in a public trash can.
Just great. This exactly what Subaru did not need today.
"What should we do?" Subaru whispered to Warrock.
"You think you can lose him?"
"Not in the middle of the day when there's no one out and about. And not when it would be blatantly obvious. So no. I don't think so."
"Ignore him then." Warrock said.
"It won't make him go away. You know how persistent that dude can be."
"What are your options?"
"None!" Subaru hissed at his, frankly, unhelpful companion.
"Shit, he's coming over here!"
Subaru would have told Warrock off for the language, but alas, yes, Goyouda was coming over. Crossing the street and walking very intentionally in Subaru's direction. Subaru decided to start walking, but he didn't get very far.
"Hey, kid!" Goyouda called out, "I know you noticed me, so there's no point in pretending."
Subaru plastered a smile on his face before turning to greet the inspector, but there was no way Goyouda couldn't see how fake it was.
"Oh! Inspector, what can I do for you?"
"Cut the crap, kid. You know why I'm here. Or I'm sure you have an idea, at least."
"No clue." Subaru almost winced at the way his voice chirped.
Inspector Goyouda actually did wince, "Do you want me to lay if out for you like you're stupid, Hoshikawa Subaru-kun."
Subaru thought about the pros and cons of such a method. He wasn't sure how much Inspector Goyouda thought he knew. He'd rather play it safe. But on the other hand, he'd rather not be lectured like a child.
"I assume it has something to do with the recent EM attacks."
"Bingo." Goyouda grinned, "Now we're getting somewhere. I want you to tell me why I always find you lurking around in the background of those attacks. You a fanboy or something?"
"Fanboy for what?"
"Thought you might be like that Luna girl. Guess not huh?" Goyouda turned more serious, "Rockman..."
Subaru couldn't help the way he startled at the title.
"What do you know about him?" Goyouda's face was awfully close to Subaru's. The inspector could be so intense, it was kind of intimidating when he didn't have the ability to just run away at the speed of light. Instead, Subaru simply took a step back and reestablished his personal space.
"I know about as much as you do." Subaru said evenly, "Or about as much as we know at AMAKEN labs. Theoretically, EM creatures have a different wave reading and capacity than normal viruses. You should really be talking to Amachi-san about this. He's the expert on the subject of all things EM. He sees all the data. He's the one with all the scientists working for him."
"But what I want to know is why they always crop up around you? Do you know how many times it takes for something to not be a coincidence, Subaru-kun?"
"Ummm…" Was there a good answer to that?
"Two. Exactly two times." The inspector's tone was short – to the point, "Meaning that there is no such thing as a coincidence. And, kid, you've been around much more than twice."
Subaru rolled his eyes, trying to affect the air of an unimpressed teenager. In reality, he was sweating bullets down his back despite the cold, "If that's the case, why don't you try with Shirogane-chan. I'm sure she'd just love to tell you everything about Rockman."
"She's not the one with the technology and the know-how."
"What are you talking about?"
"Traffic cameras caught you leaving the scene of attack number one." Goyouda pointed at a bridge in the distance. A passenger wave rail passed over it, reflecting the early afternoon sun and shining like a beacon. It felt like damning evidence to Subaru. Like he'd returned to the scene of a crime. Goyouda continued, "The tech boys said that someone had busted viruses in the control box right before the incident. Not everyone has the ability to do that. Most people just call the Satellite Police when there's a virus problem."
"So I did a public service." Subaru hedged, "What's the issue here?"
"I just want to know why you're always slipping under the radar when you probably know more than the average high schooler about what's going on. I don't think you've been interrogated once in the past few months."
"So you decided to go out of your way to do so? I hate to break this to you Inspector, but I'm a pretty normal teenager. You know what that means? I don't particularly want to talk with grown-ups about stuff. And unlike Amachi, I'm not contracted to tell you about any of my research done at AMAKEN. That's called 'intellectual property.'" Subaru had to pause his rant as his mouth grew dry. He coughed, but there was nothing to expel besides the irritation growing in his throat.
Goyouda reached into a coat pocket and produced another carton of orange juice. He held it out to Subaru who regarded it suspiciously. Why did he have all that orange juice anyway?
"It's high in Vitamin C." Goyouda said when Subaru didn't take it immediately.
"I know that." Subaru grumbled and reluctantly accepted the drink.
"First, the incident with the railroad." Goyouda held up a finger. "Second at AMAKEN. Third and fifth at your school. Unless you were at that concert for the fourth attack too?"
Subaru took a sip of orange juice. It was cool against his throat. It helped. So he started back up with his argument, "Like I said before, I'm not directly related to any of those incidents. I live in this area, I work at AMAKEN, and I go to Kodoma High with little choice in the matter. I didn't ask for EM creatures to target those places. And if you want to know why I haven't been interrogated, it's because I don't like talking to police. Which is why this conversation is so horribly painful for me and I'd like it to be over."
"That isn't an excuse!"
"No, but it's a reason." Subaru countered, "That's what you get here. Reason. You want to logic things out? Well, it's pretty simple."
"In my opinion, the logic points to you being connected to Rockman somehow."
Subaru threw up his hands in exasperation, dispelling his some of his nervous energy in the motion as well as some of his orange juice, "That's a stretch of the imagination and you know it. We don't know what these things are exactly – not even the experts at AMAKEN. It would be nearly impossible for me to somehow make a connection in that time and learn things beyond the realms of modern science!"
"Nearly impossible." Goyouda repeated.
"What?"
"You said 'nearly impossible.' So you think there is a possibility?"
Subaru had already hit the limit for his ability to cope with this day back in the school cafeteria, now this was just pushing it. His response to Goyouda's accusation was pitched low. His throat was really starting to ache now, "Inspector, what do you know about log odds?"
Goyouda's brow furrowed, "Like probabilities."
"Yeah. Log odds are statistical values that simplify probabilities based on new evidence. There's this idea that log odds show where we need something called 'infinite certainty' to provide evidence that something will happen. Conversely, you'd need 'infinite absurdity' to provide counterevidence that something will not happen."
"So what you're saying is…"
"What I'm saying is that you can stand around all day whine about semantics, but I think I've made my point. If you really want to figure out what's going on with EM creatures attacking innocent schools, they you should talk to an expert like Amachi-san and not a high schooler."
Subaru winced as his own speech as he turned to go.
"'EM creatures.'" Inspector Goyouda sounded like he was talking to himself, "You haven't called them viruses once this whole time."
Subaru kept walking.
"You're not off the hook yet, Hoshikawa Subaru."
Subaru didn't stop.
Subaru didn't even knock on the door to Amachi's lab, just disabled the lock and buzzed his way in. Amachi was sitting at his computer. Three monitors were active – one running a script, another recording data, and the last plotting a spastic waveform. If the hand gripping his messy, unwashed hair was any indication, Amachi was not having a good time with whatever he was working on.
Frankly, Subaru was a little too short on pity to care.
"When are you going to tell him?" Subaru asked bluntly.
Amachi didn't look away from his screen, "Oh, so it's you, Subaru. I thought it might have been Itoshi, he's supposed to bring a signal filter I need for this for this program. It's not running right."
"Amachi." Subaru dragged out his friends name in a sort of 'focus on the question' tone.
"Yeah, you gotta be more specific, Subaru."
"When are you going to tell Inspector Goyouda everything? Up to this point you've been dancing around the topic, telling him things are just theories or you don't know enough yet. Don't you think it's about time to tell the world what's going on?"
Amachi spun around on his stool and faced Subaru head on, "What's up with you?" He asked, inspecting the teenager in front of him, "You're cranky today."
"Well, I just got stopped by Inspector Goyouda in a public place after he'd been trailing me. I don't really appreciate him coming to me for answers when he's paying you for them."
"You look kinda pale, Subaru. Are you sick?"
"That's not the point."
"So you are sick." Amachi surmised, "Well, if it makes you feel better, I have a meeting with Inspector Goyouda tomorrow and a press conference the day after that. Our findings at AMAKEN labs are ready to go public. I will lay out the basics of what's going on at that time. In the meantime, we've got to finish up the countermeasures because people are going to be a lot more concerned after Wednesday."
Subaru deflated a little. Amachi had a good point.
Amachi sighed and continued, "Utagai's tracking program is going to be downloaded into all the SP's transer today. I might have this prototype done by the end of the week if I continue at this pace."
Subaru finally noticed that more than just Amachi's hair was messy. There was that air about him that meant he'd been living in the lab over the weekend. Amachi was probably under a lot of pressure. As far as Goyouda was concerned, Amachi was his only advantage in the fight against EM attacks. After all, it was obvious Goyouda didn't trust Rockman.
"What does it do?" Subaru asked, meaning Amachi's prototype.
Amachi smile was tired yet satisfied, "Using the data we've gathered from the attacks, I managed to isolate an energy shunt that occurs only in physical EM matter – whether it's a virus or an FMian."
"Meaning?" Subaru prompted.
"Meaning it's like arteries in humans. Arteries carry oxygenated blood to tissues where the oxygen is in turn used to create energy. In the case of EM matter, there's a characteristic redirection of energy that is solely involved in making EM waves physical. So, theoretically, if we can sever that source, redirect it, or siphon it off, we can de-materialize EM matter. Of course, after that, you'd still have to bust whatever it is in virtual space, but it will no longer be attacking humans."
Amachi looked pretty damn pleased with himself.
Subaru thought he might need to go lie down.
He reminded himself that this was a good thing – mankind being able to defend themselves. But in the back of his mind, all he could think about was how bad that would probably feel. For a virus, for an EM creature, for a denpa-human. No, he wasn't planning to sabotage Amachi's efforts, but he would definitely be steering clear of anything Amachi planned to give Inspector Goyouda.
"That's good." Subaru finally said faintly. It was a split second later that he realized that he'd disappointed Amachi by not being more excited about cool technology. Amachi got up from his stool and went to check Subaru's temperature.
"You really don't look good. Do you want me to take you home?"
Subaru met Amachi's open, honest eyes. It was barely one in the afternoon and already, so much had happened. Yeah, he wasn't feeling well. Yeah, he wanted to go home and just sleep this off.
"That'd be great."
Shirogane Luna:
There was no way they were going to not talk about their classmate after he left. And it started with Gonta's succinct:
"What set Skipper off this time?"
Kizamaro put a hand to his chin, "I'm not sure. Everything had been going so well up to that point. Hoshikawa-kun offered to help and said that he was coming to STEM club. And then he just kinda…" He imitated an explosion by popping both hands beside his head and making a pew noise.
"He didn't look very well." Luna observed.
"Well," Kizamaro said factually, "He looked the same as he has for the past few weeks."
This was true. Their classmate's run-down appearance hadn't really been a recent development, but whatever just happened must have exacerbated it. Subaru had hit his limit. To be entirely frank, Subaru's limit wasn't very great. If only he would just talk to them – or her, to be more specific.
"We've got a lot to do today." Was all Luna said instead, "Let's focus on that for now. We can check in on him after school activities."
"Yes, prez!" both boys chimed.
And so the rest of the day passed in a busy blur. The STEM club still met, despite Ikuta's absence. Every member was absolutely crushed to hear about their favorite teacher's predicament, but Gonta made sure to assure them loudly that he would do everything in his power to bring Ikuta back – including threatening bodily harm on administration if they didn't. Luna shut him down and dragged him to their next appointment after that. They left Kizamaro there to finish up the bake sale details with the rest of the club members.
Luna moved on to the main office and placed her self-nomination for student body president – the one she'd had filled out for months. She picked up the schedule for candidate events and tucked it neatly into the folder containing the rest of her campaign information.
Gonta was getting restless with all the paperwork, so they killed a few minutes while waiting for Kizamaro at the convenience store near to the school. Gonta purchased a hot croquet and fiddled with the weapons cards on display. Luna settled for a green tea latte and looked out the window at the darkening sky. Her backpack felt overstuffed with Subaru's heavy jacket still rolled up inside.
Kizamaro finally joined them, full of energy after the day's events. The three of them together walked to AMAKEN, figuring that would be the best place to start their search for Subaru. Along the way, they passed the wave rail that had been wrecked back during Rockman's first appearance. Not a scratch remained. Luna thought about how much had changed since then – but also about how much they still didn't know. Rockman's eyes, tinted red by his visor, flashed in her mind's eye and she had to fight down the way her heart soared.
Sometimes emotions were so stupid. She had so much more to be worrying about than her crush.
AMAKEN was a buzz of activity when they arrived. Luna didn't know for sure, but she could make a guess: things were about to change. And AMAKEN was right in the middle of it. The trio found Amachi and Utagai in the main control room. Other scientists flitted about, asking for Amachi's signature here or there while the man himself continued to keep up multiple conversations.
The boyish scientist noticed the high schoolers fairly quickly – they stood out among the masses of lab coats, no doubt. But with being swarmed as he was, the best he could do is nab Utagai's attention and send the slender scientist over in his stead.
"What's going on?" was the first thing out of Kizamaro's mouth once Utagai was within earshot.
"Most of the Satellite Police force came in this afternoon to have their transers upgraded, so things are kind of a mess right now. Why don't we get out of their way?"
Utagai gestured at a hallway that Luna didn't remember going down before. She cast another glance as Amachi, but the man had been pulled back under by work, so she wasn't likely to get a word into him.
"Is Hoshikawa-kun here?" She asked Utagai instead.
The slender scientist frowned a little, "Unfortunately, no." he ran a hand through his hair, pushing unkempt bangs away from his face, "Amachi-san took him home earlier this afternoon. Apparently Hoshikawa-kun wasn't feeling very well."
Yeah, Luna had guessed as much.
"It's a bummer." Utagai went on, "I wanted him to be here for this demo, but I'm sure I'll have plenty of time to show it to him later. You three, on the other hand, I won't always have at my disposal. What do you say, you want to test something out for me?"
Utagai's grey eyes glittered with excitement.
Kizamaro and Gonta were quick to match him, glittering eyes and all. They bounced up and down as they walked, Utagai leading the way. They made a left turn, and then a right, and soon Luna knew she wouldn't be able to find her way out without assistance. She most certainly had never been to this part of AMAKEN labs before.
"What are we gonna do?" Gonta asked, more than willing to participate.
"Let me show you." Utagai's transer chimed, permitting him access through a pair of thick doors. The room beyond was marked up with yellow tape outlining an empty space that took up most of the main floor of the lab. Only a single computer station was located on the periphery. Sets of what looked like projectors or spotlights hung from the ceiling in groups of three, "Seeing it will be much easier than explaining," Utagai continued as he booted up the computer and logged on, "Just go ahead and stand in the yellow square."
The three high schoolers did as they were told, looking around for some clue as to what was about to happen.
"I've been recreating the conditions used by the viruses and EM creatures that went physical. Basically, my goal is to reverse engineer the process and create something from EM space. Only instead of an alie... instead of a dangerous entity, I'm trying to materialize every-day objects."
The projectors hummed over their heads, lights flickering behind the glass lenses.
"Um…" Kizamaro was suddenly nervous, "Is this dangerous? Like, at all?"
"No." Utagai assured, "I've created a denpa space and the only thing being manipulated in this program is the synthetic denpa. However, you will be able to interact with materialized objects. So please don't use the hammers to beat on each other."
Gonta smirked, "I make no promises."
"I will take your hammer away." Utagai deadpanned.
Gonta shrugged, obedient once again.
In the air above their heads, a number floated – blue and three dimensional – like Luna could reach out and touch it. Starting at three, it counted down and a buzzer sounded at zero. A rush of pixels fluttered around Luna, ruffling her hair. She was surprised to find that she could feel them. They coalesced in front of her, building a bright red hammer. It looked cartoonish and fake, but it was warm to the touch when she reached out and grasped it.
Beside her, Kizamaro let out a little gasp of awe.
"The game functions simply to test the performance characteristics of my invention, but you three don't need to worry about that. All you need to do is smash the 'balloons' with the highest number. Whoever gets the most points wins!"
"It's like a minigame!" Gonta grinned as he gripped his hammer with more force. Under his fingers, the red material wavered and undulated, but it remained solid.
Oh, if it was competition he wanted, then Luna would willingly provide. A bubble bearing the number '15' appeared above Gonta's head. And just as he bent down to jump up and hit it with his hammer, Luna sprang off his back and into the air. Her hammer connected with the balloon which busted apart with a satisfying sound not unlike the tinkling of glass.
Her feet jarred on her landing, she shock hurting a little, but she stuck it regardless. She turned and gave her two friends a smirk, "You boys had better try harder if you want to win."
That lit a fire in their eyes.
It was so easy to forget about their worries as they played, match after match. A few times, the program crashed, causing them all to turn on Utagai and demand he restart it. All three of them had something to prove, whether it was to themselves or each other, they weren't sure. Meanwhile, Utagai reaped the benefits of having willing participants to generate data. No one was thinking about their sick classmate. No one was thinking about class elections. No one was thinking about the STEM club being disbanded. No one was thinking about powerful invisible creatures roaming earth. It was just innocent fun.
It surprised no one that it was both late and dark when they left AMAKEN. Luna assured her friends that she would check in on Subaru since they lived nearest to each other. With a casual, 'see you tomorrow' she set off under the streetlights for the Hoshikawa household.
The night air felt clear and sharp in her lungs, not unlike the other night when Subaru had walked her home. Her imagination filled up the silence with ghosts of his soft steps and low voice.
She shook her head as if to chase the errant thought from her head.
Weird, is what it was. Rockman-sama was her goal. Find him. Charm him. Get him to recognize her as his ally and possibly more. That's how it had been since she had met the hero, so there was no way she would settle for someone else. Not when she had barely started.
Subaru's small smile flashed in her mind. And in retrospect it seemed less reserved and more… shy.
Pfft. That was not a word she'd associate with Hoshikawa-kun. He was always so straightforward – saying what he thought even though it would hurt someone's feelings. Heck, half the time that was probably the point!
But a voice in the back of her mind reminded her that that hadn't been the case in a while.
Without really realizing, she'd arrived at the Hoshikawa household. Her thoughts were still a mess. Numbly, she raised her hand and knocked on the door. As usual, Akane answered.
"Oh! Luna-chan! I didn't expect to see you here so late."
"I'm sorry, Hosh… Akane. I don't mean to intrude. I just came to check on Hoshikawa-kun and drop off…"
She was cut off as Akane, mom-mode fully in force, shepherded Luna inside. Akane sat Luna down at the table and took a sizzling electric kettle off its pedestal, pouring three mugs of tea before Luna even had a chance to say anything else.
"What kind would you like?" Akane asked, her head in a cabinet, "I was going to make some chamomile for Subaru, but I'm partial to jasmine blossom myself."
"Jasmine sounds nice." Was all Luna could get out.
"Good choice."
Akane added tea bags to the mugs and set two of the three mugs on the table. The steam wafted up in front of Luna's face, tickling her cold nose.
"Now." Akane gave Luna her full attention, "What can I do for you."
"Well, I just came to see how Hoshikawa-kun was doing. We went to AMAKEN earlier today and Utagai-san said that he was sick."
"I'm afraid Su's got a cold." Akane took a sip of her tea, "He probably won't be at school tomorrow either. I think he's been running a little ragged this past week."
"I thought that too."
Akane's expression turned appraising, "So you noticed."
"He's not very good at hiding it."
"Have you noticed anything else?" Akane asked. She sounded uncharacteristically serious, which made Luna want to fidget in her seat.
"Like?"
"Oh, I don't know." Akane laughed and just like that, she wiped away the serious atmosphere in an instant. Like it had never been there in the first place. It strongly reminded Luna of Subaru. Akane continued, "You said you had something else?"
"Yeah." Luna dug Subaru's jacket out of her backpack and handed it over, "Hoshikawa-kun, uh… he left this at school. I think he was in a hurry."
"Ah, I was wondering where this went."
Luna downed half her mug of tea right then and there, as if to stave off further questioning. She really didn't want to tell anybody else about that night. It felt kind of private. That walk home in the dark, just between the two of them. She wasn't sure why she felt strangely embarrassed about it.
"So." Akane dragged out the word and then took another sip of tea, "Is everything a go for the bake sale, Luna-chan?"
Now here was something Luna could get excited about, "Yep! It will be next week, Monday. So we can get all the baking done on Sunday, if that works for you?"
"Of course it does."
Luna breathed a sigh of relief, "I'm glad. I'm really looking forward to baking with you."
"Speaking of which, how is it going with your boy, Luna-chan? Any progress?"
Luna blushed. It felt like a call back to her traitorous thoughts on the way here – everything so tangled up like emotions tend to be.
"I actually haven't seen him."
Akane blew on her tea, "So he doesn't go to your school?"
"No."
"Hmmm…" was Akane's only response.
"Is that… is that a bad thing?"
Akane just laughed and waved Luna's concern away, "Not at all! It goes to show that you are an adventurous girl. Get outside your comfort zone! Experience something new! You never know what you'll learn along the way!"
"Is that how it worked out for you and Daigo-san?"
Akane rested her cheek in her hand, "Could be. But I guess I'm thinking about a more recent experience." Her eyes strayed to the kitchen doors. The ones Luna knew led up the stairs and to Subaru's bedroom.
"You're talking about Hoshikawa-kun?" Luna asked, just to clarify.
"Despite the way it seems, he really has improved." Akane's smile was fond, "I know he's easy to complain about and he can get on peoples' nerves. But I know my son. He's really put himself out there recently. He's outside of his comfort zone. But I guess I'm still a bit worried about him."
Luna leaned forward. She knew she was being invasive. But she knew that for some reason she needed to know, "But you said that getting outside one's comfort zone was a good thing. Why worry?"
"Subaru is a lot like his father." Akane's eyes were sad as she said, "He takes on a lot of responsibility whether he's aware of it fact or not." She smiled a smile that was all mom and changed the subject, "Now that this tea has cooled off, I'm going to take it up to Subaru. You better get home before it gets any later, Luna-chan. Have a good night!"
And if that wasn't food for thought, Luna didn't know what was.
Hoshikawa Subaru:
At first, he thought he was having the strange dreams because he was sick. That tended to happen to him when he slept at weird hours, semi coherent. But they'd continued even after he started feeling better.
Subaru rolled over under his blankets and noticed another steaming mug of tea at his bedside. His mom had brought him a near constant supply since he'd come down with a cold, the occasional medicinal tablet sitting in its wrapper beside the mug so he could take them together. Usually, it wasn't his mom's coming, but rather her going that seemed to register the most in his halfway lucid state. He woke up a little more fully, feelings of warmth and appreciation blooming at the thought of his mom.
The tea was peppermint this time.
"Kid." Warrock popped open the lid of Subaru's transer where it sat on his bedside. The FMian's face was serious, "How long does this stuff typically last?"
Subaru chuckled, but it came out hoarse.
"It's a virus, Rock. You just got to wait it out."
"You've barely gotten out of bed for the past few days. It's Friday, Subaru!"
"Really?" Subaru yawned. He took another long draught of his tea and set it back down, "If it's the weekend then maybe I should just go back to sleep." He rolled over and closed his eyes, heedless to the late afternoon sun streaming though the skylight.
It was as if his senses were trying to register things from the far end of a tunnel. Subaru heard Rock say something, but be couldn't make out what it was.
"We really need to talk, kid."
Exhaustion was the enemy here, closely rivaled by time. Something was coming. Warrock could feel it in the way the energy of the EM atmosphere shivered passed his senses. But Subaru could barely stay awake for a few hours much less leave the house. Denpa-henkan and wave battling were far beyond their reach at the moment.
Warrock felt a sharp stab of concern. Maybe not for Subaru. The kid would recover. He'd be fine. But there was no good explanation for the visions he'd seen – glimpses of creatures too big to compress into his field of vision. Echoing voices telling him…
You are the chosen one.
Ha! Now that was hilarious. If Subaru had a body in this dream he'd be choking on his laughter. He wasn't some chosen one. He was just some kid with a dad everyone thought was dead and an invisible alien tad-along that no one else could see.
He didn't want to be protagonist material. In fact, Subaru would be infinitely happier if the world, or karma, or whatever just left him alone and let him have his normal life. Life with a dad and a mom and no crushing concern about losing anybody. Ever.
You are the chosen one.
No thanks, he wanted to say. He wanted to walk away. He didn't like the feeling of tiny insignificance he felt before these… things.
Three of them, radiating brilliant primary colors, loomed over his consciousness. Subaru felt pinned down, like a butterfly on display. Equally weak and helpless.
His perspective spun and suddenly his breath caught in his nonexistent throat. Beneath him, the glowing dome of the earth shimmered. Rays of sunlight raked across oceans at an oblique angle. And the effect was beautiful. Half of the globe was pitch blank and dusted with manmade lights condensed into cities too small to see.
You can save them all. We will help you.
And despite the awe-filled moment, Subaru felt himself grow angry and confused. Why? Why was it his job? What did he do to deserve the task of saving the world?
You are much like your father. And like your father, you are not alone. Remember us and remember Brotherband.
But who are you?
His voice was nowhere yet everywhere.
Blue wings flashed by his consciousness, diving down to earth in a graceful arc. A green whirlwind spiraled through the atmosphere like a leaf in the wind. Red, like a gleaming rocket, circumnavigated the globe once before meeting him face to face.
Ruby eyes gleamed. Razor teeth loomed in front of him. A corona of vibrant crimson blocked out the entirety of his vision and sucked him in like a black hole.
He lost grip on the dream after that.
He woke with the sense that this was the start of something much bigger.
And he wasn't sure how to feel about that.
So, I guess I feel pretty bad about making you all wait for so long. But what is always worse is how I have to re-read old chapters to catch up with the plot before I can start writing again. Which is pure torture cause some of my old stuff is, quite frankly, really shitty. Kay, done with the self-flagellation.
I'm going to put a longer author's note in here, but let me premise it by saying, I FULLY INTEND TO CONTINUE WRITING THIS UNTIL IT'S DONE. I have no way of knowing how long that is going to take. But this is the one story where I've stubbornly said to myself: you started this and you're going to f***ing finish it! So there. It might not be pretty. Like I've already said, reading my old chapters is painful to me. I started this years ago and I have personally changed a lot since then. So I might be inconsistent. I'm writing to finish, not writing for perfection. So frankly, that's going to give some people a lot to criticize. I want to you all to know that, in my own way, I'm trying my best.
That being said, THANK YOU to all the people that pointed out that my title was ENTIRELY WRONG! I feel like an idiot and now I'm kinda surprised that nobody pointed it out sooner. So everyone who reviewed about that, you're my hero. I also want to offer a shout-out to casualotaku27 for checking in on this chapter's progress. If it wasn't for you, this chapter might have been a few months longer in coming (while I try to work Mob Psycho 100 out of my system *sweats*).
So anyway, what did I have to comment about in this chapter? I love expanding on what the adults are doing behind the scenes: Goyouda has done more investigating of his own, Amachi is really cranking out those weapons (watch out Subaru!), and Akane isn't just letting her son just slip past her. Utagai's session with the kids and the dream are what I plucked out of canon here. Subaru took a couple days off, but the world is still moving on without him. Big changes are coming up. I hope I'm ready to write it!
Thank you to everyone who reads, reviews, and supports me in this lengthy ugly drawn-out process. You guys are great! ;)
