Chapter 13: Rikai - Understanding
By the time the phone call came, tearing him away from the tea and snack Tsugami had so cheerfully brought out to the table in the family room of Professor Misugi's house, Hikawa was once again frustrated to the point of anger, and almost welcomed the appearance of an Unknown. He didn't know how, but somehow Tsugami Shouichi always managed to get under his skin and pick at Hikawa's weakest spots and excel in them himself. Somehow, he didn't know how, it always ended up in some kind of competition that Hikawa lost...
He forced his thoughts away from the cycle of anger and frustration at his own limitations, and proceeded to suit up. He was mostly sure that the amnesiac Tsugami (and who even knew if that was the man's real name) didn't do it on purpose. They... were just good at different things, that was all, Hikawa reassured himself. There had to be something he was good at that Tsugami wasn't. Surely.
"Mind on the job, Hikawa-kun," Commander Ozawa snapped.
"Of course," he replied, mind instantly back on the task at hand. She handed him the G3-X's helmet and he put it on, taking as always just a second to get used to the visual display while the helmet closed around his head. He headed for the G-Chaser bike, ready to move out.
If you stared long enough into the darkness, Yuusuke believed, eventually you'd find the light in it. Similarly, if you spent enough time in adrenaline-filled fights, sooner or later you found your center and lost your fear, like a long-distance runner hitting the wall and shattering it on the way through. He looked into the silver-mirrored eyes of the Beast Lord that was trying to kill him, and smiled.
Then he turned and ran.
As expected, as planned, the creature followed him. His feet pounded on the pavement as Yuusuke used senses he hadn't possessed two years ago--and the fact that he still had them, despite being unable to transform, he thought, surely meant something--and dodged projectiles, weaving back and forth in a serpentine pattern as he ran. Morning runs with Ichijou flashed through his mind, as did runs up Mayan pyramids and the view from the top, looking over the deep green jungle out at the blue sky...
He rounded a final corner and, as planned, dodged between the police cars there, the officers closing rank behind him, springing the trap, as he got to his bike.
The concentrated gunfire wasn't enough to destroy the monster, but it did slow it down slightly as he watched.
"Godai," Ichijou--one of the marksmen--shouted to him, "ride!"
"Right," he replied, nodding, and revved his bike to life. The fish-creature turned to watch as he rode away and, ignoring the policemen, it followed.
He didn't open the throttle all the way, keeping in mind the second part of the plan. He needed to let the creature follow him until--
Flashing lights pulled up beside him and Yuusuke grinned, looking over at the G3-X armor. "Hikawa-san!"
"Godai-san," the armored officer replied.
"Where do you want to fight it?" he asked.
He could practically hear Hikawa's shock in the hesitation that followed. His reactions weren't those Hikawa was expecting from a civilian, he supposed. "Follow me," the officer said, and sped up slightly, taking the lead.
They ended up in a wooded area with no other civilians around. Godai led the Unknown around the woods once while Hikawa braked his bike to a stop and pulled out the GX-05 gun, unlocked it, and unfolded it into shape. He listened, tracking the sound of the other bike's engine, and then Godai Yuusuke was back in sight, a silvery shape following him... Hikawa sighted on that shape and opened fire. It was already slowed somewhat from the exertion of the chase and the bullets the other officers had spent on it earlier. The GX-05's bullets were special armor-piercing rounds, based on and adapted from those Enokida Hikari had developed to fight the Unidentified Lifeforms. In a concentrated stream, they were just enough to eventually penetrate the Unknowns' defenses and kill them.
As though he knew this, like they'd had a plan set out beforehand, Godai Yuusuke stayed out of the line of fire and circled around Hikawa, his bike fishtailing to a neat stop among the shed leaves on the forest floor. He didn't shut his engine off, though, didn't dismount, ready to lead the Unknown around the woods again if necessary.
There was no way he was a civilian, Hikawa thought as the Unknown finally hesitated, shuddered, and then fell in an explosion. He breathed a "ha" of satisfaction, listening to Ozawa and Omura's congratulations, then turned to face Godai Yuusuke. He set the GX-05 on the back of the G-Chaser and removed the G3-X's helmet. Godai had removed his as well, shaking out his hair briefly and smiling at Hikawa.
"That was really impressive, Hikawa-san!" he said enthusiastically. "I can see why the police department depends on you."
"Thank you," Hikawa replied automatically. "Godai-san... you are Number Four, aren't you?" he asked.
Still astride his bike, helmet held in both hands, Godai Yuusuke smiled beatifically at Hikawa, and Hikawa couldn't even begin to read all the layers he knew had to be present in that smile. "Well, maybe," he admitted.
She'd been right, Ozawa thought with a small smile of triumph. Out of the barest data facts and an unconfirmed rumor, she'd correctly figured out the identity of Number Four. Even that posturing snake Houjou didn't know who he was...
"This information goes nowhere," she ordered, glancing right at Omura.
"Ozawa-san!" he protested, and she could hear the plaintive unspoken Don't you trust me? in his voice. She just stared at him until he reluctantly nodded, then turned her attention back to her screen. He thought she didn't trust him, but she did. She trusted Omura Takahiro to be exactly what he was--loyal, and middling clever, but not as bright or determined as Hikawa. She trusted both of them, but while Hikawa, unbound, would take a secret like Godai Yuusuke's to the grave with him, Omura wouldn't be so cautious. She needed his promise.
She wouldn't let Houjou and those like him get their hands on Godai Yuusuke. He'd been the one she'd based the Guardian armor on, and while she'd known that Doctor Enokida had had to have known who Number Four was, the woman's research had been clinical and not hinted at all at his identity. No one, in fact, who'd been involved with the fight against the Unidentified Lifeforms would say a word on the subject.
Someone who inspired loyalty like that... Ozawa had to respect such a person.
She pulled up a database. Quickly dialing a number into her cellphone, she waited until the person on the other end picked up. "Detective Ichijou? This is Ozawa Sumiko, of the G-Unit. I thought you would like to know that your roommate and Hikawa-kun took out the Unknown."
He was silent for a moment. "Godai is all right, I trust?" he asked eventually.
She gave him a code to input into his standard police radio. It was one of the locked frequencies that was specific to the G-Unit's activities. Then she hung up.
"Why did you do that, Ozawa-san?" Omura asked.
She didn't bother looking at him. "Because the conversation will be more interesting this way," she replied simply, and opened communications. "Hikawa-kun, I've given Ichijou-san the code for this channel."
There was one more Beast Lord, Yuusuke knew. He'd seen it out of the corner of his eye as Hikawa had destroyed the second one. One moment it was there, watching, the next it had slipped away behind a tree and was gone. He supposed that meant that this operation wasn't over yet, and mentioned as much to Hikawa, who seemed to have an embarrassingly high opinion of Yuusuke that he didn't think he deserved. On the other hand, he could easily see why Ichijou liked Hikawa and had mentored him after he'd transferred to Tokyo. Hikawa's sincerity was stunning.
"Another one?" Hikawa said, eyes open wide. A flash of dismay crossed his face. "That's..."
"Three," a woman's voice said crisply over the G-Chaser's radio. She'd been introduced as Commander Ozawa Sumiko, the designer of the Guardian armor and head of the G-Unit team. And she'd already figured out that Yuusuke was Kuuga, even before he'd confirmed as much to Hikawa. "Not unheard of--some of the other Unknown have had packs of the same number."
"The Grongi mostly came singly," Yuusuke admitted. "The--" he hesitated, mentally swapping words he rightly shouldn't have a source for with ones he did "--Unknown work in groups?"
"Generally two each," Hikawa said with a nod.
Yuusuke groaned. "Ichijou-san..."
"You weren't involved," Ichijou's voice came over the bike's radio from his location in his car. "You can't transform anymore, Godai--you shouldn't be involved."
"Say that when I'm not a target, Ichijou-san," Yuusuke rebutted. "I'll believe you then."
Ichijou's silence spoke eloquently, to Yuusuke at least, of his disbelief.
"In any case," Hikawa said, "we'll simply have to keep a police detail on you until--"
His words faded out and Yuusuke's eyes widened. The PorePore unfolded before him in grainy black and white, like a picture on an old television with the sound busted. Baruba and Nana and Oyassan were setting the tables while Minori stirred the pot of curry sauce behind the counter, Yuusuke's Kuuga apron on her, and there, outside the window, framed by rose bushes, was a silvery fish-faced figure--
"Godai-san?" Hikawa asked, breaking Yuusuke's vision back to reality.
"It's not going after me," he said, "it's going after Minori and Baruba-san. Ichijou-san, they're at the PorePore!" And he grabbed his helmet and ran to his bike.
Following Godai's lead with the lights of the G-Chaser flashing and its sirens wailing, Hikawa knew their theory had been right. The Unknown were definitely targeted on psychics, and Godai Yuusuke--Number Four--Kuuga--was one of them. It had been a breath-taking shock when Kazaya Mana had closed her eyes and read the numbers of Hikawa's driver's license from across the room to convince him, but when Godai's eyes had gone wide and he'd stared unseeing, unbreathing for just an instant, chills had pricked up the back of Hikawa's neck. Mana was human, just a schoolgirl, but for all that he had Detective Ichijou's trust, was Godai really human anymore? Even if he wasn't able to transform into Number Four...
No.
The fear cleared itself swiftly from Hikawa's mind. He'd seen too many human emotions in Godai's eyes the two times he'd met the man. Sorrow, and affection, and worry, for a friend. A steady concentration, and then appreciation of a job well done. Humor, which was supposed to be the best indication of humanity, and humility despite all he'd done. And then--fear. Not for himself, but for those he cared for.
No wonder he was Number Four. Kuuga. Someone like that, who cared so much for the people around him, who ran off to rescue them without a thought even though there was nothing he could do...
Hikawa suddenly felt very small and selfish.
Ichijou had a bad feeling.
Godai was one of the most centered people he'd ever met, and after a while of watching him fight in the Kuuga armor, Ichijou had had the idle notion that somehow his forms were related to that balance. The fire of the Mighty form, the water of the Dragon form, the air of the Pegasus form, and the stone of the Titan form--they were all four of the classic elements, held in perfect balance inside Godai. He could shift easily from one to the next, holding on to nothing, a wise man like a bodhisattva, knowing that clinging to things was empty and the cause of needless suffering...
And like that Buddhist saint turning back from nirvana, Godai worked to save people. To protect people's smiles. Especially the smiles of those most dear to him. But Godai was human, and could be pushed too far. There were certain things that once threatened were almost guaranteed to push him that far. Ichijou knew he was one. And Godai's family, his sister and the people he'd adopted as surrogate kin... they were another.
The phone rang endlessly on at the PorePore as he listened to his cellphone, other hand on the wheel, dread and horror sinking lower into Ichijou's stomach with each ring. There were very few reasons no one would be answering the phone, and given Godai's insight, none of them were good.
Please, Ichijou thought, hoping they could all get there shy of disaster, please let them be all right...
It was silent as Godai rode up.
He distrusted silence, maybe even hated it. Not the silence of an empty room, or of a meditation, but the darker silence that spoke of slaughtered children, broken dreams, cries of terror cut off--
The last time he'd heard this silence, there had been bodies being consumed by flame, and a dark smile on the face of a youth in white.
The front of the PorePore looked like a war zone, soot-blackened, bricks blasted out of place, windows shattered. If the neighbors had been at home, they were either cowering in their rooms, praying the Beast Lord would not descend upon them, or fled.
Quietly, Yuusuke set the kickstand of his bike down and dismounted. Behind him, for all that he seemed a thousand miles away, Hikawa did the same, the G-Chaser's sirens cut off mid-wail. And behind him, even further away though somehow he seemed closer, Yuusuke heard a car door close as Ichijou exited his vehicle.
The silence weighed Yuusuke down. It made it hard to breathe. He didn't want to go inside the PorePore, didn't want to see what he knew would be there--
A scream cut the silence.
"Minori!" he said, and ran. He knew his sister's voice, and that had been it, and she wasn't inside, she was in the gardens behind the restaurant--
She, if no one else, was alive.
And he would save her.
"You will not have me," Ra'Baruba'De spat at the Beast Lord, slipping back into the language of her people. "Not me, not them. You will not take us--I defy you and the Lord who created you!" Under her control, ivy vines bound the creature, trapped it. It burst free. The rose bushes she had planted sank deep teeth into it, drawing blood like ichor. It tore them free and threw them away. A storm of petals rose, blinding, slicing razor-sharp. It walked through them. Behind her, Kuuga's friends and family scrambled back, ran. Not fast enough, she knew. Never fast enough to outrun this, the creature from the end of days who would kill her and then them--
--she would see her little one again, surely--
"No!" she hissed. "She is dead and gone, and I am alive. I will not succumb...!"
And then she didn't have to, as Kuuga appeared, his allies behind him, and tackled the Beast Lord to the ground. "Run!" he yelled at her as the creature struggled briefly beneath him. "Baruba-san, run!"
"Godai!" the Rinto warrior yelled, raising his weapon high, aiming for the Beast Lord. And another beside him--
Baruba stared at the blue and silver form that looked so much like Kuuga. So much like N'Daguba'Zeba.
"Baruba-san, run!" Kuuga yelled at her again, and she gathered her wits about her and obeyed.
At least as far as the garden gate, where she stopped on the other side, and watched, unable to leave.
Godai and the Beast Lord struggled, and Ichijou wasn't able to get a single clear shot. He watched as they traded close combat blows, kicks, knees to the stomach, tackling one another into the ground of what had once been a nicely kept garden.
Then he stared, involuntarily lowering his rifle, as phantom red began flashing around Godai's limbs.
"What the--" Hikawa asked, his own gatling gun dipping momentarily.
"Godai," Ichijou breathed.
How often had Godai managed to pull off the impossible?
But... the stone was broken. Ra'Baruba'De had healed Ichijou rather than the stone, at Godai's choice. How...?
The Beast Lord seemed intent on savaging Godai with its teeth and claws, biting needle-sharp into the armor as Ichijou raised his rifle and sighted along it again. A claw swiped across Godai's cheek before the armor could protect him there, leaving an arc of blood dripping down his face in its wake.
Ichijou could hear Godai's gasping for breath beneath the feral growls of the Beast Lord, and felt his pulse beat in time to that ragged rhythm. Finally, with a cry that held more than a little anger and anguish, Godai managed to force the armor to completion--it stopped ghosting around him and snapped into a too-familiar solid red shape.
The Beast Lord paused, as if surprised, and that was all Godai needed to finally land a good, solid punch to its face. As it reeled, he grabbed its arms and spun around, placing it solidly between himself and Ichijou and Hikawa. "Ichijou-san! Hikawa-san!"
Ichijou didn't hesitate, merely re-sighted on the Beast Lord's head and fired. Hikawa took a moment longer, but then opened fire as well.
The pinned Beast Lord shook with the artillery going into it--please let it not be going through it, Ichijou pleaded to any gods that might be listening--until it finally exploded, causing Ichijou to flinch away from the force of the explosion, shielding his face from the heat and light with one hand.
Instantly he turned back to look. "Godai!"
Godai stood there, alone, in the blackened smoking soil where he'd held the Beast Lord for them. His armor was smooth, uncreased by bullets. Ichijou breathed a sigh of relief.
Then Godai collapsed.