DISCLAIMER: Thank you as always for reading and reviewing. I read all of your reviews and think about them carefully. ~^.^~
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The night had grown so late that it was already early morning by the time the two very weary demon fighters stumbled out of the now heavy rain and into their dorm at St. Peter's. Mai was leaning heavily against Natsuki as the dark haired girl lead them to the elevator, for once not keen on simply running up the five flights of stairs to get to their room. Natsuki sighed with relief as the door immediately dinged open as though the lift had been waiting patiently for their arrival, both of them leaning heavily against the stainless steel wall as they entered. Neither of them spoke, Mai was too tired and Natsuki wasn't too proud to admit that for all of her supernaturally enhanced endurance, she was pretty exhausted too.
She finally eased open the door to their room, waiting for Mai to head in before following after. Natsuki was ready to simply take a quick shower, change into some comfy pyjamas and then snuggle up in bed with her witch and sleep until it was time for classes on Monday. So it was with a sense of trepidation that she eyed the angrily blinking red light of the landline phone on her bedside table indicating the existence of new voice messages. She wandered over and sat down on the bed next to Mai who was eyeing her dresser like she was considering getting her things together to take a shower but just hadn't yet found the energy to put her plans into action. "I should check to see what that is." She said flatly, in a voice that clearly said she had no interest in finding out what anyone wanted to say to her at this hour.
"Maybe if you ignore it, it will go away?" Mai suggested, giving up her own notions of moving for the moment and simply resting her head on Natsuki's shoulder.
For a few minutes the Slayer just held her close, enjoying the tempting warmth of Mai's body next to hers that almost made her say to hell with the little blinky light. But... it could be something slaying related. Especially since upon patting down the pockets of her jacket she realized that she had absolutely no idea where her cellphone was. For all she knew the unfortunate electronic device could have been pulverized into tiny pieces when Miyu threw her against that wall with the force of a freight train. Or maybe when the glow transported her from outside and into the monastery the seemingly benign entity stole the thing because it was shiny. She let out a sigh as she reached out and picked up the black handset and punched the appropriate numbers so that it would take her to the voice mail box.
Hey Natsuki? It's me. I'm here at the hospital with Yohko... and well your 'friend' from earlier is here too. We were trying to talk to her, but she says she only wants to talk to you. I know that it's really late, but I promise if you come over here and help us deal with this tonight, I won't make you go to my class on Monday so you can sleep in. I wouldn't have called you at all... but your friend seems to have a volatile temper, and well... you saw what she is capable of when she gets really angry.
Natsuki almost screamed aloud in frustration when she heard her Watcher's voice on the other end, but like a dutiful Slayer she listened to the message... and reluctantly concluded that her Watcher was right. Natsuki needed to be there. She returned the handset to its charger with perhaps a bit more force than necessary, dropping her face into her hands for a moment as she rubbed her eyes that were burning slightly she was so tired. Her body was sore all over, and her nose still felt like it wasn't quite healed yet. If at this very moment someone came to her and told her that all she had to do was kill Reito and she could sleep for three days... well the Student Council representative's family would be getting a letter of condolences from the school administrative office in the morning.
Finally she took a deep breath and called on that mysterious reserve of energy that she could always count on, even when it felt like she didn't have any energy left. She dropped her hands that were still smudged with dirt and blood from earlier to her lap, shifting her eyes to look at Mai who was studying her with a look of concern. "I have to go to the hospital to help Midori with something before I can go to bed." She complained, hoping that Mai would give her a comforting hug or some other form of affectionate pity. Instead Mai also seemed to suddenly look less tired than she had when they entered their room.
"I'm going with you. It's not safe! Did she say what she wanted? The Hellmouth is there, I can't let you go by yourself."
Natsuki smiled faintly, "You're staying right here and getting some sleep. And I promise you the Hellmouth is sitting there nice and quiet, just like it has been for the last few centuries."
"How do you know for sure?" Mai asked, clearly not trusting something so dangerous.
"Because in the background of Midori's call, there were just your typical hospital noises. If the Hellmouth was doing anything like opening or something, the noises in the background would've been more along the lines of people screaming 'Oh God Oh God! We're all going to die!'" Natsuki teased as she reached out and lightly tweaked Mai's nose, giggling when the girl scowled at her and swiped her hand away.
"Ugh. Fine. I'm too tired to argue with you I guess. But you promise you'll call me if it turns out to be anything really serious?" The witch pleaded, unwilling to be totally sidelined if there was any chance that Natsuki would need her help. Especially since even through the haze of dark magick twisted memories, she was fairly certain she remembered Natsuki almost getting killed at the monastery earlier.
"I promise. Now get some sleep, and I'll try and be home before too much longer." Natsuki smiled, giving Mai a hug before getting to her feet and reluctantly trudging back out the door, away from Mai's comforting warmth and into the cold night-time rain.
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It was a rain soaked and generally bedraggled Natsuki who finally walked through the automatic doors of the hospital ER's waiting room. Out of habit her eyes were instantly drawn to the tall form of her Watcher leaning against the far wall. She was alone and it seemed that she hadn't noticed Natsuki's entrance. The redhead was contemplating her boots, her arms crossed around her stomach in an uncharacteristically defensive posture with an expression of world weary sadness on her face that combined to make the woman look almost her age. Natsuki felt a twinge of guilt for her own role in Midori's sadness, and knew that she was the only person with the ability to alleviate it. When she walked over to stand near her Watcher, Natsuki was surprised when she still didn't look up and she wondered if Midori had gone to wherever she went when she was reading or something.
"Hey... I'm here." She spoke softly, not wanting to startle the weary redhead. When Midori finally looked up at her there was an open and vulnerable look in her hazel eyes, the sense of authority that Natsuki always associated with her just wasn't there, only an apology and a plea for forgiveness. Natsuki knew that only honesty would work, her Watcher knew her much too well for her to play things off like everything was just fine... and besides when it came to stuff like this Natsuki was a terrible liar. "Midori... I was mad at you. I was mad at myself too though. And I still am. Even though I know that we didn't really have any other options..." Natsuki sighed, "But Midori, just because I might be mad at you a little... No matter what happens, you're still my Watcher. And I meant what I said earlier too even though there couldn't have been a worse way for me to tell you, so I'll just say it here too." She blushed awkwardly, hating to get into sentimental stuff like this too much... but Midori needed to hear this right now and Natsuki wasn't too afraid to face anything for someone she cared about. She would even confront the terrible spectre of embarrassment, "You're my family. You're the only person in the world who I could say that about. My being a little upset with you or even a lot angry with you won't change that, alright?"
For a moment Natsuki feared that the normally emotionally reserved woman was going to actually start crying here in the ER waiting room, that even so late at night was crowded with strangers. But instead she just spoke roughly, her eyes finally looking a bit less devastated even if they were misty, "Thank you Natsuki. I am sorry it had to be like that, please believe me. I didn't want her to have to get hurt."
The Slayer nodded, looking at Midori compassionately, "I do believe you." She shrugged helplessly, "Actually once I finally get to sleep I probably won't even be mad anymore when I wake up. Don't worry about it Midori, we're fine."
Midori took a deep breath and shook her head slightly, "Ugh, I think I need more caffeine. Anyway, after I called you Yohko told me that she could get Miyu to at least act civil and wait for you. She is in the room with the patient." Midori gazed off with a faraway look, "It surprised me, but I went to go get some coffee for me and Yohko and when I came back Miyu was just sitting in the room quietly instead of causing a huge disruption like she had been. Yohko told me that it was no big deal, she merely has lots of experience dealing with rude patients and their families."
Natsuki nodded knowingly, "Your woman is not someone that anyone would want to make angry."
Midori glanced at Natsuki in surprise, even as she wondered how her Slayer would know anything about her lover's temper, "I've not really found her to have an unreasonably bad temper..."
Natsuki just snorted rudely, "Yeah that might be true if you're an adventurous archaeologist named Midori I guess."
The Watcher shrugged, figuring that she would be able to solve this mystery when she was less exhausted. "Come on." She said as she started walking down the hallway towards the room that she remembered the patient being in, only to run into Yohko walking out of the now empty room. "Did she leave?" Midori asked her voice pitched slightly higher with incredulity.
Yohko shook her head as she double checked something that she was writing on her clipboard, "No. But her condition was stable so I had her moved to the long-term care ward to clear up this ER room. It's a weekend night, so it's a zoo here as always." The doctor gave Natsuki a simple cursory glance before turning back to her charts, as though the Slayer wasn't worth any more of her attention than that fraction of a second required for positive identification. "Ah, she showed up. I'll take you to Alyssa's room. The sooner we can get this over with, the sooner I can get some sleep. Just once I'd like to have a day off where I didn't end up at work."
"Wait, Alyssa? I thought Miyu was the one causing the trouble?" Natsuki questioned, confused. She hadn't thought that Alyssa would ever be checked into a public hospital like this either. She didn't know too much about the situation, but she knew enough to have assumed that whoever was controlling Alyssa had their own medical facilities, and the last thing they would want was an outside physician taking a look at the girl.
"Do I look like a computer technician to you?" Yohko snarked, her personality even more abrasive than it usually was due to lack of sleep. Natsuki just shrugged, after all the doctor wasn't wrong. She could immediately tell when they had left the ER even without glancing at the small sign on the white wall, as the general noise level was much quieter, and the nurses here strolled at an almost leisurely pace as they pushed carts with food trays and medicines from room to room instead of always hurrying. They turned down a side hallway and walked a short distance before Yohko stopped at a door on the left, knocking softly but not waiting for an answer before turning the handle and leading Natsuki inside.
"Here she is, as per your request. Now, I know you won't do anything destructive to my hospital if Midori and I go home and get some sleep correct? Remember what I promised you if I find anything amiss when I return to work." The android simply nodded stiffly to the doctor, who gave her a smile that could hardly be described as friendly. Midori was out in the hall so she didn't see it, but Natsuki flinched as she recognized it from earlier. She could only describe the doctor's expression as predatory. "Excellent. I'll be by later in the morning to check on her, even though I assure you that the doctors on staff here in the long-term care ward are just as competent as I am." She turned to Natsuki, "Call us if you have any problems."
Natsuki just nodded swallowing hard, understanding that even if the doctor was saying 'call us' what she really meant was, 'if you are incompetent enough to have problems and need to call me tonight, I promise to put you through unnecessary suffering the next time you require medical treatment'. Seeing that they had an understanding Yohko gave her a return nod before forcefully shoving the clip chart she had been carrying into the holder next to the door and walking back out into the hall, grabbing Midori's hand and sweetly asking the redhead to take her home. Natsuki whistled softly as she watched them go momentarily forgetting her audience, "Geez, I sure hope my guardian knows what she's gotten herself into."
She was surprised when Miyu responded in her standard flat tones, "The doctor is not one to be trifled with."
Natsuki turned to the android and raised a questioning eyebrow at her, "What could she possibly threaten you with?"
Miyu actually seemed to flinch slightly as she responded, "She promised that she would figure out when and where I powered down to organize my memory banks so that she could replace my interfacing software with Windows ME."
"Oh wow." Natsuki's eyes widened.
"She is unexpectedly Machiavellian for a physician. I respect her efficiency." Miyu cocked her head to the side as she studied Natsuki, "The angle of your nose has been corrected."
The Slayer rubbed her still slightly sore bit of cartilage reflexively at Miyu's mention of it. "Yeah... Yohko fixed it for me before we left the monastery."
"I was under the impression that humans could not undergo field maintenance like that due to the inability to turn off their pain sensors?"
"...You're not wrong." Natsuki walked hesitantly over to the bed with the small sleeping figure in it, asking for Miyu's permission first as she didn't want to upset the android who was sitting stiffly in an uncomfortable hospital chair next to Alyssa's bed looking very protective. Unlike Mai, Alyssa was still suffering from the physically altering effects of black magick. In fact, if Natsuki hadn't already known it was her, she would not have recognized the girl. Her normally golden hair was now a pure black similar to Natsuki's own in that it caught the fluorescent lights of the room in such a way that it appeared to have dark blue highlights. Her skin was also much paler than Natsuki remembered it being, and her veins stood out vividly under the pale skin, all appearing much darker in colour than veins should. "Is she going to be okay?" Natsuki finally asked when her study of the girl in question and all of the many life support machines she was hooked up to yielded no answers.
"Sagisawa-sensei was unable to make any predictions about Ojou-sama's chances of recovery. She was able to reassure me that her condition is at least stable, so while she is not recovering, she is also in no apparent danger of dying."
"Why can't she figure out if Alyssa will get better? She's pretty good at what she does..."
"Sagisawa-sensei was unable to determine a medical reason for Ojou-sama to be in a coma at all. Therefore she has no data with which to predict the statistical likelihood of a recovery since she does not know the exact agent or stimulus causing Ojou-sama's condition."
Natsuki was finally able to tear her eyes away from the sleeping girl, who suddenly looked familiar to her in a way that she hadn't before, to study Miyu. "I'll admit I'm more than a little surprised that you brought her here. I would have assumed that whoever you two are working for would have their own medical facilities, and that the last thing any of them would want would be an outside physician getting a good look at her."
Miyu did not turn to look Natsuki in the eye when she replied, and instead simply continued her study of her Alyssa. "I suspect I am only here because of an oversight on the part of my programmers. I am programmed to be able to take direct orders from Ojou-sama, even if they contradict my base programming. She requested that I take her out of the church when I returned from my... meeting with you earlier. I acted as she requested. The plan was to attempt to travel out of the country, but then she fell into this sleep that I could not wake her from. Instead of returning to the medical facility she would normally use, I brought her here when my hacking of the patient logs showed that this was a medical facility frequented by the Champion."
Natsuki giggled inappropriately, "Is that why on her patient file she's listed as 'Kinko'?"
"How is that funny? I thought it was appropriately descriptive." The android stated flatly.
"Well... If you've ever watched American television... which I guess you haven't... calling someone her age a 'golden girl' is sortof amusing."
"Ojou-sama suggested that I should view more pop culture media to improve my humanity, but I did not see the relevance of such an endeavour. Perhaps I will investigate this during the time that I will be spending without her company in the coming days." Miyu replied, her voice almost wistful.
"Well... her condition may not be medical, but I'm almost certain it must be related to her excessive use of magicks. She probably told you already, but I know that Midori won't give up searching until she has found a way for us to fix this." Natsuki reassured the despondent robot, even though privately she was somewhat relieved of this outcome and had no wish for Midori to hurry. After all, Alyssa was alive but also unable to continue to cause problems for Natsuki by trying to get the ancient glow into the wrong hands. If she stayed in a coma long enough, perhaps this whole crisis would just blow over. At Miyu's softly spoken thanks, Natsuki hesitated for a moment before asking her next question before just deciding it couldn't hurt to at least ask, "...Can you tell me who you work for? That might help us with our search."
Miyu shook her head, "My programming does not allow me to divulge the name of the company that we work for. I can tell the Champion that we are searching for this object, which you refer to as 'the glow' but our client refers to as 'the key', because we have been contracted out by an elderly California man who refers to himself only as 'Doc'." Miyu paused, tilting her head in the way that she did when she was thinking about something more carefully, "I have never spoken to this 'Doc' personally, but all of my files that have transcripts of correspondences with him indicate that he is a most peculiar man."
Natsuki nodded, her eyebrows furrowing together as her mind posed a question that she couldn't puzzle out on her own, "What I don't understand though, is how the people you work for managed to find such a powerful magicks user as Alyssa. From what I've seen of your capabilities I would have assumed that they were a technologies company."
Miyu didn't respond for a few minutes, instead she just sat quietly in her chair next to Alyssa's bed running her fingers through the girl's long inky dark hair. Finally when Natsuki was beginning to think that this was another question that Miyu's programming did not give her permission to answer the android spoke. Her words were slow and halting; Natsuki suspected it was because she was only relaying this information after finding some sort of loophole in her programming, making Natsuki again wonder just how much free will the machine had. "They did not 'find' my Ojou-sama. They made her, almost in the same way that they made me. They purchased a set of procedures that another company had, which used these 'magicks' to create a human that was supernaturally strong. They paid that company to alter them so that the procedures would instead create a human with increased magickal control."
Natsuki blinked in surprise at that response, turning from Miyu to study Alyssa more closely. Something about her story was beginning to resonate very strongly with the Slayer, it sounded so similar to her own in so many ways. But this girl didn't have a Midori in her life to save her. She glanced up at Miyu... still the closest thing she had did seem to be trying its best for her.
"Why?" Miyu asked suddenly.
"Um... why what?"
"Why are you helping my Ojou-sama?" Miyu clarified.
Natsuki looked Miyu in the eye, her lips quirking in a wry smile, "Well, you were holding a rocket launcher to my head, I wasn't really in a position to tell you no."
The robot did not share in the Slayer's humour, shaking her head stiffly, "I was monitoring the Champion with my sensors while you made the decision. It was not made because you were frightened." The android's voice was puzzled as she relayed this information, as though she too would have assumed that such a decision would be made only out of fear but the data unexpectedly didn't support her hypothesis.
"Maybe. I was pretty afraid you were going to blow my head off though, I won't lie about that." Natsuki shrugged, "I guess it's just like I told you Friday afternoon, she's human. I care about her safety. I can't just allow an essentially innocent human child like her to die when she's only acting this way because she's being forced to. Besides, she's a good kid and she turns you into a completely different person when you're around her."
Miyu cocked her head to the side, her voice having a bit of a confused quality as she stated what Natsuki assumed she thought was the obvious, "I am not human."
Natsuki gave the robot a slight smile, realizing that she was less discomfited by her now that she knew why the other girl's eyes were different, "Maybe not. But I think Alyssa makes you human in all the ways that really matter."
Miyu looked away from the Slayer as though the words that were just spoken made her a bit uncomfortable, "So the Champion's programming forces her to consider the safety of every human when making decisions?"
"The innocent ones anyway."
"...I think that the Champion's programming must be even more difficult to exist with than my own." The android replied slowly.
"I suppose you could look at it that way... But I wouldn't trade places with anyone for anything. You were made to protect Alyssa, but I was made to be a S... a Champion. I know that this is what I was born to do, to protect normal humans from the things that they aren't strong enough to fight. I wouldn't know what I was if I wasn't this." Natsuki's tone of voice was a strange combination of proud and a confession.
Miyu met the Slayer's eyes, her own almost showing something close to the human emotion of compassion or empathy, "I understand. I couldn't imagine a reason for my existence other than my function of protecting my Ojou-sama."
"Was there anything else you wanted me here for?" Natsuki asked around a yawn, the activity of the day finally beginning to wear down even her endurance.
"Just one thing. I stopped here instead of continuing out of the country. I cannot go any further without my Ojou-sama, but since I remained in this geographical location, my programming will force me to return to the company headquarters. I... am not certain what they will do to me there, but I must return. There may be some way for me to help her from there." Miyu explained, her voice flat and betraying no particular fear or worry for her own safety. "I am entrusting you with her safety Champion, as I do not know if I will be able to fulfil that role once I am forced to leave here."
"Miyu... is there anything I can do to help you?" Natsuki asked, not wanting to see these two beings who clearly cared for each other so deeply separated.
"No." Miyu looked into Natsuki's green eyes, speaking in dangerous tones, "The Champion remembers what will happen to her if Ojou-sama comes to harm?"
Natsuki nodded, rubbing her neck reflexively as she remembered the feeling of the burning hot gun barrel on her flesh, "I'll look after her for you as best I can. Understand though, I have school and my other duties as a Champion that I have to perform as well. Just because you are intrusting her to me doesn't mean that I can drop everything else, even if you threaten my life."
"I understand. The Champion is still the only person I would trust my Ojou-sama to." The android stated firmly.
Natsuki felt a surge of pride that this powerful being would be willing to put the safety of the only thing in the universe that mattered to her in the Slayer's hands. Suddenly the Slayer realized that if Miyu was willing to trust her with Alyssa's safety, perhaps the android would be willing to trust her with something else that the android seemed to value less. Something that if the Slayer could grant it to her, would allow the android to better protect the only thing she loved. "Miyu... I know this might sound like a very demanding request... But I know this person who is something of a genius at programming. If you could give me a copy of your base programming, not your personality or anything but the part that has all of the protocols and such that you need to follow, it might be possible for her to take out the parts that require you to listen to anyone who isn't Alyssa."
For long moments the android was silent as she studied the Slayer, her expression unreadable as she apparently processed the request. Finally she spoke, "The Champion's request makes me feel... discomfort to contemplate. I would be giving you the means to destroy me." The android let out what Natsuki presumed to be an unnecessary sigh as she turned to study Alyssa again, "But the necessity of entrusting the Champion with Ojou-sama's safety means that I have already given the Champion that ability. ...I suppose that no matter this discomfort..." She paused, cocking her head to the side as she processed silently for a moment. Natsuki found herself wondering if perhaps the behaviour was the android literally looking at the situation at a different angle. "Is this feeling fear?" Miyu spoke again, her voice tinged with a strange combination of awe and disappointment, "I have never felt it on its own before. It is most unpleasant." Her tone changed back to a more confident one, "Still, it is irrelevant. The Champion's logic is correct, I could protect Ojou-sama better if hers were the only orders that I needed to follow. Tonight's scenario is conclusive proof."
With that, Miyu reached up behind her neck with both hands, and Natsuki winced as she again heard muscle and tissue being sliced into. After a few moments during which Miyu looked every bit the mechanical automaton, body completely still and even her empty eyes staring unblinkingly at an unchanging point in space, the android seemed to startle as she returned to awareness. "Hold out your hand." She commanded as she removed her hands, shifting the fingers from the right one back into the human configuration, and gently gripping a small object in her left. Natsuki obeyed and soon found herself holding a slightly bloody electronic device, she wondered how the blood didn't destroy the device's functionality. "It has a USB-port for transferring the data to a standard personal computing device."
"Thank you Miyu. I promise that I will find help for you." Natsuki spoke earnestly, waiting for Miyu's nod of acknowledgement before continuing, "If that's all, I'm going to head home if that's alright? I figure you'd probably want some time alone with Alyssa before you have to leave anyway."
Miyu nodded, a surprised expression on her face, "You are correct. I find that there are... things that I wish to tell my Ojou-sama before I leave. Even though I know logically that she will not hear what I have to say since she is asleep."
"Well, you know that Alyssa is really good with magicks. You should say whatever it is anyway, she might be able to hear you after all." Natsuki said with a smile, noting the slight blush on the android's cheeks before she headed out the door. As she was walking down the long white corridor she wondered vaguely why a robot would blush at all? Ugh. I'm so tired. At this rate if I sleep as long as I want to when I get home, Alyssa is going to wake up before I do.