Nars: Long chapter warning.
Word Count: 980
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners—Rumiko Takahashi and One.
Dr. Kuseno was an unassuming and mellow old man who seemed to daylight as Genos' caretaker, doctor/technician and, surprisingly, a father.
She had imagined that his reaction to find a strange girl and the robot he seemed to have a history with on his doorstep–said robot sporting several awful damages–would have been shocking. But he hadn't given much indication of surprise. He'd opened the door and let them both inside without asking any questions until Genos was lying on an operating table–or maybe it was just a work desk.
As Dr. Kuseno tinkered with a wire that fizzled back to life reluctantly, he finally asked Genos what had happened. In turn, the cyborg spun the unabridged version of his brawl with the meteor that had defeated him and drained him of his energy.
"A meteor, hm..." murmured Dr. Kuseno.
Kagome furrowed her brows. It felt as though the doctor sincerely had not known that Z-City had been nearly destroyed. Not only that but his tone indicated that he didn't... care, much. She decided not to dwell on it since she'd already met enough weird people for the time being.
"Doctor," Genos began after a moment. "This is Kagome."
She was fully prepared to introduce herself to the man, but his eyes lit up with recognition and he said, "Yes, Genos has told me about you."
"He has?" She blinked. With each passing moment, Dr. Kuseno was proving her statement on his being Genos' father figure right. The cyborg was kind of excitable, telling the man all about the people he crossed paths with. Cute, in a child-like way.
"Yes," chuckled the doctor. "He mentioned upon your first meeting that you dispelled of a threat with a single arrow."
"Er, yeah. I'm a–"
"Priestess, no?"
She nodded. "Essentially." Kagome wagered a glance at Genos who seemed to be mulling that over. At some point he must have drawn that conclusion himself, although she had been trying to communicate this with him for a while. "It was an ordinary arrow, but since I was the one who shot it, the monster ended up being purified and died."
"Kagome, this is Dr. Kuseno. As I told you about the time my hometown was attacked by the rogue cyborg and I was the only one spared, Dr. Kuseno was the one who implanted the modification to enable me to survive."
The doctor had turned him into a cyborg. So the old man wasn't just his repair guy. "You don't say?" A part of her, deep down, wanted to distrust the old man because he had turned Genos into the very thing that had destroyed his regular human life. "Nice to meet you."
"These repairs might take a while longer. Would you like anything to drink in the meantime? Tea, coffee?"
Scratch that. The old man was very nice. "I should get back home, actually. I sort of left the rest of my family back there without an explanation so..."
The doctor smiled and nodded. "Yes, don't let this keep you from returning."
"Kagome." said Genos, sitting up as she turned to leave. "Thank you." Dr. Kuseno scolded him for moving around and badgered him into lying down as to not upset the new wiring.
"No problem, Genos." She smiled and then disappeared.
If only all could be considered great. She went straight back home and found the rest of her family now returned to their place of living, and while they were a bit quiet, nothing seemed that out of place. "I took Genos back to the doctor who does his repairs, sorry about that."
"Kagome." said her mother, "Are you hurt?"
"Nah, I'm alright." She said, "Are you guys okay? You seem... shaken." It was an understandable reaction, though. They did just narrowly escape a horrible death. Being a little sullen after the fact was a normal reaction.
"We're... alright." said her brother uneasily. "But, uh, nee-chan?"
"Yeah?" Their strange behaviour was beginning to fill her with a sense of worry.
Souta frowned, "You might want to come see this." He led her towards the well, or rather, where the well was supposed to be, but the closer she got, the more visible it was.
A giant meteor fragment had fallen where the well was supposed to be, completely blocking it from use.
"Are you kidding me?" She groaned. "How do we get rid of this?" Her arrows would do her no good for an insentient being such as a giant space rock.
"Well... Where did Genos go?"
"He's recovering in the lab." He was out of commission for the time being. "Isn't a rescue team supposed to be issued out?"
"Yeah, but..." Souta suddenly brightened. "Oh! We have Silverfang!"
"That name again? Who is that?"
"Nee-chan, come on! We've met him! Grandpa's friend?" He said, exasperatedly.
The lines connected again. Silverfang and Bang were the same person? That was the superhero that Souta preferred over the rest? She rolled her eyes. "Okay, but where would I find him? He comes here all the time, but it's not the other way around."
Souta pulled out his device and tapped away on the screen, "You know, it'd be a good thing to actually learn the faces of the heroes since they come looking for you so much."
"Gimme a break, brat."
"Hero Nation has all the mailing addresses of the heroes–y'know, for fan mail?–and sometimes they use a different address than their actual ones but..." He grinned, "Found it! Silverfang lives here."
On screen was a large and imposing dojo atop a mountain–fitting for a superhero to reside, but–"How many STAIRS is that?"
"A lot. Better get going, nee-chan!" said her brother cheerfully.
Kagome slung her quiver over her shoulder–threats could be lurking anywhere–and set off to find the elusive Bang. Hopefully, if she hurried, she'd catch him on those god forsaken stairs.
Nars: You know what's coming. *whispers* It's training time.