Chapter 9; The Silver Gospel
They had been booked in a tradition Japanese-style hotel, with paper walls and everything. Once they had arrived at the hotel, everyone quickly checked into their rooms and changed. Simon noted that his room was rather close to where Cecilia was staying, and briefly wondered if that was Chifuyu playing at matchmaking. Like she would ever try something like that he thought as he grabbed his towel and walked down to the beach. Not too surprisingly, everyone was wearing some kind of bikini, and most of them looked rather good if he was to be honest. Noticing where his friends had set up, he walked over and laid his towel out. However, the second he sat down, someone decided to bounce a beach ball off his head. Turning around, he saw Rin sticking her tongue out at him as she ran off. "You will pay for that, shrimp!" Simon yelled as he picked the ball up and gave chase. Rin just laughed as he tried, and failed, to hit her back. Their game lasted for a little while before Simon accidentally pegged Ichika in the head, causing Rin to fall over laughing.
"Sorry, man." Simon said. However, Ichika wasn't about to just let that go. Picking up the ball, he started giving chase to both of them, promising pay-back. Simon finally managed to slip away when Laura showed up looking like a mummy. Walking down to the surf, he decided that this was the perfect time for a swim. Charlotte joined him after she had unwrapped a blushing Laura, drifting closer to Simon as he floated in one of the calmer areas in the inlet. "So, how is it going with Cecilia?" She asked, taking advantage of their privacy. She hadn't forgotten that this boy was willing to help her, no questions asked, right after finding out she had been lieing to him. "I can't really say right now," Simon said, "I think she's still mad about Tatenashi's visit the other night." "She does care about you, Simon. She wouldn't have been so mad if she didn't." she said, trying to cheer him up.
"What about you? Made any progress with Ichika?" he asked, turning to look at her. She blushed slightly at that, but managed to keep it from getting too bad. "I'm not too sure, either. I think he's still a little confused about what to do when it comes to girls." she responded after a bit. Simon just laughed at this, thinking yep, that makes sense. "Well, if we're telling the truth, then I should tell you that I've been trying to nudge him towards Houki." He said, looking away and nervous as hell that she would react badly. When he finally gathered the courage to look at her, she had a sad smile on her face as she was looking back at the beach. Cecilia, Houki and Ichika were all lying down on their towels while Rin was messing with Laura in the surf.
"I know." She replied after a while. "Wait, you know?" he asked, stunned, "and you're not mad?" "It's okay, Simon. If something was going to happen between us, it would have happened by now." She said, turning back to him. "I mean, he saw me naked after all. But he remained a gentleman about it and kept a respective distance." Simon just nodded at this, but in his head he was freaking out. He saw her naked? THAT'S what he meant by 'surprised?' "Now that I think about it," he said, trying to keep the tremor out of his voice, "Yeah, as far as an opening to a relationship goes, that would be a pretty obvious one." Charlotte just smiled, knowing full well her friend wasn't nearly as calm as he looked. "I won't lie, though," she continued, turning back to face the beach, "I do still love him. But, I am not sure that I'm the one he's interested in."
Deciding to let the matter go rather than pursue what was clearly a painful topic for her, they floated there for a while before returning to the beach. The rest of the afternoon was spent on an impromptu volleyball tournament and a barbeque. While they were waiting for the food to cook, Simon sat next to Cecilia, deciding now would be a good time to try and clear up any misunderstandings.
"She's just a friend." He began, knowing full well that she would know who he meant. Still, her face darkened and she looked away, clearly still annoyed at him. Sighing, he continued, "We agreed to just be friends, so there's no need for jealousy, princess. Besides, she was tormenting Ichika, too." Finally facing him, the look she had was part hopeful, and part hurt. That look, more than anything, made his heart ache that she would feel betrayed over something so stupid.
Instead of waiting for a response, he put one arm around her and pulled her next to him. After a bit she put her own arm around his waist and rested her head on his shoulder. "I was almost concerned there." She said so quietly that he could barely hear it. Instead of paying attention to how some of the students were whispering about the two of them, he leaned his own head on hers and decided to just enjoy the moment. They enjoyed some delicious fish and had a wonderful evening of talk and laughter, the tension of the last few weeks disappearing completely.
After they had returned to their rooms for the night, Cecilia waited until the lights were out to sneak out of her room. She had decided on the beach that this was going to be the moment where she would take things a bit further with Simon. Creeping down the hallway, she made her way to Simon's room and took a moment to be sure it was his. While the girls had to pair up in their rooms, the boys got a reprieve this time and got separate rooms. As she slid the door open, she saw that the lights were off and he was lying asleep on his bed roll on the floor. Tiptoeing to the side of the bed, she was about to lean down when he spoke up.
"This is rather bold, isn't it?" he asked, turning to face her and leaning up on one arm. How he had known she was there when she had been so quiet, Cecilia would never know. Instead, she sat down and said, "I thought this would be a good time for us to talk alone." "At 10:30?" he asked, the skepticism in his voice clear. Though he couldn't see because of the lack of light, he knew she was blushing rather badly. "I-I…..um, well…you…" she stammered, trying to salvage some of the situation. Sighing, he reached up and grabbed her wrist, pulling her down so that she was lying facing him, their faces inches apart. "Don't expect me to do anything." He said as he spread the cover over her.
Not trusting her voice, Cecilia just nodded before scooting closer to Simon and wrapping her arms around his chest. He wrapped his arms around her waist, his chin resting on her forehead while she laid there, trying very hard to fight down the blush. While not what she had fully intended, this situation was close enough and she decided to take the most from it. Before either of them drifted off to sleep, she tilted her head up and brushed her lips against Simon's briefly. Answering the unspoken question, he pulled her in closer and brought their lips together, relishing the kiss that he had wanted for a while now. Finally breaking off after what felt like an eternity to breathe, Cecilia brought her head down and nestled into his chest, content she had gotten most of what she had come for.
The next morning, Simon woke up to a rather flowery smell, and it took him a while to place it. When he had fully woken up, he remembered the other night and looked down at the sleeping girl in his arms. She was still out cold, her mouth slightly open and a peaceful look on her face. If he could freeze this moment in time, he would have done it in a heartbeat. Instead, he carefully separated from her and left the room to organize his thoughts. He had a pretty good idea why she had come to visit him, and if he stayed in that room, looking at her, he probably would have lost what was left of his self-control. Taking a deep breath of the morning air, he noticed that Houki was already awake and staring at something in the garden.
Walking up behind her, he saw it was a pair of mechanical rabbit ears in the ground with a sign that said "Pull this, Houki." "What the heck is that?" he asked, genuinely confused. Houki just turned and walked away, saying, "Just ignore it." Watching her leave, he couldn't help but wonder at the rabbit ears. Maybe it doesn't matter who does it he thought as he kneeled down and grabbed onto them. They came out of the ground easier than he would have thought, and he saw they were made to be worn like a hair band, although who would wear one was beyond him. It was at that point that he noticed a slight whistling. Looking around, he saw that no one else was near him, so he decided to look up just in time to see a large orange object plummeting towards him. "What the f-?" was all he managed before it landed in front of him, the shock wave throwing him back.
Once he could stand again, he saw that a massive carrot had landed in front of him. Before his brain could even register that properly, it split in two and a rather cheery girl jumped out. "Surprise! I got you again, Ho-Chan." She said, looking very proud of her entrance. "Oh, she's not here. I better activate my Houki tracker." At this, the mechanical rabbit ears on her head, a surprising twin of the pair Simon was holding, swiveled and pointed in the direction that Houki had left. Without even taking notice of the boy in front of her, the girl took off after Houki. "…what the hell just happened?" Simon asked aloud after his brain had finally caught up. At this point, Ichika came up behind him and noticed the large open carrot and the rabbit ears in Simon's hand.
"Uh, Simon?" he began, walking up behind him, "What is that, and why are you holding rabbit ears?" Tossing the ears aside, he responded, "I don't even know where to begin. Let's just go eat while I try and forget this." After they had sat down to eat, Cecilia walked in and joined them, looking rather pleased with herself. Before either of the boys could greet her, Rin and Charlotte whisked her away for a private conversation. "This won't go well, for either of us." Simon predicted as he continued to eat his breakfast. "Why is that?" Ichika asked, puzzled. "If I tell you, you need to swear to me that it stays between us unless I say otherwise." Simon said, trying to look serious. After he had nodded, Simon explained, carefully, the events of last night. Ichika did a spit-take at the part where they kissed, clearly surprised that they had gone so far.
"And you think that's what they're asking her?" he asked after Simon had finished. "Well, they're not swapping recipes, I can tell you that much." Before they could go any further, Chifuyu walked into the room and announced, "I need all the personal IS users to meet me on the beach in 15 minutes. The rest of you are free to explore the resort." "Oh great, what now?" Simon asked, annoyed. Ichika just shrugged as they got up to get ready. They both noticed how the girls were glancing at Simon with rather fiendish looks, so Cecilia had clearly told them her version of the story. I won't hear the end of this one for a long time Simon thought as he left the room.
Once they had assembled on the beach, Simon noticed that Houki had joined them, which was odd. "Ms. Orimura, why is Houki here? She doesn't have a personal IS" Cecilia said, taking note as well of the new addition. "That's because she's getting her IS today. Now, if only she would show up." Chifuyu said, looking around for someone. The pilots were a little puzzled at this until a girl launched herself at Chifuyu from the cliffs above, only to be stopped dead by a raised hand to the face. Simon noticed that it was the same crazy girl from this morning. "Ow, Chifu-Ni, that hurts. You're always so mean." She said as she made another attempt to hug the woman, only to meet failure again. "Stop being childish and introduce yourself, Tabane. I don't have time for your games." She replied, looking stern.
With a huff, the woman turned and said, "Well, I'm the fabulous Tabane Shinonono! Super genius and inventor of the IS!" Everyone else took a moment to process that. Finally, it was Simon that spoke up. "You mean to tell me this is Tabane? The world-renowned genius?" he asked, with more than a bit of skepticism in his voice. At this, Tabane walked up and stared right into his face, looking serious for the first time. "I know you. You're that American boy with a plug in the back of his head." She said, leaning in closer and looking him up and down. "I only have one question for you." She paused at that point, causing Simon to gulp and everyone else to glance at Tabane, concerned about what she might mean.
Before anyone could stop her, she was suddenly hugging Simon and saying, "You have GOT to let me take a look at that interface, Si-Kun!" Simon was at a loss for words, completely caught off guard, while everyone else was laughing their heads off, except for Chifuyu who looked annoyed that Tabane wasn't taking this seriously, and Cecilia who looked pissed that another girl was hugging her man. "Tabane! Focus!" Chifuyu practically growled at the other woman, forcing her to let go of Simon with another huff and return to standing with her. "Alright, I think it's time I show you Ho-Chan's new IS. It should be arriving now."
Right when she said now, a capsule landed right next to her, throwing dust into everyone's eyes and generally surprising them. This is getting to be a habit with her Simon thought, still not over the fact that the person he admired acted like a child on a sugar rush. The capsule opened to reveal a maroon IS that looked very impressive. "This is Akatsubaki. Designed by yours truly, this is the world's first 4th generation IS!" Before anyone could question that particular statement, she had pulled Houki over to a portable scanner to measure her and personalize the IS to her size. "Wait," Simon began, being the first to recover from the multiple shocks this crazy woman had induced. "I thought that we had only just started creating 3rd generation units. How is this one a 4th gen?" "Because I built it, and I'm a genius." Tabane answered simply without even looking at him.
"Yeah, but-" "Okay! Time to test this thing out!" Tabane said, cutting him off. Houki just grumbled as she activated the IS and took off to test its flight. "This IS uses fold-out armor to increase its mobility and speed. Also, I equipped it with a pair of swords optimized for both close and long-range combat. Watch." Tabane explained, summoning a missile launch cell next to her and firing a barrage at Houki. She summoned her swords and took a swipe with the left one, launching a massive energy wave at them and detonating most. The rest she managed to dodge at speeds no one even imagined an IS was capable off. Simon noticed that the armor on her wings and thighs had shifted when she dodged, growing what looked like energy wings. Lashing out with her right sword, she launched several energy blasts at the remaining missiles and destroyed them.
This met scattered applause as Simon, Ichika and Charlotte clapped at the impressive performance. Really glad she didn't have that when we fought Simon thought as she landed next to them, blushing slightly at the attention she was getting. While she had been running through her 'exercise,' Chifuyu had stepped to the side to take a call. She returned to them saying, "Alright, we have a situation here. I want everyone to meet me in the control room in 20 minutes." "Wait, we have a control room?" Simon asked, but she was already walking away. Tabane had also disappeared, leaving behind some very confused teens.
"We have a rogue IS heading towards this location." Chifuyu announced simply, looking between the pilots. They had gathered in a surprisingly well equipped control room at the resort. Maya had already been there, working at one of the stations and trying to get any data she could about the unknown. "So, what kind of IS is it?" Rin asked, excited to be doing something serious for a change. "It is one of the American's experimental units." Chifuyu explained, activating the display table in front of her. "Two days ago, it went ballistic during an exercise and killed three people before disappearing. Now, it's reappeared and is heading straight for this area." "How fast is it?" Simon asked, looking at the three-dimensional display of the IS. Parts of its design seemed familiar to him, but he couldn't quite place it. "Well over Mach 1." She answered, causing the anticipation to turn to dread. None of them could even approach that speed, except maybe Simon. Even then, he would be risking serious bodily harm even trying. "How are we supposed to intercept something that fast?" Charlotte asked.
"That's where Akatsubaki makes its big debut!" Tabane announced, causing everyone to look up to where the girl had been hanging like a bat. True to form, she attempted to launch another hug at Chifuyu, and like before she failed miserably. Standing up, she explained, "The fold-out armor allows it to easily reach speeds over Mach 1. Catching that IS would be a piece of cake!" "But unless you skipped something, it doesn't have any kind of one-off." Simon countered, still looking at the thing's image. "Even if you caught it, you'd be forced into a prolonged battle at high speeds." "Then we use Byakushiki's." Chifuyu stated simply, causing everyone to look towards Ichika. "But, instructor, he can't reach those speeds either." Laura said. Houki seemed to clue into the intended plan quickly, because she spoke up. "Unless I'm carrying him. I'm sure Akatsubaki can still reach the speed required, even with a passenger." "So she's going to carry you?" Simon said, nudging Ichika in the side and causing the bluenette to blush. Houki, to her credit, ignored him.
"What is this one called, anyway?" Cecilia asked as she flicked through the IS' stats. "The Silver Gospel." Chifuyu answered simply before turning to give orders to Ichika and Houki. Simon, meanwhile, had all the color in his face drain away. Rin and Cecilia noticed and immediately grew concerned. Planting his hands on the table, he leaned over and screwed his eyes shut, mumbling, "Those bastards." "Something wrong, Felix?" Chifuyu asked, noticing how the blonde was acting. In fact, everyone turned their attention to him. No one had seen this kind of a reaction sense the Ogre spoke to him. Taking a moment to gather himself, he stood back up and looked at them all. They continued the damn project he thought. "As some of you know, my sister was an IS test pilot." He said, clearly pained, "The name of the unit she was testing when the…accident occurred was the Gospel."
Everyone took a moment to fully process that, and then Rin was standing next to him with a hand on his shoulder. Cecilia moved towards him as well and hugged him, knowing full well what he must have been thinking. Even Tabane was at a loss for what to say. Being the genius that she is, it was easy to gain access to the full records concerning this boy. She had needed to, since he was another anomaly that her cores had accepted, and she had wanted to understand why. While not as mad as he was over the incident, she was rather mad at how sloppily the test that led to it was carried out, and how those people could be so careless with one of her cores.
In the end, it was decided that Ichika and Houki would deploy to stop the rouge IS. As they followed Chifuyu down to the beach, Simon decided to remain in the control room. Cecilia and Rin stayed with him, trying to console him. "Girls, really, I'm fine." He said, trying to make them feel better. However, they both saw clean through the obvious lie. Sighing, he turned to the monitor that displayed the footage from the two pilots. They had activated their IS, and with Ichika taking a firm grip on her back, Houki had activated the fold-out armor and taken off, quickly gaining speed as she moved to intercept the Gospel. Maya walked up behind the three as they stared at the screen and said, "Don't worry. Those two will do just fine." Simon just nodded as he continued to watch the two traveling over the ocean.
Chifuyu returned to the control room some time latter and joined them in staring at the screen. Charlotte and Laura hadn't come back, but Simon didn't take note of that as he saw Houki and Ichika closing on the Gospel. It was different from the design he had worked with; the wings were more elegant and looked like actual wings now, and the wrist mounted particle weapons had been removed. The most interesting change was that it looked like a solid suit now; there wasn't any exposed flesh from the pilot. Why would they fully armor it he wondered as Ichika and Houki came at it from behind. The first attack, which they had all hoped would be the only one necessary, missed as the Gospel dodged at the last second. Turning to them, several ports along its wings opened and a shower of energy bombs were hurled at them, separating the two teens.
Summoning her twin swords, Houki proceeded to launch her own energy attacks at the Gospel, forcing it to dodge. The speed and agility it demonstrated surprised everyone as it dodged every single one of Houki's attacks before it fired back. Holding out its hand, it gathered energy in its palm before firing it at the samurai, only to have Ichika deflect it with his own sword. He attempted to get closer, only to be blown back by another shower of energy bombs. The battle continued with the three racing across the sky, energy blasts flying in every direction, until they noticed a small boat in the waters below. "What the hell?" Simon said as he lept to his feet. "Where did they come from?"
"Poachers, probably." Chifuyu guessed as she watched the change in Ichika's demeanor. Instead of focusing on offense, he had shifted to defending the boat from stray blasts, which clearly pissed Houki off. After all, why should he be fighting to protect criminals? Before their fight could get any further, the Gospel suddenly closed on Houki and released a barrage at close-range, too close to dodge. Somehow, Ichika managed to get between her and the incoming fire, taking all of it and becoming engulfed in a massive explosion before plummeting from the sky, his IS destructing in a shower of light. The Gospel took this moment to retreat as Houki flew down and caught the unconscious boy. Chifuyu was on her phone, demanding a medical team meet them on the beach as soon as possible as Simon, Rin and Cecilia rushed from the room.
Simon was standing on the shore, alone, staring out to sea and cursing himself for not doing more. They had arrived just as Houki landed, and they saw how badly Ichika had been hurt; severe burns on his arms and legs and several nasty-looking gashes across his chest. Houki was very close to tears as the medical team arrived and quickly tried to stabilize him. Letting her IS destruct, she remained kneeling in the sand with her face in her hands. Knowing that there wasn't much he could do for Ichika, Simon knelt next to Houki and put an arm around her shoulder. As the medics carried him away, Simon said, "Don't worry, that guy is too stupid to die." Houki just looked after them, and it looked like she was close to leaping up and following them. Instead, Simon and Rin lead her back to her room and left her there before heading to the make-shift hospital they had set up.
Chifuyu stopped them from entering, saying that the medical staff needed to be left alone to work. It was at that point that Simon had decided to return to the beach to try and clear his head. Unfortunately, it wasn't working, and his mind was being constantly assaulted by what-if scenarios as he tried to imagine what he could have done to stop this from happening. After a few minutes, Houki joined him and stared out at the water as well. Finally, she spoke up, saying, "I'm done." "What do you mean, you're done?" Simon asked, turning and looking at her in confusion. "I'm done with the IS. I'm just not cut out to be a pilot." "So that's it?" he demanded, turning fully to face her and not caring that she looked on the edge of tears again. "You're just going to quit? After all of this, all the friends you made, you're just going to run away?"
She turned to him and nodded, not meeting his gaze, and when she saw his hand starting to rise, she fully expected him to hit her. And why not? She was pathetic, not even willing to try and save those people on the boat. She deserved to get hit. Instead, she felt his hand rest on her head and looked up to see him smiling at her. "You two are a lot more alike than you admit." He said, "Proud, stubborn and kind. And determined as hell to see this as your fault" At this, Houki felt tears starting to well up in her eyes. "Why, why don't you hate me?" she asked, her voice starting to tremble. "Because you're my friend, and I care too much to hate you," he explained, taking his hand off her head, "Now, you have two choices; stay here and wallow in self-pity, or help me."
"Help you do what?" she asked, looking away from him. "I'm going after that IS, and I could really use your help. Please." He said, causing her to look back at him in surprise. "B-but you don't even know where it is." Smiling, he motioned off to the side, saying, "No, but they do." Turning, Houki saw that all of her friends were lined up, and the accusing looks she was expecting to get were instead looks of compassion and understanding. That did it as she felt the dam break. Simon just stepped forward and hugged her, allowing her to let it out and not caring that it was soaking his shirt. "We're going to get that thing, Houki. I swear it."
9 chapters and they finally kiss! Woo! Also, feel free to start placing bets on the relation between the Gospel and Simon's sister. I get the feeling that you may not see the twist I have in mind coming. As far as updates go, I think I'm going to settle on one chapter a week, but that is subject to change depending on my work load from my classes. Also on whether or not my internet goes out again, since it's happened twice now.