Chapter 4

Motive

There is nothing more enjoyable than being woken by a beautiful girl calling your name. How did I, Ouma Shu, find myself in this situation is still a mystery to me. I guess this 'helping the ones in need' business pays off well after all… I don't want to open my eyes yet – it is night by now, but I still wish to delight in her melodic voice a little –

MOTHER OF GOD!

I jump off the couch instantly, clutching my butt with my hands as it sears in an infernal pain. I groan and jog in circles, openly displaying my displeasure and suffering.

"F- Fu- Funell you bastard! He shocked my ass, Inori! My ass! What on Earth!?"

The little bugger is showing its mechanic claws sparkling with electricity… its damned little eyes look like they are even trying to mock me. I swear upon my name I'll punch the programmer who dared to birth its AI.

"You weren't waking…"

Huh? Why is SHE the one who is pouting? Agh… there goes my pleasant sleep.

"Geez… be more subtle, at least…"

I sit down on the couch angrily as the ache slowly fades away.

"I was… I called your name, but you only smiled."

Heh… she's the cool anger type. It'd be hard to imagine her screaming back at me. As a proof of this, she's showing her offended mood still in a tranquil and soft voice. I'll calm down as well, I guess.

"I'm sorry, alright, I'm also one to blame. But you didn't need to use Funell on me… if you were so desperate, you could've drenched me in cold water or something – anything is better than an electric shock."

Or you could've given me a kiss; that'd have been nice. Swallow that, Shu – don't say it.

"Shu, we need to talk."

Good thing she ain't my girlfriend, or else that phrase would give me the shivers. Every fight, without exception, has those words as its prelude – even if they are spoken cutely like she did just now. However, I agree – we do need to talk, very urgently.

I nod in approval.

"I'm all ears, Inori… ladies first."

Shu the gentleman, giving the girl the right to lead the conversation.

Inori looks down nervously, as if tasting her own words before speaking them out. I'm sure she must be fairly careful about what she says to me… we haven't clearly stated our allegiance, and she does not know a word about my reasons or motives behind helping her. In her eyes, I'm just a random passerby who arbitrarily offered a helping hand to her.

"Why?"

Huh? Does she want me to take the initiative and do the talking, then? I tilt my head slightly without replying, showing I did not understand her question. Given how she appears to be rather timid, I guess she's not very used to talking with others. That makes two of us, unfortunately.

"Why are you helping me?"

Ah, that.

"You were hurt, and I happened to pass by. Do I need a reason to help a girl in need?"

Question dodge: activated.

Shu's gallantry is rocketing sky high.

"I'm a wanted criminal… you could be killed for doing this. Why do you protect me? Shu… even your blood, to me. Why?"

Question dodge ineffective - gallantry is no longer believed on in these days.

Jokes aside… I can no longer avoid answering. But I can't just casually say 'I killed my sister ten years ago and I still feel very bad about it'… I do not want Inori to feel as if she were a replacement for Mana, nor do I want to perceive her as such… despite the fact I am indeed helping her out of my sense of guilt. Damn it all.

I sigh, having no choice but to speak. I hate doing this.

"There was…"

I start the line, but I'm unable to continue. I dare not bring myself to say it. I'm pathetic… showing off and acting all confident and dauntless, yet unable of being honest with her. I feel like she'll just feel pitiful towards me if I say the truth – I don't want that. But just what is it that I want? Do I want to save her, or do I want to be saved?

I don't know anymore. I think I never did… but I will stick to my words – I have already treaded down the path of protecting her, so I will carry on without looking back.

Inori is looking at me intently, still waiting for my reply. She looks delicate and innocent, despite calling herself a criminal. Yes, I will tag along with her until I get her back to safety… I cannot back down now, nor do I intend to do so.

I don't wish to feed her with my sob story, but I do not want to lie either… so I'll explain myself through another truth, though it is only part of my motivation.

"That voice back then… You don't seem like a bad person to me. It was either your voice or your words, but seeing you bleeding while singing that song really touched me. I still don't know your circumstances, but whatever it is that the GHQ is chasing you for, I am sure you have your own reasons for being the criminal you call yourself to be.

This may just be a baseless assumption from my part, but I refuse to believe that someone with a voice as pure as yours would be evil. Music is the language of the soul, you see… and back then I felt that you are worth giving my life for.

I know I am acting blindly, but… is there anything wrong with me in doing this?"

Inori is speechless.

Serves her right, she left me speechless back then too.

"You are very extreme, Shu…"

I laugh a little.

"Call it love at first sight."

…

Was that out loud? Well, fuck.

Inori looks away nervously, blushing.

This awkward silence…

Funell, do something!

Damn it, I hate them all… stupid little robot won't fix the atmosphere at all.

I guess Inori noticed I didn't actually intend to say that, since I'm as red as hell like she is. Fucking hell, Shu, why did you even say that? I can't say it was a lie, because I truly feel like it wasn't… the comment was entirely involuntary, it just came out by itself!

Today isn't April fools, is it? Nope, there's no cheap escape from this... can't say it was a joke. I'm screwed. What a shitty way to realize one's own feelings… so long for discretion.

Inori reaches for Funell and places the bugger atop her legs, still blushing very hard but yet saying nothing. She raises a metal lid on the robot's top and extracts a glass cylinder containing a… whoa. I have no idea what is inside the tube, but it looks freaking fantastic – Haruka would drool over it if she saw it.

"This is the reason why I am being chased."

For real? The Anti-Bodies mobilized such a large force to retrieve this little tube?

"Did you steal it from the headquarters?"

I ask, to which Inori nods.

"The mission went very roughly… I was isolated and had to escape alone."

I can see that… she was very beaten up when I met her a few hours ago. As I remain in silence, she continues her story.

"They saw through my stealth suit. I was shot, and eventually thrown off the bridge."

I'm glad as hell I wasn't drinking anything right now, for I would've spit it all in horror.

"Off the BRIDGE!? Girl, are you alright?"

I lean forward to her to ascertain she is indeed fine… I'm surprise she survived the fall, let alone having swum her way back to land with that wounded arm of hers. Now that she mentions it… if she was in the bridge, then –

"So one of the Endlaves was your ally? I saw two of them fighting on the bridge yesterday moments after an explosion."

I ask the question that had been bugging me.

"Yes, that was Ayase. The explosion inside the building was Gai; he destroyed the lab where they made the Genome. We were to meet outside, but I was spotted and…"

Whoa, whoa… watch the names, I don't know them and perhaps shouldn't be hearing about them. She's being rather open with the information she's telling me.

"So that's why you were isolated… if you fell off the bridge, it's no wonder they haven't been able to find you. The same goes for the GHQ, though."

Inori nods.

"But why did you steal it? Is this thing dangerous?"

Inori nods again, more vividly.

"Very. Gai said we had to retrieve it at all costs to protect the world."

Hoh… big words indeed…

"The world? From whom, the GHQ?"

Inori nods yet again. She looks cute doing that, though… I like it. I should give her more yes or no questions from now on.

"The GHQ is dangerous. Sephirah Genomics is working in a project to exploit the Apocalypse Virus. If they use its power, they could achieve world global domination."

Now, that's news… I thought they were working to eradicate the virus, not cultivate it. Haruka… what on Earth are you getting yourself into? Something inside me tells I should verify the information Inori is telling me… though I don't feel like she is lying, this Gai could be tricking her into working for him; Inori seems to be the easily influenced type.

Well, well… I started by saving a girl and now I'm involving myself in some insane conspiracy theory? I could write a novel out of this.

"So you belong to a group that opposes them, I guess."

Inori nods! Ahhh, I love her. Keep doing that forever, girl.

I must be insane, being so cheerful about her cute nodding when she's explaining such serious problems to me. This is what I get for mixing with her, her strangeness has rubbed off onto me. That's part of her charm, though… so I don't mind at all.

"Gai intends to stop them, that's why we all follow him."

I fiddle my chin with my fingers as I think. As I thought, Inori does not seem to have evil motives fueling her actions. However, I am still skeptical about the conspiracy theory she's taking about… I should meet this Gai in person and confirm if he's legitimate or if he's merely fooling this innocent girl.

Before I talk, however, Inori does.

"We are the GHQ's worst enemies. That's why you will be killed if you are seen with me, Shu… I will continue on my own, so please – "

"If you're asking me to let you go alone, I'll pass. I've already boarded the boat you're on, so I will not be backing down… even if I wanted to, it is likely the Anti-Bodies already have tabs on me because I wasn't at school after you fired at the soldiers. My fingerprints are all over the place, too… I bet I've already been branded as your accomplice."

Inori looks down, regret showing in her eyes.

"Shu… I'm sorry."

She seems to feel very guilty about having involved me in her dangerous world. Don't look like that, Inori… you make me want to comfort and spoil you. Damned girl is driving me silly… liking someone is dangerous.

"I helped you out of my free will, don't worry about it. I'm not so weak as to not bear the weight of my own actions… so I'll take responsibility for anything that happens. You can rely on me; I'll continue fighting by your side to whatever end."

Inori lies flat on the bed, apparently blown off by my words. She's right about me being very extreme… I've met her just today, yet I already feel unfaltering loyalty towards her. If I had to, I would indeed take a bullet for her. Why is this? I originally wanted to redeem my sin of killing Mana… but I think I'm growing something more personal for her.

This may seem somewhat strange, but I feel an air of familiarity between us. Leaving aside the incident where she nearly blew my head off with her gun back in the warehouse, I have felt as if being together with her were something natural for me. Is this what they call chemistry? It's weird, really… I had never experienced it before.

Inori seems comfortable with me as well… she looks fairly relaxed, despite the dangerous situation we find ourselves in. I'm curious as of why she is accepting my assistance, though… back at school she didn't have much of a choice, but I wonder what she thinks about me now that I've explained some of my motives to her.

Will she reply in kind, or will she only make use of my aid and dispose of me later? She seems like a good girl to me… I doubt she's the type to heartlessly discard others, but trusting another person always carries a degree of risk. I think it is still too soon to ask her, though… so I'll believe blindly in her for now. This isn't the time for sentimentality, after all; we should get moving before the Anti-Bodies take the initiative on us.

"Funell's tracking system is broken."

Inori speaks as she lies on my bed, pointing to Funell's bullet hole. She read my thoughts.

"So we can't find Gai's location?"

I ask, wondering what to do.

"They cannot find us either… we have to contact them directly."

Oh… so we do have options.

"We can do that… do you have his number?"

Inori nods! Sitting down was one thing, but Inori nodding while lying on my bed just warms my heart like there's no tomorrow. Ahh, this girl…

I bring out my cell phone… and find it is broken.

"I think I fell on it when Funell took me down…"

Yup, that must've been it… how unfortunate. I liked that phone.

Inori shakes her head. Hmm… that in itself has its own charm, but I prefer the nodding.

"That's good. They won't track us through it. Every cell phone has a GPS system on it, did you know?"

She explains her reasoning quite soundly.

"Really? I didn't know that one… they stopped providing the service a while ago, but the government still uses it, huh?"

INORI NODS!

Man, I'm so happy. My life is fulfilled.

"Shu?"

Ah, she noticed… I'm smiling stupidly again. Stop it, Shu, get a hold of yourself.

"So how do we call Gai, Inori?"

"Public phone."

"Aren't the lines tapped?"

Inori nods! I can keep this all day long, yes or no questions are the best.

"The GHQ will look for us."

"Can't we use Funell for that?"

Ow… she shakes her head. I have to try harder to get a yes.

"If he hides our location, Gai won't find us either."

I see…the GHQ can tell where we're calling from, and so can Gai. If either of them is able to pinpoint our location, the other is able to do so as well. However, if we use Funell to relay a false location for us, we'll be misleading Gai too.

So… I have an idea.

"Give me the number, I'll go call him."

"Shu?"

"Your hair is too flashy, they'll recognize you in an instant if you go out. I can blend more easily with the crowd, so I'll do the call. Just tell me a way of making him know I'm on your side… like a password or a keyword."

Inori fixes her eyes on me, judging if letting me do the call is really the best choice.

"Gai does not trust strangers, he will – "

"Inori… if we are found, we are dead. I won't blow our location. I have covered for you this far, so you can trust I will keep my word on this one."

"Gai will be furious with me."

"It's better to apologize to him than to beg the Anti-Bodies for mercy."

"You're too persistent."

"Damn right, I am. Now tell me a password, I want to get you safe as soon as possible."

"Shu…"

"Inori…"

She sighs. It seems I'm winning her over. So close… so close…!

"December 24, 2036."

"Huh? That's the password?"

"It's the day when I met him."

"Ah… I see."

Such a detailed memory… seems I have a rival. Or am I the usurper? We shall see.

"Also, Inori, what's the name of your group? Does the GHQ know it?"

"The Funeral Parlor… GHQ does not know it yet; we have done only covert operations."

"And last, your full name. Again, does the GHQ know it?"

"Yuzuriha Inori… it should be unknown as well."

Inori, you trust me too much. I could be very well selling you off for a fortune with all you're telling me… I'm glad you believe in me. You're lucky I'm being honest about helping you; someone else might be betraying you really bad with all you're saying.

She's really innocent… now I feel an even stronger need to protect her.

"I'll be right back, then… there's a telephone booth nearby."

"Funell kept the door silent, you can leave without being noticed."

"Ah, that's excellent. Stay hidden, then… I won't be gone for long."

And so I leave Inori behind, heading to the elevator so I can go down the five floors I'm above the ground. Once again at ground level, I discretely make way for the subway, watching out for any soldiers that may be stationed in the place. There are indeed some in the area, but I succeed at sneaking through them. Peak hour is fantastic – becoming part of the group is a walk in the park. I feel like that guy from an old videogame… Ezio, was he?

Now, I enter the telephone booth. There's people outside, so I'm somewhat concealed. I should make this fast. I insert coins instead of using my phone card so as not to reveal my identity and dial the number Inori gave to me.

After a couple of rings, a voice answers… our avenue of escape is within our grasp at last.