Chapter 16
Due to the Dead
We all run to the library, where Tsugumi had gotten in touch with Gai during her break just moments before the Leukocyte strike.
"I was reporting about the mock battles' progress when a bright light blinded Funell's visuals. We lost contact moments later, and I've been unable to reestablish it yet."
Tsugumi explains the situation to us as she is frantically trying to link a connection to her robot's communications device. Gai had taken it with him to have secure way of calling us if he needed our forces to mobilize, but the satellite opened fire on him so suddenly that there was nothing he could've done to avoid it.
In the worst case scenario, Tsutsugami Gai is –
"He can't be dead…"
Ayase refuses to accept the thoughts crossing everyone's minds. All of us wish to think that way, but given how nobody in point Delta has picked up any of Tsugumi's attempts to reach them via radio signal, the chances of anyone's survival are slim.
However, Ayase is right. We cannot resign ourselves to believe that our leader has encountered such an unreasonable fate – the mere idea of having Gai dying on us so suddenly is inconceivable; none of us want to believe it.
"Shibungi, we must look for him."
Everyone turns to look at me as I second Ayase's words. The video recording taken by Funell before the Leukocyte's attack landed showed us that a massive level of destruction must have surely ensued in the whole area, but I too wish to cling onto the hope that my old friend is alive.
"We will. Ogumo, prepare a transport immediately; you and Argo are to take a squad with you to work as a search party."
"Take me with you."
I step forward as Shibungi gives out orders, but am stopped as he shakes his head.
"It is too dangerous for you to go; if a second shot is fired and you are killed, the fight against Sephirah will be over for us. You are to stay here and wait for Ogumo to report back. The same goes for you, Inori; you are Shu's primary weapon."
He coldly states everything as it is, not even giving Inori the chance to speak her worries. Ayase moves her wheelchair closer to Shibungi, as she certainly wants to take part in the mission as well.
"What about us?"
She must refer to the rest of Gai's original team. More than anyone else, they must be itching to go and confirm his safety. Kyo was there with him as well, so that gives them even more of a reason to want to go in themselves.
"You are too valuable to be deployed for this; Argo and Ogumo will have to suffice."
Shibungi heartlessly says that the people who he is sending for the rescue mission are, in the end, not strictly necessary for the war. Ayase is the Parlor's ace pilot, and Tsugumi is in charge of most of the communication systems and information network. Kido Kenji is in no shape to be sent to battle, and Shibungi himself is the acting leader of our forces now, so the only people left who act simply as regular soldiers are indeed Ogumo and Argo.
"We'll find him and bring him back; don't worry about us."
Argo holds Ayase's shoulder with his hand, trying to relieve her anxiety, but the wheelchair ridden girl just looks down miserably, struggling to stop herself from crying. My fists shake from how hard I'm closing them shut in vexation, unable to do anything for anyone other than uselessly waiting for news to come.
Inori holds onto my arm, pressing her forehead against it beneath my shoulder. As she does this, I come to realize her whole body is shaking, which makes me understand that her fear for Gai's demise being confirmed is much deeper than I could ever fathom.
I grasp her hand, holding down my anger so I can be here to support her. The time will come when I'll strike back at the Anti-Bodies for making her as scared and anguished as she is, but said time will not come this day – the only option within my power to take is to stand strong and be by her side to help her endure the pain.
Argo and Ogumo leave the room, while Shibungi, Tsugumi and Kenji man the computer terminal and immerse themselves with the task of gathering as much intelligence as possible from the Anti-Bodies' communications network.
"Let's go, Ayase…"
Everyone is walking out of the library given how there's nothing left for us to do there, and I motion Ayase to come with us so Tsugumi and the other two can concentrate better. There is no response from her, so I walk closer before insisting, but stop myself from opening my mouth again.
I don't need to be a psychology expert to tell that Ayase is about to have a mental breakdown, since the look in her face makes the message go across effortlessly. She buries her face into her hands, but emits no sound whatsoever: her inner self is too shaken to even operate her vocal chords.
"I'll take her to the infirmary, Tsugumi."
This girl needs to calm down, and letting her stay in the tense atmosphere of this room is hardly the best thing to do. Tsugumi doesn't part her eyes from the screen before her as she replies, not letting her friend's state make her disregard her duties.
"Please do, Shu… look after her for me."
I nod, taking the handles for Ayase's wheelchair. Inori seems to have calmed down a little, as she isn't shaking anymore and is now more concerned about Ayase's welfare than her own. She lets go of my arm so I can move properly, and the two of us exit the library together with Ayase being pushed by me.
Silence has permeated the whole building, and nobody seems to be intent on breaking its hold on it anytime soon. The only notable sound I can catch is that of a vehicle leaving the garage, which is fairly close to the medical quarters so that injured soldiers can be rushed straight to the emergency room if needed be upon arrival.
Inori opens the door for me, since I'm still pushing Ayase, and we enter the lobby. I position the wheelchair adjacent to a bed, and take a look at the girl sitting on it to see if she has gotten well enough to climb up by herself.
She's still submerged in her inner self and shows no signs of answering to my presence, so I take her in my arms and lay her down to rest. It doesn't take long for her to roll to her side opposite of me so I can't see her any more, but given how she cannot move her legs to follow her torso, she is left at a very uncomfortable position.
As discretely as I can, push her hip with my hands so she isn't badly twisted anymore and then walk away after closing the curtains around her bed to give her time and privacy. Inori is sitting in the couch by the entrance where she'd been sleeping on my lap yesterday, but this time she is waiting for me to keep her company.
I sit by her side without saying anything, and she wordlessly wraps her arms around me before hiding her face against my body again. There's little I can do other than holding her back, and the two of us stay there listening to Ayase softly crying in solitude.
Though I am tempted to go with her, I decide not to because I already am comforting Inori and also because Ayase and I aren't close enough yet for her to confide in me while she's in pain. If I went there to witness her as she is, she'd just feel worse by the fact of being observed, so I just stay here and patiently wait for her to sort out her emotions.
The clock on the wall keeps ticking, the minutes going by become hours, and still there haven't been any news about Gai and Kyo yet. But we remain here, powerless, unable to do anything to lift the stress corroding us inside.
I no longer feel my arm where Inori is resting her weight against, but I lack the heart to make her move. Ayase hasn't made any sounds for a while, which makes me believe she cried herself to sleep, so that leaves Inori's breath brushing against my neck as the only stimulus my senses can catch.
It's starting to get dark already, and the light coming from the open door leading to the corridor is every time less and less. I'm beginning to think we should return to our rooms to get proper rest.
However, the distinct noise of a vehicle approaching the vicinity catches my attention, nearly making me shoot up to my feet from the couch. Inori seems to have heard it as well, since she gets her head up from my shoulder and leans towards the open door to ascertain that she heard well.
We can discern the sound of the garage doors being opened moments afterwards, and the two of us immediately stand up and rush in search for Argo and Ogumo. The thought of waking Ayase crosses my mind, but given how we have no idea if they have Gai with them or not, I decide that letting her sleep for a while longer would be most prudent.
Inori and I make it to the garage, where a truck I'd never seen before is just being parked right before us, guided by a number of Funeral Parlor soldiers. Its doors open, and the first to step down is the driver, Ogumo.
I look to the side, sticking my eyes to the passenger's door. Tsutsugami Gai emerges from it, lifting a heavy weight from my shoulders. He is covered in blood and his uniform is ruined beyond repair, but he walks towards us nonetheless, letting us know he is alright.
Inori breaks running to him and heavily lands an embrace against his chest, forcing out some of the air inside his lungs. I don't lose any time and join them, unable to refrain from doing a group hug with my closest friend.
I pat my palm heartily against his back, still not believing we are once again together in the same place. The worries that we might be unable to keep fighting as brothers had not stopped tormenting me, and they are now swiftly being washed away as I get to confirm with my very own hands that Gai is here standing in front of us.
We stay there for a moment and then let go as Ogumo motions us to follow him.
I turn to do as I am told, but then look back at Gai before proceeding.
"Where's Kyo?"
He averts his eyes from my question, making a harrowing sense of distress encompass me.
"She's here with me."
It is Argo who replies as he steps down from the truck's back door behind me. I turn around to greet him and Kyo, but I stop in my tracks as I witness how he is bitterly holding the young girl's body in his arms.
It is until now that I distinguish that the expression in their faces is not one of joy for having made it back alive, but rather one of innermost grief and sorrow. I alternate my eyes between Gai and Argo, silently asking them what is going on, unwilling to accept what the somber atmosphere is clearly telling me has happened.
"Kyo is gone, Shu..."
What is he talking about? My hand reaches for Gai's bloodied jacket, gripping it shakily in its grasp. It cannot be… he couldn't mean that -
"… she is dead."
His words stab me like a knife to my gut, confirming what I was so desperately refusing to accept. My knees give in to my weight, but Gai stops me from falling by supporting me with his own injured self.
"We must inform the rest about it… we have too many graves to dig today."
I am made to turn around and walk with him as he says this, hinting he was the only survivor of the Leukocyte strike. There is nobody else besides Argo and Ogumo following behind us and Inori, so by every means I must be right in suspecting it.
We step into the medical quarters and Ogumo leaves us to look for Shibungi, who must evaluate Gai's condition to ascertain his life isn't in danger. After Ogumo is gone, Argo lays our deceased comrade in a bed right next to Ayase's, making her wake from her sleep.
"Shu? Is that you?"
Her throat is sore after crying so much following her breakdown, but she manages to voice some words despite the difficulty. I tug on Gai's sleeve and motion him to have a word with her, as seeing him even in his current condition must still be better for her than only being told he's fine. Shibungi is yet to arrive, so spending a minute or two with her makes little difference to Gai's injuries.
He moves the curtain aside with one of his hands, and I can see Ayase's whole body being filled with relief as soon as her eyes meet with her commander's. She looks down to hide she's about to burst crying again, and tells Gai with her finger to move closer to her.
Gai does so, lowering his torso a bit to be within her reach and Ayase slowly wraps her arms around him, openly showing how glad she is to know he made it back alive.
Inori and I walk past them to give them privacy, and we wind up sitting in the bed adjacent to Kyo's. I thought Argo was here with her, but it seems he's gone elsewhere to prepare the tools necessary to check on Gai's wounds. Therefore, it is only the two of us in front of our friend's body lying quietly before us.
Unable to take it anymore, I get up and stand right in front of her, supporting my weight with my arms just a few centimeters away from Kyo against the mattress. Inori is standing beside me as I look intently at Kyo's face, which looks as peaceful as if she were sleeping.
I grip her shoulder despite knowing she will not react, but I can't help doing it anyway, as part of me is still hoping that she will get up and tell me she's okay. Inori's touch on my hand brings me back to my senses, making me fully understand that Kyo has passed away and she will never come back to us.
The last ounce of strength keeping me standing fades away, and I crumble down to the floor miserably, holding myself straight only with the part of my torso still pushing against the bed. I only knew Kyo for a few days, but I grew to be attached enough to her that I can't avoid shedding tears of sorrow for her death.
I've already lost count of how many times Inori has hugged me today, but here she is holding me tight to her, physically conveying the point that she is here with me.
"Don't cry, Shu… if you do, then I…"
My heart is being torn to little pieces by the sound of Inori crying against the back of my shoulder. Chances are we would've stayed that way for a while, but the sound of footsteps approaching us tells me I should recover my composure.
I manage to stand up before the people get to approach us, but I have no time to hide the fact I was in tears just seconds ago. Shibungi and Ogumo are now inside the room, and I don't really want either of them to see me as I am, so I walk past them and make for the corridor together with Inori before they speak to me.
The two are sensible enough to leave me be, and Inori and I end up walking aimlessly in the cold and gradually darkening corridors of the Funeral Parlor.
Neither of us can think of anything to say, even as Tsugumi passes us by on her way to the medical quarters. I don't want to be the one telling her Kyo is dead, and I don't think I'm in a good enough state to say it out loud, so I just let her go to find out by herself. Ayase and the rest will be there for her, after all, so I doubt my presence will be necessary.
I hold Inori's hand, and part of me reminisces of just how close the two of us were from being killed less than two days ago. Because it had been so many years since I last lost someone close to me, I had already forgotten how terrifying death can be. Merely thinking of losing Inori as suddenly as Kyo strikes fear into my heart; it even makes me tremble.
Right now, more than ever before, I understand that I must look after everyone in the battlefield. I am the most powerful member of the whole group, and therefore I am the one who can best ensure that our comrades do not fall in combat.
The responsibility placed on my shoulders is enormous, but deep inside I am glad it is me who has the duty of carrying its burden. If I were to choose between being a regular guy and wielding the Power of the King, I'd have the Void Genome injected on me as many times as it were necessary for me to keep everyone alive.
I stay submerged in my thoughts as Inori and I keep walking without going anywhere, until we eventually grow tired and sit together in the dining room where a few other Parlor members are gathered.
We are offered some food, which we take without qualms: the two of us are quite hungry after such a prolonged period of stress, although my mind is still too clouded to care what the dishes are. It isn't long after we're done eating whatever we were given when the speakers inside the headquarters emit Gai's voice coming from them.
"All available personnel are to gather in the briefing room at once, except those assigned to guard and patrol duties, who are to remain in their posts until further notice.
I repeat: all available personnel are to gather in the briefing room save for those assigned to guard and patrol duties. General Gai out."
He's done with his treatment already, I assume. Inori and I get up and make way to the library along with the others who were with us. We arrive to our destination without delay, where those we left back in the medical quarters are waiting for us in front of a black coffin in the middle of the room.
We let another couple of minutes pass so everyone is gathered around and above us in the library's numerous floors, and then the Funeral Parlor's acting leader speaks.
"Five hours ago, a Leukocyte fired upon and annihilated the last remnants of the Undertakers. The men who had accompanied me were also caught in the blast, and I myself would have been a casualty had our valiant comrade, Shibutani Kyo, not protected me with her very life.
We have been dealt a stinging blow today, from which we will never fully recover. An entire company of experienced soldiers was lost, and one of our founding members has met her untimely demise at the Anti-Bodies' cowardly hands.
However, we have no time to waste leisurely licking our wounds. The GHQ has proven itself willing to openly kill hundreds of civilians to eliminate us, and there is no telling when they will use the Leukocyte system again.
As of tonight we will commence preparations to strike back at them, even without the aid of the Undertakers who had come here precisely to eliminate the orbital threat holding the entire country hostage.
Our counteroffensive will be launched in no less than seventy-two hours. Drills and simulations will be initiated tomorrow at six hundred sharp; everyone is to report to their designated posts without delay.
Lieutenants and drillmasters will be given instructions in this room at five hundred sharp, where I will inform them of the time for the subsequent briefing meets.
Moreover, all of our acting members are to be administered with a version of the Apocalypse Vaccine that Lieutenant General Shibungi has managed to successfully reinforce. He will be in the medical quarters starting from eight hundred sharp, and each Cadet will be assigned a turn by their Lieutenant to be inoculated.
The following mission will be by far the most dangerous we have yet committed ourselves to, so if anyone feels hesitant about risking being vaporized like the Undertakers were, the time to step down and retire from our ranks is now.
However, it must be clear to everyone in this room that the fate of not only the country, but also of the entire world lies in our hands. Should we fail to stop Sephirah from triggering the true Apocalypse they disguise as evolution, billions of innocent lives will be lost in the onslaught.
Therefore, I call for each and every one of you to fight shoulder to shoulder with me in the struggle for saving all those that Sephirah intends to kill. We have the Power of the King with us, and with it we will bring down the reign of oppression enforced by the villains who cultivate the virus that extinguished millions of lives ten years ago.
Now tell me, my comrades, will you assist me to eradicate the Apocalypse Virus? Will you fight with me to stop Lost Christmas from repeating itself ever again?"
"WITH OUR VERY LIVES, COMMANDER!"
The support of the Funeral Parlor for Tsutsugami Gai is unanimous, as everyone speaks their reply in one voice. I don't know if they're used to saying that or if all simply thought of the same thing, but witnessing how everyone other than me gave the same answer, I can't help but to admire how strongly Gai can unify people under his cause.
Even though the enemy can potentially kill all of us with just one fell strike of their invisible hammer, the entirety of the Funeral Parlor is willing to charge into battle with their leader in spite of the terrible odds against them.
If the saying is true that an ideal can't be shot down, then the men hailing at their commander will not be stopped by anything in the fight to come. And I shall be there with them, eager and ready to settle my score with the GHQ… by the life of me I swear that Kyo's death will not go unpunished.
The meet at the library was dismissed by Gai after we uttered prayers for the dead; Shibungi read the names of all the hundred and forty two casualties inflicted by the Leukocyte, and Kyo's body was taken to be cremated shortly afterwards.
I was there with Gai and the rest, witnessing how my comrade's body was reduced to ashes before our very eyes. As I watched, I couldn't help but noticing the irony that, in the end, Kyo met the same fate as all the others who died earlier. Argo suggested digging a grave for her, but Gai himself refused, saying he did not want to leave her body in a provisional base that would be abandoned in a matter of weeks.
None of us could say otherwise, as it is entirely true that this place will be left behind once the conflict over the Apocalypse Virus is finished, and so it would indeed be best for Kyo's remains to stay with her makeshift family.
After the cremation, Gai called for Tsugumi and me, telling us we should get whatever rest we could before the drills begin. I'd very much like to comply with his request, but for the past couple of hours I've been crawling around in my bed without signs of falling asleep anytime soon.
Kyo's demise has had a heavy impact on me, but for some reason I feel something else making me restless. I just can't shake off the thoughts that something is wrong, and that I should not be idling in my room the way I am.
I'd never experienced anything of the sorts before; it is as if someone else's soul were clashing against mine, causing its colors to mix with my own. This is very strange. I don't know if what I'm about to do is a good idea, but I have a hunch that it is necessary.
My hand presses against my chest as I close my eyes, concentrating in bringing my spirit to a tranquil state. Today's events still weight on my psyche, but it seems that my ability to tread in the spiritual realm has been heightened to supernatural levels.
If I put my mind to it, I can vaguely see the image of my own soul. The vision is hazy and I cannot discern its form with precision, but I am able to distinguish that the shape is not human; its form is long and slender, as if it were a snake.
I am captivated in an instant, and my soul itself seems to be aware that I am observing it as it begins to emit a green radiance. Its color is the same as my Void's, and beyond any doubt I am convinced that my soul is composed of nothing but the purest of all jades.
The serpent begins to grow agitated, seemingly wanting to tell me something. I extend my senses to converse with it, but to no avail – its voice is too faint to reach my ears. Upon understanding we cannot communicate directly, my spirit shines with increased vigor, letting me see something I had previously been unable to.
There are threads of silver enveloping it, like the ones that emerge from a Void when I draw it out. The creature swirls through them, making them more noticeable, telling me I did not understand what it wanted to say.
I strain my focus as much as possible, and upon seeing the filaments closer I realize that they aren't wrapped around the snake: it's the snake itself that is fixing them to its body.
My vision is slowly becoming clearer, and it grows sharp enough for me to see that the cords are extended from my spirit and into the distance, seemingly stretching into infinity.
I reach for the creature with my hand and it comes into contact with my fingers, which makes some of its scales permeate throughout my skin. Feeling this, I take a hold of a fraction of its body and pull on it as I make my conscience resurface to the material world.
My Void's light illuminates the whole room, but I manage to keep it controlled enough to avoid doing any damage to my surroundings. Like the last time I drew it, my senses are enhanced beyond their limits, but this time the experience is so intense that it entirely dwarves their strength during the night of my rescue.
I can see perfectly well in the pitch darkness, to the point where I can clearly distinguish that my arms aren't smooth like they were before, but rather they have scales akin to that of the spirit inside of me.
Moreover, as I look at my hands I realize that my Void has grown claws at the tips of my fingers, making me feel as if I were a lizard. Part of me wants to be marveled at the changes in me, but there is something that nags at me with greater strength than those.
Now I understand what the threads held by the snake were. Without even leaving the room, I can tell that Inori is also unable to sleep in her bed, Gai is currently making plans regarding the assault to the Leukocytes' control room, Argo is outside digging a grave to bury Kyo's personal belongings, Kenji is working with Shibungi on gathering data about the Anti-Bodies' defenses, and Tsugumi is repairing Funell again.
In other words, my spirit is linked to that of everyone who's Voids I have wielded.
I stay there in my bed for a couple of minutes as I digest everything about my discovery, as this news have hit me very heavily. It was already clear to me that the Void Genome steps into the spiritual realm and lets me materialize other people's souls… but making it go as far as linking them to me is quite extreme.
The closeness with which we are connected is tremendous – an example of this is the fact that I now understand why I felt something inexplicably bothering me: learning about Kyo's death hit Tsugumi harder than anyone else, and fixing her ruined Funell is making her feel about as horrible as I felt when I killed Mana.
Gai said Tsugumi will be absolutely needed for tomorrow's drills, but given how she is right now, I fear I'll be unable to draw her Void at all at this rate. Moreover, I myself am unable to bear knowing how she is feeling and still not do something about it.
I get up from my bed and go to the small workshop where I'd seen her tending for Funell before, the day when I was erroneously told my name was clean.
But… what's this?
Kyle is dead. He was the mole the Funeral Parlor got infiltrated into the Anti-Bodies, I still remember about his name, but why do I know he was captured and executed?
Information is flowing into my head, telling me many things about Tsugumi. She has been an orphan for as long as she can remember, and she had snuck out of the orphanage where she'd been living when Lost Christmas happened.
Gai told me about their story, but now that I'm looking into Tsugumi's memories, I can see that the two people with whom she had the closest bonds were Ayase and Kyo.
Tsugumi was initially the shy and introverted type, but after Ayase became a sort of motherly figure to her, she started gaining confidence. When Ayase contracted malaria and had a close encounter with death, Tsugumi decided she would become someone who would take care of the rest as well, and attempted to copy Kyo's cheerful attitude.
It didn't take long for her to realize that she could keep disputes from rising, and she became focused in getting everyone to work together and obey Gai like Ayase wanted.
Now it is being officially confirmed to me that Ayase has had a long-time crush for Gai, but she was afraid of confessing to him in the middle of the guerilla because either of them could be killed any day.
After Ayase was injured and lost the ability to walk, Gai spent several weeks practically at her side every day. She thought about telling him about her feelings, but when news reached her of her crush's designation as the Funeral Parlor's commander, she decided to keep the truth shut inside of her to avoid distracting him from his duty.
Tsugumi has been watching over the two ever since, still hoping that one day romance will bloom between them after the conflict with the GHQ is over.
Meanwhile, Tsugumi herself has never had a love interest in her life, and she had a conversation with Kyo about it. It turned out that Kyo was in the same situation, because the long years they spent in Africa had made both of them too rigid for such emotions.
While the two of them still saw life with a positive light, neither of them could really bring themselves to feel affection towards someone else. The reason behind this was their fear of losing the object of their love, and both of them secretly admired Ayase's courage to grow feelings for Gai despite living under such dangerous circumstances.
It was because of Ayase's influence that Tsugumi and Kyo made a promise with each other: once they retired from living as soldiers, they would work together to open themselves up to other people in hopes they'd see the same dream Ayase has sought for the past ten years.
Now that Kyo is dead, Tsugumi suddenly finds herself alone, as she no longer has anyone to talk about the matters she can't touch with Ayase or anyone else. The young girl who passed away a few hours ago was Tsugumi's closest emotional support, who knew her better than the rest, and the only one with whom she had ever made a promise in her life.
And to top that off, she is now fixing her heavily damaged Funell, whom she had programmed and named after the imaginary friend she had in the orphanage. Inside Tsugumi's heart, not only did her closest friend get killed, but also the moving icon of her childhood was practically slain as well.
Therefore, as I walk through the workshop's door, it is no surprise for me to see that she is still crying when she turns to me.
"S- Shu? Don't come to me, you don't want to –"
I don't want to see her the way she is, of course I don't, but hell does this girl need a hug.
Without even saying or asking anything, I walk directly to her and take her in my arms. She resists at first, which is only natural because I was extremely sudden, but I didn't come here empty-handed to just make the situation all the more awkward.
If I can feel other people's emotions, then I can be certain that it's possible for the others to get in touch with mine as well. This has to be the case, because the instances in which others have said exactly what I was thinking have been very numerous.
Therefore, I close my eyes and concentrate on relaying my feelings directly into Tsugumi. It seems to work, as she slowly stops showing opposition against my embrace and gradually comes to accept it as my intention to make her calm down is transferred to her.
As I suspected, the connection between us is mutual, so Tsugumi is entirely getting that I'm telling her she can confide in me all she wants and I'll be there for her no matter what. By no means do I intend to replace Kyo for her, but I can't bear seeing Tsugumi the way she is and not doing anything about it.
And so here I am, confessing that I saw into her past and rumbled through her memories, blatantly stepping over her privacy because I wanted to know why she is feeling as terrible as she is right now.
However, I make sure to transfer the point that I did that because I've come to truly care about her, and I also put heavy emphasis on transmitting my wish of simply being there for her if he ever needs a shoulder to cry upon.
Tsugumi is confused as fuck over what is happening between her and me, because just a minute ago she had no idea about our spiritual connection.
I mentally apologize to her about that as well, and let her go so we can see eye to eye.
Like I suspected, she is dumbstruck, but she'll live through it. I lower my face and offer my cheek to her, since Ayase taught me how women like venting their emotions.
"You'll feel better, trust me. And I deserve it; I did do all of this without even asking."
She was hesitant at first, but after some encouragement she slaps me with more strength than I'd have imagined her small body could muster.
I reach for her with my mind, though, and confirm that she indeed feels better. However, the pain over Kyo's loss is still hurting her very badly, so I look directly into her eyes and place my hand on her chest.
Tsugumi is confused as of what I'm doing by apparently drawing her Void, but I limit myself to only extracting about half of the sadness dwelling inside of her.
For once, I find the Void Genome to be useful for something other than killing people.
"I'm talking literally when I say I'll share your burden. You'll let me do this much, right?"
I explain myself a little, given how we've hardly spoken any words since my sudden arrival. However, I do add a bit via our spiritual link.
'I don't want you to ever feel alone again, after all.'
Tsugumi wraps her short arms around me, pressing her head against my chest.
"You like seeing girls cry, don't you?"
Oh. She's crying again, just like she said, but I can sense that she is glad about my visit this time, so I smile and hug her back while brushing her hair with my hand. For a moment I thought my still-extracted Void would hurt her, because it is usually as hard as stone, but I come to realize that it softened up as soon as I touched her.
"Only when they're happy about it."
Tsugumi laughs a little at my reply, lightening the mood.
"Thanks for coming, Shu… I needed someone to be with me."
She tightens her hold on me a little, warming my heart like there's no tomorrow. I had no idea of how she'd react to my intervention, and I'm damn glad she took it so well; had things gone wrong, she'd have ended up hating me for looking so much inside of her.
I apply more strength to my arms as well, and concentrate in deepening the connection between us. The relief spreading inside of us intertwines, revolving around each other and creating a cycle in which we experience a sense closeness that would be otherwise impossible to achieve.
"By the way; you'll forgive me about the prank with your Void, right?"
Ugh! My ribs! Tsugumi punches them with one of her fists, physically telling me she didn't find it funny at all, but her mind is telling me otherwise as I can tell she is laughing inside of her head.
"Just this time, silly… if you do it again, I won't let you off."
Uh oh. What's this? This is very bad. Tsugumi is feeling a little too positively about me, and I think I should let go of her right now because I don't want to start a love triangle. Strange as it may sound, I came here to comfort Tsugumi because I honestly care about her, yet there is no romantic interest from my part towards her– I already have Inori.
Ah, shit! Tsugumi's love meter is starting to reach dangerously high levels! The impact of my arrival was magnified greatly because she felt like shit and subconsciously really wanted someone to show up, and I messed up by overusing our spirit link to the point where I unknowingly created a deep sense of intimacy between us.
She's still hugging me quietly, but if things carry on like this then she'll start acting like the clone for real, and I'd find myself in the crossroads of rejecting her and making her feel worse, or answering her feelings and betray Inori.
Of course, cheating on Inori is out of the question, so for this girl's sake, someone must break us apart before I do so myself! Come on, anyone, please!
"Tsugumi?"
I love you, Ayase.
"A- Aya-nee!? T- this is not what it looks like, absolutely not!"
Tsugumi lets go of me instantly, startled by her friend's timely arrival.
"Right… I see you don't miss any opportunities, Shu."
God damn it, my standing with Ayase has just plummeted to the ground.
"Aya-nee, wait! I'm serious, this isn't what –"
Mini-tomato-san rushes to stop her friend as she's about to leave the workshop, but Ayase waves her off with her hand.
"Don't worry, Tsugumi, I won't tell Inori about it. You can go on, just don't be too noisy."
There is no way in hell I can let this misunderstanding stand. I hurry to get Ayase before she closes the door on us, and she stops, but she turns to face me with far more hostility than I had ever seen her bear before.
"What do you want? Do you intend to draw me in too?"
She's very pissed off, and I can bet she'll break a few of my bones if I come anywhere within her arms' reach. This will be tough…
"Ayase, I'll let you hit me all you want, but please let me draw your Void before that."
I absolutely must create a spiritual link with her so that she'll believe my story. She doesn't appear to be too cooperative, though, and looks at me as if she wanted to choke me dead.
"Why, so you can touch me too? You've got your Void out already, why should I lend you mine as well?"
Bloody hell, she's very resistant about this; I won't get through her barrier alone.
"Aya, please do as he says! You'll understand everything if you let him; I'm begging you!"
Fortunately, Tsugumi joins my efforts and presses her friend to comply with my request. The odds are terribly against us, however, because Ayase is currently wearing a very thin white dress she likely uses to sleep, and I can tell she's not using a bra right now.
Yes, her boobs look majestic, I can't deny that.
Oh, shit! Tsugumi is giving me a killer look – I had entirely forgotten our minds are connected, so she must've surely sensed what I was thinking! Fuck, fuck, fuck!
"Come on, Aya, give him one chance to explain. Everything will be clear if you let him take your Void, so please, do it for me just this time!"
Good thing that Tsugumi is still on my side on this, or else I could've considered my friendship with Ayase to be beyond salvation.
The girl in question stares long and hard at me, then at Tsugumi, then back at me. She looks greatly distressed about making a decision, but at last she speaks.
"If you get a boner, I'll rip your thing off. With that said, you can go on."
I sigh, not doubting the seriousness of her threat. Focus, Shu, this is part of the business.
Tsugumi grabs my arm before I reach for Ayase's chest, however, and I turn to look at her in question. She appears to be concentrating on something as she fixes her eyes upon mine, and surprisingly I come to hear her thoughts inside my head.
'Be discrete about… you know…'
Ah, everything she and Kyo discussed in private. Okay… I'll try as hard as I can to omit that, but I can't make any promises.
'Shu, please!'
'Alright, alright! I'm sorry; I won't tell her anything you don't want her to know.'
Tsugumi sighs in relief.
"Thanks."
Ayase seems confused, as most of the exchange happened without us saying a word. She'll understand soon enough, though, so there's no need to explain it to her.
I look into Ayase's eyes and move my hand towards her, but stop again before making contact. There's something I must do before extracting her Void.
"Ayase, this is news to us, but I'll tell you beforehand. If I draw your Void, a link between us will be established, and I'll be able to look inside your mind without restriction. I learned this just now with Tsugumi, and so I want to tell you about the implications behind letting me touch your soul."
The expression in her face immediately changes, like it should have, since just now I revealed to her an extremely significant truth about the act of drawing Voids. She is stunned by the revelation, and I can see she doesn't know what to say.
"You can trust him with this, Aya, he won't abuse his power like others would. He may be a bit pushy about how he does things, but Shu is in fact a really good guy.
Besides, he'll be the key for achieving our objective, so having the connection I now share with him will be imperative for you to fight by his side.
Gai will ask you to lend him your Void sooner or later anyway, so stop fussing about and do it already! Hesitating isn't like you, Aya-nee."
Whoa, Tsugumi is really pressing her into doing this.
"Easy, easy. Let her think about it; her entire privacy is at stake."
Ayase looks suspiciously at me as I tell her friend to calm down.
"This isn't another one of his pranks, is it?"
Tsugumi sighs.
"It isn't, believe me. You'll get along with him much better once you're connected, though, so I can honestly say it's worth a shot. Besides, since Shu will be able to peek into our pasts, he'll be kind enough to show us about his as well. He is a gentleman, after all."
That one hurt.
"You are a devil, Tsugumi."
She smiles at me.
"I'm only being fair."
I can't deny that, though.
"Fine, I'll let you look into me all you want. Except about Inori, got it?"
Ayase will chop my head off if she learns of what I did with that girl yesterday.
'Really? What did you do with her?'
'Tsugumi, I'll sever our connection if you try to dig into it.'
'Alright, I understand... you meanie.'
Bah. This thing about telepathy has its downsides. However, I guess that's what it means for two souls to be linked together, so I won't make a fuss about it…
"Are you sure we can trust him, Tsugumi?"
Ayase is still resistant to the idea of opening herself to me. It's not a surprise, though, since I myself feel somewhat intimidated about showing my past to these two. I've already said I'll do it, however, so I'll stick to my word.
"You'd be convinced immediately if you could hear to his thoughts, I swear."
I check inside Tsugumi's mind and see that she's honest about it, and I realize that she still feels warm and fluffy inside when she looks at me. Uh… how should I say this?
'Don't get your hopes up, I belong to Inori alone.'
Ah, shit. That was quite direct, wasn't it?
'Do you really think she's the greedy type?'
What have I done?
'… I had no idea you were so bold.'
'You were very careless, Shu; I won't give up easily.'
Is she for real? God, I don't have any room for doubts, I know she is – I can see into her head and her intentions are clear as day.
'I've got a very bad feeling about this. Just to get things straight, I'll tell you right now that I won't cheat on Inori. If you want to get me, you'll have to personally obtain permission from her.'
"Uh, guys? What's going on?"
Oh, Ayase is still here.
"Sorry, your friend here…"
I pause midway, not knowing what to say.
"You were making very suspicious faces just now."
She definitely noticed, even though we didn't speak anything out loud.
"You're just imagining things! Now, back to your Void – let's go!"
'Don't tell her a word about this.'
'What!? Tsugumi, she'll be able to hear it if I even think about it! I don't know if making mental barriers is possible, and even if it is, I have no idea of how to do such a thing.'
'Then don't think about it at all; we'll talk in private later.'
'You're really persistent.'
'And you're a ladies' man, so it's your fault.'
'I'm kind of starting to regret –'
'You've just made me fulfill my promise with Kyo, so you should be proud.'
I'm blushing. Stupid Tsugumi. But no! Inori, Inori, Inori! I won't fail as her boyfriend!
'That just makes me want you even more, Shu.'
"So, Ayase! May I?"
I close off my mind to Tsugumi. Or well, I at least imagine myself doing so… and it seems to work, somehow, as I no longer hear her inside my head.
Meanwhile, Ayase sighs, resigning herself to becoming closer to me than any two other people could ever be.
"Go ahead; I don't care. Tsugumi never insists so much about anything, so just this time."
You have no idea of what you're getting yourself into, young girl. But it is true that Gai would have me draw her Void anyway at some point during the war, so I might as well accelerate the process by a few days.
"If you'll excuse me, then."
I press my hand against her chest and look into her eyes. The light of her soul shines from beneath my palm, but I take it slow and feel her spirit before grasping it; I'd like to avoid making a mess in the room, after all. There's also the inevitable partial boob contact in the lower section of my hand, so there's no need to rush.
Before I know it, I'm placing my other hand on Ayase's shoulder, and I'm drawing my face closer to hers so I can see even deeper into her eyes. Just the way how I could discern an entity existing inside me, I can see the form of the spirit within Ayase.
It is… a gazelle, of all things. Gracious and agile, this girl's soul is that of a being meant to do the one thing she is unable to – running. Just witnessing her caged the way she is makes a horrible feeling well up inside of me, but for some reason I am compelled to take her void out in this moment.
I reach for the beautiful being before me and it answers to me in kind, letting me hold part of its existence to draw it out to the physical world. At the same time, I can see how the filaments of her soul are taken in the firm grip of the serpent inside of me, whose shape I am yet to fully distinguish.
A pair of greaves materialize upon Ayase's legs, and I bring my mind back to reality so that I can witness the scene unfold. For just a moment I can see the reflection of my soul's jade light in Ayase's eyes, but I force myself to cast that aside so I that can look at her while she realizes what her Void can do.
The change in her is immediate, and she entirely fails to hide her surprise. I concentrate on establishing a link between the two of us, and I get to experience firsthand the rush of joy as she learns about the power of her greaves.
I take a step back and open my mind to Tsugumi as well, so that she can share the moment with her friend. For the life of me, I can't tell which of the two is happier right now: Ayase, as she stands up from her wheelchair thanks to her Void, or Tsugumi, who is charging at her friend with arms wide open.
I turn around to give them some privacy while they celebrate, but I cheat by keeping the spirit link clear and strong so I'm not left out either way. Both of them are aware that I'm doing far more than just watching them, but it is necessary for me to do so if they want a connection between them, and thus they show no qualms about me being their mediator.
Ayase's mood has drastically improved, so I add a small extra bit and start transmitting to her the memories of how I came to find Tsugumi in this room crying alone. When I begin sharing how the two of us ended up hugging, I sense Ayase herself approaching me.
I turn around and – Grace of the Gods – she wraps me tightly in her embrace.
BOOB CONT-
AGH! MY RIBS!
"You'll never stop being a pervert."
Ayase hit me exactly where Tsugumi did a while ago, and it hurts like the living hell. However, I can sense Ayase isn't all too mad about it, partly because she's still hugging me and mostly because –
"But you've got my thanks."
Yep, because of that. I can still feel her boobs, so I must admit I'm thankful as well.
"I'm a gentleman and all, it's only natural."
I'm an asshole, too.
"I agree."
See? Tsugumi supports me.
"About the asshole part, surely."
Ayase, please.
"I'm kidding, I'm kidding! It's just…"
She doesn't need to say it; I can tell she really was mad at me because I totally looked like a philanderer that was seducing her friends under her very nose. Moreover, I did prank her and Tsugumi quite heavily the other day, so she had plenty of reasons to get angry.
I keep updating her with how I fixed the things I screwed up with Tsugumi, but do keep largely quiet about everything regarding Kyo. I'm starting to get a better hang in controlling what I let them know, and – uh…
"Ayase?"
At some point she started flying around the workshop. It looked weird at first, but now I realize that her greaves have a sort of propulsion mechanism, so she can practically levitate and move in the air with them at will.
"Ah, sorry… I got excited."
She was about to kill me a few minutes ago, and now she's a little girl.
"Well, YOU haven't been stuck in a wheelchair for four years!"
I know, damn it, I know! I'm sorry.
"Hold your horses, Ayase! Shu has something to tell us."
And here goes Tsugumi, reminding me of things I wanted to forget.
"You did promise to, so you'd better be a man and keep your word."
She presses me to begin my story already, and I am about to comply, but something crosses my head before I do.
"Hold on – I must ask you something beforehand. Has Gai told you about his past?"
I have no idea if he told them about his time with me. He never spoke about himself when Mana and I asked him, so chances are he did the same with Ayase and the rest.
Their expressions change at once upon hearing my question. I try looking into their heads, but their very thoughts stop me from doing so.
'Gai ordered us not to tell him anything about her.'
This has to do directly with Mana. They reacted to her name, and therefore they undoubtedly know things Triton does not want me to learn yet.
I shut our mental connection off to avoid hearing anything.
"Well, back to the old method. Gai also told me not to inquire about my sister, so I'll back down for now to avoid messing up."
With all the willpower I can muster, I avert the subject at once.
The two girls stay in silence for a moment, but Tsugumi speaks up before I do.
"Shu… how can you say that? If I were you, I'd look it up immediately."
Yeah, it's normal for her to wonder that. I must admit, curiosity is really itching at me without mercy, but I have a reason to heed Triton's warnings.
"Did Gai tell you we knew each other when we were children?"
The two of them nod.
"And did he tell you why he was kidnapped?"
Their expressions grow bitter, but they nod again.
"Then I'll show you why I'm hesitating; just wait for a bit."
I close my eyes and dig into the memories I don't want to recall. Naturally, I can find them without effort: the anguish of killing my own sister, the terror of watching her body be shattered before my eyes – all about that moment is impossible for me to forget.
Careful not to delve into their thoughts, I reopen the link between us to replay for them the scene that was burned into my mind. I quickly feel my psyche deteriorating, as the Void Genome is making me remember everything way too vividly.
The gasps of Triton struggling to breathe, the screams of Mana as she fell from the stairs, the cracking of her bones as she fell down through them, the pieces of crystal scattering through the floor as if she had been made of glass.
I am reminiscing about everything in a dangerously accurate way, and my head is commencing its breakdown when Ayase and Tsugumi snap me out of it together.
They push me to the floor, as the two were also deeply affected by seeing and feeling what I went through that day. The three of us are sweating from the tension, and both girls end up letting their weight down on me as I loosen the link connecting us.
I still feel like shit by the mere act of remembering that day, but they don't have to continue sharing the experience with me – I only wanted them to know why Mana's secret still has to be kept hidden from me.
"What's this entire ruckus?"
All three of us turn to the door in unison, where Tsutsugami Gai is staring at us with a horrified look. He just walked into a room in the middle of the night, inside which he found his friend in the floor with two beautiful girls sweating on top of him.
Immediately, the three of us explain in one voice.
"This isn't what it seems to be!"
Drastic divergence from canon:
Shu's Void has many new properties, and the action of extracting Voids from other people also has many new implications on it. I'll explain here to avoid confusion and also to justify the reason behind the changes.
There' will be spoilers here, so stop reading this note if you'd like to find out until later. If you're too confused about the telepathy and want to read about it despite getting spoiled, then here it goes.
The Void Genome bestows The Power of the King, which is practically the right to become humanity's sovereign ruler. In the original animation, Shu's Void was extremely weak and limited to having other people around him letting him their strength.
That sucked, because Shu's only means of ruling was saying "Hey guys, could you please let me draw your Voids? I am powerless without them, and I can't really do anything if you don't simply accept me as the King and cooperate with me."
That is not a King, and proof of that is the fact that he was nearly killed when a bunch of mere students rebelled against him in the anime. How would the Power of the King be so weak that he couldn't even successfully govern over a group of teenagers?
It looked more like the Power of the Poser haha. Therefore, I put some thought into how to fix the severe lack of power Shu had as a ruler, and the answer was the following: anyone who's Void is drawn by Shu becomes his subject – a servant.
The cause of becoming a subject is the spiritual connection formed between the servant and the King during the Void extraction process, which forms a kind of contract between them.
The subjects will be forever linked to their King's soul, and the King will be able to see, feel and understand everything about his subjects, but the subjects also become able to understand their King. In a way, the subjects and the King become a composite existence – a set of unified souls living in different bodies.
The final result is that the King can prosperously govern over his people because he can understand each and every one of their worries and needs. The people lose all their privacy and a portion of their individuality in the process, but their compensation is having a King who will look after them better than anyone else possibly could.
Some things are lost, and some others are gained – that's the way things go.
Of course, if a tyrant was to rise then the people would be done for, but Shu is a good guy and he won't do that. (Or will he? Mwahahahaha!)
Anyway, thanks to the connection, Shu can efficiently notice if someone intends to betray him like Arisa in the anime, so he is now also able to extinguish any uprisings before they even begin.
All of Shu's new abilities have been designed specifically to make him fit for ruling, so now I finally feel comfortable calling the Void Genome's effect as "The Power of the King."
I hope you like the renewed version as much as I do.
Feedback is welcome and greatly appreciated, so please don't hesitate to contact me.
Thanks for reading so far!
- Vuken