A few minutes after my rude requests to the unknown people on the other side of the mirror, the door slid open. To my annoyance, the person standing on the other side was none other than Shirogane, flanked by two sciencey-looking people. However, he was holding a plate of sandwiches, which I suppose made up for his existence.
"Hi there, Medically Engineered Weapon Unit 01," he said with a hint of a smile. Unlike the unseen people, he used the name as a joke.
"Hi sandwiches – oh, and Shirogane," I grinned, grabbing the plate off him and helping myself. I didn't know how long it had been since I'd last eaten, and although the IV drip in my arm had kept me nourished, it was no substitute for real food. I allowed one of the strangers to approach me and they removed the drip from my arm as I ate with my other hand. It hurt a little, but it felt so much better once the needle was out of my arm.
Shirogane waited for me to finish eating, then sent the other people and the empty plate out of the room.
"Looks like we're up to the part where you explain what the hell's going on again," I said dryly.
Shirogane looked at me with a grave expression. "You woke up too early. The other MEWs are still asleep, but you've fully recovered already. You all have accelerated healing, but it looks like you heal even faster than the others. Because of that, your metabolism was fast enough to burn off the sleeping drugs halfway through some of the procedures too."
"Right," I nodded. I was grateful for his straightforward explanation. If there was one thing I could count on in these confusing situations, it's surely Shirogane's blunt explanations. He'd never sugar-coat it, and got straight to the point. What he'd said about the fast metabolism and the drugs also explained my brief memories of waking up in a fog. Not to mention how hungry I still was.
"Then again, I'm partially convinced it's just because you're so damn stubborn," Shirogane continued thoughtfully.
"Gee, thanks."
He smirked, the easy confidence he portrayed only ruined by the occasional flickers of his eyes towards the 'mirror'. I guessed he disliked being watched as much as I did. Or maybe he was trying to send me a warning…
"They're debating what to do with you, now that you're awake," he informed me.
"I hope one of the options isn't putting me back to sleep," I grimaced. His expression let me know that I'd guessed correctly. "Oh. Hell. No." I turned and faced the mirror with a snarl, and snapped, "if you even try it, you'll have to fight me first."
"Careful, she's got a hostage," Shirogane said playfully, grasping my arm and placing it around his shoulders.
"Oh yeah, I'm so badass. Hey, speaking of which, when do I get to test out my new powers? I'm getting really bored of this room."
"Good point," he agreed. "Let's send you out on a test run before we decide what to do next. With your powers, you should be able to take down a weak Chimera by yourself."
I was torn between excitement at getting out and taking on a Chimera, and nervousness at the prospect of stuffing it up. What if my new powers didn't work? I'd trained for the week before the operation began, but I still wasn't close to the level of the other MEWs. Then again, if they were all still asleep, maybe now was my chance to catch up to them.
"Let's go," I nodded. Shirogane removed my arm from his shoulders and led the way out of the room, then through a maze of sterilised corridors. With my enhanced senses, the buzzing of the fluorescent lights seemed to fill my ears, and the overly sanitized hallways reeked even more strongly than last time. I was relieved to get off that awful floor and down to the first, where all of the gear was.
I headed to the changing area and pulled on the same clothes as last time – pants, boots and my pink singlet. I knew we were meant to get customised gear after the procedure was done, but since I'd woken early I assumed it wasn't ready yet. My tail peeked awkwardly out from the top of the pants waistband. I'd been training with a few different weapons since last time, but the machetes had served me well before, so I picked them up. I fasted the cloak around my neck and used the hood to conceal my ears, and most of my face too – although my eyes weren't that weird, it would be easier to hide them anyway.
Satisfied that I could pass for a normal human, I went to find Shirogane. He was fiddling with the projector, which was showing an image of a Chimera which resembled a large bear with pale grey fur which was almost white and enormous claws. It was prowling along a deserted beach with dark clouds brewing in the sky.
Shirogane heard me come in and glanced up. "Alright, Ichigo. This afternoon you'll be taking out this Chimera. Nothing too dangerous, but if left alone for too long, it could summon an intense wind storm. Watch out for its claws. More importantly, since you're on your own, if anything goes wrong, drop back immediately. Your safety is the top priority."
"Got it. Say, there aren't any beaches nearby, are there? How am I getting there?"
Shirogane laughed. "I'm sure as hell not giving you a lift. Let's test your endurance. Have the phone out, I'll give you directions." He gave me the black phone that Zakuro had used last time, and I put it in my pocket.
"Dickhead," I muttered. The fact that I hated running was well-known. Nonetheless, when the door leading to the street outside opened, I set off at a quick pace and was pleased to find I didn't get puffed even after a whole minute of running. The phone in my pocket vibrated and I answered it.
"How's it going?" Shirogane asked.
"This is awesome," I yelled into the phone, "I feel so fast!"
"Good. Turn right up here."
The rest of the run continued in much the same way – occasionally I'd let out a whoop of excitement and joy as the wind rushed past me, or Shirogane would bark an instruction. By the time I could hear the roar of ocean waves I was beginning to get bored of simply running, although I was still entertained by the fact that I wasn't yet heaving for breath.
"Alright, carefully enter the area and make sure to stay alert," Shirogane told me. I rounded the final corner and saw the beach – well, I wouldn't call it a beach. It was a strip of dull sand with industrial buildings on one side, and gunmetal grey water lapping at the other. Nothing compared to an Australian beach, with clear blue-green water, native plants on the shore… I was going to make myself homesick at this rate.
I tried to be as quiet as possible, and I found that if I tried, I could make my footsteps soundless. I mean, the waves were so loud that it didn't matter much, but I was proud that I could manage that much. As soon as I got onto the sand, I could see the Chimera wandering along the shoreline, two paws in the water and two out. I couldn't see its grotesque face from here, and it looked almost harmless. Still, it's back was turned to me, so I grabbed my machetes and decided to seize the opportunity.
I sprinted towards it, going far faster than I thought possible, then dropped to the ground and slid along the sand between its two hind legs. The sand was damp and made my ass wet, but I was directly under the monster. Without hesitation this time, I thrusted a machete upwards, aiming for its vulnerable underbelly. The blade stopped far too early.
I glanced up in surprise. A pale hand was wrapped around the blade, causing hot blood to drip down the handle and onto my hand.
"Not so fast, kitten." It was the creepy Alien boy – what was his name? It sounded like some sort of pastry, right? Oh yeah, Kish. His yellow eyes narrowed as his smirk became a grin, revealing those unnaturally pointed canines. What the hell was he doing here? More importantly, how did he appear from nowhere like that?
"Excuse you, but what the hell do you think you're doing?" I demanded. I swung the other machete at him without thinking, but he saw it coming and smacked the flat of the blade aside with speed equal to my own.
"Look at you," he grinned, grabbing my hood and forcing it back. "Wow, I like the ears, kitten. Now I'm doubly glad I gave you that name." Above us, the Chimera growled furiously and began to move. I yanked my machete out of his grip, causing more blood to spray, and tumbled out of the way of the creature's huge paws.
"Ichigo, what's going on?" Shirogane's voice came from the phone in my pocket.
"Ran into an Alien," I replied. Kish had lifted himself up onto the Chimera's back, sitting cross-legged, and sneered down at me. The Chimera's teeth drew back in a ferocious snarl, revealing serrated teeth that looked more like a shark's than a bear's.
"Get out," Shirogane said flatly. "Run."
"Oh, kitten, the fun's barely just started," Kish smiled, looking deceivingly innocent. "Against a normal Chimera, I'm sure you'd do just fine, but let's see how you go while I'm directing it!"
A.N: The return of Kish! This should spice up the fight a little. Anyway, I'm giving an open invitation to any readers to send me your ideas for this fanfic! I mean, fight scenes, sub-plots, anything you want! What would you guys like to see more of? I've got a vague idea of where the story is going, but there's plenty of room for movement. Please, just drop me an inbox, I'd love to know what you think.