Part 2: Cooldown
Five days later, the media went crazy. Stories of Phantom Task resurfacing, and how the renegade is kidnapping innocent little girls to do his dirty work under the namesake, and tabloids and editorials with even more sensational material flinging about. The populus was at a continuous uproar, especially with the now drunken Alcott leading the charge thank you Chifuyu for forcing her off the deep end I can't wait to see your tirade of pissing liquor all over the-
"KANZASHI!"
"Wha-huh? Uh..."
"Your shift's over!" The lead scientist said, after enduring 5 consecutive days of nonstop development.
Kanzashi stretched for a good five minutes before grabbing her bag, "Ok, I'm going now!"
"Alright! See you later, Kanzashi!" the lead said, shutting down the entire floor.
"Be careful, Kan-chan!" an assistant joked, "You-know-who will bite you if given the chance!"
"Yeah, yeah, I know," Kanzashi groaned, "Don't flag down a response team when I'm in the bathroom, why don'tcha?"
She punched the front door and stormed out. She re-positioned her glasses and sighed her first giant sigh of relief in a week. Then, she sped off on her motorcycle, completely oblivious to the traffic around her as her hair caught major wind. How long has it been since she's seen the sun and the greeneries?
Not long enough, because the newspapers and media were blazing with crack stories about Phantom Task and the renegade, which, in her opinion, only serve to stir the populace into an anti-male frenzy. This, just one year after she graduated the IS Academy and abandoned her piloting to develop new IS models for the rest of the world. And sometimes, she wished that's all she did. Sometimes, she'd use her job privileges to spy on the rest of her schoolmates, and there were times when her curiosity reached its peak. Like when she tried searching for Charlotte Dunois's whereabouts, but couldn't find anything. Or when her sister's name kept popping in and out of the internet. But most of the time, it's spent on model designs, core placement, fortification, and most recently designing the first space-capable IS unit. With what they have now, it could do it, at the cost of diverting all energy normally spent on weapon operation to oxygen conversion, something the higher-ups sorely loathe.
"Ugh...'head of development' my ass...they got me pumping out ideas and modifications left and right..." she thought as she jumped off a connecting bridge and made a shortcut towards Akina Sports bar. Her wheels screeched as she slammed into someone's car at the parking lot. She dismounted as the woman whose car she scratched confronted her,
"Hey, what's your issue, lady?! Do you know how much money I spent on this thing?!"
"Don't you mean," Kanzashi back-sassed, "how many men you poisoned to get their money? 'Cuz you look like the type of woman that'll do just about anything for money."
That tore it. The woman tried to scratch Kan's eyes out, but she easily swung her over and down to the ground, pinning her shoes on her throat. And the more the woman's nails dug into her ankle, the harder she crushed her throat. Finally, the woman gave in and tapped out.
Kanzashi released her, with a warning, "Next time, keep your trashiness off the public eye."
The woman didn't bother to get up. She just laid there, trying to catch her breath. While Kanzashi walked in to the usual spot.
"Kan-chan?" the bartender asked, "Fancy seeing a regular here."
"Yeah, I'm here until this unlucky number 7 blows over," she groaned. "We just developed the prototypes for the 6th generation, and already they want us working on the 7th."
"Well, when you're a Representative Cadet," the bartender commented, "it's pretty much expected. Anything I can get to help take the pressure off?"
"The Tubthumper, please. Special mix."
"You know that comes with a three-hour grounding period, right?"
Kanzashi heard a car smash her bike into another car, "Eh, I didn't need that bike anyway."
"Ok. Coming right up." The bartender went off as Kanzashi activated the recorder chips on her hairpins. She slowly drew circles on the table with her finger while listening in on the ensuing bear fight some poor man soul found himself in. He claimed another woman smashed him into the parking lot. She said good for him because he can't drive because sexist vomit. From that point on, the conversation was inaudible.
Another conversation replaced that just in time: the renegade's cohorts being interrogated at Naha Police Department. "Ahhhh...oh, look at that. Haven't seen that in a while." She saw the police officers pleading with the prisoners to come back to their senses, and the two pilots grew more annoyed with each one-sided plea. Or technique. Even clipping parts of their flesh off, the black-haired pilot yawned, "Ah, screw it. I'm going back to sleep." And another conversation: the IS Academy, 50% reconstructed. The argument being made is that the R&D mainland facility wasn't doing enough to help with the efforts to rein in the renegade.
"Oh, yeah. Come to think of it, we've made the headlines for how many days in a row?" she questioned as she stared at the news reel, taking a slow sip for each headline having something to do about the IS Academy, "I wonder if the renegade's having as much fun as they are..."
Not exactly, kiddo. He's resting in a motel. Induced in yet another flashback-
"HELP!"
This one, however, was when he was overwhelmed by females who caught him trying to catch a yellow butterfly. It wandered into school grounds, and he paid no heed to the security guards, who had no problem putting the entire school on lockdown and throwing him into a detention room. A few hours later, he was tied up to a wooden post and stripped of his clothes. He was set to be poked continuously with rose thorns. He was staring into the sea of glaring eyes, those evil smirks, and to top it all off...
They trapped the butterfly in a jar. They rubbed it against his face to taunt him. When he squirmed and demanded that the jar be returned to him, the principal just smashed it with her bare hands. That ignited his unfruitful anger, as they kicked and stabbed him every time he looked up or exhaled, or even twitched. He endured it for 15 minutes before it looked like he was about to give way. One last look up, and he saw a giant pie sitting atop an arrogant, crooked face.
But before the pie could hit him, a bullet hit her neck. Then, a rocket. Finally, all black.
After how many nights of sleeping and resting, he finally woke up to the afternoon sun. Hot, steaming, buck naked, and stinging all over. Not exactly an ideal Sunday afternoon. He stretched his battered body across the bed sheet, yawning his first full breath of air since he found and lost Silvia. He warmed himself up to the bathing sun, the slowly humming ceiling fan, and the still margarita on the table. He slowly steadied himself to sit upright, curling his knees and staring at the mirror in front of the bed. So many scars, like badges of honor forever pinned to his body. One look, and they'll have to kneel down in awe of how many battles he's faced.
Squall just emerged from the shower, still wiping the sweat from her head with her towel, exhaling her first breath of fresh air. She saw Sokoto admiring his reflection and slowly joined in. She dropped her towel and kissed him while pressing their bodies together, and he embraced her the same way.
"Are you ok, kiddo?" Squall whispered.
"Um...yeah..." he said after rubbing his forehead and plopping back down on the bed.
She cuddled with him, "Sorry about last night, I...got wasted in my own juice...again."
He stretched, "It's ok...at least we both got our much needed fresh air, huh?"
"I guess so..." She patted his head and stared at him for a bit. Then, she went off and rummaged her bag, "C'mon. I wanna show you something."
He peeked over her shoulder, "What's is...?" She gave him a picture.
It was a family of four, consisting of a mother, father, and two girls. "My old family," she quietly answered.
"Oh, so you actually had one." Sokoto rubbed the dust off the old picture, wondering why she ever kept it for all these years.
Squall led them back to bed, "Yep...till I saw what my mom did to my dad when he tried to brush my hair...and to me when I tried to save him."
"Let me guess," he quirked at her, "Your mom didn't trust your dad anymore, huh?"
She rubbed her eyes, "Ohhh...he wronged her. Horribly."
"How so?"
She wore a sarcastic look on her face, "Voyeurism. Philandering. Sugar daddy. Not a good combination when you're at the top," as if it were nothing out of the ordinary.
"At the top? What, like Phantom Task?"
"No, this happened waaayyyyy before Phantom Task," she began relating to her days as a very wealthy family, "My mom caught him on his diary, playing the psychopath who mumbles to himself uncontrollably. She didn't do anything until he ran his hands through my hair. Can you blame him, though? I looked like a seductress even when I was a small one."
"And that caused a rift between the family, huh?"
"And me. Even though it is perverted..." she twirled her hair exactly how her father did, "I actually liked the way he cuddled me. Everyone else just wanted to put me up on my pedestal, but for what it was worth, dad knew how to comfort me. When mom chased dad out of the house, I ran after him. And...so did my mom."
"Oh...and that turned out well, huh?"
"If by 'well' you mean 'hair-raising banshee haunting a single host for the rest of her life,' then yes. Very well."
"Oh, boy," he facepalmed himself, "And you've been running since then?"
"Yep. Until I saw his gravestone. They caked him. I never did find out who exactly, though."
"And your mom?"
"She found me and disciplined me real good. Put me through the works until I graduated from middle school. Then she attended the IS Academy entrance exams and-"
"And then you done her in. As revenge for...y'know."
She was shocked, "How...did you know...?"
"Uh...lucky guess?" Actually, he's seen this thing twenty times over.
"Well, I made it look accidental. I fought and fought, and then I took a brutal punch to the gut. I backed against the wall, right where she was sitting front row. She fired a couple rockets, one hit me and knocked me outta the way, the other went to my mom."
"No barrier?"
"Naw. I programmed it to shut down for that one split second." What? Brutal death at the hands of a little child? Pbbttt! That's nothing! You should see this guy I killed using a machete! Damn bastard trespassed onto my lake, I chopped him up into-WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU TWO?!
"Well, at least you had a mom," he looked down, "I never knew mine to begin with."
Squall hugged him again, pressed his head against-CLOTHES! "M told me everything. You got away with piercing her ice cold iceberg." Her what? You mean M's not psycho-killer crazy anymore?
"Naw, it melted the moment you dove in to save her, I think. Twice." Twice? When was that?...
"Mmm...I never do that..." she looked embarrassed to say that, "All I do is kill and use people."
They sat there in silence for a minute. Squall looked down at that picture, thinking of her naivete as a child, unaware about her father's true nature, and unaware of the world around her. She only thought of her father in those moments. The cruelty of her mother got the better of her. Then, she wondered if Sokoto would go down that same path.
It seemed so, because he saw the concern in her eyes and immediately took action, "You look like you need a break from all this." He sprang out of bed and into her sack.
She was still looking down at her picture, "Yeah...yeah, I do," not noticing him when he popped out and threw a dress on her head.
"You need to let loose, forget all your troubles!" he yelled while throwing all sorts of wigs and dresses, "Let's explore the town tonight, and we can plan on our next big heist tomorrow."
"Uh...I'm not sure that's the best-"
"Come on! I got a couple wig diggers right here, just ripe for the taking! What've you got to lose, besides...nothing?"
He's got a point, lady.
The entire day was spent on forgetting about M, Autumn, Phantom Task, and the Infinite Stratos altogether, in favor of goofing off and making the city into their playground. Figuratively, and literally. They roamed the city in their disguises, blending in with the crowd, while concocting a plan to cause chaos on the streets. Every store they hit up, they fondled with the clothing, food, and utensils, turning the malls into a role-playing experience. Every restaurant they ate at, they made massive parties and conversations of the normal womenfolk. Every opportunity to make a show of the slightest bit of boredom was taken advantage of in full. All thanks to Sokoto dragging Squall to every hotspot in Gunma. He made her forget the risk of being discovered. And he somehow made her forget about her entire past.
She actually enjoyed herself. Something her mother never gave her the luxury of experiencing. She made full use of her physical abilities to make the biggest riff of life ever. Even going so far as to climb towers and attract the one woman she wasn't supposed to attract.
"Hey, Blue Star Shooter! Over here!" She waved.
"Well, now I know what M meant by 'taking it too far'," Sokoto muttered before jittering, "MERMAID WOMAN!"
"Ahoy?" Squall quirked before staring blankly at-RUN, MAN! RUN!
"Ah! What are you doing?!" Cecilia screamed at Squa-I MEAN, uh, Manako, "And...however did you get that dress...?"
'Now to unleash my years of frustration and anger,' Squall though before screaming, "Ah, quit your belly-aching and help me set sail, woman!"
"Do you know her, young woman?" Cecilia said to Soko-MAY! May. Why May?
"She just got off from 3 sake bottles..." he answered.
"Oh, my," why is Cecilia intrigued? "And she always acts this wild every time she down a bottle?"
"And drags me in her pace all the ti-" He was grabbed and sent in her pace, "Like now!"
"Come on, kid! Let's hit the beach!"
"Hmm..." Cecilia thought, "This might actually be worth the while." Since you basically got fired, why not?
Because it'd bring back some very harsh memories of when they were just students. Nearly every moment played out exactly as how she experienced it. Don't expect any friendlies, either, because Manako's taking the lead this time. Not really a bad thing.
She dragged them all to the beach to forget about the ongoing renegade crisis.
"Whew! I actually had fun today, kiddo!" Cecilia stretched.
"Me too! I'm a little thirsty, though," May said, "Any ideas?"
"Let's hit up that joint over there!" Manako pointed at the Akina Sports Bar.
"Uh, I don't think that's a good -"
"Last one there wears fish on her bra!" Yep, what have you done.
And what better way to end the night than 20 shots of sake. Don't ask. Sokoto can just hold his liquor, let's just leave it at that.
Squall, on the other hand...
"AND THEN, I SAID, 'YOU DON'T OWN ME! I OWN YOU!' AND HE DIDN'T HAVE NOTHING TO SAY AFTERWARDS! HE DIDN'T KNOW WHAT THE HELL TO THINK!"
...was just obnoxious.
"Lady," he muttered, "What have you been hiding under those sheets...?" He watched Squall and Cecilia throw the entire sports bar upside down, and drive it further into the ground in every which way possible.
"How...how is this possible...?" he laughed. While everyone was kicking up a storm with the recent events, he can't help but wonder if anyone picked him out yet, as he has lost all energy because of the current environment. And when someone kicked up the music...
"Woohoohoo! Let's party!" Cecilia screamed, prompting almost all the women to muddle together and dance. With liquor. Uh-huh. Things are looking bad atop Akina.
Sokoto drank his last martini and waltzed out. He inhaled fresh-"WE WERE IN THERE ALL DAY?!" It's 23:10, bro, "Oh, what's gonna happen to everyone back home?" He can feel the anxiety from within and without; he still has no clue on how to rescue Silvia, Autumn and M are held captive somewhere he's forgotten, and his current guardian is a walking insane asylum. All this because he's been thrown into the fray like a sack of meat in a lion's den. What else could happen?
He sighed. This was an eye opener for him. He realized that he has to keep this family going if they are to have-no, if HE wants to get his sanity back!
-tap- "WAHAHAHAA!"
If the girl behind him doesn't lock him out first. And those eyes...
"What? What're you staring like that for?" Sokoto muttered, as if she could stare right into his soul.
"Are you with that lady in the dress?" The girl asked.
"What's it to you, woman?"
"Well, you're one of the two odd-one-outs," she pointed to herself while slowly walking towards him.
"Look, I don't even know who you are, much less what you're talking about!" He tried to back off, but she swifter around him and squeezed his head under her chin.
"Don't be alarmed when I ask," she cooed.
"Ask what?" He muffled under her arms, "Lady you ain't making an sense right-"
"Mmm...so warm..." Hair sniffer! How dare you, woman?! Is exactly what Sokoto wanted to scream, but he was completely burnt out from having to watch over someone twice his height.
But she eventually released her grasp, and he was flipping out, trying to remove all the cooties from his hair, "Why?!"
Then, in a voice low enough only for him to hear, she said the beloved: "How did someone like you become the renegade?"
Sokoto froze. How did she find out? He covered his tracks from the moment they left the motel, but was there a loose stone he forgot to replace?! What happened?! "What are you doing?..."
"Just playing the observant," she answered while twirling circles around him.
"HUH?" He said before slapping himself, "Wait, wait, wait. What even are you?!"
"Just a girl who's finally gone drunk," yeah, as we will see in the next-
"Yeah, I know that, but who's the what?"
And she stopped short of her nose touching his, "A woman named Kanzashi."
"O...k...Random Clam?" He turned and walked down the mountain road, and she followed.
"What's your deal, anyway?" he asked in disbelief, "why even bother with a bunch of drunken lie-hards?"
"Because I need an escape from life," she stopped to look at the moonlit lake. Its glistening reflection told of something the world has clearly lost and replaced with an intricate fake. At least, that's how she saw the world, "You know, I always wonder how could a world so beautiful go so rotten...How long we've all filled our bubbles with self fulfillment prophecies that we try to force true..."
"Is there a point to all this?" Sokoto was more confused than ever.
"Maybe there is..." she whispered before turning back towards the bar.
"Wait," he stammered, "You're not going to turn us in? "
"Well, not tonight. But I will be required to at some point."
"Huh...and no one else is involved?"
"Dude, everyone else is involved!" She pointed at the nightly woman parade marching into town once more. Among the massive showing was Squall, who remained perfectly undetectable due to her torrential drinking barrage, locked in arms with the enemy. Anti-male chants echoed throughout the streets.
"Uhhhhhhhhhhh..." our thoughts exactly, boy-o.
"There's a hotel over there," Kanzashi pointed, "we can rest there for the night."
"Eh...sure..." And he just went with it.
An hour later, Kanzashi was examining Sokoto's body for potential irregularities to his biological structure, "You never went to a hospital?"
"Never," he proudly proclaimed, "It's in my bones to heal on my own!"
"Huh," she marveled at his resilience, "I've never heard of a man withstanding that much abuse from day 1, and living."
"Well, what can I say? I'm a natural-born...uh...for lack of a better word, renegade."
Kanzashi stared at his physique, "Well, you got me interested in how you operate."
"In what way?" Is what he asked, but this screams deja vu.
"Well, I'm going to run an unorthodox diagnosis on you, and the only method is-"
"Kan," Sokoto cut her off, "My head. It hurts. Whatever you're gonna do, do it before I get a migraine..."
"I'll get right to it, then..." she stammered, "Oh, and renegade?"
"What?"
"You might wanna go somewhere more...remote next time you go on vacation."
And thus did he spend his last night in each someone's arms...and way over the edge.
Unbeknownst to the both of them, however, this session would open him up a very powerful ability.