No one could give in detail the kind of tension within the room. Avianna ran her hands through her short, blood-red hair. Right behind her was Nentou, standing at attention. While in front of her was Keitaro, making no movements while he stood. Along side him was Naru, who stood with much nervousness. The other girls were waiting outside, only imagining what kind og punishment Keitaro and Naru were going to receive.
"I'll give you one chance, one chance to explain yourself, and it had better be a damn good one", the military woman said in a grim setting.
"It was Neon, he got hold of project Cyber", Keitaro firmly stated.
"I know he has project Cyber", Avianna lashed back. What I want to know is why you went after Neon yourself, and why civilians were in the firing zone with you?"
"We were at a compromise, there was no other choice for us", Keitaro said.
"A compromise?! With Civilians?!"
Every word Avianna blurted out was terrifying and intimidating. Naru couldn't imagine herself dealing with this kind of pressure or anxiety. She couldn't even imagine how Keitaro could handle any of this. On the outside he was calm and unmoved as Avianna continued to shout in his face. The real question on Naru's mind was how did he feel on the inside? Was he terrified? Was he scared? Was he about to snap?...Was she about to snap herself?
"And you", Avianna shouted while pointing to Naru, "Where did you obtain a Mission Acccess Card?"
"Well...we...", Naru was stuttering from fear.
"Go on spit it out", Avianna shouted, causing Naru to flinch a little. "You stole it, didn't you?! You stole a military device that put the lives of seven civilians, and three of my units in danger, along with the failure of an S-Class Mission! This will set you all back a long thirty years in a governmental prison, you know that?!"
Naru's vision darkened. She had really crossed the line this time. Not only was she going to a cell in a dark corner, she ruined the lives of her family at Hinata Sou. She was going to have to say goodbye to her life, her family, her friends, Hinata Sou, Tokyo U, and she would never get the chance to say how sorry she was to Keitaro. In her dark hazy mindset she heard Keitaro's voice again. The voice shouted, "It wasn't her fault...it was mine." Suddenly, Naru's vision returned as she was jerked back into reality. Naru looked back at Keitaro as he stared Avianna dead in the eye.
"What", Naru asked in a whisper.
"Explain yourself Soldier", Avianna gritted under her teeth.
"It was my fault.", Keitaro began. "I purposely left my mission card behind for them to find. I needed them as a diversion to lure out Neon and to find out about project Cyber. I knew from the beginning that they would pick out the S-Class mission, and I wanted to bring down Neon alone. My calculations were correct, but I underestimated Neon's power."
Avianna grabbed Keitato by the neck of his shirt, and pulled him mere inches from her face.
"You expect me to believe that!? You really expect me to believe that one of my best soldiers purposely went against my orders, put civilian lives in danger, jeopardize the lives of his own comrades, and scrapped an S-Class mission he has been trained specifically for?! Huh, Soldier!?"
Naru wanted to speak up. He was obviously lying, she knew it, and Avianna knew it. As Naru tried to speak out, Nentou, still stationed behind her shook his head no. Naru took the other soldier's advice and kept silent.
"That's the story I stick by", Keitaro firmly stated.
The commander and soldier continued their stare down before Avianna released Keitaro with a slight shove.
"Fine then", Avianna said. "By standards of the ERT, you are here by revoked of any pursuit of project Neon, project Cyber, and project Draconian until further notice. We'll place a one of our mercenary units until you're ready."
"What", Keitaro suddenly outburst. "Aviann you can't place a simple mercenary unit in my spot."
"You've left me with no other choice Keitaro", Avianna shouted back.
"The mercenary unit's don't stand a chance against Neon and Draconian! I've been trained specifically to fight Neon!"
"And you showed some real results today soldier!"
"Avianna don't send them in my place!"
"You don't have the authority to speak to me like that", Avianna yelled only three inches from his face. "You won't be needing this anymore!"
Keitaro's eyes widened as Avianna stripped a patch off of his jacket. The tear was nice and clean, with a loud tearing sound. However, it ceased all heart beat in slow motion for Keitaro.
"You are suspended from all A rank missions until my approval has been met by you. Now get out of my sight before I demoted you any further!"
Doing as he was told and trained, Keitaro took the standard salute before turning on his heels and exiting the room. Naru was soon to follow before she carefully shut the door behind her. The blood-red haired commander huffed out a breath of calmness in the utterly now quiet office.
"You do know that was all a lie right?"
Nentou, Avianna almost forgot that he was right there behind her.
"He wasn't going to tell the truth", Avianna said in a less harsh mood.
She looked at the small red badge in her hands. Compared to the other soldiers on the base, it wasn't dirty, it wasn't faded, and it was still slightly stiffened. Keitaro had barely made it to A-Rank, and now the badge was once again just out of his reach. She remembered placing it in his hands, ordering that he sew it himself. She was so proud of him for advancing so far, in such little time. Now, he was back in a lackey place when he should be up in the higher leagues.
"So", Nentou asked casually, "What's the plan now?"
"Like I said, I'll send in a mercenary unit to back you and your team up."
"Are you sure that's the best idea", Nantou asked knowing very well he was tip toing on glass. "I mean Draconian and Cyber we can handle, but we need Keitaro to fight Neon."
"Keitaro's obviously not ready to battle Neon. His heart is too compromised, and his mind is a mess. Until he puts whatever he has against those girls at rest, we can't use him on the battlefield."
"True, very true", Nentou commented. "Still, is it okay to just, let him go with those girls. What if they upset...that, thing inside of him."
"It's out of my hands now Nentou", Avianna said as she placed Keitaro's badge in a juror. "We can only hope that Keitaro can pull himself together, as carefully and quickly as possible.
Outside of the base, Keitaro slumped a green duffle bag over his shoulder as he rapidly climbed down the stairs. Naru tried her best to keep up with the Urashima boy while trying to reason with him.
"Keitaro I'm sorry about what happened", Naru pleaded. "It was an accident, we didn't mean for this to happen."
"An accident", Keitaro fumed while he continued to walk ahead. "You went behind my back and broke into classified governmental files. How is that an accident?
By the time they reached the bottom of the steps, the rest of the Hinata Sou group exited the building to find Keitaro and Naru arguing.
"Brother wait" Kanako called out before she shuffled down the steps after him.
"Shinobu was immediate to follow as she called out, Wait Sempai, where are you going?"
By the time the girls had caught up to Keitaro and Naru, he was already packed on his bike with Skinny, ready to leave.
"Keitaro please, just listen to me for a minute", Naru pressed on.
"No Naru, I have nothing more to say to you tonight", Keitaro now faced Naru.
It was intimidating for Naru as he spoke to her. His voice was deep with anger, he now towered a full head above her since nearly two years ago. With every word Keitaro said he would take a step closer to Naru, and she would retreat with a step back.
"You have done nothing but cause me trouble since I came back to Tokyo! You invaded my private life, you investigated me like a spy, you ruined my career, you compromised military business, and you compromised me! Until now I have never lied to my general; and who did I lie for?! I lied for the one who pushed me away until I was beaten down to my knees! Naru I may be guilty of lying, but you're guilty of throwing my life into chaos! You and everyone else here are just as guilty!"
Having finished with what he needed to say, Keitaro slumped his bag over his shoulder before looking back to the Hinata Sou residents.
"You all found your way here, you can take the subway home!"
With that, Keitaro angrily sped off on his bike like he did the other night. Only this time, he didn't look back. However, like before, Naru fell to her knees in a burst of tears.
Although Keitaro's motor bike wasn't in the best condition, it didn't take him long before he was a good five miles out away from the base. The pathway was dark and desolate. There were no lights, or tar roads, it was basically all dirt. With no signs of life, the area was very quite, with the exception of Keitaro's bike. As he continued to drive the motor vehicle, Skinny spoke up.
"So, what do we do now?"
"I don't know Skinny"., Keitaro said not taking his eyes off of the road. "I'm not sure where to go from here?"
"Boss I know you were relying on that S-Class promotion, but I think we've hit rock bottom now."
"Not just rock bottom Skinny, we broke through the rock, plunged through the earth, and landed in the magma. Unless we have someplace to stay for free, we might have to be sleeping out in the cold tonight."
"Well, there is one person who can help us...your aunt".
Hearing this Keitaro took his bike to a slow halt. The motor continued its pitter-patter as he held the bars looking at the ground. His mind tried to scrape for another solutions, anything would do. Sadly for him, Keitaro Urashima came up with nothing.
It was late in the night, even for Haruka. The only reason she was up was because she heard a knock at the door. She groggily trended down the steps before tying the belt on her robe, and turning on the lights.
Haruka thought in her mind, "If this is you Seta you're dead."
As the woman looked through the glass door, she saw that it wasn't Seta at all.
"Keitaro", Haruka question before opening the door for her relative and his pet.
"Hi aunt Haruka", Keitaro said while shaking from the cold. "I know it's late, but I need to talk to you"
"Sure Keitaro. Here come inside, it's too cold for you out there."
The older woman put her arm around the boy, physically telling him to enter. It was a relief to be out of the cold, but it wasn't going to make Keitaro feel any better for what he had to say.
It was a long train ride home for the group of girls, especially for Naru. She hadn't stopped crying since Keitaro yelled at her. How could she? He was upset, more upset than any of them had ever seen him. It tore their hearts apart to see such once good friends bickering with such intensity. None of the other girls felt any better than the Narusegawa girl. He blamed not only her, but everyone else for what happened. If they were in front of a judge they would be charged guilty for by association.
The reason they aren't in front of a judge, or even in custody is because Keitaro lied for them. He didn't just lie to anyone, he lied to his own commander. Someone a soldier respected as much, if not more than their own parents. While everyone should be grateful that he took a bullet for them, they couldn't bear to see Naru this upset. No one wanted to leave her alone, but no one see her like this either. In fact, the seats around them were completely empty.
The other people riding the bus did their best to ignore the sobbing girl. They took it as far as moving away from Naru and the rest of the gang. Eventually, someone felt sorry for the crying Naru. He asked in a low tone, "Can I help you in any way miss?" His gesture was abruptly rejected as Motoko hissed back "Mind your own business! You men are all alike!"
"Motoko stop", Kanako ordered. "He didn't mean any harm, he's just concerned."
Realizing how she outburst to the stranger, the kendo girl took a seat as the man retreated back to his.
"I know you're upset about Keitaro", Kanako said to Motoko, "But let's just work on calming down Naru for right now."
Motoko tried to subside the anger she felt towards Keitaro. However, seeing Naru cry like a defenseless, because of what he said to her, it flare Motoko up like lighter fluid. Still, this wasn't about her or her emotional anger. This was about Naru needing comfort in this difficult time.
Finally, the train had brought them to their destination. They still had some distance to cover before they would reach their home, but at least Naru had calmed down.
"Are you okay sugar? Feelin better", Naru's long time friend asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks Kitsune", Naru said under some sniffles.
The remaining steps to the building were walked in silence. It wasn't just because it was a long day, or because it was late, but because it was a disappointing day. As everyone reached the top, they noticed the light was on. They quietly opened the door hoping not to alert anyone of their presence. That's when they heard a familiar male voice, and when Naru got a glimmer that the day might not have been a total disappointment.
Naru rushed to the kitchen as she yelled, "Keitaro". He was neatly seated in front of his aunt and pine martin before Naru made her presence known. Out of instinct and training habits, Keitaro took a fighting position before seeing who it was. As Naru tried to get closer, the boy didn't let his guard down and moved away.
"No, you stay back Naru", Keitaro ordered. "I've had my fair share of dealing with you tonight."
"Keitaro wait just listen..."
"YEAH JUST SHUT UP" the Urashima soldier blared out.
That silenced Naru. It also made her fearful. The others now had arrived in the kitchen when they heard the shouting.
"You and your big mouth have said too much already! Now it's my turn to speak, you hear?!"
But...I...I..."
Her speech trailed off as more tears ran down her cheeks. She covered her eyes with the sleeves of her shirt as she sobbed out loud. Theis was the second time Naru had cried tonight, and they just calmed her down. The rest of the girls grew concerned for her, all except for Motoko, when reached her frustration limit.
"Urashima you have some nerve coming back here and making Naru cry again!"
"You say out of this Motoko! You haven't made my life any easier since I arrived at this place."
"It's because we don't want you here! You've been a hindrance to us all, and you don't belong here!"
"I don't belong here", Keitaro asked as he approached her. "Look at you, you're a run away kendo girl. You and your sword turned tail and ran away from your problems. This place is only a hideaway for you!"
By not Keitaro and Motoko were face to face. Height wasn't her advantage anymore, as Keitaro now stood above her. The other girls watched in horror as now Keitaro and Motoko argued.
"You have no right to be here. If you don't leave I will take matters into my own hands."
"Motoko no", Kaqnako said. "Keitaro doesn't want to fight you."
"I accept you challenge."
Everyone broke out in a gasp, Naru even stopped her crying at this moment.
"What", Kanako asked in disbelief.
"You've treated me like garbage since I got here", Keitaro truthfully spoke. "It's time to put an end to this, but not here. Let's take it to the roof."
Motoko needed a moment to take this in. Never before would the ever consider Naru willingly accepting her challenge. Nevertheless, an opponent is an opponent.
"Very well", Motoko said.
With that, Keitaro led the way to the roof with Motoko right behind him. The girls looked at one another as they considered whether they should follow. Naru was the last to head for the roof.
"Keitaro what are you doing", she thought as she climbed the stairs.
Hi everyone, sorry for the late update. I've been busy with college, other stories, and volunteer work. Anyways, I hope you like this update. I explained a little of Avianna's physical appearance, and I left off with a prelude of what's to come. Wait to see, this next chapter might take a while to right, I want to make it perfect. Hope you all read, enjoy, and comment.