[Part 1]
Okay so she was probably dying.
Before Inabayama could finish apologising for taking too long with the story, the Gardevoir approached her instantaneously, scarlet eyes wide open and glinting terrifyingly through the falling shade, before completely disappearing from the view as the dragon felt an unforeseen impact. Weird. She was not sent flying across the landscape while breaking her body against every surface it brushed against, neither did she move from her spot. Hell, she didn't even feel any pain - rather, just a strange warmth and pressure at the midsection.
Double weird. Wasn't dying supposed to be painful? Or did the King of the Mountain disembowel her SO quickly that the dragon didn't even have the time to feel any sort of pain?
While she wasn't at all conflicted about dying at the hands of someone really strong, she did chance a look down, if only just to appreciate the way she was taken out.
Oh.
She was not dying, nor was she mysteriously, supernaturally torn apart at a speed of a thought. It was a hug. The King of the Mountain hugged her. The scariest lady she's ever encountered. Hugged. Her.
Triple weird. Though very nice. Damn, did it feel nice. Goodra melted into Hiei's embrace, but stopped herself from returning it, on the quite possible chance of the Gardevoir not appreciating that. Also damn, hugs were still really nice. She should really try to enjoy this one for as long, as she could. Arceus knows, this scary lady hugging her would probably never happen again, so might as well try to recharge on hugs for the next decade or two.
Though after a few minutes, she has noticed a strange, quiet sound reaching her ears, mind pulling at her attention, all too used to urgently assessing any signs of potential danger. It was a soft, rhythmic, slightly buzzing sound that rocked slightly against her body. It… Was a bit calming?.. Hmm… Wait…
Was it originating from Gardevoir?..
Was the King of the Mountain PURRING?..
Oh, Arceus, this scary, powerful lady was PURRING! While hugging her!
…
Yeah, Inabayama was not going to draw attention to this. Ever. She was pretty sure that if she did, she'd be dead in a blink of an eye.
After what could either be a few minutes or literally hours, the purring revved down, coming to a gradual, soft stop. And as the noise disappeared, Hiei almost immediately released the dragon from her embrace, turned, and began floating up the mountain.
"Uh, w-wait!" the Goodra pleaded.
"I'm tired. We'll talk tomorrow," the Gardevoir didn't even look back.
Huh. So... She was still willing to talk tomorrow? Okay that's at least SOME progress. (maybe?) Inabayama didn't intend to put too much hope on that, of course, but that promise was still a bit of a warming thought.
[Part 2]
Damn, they told him not to expect much of this checkpoint, but even Michihito hadn't seen a bigger dump (and he LIVED in one). Stacks of files, empty cups of instant noodles and miscellaneous trash strewn everywhere under rapidly blinking faulty lights. And are those FOUR half-empty coffee pots in a one-manned station?
The only other person in the room seemed to be a completely unkempt, and absolutely exhausted police detective with a dead expression, currently reviewing a large stack of documents while sipping straight out of a FIFTH coffee pot.
Poor guy.
"Uh, I'm told that detective Takanashi Taro would be here?" while Michihito did feel a bit guilty about interrupting detective's work, he did not plan to wait for the rest of the day. Learning the truth behind Yoshihide's demise kind of put him on a timer.
"Yeah, yeah, that's me. You the next big leagues wonder on the chopping block?" Takanashi deadpanned, throwing a short glance at him, "Mr. Michihito, right?"
That did give him a pause for a second, though he shrugged it off. No point in raising a stink with a terminally overworked and all-too-ready to collapse guy.
"I'm here on the League business. Sent to deal with the 'level 101' from the recent rampage. I've read the files, but you're supposed me to brief me on the rest of the situation"
The detective had finally put the papers down, flatly looked at Michihito, and took a few big gulps out of the coffee pot.
"After tearing trough dozens of League enforcers and Kyoto PD officers, the Calamity of Inabayama disappeared up Mt. Hiei. That was four days ago. The League has been monitoring the mountain since the second day, and the reports about that has been sent here to me, because APPARENTLY suggesting to the big wigs that they keep their shit together means I'm willing to do that for them," Takanashi took another sip, "The mountain has been quiet ever since, though that might mean anything in the world. The League believes that the Calamity is bound to be destroyed by the Ghost of Mt. Hiei, and it seems like you're the errand boy sent to check if that really happened"
"The Ghost of Mt. Hiei?" he decided to ignore the 'errand boy' part. At least for now.
"They didn't tell you?.." the detective gave him an incredulous look, "It's the oldest-known, and yet to be unidentified 'level 101'. Thousands of people died up that mountain, and we still don't know what killed them"
Okay, that did put a damper on things, but Michihito couldn't exactly back out of this case. He wasn't gullible enough to think that the League wouldn't kill him if he walked out after learning all that classified info, regardless of the NDAs he signed. No, even if he didn't want to take revenge on the 101 that killed his old rival, it was already too late to change his mind.
"Is the Ghost stronger than the Calamity?"
"Nobody knows. Even info on the League officials who died there is classified," Takanashi sighed.
"Okay, so unless one of them killed the other, and got seriously injured in the process, I'm screwed. That's fun," damn it, did the League seriously sent him here to die? They did give him five level 100s and one level 101, but it did little to comfort Michihito at this point.
"You'll also have to wear these," the detective pulled a couple of bracers and a badge made to look like a League emblem out of a desk drawer, "Each will monitor your location and vitals, while recording sounds. The badge also records video."
"So the League would at least have some footage of whatever gets me," Michihito gave a wry smile.
"Honestly, I wouldn't exactly count of it," Takanashi shook his head "Judging by the reports on the downed drones, there might be some sort of an EMP field around that mountain. The badge is a standard issue and should have some basic EMP shielding, but I'm not sure how effective it is. The bracers have none. I wouldn't be surprised if the entire setup fries the moment you step on the mountain"
Oh, crap. Did that mean?..
"Would it also fry Pokemon with electronic and mechanical parts?"
"No idea"
Shit. He literally could only pray for the best.
"How much time you have before you've gotta climb the mountain?"
"A few days at most," at that, Takanashi nodded towards a human-sized, unorganised mountain of papers that was, presumably, in the process of burying a desk underneath it.
"Then use them."
[Part 3]
Next morning, Hiei could finally have a proper recollection of her conversation with the Goodra. She was too exhausted to do that before, after all. Barely managed to crawl under her blanket before falling into a deep slumber.
So, Inabayama now knew a bit about Hiei's past, and why this mountain was important. Good. She'd probably have a healthy respect for the place now, instead of just being kept at bay through intimidation. Which might always had been a valuable tool, but maintaining it in a long term with someone seen regularly demanded too much effort and attention. Mundanity was the worst enemy of fear.
Meanwhile, Hiei knew more about the dragon. She could not fully relate to that story of a human betrayal, but she still understood and empathised with it on a deep level. She could also see the causes of it running thick through the very veins of the human society, and she knew that Inabayama was not at all at fault here. If the world was just, it would've treated the Goodra as a victim of the situation, rather than some kind of a monster that needed to be stopped.
But the world was never just.
The world was never just, so the humanity managed to take all that dedication and loyalty that the Goodra possessed, and twist it into something completely hostile and dangerous to humans themselves. The Gardevoir would've appreciated the irony, if only it was not at the cost of an innocent dragon's decades of suffering.
Finally, Hiei's mind turned to the end of the conversation. Or, rather, to the hug. She was not embarrassed by it, though she was confused. What moved her to do that? Even if Inabayama was secretly psychic, which she doubted, the Goodra's awkward reaction to being hugged meant it was probably not her doing.
No, the Gardevoir moved on her own volition. Hm… Was she more affected by the dragon's story than she realised? Though if the memory serves her right, she did have thoughts about hugging Inabayama since about the part about her ancestry.
She rarely acted on instinct rather than in a calculated manner, and barring anything somehow getting past Hiei's nigh-impenetrable psychokinetic and mental defences, it meant something about the situation caused this. Either something about Inabayama, or her story.
Peculiar…
Was this some sort of an affection at play? Hm… it might be a good idea to observe the Goodra, and her own emotional state, more closely. The Gardevoir was not sure what she's going to do with her findings, but she'd rather not be blindsided by an unforeseen factor.
Well, that was about it. It was time to go down the mountain again.