Inoue Akira and Tennouiji Kotarou are from Rewrite, a 2011 visual novel published by Key, translated into English by Amaterasu Translations, and adapted into an anime by Studio 8bit. Elements of the following story were also inspired by Inoue's story in the now-defunct mobile gacha game, Rewrite: Ignis Memoria (which never received any English translation), as well as her appearances in the fandisc Rewrite Harvest festa!
Spoilers and references to all other heroine routes, as well as Moon and Terra.
Records of the Harvest Festival, Part 2
Another view
Tanuma Imako slowly blinked as her consciousness resurfaced from the depths of sleep. Without looking, her hands grasped around for her spectacles, which she she slid onto her face, bringing the world into focus.
So too did the events of the previous day, and with it, a feeling of heavy…there was regret there, but also relief…of general heaviness.
She had confessed. And she had been accepted.
And then she had become a terrible, blubbering mess, and spent the whole time crying in her new girlfriend's embrace.
And afterwards, when Hitomi had finally left, she had relentlessly mailed her over the phone, talking late into the night, even sending messages after she knew the other girl had gone to sleep.
"It's over."
Her face sunk back into her pillow.
Ah, how her existence had been a terrible mistake.
Trying not to be too self-loathing, she turned over in her bed, and looked up at her ceiling. A full day's of rest later, she finally felt as if she had recovered from the battle with Konohana Lucia–physically, at the very least.
She closed her eyes, double-checking her work.
Everything seems to be fine. For now.
After she had received confirmation that her dreams were indeed real, or at least held some sense of truth, she had began the task of trying to track down just exactly where in the forest it–or she–would appear.
With a tap of her finger, her PC booted to life, and she navigated to a certain image.
A map of the forest. Of Gaia's holy ground.
Several circles had been added in red digital ink.
I should have done this sooner.
With the harvest festival ongoing, the fiercest battles between Gaia and Guardian were about to begin. And not just between summoners and hunters, too–the Board Chairman's and the Holy Woman's factions were also not-so-subtly at each others' throats.
She anticipated an order to sortie soon.
Not that she would be involved. She was far too weak a summoner to be sent to the front lines.
"Asper…"
There was a soft fluttering. As always, the presence of her familiar comforted her.
Weak, but with a single trick. That was all it was.
She glanced at her wall, where the branch of wood where she had painstakingly retrieved from Gaia's R&D department sat.
No. Not only one trick. She knew how the stories went. That's why she always took care to have contingencies in place.
Very technically, taking the branch was stealing. Then again, it belonged to her parents. Plus, it had just been rotting away, not part of an active project or anything of the sort.
It was all combat applications these days. That, and the mysterious otherdimensional city-shelter.
To her, it felt all too half-hearted, trying to survive Salvation while at the same time trying to cause it.
It would be better to just leave this cursed world behind.
But that's not what you really believe, isn't it? A traitorous voice in her head spoke. If you really had the resolve to give up, you wouldn't be struggling this hard–
The piercing sound of the doorbell made her jump, and hit her knee on the table.
"Ouch!"
Wincing with pain, she gingerly made her way down the stairs, where the doorbell turned into a knocking at her front door.
That's strange. I could have sworn the gate was locked.
She opened the door, only to find Hitomi grinning at her.
"Nope. Must be an illusion."
She shut the door.
Perhaps she was more tired than she thought.
There was another series of knocks on the wood–this time sounding out a few chords of the Moonlit Horseman's theme from her (and Hitomi's) favourite game.
Yeah, as if.
She opened the door again. Hitomi was still there, grinning at her.
"Maybe I haven't woken up yet."
She made to close the door, but a thin but firm hand pushed against it.
"Geez! I'm real! Good morning, Imako-chan!"
"...G-G-Good morning." Imako stammered. "W-W-What brings you to my abode this day?"
"You, of course!" Hitomi smiled, unfazed at the sudden polite language. "Are you ready to go?"
"Go?"
"To see the harvest festival, duh!" The superhuman looked the glasses girl up and down. "I suppose you're not. I'll wait inside while you change!"
With that, Hitomi entered the house.
"D-Didn't you say you were busy? With your part-time job?"
"It's fine. I have some time off. So I thought about going out with you instead!" Hitomi glanced at the very nervous Imako. "Or did you not want to see me?"
"N-N-N-"
"I'm joking. I didn't seriously think that." Hitomi said gently. "Actually, you're f-fine with me showing up like this, right?"
"...yes." Imako nodded. "I'll go get ready."
It was a few minutes before the summoner emerged in her plain blouse and skirt, a cardigan covering her arms, and her usual dark green beanie hat snugly on her head.
As the pair walked out into the sun, one girl much more nervous than the other, Hitomi turned to Imako. "I know I said I might have some time off, but I still might get called for something urgent…" Damn, this isn't like me, Hitomi swore to herself. The heck am I this nervous for? "...I'm sorry if I suddenly need to leave, even though I dragged you out today."
"I-It's fine." Imako looked at the ground. "I-I probably wouldn't have come out if you hadn't called me out…"
"Oh, speaking of which. Are you doing anything for the harvest festival? Or…"
"If you're referring to having club activities or a part-time job, I don't. In fact, I have a pass to stay at home, since my health isn't that good…"
"Oh no! Then–"
"B-But I appreciate you inviting me out. Y-Y-You'll take care of me if anything happens, right?"
Well, if Guardian calls, I'll just tell them I'm escorting a civilian! With that thought in mind, Hitomi cheered up. "Yeah! Count on me!" She paused. "You can feel free to send more messages, and cry on my chest, and stuff. Er, even though my chest isn't as soft as yours…" She thumped a hand against said chest.
Imako quailed as the two sentences struck twin blows against her. Surely she's just being sarcastic? "I'm sorry. All those messages were a bother, right? I'll try to control myself next time better, if there's still going to be a next time…"
"Of course there is! And there's going to be many more 'next times' afterward! Don't get so down, Imako-chan!"
"Ah, y-yes!"
As they walked towards the crowd in the daylight, Hitomi sighed to herself.
Really, what am I doing? Making promises to someone when I don't even know what's going to happen tomorrow? Accepting someone's feelings when I could be flown to a different country in the blink of an eye?
Is this really right?
Or am I just becoming one of those heartless individuals that I so dislike?
~~[r]~~
"Mama!"
"Now, now," I say. "She needs to go home–"
"But I want to stay with Mama tonight!"
"I think it's fine." Inoue lifts the girl into the air, then puts her back down again. "Security through obscurity."
"Guardian already knows where you live, though." I glance upwards at the apartment complex, rising against the night sky.
"But they won't know I have Kagari-chan."
"You're spoiling her too much."
"Perhaps." Inoue says. "But it also worries me that the both of you aren't within reach. Please, Kotarou. I know it's not the most sensible option, but just let Kagari stay over for one night."
There was nothing to do but relent, especially since I didn't want to know what would happen if if I actually tried to force the Key to do anything it didn't like. "Call me immediately if anything happens." I take a step back, and immediately hesitate. "On second thought, there's nobody to watch you all night. At the hideout there's at least familiars–"
"I have you on speed dial. Kagari-chan can defend herself. It's going to be fine for one night."
I sigh. "Okay. But I'll pick you up at your door in the morning. You're not to leave the house until then, okay?"
~~[r]~~
Another view
"I'm home!"
"Welcome back." Inoue's mother greeted her daughter. "Ah, Kagari-chan is with you?"
"She got a bit clingy." Inoue spoke as if it was nothing. "She'll just sleep with me–"
"I'll lay out an extra futon in your room," Kaede nodded. "In the meantime, I think your father wants to speak to you." With that, Inoue's mother walked off, and Inoue entered the kitchen.
"Dad."
"Akira." Satoru holds out several small devices that resembled tamagotchi, or pagers. "Take one of these, and give one to that girl as well." There was a pause. "And give one to Tennouji-kun."
"What are these?" The devices were dropped into Inoue's cupped hands.
"Trackers. They'll allow me and your mother to see where all of you are when we need to."
"Dad…"
"I'll show you how to use your phone to access it as well. It might be useful."
A quick wash later, Inoue was finally back in her own room, and her own bed, staring up at the screen of her phone. Minimising the map application, she went to her inbox, where a reply from Imako had come.
Okay, you can come tomorrow afternoon. I'll be waiting (*^‿^*)
"I guess the date must have gone well," she snorted. The summoner had never used that kind of girly emoticons in all the messages they had exchanged.
Next to her was Kagari, who was toying with the tracker device. She had opted to crawl into her bed, instead of resting on the laid-out mattress. Just before she nodded off, Inoue noted that the girl's skin was felt curiously cool, and that she smelled of forests and rivers.
…
"She's fast asleep." Inoue Kaede opened the door to her daughter's bedroom a tiny crack, before closing it again. She turned to the dining table, where her husband was hard at work, light from his laptop screen illuminating his face.
"What about the other girl?"
"Also asleep." Kaede walked over to her husband. "Satoru…"
"We read everything that Akira-chan put together. We made our informed choice. The only thing left to do is to make ourselves as safe as possible, with what we can do." Despite his clearly tired expression, the man's golden-amber eyes seemed to twinkle. "Turns out, we can do a surprising amount."
"Darling, you're up to something again, aren't you?" Her husband was…always an adventurer, always up to all sorts of different things.
It was why she had fallen in love with him.
Well, she would pull her weight, too.
~~[r]~~
After saying my goodbyes, I took a slow walk back to my house.
It was frustrating, being only able to do this much–for Inoue, and for Kagari too. Not for the first time, I wished I could do more. Become a superhero, become someone capable of facing down the two sides of the world by himself–
And you can. A voice whispers. Don't you have exactly that ability, to become who you envision?
The gears in my head grind to a halt.
No. It wasn't that simple. There was always a cost. It was the law of this world.
Don't be a hero. Be a soldier. The organization needs more soldiers.
With my memories returned, I could hear Esaka's words clearly in my mind.
He was right, but…
I wasn't part of any larger organisation. There would be no support should I fail, no comrades to come rushing in should I get injured.
Inoue's dream–truth for all–weighed heavily on my shoulders.
Keep fighting and you'll die someday.
But everyone was always slowly dying, day by day. Using up their limited lifespans.
Everything that was worth doing needed sacrifice. Effort.
…but that's no excuse to go recklessly charging into situations.
I've always liked that sort of character.
Simple but effective use of power.
Not yet.
I'll make this drop last, push my fuel to its limits before adding in any more–
My head swivels around.
Was someone there?
For a moment, I thought that I was being followed, but among the people passing by on the quiet street, none of them seemed to be interested in me–
Which didn't mean that my senses had been wrong.
I weigh shaking off my invisible pursuer over attracting more unwanted attention by dashing through the streets, and quicken my walking speed a few degrees.
Come to think of it, before I regained my memories, I had rewritten my legs to be able to keep up with Kagari who had been running away. Not that taking to the rooftops now would be a good option, I think.
~~[r]~~
"I'm back."
"Where's Kagari?"
"With Inoue," I answer Kotori. "Don't look at me like that. The girl didn't want to leave her mother."
"...her mother?"
"That's how she sees Inoue, apparently." I head over to a clear pool near the power spot, the hideout's source of clean water. A familiar in there purified the water, Kotori mentioned.
"You know the Key isn't human, right?"
"She was very attached, and called Inoue 'Mama'. I think that counts for something." I gazed into the pool. It reflected my face, as well as the night sky above. We weren't far out enough in the forest to avoid light pollution, and the night sky above wasn't as beautiful as it could have been. Still, it was a calming sight.
It reminded me of when Inoue and I had been lost in the forest–something that hadn't actually happened all that long ago, but already felt like a fond memory.
A good memory.
Absentmindedly, I started to stretch and go through some drills–both new ones that I had learnt, and old ones that I remembered from Guardian's training.
What, exactly, were the 'good memories' that the Key was seeking?
It delivered judgement. Kotori had said that.
Then, if the Key had enough 'good memories', did that mean that Salvation wouldn't occur? That the slate needn't be wiped clean?
…but what counted as good memories, especially to a being like the Key?
Somehow, I doubted that Kagari would know, even if we asked her.
It was the same for most humans. Most people didn't even know what they were after–what they truly wanted, deep down in their hearts.
I duck under an imaginary blow, go into a roll, and strike at the imaginary enemy behind me, luminous green suddenly manifesting, deep red on my other hand ready to block.
I run through a few other maneuvres that dealt with familiars. Big, small, bulky, fast. It really was like hunting, in the sense that you learnt what the weak spots of each type, and they were all based off animals.
And what of fighting other hunters? Superhumans?
I replay the fight with Hitomi in my mind.
I had to be prepared for strikes faster than that.
And to think that I vowed not more than an hour ago to not use my ability again, to make what I had last.
Then again, if I lost, it would be over as well, wouldn't it? This was no game that I could restart from my latest save.
"Damn it," I mutter.
Really, what should I do? What was the right choice to make?
You must learn to guide yourself.
Inoue's old man had told me that.
Not for the first time, I wish I had a mentor. I was out in unexplored territory, with only faint memories to guide me.
"Kotarou!" Kotori hurries over to me. "There's–"
A boom shakes the forest.
Well, looks like the time for decision-making was up.
"I'll go and intercept. We'll have to make sure nobody finds this place."
Kotori just nods.
I slip on my dark green tartan jacket as I step out of the boundary. The dark colour would hide me better in the forest better than my white shirt.
Had I really been followed all the way to this forest? There had been that strange presence earlier, and now this–but I was quite certain that nobody saw me enter the hideout itself.
"Damn it," I swear again.
My pace increases to a jog. The cacophony of battle–of muffled shouts and roars–were beginning to reach my ears.
A strange sound coming from somewhere distant and above catches my attention, and I leap into a tree to scout it out.
In the sky was am enormous flying familiar. The dark colour of it did not show up well against the night sky, but my vision was good enough to tell what it was.
The closest approximation of it would be "dragonfly". It reminded me about the tales of primordial insects, which were much larger due to the Earth's atmosphere containing more oxygen during that time.
The dragonfly's wings glowed, and what seemed like spears of light rained down onto the ground below it.
It seemed like it was busy fighting something else.
Praying that it and its enemy would wipe each other out, I descend back to the ground.
Another realization popped into my head.
"No gunshots."
Then, was this a Gaia civil conflict? Between the two factions that Imako had mentioned?
Which one had followed me, and which one had followed them? Or had both factions tailed me back here independently, and then run into each other?
No. If there had been two tails, I should have been at least able to pick up on one of them.
Maybe it was slightly fortunate that they were occupied with each other.
"Then, a standard patrol route. Around the perimeter. Focus more attention on portions away from the main fight…"
It would be the stragglers that would have the highest chance of stumbling on the boundary.
I strain my senses.
Sight–nothing.
Hearing–only what was already there.
Touch–only the wind.
Smell–
What was this?
The faintest hint of something reached my nose.
Rotten eggs?
Why would anything smell of rotten–no, that wasn't it.
I picked up enough random trivia while having fun with Inoue. I knew what this was!
I followed the smell…to a small clearing, where a blond man in a red jacket was standing over several bodies. "What a pain." His tone was dismissive, irritated.
More than rotten eggs, the scent of blood filled the air.
I knew this person. It was the same summoner that had used fire against us, the day Inoue and I confronted Hitomi.
I remembered the look in his eyes, even if it had been only a single moment.
Do I get in a first attack, or should I tail him quietly, only interfering in case he encountered the barrier?
Another choice.
The weight of responsibility, of consequences, seemed to settle on my shoulders. What was best?
I decided to attack.
Green on my right, crimson on my left–
A wall of flames erupt in front of me.
"You bastard," the man spoke. "You think I've survived this long to not be able to sense killing intent–"
I chance another strike, only to be met with flames once more.
"Oh, that's good. You're really out for my blood. It's highly refreshing in this boring place." He spreads his arms wide. "Come!"
[BGM: Phobia – Rewrite Arrange Album "Soil"]
I only narrowly dodge the first fireball. It singes my side, leaving a prickly sensation at my midriff.
More fireballs tear through the air around me, and I grit my teeth.
So much for the first strike–
–or the second or the third.
"Come on, come on! We've only just started, and you're already losing steam! Pathetic!"
Tongues, tendrils of flame whirl spiral through the air, like a living creature–
–which of course it was. It was a familiar, wasn't it?
Where was it?
Think!
Humans evolved intelligence precisely because they needed to outwit other humans! It was the ultimate weapon!
Having lost the initiative, I continue to dodge and circle.
Blood forms into a stake, a needle, in my left hand, and I throw it at the summoner, through the flames.
Heat radiates in all directions. There has to be a safe zone around him, else he would get burnt by his own familiar!
There was an answering cry of pain as it grazed his cheek, although I was aiming for his face.
And I decide on my next attack.
I increase my speed–
–and go right through the curtain of flames, a hare running into the fire.
A direct strike–
As if in slow motion, I see the summoner's violet eyes widen–
A fist of crystalline material meets my face as I land a solid slash to his side.
"Bastard!"
Dazed–but only for a second, I roll and recover, springing up ready to dodge the next attack. "So it's not a familiar of fire after all."
"Well, aren't you a sharp one," the summoner drawled. "That's right. My familiar is actually–"
"Lava." I spit. That explained the trace of sulphur in the air–though it was so faint, you had to strain to smell it. I glanced at his fist. "And that's…silicon oxides, isn't it?"
"Bingo." The same mad grin. "But that doesn't help you at all, does it?!"
The flames seemed to intensify. The summoner's figure began to shimmer in the heat haze.
Below me–
Not for the first time, I wished I had a ranged weapon. There was only so much blood in my body–
Bubbling lava and molten earth pursue me as I leap, forming ugly arches in the air.
Blood was dripping from the summoner's side, but it was nowhere near enough severe a wound for him to withdraw.
"Buying time to think, are we? In war, things are decided just like this!"
Fireballs in the air, burning earth at my feet.
Nowhere was safe.
My skin felt roasted to a crisp. Only salt remained, sweat itself long gone.
Where was this man's familiar?
…Was the entire mass of lava his familiar?
My claw of blood, of life, couldn't harm that. Fire burnt all life to ashes. Unreactive, useless, colourless ashes.
And aren't you the same? Just as useless, just as colourless?
"Like hell I would let it end here," I mutter.
I had a weapon–my secret weapon. I just needed an opening.
I didn't have an opening.
Then, just think of how to create one, you idiot!
The cry of a bird sounded overhead, and my eyes dart up for a moment.
Another familiar!
A hawk, sky-blue and sunset-orange.
If the summoner had any more reinforcements, I was screwed.
The summoner, too, turned his eyes to look–
–and the hawk attacked.
"-What!?"
I seize the chance to attack.
I just need one.
A tiny vial of my previous life. With unerring precision, I throw it at the red-jacketed man.
And–
Even out of my body, I still felt a connection to it.
And if I felt a connection, I could control it.
It expanded.
A limited mass, filling maximal volume.
Fractal structure.
The needle branches of my blood pierce into the man's skin, the man's body. I will it to go deeper, and am rewarded with a howl of pain.
A pillar of magma surges up right in front of me, forcing me to dodge at the last second, wasting my chance to attack.
The summoner himself charges right at me, a rapier of silicon crystal in his hand.
I block, and block again, feeling rage in every strike.
More fireballs shoot at me, but I easily dodge–
–realising too late that the real target was Kotori's bird, which gets incinerated instantly.
Lava bursts out at me from the ground to my side, and I dodge again, and the summoner was on me. Again, his rapier catches my claw of Aurora–
–but this time, my left hand rises, and a two-pronged talon of blood rips through his front.
He disengages, and spits at the side. "You're a real monster, hunter."
That's my line.
"That way of fighting. Those claws of yours. What are you?" He looks to my left. "A beast?" To my right. "A ghost?"
Around us, the forest was on fire.
"Just an Ashen Boy," I say.
The summoner makes to attack, but gunshots sounded in the distance, along with fresh battle cries.
Guardian had arrived.
"Hey! You over there!"
The Bayern Knights had arrived.
The summoner spits again. "You're not with them, aren't you? Interesting. I'll think I'll see you again, boy."
Heat shimmers in front of my eyes–
"-After all, you're just like me."
~~[r]~~
I was dreaming.
I knew I was dreaming.
Before me was the edge of a vast ocean that stretched out as far as the eye could see.
This was where all life began. As single cells, that turned into slightly larger things, then into fish. The fish grew legs and began to walk on land, a lizard.
The lizard brain. The monkey brain. The human brain.
All metaphors that had elements of truth.
I blinked, and then realised I had been mistaken. No, what I saw hadn't been an ocean.
It was potential. All that could become what could be.
I was of it, and it was of me.
In the distance, I could see the horizon.
A line, ominous in the the distance.
This was not Earth.
It was a clear line.
If I walked past it, I would fall off, and be lost forever in the void.
An event horizon.
The point of no return–
"Wake up, Kotarou!"
My eyes snap open. "Inoue?" I look around frantically. "Wait, this is my room–" A much more important realisation came to me. "I thought I told you to stay home with Kagari until I came to get you?"
"Yes, but you were running late, and wouldn't answer my calls," Inoue said testily. In the background, I could see Kagari leafing through a book of mine, after having taken it from my shelf.
A weight settles into my stomach. If someone had somehow attacked her while I was asleep–
"Crap. I'm sorry." Even that didn't cover it.
"You'd better be." Inoue pokes me with a finger, right on one of my burns, and my eyes water with the effort to not yelp in pain. "I'm glad I didn't start panicking right away. What happened last night?" Without waiting for a verbal answer, she pulls up my shirt. "Burns? Was it that same summoner we saw that time?"
"What–how did you know?"
Inoue grins happily. "Just a lucky guess. How about I put on some medicine for you, while you tell me exactly what happened? Take off your shirt."
"A-Ah, that's sexual harassment–" I try to joke, but Inoue was having none of it.
"Take off your bloody shirt, Kotarou." Her face turns a few shades redder. "Plus, we've both already seen each other in less clothing than this! I can't see why you're refusing now!"
"I was just–ow ow ouch!"
"Get on with the story!"
I got on with the story.
After the summoner had left, I stayed behind until the battle had died out, making sure the hideout wasn't compromised. I had returned, thanked Kotori for her help, and then, in the forest…
…rewrote myself.
Again.
I had survived the battle, but I had come much too close to losing.
Without Kotori's intervention, I would have been toast–burst toast, at that. Practically charcoal.
That was unacceptable.
"...and then before the summoner left he said I was just like him." I finished my retelling.
Inoue gave me a look. "I hope you're not going to take him seriously. It's probably an attempt at psychological warfare. Either that, or he's just mad."
"I did think of more ways to try and kill things using my ability, though."
"That's just being effective." Inoue's finger drifted to the side of my midriff, to a part that didn't feel cooked, and I jump at the tickling sensation. "You're weak here, are you?"
"Now, now, let's not be too hasty–gyaah! Stop, stop! Ouch! Ouch!" I cry out as tender skin comes into contact with the rough fabric of my bed.
Finally, Inoue looms over me. "I think this is sufficient." Shooting me a smile, she gives me a quick kiss, then hands me a small item, explaining what it was.
"Good thinking by Satoru-san." I slip it into my pocket. It would be a lucky charm of sorts. "So, what's the plan for today?" My expression grows serious. "...storming Gaia's castle?"
"Did you know that Kagari went all blank-eyed this morning again? Twice?"
"Twice?"
"I woke up during the night and she was out of bed, staring at the moon." Inoue's brow was furrowed in worry. "And then, just now, on the way here, she went all still, and I had to drag her to a nearby washroom until she…regained herself."
That was not good. Not at all. "I'm sorry," I apologise again. "I should have–"
"You're forgiven. Let's move past that." Inoue looks out the glass of my balcony's sliding door. "We're seeing Imako. We need answers, and there's no other good options at this point." She looks at me pointedly. "Unless you think Kanbe-san can tell us anything?"
I straighten my face, on which a half-smile had surfaced at the familiar tone of Inoue telling me to stop apologising. "I've asked her before. I don't think this is in her druid knowledge."
"I suppose it's convenient that Imako and you live in the same neighbourhood, then."
~~[r]~~
"She seemed happy yesterday before I went to bed, but this morning I woke up to her telling me we should just climb over the gate if she doesn't respond." Inoue checks her phone once again.
"Why am I getting the feeling that you're getting too much practice breaking into houses?" I say dubiously, but, Inoue's feet already off the ground.
"Climbing over gates isn't breaking in."
"If you say so." I glance around, before simply leaping over in a single jump.
"Kind of risky, isn't it?"
"I think I'll be fine. It's in broad daylight, after all."
"Ha ha." Inoue deadpanned, right as Kagari did the same.
I shouldn't have been surprised. The Key could outrun those Gaia wolf familiars easily, after all.
"Remember, let me enter first."
"Just like old times, huh?"
We go through the unlocked front door, then up the stairs, where Inoue knocked on the summoner's door. "No response."
As it turned out, the girl was dead asleep in bed–but, as Inoue checked, with her glasses still on her face, and certainly not in any sort of sleeping clothes.
"She's not sick, is she?"
Inoue removed the back of her hand from Imako's forehead, before which she had placed her fingers under her nose to check for breathing. "Not like that time. Seems it's a normal case of being tired."
I stride over to the desk. It was a mess, as expected.
Imako's sketchbook/journal lay open, weighed down by a green ceramic leaf-shaped brooch I didn't recall the summoner having. On the exposed page was a good, lifelike sketch of Hitomi's profile, which I smiled at. Those two must have had a good date yesterday. "What now?"
"You can get lunch for everyone while I wait for this sleepyhead to wake up." Inoue glanced at Kagari, then me, and I answered the unspoken question.
"I think she'll be safer with me." I look at the little girl, who just quirked her head at me, like a small animal. "Shall we, Kagari?"
The closest festival stalls weren't too far from my neighbourhood, and neither were the convenience stores. It was a quick forty minutes later that I returned, with various takeout boxes in my arms, and Kagari's arms too, after a short lesson on not to use her ribbons to carry things in public.
"Oh, Kotarou." Imako's expression cooled as soon as I entered. The summoner still looked tired, but I could tell she had been more cheerful than she ever had been in the past week. "Thank you for the food."
"Imako, thanking me? This must be the world ending." I hand out the food, right as the double meaning of my words hit me…and so did Inoue.
"Phrasing, Kotarou."
"Very funny, you both." Breaking her chopsticks with a snap, Imako turned to me and spoke, pointing said chopsticks accusingly. "I'll cut to the chase. You need to be more careful. You went to the forest last night, didn't you?"
Inoue's expression tightened. Clearly, that had not been one of the things the two girls had been talking about while I was out. "I did," I say.
"Be honest with me." The summoner closed her eyes as she pushed up her glasses, and reopened them as her hand moved away from her face. "The Key's somewhere in there, isn't it?"
"It moves around." I keep my voice neutral.
"Following you, I bet." Imako puts more food in her mouth.
I look at Inoue. Her answering glance tells me that she'll go with whatever I decide. "You saw that in your dreams?"
"Somewhat." The summoner continues to eat. "And that's not the only thing following you around. Gaia's strongest familiar also seems to be on your tail."
I grit my teeth. So my gut had been correct after all.
And I haven't even been able to detect the bastard. This was not looking too good.
"What did you do, Imako?" Inoue's expression frosted over.
"Send a tip to the Suzaki faction, of course." The summoner was unfazed. "Pit the two against each other, and they'll be too busy fighting to do anything else."
In a flash, Inoue had grabbed Imako's shoulders. "Kotarou nearly died last night."
"By the way," I speak mildly, not making any move to stop Inoue, "does the Suzaki faction happen to have a summoner with a lava familiar?"
"Lava?" Imako's eyes sharpen, as it always did when it came to summoning. "That's impossible. You need some kind of lifeform to base a familiar on, and no animal survives in that kind of environment." She frowns. "Then again, if you saw it with your own eyes, that's proof enough. R&D has been making things that were previously thought impossible happen."
"I was nearly roasted alive." I continue in that same mild tone. "How about a guy with blonde hair and crazy violet eyes?"
"I know who you're talking about." The summoner looks downwards into her bento box. "I'm sorry that you had the misfortune of meeting him."
"Who is he?"
"He calls himself Midou," Imako said. "He's also a researcher. He and a few others are collaborators, called in from labs outside Kazamatsuri to support the war effort. From the few interactions I've had with him, he's emotionally unstable and seems to have a propensity for violence…though neither, especially the former, are especially rare in summoners." There was a small self-depreciating smile.
"Calls himself? So that's not his real name?"
"I don't know what his real name is. He's not even Japanese, if I recall, though he–and his buddies–did work in other Gaian branches in Japan."
"You're being awfully calm for someone who nearly died last night, Kotarou." Inoue turns her head to look at me. She was still holding on to Imako's shoulders. "If Kanbe-san hadn't interfered–"
"Kanbe? Kanbe Kotori?"
"Stop, stop." I raise a hand before Inoue could even panic about her slip. "You know her?"
"Only that she's a member of your Occult Club." Imako says calmly, still not fazed at all about Inoue. "And that she's your childhood friend." There was a pause, in which the summoner looked at Inoue, and then back at me. "There were rumours that the two of you had something going on, but clearly that's false."
"Obviously." It had been my own realization to learn–that people that were different from everyone else were not necessary alike.
Imako bows her head. "For what's it's worth, I apologise. I didn't think that you would be caught in the crossfire. I would have expected you to just run."
Inoue lets go.
"...unless, of course, there's was some reason you couldn't?"
Immediately, we both tense up again–but that was an immediate giveaway that Imako had guessed right, wasn't it?
"Either your mobility was limited, or you were defending a position of some sort," Imako continues, looking from my face to Inoue's.
"I'll bring you fully into the loop if you agree to do one thing for us," I finally say, after some internal deliberation.
"And that is?"
"Gaia's archives." Inoue takes a bite out of her own lunch. "We want to know more about the Key, and Salvation, and the whole history of summoners and superhumans."
"You assume that archives exist. That a room of convenient book and records, lined up neatly on shelves, exists in our basement somewhere."
"Well, am I wrong?"
"Most familiar research is conducted in a scientific manner, with all the associated meticulousness." Imako eats some more. "But a lot of it will be technical, unintelligible to the layman. Even if you could read the papers, you wouldn't understand much."
Her fingers reach up to touch her neck. It felt as if she was reassuring herself with the gesture. "On the other hand, the old records, the traditions, are mainly passed down orally–that, and through special familiars that convey information."
Like druids. I recall.
"And the people that are more familiar with tradition, of course, is the Holy Woman's faction." A wry grin was now on the summoner's face. "The faction that opposes mine."
"But it's the faction more in line with your beliefs." Inoue remarks.
Imako simply smiles. "Did you know that Shuuichiro Suzaki, CEO of the Martel Board of Directors, isn't a summoner at all?"
Inoue's eye immediately light up. "This seems juicy."
"Rumours say that he doesn't possess the capability. At all. I know what you're going to ask." Imako forestalls the obvious question. "The answer is that he was Kashima Sakura's 'protector' in the past, before they had a falling-out. It was Suzaki that sought to modernise Gaia, and it was him that pushed for a more scientific approach to investigating summoning." A pause. "He seeks the Key, not to bring about Salvation, but to control and monitor it, because he believes the Key can serve as a barometer of the Earth's condition."
Inoue nods. "That story seems quite clear. What is a protector, exactly?"
"Bodyguard. Confidant. And, if those rumours are true…lover." Imako gives me an examining look. "With that President of that Club of yours being the successor, I could have seen you going the same way…Tennouji."
Inoue scoffs immediately. "No way. The world would end before that could happen."
It takes a few moments for me to process exactly what Imako had implied. "Are you joking?"
"You were in a club surrounded by girls." The summoner smirks. "Perhaps, with a few different choices, randomness would have set you on another path. I wonder…"
"I'm not a galge protagonist, Imako." I roll my eyes. "Besides, I need nobody else but Innoway." Slightly annoyed, I decide to slide in an attack. "How was yesterday's date, by the way?"
The summoner's pale skin goes slightly red. "The d-date was fine."
"It went more than fine, Imako." Inoue snorted. "Weren't you gushing about how she–"
"S-S-Stop it!" Imako pulls her hat downwards, each hand at each ear. Forget 'slightly' red–it was a furious blush.
My girlfriend simply gives me a smug look. "And there you have it."
"Indeed." I put on an air of exaggerated refinement. "She bought that for you, didn't she?" I pointed at the leaf brooch, which now joined the two halves of her white cardigan at the collar.
"Y-Yes." She looked back at us. "I-I'll get you into Gaia tomorrow." Her voice was quiet, and still trembled slightly, but it was forceful. "There's a lot of things I need to get ready. The schedules of the researchers that'll be present, for example. A way in. I also need to think of how to get you past the security measures."
I glance at Inoue. "You knew how to bug my phone. Could you do something about the security cameras?"
"Theoretically I could learn how to write a program that disrupts a network, but–"
"If you go supa hacka on the Martel building, you're going to attract the attention of the normal security team. And possibly get arrested for a crime." Imako shoots down the idea. "Though that might be an achievement for an investigative reporter."
Inoue frowns. "I'm not sure if you're making fun of me or flattering me."
"You can take it how you like." There was a ghost of a smile on the summoner's face. "No. We'll go in through the other dimension. And I can steal some robes. Just leave it to me." It seemed as if she was furiously thinking. "Yes. I think…you don't need to have superhuman abilities to break in. Someone normal could do it." She rubbed her eyes.
"Are you tired?" Inoue says. "I know your health isn't too good…"
"Just a bit. There's been a lot of things I needed to do…" The girl with the glasses shakes her head. "One last question, though. Will…that girl be coming with us? I did say normal people could do it, but it might be a problem with too many…"
"That girl?"
"You know? The one that's…been with us…all the while?" The summoner looks more confused by the second. "My familiar tells me there's someone else here, but I can't…"
My heart pounding in my chest, I reprimand Kagari, whose ribbons had begun to flutter. "No, Kagari. She's a friend. Don't hurt her."
The red ribbon halts in the air. Kagari raises a hand to the earmuffs around her neck, and her fingers graze the light purple fur.
I look again at Inoue. What do we do?
Don't ask me, her eyes seem to be saying.
"Don't worry too much about it," I finally say. "Just plan for one more person." I stand up, and Inoue does the same. "We'll be on our way now, okay?"
"...Sure." Imako's brow was furrowed, but she lets us leave without any further questions. "Thanks for the lunch."
"Was that really the right thing to do?" Inoue said, the moment we were out of the Tanumas' house. "I thought you were against telling her things, since she's a part of Gaia."
"I thought about that, but she doesn't seem to want to possess the Key. She's says she's part of the Suzaki faction, but she…"
"Seems to be content with helping us." Inoue says thoughtfully, completing my sentence. "Then again…"
"You thought of something?"
"She might just think the Key is safest with us. But for her, the Key only needs to be alive."
I sigh. That was the whole asymmetry in the matter. Even with us being technically neutral, by protecting Kagari like this, we were technically already doing what Gaia wanted.
I try not to look at the little girl. If worse came to worst, did I really have the…resolve, courage, whatever it was, to just…eliminate…the Key? To save the world? To commit the lesser evil?
Our feet had carried us once again out of the neighbourhood, to the area where the festival was continuing. "Anywhere you want to go?" I try to turn the conversation to more mundane matters.
"Apparently, there's a good dessert stall near the City Hall." Inoue nods at her open phone. "Shall we?"
We take a slow walk. Both of us take more pictures for our reporting, and we get into a discussion about the types of articles we could come up with. We buy Kagari some random sweets, like feeding a small animal.
It was all very human, very normal.
Once in a while I prick up my senses to check if we were being followed. It appears that nobody would do so in daylight–and especially not with crowds this thick. In some parts, we all had to link hands to avoid getting washed away, but eventually we reached our goal.
Sitting under an umbrella-covered table was a familiar face with glasses…and mousy grey-brown hair, eating a crepe. "Tamako!"
"Akira!" The Newspaper Club member turned to look. "And the boyfriend!"
"My name is Tennouji, thank you very much." I roll my eyes, and the girl just gives me a smirk. I buy a similar crepe to share with Inoue, and we both sit at the table.
"What are you doing here, Tamako?"
"Taking a break. Trying to catch up to both you and the chief isn't easy." Past the comment of levity, the girl's face shifted to an expression of clear worry. "Have you both already…you know…encountered resistance?"
I remembered this was one of three people Inoue had trusted with the supernatural. "What makes you think that?"
"Your wrist is bandaged." Her eyes flick to my left hand, where a bandage could indeed be seen peeking out from under my sleeve. She looks at Inoue. "Already that bad?"
"There's a lot of things going on." Inoue says placatingly. "Well…"
"For heaven's sake, Akira." The girl turns to me. "Do you know what Akira is called within the Newspaper Club?"
"She has a special title?"
"Suicide squad leader." Tamako gives a little shake of the head. "What the chief does through her ridiculous network, Akira does through sheer guts. I've always been worried something might happen to you…and this might be the day."
"Come now, Tamako. Don't say that."
"But this is beyond anything that you've taken on before." The girl was in full worrying mode. "It's not even a hoax–I tried out that 'summoning' thing, and could even make my teddy bear move around–"
"WHAT?"
"Keep it down!" Inoue hissed at me, and I lowered my head, abashed. A conflicted expression was now on her face.
Trying not to sound too agitated, I turn to Tamako. "You know that that magic is cast from your lifespan, right?"
"But–"
"It's not that kind that you can get back with a HP potion, or by resting at an inn. You're literally causing yourself to die faster."
"It was just a little bit." Tamako didn't look too happy.
"An hour or a minute of your life, probably." I agree. "But imagine that someone you love got into an accident, and you were just late enough to not be able to say goodbye." I gaze out into the clear sky. "That's the value of a single minute."
Of a single drop of life.
"Stop looking out into the distance and being overly dramatic, Kotarou." Inoue rebukes me. "It's not as if you've had to face one of those moments."
"Oh, come on."
"With that said." Inoue snaps back around to face Tamako. "Don't do that again, okay? Your life isn't a toy."
"I know that." Tamako sighs.
Having sufficiently scared her off from using supernatural powers lightly, Inoue launches into a conversation about some Newspaper Club stuff I wasn't informed about, and Tamako responds with equal animation.
Me? I simply look over at Kagari.
Hopefully, Gaia would have some information about her.
The messiah that would grant Salvation…was what the druids had thought about her.
I think back to our own rumoured Messiah, Imako. The glasses girl received dreams about the future.
What about Kagari, then? Did she somehow know that the hideout would be attacked last night? Was that why she had been so insistent on staying with Inoue?
Was it a prediction of the future, some form of instinct, or just simple, sheer luck?
A familiar shade of navy blue flashes in my vision, and I nudge Inoue. "Looks like Hitomi's on the move today. Might be–"
"-a good chance for more Guardian intel." She completes my sentence, crammed the small remainder of our shared crepe in her mouth (to my mild protest), and stood. "Remember, Tamako. If anyone asks, you don't know anything. And don't play around with that kind of thing!"
"I'm not a child." The girl gives us a smile. "Take care, okay?"
"Will she be fine?" I ask Inoue straight away, once we rejoin the crowd.
"Tamako's my best friend." Inoue says. "I trust her a lot. But I didn't know she had the natural inclination for…"
"Don't think too much about it." I keep up the trail. "I mean, look at Chihaya. She seems cheerful enough."
"Ootori-san might have also be troubled deep down inside."
"I know."
Hitomi dips through the crowd. We follow her through several streets, both wide and narrow. Not once did she stop–not to take a break to rest, or even to browse the festival stalls.
I glance down at my phone, where a map was open. We had circled around a few areas a few times, but the route was too inconsistent for it to be a patrol.
Eventually, for some reason, we found ourselves somewhere between the park and my neighbourhood. The crowd had thinned enough such that we needed to keep a safer distance away.
"She's heading into the forest." Inoue's face was tense.
I looked around again, to check if anybody had been following us. It didn't seem to be the case.
Guardian intel. We knew much about Gaia's internal struggles, but what about Guardian?
I knew that the number of superhumans were magnitudes smaller than the number of summoners–or at least, the number of people who had the aptitude. Did a smaller organization mean there was no internal rift, no conflict we could possibly make use of?
Then again–
Superhumans also had tendencies of their own, right?
Singing voices from a far-off distance ring in my ears, and I stop abruptly. What was this?
"Kota–" Inoue cuts herself off, whispers to me in a quiet but urgent voice. "Kotarou. Kagari's–"
The pale-haired girl's eyes were blank and dull, and she tottered unsteadily on the spot.
Certainly a bad turn of events when you were attempting to tail a superhuman.
"It's the song." I turn my head and look in the direction of Gaia's building. "I can hear it too. Don't panic."
"This just worries me more and more." Inoue shakes her head. "Forget Hitomi. We're withdrawing–"
"Withdrawing? Already?"
We freeze.
"Charo, Inoue-senpai, Kotarou-senpai." Hitomi had turned a hundred and eighty degrees and was now walking directly towards us. "Doing a bit of forest exploring?"
Her tone was light and friendly, but I could tell that her relaxed stance was one that would let her attack at any moment. Her usually friendly expression, too, seemed to have a hint of shadow over it.
"More clues," I say. "We've dug up a bit about Gaia, but not so much about Guardian so far." I try to keep my voice casual. "Maybe you can help us?"
"Sure. But can I ask something first?" Hitomi pauses in her walk, and placed a hand over her eye, as if she had a headache. "Who's that girl with you?"
Very subtly, or perhaps not subtly at all, I place myself between Hitomi, and Inoue and Kagari. "A family friend of Inoue's." I give the same line I had given Shizuru the day before–
Crap.
"The same friend who somehow hurt Shizuru-senpai?" Hitomi, true to her name, seemed to be staring right through me.
"Hurt?"
The superhuman shakes her head. "I overheard her and Lucia-senpai just now. Can you even remember what happened yesterday?"
I pause, not sure of what to say next–
"You're not even sure, are you?" Her hands slowly inch up to her hips.
"Wait–"
"Damn it, senpai. I guess this is my fault, for telling you what it looked like. I should have known you both were too curious to not want to seek it out. But I know how to deal with this," the superhuman continued. "If someone's been hypnotised–"
I tensed.
"-I just need to beat some sense into–"
"Wait, Hitomi." Inoue speaks up, interrupting the anime-protagonist-like declaration. "We're not being brainwashed."
Hitomi pauses. "How can you possibly prove that?"
"Kagari-chan attacked Shizuru yesterday because Shizuru attempted to wipe my memory. Our memories are clear on that front." Inoue speaks slowly and clearly. "Did you know she has that ability?"
"I didn't hear about this." Hitomi says slowly. "I only know that she was attacked by a girl with ribbons while she was with you both…"
"Then–" I speak up.
"But I don't know what's worse to believe." Hitomi's voice had a slight tremor in it. "That the both of you are being brainwashed, or that the both of you are, for some reason, knowingly working with something that might be the Key, right after I told you that it might cause the end of the world."
I shut my mouth.
Inoue stares the superhuman in the eyes. "What is the Key, Hitomi?"
"Nothing but ruin."
"How sure are you, and how are you that sure?" Inoue said.
"I'm not going to take a chance." Hitomi's eyes met mine. "Not with the entire world at stake."
The daylight that filtered through the forest canopy glinted on something metal.
It was a pair of scissors–
No. That had just been the name Inoue had given her.
What she had actually drawn was…a pair of blades.
Twin scimitars, the dull grey of a clouded sky.
"If you want to convince me, you'll just have to beat me down first."
As a reminder, Tamako is based on the girl that approached Kotarou at the end of the anime's episode 6.
Sakuya's fight with Killimanjaro is offscreen, since it'll basically be a repeat of what actually happened in the VN.
Review please!