Chapter 77 - Hero
[Inside Devil's Mountain]
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?! DID THE GREAT NISHIZUMI HEIR JUST GET COLD FEET?!"
(Suddenly Tsuneo pulled out his pistol and pointed it on Olivers head)
"Shut up.." Tsuneo said
*BANG
(The sound of Tsuneo's pistol going off echoed throughout the hill and a bullet made its way inside Oliver's skull and went out the other side)
"That's for Junpei and Touma.."
(Gero now boarded the elevator back up to the surface of Devil's Mountain. As he waited to reach the top his mind was a big mess of questions)
"Somebody...anybody...please tell me just what the hell am I?"
(He no longer knew if he would be able to reach the third and final stage of Sacred Possession. All he could think about was Erika and he just felt his heart ache for not being by her side)
"Please help...what should I do...Erika..."
[Kuromorimine School Carrier - Japan 11AM]
(Erika was sitting behind her desk at the Student Council office when she felt like Gero was calling out to her. She looked outside her window to wonder where he was and if he's alright)
"Gero..?"
"Erika-san!" A voice called out from behind the door
"Come in!"
"The Seven Seats have arrived.." Koume said
"Send them in.."
(The Seven Seats now entered the room mainly Darjeeling, Maho, Kay, Katyusha, Anchovy, and Asparagus)
"Hello hello! We've arrived Erika!" Kay said
"Good to see you all again..please have a seat.." Erika said
"What did you want to talk about with us Itsumi-san?" Asparagus asked
"I'll get straight to the point..I'd like to have a 30 Tank practice match with all of you.."
"Hmmm how interesting.." Darjeeling smiled
"T-Thirty!?" Asparagus reacted
"Hey hey I think you're getting a little cocky there..I know you're Kuromorimine but a practice match with all us consecutively just days away from the finals is pushing it a little too much don't you think?" Katyusha said
"That's the very reason why I have to keep on pushing forward..Red Wings is formidable and the normal routine isn't going to work this time.."
"Going all out huh? I'm in!" Kay smiled
"Great..what about the rest of you?" Erika asked
"Heh! Katyusha never backs down from a challenge! Let's do it!" Katyusha said
"Looking forward to the match already!" Asparagus said
"We'll be giving it our all! Prepare yourselves!" Anchovy shouted
(The last one to answer was Darjeeling who was just sipping tea. They all waited for her answer patiently without rushing her)
"Will you be able to defeat Red Wings by doing this?" Darjeeling asked
"You of all people know that nothing is certain in Senshado.." Maho said
"True..but I want to know if ever the worst case scenario happens..will you be able to prevail even if all the odds are against you?"
"Worst case?" Koume asked
"For example..Gero-kun won't be able to join the match.."
(Everyone went quiet after hearing Gero's name. What Darjeeling said is true since right now they have no way of knowing if Gero will come back. Then they noticed a smile on Erika's face showing that she wasn't worried at all)
"Don't worry about that Bakatora..he'll make it in time.."
"How sure are you?" Darjeeling asked
"I just know..and besides even if he doesn't make it we'll be sufficient enough to take on Red Wings.."
"My goodness..I don't know if what you're showing me is pure confidence or utter madness.." Darjeeling facepalmed
"So what's it gonna be?"
"Of course I'm in! I'm not going to be the only one that won't help you.."
"Alright..tomorrow will be the first match in the morning..you guys decide on who's going first and whatnot.."
"Now that we're doing these practice matches..this is the first time we'll fight each other without Darling.." Kay said
"Yeah..he's always the first one to get all excited every time there will be a match.." Katyusha said
"Actually it's a good thing that he won't be participating in these matches because we wouldn't be able to test out our new doctrine properly since he'll easily get bored with it.."
"Wait what?! You created a new doctrine?!" Asparagus reacted
"Yeah.."
"Since when?" Darjeeling asked
"Last week..so tomorrow will be the first match we'll be doing it!" Koume smiled
"So you're going to use a two week old doctrine instead of your usual doctrine that Kuromorimine has been using for years against Red Wings?!" Katyusha asked
"Yup! That's the plan!" Erika asked
"Looks like Darling has infected you with his craziness! Even I wouldn't do that!" Kay said
"Well let's just leave it at that! See you tomorrow!"
(Erika then left the room with Koume and Maho to check on her team. The Seven Seats were left in the room still puzzled by finding out that Kuromorimine has a new doctrine)
"She's looking a lot more like a real Kommandant now.." Kay said
"Yeah..to be honest I was worried about her taking over Kuromorimine but I guess I got worried for nothing.." Katyusha said
"I'd say all of us has grown for the best ever since we met Gero-kun.." Anchovy said
"You got that right.." Asparagus said
"You know..seeing Erika-san without Gero-kun beside her is somehow making me feel irritated.." Darjeeling said
"I understand how you feel..we're so used to seeing them together always and now that he's not with her something feels wrong.." Anchovy said
"That means you've already accepted that both of them are perfect for each other Darjeeling-san.." Asparagus said
"I'm still not giving up on darling!" Kay shouted
"Hai Hai.." everyone said
[Devil's Mountain - Berlin, Germany]
(The whole mountain was now secured and the kids they saved were given food, water, and warm blankets. They were now sitting comfortable on the jeeps and trucks they took from Pandora)
"Do we have enough transports to carry them all?" Kaito asked
"Yeah no worries about that..the problem is where do we carry them to?" Ono said
"Look it's Lt. Kurt.." Kaito pointed
(They saw Lt. Kurt exit the comms building together with the other KSK operatives. They were with the Pandora scientists that they captured and they were carrying the ashes of the children inside boxes as ordered by Gero. Soon the next one that exited the building was Colonel Alonso with the KSK members carrying body bags of the children that were inside the water tanks)
"Handle them with care..we'll make sure that they will rest peacefully from now on!" Col. Alonso ordered
"Jawohl!"
(Next to come out was Tsuneo with Naomi and Klara carrying the D.S.M that contained every information that Pandora had inside their main computer. They walked towards Nana who was with Assam and Alisa to check on how they were. Kin was also there since Gero ordered Nana to take care of him)
"Are you alright now Assam-san?" Klara asked
"Yes..forgive me for what happened.." Assam answered
"You don't need to apologize..what happened to you was a completely natural thing after what you saw..you are a strong girl Assam-san..job well done.." Tsuneo praised her
"Thank you Major.."
"Did Taichou come by here?" Naomi asked
"Yes..he checked up on how Assam-chan was doing and had his hand get stitched up.." Nana said
"Where is he now?" Tsuneo asked
"He wanted to check the perimeter so he took a walk somewhere.." Nana said
"Is onii-san angry because I hurt his hand?" Kin asked
"Don't worry Kin-kun..he's not angry at you..in fact he's very proud of you for being strong and taking care of the other kids.." Klara said
"Really?"
"Yeah! You are the strongest of everyone here!" Tsuneo smiled
"Hehe..spasibo!" Kin smiled
"Ohh! You know how to speak russian?" Klara asked
"Only a little..there were kids that were russian so I needed to learn so I could talk to them! I wish I could learn more so I can talk to them better!"
"Then I'll teach you some russian words once we get out of here..ok?" Klara said
"Yay! Thank you onee-chan!" Kin said
"Was there any russian kids when we took them out of their rooms?" Tsuneo whispered to Naomi
"No sir.." Naomi said
"I see.."
(That would mean that the russian kids that Kin was talking about was taken inside the laboratory and probably died already)
"Uhmm what happened down there? When Gero-san came to us he looked a lot worse than before we came here.." Alisa said
"I also noticed that..did something happen?" Assam asked
"Alright but first..Kin-kun can you get me some water from those nice people over there? I'm really thirsty..Nana-oneechan will come with you.." Tsuneo said
"Oki doki!" Kin smiled
(When Kin and Nana left to get some water Tsuneo started to tell Assam and Alisa what they discovered down the mountain. They told them about the laboratory and about Project Augmentation. They were shocked to what Tsuneo had told them but they were a lot more worried about Gero regarding Pandora using his blood and it lead to the children dying)
"Y-You mean..these kids..all of these kids were made into lab rats?! So that they could create the perfect fucking soldier?!" Alisa reacted
"Yeah..and it resulted in the deaths of almost a thousand kids for the last five years.." Naomi said
"That's so horrible..h-how could they do this?!" Assam asked
"After finding out that his blood was the reason for the deaths of those kids, Gero-kun just lost it.." Klara said
"Did he kill someone?" Assam asked
"He almost did..but he didn't..Taichou just gave us orders then headed up here first.." Naomi said
"I'm relieved that he didn't..but I'm sure he's blaming himself right now..he's the type of person that would carry all the burden himself after all.." Alisa said
"That just means he's got a big sense of responsibility which is why we all decided to follow him.." Klara said
"Klara-san is right..we just have to be there and support him.." Naomi said
"What reliable teammates my son has found..thank you guys for everything you're doing for my son.." Tsuneo said
"He's done a lot more helping us sir.." Alisa said
(Nana and Kin now have returned with water for everyone. He gave them the bottles of water along with a smile that brightened everyone's mood)
"Thank you Kin-kun!" Tsuneo said
"Spasibo!" Klara smiled
"Well done kid.." Naomi said
"You're welcome!" Kin smiled
(After an hour Shun, Kal, and Takashi finished planting explosives inside Devil's Mountain. They exited the mountain together with Lt. Sanada, Sgt. Sakurai and Dr. Emma)
"Major Tsuneo, all preparations are complete..we're the last ones to leave the mountain.." Lt. Sanada said
"Great job.."
"Where's Gero-kun?" Kal asked
"We haven't seen him for an hour.." Tsuneo said
"What?! Is he okay?!" Takashi reacted
"Calm down Takashi..it's him we're talking about I'm sure he'll be fine.."
"After what happened I'm pretty sure he's everything but FINE!" PFC Shun said
"Naomi is right..let's just wait for him to come back..he just took a stroll around the perimeter..." Alisa said
"Uhm everyone.." Dr. Emma called out
"Yes doctor?"
"I haven't properly thanked you for doing what I wasn't able to do for a long time and that's saving these children..so thank you very much.."
"You're welcome doctor..you can make up for it now by taking care of these kids from now on..I'm sure the young master already has a plan on how to handle this.." Lt. Sanada said
"Yes..you can count on me.." Dr. Emma smiled
"Sir Tsuneo.." Col. Alonso called out
"Yes Colonel? Is everything ready to move out?" Tsuneo asked
"Ja..all are loaded and boarded ready to go.."
"Great now all we need is to wait for my son.."
(All of a sudden Ono and Kaito came running towards them)
"Major! I got a transmission from Gero!" Ono said
"What's wrong?! Did something happen?!"
"We don't know..he just said to bring everyone here at these coordinates.." Kaito said
"Where is this?" Tsuneo asked
"This is just south of Devil's Mountain, not far from here.." Col. Alonso said
"What did he find now?" Takashi reacted
"We'll find out when we get there..all units move out!" Col. Alonso ordered
(All jeeps and trucks now rolled out towards the coordinates that Gero sent them. They hurried as fast as they could and when they arrived they saw something unforgettable. Gero was sitting down in front of a big lake. They dismounted their vehicles and approached Gero immediately)
"Gero..?" Ono called out to him
"Isn't it so ironic..?"
"What is?"
"That something as beautiful as this lake is called the Devil's Lake.."
"You're right..it's very ironic.."
"I wish I could show Erika this.."
"This is Teufelssee..I had forgotten that this was here.." Col. Alonso said
"Did you bring the children?"
"Yes young master..they are in the trucks.." Lt. Sanada said
"Bring them here.."
(They now brought the kids to Gero in front of the lake and they were surprised to see the reactions of the kids)
"Wow! What's this place?!" a boy said
"There's so much water! First time I've seen something like this!" a girl said
"They don't know what a lake is?!" Takashi reacted
"They were kidnapped at a very young age..most of these kids are just 5-8 years old so they weren't able to see these kinds of places.." Dr. Emma said
"I see...so that's why Gero-sama brought them here.." Nana smiled
"Onii-san..what is this place?" Kin asked
"This is called a lake..you can take a bath in it, play in it, and go fishing in it.."
"Fishing?" Kin asked
"That's right you don't know that yet..anyways there are more lakes around the world..and there is something even bigger than this.."
"Something bigger?! Really?!" a boy asked
"Yes..it's called the ocean..right now you can't see the ocean from here so this is a start.."
"I wanna see it someday!" Kin said
"Maybe you will..what are you waiting for? Go ahead and play in the lake!"
"Yaaay!" the kids shouted
(Immediately the kids jumped into the lake and started splashing water all over each other. They played and ran with one another with smiles on their faces. It was a beautiful sight to see for both RYOBU and KSK since this was the first time they saw those kids crack up a smile after saving them. Seeing and hearing the children laugh and have fun gave them all a warm and fuzzy feeling of accomplishment)
"Thank you...thank you so much Gero-sama..for bringing smiles to their faces.." Dr. Emma said as she cried
"If you really are thankful..then from now on you'll spend your whole life with these kids and continue giving them smiles..would you like that?"
"Yes..yes..I would love nothing more than that.."
"Good.."
(Gero just stared at the kids playing in the lake but still seeing them happy didn't bring a smile to his face. He still couldn't feel any kind of positive emotion and the he knows he has run out of time)
"You know you can show this to Erika-san sometime in the future right? No need to rush things.." Naomi said
"I don't even know if I'll be able to come back to her at this point..I still haven't accepted myself..do I even have the right to be with her at all? Something like me?"
"You're not a 'thing' alright? You are a normal human being just like us.." Kal said
"Does a normal human being have blood that could kill others?"
(They couldn't find the right words to answer Gero's question. All of them know that his blood isn't normal and anything they say to comfort him would just backfire. Gero started to look down at the ground and he could feel his consciousness fading. After a few seconds he closed his eyes and his mind went blank)
[Sacred Realm - Inside Gero's Mind]
"I'm in this place again..I guess this is really it for me.."
"Look someone's being a crybaby!" Gero heard voices
"Crybaby! Crybaby! What the heck are you doing sulking around?!"
(When Gero looked around he saw both Junpei and Touma in front of him)
"Junpei-san!? Touma-san!?"
"Yo! How are you doing, young master?" Junpei asked
"It's been a long time Gero-sama!" Touma greeted
"Why are you here?"
"Well we heard someone crying over here so we decided to take a look.."
"Then we saw you here! You big cry baby!"
"What are you talking about? I'm not crying..I've lost the ability to cry.."
"Really? It doesn't look like that for us though.."
"What do you mean?"
(Junpei then brought out a small mirror from his pocket and directed to Gero. Then what Gero saw surprised him because for some reason he was 12 years younger and was crying. Inside the Sacred Realm Gero reverted back to his 7 year old form and was crying)
"See? Right now the one crying in front of us is none other than the young master.." Junpei said
"The real Gero-sama we know is strong! And very protective of his sisters! Not this cry baby!" Touma said
"Junpei-niichan..Touma-niichan...what should I do? I don't know what to do..I can no longer accept myself after what happened.."
"Asking us will not give you the answer Gero-sama..only you can know the answer to your problems and only you can solve them.."
"But what if I can't? What if it's impossible?"
"Nothing is impossible for the great White Tiger!"
"Let me ask you this..why didn't you kill Dr. Oliver?"
"Because..I know that if I pulled the trigger..then I really can no longer come back to Erika.."
"Is that what you want? To return to Erika-san?" Touma asked
"Yes..I want to.."
"Then you've already solved the problem young master..knowing what you want and fighting to achieve what you want is one form of acceptance.."
"How could I accept myself if I'm the reason why both of you are dead now.."
"We never regretted giving our lives to protect you young master..if giving up our lives is the reason that made you the man you are now then we couldn't be happier.."
"Thank you Gero-sama for going all this way to find out what really happened to us and why did we have to die..thank you for always thinking about us all these years..we can now rest in peace.."
"Acceptance is not an easy thing to attain for anyone..but you've already found it..you just have to grab hold of it.." Junpei said
"Where is it? I can't see it.."
(Gero then saw Junpei and Touma offer their hands to him)
"Take our hands young master and you'll see it.." Junpei smiled
"Come one Gero-sama..it's time to wake up.." Touma smiled
(Gero then reached out for both their hands and the moment he grabbed them his consciousness returned. He was now back at Berlin and he saw that the hands he grabbed weren't Touma's or Junpei's hands. He saw that the hands he grabbed were the small hands of two kids he saved)
"Onii-san!"
"Let's play!"
"Eh..?"
"We saw you were very sad..so we wanted to play with you to make you happy!" another kids said
"Play with you?"
"Yes! Do you not want to play with us?" a girl frowned
"O-Oh it's not that..I just thought you would be scared of me.."
"Scared? Why would we be scared?" a boy asked
"I'm covered in blood and I did so many bad things..I must look like a monster to all of you.."
"But you're not a monster.." a girl said
"That's right! We're not scared of you!
"You saved us from those bad people!"
"You gave us food and water!"
"Gave us warm blankets!"
"And you let us play in the lake!"
"We want to play with you too! With everyone that saved us!"
(The children then started to pull Gero up from the ground and they walked towards the lake. He walked with the kids until the water was up to the bottom of his knees)
"Are you ready onii-san? We'll start to clean the red stuff off of you!" a boy said
"Eh? Clean? How?"
"Ready everyone? One..two..three..go!"
(All the kids then scooped up water with their small hands and started splashing water at Gero. They continued to wash away the blood stains from Gero's clothes and on his face. A little bit of water got into his eyes and he wanted to splash some water on the kids as well as payback but before he could do it he saw that the kids were staring at him)
"W-What's wrong?"
"A smile.." a boy said
"Ha..?"
"Yay! We did it! Onii-san smiled!" a girl said
(Before Gero could realize it he was already smiling. Not a fake and forced smile but a real and genuine one. Everyone was surprised to see him smile like that. It was a long time they saw his smile and it moved each and everyone of their hearts)
"I'm smiling..?"
"Yes! You look better this way onii-san!"
"But how..?"
"Onii-san!" Kin called out to him
"Yes Kin-kun?"
"The kids have something to say to you..I taught them this before we left.."
"What is it?"
(The children then made a circle with Gero in the middle. They all held hands and said in unison. Only Kin was Japanese so the other kids had trouble pronouncing the words but they were able to say it slowly)
"TA-SU-KE-TE ARI-GA-TO-GO-ZAI-MASU!"
[THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR SAVING US!]
"ONII-SAN-WA ORE-TA-CHI NO EI-YU!"
[YOU ARE OUR HERO!]
(The words of those children echoed throughout Gero's soul and the next thing that happened will forever remain in the hearts and memories of RYOBU and KSK)
"Uhm..onii-san? Are you alright?" Kin called out to him
"Hmmm? Why do you ask?"
"Because you're crying.." Kin said
"Eh..?"
(There he felt the warm sensation of tears flowing down his cheeks from his eyes. He gently touched his cheek to confirm what was happening and he knew that it wasn't the water from the lake, it really were his tears)
"Tears? Is he really crying?" Takashi asked
"Yeah..he's crying for real!" Kal smiled
"But how?" Ono asked
"He's finally reached it..the third stage of possession..Acceptance.." Tsuneo said
"Tsuneo-sama..can you tell us how he was able to?" Lt. Sanada asked
"He did say that it was impossible for him to accept himself..so what happened?" Cpl. Kaito asked
"The third stage of acceptance can't be reached by something as easy as accepting yourself..nobody could ever accept themselves after knowing what they are.."
"What do you mean Tsuneo-sama?" Sgt. Sakurai asked
"Gero has to be accepted by someone else before he can truly accept himself..someone that doesn't know him and doesn't know what he's going through.." Tsuneo said
"Why? Wouldn't it make a lot more sense if we accepted him for who he is?" Klara asked
"Normally yes it would..but since you know his situation about his blood and Sacred Possession..you may think and say that you accept him but in reality what you feel is pity.."
"Y-You're wrong sir! We really accept him for who he is!" Kal said
"I know..and I thank you for that..but that doesn't how Sacred Possession works.."
"But sir wouldn't it be a lot harder for a complete stranger to accept Gero since they don't know him? They'll feel pity as well or they might not feel anything at all.." PFC Shun said
"I agree.."
"Then how?" Assam asked
"Those kids over there..the kids he saved..accepted him for who he was regardless of not knowing who he was and what he had done..children are pure and innocent at their age..the only words you'll ever hear from them are honest and pure words..not a hint of malice can be found.."
"Therefore they don't feel pity for him..they truly are thankful for what he did and wanted to make him feel better just because they saw him sad.." PFC Nana said
"Yes..the moment my son was accepted by those kids..then and only then he was able to accept himself.." Tsuneo smiled
"I'm so glad..for him.." Alisa said
"Yeah..now our mission here really is complete.." Ono said
(The kids then approached Gero who saw him crying and got worried)
"Onii-san..did you hate what we said?" a boy asked
"No! No..of course not.."
"Then why are you crying?"
"These are tears of joy..you made me really happy by saying that to me.."
"Really? Yay!" the children rejoiced
(The children were smiling once again knowing that they made Gero happy. Gero was just staring at their smiles and he was happy that he was now able to smile with them. The sun started to shine as morning came then suddenly his eyes glowed golden yellow again meaning his Sacred Possession activated)
"I see..so this is what you meant..Junpei-san..Touma-san..I finally understand now..thank you for showing me.." Gero said in his thoughts
"Look! Onii-san's eyes are glowing!"
"Woah! How did you do that?!"
"So cool! They look like the sun!"
"Ahaha..these eyes are a magic trick for all of you! Do you like it?"
"Yes we do!" the children said
(Gero then walked towards Kin and gave him a pat on the head)
"Thank you..thank you so much..for letting me save you.."
"Thank you as well onii-san!" Kin smiled
(Ono, Kal, and Takashi then walked towards Gero at the lake. The four of them ran into a big group hug as they knew that Gero was now going to be alright and it brought them to tears)
"Welcome back Tiger-kun.."
"I can't believe all the trouble we had to go through just to see your crying face!" Kal said
"I'm really really glad that you finally reached it Gero.." Ono cried
"Yeah..thanks guys..for everything.."
(The children suddenly got jealous and started jumping on Gero and the boys and played with them at the lake splashing water at each other. Gero then looked towards Assam and the girls who were just watching at the beach)
"Come on girls! Won't you come and join us?!"
"I'm in!" Alisa said
"Nothing like a relaxing morning swim after a hard night's work!" Naomi smiled
"Let's go Assam-san!" Klara said
"Yes!" Assam smiled
(The four girls now joined in on the fun and were having a great time with all of the kids. The adults just watched over them and relaxed as well)
"Sir Tsuneo, me and the other KSK will now be heading out together Sgt. Frank to escort Pandora's scientists and guards to our base near here.." Lt. Kurt said
"Alright..we'll handle the kids so rest assured.." Tsuneo said
"Understood sir..do you already have a place where they'll go?"
"We do actually! My son already asked me to prepare it before the operation even started.."
"As always sir Gero is steps ahead of both his enemies and allies.." Col. Alonso smiled
"Well then sir..see you all soon!" Lt. Kurt saluted
"Danke Lieutenant!" Tsuneo said
(The other KSK trucks now left while Colonel Alonso stayed)
"You sure you don't need to go with them?" Tsuneo asked
"They can handle it..besides I wouldn't want to waste such a lovely morning like this.." Col. Alonso smiled
"You are right about that.."
(Tsuneo then looked towards the lake where the sunlight was touching the edge of the water. He then saw Junpei and Touma's souls waving at him with a smile on their faces. It was their way of letting him know that they'll be on their way and will now pass on peacefully)
"I see..so that's what happened..thank you Junpei and Touma..for giving my son the push he needed to move on.." Tsuneo said in his mind
(The lake was filled with smiles and laughter and they all forgot the events that happened the night before. This now concluded their mission as a success and they now can go back home to Japan)
Coming Up Next : Chapter 78 - New Home
Author's Note:
Hey hey hey! Here's the chapter! After all the dreadful and horrific events that had happened our main protagonist is back to his old self! The smiling and carefree White Tiger!
This mission was one hell of roller coaster of events and I enjoyed writing it so much! Let me know your reactions in the reviews as always! Peace!
I uploaded another picture on the Facebook page and it's a photo of Gero with his Sacred Possession active and his tears and smile have returned as he thanked Kin! Hope you like it!
Shout out to : "TsurukiRibbon" thank you for the follow!
Shout out to : "Ketuthu" thank you for the follow and favorite!
Thank you for the wonderful support you all are amazing! As for the replies to your comments check the reviews section as always!
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