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Round 2 - laniña, "The Pallor of Her Brow" - Part 2 of 5, Fic (●)
Pseudonym: laniña
Title: The Pallor of Her Brow - Part 2 of (probably) 5
Characters/Pairings: Akari, Hikaru, Sai (kinda. technically the AI in this fic is not the original Sai) This chapter: Touya, Kaga.
Rating: G. Some fight scenes this chapter, but no Gundam figurine were damaged in the making.
Summary/Notes: Mecha anime AU. Part 1 can be found here. Touya's mecha is loosely based on SEED's Aegis Gundams, although it's not quite as hax as those are. (the inspiration from this fic basically came from thinking that Touya would make a much better Athrun Zala than Athrun Zala actually does, frankly.)
It seemed that out of battle I escaped
Down some profound dull tunnel, long since scooped
Through granites which titanic wars had groined. - Wilfred Owen
They flew east, chasing the setting sun. It hung half-hidden by a mountainous horizon, casting a crimson-gold sheen upon the airborne dust of the valley. Above the clouds were scant and slowly darkening to indigo. Below, the ground was a shadowy blur, impossible to see clearly at their current velocity.
Hikaru remained unrousable despite several attempts by Akari to shake him awake. She had asked Sai if it was responsible for keeping him unconscious. The machine had denied it.
He is reacting to being linked to me, flashed the display panel. It is common with new pilots.
The cockpit was still redolent of the tranquilising agent the machine had released earlier. A woody scent with hints of mint. It maintained Akari in a meditative calm, her mind in perfect focus despite the gravity of the situation.
“When will he wake up?” she asked.
“It can take up to twenty-four hours.” The spoken words were so clear and immediate that for a moment she thought there was someone in the cockpit with them. Then the display screen faded out and in again, this time showing the moving image of a young man with silken hair, clasping a folding fan in one hand. “Do you mind if I speak to you this way instead? My last pilot always preferred this.” Its voice was masculine but gentle, his sentences lilting in an ancient accent.
“I don't mind,” she said. “Where do you plan to take us?”
For a moment she thought she saw a glimmer of guilt in the eyes of the young man on the display. It was a virtual image, she reminded herself, a well-designed AI's attempt to manipulate her psychologically.
“I am very sorry, Akari,” it said. “If you like, I can try to bring you home a little while. But your friend Hikaru must stay with me. I need him.”
“You know my name.”
“I obtained it from Hikaru's mind as he linked to me. I am dependent on a psionic link with a compatible pilot to function. Without one, I can do nothing beyond hiding and defending myself. That is what I have done for two hundred years.”
Two centuries. Akari's grasp of local military history was excellent, honed by years of identifying and bartering war artefacts. “Then you fought in the Honinbou Wars. But you said you were designed by the Fujiwara Star Federation. That's nearly a thousand years ago.”
“Yes, I was built then.” On the display the fan flicked open to cover the young man's heart, completed by a swishing sound effect. “I was created to link with the Federation's greatest star pilot, to fulfill his greatest dream. He is gone now, but my mission remains incomplete. That is why I am very happy to meet Hikaru.”
“Happy? You're an AI. Do you even know what happiness is?”
“I contain multiple emotional subroutines consistent with classical and modern models of behavioural science. I can shut them off if my pilot wishes, but my performance statistics are superior when they are running.”
Hikaru stirred. Akari reached over and covered his right hand briefly.
“He wakes,” said the AI. “I'm going to change the nanotransmitters in the cockpit, to help bring him to alertness. I will try to do this in such a way that your emotional distress does not return.”
The scent in the cabin altered subtly: less mint, more citron. In a few seconds Hikaru gave a great yawn, and he stretched out his limbs. He looked around the cockpit, gaze moving clockwise across the window, examining the twilit valley they were soaring across, then briefly glancing at Akari.
She was about to speak, but he was already glaring at the man on the display panel. “You are so never doing that again, you understand? The next time you get into my head I'll find your self-destruct subroutine and trigger it.”
“I couldn't do that to you even if I wanted to, Hikaru.” The man's eyes glimmered with hurt. “You're my pilot. Now that we're properly linked, you have control over our psychic connection, not me. ”
Akari looked from Hikaru, who looked pained but not actually offended, and to Sai, who looked abashed. Seemed like there'd been a few unspoken conversations she'd missed while Hikaru was asleep.
“I'm a junior high student, okay? Not an elite Fujiwara star pilot. I don't even know who the Fujiwara are. Steep learning curve, so help me learn and don't go off doing things on your own. You've scared Akari stiff with your crazy flying.”
“I'm not frightened,” said Akari. She thought she'd been doing rather well before Hikaru woke up. “And really, Hikaru? You haven't heard of the Fujiwara Federation?”
“Hey Sai, do you even know where we're going?” Hikaru scowled at the console, no doubt pretending not to have heard Akari. “Arrgh, my head still hurts from having a psychic link forced into it.”
“I can do something about that,” Sai said quickly. “If I release an anti-inflammatory gas into this compartment--”
“Leave it alone, you super-technological freak.” Hikaru began touching buttons and spinning dials on the pilot's console. “Just tell me where we're headed.”
“This is an observation and mapping flight. I have been unable to make contact with this planet's geosatellite positioning systems.” There were two moons visible tonight. One of them, rust-coloured and dimmer than the other, was Kaio, home to the only politically neutral academy in the Five-Star Alliance.
“Say what? You can buy a ten-credit compass from the stationery shop that connects to GPS. What kind of useless ultimate weapon are you anyway?”
Akari spoke: “Sai, are you using military or civilian GPS? Military cryptography has changed quite a bit since the Honinbou Wars, but you should be able to access a civilian level using even the most basic technology. If that doesn't work, our cellphones have GPS function – you could sync with them, if your navigation systems are compatible.”
“Let me see.” Sai's brows knit in concentration. “Yes! Thank you, Akari. You're so much more knowledgeable than Hikaru.”
“Oi, don't forget exactly who's indispensable to you fulfilling your mission.” Hikaru crossed his arms across his chest. “Akari, stop showing off.”
Ignoring Hikaru with long years of practice, she looked at the map that now appeared on the display next to Sai's shoulder. “It looks like we're headed for Lake Ayu. We should be there in half an hour – if we should go there at all, Hikaru.”
“What do you mean?” Hikaru looked at her.
“We've already missed dinner,” she said. “Not to mention our parents are going to be worried sick.”
“No, they won't,” Hikaru said, flipping his cellphone upon. “I'm about to send Gramps a text message saying that we didn't go treasure-hunting, we actually took the interstate train to catch tomorrow night's Ko Yeongha concert because you've been his fan forever and this is Yeongha's first intergalactic tour. He's gonna be crazy mad, but he won't expect us back for three days at least. Sai, cancel your signal jammers until this goes through.”
Sometimes Akari thought Hikaru was a complete idiot, except when he wasn't. “Hikaru. are you sure you want to do this?”
Hikaru shrugged. “Why not? I think Sai and me have got a pretty good mutual back-scratching deal going here.”
“What sort of deal?”
“We worked it out when Sai was stuck inside my head – you know, when I was sleeping just now. He's going to help us find treasure to sell. Real treasure, not the junk we've been collecting when we stay at Gramps' place. Sai can help us detect any working ancient tech lying around and he can fly us anywhere in the world to look for it. Lake Ayu would be a great place to start.” He directed this last sentence at Sai. “It hosted three major battles during the Honinbou Wars. There's at least ten major junkyards set up there, but even after fifty years they're still in business digging through all the scrap.”
Instead of replying, Sai began to decelerate. In less than a minute they came to hover above the mountaintops, the display screen flashing and changing as half a dozen systems went from standby to ready. Force field, vulcan cannon, beam rifle.
There was a similar change in Hikaru. His shoulders straightened, his hands coming up to take hold of two controllers that had emerged from his armrests.
“We've been spotted,” Hikaru said.
______________________
Akari peered forward, through the cockpit window into the starry night, but saw nothing besides the gleam of moonlight on rocky cliffs and the silhouette of countless trees. Below, on the console's display panel, an image was gradually forming. A humanoid mecha in the style of Sai, but of a more familiar breed. Akari had seen these machines like this one before in live holographic broadcasts, when Alliance dignitaries came to visit their solar system, and once even in person, when her family visited a space elevator to send off a cousin who was embarking on a military career.
“It is waiting on that cliff to the east, at 2 o'clock, “ Sai said. “The pilot is attempting video-link, but I cannot tell if the image being broadcasted is a true video or merely a generated avatar. Do you wish to speak to him? He will not be able to see our true faces; I will construct an appropriate avatar for us.”
Hikaru studied the display screen. “Akari, is that a second-generation Lion mecha we're looking at? I've never seen one of those outside a hologram.”
The diagram of the mecha continued to gain complexity as Sai collected more information about their new acquaintance's capabilities. Dual gatling guns, mounted on the front and back of its head. Four beam sabers, one on each limb. “I'm not familiar with the Lion model, but it looks similar to other Five-Star Alliance mecha. There's a space elevator near Lake Ayu; it may have come from there.”
“Fat lot of good your stealth mode is, Sai, if our new friend spotted us that easily.”
“My stealth mode is as good as it ever was, Hikaru.” Sai's human image, which had shrunk to a corner of the display screen to make room for the new information that was appearing, wore a resolute expression. “It is possible that technology has advanced a great deal these last two centuries – which I do not think is true if harvesting old weapons is as lucrative as you say it is – but I think it is more likely that this pilot has first-rate instincts, just like you do. You discovered me despite my camouflage, didn't you? That is because you possessed the psychic qualities necessary to be my pilot.”
“First-rate instincts, huh? Guess we should talk to him then. Who knows, Sai, maybe you'll like him better than me.”
“I would never--”
“Just get on with it.” The diagram of the mecha shrank away and was replaced by a video-feed showing the face of a boy in his early teens, wearing a white uniform with black trim. His hair was chin-length and ebony-black, with a severely straight fringe.
“This is Cadet Touya Akira of the Lion 12-14. Do you copy?”
“You're a kid,” said Hikaru, pulling a face at the screen. “Are you even any older than me?”
Touya Akira's brows arched slightly, but he continued. “I will take that as an affirmative. Identify yourself and your affiliation.”
“I'm Shindou Hikaru. My affiliation is – well, I'm a planetary citizen, I guess?”
The other pilot narrowed his eyes. “Do you mean to tell me that you identify as a civilian?”
Hikaru shrugged. “Pretty much.”
“Well, then, civilian, the vehicle you are piloting is at least Category 4C, and by Five-Star Alliance agreement, no weapons or transportation above Category 3 are to be permitted in neutral territories without special dispensation. I am obliged to escort you to the closest military outpost pending further investigation. If you refuse to comply, I shall be forced to assume that your intentions are hostile.”
“Uh, no offense, but are you even old enough to be doing this job?” Hikaru wrinkled his nose. “I'm pretty sure school is still compulsory no matter where you go in the Five-Star Alliance. I mean, if there were somewhere you could quit early, I'd have moved there years ago.”
Touya flushed ever-so faintly. “My level of rank does not enter into the equation. As a trainee member of the Five-Star Universal Fleet, it is my duty to fulfill with Alliance law.”
Hikaru touched a button on the right of the display screen and the video froze. “What should we do, Sai? We could try and bluff him, or we could take him down and then fly for cover.”
“I do not think this child will be easily deceived,” Sai said. “In my opinion it would be best to fight.”
“What if he calls for backup?” said Akari.
“I do not plan for for the battle to last that long. Hikaru, let me take the lead in this. You will not need to do anything more than spectate, your first time in combat.” They began to return to the humanoid shape of Battle Module, the wings of the jet detaching and becoming limbs, the great metallic legs extending out beneath them to touch the ground.
Touya Akira's voice broadcast through the cockpit once more. “This is your final warning; I am initiating combat. Unless you surrender within the next three seconds I will attack with intention to destroy. Three.”
“Two,” continued Touya.
“One.”
The glass window before them went opaque suddenly as they were hit with a force that reverberated through the cockpit.
“I am disabling direct visual as the light from his beam rifle is capable of temporarily blinding you,” Sai informed them. “It is our turn to attack. If you are disoriented by the proceedings, Akari, please look at the reconstructions on the display.”
With that they began to move downwards, slowly, as Sai's mechanical limbs moved into a crouching position and then leaped upwards, arcing towards the cliff where Touya Akira's mecha was perched. The Lion stood there, apparently preparing to fire again, for its left arm was raised, the long barrel of its equipped rifle pointed directly at them.
“Our first task is to destroy that beam rifle,” said Sai. “Once that is out of the equation, he will have no choice but to engage in close combat.”
The next few minutes passed in a blur for Akari, a tangle of adrenaline and noise and erratic tilting and flying and clashing back and forth. (Midway through the battle Sai helpfully released an airborne anti-nausea drug into the cockpit). She was aware of shots being fired, five in all, including Touya's attack: the last two rifle shots were Sai's, for by that time Touya had detached his destroyed beam rifle, sent it crashing into the mountain. The melee combat --the Lion's quadruple sabers against Sai's great beam falchion – was more difficult to follow. The display screen had an alarming habit of declaring ENERGY SHIELD BREACHED every time Sai sustained so much as the slightest scrape, and every apparent victory was accompanied by so much bumping and jolting that it felt like they would not survive the battle, even if they managed to defeat the enemy in the process.
Finally the Lion pulled back, hovering in midair, pausing.
“His energy shields are depleted,” said Sai. “He is going to retreat. But we cannot allow him to do that. We must disable our opponent completely, even if it means harming the pilot inside.”
Their beam rifle began charging up.
“No,” said Hikaru. “Reestablish the video-feed. Show him my real face this time.”
“I'm not sure what you're planning, Hikaru, but I do not think this is a wise move.”
“Do as I say, Sai.”
Again they saw the face of Touya Akira on the display screen. He was keeping remarkable composure for someone who had just lost to an unknown person. His eyes were hard, but as he took in the sight of Hikaru they widened.
“You're my age,” he said. “You're not from Kaio. Where are you from?”
“Hello, Touya,” said Hikaru. “You enjoying our battle?”
“Was that a battle?” Touya gave a bitter laugh. “I was under the impression that I was undertaking a lesson in combat. Until I saw your face.”
“I thought you were amazing just now.”
“I don't want to hear that from you. If you want to destroy me, go ahead.”
“I'm not going to destroy you. Don't you want to fight me again?”
A protest across the display panel: Please do not make promises you may not be able to keep, Hikaru! It is too dangerous to leave this boy alive.
“If you let me go,” said Hikaru, “you might get the chance to fight me again. If you turn me in, I'll be arrested. We'll never meet again, and Sai will disappear and you won't see him either.”
“Who is Sai? Your mecha?”
“Yes. That's his name. He's the most amazing mecha in the universe. But I'm the only one who can fly him. What do you say, Touya? Do we have a deal?”
Touya's shoulders tensed, and for a moment he bowed his head, looking away from the camera. “Can you promise me that you harbour no ill-intentions towards this star system, or towards the Five-Star Alliance?”
“Definitely not,” said Hikaru. “I mean, yeah, definitely I can promise that. No ill-intentions whatsoever.”
“Very well then.” Touya stared straight at the camera – at Hikaru. “I will give you ninety minutes to vacate this area. When I report to my superiors I will minimise any information that might identify you or Sai to them. In return, you will promise that one day you will allow me to return the favour you just did me. We will meet, and at that time I will defeat you. Is that understood?”
“Uh, yes. That sounds awesome – I mean, yes, of course.”
“If I ever hear of your involvement, or Sai's involvement in anything that poses a risk to the Alliance, I will be obliged to disclose fully all that has passed today. Until we meet again, Shindou Hikaru.” The video-link disappeared. It was replaced by Sai's face, expanded again from its earlier position in the corner of the display.
“That was good thinking, Hikaru,” he said. “Despite my emotional subroutines I am incapable of suggesting such negotiation tactics. That is one of the reasons I can only function fully with a pilot.”
“That wasn't a tactic,” Hikaru was staring ahead, not looking at the display screen. “That Touya was amazing, Sai. I didn't think any kid would be able to stand up to you for that long.”
“He is special,” said the AI. “He resembles the young men who used to pilot me, the brightest and bravest of their kind. Fujiwara no Sai and Kuwabara Torajirou. In time he may be as great as either of them.”
“Why did you link to me? I'm nothing like he is. I couldn't do anything in that fight just now. There's no AI in the Lion models, but Touya still managed to meet your attacks.”
There was no response from the AI.
Akari spoke up. “What do we do from here on? Even if that boy Touya doesn't report us, our chances of getting spotted increase the closer we get to Lake Ayu.”
“Don't worry about that,” said Sai. “We will be close to the space elevator in under an hour, will we not? I can simply hide when we get there.”
“How?” asked Akari.
“In the water, of course.”
______________
Hikaru was arguing with his grandfather on the phone. It was loud and teenage-boy incoherent and frankly, embarrassing.
“And you'd never have let us go if we'd asked, would you? So there. Just stay put. We'll be back before you know it.” Hikaru slid his cellphone into the back pocket of his jeans. “All right, that's done. Hope he doesn't hop on the next train to Ayu City looking for us. His arthritis is pretty bad these days, so probably he won't.”
“Has he told our parents?”
“He didn't say. Anyway, my dad wouldn't care, and you know what my mum's like. She'll be upset, but she'll get over it. I'm more worried about your dad – he's the overprotective type, isn't he?”
“Not really,” Akari said. They were walking the streets of Ayu – the city named for the nearby lake – in search of food, somewhere to stay, and leads on how to hijack a space elevator. More or less in that order of priority. If Hikaru moaned one more time about how hungry he was, Akari was going to smack him.
Sai had deposited them on the city outskirts half an hour earlier, saying he was going to camouflage himself and wait at the bottom of the lake until they contacted him. Akari thought it was a bit of a cop out. Sai was the one who wanted to go into space, so why were they the ones doing the hard work?
Then again, Hikaru seemed as keen on the idea as Sai – probably the most enthusiastic she'd ever seen him about anything besides eating ramen.
Speaking of ramen.
By the time she noticed Hikaru had already ushered her through the plastic strip door of a narrow, noisy noodle shop. There was only one empty table in the room, right next to the till, and Hikaru made an immediate beeline for it.
“I'm gonna order. Char siu for you?”
“I was thinking of cheeseburgers,” Akari said. Hikaru narrowed his eyes at her and she relented. “Fine, char siu it is.”
Devouring ramen was practically a religious ritual for Hikaru. He attacked his noodles with fervour, slurping at the miso broth. Akari had long given up being embarrassed by his eating habits. She was barely halfway through her own meal when he stood to order another bowl.
“So what do we do from here?” she asked, while he was waiting for his second serving to arrive.
Hikaru shrugged. “We get into the space elevator station somehow. Sai and I launch into space, and you go home and tell them what's happened.”
Had she just heard what she thought she'd heard? “Excuse me? I go home? Since when was that part of the plan?”
“Always,” said Hikaru. “I thought you'd be happy. You didn't sound too keen on this adventure to begin with.”
“I wasn't.” But if Hikaru was going to be Hikaru, and do exactly as he pleased, she'd a thousand times rather they did it together, rather than for her to sit home and wait, as she'd done so many times. “But we've started it now, haven't we? We'll see it through together, to the end.”
“It could be dangerous,” Hikaru said.
“Mm hmm. Your point being?”
“We might miss school.”
“We've got two weeks of summer vacation to figure it out. Anyway, who's the one who's playing hooky from his remedial cram school this holidays?”
A waiter brought out Hikaru's tonkatsu ramen. Instead of launching straight into the food Hikaru looked at Akari. “Have you ever wanted to travel the stars?”
Akari thought about it. “Maybe when I was little. When my grandmother died my whole family took a shuttle to the Ouza system for the funeral. It was really beautiful, looking out from the shuttle at the planets and asteroids and stars. That's the only time I've ever been in space.”
“I've never been in space,” said Hikaru. “I--” He paused suddenly and looked up. A stark and definite silence had descended upon the shop. The kitchen's extractor fan thrummed, and a great stock pot gurgled on the stove; beyond that there was no noise.
Glancing up, she found the attention of all the patrons in the shop directed towards the doorway. A boy stood there, a little older than Hikaru and herself, dressed in black skinny jeans and an aloha shirt left unbuttoned at the collar. In his right hand he carried a folded paper fan, rather similar to the one that Sai's image wielded.
The newcomer came up to the counter. “The usual, please.”
“Sure thing, Kaga-sama.”
There was an empty chair at Hikaru and Akari's table. The new boy – presumably named Kaga – placed himself in it. Apparently unconcerned by the tension in the shop, he flicked his fan open and closed several times; revealing a different holographic kanji on the fan's surface each time.
“It's considered good manners to ask before you sit at someone's table,” said Hikaru.
Kaga raised his brows, folded and unfolded his fan again, this time displaying the word Idiot clearly in katakana. “Did I just hear a little brat whimper?” He stared pointedly at Hikaru's dual ramen bowls. “Gluttonous little brat too, by the looks of things. Do your parents not feed you enough, or are you just going for the childhood obesity award?”
With that he took a fresh pair of chopsticks from the plastic holder at the edge of the table, and deftly nabbed a quarter of hard-boiled egg from Hikaru's fresh ramen.
“You're going to stop that,” Hikaru said, “or you'll be sorry.”
“I'd like to see you make me sorry,” Kaga said, his mouth still half-full, “go ahead and try.” He helped himself to a slice of pork this time.
Akari was familiar with that still, almost contemplative, expression on Hikaru's face: the calm before the storm. In an instant, so quick she would have missed it if she had not been watching, he had picked up his ramen bowl and hurled its contents into Kaga's face.
To her amazement, Kaga was fast enough to dodge, or at least to make the attempt. The tonkatsu broth missed his face, but caught his shirt as he moved to one side; and when he stood, Akari saw that his jeans had borne the brunt of the attack. A splash mark darkened the left pant leg from waist to knee, and bits of noodle, spring onion, and seaweed clung to the denim.
Kaga didn't seem too perturbed by the state of his clothes. Within the next second the older boy grabbed Hikaru by the hair and sent him hurtling into the next table over. Hikaru crashed into one of the customers seated there, tipping both of them over and sending crockery, chopsticks, and ramen to the floor in a loud wet commotion.
Never mind that they'd gotten this far and they'd managed to keep Sai under wraps. They were about to be arrested for public disturbance of the peace.
There was a general shuffling around as the people in the shop strategically betook themselves out of the radius of collateral damage. Akari herself found a convenient nook at the innermost corner of the dining area, half-shielded by a large potted fern, from which she could safely observe Kaga attempting to grind Hikaru face-first into the cashier's till. She had a little can of spray mace in her backpack, but Hikaru might never forgive her if she tried to rescue him--
“The Kaga boy gets more and more ridiculous every year,” someone muttered. “He's all right when his friends are around to hold him back, but when he's by himself...”
“You want to take it up with his father?” Another man snorted. “Admiral Kaga is a mean, scary bastard, but even he couldn't keep his kid from dropping out of Kaio.”
Hikaru had somehow twisted out of Kaga's grasp and landed a strategic kick to the older boy's shin. Kaga reeled, only momentarily, then reacted with a punch to Hikaru's jaw.
“KAGA!”
Kaga froze mid-attack, as did Hikaru. A second silence descended upon the shop, more profound than the first. A middle-aged, bespectacled man in a track suit was picking his way through the mess of overturned chairs and spilled ramen that decorated the shop.
Kaga paled and hissed at Hikaru, loud enough for even Akari to hear, “I'm outta here. You scram too, if you know what's good for you.” And with that he swiftly made for the back exit of the shop, through the doorway about a yard from where Akari was standing.
Hikaru followed right after, grabbing Akari's hand and pulling her along. “Come on.” They ran out through a storage area, past the restrooms, and out into a back-alley. She looked left and saw Kaga already running towards the lights of the main street.
“Let's follow him.” He let go of her as he took off after Kaga in a sprint.
She gave chase. “I agree that we needed to leave that place, but why follow Kaga?” she called out.
Intent on pursuit, he did not turn around, but the wind carried his shouted words back to her. “Someone in the shop says he used to be from Kaio! Maybe he knows Touya Akira. Or at least he'll know about the space elevator.”
He'd managed to hear that while Kaga had him in a headlock just now? Akari could never decide to her own satisfaction whether Hikaru was frighteningly observant or hopelessly unobservant.
They ran as fast as they could, but to no avail; by the time they reached the main road, with its multiple lanes and jostling pedestrians and winking, dynamic array of varicoloured lights from billboards, shop signs, traffic lights, holographic advertisements, there was no sign of Kaga to be seen.
“Urgh.” Hikaru turned his head this way and that, looking at the sea of people occupying the sidewalks, the zebra crossing, the entrances to shops and restaurants and malls. “This city is way too enormous. And that was our best lead too, even if it wasn't much of one.”
“Don't give up just yet,” Akari said. She was casting her eye at the opposing sidewalk, hoping to spot the garish Hawaiian shirt or spiky dyed hair, when a hand caught her by the sleeve of her jumper, another hand grabbed the back of Hikaru's T-shirt, and they were both dragged into a small darkened stairwell neither of them had noticed.
“You mentioned Touya Akira,” said Kaga.
To be continued.
Go to opponent's entry: Round 2 - Uchida, "Pine", Fic (○)
Go to vote: Five-Colored Cloud vs. Fandom Triforce - Second Board Match
Title: The Pallor of Her Brow - Part 2 of (probably) 5
Characters/Pairings: Akari, Hikaru, Sai (kinda. technically the AI in this fic is not the original Sai) This chapter: Touya, Kaga.
Rating: G. Some fight scenes this chapter, but no Gundam figurine were damaged in the making.
Summary/Notes: Mecha anime AU. Part 1 can be found here. Touya's mecha is loosely based on SEED's Aegis Gundams, although it's not quite as hax as those are. (the inspiration from this fic basically came from thinking that Touya would make a much better Athrun Zala than Athrun Zala actually does, frankly.)
It seemed that out of battle I escaped
Down some profound dull tunnel, long since scooped
Through granites which titanic wars had groined. - Wilfred Owen
They flew east, chasing the setting sun. It hung half-hidden by a mountainous horizon, casting a crimson-gold sheen upon the airborne dust of the valley. Above the clouds were scant and slowly darkening to indigo. Below, the ground was a shadowy blur, impossible to see clearly at their current velocity.
Hikaru remained unrousable despite several attempts by Akari to shake him awake. She had asked Sai if it was responsible for keeping him unconscious. The machine had denied it.
He is reacting to being linked to me, flashed the display panel. It is common with new pilots.
The cockpit was still redolent of the tranquilising agent the machine had released earlier. A woody scent with hints of mint. It maintained Akari in a meditative calm, her mind in perfect focus despite the gravity of the situation.
“When will he wake up?” she asked.
“It can take up to twenty-four hours.” The spoken words were so clear and immediate that for a moment she thought there was someone in the cockpit with them. Then the display screen faded out and in again, this time showing the moving image of a young man with silken hair, clasping a folding fan in one hand. “Do you mind if I speak to you this way instead? My last pilot always preferred this.” Its voice was masculine but gentle, his sentences lilting in an ancient accent.
“I don't mind,” she said. “Where do you plan to take us?”
For a moment she thought she saw a glimmer of guilt in the eyes of the young man on the display. It was a virtual image, she reminded herself, a well-designed AI's attempt to manipulate her psychologically.
“I am very sorry, Akari,” it said. “If you like, I can try to bring you home a little while. But your friend Hikaru must stay with me. I need him.”
“You know my name.”
“I obtained it from Hikaru's mind as he linked to me. I am dependent on a psionic link with a compatible pilot to function. Without one, I can do nothing beyond hiding and defending myself. That is what I have done for two hundred years.”
Two centuries. Akari's grasp of local military history was excellent, honed by years of identifying and bartering war artefacts. “Then you fought in the Honinbou Wars. But you said you were designed by the Fujiwara Star Federation. That's nearly a thousand years ago.”
“Yes, I was built then.” On the display the fan flicked open to cover the young man's heart, completed by a swishing sound effect. “I was created to link with the Federation's greatest star pilot, to fulfill his greatest dream. He is gone now, but my mission remains incomplete. That is why I am very happy to meet Hikaru.”
“Happy? You're an AI. Do you even know what happiness is?”
“I contain multiple emotional subroutines consistent with classical and modern models of behavioural science. I can shut them off if my pilot wishes, but my performance statistics are superior when they are running.”
Hikaru stirred. Akari reached over and covered his right hand briefly.
“He wakes,” said the AI. “I'm going to change the nanotransmitters in the cockpit, to help bring him to alertness. I will try to do this in such a way that your emotional distress does not return.”
The scent in the cabin altered subtly: less mint, more citron. In a few seconds Hikaru gave a great yawn, and he stretched out his limbs. He looked around the cockpit, gaze moving clockwise across the window, examining the twilit valley they were soaring across, then briefly glancing at Akari.
She was about to speak, but he was already glaring at the man on the display panel. “You are so never doing that again, you understand? The next time you get into my head I'll find your self-destruct subroutine and trigger it.”
“I couldn't do that to you even if I wanted to, Hikaru.” The man's eyes glimmered with hurt. “You're my pilot. Now that we're properly linked, you have control over our psychic connection, not me. ”
Akari looked from Hikaru, who looked pained but not actually offended, and to Sai, who looked abashed. Seemed like there'd been a few unspoken conversations she'd missed while Hikaru was asleep.
“I'm a junior high student, okay? Not an elite Fujiwara star pilot. I don't even know who the Fujiwara are. Steep learning curve, so help me learn and don't go off doing things on your own. You've scared Akari stiff with your crazy flying.”
“I'm not frightened,” said Akari. She thought she'd been doing rather well before Hikaru woke up. “And really, Hikaru? You haven't heard of the Fujiwara Federation?”
“Hey Sai, do you even know where we're going?” Hikaru scowled at the console, no doubt pretending not to have heard Akari. “Arrgh, my head still hurts from having a psychic link forced into it.”
“I can do something about that,” Sai said quickly. “If I release an anti-inflammatory gas into this compartment--”
“Leave it alone, you super-technological freak.” Hikaru began touching buttons and spinning dials on the pilot's console. “Just tell me where we're headed.”
“This is an observation and mapping flight. I have been unable to make contact with this planet's geosatellite positioning systems.” There were two moons visible tonight. One of them, rust-coloured and dimmer than the other, was Kaio, home to the only politically neutral academy in the Five-Star Alliance.
“Say what? You can buy a ten-credit compass from the stationery shop that connects to GPS. What kind of useless ultimate weapon are you anyway?”
Akari spoke: “Sai, are you using military or civilian GPS? Military cryptography has changed quite a bit since the Honinbou Wars, but you should be able to access a civilian level using even the most basic technology. If that doesn't work, our cellphones have GPS function – you could sync with them, if your navigation systems are compatible.”
“Let me see.” Sai's brows knit in concentration. “Yes! Thank you, Akari. You're so much more knowledgeable than Hikaru.”
“Oi, don't forget exactly who's indispensable to you fulfilling your mission.” Hikaru crossed his arms across his chest. “Akari, stop showing off.”
Ignoring Hikaru with long years of practice, she looked at the map that now appeared on the display next to Sai's shoulder. “It looks like we're headed for Lake Ayu. We should be there in half an hour – if we should go there at all, Hikaru.”
“What do you mean?” Hikaru looked at her.
“We've already missed dinner,” she said. “Not to mention our parents are going to be worried sick.”
“No, they won't,” Hikaru said, flipping his cellphone upon. “I'm about to send Gramps a text message saying that we didn't go treasure-hunting, we actually took the interstate train to catch tomorrow night's Ko Yeongha concert because you've been his fan forever and this is Yeongha's first intergalactic tour. He's gonna be crazy mad, but he won't expect us back for three days at least. Sai, cancel your signal jammers until this goes through.”
Sometimes Akari thought Hikaru was a complete idiot, except when he wasn't. “Hikaru. are you sure you want to do this?”
Hikaru shrugged. “Why not? I think Sai and me have got a pretty good mutual back-scratching deal going here.”
“What sort of deal?”
“We worked it out when Sai was stuck inside my head – you know, when I was sleeping just now. He's going to help us find treasure to sell. Real treasure, not the junk we've been collecting when we stay at Gramps' place. Sai can help us detect any working ancient tech lying around and he can fly us anywhere in the world to look for it. Lake Ayu would be a great place to start.” He directed this last sentence at Sai. “It hosted three major battles during the Honinbou Wars. There's at least ten major junkyards set up there, but even after fifty years they're still in business digging through all the scrap.”
Instead of replying, Sai began to decelerate. In less than a minute they came to hover above the mountaintops, the display screen flashing and changing as half a dozen systems went from standby to ready. Force field, vulcan cannon, beam rifle.
There was a similar change in Hikaru. His shoulders straightened, his hands coming up to take hold of two controllers that had emerged from his armrests.
“We've been spotted,” Hikaru said.
Akari peered forward, through the cockpit window into the starry night, but saw nothing besides the gleam of moonlight on rocky cliffs and the silhouette of countless trees. Below, on the console's display panel, an image was gradually forming. A humanoid mecha in the style of Sai, but of a more familiar breed. Akari had seen these machines like this one before in live holographic broadcasts, when Alliance dignitaries came to visit their solar system, and once even in person, when her family visited a space elevator to send off a cousin who was embarking on a military career.
“It is waiting on that cliff to the east, at 2 o'clock, “ Sai said. “The pilot is attempting video-link, but I cannot tell if the image being broadcasted is a true video or merely a generated avatar. Do you wish to speak to him? He will not be able to see our true faces; I will construct an appropriate avatar for us.”
Hikaru studied the display screen. “Akari, is that a second-generation Lion mecha we're looking at? I've never seen one of those outside a hologram.”
The diagram of the mecha continued to gain complexity as Sai collected more information about their new acquaintance's capabilities. Dual gatling guns, mounted on the front and back of its head. Four beam sabers, one on each limb. “I'm not familiar with the Lion model, but it looks similar to other Five-Star Alliance mecha. There's a space elevator near Lake Ayu; it may have come from there.”
“Fat lot of good your stealth mode is, Sai, if our new friend spotted us that easily.”
“My stealth mode is as good as it ever was, Hikaru.” Sai's human image, which had shrunk to a corner of the display screen to make room for the new information that was appearing, wore a resolute expression. “It is possible that technology has advanced a great deal these last two centuries – which I do not think is true if harvesting old weapons is as lucrative as you say it is – but I think it is more likely that this pilot has first-rate instincts, just like you do. You discovered me despite my camouflage, didn't you? That is because you possessed the psychic qualities necessary to be my pilot.”
“First-rate instincts, huh? Guess we should talk to him then. Who knows, Sai, maybe you'll like him better than me.”
“I would never--”
“Just get on with it.” The diagram of the mecha shrank away and was replaced by a video-feed showing the face of a boy in his early teens, wearing a white uniform with black trim. His hair was chin-length and ebony-black, with a severely straight fringe.
“This is Cadet Touya Akira of the Lion 12-14. Do you copy?”
“You're a kid,” said Hikaru, pulling a face at the screen. “Are you even any older than me?”
Touya Akira's brows arched slightly, but he continued. “I will take that as an affirmative. Identify yourself and your affiliation.”
“I'm Shindou Hikaru. My affiliation is – well, I'm a planetary citizen, I guess?”
The other pilot narrowed his eyes. “Do you mean to tell me that you identify as a civilian?”
Hikaru shrugged. “Pretty much.”
“Well, then, civilian, the vehicle you are piloting is at least Category 4C, and by Five-Star Alliance agreement, no weapons or transportation above Category 3 are to be permitted in neutral territories without special dispensation. I am obliged to escort you to the closest military outpost pending further investigation. If you refuse to comply, I shall be forced to assume that your intentions are hostile.”
“Uh, no offense, but are you even old enough to be doing this job?” Hikaru wrinkled his nose. “I'm pretty sure school is still compulsory no matter where you go in the Five-Star Alliance. I mean, if there were somewhere you could quit early, I'd have moved there years ago.”
Touya flushed ever-so faintly. “My level of rank does not enter into the equation. As a trainee member of the Five-Star Universal Fleet, it is my duty to fulfill with Alliance law.”
Hikaru touched a button on the right of the display screen and the video froze. “What should we do, Sai? We could try and bluff him, or we could take him down and then fly for cover.”
“I do not think this child will be easily deceived,” Sai said. “In my opinion it would be best to fight.”
“What if he calls for backup?” said Akari.
“I do not plan for for the battle to last that long. Hikaru, let me take the lead in this. You will not need to do anything more than spectate, your first time in combat.” They began to return to the humanoid shape of Battle Module, the wings of the jet detaching and becoming limbs, the great metallic legs extending out beneath them to touch the ground.
Touya Akira's voice broadcast through the cockpit once more. “This is your final warning; I am initiating combat. Unless you surrender within the next three seconds I will attack with intention to destroy. Three.”
“Two,” continued Touya.
“One.”
The glass window before them went opaque suddenly as they were hit with a force that reverberated through the cockpit.
“I am disabling direct visual as the light from his beam rifle is capable of temporarily blinding you,” Sai informed them. “It is our turn to attack. If you are disoriented by the proceedings, Akari, please look at the reconstructions on the display.”
With that they began to move downwards, slowly, as Sai's mechanical limbs moved into a crouching position and then leaped upwards, arcing towards the cliff where Touya Akira's mecha was perched. The Lion stood there, apparently preparing to fire again, for its left arm was raised, the long barrel of its equipped rifle pointed directly at them.
“Our first task is to destroy that beam rifle,” said Sai. “Once that is out of the equation, he will have no choice but to engage in close combat.”
The next few minutes passed in a blur for Akari, a tangle of adrenaline and noise and erratic tilting and flying and clashing back and forth. (Midway through the battle Sai helpfully released an airborne anti-nausea drug into the cockpit). She was aware of shots being fired, five in all, including Touya's attack: the last two rifle shots were Sai's, for by that time Touya had detached his destroyed beam rifle, sent it crashing into the mountain. The melee combat --the Lion's quadruple sabers against Sai's great beam falchion – was more difficult to follow. The display screen had an alarming habit of declaring ENERGY SHIELD BREACHED every time Sai sustained so much as the slightest scrape, and every apparent victory was accompanied by so much bumping and jolting that it felt like they would not survive the battle, even if they managed to defeat the enemy in the process.
Finally the Lion pulled back, hovering in midair, pausing.
“His energy shields are depleted,” said Sai. “He is going to retreat. But we cannot allow him to do that. We must disable our opponent completely, even if it means harming the pilot inside.”
Their beam rifle began charging up.
“No,” said Hikaru. “Reestablish the video-feed. Show him my real face this time.”
“I'm not sure what you're planning, Hikaru, but I do not think this is a wise move.”
“Do as I say, Sai.”
Again they saw the face of Touya Akira on the display screen. He was keeping remarkable composure for someone who had just lost to an unknown person. His eyes were hard, but as he took in the sight of Hikaru they widened.
“You're my age,” he said. “You're not from Kaio. Where are you from?”
“Hello, Touya,” said Hikaru. “You enjoying our battle?”
“Was that a battle?” Touya gave a bitter laugh. “I was under the impression that I was undertaking a lesson in combat. Until I saw your face.”
“I thought you were amazing just now.”
“I don't want to hear that from you. If you want to destroy me, go ahead.”
“I'm not going to destroy you. Don't you want to fight me again?”
A protest across the display panel: Please do not make promises you may not be able to keep, Hikaru! It is too dangerous to leave this boy alive.
“If you let me go,” said Hikaru, “you might get the chance to fight me again. If you turn me in, I'll be arrested. We'll never meet again, and Sai will disappear and you won't see him either.”
“Who is Sai? Your mecha?”
“Yes. That's his name. He's the most amazing mecha in the universe. But I'm the only one who can fly him. What do you say, Touya? Do we have a deal?”
Touya's shoulders tensed, and for a moment he bowed his head, looking away from the camera. “Can you promise me that you harbour no ill-intentions towards this star system, or towards the Five-Star Alliance?”
“Definitely not,” said Hikaru. “I mean, yeah, definitely I can promise that. No ill-intentions whatsoever.”
“Very well then.” Touya stared straight at the camera – at Hikaru. “I will give you ninety minutes to vacate this area. When I report to my superiors I will minimise any information that might identify you or Sai to them. In return, you will promise that one day you will allow me to return the favour you just did me. We will meet, and at that time I will defeat you. Is that understood?”
“Uh, yes. That sounds awesome – I mean, yes, of course.”
“If I ever hear of your involvement, or Sai's involvement in anything that poses a risk to the Alliance, I will be obliged to disclose fully all that has passed today. Until we meet again, Shindou Hikaru.” The video-link disappeared. It was replaced by Sai's face, expanded again from its earlier position in the corner of the display.
“That was good thinking, Hikaru,” he said. “Despite my emotional subroutines I am incapable of suggesting such negotiation tactics. That is one of the reasons I can only function fully with a pilot.”
“That wasn't a tactic,” Hikaru was staring ahead, not looking at the display screen. “That Touya was amazing, Sai. I didn't think any kid would be able to stand up to you for that long.”
“He is special,” said the AI. “He resembles the young men who used to pilot me, the brightest and bravest of their kind. Fujiwara no Sai and Kuwabara Torajirou. In time he may be as great as either of them.”
“Why did you link to me? I'm nothing like he is. I couldn't do anything in that fight just now. There's no AI in the Lion models, but Touya still managed to meet your attacks.”
There was no response from the AI.
Akari spoke up. “What do we do from here on? Even if that boy Touya doesn't report us, our chances of getting spotted increase the closer we get to Lake Ayu.”
“Don't worry about that,” said Sai. “We will be close to the space elevator in under an hour, will we not? I can simply hide when we get there.”
“How?” asked Akari.
“In the water, of course.”
Hikaru was arguing with his grandfather on the phone. It was loud and teenage-boy incoherent and frankly, embarrassing.
“And you'd never have let us go if we'd asked, would you? So there. Just stay put. We'll be back before you know it.” Hikaru slid his cellphone into the back pocket of his jeans. “All right, that's done. Hope he doesn't hop on the next train to Ayu City looking for us. His arthritis is pretty bad these days, so probably he won't.”
“Has he told our parents?”
“He didn't say. Anyway, my dad wouldn't care, and you know what my mum's like. She'll be upset, but she'll get over it. I'm more worried about your dad – he's the overprotective type, isn't he?”
“Not really,” Akari said. They were walking the streets of Ayu – the city named for the nearby lake – in search of food, somewhere to stay, and leads on how to hijack a space elevator. More or less in that order of priority. If Hikaru moaned one more time about how hungry he was, Akari was going to smack him.
Sai had deposited them on the city outskirts half an hour earlier, saying he was going to camouflage himself and wait at the bottom of the lake until they contacted him. Akari thought it was a bit of a cop out. Sai was the one who wanted to go into space, so why were they the ones doing the hard work?
Then again, Hikaru seemed as keen on the idea as Sai – probably the most enthusiastic she'd ever seen him about anything besides eating ramen.
Speaking of ramen.
By the time she noticed Hikaru had already ushered her through the plastic strip door of a narrow, noisy noodle shop. There was only one empty table in the room, right next to the till, and Hikaru made an immediate beeline for it.
“I'm gonna order. Char siu for you?”
“I was thinking of cheeseburgers,” Akari said. Hikaru narrowed his eyes at her and she relented. “Fine, char siu it is.”
Devouring ramen was practically a religious ritual for Hikaru. He attacked his noodles with fervour, slurping at the miso broth. Akari had long given up being embarrassed by his eating habits. She was barely halfway through her own meal when he stood to order another bowl.
“So what do we do from here?” she asked, while he was waiting for his second serving to arrive.
Hikaru shrugged. “We get into the space elevator station somehow. Sai and I launch into space, and you go home and tell them what's happened.”
Had she just heard what she thought she'd heard? “Excuse me? I go home? Since when was that part of the plan?”
“Always,” said Hikaru. “I thought you'd be happy. You didn't sound too keen on this adventure to begin with.”
“I wasn't.” But if Hikaru was going to be Hikaru, and do exactly as he pleased, she'd a thousand times rather they did it together, rather than for her to sit home and wait, as she'd done so many times. “But we've started it now, haven't we? We'll see it through together, to the end.”
“It could be dangerous,” Hikaru said.
“Mm hmm. Your point being?”
“We might miss school.”
“We've got two weeks of summer vacation to figure it out. Anyway, who's the one who's playing hooky from his remedial cram school this holidays?”
A waiter brought out Hikaru's tonkatsu ramen. Instead of launching straight into the food Hikaru looked at Akari. “Have you ever wanted to travel the stars?”
Akari thought about it. “Maybe when I was little. When my grandmother died my whole family took a shuttle to the Ouza system for the funeral. It was really beautiful, looking out from the shuttle at the planets and asteroids and stars. That's the only time I've ever been in space.”
“I've never been in space,” said Hikaru. “I--” He paused suddenly and looked up. A stark and definite silence had descended upon the shop. The kitchen's extractor fan thrummed, and a great stock pot gurgled on the stove; beyond that there was no noise.
Glancing up, she found the attention of all the patrons in the shop directed towards the doorway. A boy stood there, a little older than Hikaru and herself, dressed in black skinny jeans and an aloha shirt left unbuttoned at the collar. In his right hand he carried a folded paper fan, rather similar to the one that Sai's image wielded.
The newcomer came up to the counter. “The usual, please.”
“Sure thing, Kaga-sama.”
There was an empty chair at Hikaru and Akari's table. The new boy – presumably named Kaga – placed himself in it. Apparently unconcerned by the tension in the shop, he flicked his fan open and closed several times; revealing a different holographic kanji on the fan's surface each time.
“It's considered good manners to ask before you sit at someone's table,” said Hikaru.
Kaga raised his brows, folded and unfolded his fan again, this time displaying the word Idiot clearly in katakana. “Did I just hear a little brat whimper?” He stared pointedly at Hikaru's dual ramen bowls. “Gluttonous little brat too, by the looks of things. Do your parents not feed you enough, or are you just going for the childhood obesity award?”
With that he took a fresh pair of chopsticks from the plastic holder at the edge of the table, and deftly nabbed a quarter of hard-boiled egg from Hikaru's fresh ramen.
“You're going to stop that,” Hikaru said, “or you'll be sorry.”
“I'd like to see you make me sorry,” Kaga said, his mouth still half-full, “go ahead and try.” He helped himself to a slice of pork this time.
Akari was familiar with that still, almost contemplative, expression on Hikaru's face: the calm before the storm. In an instant, so quick she would have missed it if she had not been watching, he had picked up his ramen bowl and hurled its contents into Kaga's face.
To her amazement, Kaga was fast enough to dodge, or at least to make the attempt. The tonkatsu broth missed his face, but caught his shirt as he moved to one side; and when he stood, Akari saw that his jeans had borne the brunt of the attack. A splash mark darkened the left pant leg from waist to knee, and bits of noodle, spring onion, and seaweed clung to the denim.
Kaga didn't seem too perturbed by the state of his clothes. Within the next second the older boy grabbed Hikaru by the hair and sent him hurtling into the next table over. Hikaru crashed into one of the customers seated there, tipping both of them over and sending crockery, chopsticks, and ramen to the floor in a loud wet commotion.
Never mind that they'd gotten this far and they'd managed to keep Sai under wraps. They were about to be arrested for public disturbance of the peace.
There was a general shuffling around as the people in the shop strategically betook themselves out of the radius of collateral damage. Akari herself found a convenient nook at the innermost corner of the dining area, half-shielded by a large potted fern, from which she could safely observe Kaga attempting to grind Hikaru face-first into the cashier's till. She had a little can of spray mace in her backpack, but Hikaru might never forgive her if she tried to rescue him--
“The Kaga boy gets more and more ridiculous every year,” someone muttered. “He's all right when his friends are around to hold him back, but when he's by himself...”
“You want to take it up with his father?” Another man snorted. “Admiral Kaga is a mean, scary bastard, but even he couldn't keep his kid from dropping out of Kaio.”
Hikaru had somehow twisted out of Kaga's grasp and landed a strategic kick to the older boy's shin. Kaga reeled, only momentarily, then reacted with a punch to Hikaru's jaw.
“KAGA!”
Kaga froze mid-attack, as did Hikaru. A second silence descended upon the shop, more profound than the first. A middle-aged, bespectacled man in a track suit was picking his way through the mess of overturned chairs and spilled ramen that decorated the shop.
Kaga paled and hissed at Hikaru, loud enough for even Akari to hear, “I'm outta here. You scram too, if you know what's good for you.” And with that he swiftly made for the back exit of the shop, through the doorway about a yard from where Akari was standing.
Hikaru followed right after, grabbing Akari's hand and pulling her along. “Come on.” They ran out through a storage area, past the restrooms, and out into a back-alley. She looked left and saw Kaga already running towards the lights of the main street.
“Let's follow him.” He let go of her as he took off after Kaga in a sprint.
She gave chase. “I agree that we needed to leave that place, but why follow Kaga?” she called out.
Intent on pursuit, he did not turn around, but the wind carried his shouted words back to her. “Someone in the shop says he used to be from Kaio! Maybe he knows Touya Akira. Or at least he'll know about the space elevator.”
He'd managed to hear that while Kaga had him in a headlock just now? Akari could never decide to her own satisfaction whether Hikaru was frighteningly observant or hopelessly unobservant.
They ran as fast as they could, but to no avail; by the time they reached the main road, with its multiple lanes and jostling pedestrians and winking, dynamic array of varicoloured lights from billboards, shop signs, traffic lights, holographic advertisements, there was no sign of Kaga to be seen.
“Urgh.” Hikaru turned his head this way and that, looking at the sea of people occupying the sidewalks, the zebra crossing, the entrances to shops and restaurants and malls. “This city is way too enormous. And that was our best lead too, even if it wasn't much of one.”
“Don't give up just yet,” Akari said. She was casting her eye at the opposing sidewalk, hoping to spot the garish Hawaiian shirt or spiky dyed hair, when a hand caught her by the sleeve of her jumper, another hand grabbed the back of Hikaru's T-shirt, and they were both dragged into a small darkened stairwell neither of them had noticed.
“You mentioned Touya Akira,” said Kaga.
To be continued.
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(Anonymous) 2012-07-28 04:41 pm (UTC)(link)I'm looking forward to space soon :)
-cumulonimbus
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(Anonymous) 2012-08-01 06:10 am (UTC)(link)(email me comments next time! saves me the trouble of logging out for the reply.....)
- El Niño