Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Synthetic Emotions ❯ Phase 04: Asagi ( Chapter 4 )

XI

Synthetic Emotions

By: Melissa Norvell

Phase 04: Asagi

XI

Tomiko and Akemi kneeled before a distinguished male. He was older-looking and held alert, keen slanted eyes. This man dressed in old traditional Chinese attire that was green, gold and white in coloration. There was an abundance of ribbons, sashes and a large cape that covered him. His hair was cut in what seemed to be an odd military cut. His hairline receded in the front and two points were created on each side of his head, resembling horns of sorts. Short, black hair stuck up while white short hair was brushed back. Present on his back was a small pony tail. This man was of muscular build and very tall.

"Have you found it?" He asked, sitting in his throne of a chair, a few feet from the two Syntacoms.

"No, sorry," Akemi told him regretfully.

"We failed you," Tomiko replied.

"There's still time," the man's deep voice carried. "We must recover them soon, before things begin to get out of hand."

"We'll continue our search. Someone has obviously picked him up," the more serious of the two spoke.

"I wonder if they saw what he was," Akemi mused.

"But nothing is known about him," Tomiko replied.

"But one would think-"

"In the wrong hands, results could be catastrophic. This type of technology is still quite new, and in order to get what we want, we need as many of them as possible," the distinguished one informed.

"To do that, we need to find more of them," Akemi stated.

"More who are like us."

"Go," he ordered, "if you see anything that's considered to be critical information, then report back to me."

"Right," both girls said in unison, ready to set out on their new mission.

XI

Mariko lay on the bench, her hands roaming the curves of the male form above her. He was kissing her feverishly as she returned the romantic gestures with ones of her own. It was hot and the two were sweating and their clothes disheveled. The boy sat up, panting from a long make-out session with the girl below him. Mariko looked up at the sky, her expression dazed and a hidden guilt and sadness clung to her features.

"Man that felt good," the school boy said, feeling happy with himself for relieving his own frustration.

"Yeah…" Mariko replied blandly, as if she were mechanical as the boy looked to his wrist watch with surprise.

"Damn…I've got to go! See you around!" He waved as he took off running after giving her a quick peck on the lips.

"Alright…"

The short haired girl sat on the bench for a few moments after in silence, her eyes focused on the ground and her mind perplexed. After the silence was over, she headed home. It wasn't like anyone would care that she was late anyway. A deep-set frown was plastered on her face as she thought to herself.

'Men…They're all the same…They want you, do you and leave you out in the cold. No matter what they say, you can't believe them. For once I'd like a man who understood me and didn't label me…I bet everyone just thinks I'm a whore anyway…Why try? It's not like I'm worth anything.' Her gaze was torn from the ground upon noticing a man lying sprawled out on the concrete road.

"Huh?"

He was tall and slim with a lean muscled body. He had black, spiky hair and a small, mid-shoulder ponytail. Around his neck was a long red scarf that trailed well to his ankles. He wore black pants and boots with thick, treaded soles. He also wore a black vest, must like that of a swat patrol member. Nothing was underneath of it. This man was young, seeming in his late teens to early twenties. He looked unconscious.

"What the fuck?" Mariko questioned, running up to the fallen man. She put a flat palm over his mouth to see if there was any airflow. He was breathing. 'Good, he's still breathing…'

"Hey buddy, wake up!" She said clearly and loudly, shaking his well-muscled shoulder. "Hey! Can you hear me!?"

The girl peered at his face. 'Damn, he's out cold.'

"How the hell do I wake him up? I can't just leave the guy here, though I don't know why I care. Just another stupid guy," she scoffed.

As if by queue, the man's green eyes opened slowly and a small grunt was made as he stirred away. Her image faded and then became clear as green eyes burnt into blue. "Who the hell are you?" He asked in a deep but calm voice.

"My question exactly," the girl agreed as the man sat up, rubbing his head in apparent pain.

"Ugh…My head…" He said, still in a half-dazed state as he soon saw a familiar sword blade pointed to his neck. He studied it for a few minutes before the blonde spoke.

"This was lying away from you a little."

"My sword," he replied, taking the weapon gently from her. For someone who looked so gruff, his touch was gentle.

"The name's Mariko."

"I'm Asagi."

"Why are you lying here?" She noted that it was an odd place for someone to be found.

"I don't remember…I must have had another headache," Asagi looked as if he were trying to recall, but then his features changed to saddened and frustrated. It was to no avail. Try as he might, he just couldn't remember anything.

"Another headache?" Mariko was intrigued as to what he meant by that.

"Yeah," he looked at her, "I have these chronic headaches that come without warning. Sometimes I pass out because the pain is so great."

"Damn, that sucks," she had a sympathetic look gracing her features. "Do you remember anything?"

"No, it's hard to recall."

"Do you live around here?"

"I just came here. I don't have anywhere to live."

"Hey! Why don't you stay with me?" Mariko asked without thinking, and then her thoughts hit her all at once a second after she'd finished the sentence. 'Damn it! Why did I just ask him that? He could rape me for all I know! Stupid Mariko! What are you thinking!?'

Asagi tried to stand, but he was worn out and his legs wobbly, like those of a newborn foal. Weak, he stumbled forward, nearly falling to the ground but catching himself. "I can't stay with you," he looked quite stubborn and withdrawn.

"Why?" Mariko asked, offended by him turning her down. She didn't know why, but she was beginning to grow irritated with the fact that he wasn't taking her offer. What was wrong with her today? Had she gone completely insane? She was impulsive, but not even her subconscious knew what sense to make of her words and actions.

"Because I don't know you," Asagi said coldly.

"Well, I'm not going to just let you live on the damn streets!" She grabbed his arm and beginning to head off towards the direction of her house.

"What the hell are you doing?" The spiky-haired man protested.

"You're living with me!" The girl shot, worrying for his condition. She didn't want him to pass out in a dangerous place or be killed because of it.

"I object! Damn it!" He argued.

"Lalala! I don't hear you!"

"Oh, you're annoying," he dead panned, glaring at her.

"I'm so glad," she smiled, her voice seething with sarcasm.

"Fuck you."

"Never."

"What!?" Asagi outraged, highly offended and at the same time, wondering where that response even came from.

"Ya nasty! Sexually harassing me already. Just like a man."

"You're the one who grabbed my arm!"

"Hey! I didn't say what you said!"

"Go to hell."

"You're here. Hell came to me."

"Don't talk to me," Asagi spat, turning his head to the side and sticking his nose in the air, closing his eyes and looking quite pissed off and snobby.

"Didn't want to anyway."

"Hmpf."

A good five minutes of silence passed between them as each looked in an opposite way of the other. The only noises that could be heard were those of their feet, pacing down the flat, hard surface of the concrete and the gentle winds. Mariko still clung to his forearm. She wasn't about to let him run off. Usually she wouldn't care, but this guy was injured and had some type of abnormal problem.

In a way, he fascinated her, much to Mariko's protests.

"So…" She was the first one to talk, slowly turning her head, eyeing the man.

"So?" He asked in a cold voice, looking back to her as their eyes met.

"How old are you anyway?" Mariko asked.

"How old are you?" Asagi wasn't about to let the question become one-sided. If he were to answer anything, he was going to get an answer back.

"Don't you know it's rude to ask a woman her age?"

"Well, if you can't tell me, I can't tell you."

"I'm sixteen okay?"

"Eighteen."

"You go to school around here?" Mariko's sights looked to the path ahead of them.

"I'm not sure."

"Not sure? Either ya go or ya don't," She told him.

"I said I'm not sure," he pressed sternly.

"Fine, fine. Have it your way," the blonde didn't feel like asking any further. If he didn't want to tell her, then he just didn't.

"I don't remember."

"You have amnesia?" She looked to him with distant concern in her eyes.

"No, I just have these headaches. It feels like someone is sending shockwaves through my mind. Sometimes I pass you when I do have them. I usually remember the last three hours of my life, or my past as a child," Asagi told her.

"Damn…Does it still hurt?"

"Yes, but it takes a while to get over the shock."

"I don't usually say this but, if you feel like you're unstable, then you can lean on me for support," Mariko replied, leaning in to offer her shoulder.

"Why should I?" Asagi retorted, not about to accept her help after she'd been so rude to him. Besides, he was quite stubborn and didn't like accepting help from anyone. "So you can accuse me of sexually harassing you again?"

"Fine then, fall on your face and break your nose for all I care!" Mariko spat, letting go of his arm and speed walking ahead of him, before long the girl disappeared from his sights.

"Irritating woman," the dark-haired man fumed to himself as he walked up to the end of his path, which was now between many tall buildings. It looked as if it were a series of allies behind the buildings. There were two paths in a "T" shape. His lime-green eyes darted in both directions, investigating each ally; seeing nothing at all as far of signs of Mariko were concerned. "Now…Where did she go?"

"Hey!" His sensitive ears picked up a familiar offended yell.

"Hm?" He said to himself, taking off down the right path. "Mariko!"

XI.

There was a large crevice within the ally way. It was the equivalent to a small apartment room. There were a few boxes and trashcans on all sides and a large pole stuck out of one of the buildings as clothes lines hug far above the two female figures.

One of them was Mariko, who was backed into a corner in one side of the ally. The other was a tall, busy young woman who had a well-built body and long, blonde poofy hair, which was pulled back into a high ponytail a top of her head. Two long pieces of hair hung down over each shoulder. Her eyes were painted with maroon eye shadow and were dark purple in coloration. Her lips, painted red and her attire that of feudal ages. It was a kimono of sorts, lowly crossed at the breasts with slits up either side, revealing her long, powerful legs and arms. White wrappings adorned her mid thighs and extended to her ankles and on her arms from mid-forearm to wrist. She carried a large weapon upon her back, a long scythe.

"Who the hell are you?" Mariko asked her voice strong and tough.

"My name is Diedara, Syntacom 04 ready to fight and kill," the woman informed, revealing the '04' on her arm.

"Syntacom? Isn't that one of those computer things?"

Swiftly, Diedara pulled out her scythe and pointed it at the girl. She uttered the word 'die' as she rushed quickly- almost inhumanly towards her, ready to deliver the killing strike. Surprise, dread and shock ran through Mariko's eyes as she felt impending doom approach her. She turned her head to the side, clenching her eyes tightly shut and expecting the worst, but it never came.

All that could be heard was the clank of metal clashing against metal. She could sense another form near her and cracked open her eyes to see Asagi standing in front of her.

"Asagi."

"Don't worry, Mariko. I've got her," Asagi replied, his arm trembling as he put more strength into blocking keeping the scythe from splitting him in half.

"Why are you butting in? I can handle myself!" Mariko was irritated that he would even try to be kind to her. No man was kind to her before, why should they start being. What was he after? She was suspicious of this man.

"I doubt a normal human with only street fighting experience can handle themselves against a Syntacom," Asagi informed.

"Hey! You're a human too. What makes you think you can do any better of a job then me? Not only that, but you're hurt." She added insult to injury.

"I'm fine. I've taken on Syntacoms before, especially the 04 model," Asagi was all too familiar with this situation.

"I can handle it."

"Silly humans," Diedara nearly laughed her voice calm, cool and collective. "Let's get this over with! Burning Blade!" She called out as she slashed her blade across her view, the aftermath of the strike produced large, yellow whips that blasted across the land with force and power.

"What the fuck?" Mariko was grabbed by a strong, yet gentle arm. Her body went sailing through the air as Asagi jumped. "Hey! Put me down." She yelled, flailing and kicking. Mariko thought if she wriggled enough that she could free herself from his grasp. This didn't stop Asagi, he nimbly landed on the pole which was sticking out of one of the nearby buildings.

"You want down?" He finally asked the blonde, who looked to him in response.

"Yeah! So let me down!" She yelled in annoyance.

"What are you, stupid? Don't you care about what just happened?"

"If you think I'm stupid then put me down!" Mariko fumed, and then her mind began to re-think what she had just said, as Asagi grabbed the back of her shirt and dangled her body over the edge of the pole. Panic ran through the girl's blue eyes. It was a long fall. If he dropped her, she would surely die.

"Hey! What are you doing!? Are you psychotic or somethin'? If you drop me, I'll die!" She replied, irritation and strength still clinging to her voice. She wasn't about to show him that she was afraid.

"But you wanted me to let you go," Asagi told him emotionlessly.

"Yeah, I wanted you to jump to the ground and put me down, not drop me from two stories."

"Sorry, I can't do that."

"Burning Blade Attack!" Diedara yelled again as a yellow energy wave came speeding at the two of them. Asagi jumped straight up into the air, carrying Mariko with him.

"Wah! Would you stop tryin' to kill us, ya bimbo!" Mariko insulted.

Suddenly, she found herself face-to-face with Diedara. "I'll shut that arrogant mouth of yours," she smiled confidently as the short-haired blonde punched her in the face. It was a direct hit, but it didn't even make the robot's face tilt in the slightest. Not to mention, the metal frame hurt Mariko's hand from the contact. "Gah!" The blonde exclaimed a look of horror and surprise lit up her features. 'What the hell? It didn't even work!'

Asagi delivered a well-executed kick to Diedara's face. It was so powerful that the Syntacom went sliding backwards, despite the footing she'd gained and the fact that her robotic frame was heavier than his human one. She tried to dig her sandal-clad feet into the ground, but it didn't help her. Landing, Asagi dropped Mariko on her butt.

"Ah!" She yelled as she landed with a thud.

"You want me to let you go. You deal with Diedara yourself.”

"Wait! That's messed up!" The girl scrounged for any reason to keep him there. Deep down in her heart, she knew that she couldn't beat the robot herself either.

"Defend yourself," Asagi said coldly.

"What?" She nearly gasped as the man took a few steps away from her. "You're just going to leave me here to die?!"

"You said you could handle her."

"Enough talking!" The Syntacom rushed at the blonde, sticking the end of her scythe in the ground, creating a huge energy wave and knocking her out of the way. The agile machine turned in mid-air and landed a few feet away as Mariko lay on the ground appearing to be lifeless.

'Mariko…' Asagi looked at the girl with cryptic and hidden sympathy behind his seemingly cold and uncaring eyes.

"So much for your little girlfriend," Diedara smirked, sending yet another whip of energy after the man.

Asagi just stood there, not even trying to dodge the attack. "She's not my girlfriend," he stated simply, eyes narrowing.

The girl woke up, upon hearing him utter that sentence. Eyes widening and a sense of panic overcoming her senses, she yelled blindly in his direction.

"Asagi!" Her voice was lost amidst the explosion as the beam collided with his body. "You dumbass…Why didn't you move?" Mariko asked quietly, her voice filled with more emotion than usual. After all, someone had just died. But before the feeling had too much time to sink in, she noticed that multiple lashes of black energy emerged from the cloud of debris, heading straight toward the Syntacom.

"What?" Diedara questioned. This wasn't the way that it was supposed to turn out. She didn't see how on earth that man could have survived such a large onslaught. While he appeared human, there was something inhuman about Asagi. She had been recording data for a while since their match had begun and nothing seemed to match up. He was ten times faster than a normal human. Twenty times stronger and thirty times more agile and yet, he was made of flesh and bone. Was there something that she'd underestimated? Something that went under looked? If so, then her data could not compute the error successfully.

Something was wrong.

"I can't die. Not yet! I have a goal to accomplish," he raised what looked like a long, butcher knife of a sword and pointed its tip to the south west, towards the heavens. "Souhi! Dark Edge!" He commanded as the blade turned pitch black with negative energy.

"What the hell is going on?" Mariko asked upon hearing Diedara scream. "What just happened? I can't see anything!" She said, trying to peer within the cloud of debris, but getting no luck. Then, the cloud disappeared as Diedara's body lay beside of the black-boot clad feet of Asagi.

"No way!" The blonde exclaimed, impressed. There was no mess or gore in his killing technique. Everything was flawlessly precise and smooth.

His stood with his back towards Mariko. "Let's go, Mariko."

The girl simply stared. He was truly magnificent. 'For a jerk, I have to admit, he's pretty cool.' She thought in admiration as the man held out his hand to her. Her gazes befell his hand, and then her expression turned into one of irritation. 'No! I am NOT holding this guy's hand! I don't care if he did save my life!'

With that, she grabbed his wrist and pulled herself up, leveling him with a glare. "This doesn't mean that I like you."

His eyes dead-locked with hers. "I'm aware of that."

The two began to walk down the street in another round of silence. They didn't speak to each other for a while, giving Mariko an opportunity to think over the events that just happened between them in her head. Asagi had saved her life and she treated him as if she could care less. She didn't know why, but for some reason she found herself glancing at him every once in a while. A prang of emotion seemed to be stabbing at her heart, telling her that she should feel bad because Asagi actually seemed genuine in emotions. Mariko could come up with any argument to counter it about normal male, but not with Asagi…her features saddened the more she thought of it.

Finally, she could hold it in no longer.

"Asagi?" She asked, in a small and subdued voice.

"What?"

"Thanks."

This sudden uncharacteristic gesture made the man pause all function for a few moments, trying to decipher the meaning of her words. He could come up with no answer as her words finally sunk in. "You're welcome." He responded, his voice holding a small glimmer of emotion, but nothing so large as to cause question. They both continued to walk down the sidewalk, sharing a friendly conversation amongst the two of them.

"Since you're living with me, you have to go to school," Mariko told him.

"Right."

"Then you'll go to school with me first thing tomorrow."

"Sure."

"What was that robot about anyway?" Mariko blinked, her eyes containing curiosity as she looked to the rugged man.

"Don't worry about it," he brushed the subject off. "Just an old score I had to settle with someone from the past."

To Be Continued…