S-CRY-ed Fan Fiction ❯ The Spectre's Seven ❯ Chapter Four--Reckless Fire Part I ( Chapter 4 )

Disclaimer: You know the drill.   A/N: Well when I wrote this chapter, I didn’t expect it to be so long but it…uh…turned out being that long. Whoops. Oh well. So it’s split into two separate parts. Oh, and Ryuho and Kazuma come back in this chapter. ^_^     Chapter Four--Reckless Fire Part A  

Kanami Yuta remained inside, finishing up the dishes from dinner. Sydney had gone home a half hour before and Gray had gone to bed. Raviel was outside, working on Gray’s car, as he had crashed it into the river bank two days before when he fell asleep at the wheel.

Kanami found it ironic that Raviel knew just about everything about cars…

…except how to manage driving them properly…

It had been one month since she had been taken hostage by the trio the day that the Mainland came to sign a pact with the members of the Lost Ground. But ‘hostage’ was an overstatement. She was anything BUT a hostage. She would call it more of a…lifesaver, to say the least.

Although they had refused to let her leave, she found it even harder to leave once she got to the household residence.

“What is it with men and cleaning?” She asked herself one day, shaking her head. “They can’t cook, can’t clean the house, and they DEFINITELY can’t fend for themselves.”

Once she began work for them, cooking every night, cleaning the house, and any other things that a normal woman would do (although Kanami wasn’t quite a woman, as one would think). By and by, Gray and Sydney began to accept Kanami’s help, despite her being a ‘girl’. Raviel, on the other hand, was fully accepting of her from the moment he met her.

The two had become close, there was no doubt in her mind. He appreciated everything she did, in a way that Kazuma never did. It was in the same way that she had wished her Kazu-kun WOULD have appreciated her. It was what made her miss him, but forget him at the same time.

“Kanami-------------iiii!” Raviel hissed through the open window. He had grease splotches all over his face. Kanami laughed and reached for a damp towel and rubbed it over his face, cleaning the black spots away.

No, they had become like family in a way. It was a way that was similar to when she lived with Kazuma and their lives were closely associated with Kimishima. She did not forget about Mimori or even Mr. Tachibana, but Raviel and his lifestyle brought back the true memories of the Lost Ground in which she had been so fond of…except for the poverty.

“Raviel it’s getting late,” Kanami didn’t even use formalities with the man. “You should come inside.”

“I was just going to ask for you to hand me the wrench I left on the counter,” he replied after she finished cleaning his face.

Tossing the dirty towel aside, Kanami reached for the wrench and handed it to the blonde man.

“Come outside and talk to me, will ya?” he asked, “It’s too dark out here…and lonely.”

Giggling, Kanami avidly agreed.

“So what do you think?” Raviel gestured to the rundown car. It had looked much nicer before he crashed it into the river bank.

Kanami squinted. “Well…it looks…worse…”

“Worse?”

“I’m not doubting your ability as a mechanic, but it looks…broken…”

“Uh-huh…” Raviel agreed flatly. “…Right…”

“Well…”

“No , no,” Raviel interrupted, holding a hand out to silence her. “It’s quite all right. I understand.” Then Raviel chucked the wrench at the windshield, shattering the glass to pieces. And then the car alarm went off.

Kanami’s hands immediately fled to her ears as the alarm sounded and Raviel sighed. “I’m such a failure. Gray’s gonna kill me.” Reaching for the lead pipe resting next to the car, Raviel swung it unremittingly against the car hood until the engine finally busted and the alarm was silenced.

“…I was just going to suggest a paint job…” Kanami said after a moment of silence.

Eyes widened, Raviel turned to stare at her. “…Oh…” Then he waved the situation away. “Never mind then.” And he began to walk away from the smoking car.

“Are you sure it’s okay to leave it like this?” Kanami asked, following after him. “It won’t cause a fire or anything…right?”

“Gray’s car? Puh--leeeze. That thing barely worked. And it DEFINITELY didn’t work after I crashed it into the river bank. There’s nothing to worry about.”

The two were blown off their feet as an eruption occurred behind them and the car was sent up in flames. The heat of the explosion enveloped them from far off. Now on the ground, Raviel looked up to see Gray’s car illuminated in brilliant flames, the smoke rising into the sky.

“On second thought,” Raviel said, panting. “I shouldn’t have touched it in the first place.”

The two watched as a silhouette clad in blue ran out onto the porch and stared at the massive heap and dazzling flames.

“MY GOD RAV! YOU BLEW UP MY CAR!”

Tilting his head from side to side, Raviel nodded in Kanami’s direction. “Hmm, he’s taking the loss better than I thought.”

Kanami watched in horror as Gray ran back inside and then return a moment later with a small pail of water, which he threw on the roaring flames.

“Guess I should be the one to call the fire department.” Raviel pushed himself to his feet. “Gray’s too busy doing everything wrong.”

“But I thought you guys were robbers. Wouldn’t they be looking for you?” Kanami inquired.

“Us? They’ve never seen our faces directly. Besides, look at the house. Does it REALLY look like something that would be housing thieves? We don’t spend the money on house repairs you know…”

She sighed.

---------------------------------

While the fire department was busy with Gray’s car, Gray sent Raviel up the hill before he had an early heart attack and Kanami followed after him. The two sat on a rock, watching the gray smoke and illuminate flames from below.

“What will Gray do now?” Kanami asked the older man.

“Gray? Ah, he’ll get over it in a few days. We’ll just buy a new car. Or steal one. Which ever comes first.”

Kanami chewed on her bottom lip. She disapproved of Raviel’s line of work. She knew about the new job the three had in mind later that week. She had overheard the conversation when Sydney had come over earlier. She hadn’t even needed the use of her Alter to tell her that.

“You know that stealing isn’t right,” Kanami told him, disappointed.

“Stealing is such a powerful word,” Raviel laughed. “I prefer the term ‘commandeering’.”

The little girl huffed, “You know what I mean.”

Indeed Raviel did. “If only you knew why we did the things we did.”

“I do.” Kanami told him, “And I must say that trying to deny an Alter is a pretty pathetic excuse.”

Raviel did not tense, nor did he stir. He simply sat there, imperturbable, staring at her.

“And I must say that I felt the same resonance emitting from you.” he replied, “An Alter User too, Kanami? Who would’ve known?”

Kanami turned her head. She was not sour, but almost happy that he knew.

“Many people got hurt because of my Alter.” she told him.

“Only experienced Alter Users can tell an Alter User just by looking at them.” Then, smiling, he added, “I won’t tell if you won’t tell.”

He held out his pinky and wrapped it around her own.

“Pinky promise?” he asked, sincerely.

She was not hesitant.

“Pinky promise.”

---------------------------------

Isaac Crane had the perfect team, the perfect location, and the perfect plan. Within a matter of hours, the Mainland would return to him a perfect product from the result of Project Zero.

He had seventeen HOLY members, one-thousand construction members, and a near perfect replica of the HOLY building. He walked the halls of his new kingdom, his top hat and black cape flowing behind him as he held his arms outstretched, fingering the new polish of the walls. It was only a matter of time now.

---------------------------------

Asuka Tachibana pulled up in his jeep, Mimori in the passenger’s seat, and Urizane and Elian in the back. All four, clad in their old HOLY and HOLD uniforms, tilted their heads up just enough to see the construction site of HOLY.

“I can’t believe it…!” Urizane breathed, his eyes wide. “The last I heard about this construction, it was only half completed before the project was finally discontinued. But this…! THIS! It’s almost completed!”

“Look at all the construction workers…” Mimori gazed at the hundreds of workers, her hands flat against the passenger window. “There must be at least one thousand!”

“Show me the guy in charge of this here project!” Urizane huffed, opening the car door. “There can never be another HOLY fitting enough unless the Commander is Martin Zigmarl!”

“Urizane!” Asuka exclaimed, jolting his gaze to over the backseat. “PLEASE close the door until I park the car!”

Urizane blinked. “Oh.” Then he closed the door. “Sorry.”

The four could be seen by security from the front of the new HOLY building. A man sent from the Mainland pulled the binoculars from his eyes and waited for them to approach him. He was a tall man and took the form of a bouncer. He stood with his long arms behind his back and his legs set apart just slightly. He halted Asuka (who was at the front of the line) and the rest of the party with his outstretched palm.

“None may enter here.” the bouncer said in a deep and gruff voice.

“What are ya talking about?” Urizane’s eyes squinted and he pulled on the collar of his HOLY coat. “We’re from the HOLY organization.”

“Negative,” the bouncer shook his head.

“Whaddya mean ‘negative’!?” Urizane frowned, the creases at the ends of his mouth deepening. “Don’t ya see the HOLY uniforms?”

“You old HOLY members have a lot of nerve returning here after all this time.” the bouncer remarked, regaining his natural stance. “The Commander would not be pleased.”

“Commander?” Urizane jerked a thumb to his chest. “I’M the Commander of HOLY.”

“And where would that be written on paper?”

“Commander Martin Zigmarl named me the next man in charge after his passing.” Urizane argued, “I have two other witnesses in case you don’t believe me.” And as though he were insistent in proving his theory, he grabbed a hold of Elian and pulled him up front.

“Urizane,” Mimori whispered. “I don’t think that this is necessary…”

“Tell him, Elian.” Urizane pressured, ignoring Mimori.

Clearing his throat, the bouncer said, “Whether you had one witness or fifty, it wouldn’t matter. You are not the provider for this organization nor the backbone. You have no authorization here.”

“Why I outta…!” Urizane prepared to lunge forward until Asuka caught his arms.

“That’s quite enough, Urizane.” Asuka grunted.

“And who, Sir, may I ask is in charge of HOLY’s reconstruction?” Mimori took over when it was apparent that Urizane could no longer handle the questions without becoming angry.

“That, Ma’am would be Mister Isaac Crane.”

‘The same man from the newspaper…’ Mimori realized. “Thank you Sir.”

“Commander!?” Urizane roared, “Commander Crane!? Commander Isaac Crane!?”

“Urizane…!” Asuka fought to calm him, “Get a hold of yourself!”

At Urizane’s outbreak, a man wearing a HOLY uniform ran beside the bouncer.

“Sir! Permission to remove these interlopers, Sir!”

“That…ugh…won’t be necessary…umf…” Asuka smiled, all the while of trying to restrain Urizane from doing anything illegal. “We were just…guh…leaving…”

Then something caught Mimori’s eyes. There was something different about the badge sewn on the left arm of his uniform. Instead of the natural ‘HOLY’ that was displayed on the everyday badge, there was a new ‘HOLY-S’ that had replaced it instead.

“Sorry about taking up your time.” Asuka apologized.

“Old HOLY and HOLD cadets?” the HOLY-S member observed.

“They wanted to get by,” the bouncer explained.

“Hmph,” the HOLY-S member snorted. “Over my dead body.”

Mimori’s gaze moved up from the patch on his arm to his glossy eyes and callous face. He looked nowhere near human. It was though an unseen force was motivating him.

“Good day,” Asuka bid them farewell and pushed Urizane away from the scene. Elian trotted behind, but Mimori was not in as much of a hurry. She tripped over her feet for a moment, staring at the HOLY-S member, before retreating.

“ID them.” the bouncer ordered the HOLY-S member as the four disappeared from view.

“Affirmative,” The neon glow of an Alter took to the man’s body as he stepped down from the steps and followed slowly behind them.

Several minutes after the departure of the four visitors, Isaac Crane turned away from the window, several stories high in the building of HOLY. He rubbed his chin and tilted his head.

“Fancy that…” he mumbled, his voice barely audible, even to himself. “So there are still more of them out there. I thought that that man…Ryuho…was the last one…”

A knock to the door interfered with his thoughts.

“Message for you, Sir!” And then the door opened, revealing a scrawny man, dressed in the same HOLY-S uniform.

“What is it?” Isaac asked.

“The Inners from the Mainland are back. The project was a success.”

Isaac could not stop the smile from splitting at his face. “Most excellent news. Where are they now?”

“At the harbor. They’ll be here in two hours.” The HOLY-S member looked yonder, to the window, “There’s more. There were four visitors present at the entrance today. One about the age of twenty, purple hair, skin tone--”

“I saw them from my window; no need to identify the obvious. Did you find out who they were?”

“Yes Sir,” the man took a deep breath, “The first was Asuka Tachibana, an ex-HOLY member who resigned even before HOLY fell. The second, Urizane, claims that the former Commander Martin Zigmarl left him in charge of HOLY at its defeat.”

“I see.”

“The third appears to be a product of a cloning process with the usage of DNA.”

Isaac Crane interrupted, “Did they say whose DNA it was?”

“Uh…uh…” The man apparently did not expect such an abrupt question. “The former Commander’s…I believe…”

“Ah, well, being the first to be sent to the Mainland for refining, I can see the various experiments that they would wish to try. Even I was unaware of the cloning process. I’m sorry, I interrupted you. Please continue.”

“I believe that you’ll be especially interested with the last name.”

“Will I?”

“Miss Mimori Kiryu was the last of the party.”

Crane beamed for a second time. “Mimori…Kiryu, eh? The little princess from the Mainland?”

“Yes Sir. That’s what they said.”

“So she lives…” Crane turned away from the HOLY-S member and walked back to the window where he had seen them earlier. “That’s good…That’s very good indeed.”

“But Sir!” the man shook his head in protest, “What about the inheritance!? Surely you haven’t forgotten--”

“Ransoms do not work, my underling. That is where Kyoji Mujo went wrong.”

“Yes, I remember you saying that he came over here looking for her. Wanted to use her as leverage against her family.”

“No, that’s too much of an annoyance. It’s true that they were one of the biggest supporters of HOLY, but they forget that I was as well.” With a wicked smile, Crane added, “I do not require their funding to maintain HOLY Supreme.”

The man became quite uneasy. “Then…what will you have us do with them?”

The wicked smile turned into a fit of laughter. “Why my dear boy! What we have done with the other rich and royal families around the Mainland and in the Lost Ground itself!” The shadow in his eyes deepened. “I think I have heard a rumor of exploitation…”

The younger man shuddered.

---------------------------------

“Who does that man think he is!? Compared to the Commander, he is nothing more than a CHARLATAN!” Urizane shook away Asuka’s grip on his shoulder and stormed into the house. “Isaac Crane, the new Commander of HOLY my as--”

“HEY!” Tachibana shouted, “Chill out would ya!?”

Urizane snorted and fell back onto the couch, reaching for his stash of watermelons. Elian took the chair across the room, looking downcast.

“What’s the matter Elian?” Asuka asked, eager to get off the subject of the new ‘Commander Isaac Crane’.

“Nothing really,” the younger boy admitted, “except…On the way back from HOLY, I got the strangest feeling that we were being followed.”

“Followed!?” Everyone exclaimed.

“Whaddya talking about, Elian?” Urizane’s eyes narrowed.

“I couldn’t read anything,” Elian said. “It was like a barrier.”

“Well, then WHY didn’t you say anything?” Asuka gave an exasperated sigh and began to pace back and forth in the front room.

“I didn’t want to alarm anyone.”

“You too, then?” Mimori spoke, her voice wavering.

“Whaddya mean ‘you too’, Miss Kiryu!?” Urizane jumped to his feet. “Why’s everyone hiding things!?”

“Calm down Urizane,” Mimori paused for a moment. “On that HOLY member’s uniform, did you see the badge on his left arm?”

“You mean like this?” Asuka gestured to his own badge, raising his arm.

“Yes, that badge,” Mimori nodded. “But there was more. Did you see that the badge had an extra letter sewn on?” When no one spoke, she continued. “It read ‘HOLY-S’.”

“HOLY…S?” Asuka looked back and forth from Urizane and Elian. Apparently they didn’t know anything either. “What’s HOLY-S?”

“That’s what I’d like to know.” a familiar voice cut through the air.

As the party turned to the darkened hall, they were met with an uncanny surprise. From the shadows emerged a man in a tattered uniform, barely recognizable, and emerald hair that fell in unkempt waves down his back. Lines formed on his hands and face, especially under his solid eyes.

“Ryuho!” Mimori cried, clutching her necklace. “My God! You’re really alive!” She rushed towards him, arms outstretched, but he halted her in her tracks with the open palm of his hand.

“I’m not here to reminisce,” he said, his voice deep and gruff. He seemed much older than what he really was. “I’m here for answers. And I figured that you’d have them.” His eyes pierced through Mimori like a wet, cold fog, slithering across the floor at a crawl.

She stared at him, his harsh words playing through her mind.

“Four years and that’s all you can say!?” Asuka’s voice brought her back to reality.

“Where I’ve been and what I have been doing has nothing to do with you.”

“I’m sure it doesn’t.” Tachibana snorted.

“Whatever Tachibana,” Urizane said to the younger boy. “Let’s just find out what he wants so that he can get back to playing hero and we can solve this matter on our own.” Ryuho frowned. “We don’t need the likes of Kazuma or Ryuho to help us out.”

“You would never understand,” Ryuho retorted, sourly.

“Try us!” Asuka shouted, teaming up with Urizane against Ryuho. “You break into my house just so that you can start dictating to us? I should’ve gotten a restraining order against you.”

“You know all Hell has broken loose since you and Kazuma ran off.” Urizane hunched forward, watermelon in each hand. “The least you could’ve done was stay behind and stuck together like a team instead of wandering off and playing the rogue.”

“What would you know!? Nothing! That’s what!”

Elian and Mimori turned to look at each other, blinking.

“All right then, Ryuho. I guess with all this fighting, you don’t want any answers.” Elian shrugged. It was amazing. It was the first time Elian had stepped in between a fight.

Ryuho and the two men stopped bickering and turned to Mimori and Elian.

“I heard that a month ago the peace treaty between the Lost Ground and the Mainland was interrupted by terrorists who impersonated Kazuma and myself.” Ryuho said after a moment of silence.

“You heard correctly,” Asuka affirmed, nodding.

“So it was true, also, that the act was committed by the famous band of thieves who used to steal from HOLY as well?”

“Yes.”

“And HOLY is being reconstructed?”

Everyone agreed.

“I see,” Ryuho bowed his head. “So then…This…HOLY-S…It’s all connected.”

“So it would seem.” Mimori said. “It’s all being done under the financial care of Isaac Crane.”

“Crane?” Ryuho’s brows lifted. “I have actually never heard of the man.”

“Yeah, he just seemed to pop right out of the blue,” Urizane gestured to Mimori, “But according to what Miss Kiryu knows, there have been plenty of attacks on the new project. Four attacks by Native Alters and one by Inners.”

“And?” Ryuho drug the word out, waiting for continuance.

“Supposedly, those same Native Alters have been seen working around the construction site.” the large man said.

“Under that same man?” Ryuho could hardly believe it.

“That’s right. No one knows why either. And the Inners were sent to the Mainland for trial, although everyone, including myself, think that it’s just some big cover-up that the Mainland is using.”

“…I see,” Ryuho said, rubbing his chin. “This explains everything…”

“It explains NOTHING.” Asuka argued. “We’re just getting the basics. HOLY-S and Isaac Crane are no big secret. But the captured Native Alters and Inners are a different story. That’s all we know right now.”

Ryuho stared at all of them. “Have you seen Kazuma yet?”

“No,” Asuka frowned. “But like you, we’re expecting him to come along very shortly now.”

“In that case, I won’t wait around to see him.” Ryuho said, stepping around the others and heading for the door.

“So I take it that you two haven’t kissed and made up yet.” Urizane folded his arms over his chest.

“We both have very different ideals. The only thing that it would result in is more arguing.” Ryuho pointed out. “Thanks for the information. I’ll take it from here.”

“Wait, there’s one more thing you should know.” Tachibana halted the older man in his tracks. “This isn’t a direct result from the peace treaty loss that happened one month ago. The Mainland was already planning this. Since those robbers are back full force, I’d suggest that you keep an eye out for them.”

“Why would I need to?”

“They’ve captured Kanami.” And Asuka waited for Ryuho’s reaction.

“They’ve done what!?” Ryuho came away from the door and, instead, grabbed the collar of Asuka’s HOLY uniform, lifting him from the ground. “What did you just say they did!?”

“Ryuho put him down!” Mimori ordered. “None of it was anyone’s fault. They impersonated you and Kazuma and you know how Kanami feels about Kazuma.”

It all made sense now. “So they used it to their advantage and kidnapped her?” Ryuho hesitated. “Was it intentional?”

“It didn’t seem to be,” she responded. “They seemed just as surprised as she. It wasn’t until later that Mr. Tachibana pointed out that it couldn’t have been either of you because of various reasons.”

“And that was a month ago?” Ryuho’s eyes widened in realization. “And you still haven’t found her!? What if something horrible has happened to her!?”

No one was prepared to answer such a question. They all turned their heads and said nothing. Mimori especially, who did not want to share her discovery.

“I don’t believe you!” Jerking his body in a rapid manner, Ryuho swung at Asuka, knocking him into the couch, and then at Urizane, who caught his flying fist in one hand.

“Chill,” Urizane said coolly, his eyes narrow and hard.

Asuka picked himself up from the ground, with help from Elian and Mimori, wiping the blood from his chin.

“Smooth shot,” Asuka scowled, but made no attempt to return the favor. “We’ve been working on it.”

“There have been multiple robberies over the past month,” Ryuho jerked his fist from Urizane’s grasp. “How can you justify yourselves!?”

“That’s what I’d like to know.” another familiar voice.

“Dear Lord, NOW who is it!?” Asuka turned the knob and tore the door open, and a large body fell to the floor. “…Well I’ll be a monkey’s uncle…”

The man coughed, trying to regain his senses from the fall, and looked up.

“Kazuma!” Came everyone’s response.

He looked as bad as Ryuho, his right eye sealed completely shut and lines all over his face and arms. His hair, refusing to return to the normal state that it was, stuck up wildly and a small patch of orange, indicating another change from the Alter usage, came over his eye.

“Guess everyone had the same idea,” Urizane looked from Ryuho to Kazuma. “Now my question is…why here?”

“We figured the same? How quaint. Heh, heh, heh…” Kazuma grunted, sliding his feet underneath him, and stood up. “Well, I came here because I figured that you guys, being old associates of HOLY, would know what’s going on. Apparently the Mainland has stopped coming after this moron,” he gestured to Ryuho, “and myself.”

“Just who are you calling a ‘moron’, Kazuma?” Ryuho asked bitterly.

“Enough!” Asuka broke in. “And obviously, since you were eavesdropping, you both heard the entire story.”

“Not quite, Chief.” Kazuma shook his head. “What happened to Kanami? THAT’S a story I would like to hear.”

“Besides what we said earlier, we know nothing,” Urizane explained. “In case you didn’t know, these are the same robbers that have been trying their hand since HOLY was around.”

“So?” Kazuma shrugged, uninterested.

“So plenty! It means that we still haven’t found them yet, making them an intransigent form of enemy.”

“Stubborn, huh?” Kazuma began to punch a balled fist into the palm of his hand. “Well we’ll see about that. I’m going to search all over the Lost Ground if I have to and find Kanami and then kick all of their butts.”

“If you can,” Asuka snorted. “Well I don’t know about you guys, but I’m all ‘funned out’. This family reunion has really tired my brain. Cammy will be home soon anyway…”

“Cammy?” Ryuho inquired.

“His new bride.” Urizane explained and then turned over to Asuka, who was retreating to the bedroom. “Oh and ‘Chief’?”

“What?” Asuka snarled.

Chuckling, Urizane said, “You may want to put some ice on those lips of yours. I doubt your wife would want to kiss a giant purple blowfish.”

“Screw you.”

---------------------------------

As it turned out, Kazuma and Ryuho reluctantly agreed to stay at Asuka’s house, much to Asuka’s protest (he had just really wanted for them to get a hotel room). The two rivals fought, bickered, and broke all of Asuka’s priceless items, but everything settled down towards the night.

Mimori wandered outside, notebook in hand. Tomorrow was the day that the Mainland would be sending another shipment to the Lost Ground. No doubt it was for Isaac Crane. But first was first. She would reason with the bandits, offer as much money as she had, anything she could, and bring the little girl home.

She was already aware of how her friends would react but she also knew how they liked to handle things. She was skeptical that the so-called ‘butt-kicking’ that Kazuma had mentioned earlier would get so much as a dime from them, much less Kanami. So she had already decided to go herself.

Mimori settled herself on the ground outside, flipping through the pocketbook. Her mind fluttered just as the pages did. He was back.

He was back.

She clutched her necklace out of habit.

Ryuho was back.

But for how long…she wasn’t entirely sure.

Still his words…They were so harsh…so cold…Just like they had been before. How she missed him! How she loved him. She was so happy that he had returned, even if it was not for her. But she…

The disturbance of the land behind her silenced her thoughts. Her head spun to meet the silhouette of the same man that her dreams took her to.

“Ryuho,” she said, standing on her feet, still clad in her old HOLD uniform. “It’s late.”

“I have one more question, Miss Kiryu,” he said.

“Mimori,” she corrected, then was instantly reminded of Cougar.

“Miss Minori…!”

Ryuho ignored her. “There’s more to this than everyone is sharing. You went to the HOLY Grounds today, didn’t you?”

“Yes.”

“What happened?”

“We were refused admittance.” she explained. “Everyone thought that it was odd, being that we were clad in the same uniform as everyone else, until I realized how they could tell us apart.”

“The badge, right? HOLY-S?”

“Exactly.”

“Anything else?”

“Well,” Mimori paused. “Elian said that he believed that someone followed us out of the HOLY Grounds, but he wasn’t sure. He said that there was a blockade preventing him from seeing into it.”

“That’s strange,” Ryuho mused. “I wonder if there is more than meets the eye…? This Isaac Crane…the new HOLY Construction…and the Native Alter and Inner attacks as well. And you say that those people mysteriously vanished?”

“The Inners did. As for the Native Alters, there have been rumors that they have joined hands with Isaac Crane. Elian told us earlier that he believed that they were under a trance.”

“A…trance!?” Ryuho asked, startled. “Who could be strong enough to hypnotize all of the Native Alters!? They couldn’t have been refined or anything like that, right? Kazuma and I have been fighting the Mainland. There hasn’t been a single Native Alter lifted from the Lost Ground since we started, four years ago.”

“No, the Native Alters stayed here. The Inners were the ones who were taken to the Mainland.”

“That’s…incomprehensible… How on earth could they get off the Lost Ground without us knowing?” Ryuho said, and ran his fingers through his long emerald hair. “Why?”

Mimori had no answers. But now she had questions.

“Ryuho, coming back here like you did…was it just to find answers?”

He stared at her long and hard. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, was it just to find out what was going on around here or was there an ulterior motive?” Then she said, hopefully, “Are you here to stay?”

He snorted and turned his gaze away. “Don’t be naïve. Of course I can’t stay here. You’re asking me if I intend to abandon the hopes and dreams of the people living here.” Then, averting his dark eyes back to her, “My answer is no.”

She felt her heart fall. “I see.”

“I can’t live normally until our independence is won. That is what I’m fighting for. Do you understand?”

Mimori nodded, her eyes crestfallen. “But I…we’re all…waiting for you to return…”

“Why do you wait for me?” he asked, almost irritably. “I would’ve hoped for you to move on now.”

“How can you say that!?” she cried, the tears trailing down her cheeks, leaving a moist trail behind.

Then he shook his head. “A shadow of love is all you are chasing. Your feelings for me will remain unrequited.” Her eyes widened, his words building a barrier between himself and her. “I’m sorry Miss Kiryu.”

Then he turned to walk back into the house. But Mimori would not be defeated. She seized his arm and pulled him back towards her.

“You told me that day that I was important to you! Did you lie?”

His eyes did not change. “Of course you’re important to me. That’s why I can’t fall in love with you. If I did, you would become a target. You would die.”

“That’s a chance I’m willing to take!” she argued.

“And a chance that I am not. Are you saying that you would rather be selfish than selfless?” She stopped crying long enough to catch a glimpse of a rare smile he gave her. “If anything were to happen to you, I wouldn’t be able to go on. And I wouldn’t be able to help anyone else in return. That is why I cannot stay here with you. I have seen too much death in my time, like Kazuma has, I’m sure. It’s the same reason he cannot stay with Kanami. Everyone who gets close to us ends up dying.”

“That’s not…true…”

“Scheris, Commander Zigmarl, my mother and father…How can you say that I’m lying?”

“But…”

“If you really love me, you’ll let me go.” And then he turned to leave her in the dark.

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Wow. I’m sorry to all those Ryuho X Mimori fans ^^’. I should probably tell you now that I’m not a fan of that coupling, but I promise to try and keep everything in character…and uh…I hope that I kept everyone in character previously. Please let me know what you think though.

Kat