Fan Fiction ❯ Blade of the Slayer: Three Warriors ❯ Secrets ( Chapter 8 )

Blade of the Slayer

Chapter 8: Secrets

Five weeks went by like five thousand years. I'll tell you a little about what happened.

After the battle with the clever dragonoid Ti'Ame, Tokyo and I suffered a lot of damage. Tokyo suffered more than I did. Although I really didn't like his attitude, I was really scared Tokyo would die. I refused to leave his side. I'll admit it, if I had tear sacs, I would have cried.

Juunanogou would have rolled his eyes if he had any.

"What's with the change of heart?" he quizzed on the ride back to the headquarters.

"Huh?" I looked at my bike as the pick up truck bounced down the country road.

"You're holding his hand." He growled in red letters. Surprised, I looked down at Tokyo. My fingers were wrapped around his open palm. I instantly grew a little nervous, and I glared harshly at Juu-kun.

"So what? Can I be concerned about his life, Juunanogou?!" I snapped.

"No." he snapped back with an angry smiley face.

I suddenly smirked.

"Are you jealous?"

He made a smiley with lowered eyebrows and a straight mouth.

I almost laughed, but I was so concerned for Tokyo that I only chuckled weakly.

***

Tokyo's entire energy wiring needed to be replaced, and several circuits were so fried they were unidentifiable. Practically his whole system needed to be removed and replaced. It could have taken months to repair him. I felt so scared.

I was in fairly better condition. Three blown circuits and a slipped chest plate. Those could be easily replaced. However, Tokyo's system was different than mine, even with the recent additions to his system. Plus, Ayla and Magus were familiar with my overall structure, so Tokyo's structure was still new to them. I could be repaired in a couple of days, but Tokyo…

Except for storing Juunanogou and his "Clara-and-Tokyo-sittin-inna-tree" jeers in the garage, I would not leave Tokyo's side. Ayla did her best to find all the problems she could while Magus repaired me on the other side of the room. But I didn't want to be on the other side of the room, I wanted to be with Tokyo. I kept screaming in protest. I think I went into hysterics.

Magus had to set me in idle mode to keep me calm…so I was temporarily shut down.

***

The idle command took effect for twenty-four hours. I woke up on the living room couch, wrapped in a blanket. Magus was sitting next to me, watching some infomercial on TV. I sat up, catching the old man's attention.

"Good morning." He greeted me. I sleepily looked out the window. The sky was black.

"Morning?" I wondered.

"It's one-a-clock in the morning." He explained. I shook some sleepy daze out of my head.

"Then how come you're not asleep, old man?"

"Ayla and I have been working shifts repairing Tokyo. Ayla's working on him right now."

"How is Tokyo?" I quietly asked.

"Alive." Magus assured, putting a hand on my knee. "We've replaced his circuits, but we'll need to make new wires and cables for his energy circulation. That could take a while."

"Is there any way Juu-kun or I can help? If we can donate any parts or…"

"No, I can't ask you to do that." Magus shook his head. "Besides, Juu-kun would rather live in the city impound than try to help Tokyo." Then, the old man gave me a strange look. "Why the concern about that boy? I know you don't handle death too well, with the exception of dragonoids, but you never seemed to like Tokyo."

"That could have been me, old man." I tried my best to explain. "That dragonoid was a number 65. One on one, he would have killed me. If it weren't for Tokyo, I would be the one you would have worked so hard to repair right now. I owe Tokyo my life."

"I see." Magus smiled with a nod. "That makes sense. Be sure you tell Ayla that because she came up with a reason of her own."

"Don't tell me." I dryly growled. "She thinks I have a crush on him." Magus started laughing. "I don't!" I shouted at him. "I'll never have such impure thoughts!" The old man laughed so hard, he bent over.

" 'Impure thoughts?' " he reflected. "Never heard that one before." I crossed my arms and lay back down.

"I don't like him but I don't hate him." I proposed, settling into a pillow for my head. "He needs to lighten up a bit."

***

After sleeping for a couple of hours, I got up and stretched a bit. There's no feeling like a fresh upgrade to the system. I headed to the lab door to check in on Tokyo, but it was locked. I noticed a note on the door in Ayla's handwriting that read:

The following androids may not enter:

Paris Kid Series 1

That is all

I ripped off the note and kicked in the door. I heard Ayla scream in surprise as I entered.

"God damn…" she gasped. "You almost gave me a heart attack." I showed her the door note.

"That's cute." I snarled. "Why can't I come into the lab?"

"Look Clara," Ayla turned away from Tokyo to me, "we're friends. And friends look out for each other…"

"Cut crap." I ordered dryly. "Point being."

"Sheesh." Ayla disapproved of my behavior. "I don't want you going into hysterics about Tokyo again. You understand?"

"Yeah," I nodded, "but I'm over it now that I know he'll live."

"Okay." Ayla smiled pleasantly. "That's good to hear."

"Hey, uh," I began, losing my bad attitude, "is there anything I can do down here?" I would have been more than happy to help repair Tokyo and speed up his recovery.

"Absolutely." Ayla answered with one sharp nod. She went to a low cabinet, and pulled out a toolbox. "You kicked in the door, you fix it."

***

After that minor chore was over, I finally got to help Tokyo. I made a couple of repairs to the surviving circuits in his chest and neck. The sensory cables were successfully replaced, so I tested them for any faults. Some of his skin was burned, so I had to carefully clean and remove the burns. The ultraviolet light healed up the surviving skin.

"Some of his joints are loose." I reported to Ayla while looking at Tokyo's shoulder sockets. "We'll need to patch that up or something."

"How bad is it?" Ayla asked, digging through the toolbox.

"Not too bad; nothing to panic about."

"Alright. Here, catch." Ayla tossed me something, and I caught it easily. I smiled.

"Aha." I chuckled. "Duct tape. This'll do nicely. Thanks, Ayla."

"Well, what do you think your joints are being held together with?" she laughed.

"…" I had no response for that, so I went back to work.

***

One whole week went by, and so did Tokyo's repairs. The energy wiring in his head and chest was replaced, and his life support system was fully operational. I was so relieved to see his chest rise and fall with breath. I took a break every now and then to modify Juunanogou, and add side mirrors and lights on him. However, I was ready to smash him in half whenever he started his taunting.

"Why is it that girls go for the jerks?"

"What?" I snapped at him.

"Y'know what I'm sayin?"

"No, I don't."

"Think, Clara. Think really hard."

After he dropped the hint at me, I didn't have to.

"Will you stop with the Tokyo and me thing?!"

"No. It's too much fun." Then he made a sly smiley face.

"Where did that smiley face come from?"

"I dunno but I like it." He made the face again.

"Yeah, well cut that out." I ordered. I didn't like that face.

"No." He made the face again.

"Stop it!"

He flooded the screen with those faces!

I punched the monitor, and it blipped. The faces disappeared, and were replaced with small, yellow letters:

"Ow."

I heard the old man walk up behind me.

"Juunanogou," he addressed my motorcycle, "what did you do to Clara?" Juu-kun's response was in green.

"I dunno, but it worked."

Magus laughed, and I felt a headache coming on. I marched out of the garage towards the living room. Juunanogou beeped something and Magus replied:

"I hope not. I didn't put hormones in Clara's design."

***

Another week went by. We had Tokyo's memory drive plugged into one of the computers in the den. Magus fiddled with what he could find, but as he revealed to me, looking into an android's mind was not an easy task.

"A computer brain is not as complex as a real brain," the old man began, staring at his computer screen, "but that doesn't make it as easy to analyze. The human brain is the biggest mystery science will ever have, so reconstructing one would be next to impossible."

"Obviously not." I doubted, waving my hand up and down my being.

"You and two others are the exceptions." Magus smiled. "But still, all minds are complex, and finding the exact information you want from them is a difficult task."

"What are you trying to find?"

"The name of Tokyo's manufacturer. I think I know who it is, but I need to be sure." He moved his mouse around and double clicked on a group of words. "But, Tokyo's brain is just as stubborn as he is…"

Suddenly, I remembered something Ti'Ame had said before the last battle:

"the…one built by the Kaguya woman…"

"Hey, old man," I inquired, "do you know anyone named Kaguya?"

"Yes." He nodded. "Where did you hear that name?"

"That dragonoid, Ti'Ame, mentioned her. They know about her."

"They know about most of us." The old man explained. "Those of the older organizations, like Kaguya, have the risk of being found out. The newer organizations, like the one in this house, have the element of secrecy. We are more mysterious and harder to understand and locate."

"So Kaguya is in danger?"

"That's a 50/50 chance, Clara. She's only in danger if she's still alive." He leaned closer to the computer screen to read a section of small text, and pointed at something. "Either a stroke of luck, or speak of the devil, I found her name." I peered over his shoulder to see for myself. The words were very tiny, but I could see "Kaguya" along the middle of the passage.

"So who is Kaguya?" I asked.

"A founder of one of the oldest anti-dragonoid organizations in the world…and Tokyo's creator. Her real name is Kakato Yugashi, born in Kyoto, Japan. She worked at several computer companies and studied in three robotics institutes. I've worked with her before. It was her idea to build the Kid Series based on the blueprints she was given."

"So…is she my creator?" I asked timidly.

"No." Magus shook his head. "Your original creator was a man whom the people knew as Gash. He drew the blueprints for all three of the Kid Series. Kaguya and myself built two of them based on the plans."

"And the third?"

"Hmmm…" the old man hummed as he put a hand to his chin in thought. "I don't know about the third Kid."

"Somebody built him or her. He or she is somewhere in the U.S."

"Well, I don't know…I'll see if Tokyo knows anything about the third android, but that will take a very long time."

"Do what you can." I urged. "I'll get some work done on Tokyo."

***

Ayla was raiding the kitchen for lunch, so the lab was void of any presences except for the idled Tokyo. The wiring from the waist up was just about finished. It took a quick five minutes to set in and duct tape the last wiring in his neck and sensory system. Satisfied, I switched on the ultraviolet light and began slowly mending his neck with my free fingers. I was feeling extremely pleased with the progress being made. Now all that was left were the feet and legs. All the essentials were out of the way, so that made the jobs ahead a whole lot easier…

"Paris…"

Tokyo's voice took me by surprise. I looked down at him, seeing his eyes closed and his lips parted. He was breathing, but I couldn't tell if he was conscious or not.

"Did you say that?" I asked him.

"Oh, it is you, Paris." He responded flatly. Okay, he was awake, and for that I was grateful, but…

"I'm asking you nicely, please call me Clara."

"Why…"

"Why what?"

"Why didn't you kill Ti'Ame earlier?"

I blinked at him.

"Whadaya mean?" I asked.

"You waited until nightfall to kill him. Why didn't you kill him while he was still in human form?" Why must you insist on being an idiot?"

"Hey!" I snapped at him. "I've been working my butt off two weeks straight to save your life, and this is how you thank me? By insulting me, by starting an argument about something that happened a long time ago?"

"I have nothing to thank you for!" Tokyo barked at me. "I almost got killed because of your stupidity and lack of skill! You're a useless piece of junk who's lucky to be alive and you're too proud of your poor design to admit it!"

I was beyond angry. I was pissed. I was going to hit the roof and rocket to the moon. My insides grew hot and my fists swelled as I clenched them. I found myself unsheathing my sword and pressing the sharp edge of the blade to his half-mended throat.

"I knew you were going to do that." He smiled.

"Shut up!" I ordered angrily. "I was doing just fine until you showed up!"

"Admit it, no you weren't." he taunted. "All of your kills were lucky breaks in many cases, you almost died. On top of that, your knowledge of dragonoids is pitiful."

"I'll chop your head off!" I screamed.

"What's stopping you?" he asked softly, opening his eyes. "Go ahead." His smile disappeared. "Or will you? If you wanted to kill me, you would have done so by now. I would have killed you if I could move."

"Shut up!" I cried out. "I'm not listening to you unless you apologize!"

"For what? Making you mad? You should learn to let insults roll off your back. The smallest comment makes you scream."

"That's enough! Apologize or you die!" I screamed again. I felt something warm and wet on my face. I was getting a tremendous headache. Tokyo stared into my eyes and smiled weakly with a two noted chuckle.

"You're…beautiful." He noted quietly. He caught me off guard, and pulled out a new line of defense: honest flattery.

With a frightened gasp, I stumbled away in shock, and fell over on my back. My sword fell harmlessly to the ground a couple feet away from me. I heard someone run into the lab, and to Tokyo's side.

"What happened here?" I heard Ayla call.

"It's alright." Tokyo assured. "Nobody's hurt." I lifted my head up to see Ayla looking over Tokyo in surprise.

"Hey, you're awake!" she exclaimed in surprise.

"Paris tried to cut my head off." Tokyo tattled. I sat up to give my defense.

"You started it, moron! And my name is Clara!" I shouted. Ayla turned back to me with a commanding look.

"I was afraid this would happen. I don't know who started this, or how it started, so here's what's going down." She proposed. "Clara, I want you to stay out of the lab until Tokyo is repaired."

"What?" I cried. "But…"

"For Tokyo's safety as well as yours." Ayla explained. "Please Clara?" I growled, and pushed myself up to my feet.

"Alright." I agreed, picking up my sword. "I'll leave, and I never want to see that jerk again."

"That's going to be hard." Tokyo laughed. "I live here."

I angrily stormed out of the lab, slamming the door behind me.

***

Two weeks passed in a flash. Magus had given up trying to find the third android via Tokyo's memory space; the files were too complex for even Ayla to figure out. So, Magus and I focused on Kaguya's wherabouts. According to Tokyo, she was last seen in a small village on the Japanese countryside. He didn't know if she was dead or alive. The most Magus found on the internet were countless drafts of resumes that were useless because they were all in Japanese. Tokyo said he would translate some of it, but recommended that we should try to contact Squaresoft U.S.A, a company she wanted to work for.

We did contact the company, but they wouldn't let us speak with Kaguya. We could only conclude two things:

"She's alive," I announced, "and she works for Squaresoft U.S.A."

"I've got an idea." Ayla smiled. "We'll use Tokyo to get to Kaguya. He can say he's her son, and that there's an emergency at home. How could they turn away from that?"

"Good idea!" I congratulated.

"Only if Tokyo decides to cooperate." Magus shook his head. "Which I doubt he will."

"Of course he will." I argued. "He led us this far."

***

Another week later, Tokyo was fully repaired and walking around. He was not in fighting condition, however. He agreed to make the call. I secretly agreed to eavesdrop on him to be sure he called Kaguya.

He used the cord phone in the kitchen. I stood by the doorway of the kitchen, and listened to him speak.

"Hello. May I please speak with Miss Yugashi? This is her son." Pause. "Yes, I'll wait. Thank you."

Alright! He was in! Soon, we would contact Kaguya, group up with the third android, and then…

"I knew it."

I jumped, hearing Tokyo's voice right next to me. I looked to see him standing in the doorway with an extremely disappointed look on his face. His hand was over the receiver.

"Knew what?" I asked nervously.

"You have a crush on me."

I felt hot in the face again.

"Don't think that 'beautiful' remark did anything to me." I growled.

"Alright then, you're spying on me."

"So what if I was?"

"I can't blame you, Paris. I would do the same thing in your position. I've been thinking it over. If we're going to work as a team, we need to trust each other."

"So what should we do?"

"I'll teach you how to fight with and without your sword. How does that sound?"

"I don't think you'll have much to teach me, but okay." I agreed. Tokyo smiled slightly.

"I do, Paris. Leave it at that." Then he walked back into the kitchen, mumbling Japanese into the phone. Unable to eavesdrop any further, I walked into the living room to watch some TV.

Ayla had beaten me to it, and was playing one of her Playstation games. I sat on the couch to watch.

"You and Tokyo belong together." She insisted with a giggly tone.

"We do not." I moaned, lying down.

"You're so cute together." She giggled. I didn't reply. I just stared at the ceiling.

Me and Tokyo? Sorry, not gonna happen.

Hi, Clara here! Lots of fun stuff is happening in the next chapter of Blade of the Slayer! Why does everyone think I have a crush on Tokyo? He doesn't even like me, and I want nothing to do with him! No, for real, I don't have a crush on him! So, who is this Kaguya anyway? And who's the third android? Hopefully, I'll find out the answers to those questions in chapter nine of

Blade of the Slayer!

See ya there! ;)