Nadesico Fan Fiction ❯ Chasing the Darkness ❯ [08] Discoveries on Leave ( Chapter 8 )

PART EIGHT: Discoveries on Leave

Yurika finally stopped her endless circling. It was late-- most of the shops on the strip had closed for the evening, and the last light of day was almost gone. The first raindrops were falling from the thunderclouds threatening above, and as the rain got worse, she was forced to take shelter in the doorway of the little cafe across the street. He probably wouldn't have come anyway, but now that it was raining she was positive that he wouldn't show up.

In a way, she was grateful. What would she have said to him if he had come? Sure, they'd had that moment of peace when they'd both helped Jun out to meet everyone, but before that she'd basically accused him of attempting suicide. And even though it was true, it wasn't very kind of her to have said. It kind of put a damper on all future conversations they might have shared.

The drizzle turned quite suddenly into a downpour. Yurika shivered, pulling her sweater up around her neck and crossing her arms to stay warm. Then she sat hunched over in the stone archway and waited for the rain to let up.

******

Minato stared down at her glass. Howmei, who had been on the Nadesico A during all the excitement but until now has not made her entrance in this fic, was drying mugs behind the counter. The nightly crowd had cleared out and the restaurant was closed, but Howmei couldn't bring herself to remind her few remaining guests of the time.

Minato herself remained oblivious to Howmei's concerned gaze, mesmerized by the swirling reflection looking up at her from the half-consumed contents of the glass. They painted a sad, lonely picture, Minato and Howmei in the dim and isolated light of the diner, but that image was far from the truth. Minato was drowning in bittersweet memories, yes, but Howmei was agitated, waiting for the coming scene and scanning her pride and joy to make sure that everything breakable or throwable was out of Minato's immediate reach.

A few minutes later, the object of Howmei's anxiety entered. He glanced quickly at the couple in the darkened corner of the diner, the only other people there. Their faces were shrouded in shadow, but they seemed to be completely absorbed with each other. Genichiro left them as they were, slipping into the seat beside Minato without a word.

She knew it was him immediately, who else could it be at this hour? She had been dreading their meeting, but at the same time knew it was inevitable. Wondering why no one left anyone else to rest in peace these days, she turned to face him.

She didn't say anything, allowing him the first word. It took him a while to finally say it, and when he did, staring straight ahead and not meeting her eyes, it seemed to Minato that he was talking in riddles.

"I saw Kusukabe Haruki before I came to Osaka."

Minato blinked. "I don't care what you do."

"I know. But he told me something interesting, when I visited him." Genichiro continued, eyes still fixed vacantly on the floor. "He informed me that I wasn't truly repentant for what I'd done. And I've realized that he was right." His gaze lifted to meet Minato's, still and unflinching in spite of the bitter resentment he found in her face. "It's not enough to say I was wrong. You probably don't understand how much guilt I feel, but I think I'm beginning to understand the pain that I put you through. And I know that I can never truly forgive myself for what I've done unless you can bring yourself to forgive me."

Minato blinked back tears-- of rage or pity, she couldn't tell. Genichiro slipped off the seat and sank to his knees in a gesture of humility, but Minato could only notice that it gave his pleas a certain measure of dignity that it hurt her to grant him. Shiratori hadn't been given such dignity until after he was too cold to care.

"It doesn't...." he rushed on in her silence. "It doesn't have to be today, or tomorrow. If you can forgive me someday, then I can be at peace."

"Why don't you talk to Yukina?" Minato found her voice. "You took that little girl's brother away from her. Why don't you tell her why you shot her big brother?"

"Because she knows." a voice said, and Yukina appeared behind Genichiro, her place in the shadows in the corner abandoned. "Because I am as much a Jovian as my brother and Genichiro. I was too young to fully grasp it then, but now I know. My brother was a traitor, Minato. No matter how right he was in the end, he was a traitor, and Genichiro was justified in killing him."

"No!" Genichiro turned on her violently. "That's warped, Yukina. No one is ever justified taking their best friend's life."

"It was an order. You had to follow it."

"Yukina, I killed him because I believed he had betrayed our friendship. By falling in love with the enemy, he had betrayed all of us. That's what I thought. In Gekigangar vengeance was the driving force. But vengeance is wrong. It took his death for me to realize that. After it was done, I realized that nothing had been gained, and I had damaged more than I had repaired." Genichiro stopped when he realized he was beginning to give one of his "inspirational speeches." Minato turned back to her drink, which had somehow become vile to her. She pushed it away, fixing her gaze on the slim white salt shaker and keeping it there.

Yukina stared at Genichiro for a moment, then shook her head as if to say that it didn't matter. "I wanted to kill you for a long time. But my brother wouldn't want me to hate you. So I won't. I'll honor his memory."

"Do you still want to kill me?"

"Sometimes." Yukina answered gravely. "But death already surrounds us. Why should I add to my pain by destroying you?"

Minato's head snapped up suddenly. Her thoughts flew to Akito; had he reached the same conclusion as Genichiro? As Yukina? His revenge had been a righteous one, but it had not brought him happiness. It had prevented future threats from Hokushin, but there were other Hokushins that would rise to take his place. The universe was full of such people. Akito's vengeance had hurt him-- broken him on the inside and made him loathe himself. If it were the same for Genichiro... it must be the same. When she looked into his eyes, she saw the tortured look that haunted Akito. She knew she couldn't add to that kind of suffering, no matter what hatred she felt. And no matter how much it pained her, she knew that someday she would have to do what he asked of her if she wanted to be happy.

"It will take time." she said quietly, and turned away. She couldn't face him right now. But someday... someday, she could. She would make sure of it.

She left them then, unable to stand seeing the intimate understanding Yukina and Genichiro shared. He had her promise. That was enough, for now.

Jun took the opportunity to slip out unnoticed, opting to walk back to the hotel and wondering why the crew of the Nadesico seemed so cursed in the face of happiness for everyone else.

******

Yamasaki Yoshio stared out the small window, brooding. None of this was really his fault, he thought bitterly. He was a scientist! What else was he expected to do but follow his research? He'd just figured that the history books would clean up any of his discrepancies later as necessary sacrifices in his particular line of duty. Now it just looked like someone else was going to beat him to the punch. Sighing, he focused his attention on the passing road sign.

Lunar Station 5 miles

Yoshio's eyes widened as he watched it. He was supposed to be heading for Tokyo and Nergal's war crime penitentiary, which was in pretty much the opposite direction. Casting a wary glance through the barred shatterproof glass separating him from his driver, he was only more surprised to discover that the driver was looking back at him through the mirror. The driver winked and the glass began to roll down.

"Hey there!" he said brightly as Yoshio gaped.

"Who the hell are you?"

"Akarui Tsukai, master of disguise!" the man answered. "And Mr. Aritomo has sent me with an invitation for you to join him on the moon."

Yoshio blinked twice, trying to remember why that name sounded familiar, gave up, sat back in his seat, and just stared. Akarui didn't seem to mind, and kept up the conversation by himself.

"It's really lucky for me that everyone thinks you're so dangerous," he continued. "They gave you your own armored vehicle. If you'd had the other crewmen in there with you I don't know what I would have done with them. Aritomo specifically said that there was only room for the two of us."

Yoshio grunted something noncommittal. Tsukai didn't even check his speed.

"Well, actually he said there was only room for you, but he said I could come as your bodyguard and go up in the second shuttle. I suppose that's because I'm the best fighter in the fleet and he wants to keep me around."

"I thought you were a master of disguise."

"Master of disguise, top Aestivallis pilot, secret agent, ladies' man, you name it..."

"'Aestivallis pilot?" Yoshio frowned. "Weren't you the one I told to kill Tenkawa Akito?"

"Yup, that was me, best pilot we've got to... now wait just one minute!!"

Yoshio slammed into the wall in front of him, wishing he'd remembered to wear his seat belt. He had little time to wonder why Akarui had hit the brakes without any notice right outside the gates of the Lunar Station, though, before the man had whirled around and grabbed him by the collar.

"Did you say Tenkawa Akito?"

Yoshio decided he was dealing with a crazy man. "Yes, I did."

"The pilot of the red Aestivallis was Tenkawa Akito."

"Yes, it was."

"The same Tenkawa Akito who discovered the Artifact and was supposedly killed by Nergal special agents during an attack on one of our bases because he wouldn't reveal the secrets he had discovered? The best friend of my brother, also murdered by Nergal bastards?"

Yoshio's frown deepened. "Who told you that crackhead story?"

"What?"

"Let go of me!" The pressure on his neck was released. Yoshio sat back against his seat, adjusted his tie, and regained his dignity. "Thank you."

"What were you talking about?" Tsukai demanded, shoving his head clear through the window.

"Tenkawa Akito was one of the original A-class jumpers taken by the Martian Successors for research purposes about two years after the Jovian War. He escaped with a young girl named Lapis Lazuli who had also been taken from Nergal. Tenkawa never willingly worked for the Successors, nor did Nergal kill him."

"Shut up!" Tsukai shouted. "Tenkawa Akito would never work for the people who killed my brother!"

"I wouldn't know anything about that." Yoshio answered calmly. "I just know that Tenkawa has been interfering with my research for years. I'm glad I've finally been rid of him."

Watching Tsukai's face harden, Yoshio realized that that had not been the smartest thing to say. Tsukai turned around slowly, and, reaching down, put the truck in reverse.

"What are you doing?!" he shouted as the man who seemed more unhinged by the minute hit the gas pedal and sent them shooting away from the Lunar Station.

"No way am I letting you escape."

"You're disobeying a direct order?"

"I quit!"

"And just where are we going to go?"

"Osaka." Tsukai answered through grit teeth. "You and I are going to have a talk with Tenkawa Akito."

******

"Akito!" She sat up instantly, as if she hadn't been dreaming a few seconds before.

"No, it's me." Jun answered quietly.

Yurika blinked a few times, trying to get her eyes to adjust to the light-- or lack thereof. "Jun?" she asked in bewilderment. "Where am I?"

"You're napping under a porch." he took in her damp, rumpled clothes and dazed expression. "Looks like you got caught in the rain."

"Oh." Yawning, Yurika took the hand he offered and pulled herself to her feet. "What time is it?"

"Late." He didn't ask what she was doing there-- her first word had said it all. "He never showed up, huh?"

"I didn't really think he would." She declined to take the coat he offered, and he slung it over her shoulders anyway.

"Yes, you did."

"Yeah."

They stood there in silence for a moment longer, Yurika staring wearily at her shoes while Jun grew angrier with Akito by the minute.

"He's just..." he started abruptly.

"I can't blame Akito." she began at the same time. She held up a hand to silence him. "I said some things I shouldn't have while you were unconscious."

"You mean you made him own up to trying to get himself killed?" Jun asked bitterly. "It needed to be said."

Her eyes widened. "You were awake for that...?"

"No, but I heard it still. None of this is your fault, Yurika. Akito has some major issues that he needs to get worked out-- so you don't need to defend him."

"Yes, I do." She put an gentle hand on Jun's shoulder to calm him down. "I know there's a reason for what he's doing."

"You have more faith in him than he deserves...Y-Yurika!!"

"Mm?" she replied, eyes closed and arms wrapped solidly around his waist. Jun tried to pry her fingers away in vain.

"What are you doing?!"

"Thank you for saving Akito, Jun. That was the bravest, most wonderful thing you could have done." Yurika said happily, opening her eyes. "Now let's go back to the hotel before it starts raining again."

Arms still firmly around him, she began the long trek back to the hotel where all the crewmen of the Nadesico had been put up. Jun was grateful that the streetlights were so dim she couldn't see him blush. It was something he had always imagined doing; strolling down a picturesque lane alone with her, just like this. Except that Jun's fantasies always ended a bit more wildly than this walk was going to. And yet...

And yet he found that he couldn't see the rest anymore. He didn't need the ending of his fantasy played out; in fact, he didn't want it to be. And he realized that he didn't want to be the man in her life any more. He just wanted to be someone that she'd turn to like right now, when she was having problems or when she just needed to talk to someone or be with someone. He loved her best at moments like these, and he didn't need any other sort of relationship getting in the way of that.

He caught himself before he got any more sentimental.

"So I hear Megumi's new movie hit number one at the box office this weekend..." he said, prompting Yurika's incessant, lively chatter.

******

Ruri's room was cold and empty when Harry stopped by to visit. Her bags had been neatly laid out on the floor next to the bed, where they remained untouched. Harry frowned. He'd been looking for her all day, and those suitcases hadn't moved since she first left them there that morning. Which meant she was probably on the Nadesico somewhere and wouldn't want to go eat with him. Which meant that the only person who would take him out to dinner was Saburota.

Harry shuddered. He'd rather starve.

"Ano..." a soft voice said from behind him. "I'm sorry to bother you," Lapis said when he turned around. "But I was wondering if you knew where Akito was?"

"Nope." Harry answered. "You haven't seen the Captain, have you?"

Lapis blinked. "No. Do you think they're together?"

"Who knows?" Harry shrugged nonchalantly. He didn't really like the thought of the Captain alone with that psychopath, but he wasn't going to tell Lapis what he thought of her father.

"I see." Lapis frowned, staring at the small card in her hand. "Akito left this in our room. Do you know what it is?"

"Are you telling me you've never seen a credit card before?!" Harry exclaimed, snatching the card from her limp fingers. "This is our ticket to freedom!"

"Were we being punished for something?"

"I consider no food a horrible punishment." Harry muttered, holding the card in his mouth while he dialed the hotel issue phone. "Room service?"

******

Ruri had long ago forgotten food and was, at the moment, frustrated beyond all measure.

Troubleshoot. she said for what seemed like the millionth time.

Contents encrypted.

Ruri sighed. First it had been "insufficient memory." She had had to uplink it to the Nadesicos A and B before she could find enough memory to open these stupid little black boxes. Then it had been "insufficient space to run program." She'd had to have Omoikane help her clear out an area the size of a small building to get past that obstacle. And on top of that, VR was making her queasy.

Decipher contents.

Unable to comply.

Ruri grit her teeth, sitting on the ground with the first box in her hand, seriously tempted just to crush it in her palm. It was painful to have gone through that much for nothing, but she had run out of options.

Except for one.

Omoikane, scan contents of file. She had no clue whether it would work or not-- it was something she'd heard Harry mention in passing one day while he was tinkering with some of Seiya's old electronic equipment. He'd said that before bio-electrical systems with thinking mainframes and compatibility programs had been invented, you could look at the history of a file even if you couldn't open it. That was before IFS made all those systems obsolete, because in IFS you could open any file and so you didn't need to look at the history. But just because you didn't need to didn't mean you couldn't.

Scan complete.

Bingo. Ruri gave one of her small smiles. She'd have to thank Harry for being so obsessed with the history of electronics later. Show history.

File type: Unknown. Omoikane reported. Last modified: Inapplicable. Date published: Inapplicable. Author: Tenkawa Yurika. Title: Hangar.

Ruri's eyes went wide and her smile slipped from her face. Yurika? Hangar? She dropped the box she was holding like it was diseased, only to snatch up another one almost immediately.

Scan contents and show history.

File type: Unknown. Last modified: Inapplicable. Date published: Inapplicable. Author: Tenkawa Yurika/Ines Fresange. Title: Akito.

She didn't need to pick up the third box, but she did anyway, mouthing the words as Omoikane listed them. The result only further confirmed her suspicions. The weight of that discovery was staggering; she knew it was incredibly important but she didn't know exactly how to use it or why it was there in the first place. All she knew was that these files were records of all the boson jumps this ship had been involved in recently. She was willing to bet that if she searched hard enough, she could find the record of the first jump the Nadesico C ever made, before they knew that Ines was still alive. And that meant that somewhere in the Nadesico A's files there would be the record of the first successful boson jump ever made without the use of TC's; in short, the blueprints for boson jumping itself.

As if the day hadn't been eventful enough.

******

"And you just opened the door and he was sitting here?" Erina asked skeptically, looking up from her notebook. She must have been up all night, the security officer decided. No one could possibly be this awake at this hour otherwise. The sun was just barely rising.

"Just like that, all tied up and knocking his head up against the wall trying to get away." the night guard replied, shrugging. Saburota cocked his head to the side and knelt down.

"Somebody trussed him up like a Sunday dinner and dropped him on our doorstep." he commented, poking the gagged, bound Yoshio a couple of times. "Does that mean he escaped?"

"There is a point where you have to stop asking a mute prisoner questions." Akatsuki remarked breezily. "Bring him inside and we'll get the whole story soon enough."

******

"Ruri..." Ines yawned. "Because you're the Captain, I'm not going to ask why you woke me up at four in the morning, or why you told me to get back on board this ship when I finally had three days away from chrome and plastic, or what you're even doing awake this early. It's not healthy for a teenager, especially when she's commanding a battleship to boot. I'm surprised you don't have ulcers, but I do believe you've lost your mind."

"I'm perfectly sane," Ruri replied in her straight-faced, matter-of-fact cheer.

"Let me get this straight." Ines rubbed her eyes and searched around vainly in the pockets of her lab coat for a caffeine pill. "You want me to play a game with you? That doesn't make any sense to me, so one of us has to be crazy."

"I didn't say what kind of game it was." Ruri responded. "Please put the helmet on."

Ines did as she was told with no other complaints. Her curiosity was getting the better of her, and besides, even if Ruri had not woken her in the middle of the night she would have been awake right now anyway, working down in her lab. She might as well play Ruri's game, especially since she was getting a strong impression that it wasn't a game at all.

******

"And exactly why would this Akarui Tsukai tie you up and leave you here if he helped you escape in the first place?" Erina demanded.

"I wasn't tied up at first." Yoshio sighed. "But when we met up with Tenkawa all those two wanted to do was watch stupid anime. I hate old school robot shows."

Saburota grinned. "I take it you voiced that opinion?"

Yoshio sweatdropped. "I didn't think they'd take it so badly."

"And where are Tenkawa and Akarui now?" Akatsuki asked as Erina tried to shove Saburota out of the room.

"Probably in one of the video rooms downtown bawling like babies while they watch the same scene over and over again."

******

"Ruri, this is incredible."

"Only if we can find a program to open it." Ruri sat quietly to the side while Ines examined the black boxes. "And without Akatsuki or Erina finding out. We have to get this to the Joint Peacekeeping Forces as soon as possible; if Nergal or UE or the Successors or the old Jovian Union gets such a huge advantage over everyone else, the Jovian War could very well start all over again."

Ines waved a hand in Ruri's direction. "You work on that. I have a theory on how to open this file."

"How?"

"Well, you can't open it here, of course. To open something from the lost civilization's technology, you have to use lost technology." Ines pulled up a window and began to copy the file into the VR network. "And I know one place to find some."

"The Martian ruins?" Ruri asked.

Ines nodded. "Right."

File transfer complete.

"Stay out of trouble until I get back, okay? Ja ne!"

"Wait-- will you jump there?"

"Of course. Don't worry, I won't go through any documented routes." She pulled a small blue object from her pocket, smiled, waved, and vanished.

Ruri frowned at the spot where Ines had once stood. She needed to find out when the next JF assembly met, but a much more interesting idea had taken root in her mind. She could use these little black boxes to find out what had happened to Akito. It was a disturbing thought, because she knew that if he had wanted to tell he would have told. He'd said once that it was best she didn't know what the Successors had done to him, and she had agreed. Yet something else had driven him away from his friends for over a year, and she had a feeling that the Artifact had a lot to do with it.

If it wasn't so distressing, she'd be amused. Was this what Yurika had meant by her intuition? She'd never put much stock in it before-- but Yurika had said that intuition never lied.

Then her brain forced her up to speed. The Eucharis had been destroyed and the Black Sarena had been wiped and upgraded; there was no way to check on Akito's boson jumps. Unless the Eucharis had a sister ship somewhere. Lapis would know.

******

"How do we know he's telling the truth?" Erina asked as she pulled Akatsuki aside. "He just gave in and told us everything; where Aritomo is headed, where they've sent the Artifact, everything. That seems kind of suspicious."

"Not at all." Akatsuki replied. "He did the same thing the first time we caught him."

Yoshio cleared his throat. "Um, excuse me?"

"What?"

"You're assuming that as a loyal Successor I wouldn't be telling you anything, right?"

"I'm not assuming anything." Akatsuki grinned. "But go on."

"The truth of the matter is, I'm not a Martian Successor. In fact, I hate Aritomo with a passion. I wish you would catch him. All I'm asking is that when you get the Artifact, you'll let me continue my research on it."

"You're really in no position to make requests." Erina informed him.

"Why the vested interest in the Artifact?" Akatsuki interrupted.

Yoshio looked down, took a deep breath, and began to lay on the angst. "I wasn't born on Mars. I can't be an A-class jumper, because I emigrated there when I was nineteen and wasn't there long enough for the nano-machines to affect me. But that doesn't mean that I don't have any connection to that planet. I was one of the miners present when the Artifact was discovered. I was a struggling philosopher at that time, working in the mines to put myself through college. When we unearthed the ruins something seemed to call to me, telling me that this was the answer that I had sought all my life. After that I devoted everything I had to studying the Artifact, trying to unlock its secrets. It didn't matter who was issuing my paycheck as long as I could work with the Artifact."

"Gee, that sounds almost noble." Saburota commented.

"Are you still here?" Erina shouted.

"So in short, you work for whoever has the Artifact." Akatsuki asked Yoshio.

"Yes. Will you untie me now?"

"No." Erina snapped.

"Then can you turn the light off? It's giving me a headache."

"This is an interrogation, you idiot." Erina called back over her shoulder, still trying vainly to push Saburota out the door. "None of this is for your comfort."

"I'm a scientist, not a soldier." Yoshio protested. "I've told you everything I know; now will you please let me go or send me to jail or somewhere? My research is falling dreadfully behind."

"And what research would that be?" Erina asked cruelly. "Experimenting on people who didn't have a choice in the matter?"

"You're one to talk." Akatsuki muttered, still smiling.

"I heard that." Erina glared at him. "All of my subjects were volunteers."

"Sure they were."

Saburota used the lapse in Erina's attention to slip back into the room unnoticed.

******

"Yurika! Meg and I are going to breakfast. Wanna come?" Minato peeked her head into the admiral's room. "My treat." Minato had spent the entire night debating whether or not to get drunk and, having decided in favor of sleep deprivation and gourmet espresso from the cafe in the hotel lounge, was completely wired.

Yurika waved her away from the bed, where she lay facing the wall. "I was up late."

"Oh, come on," Minato laughed. "You're acting like me."

Yurika's shoulders began to shake. She rolled over, giggling, to face the other woman. Minato struck what was intended to be a menacing pose, then grabbed Yurika's arm and pulled her from the bed. When she opened the admiral's top drawer and began flinging possible outfits at her, Yurika laughed harder.

In fact, she laughed so hard she burst into tears.

Uh oh, Minato thought. Looked like she wasn't the only one who'd had a rough night. "Akito?"

Yurika dove back for the safety of her bed. Minato had to drag her up again. She was tempted to inform the younger woman that at least her husband was still alive, but figured that probably wasn't the best course of action. Instead, she sat Yurika down at her vanity and picked up her hairbrush, attacking the night tangles with a vengeance until Yurika's sobbing had subsided to sniffles.

"What did he say?"

"Nothing. He's avoiding me." Yurika sniffed again, eyes filling once more.

Minato frowned. She'd been thinking about that lately, and she thought she knew an answer to help the miserable admiral feel better. She coughed meaningfully. "I don't think he's shunning you because he wants to, Captain."

"What do you mean?" Yurika mumbled, confused but hopeful.

"Well, Ines said that Akito's memories and feelings were linked to Lapis's because the Successors wanted to see if they could control him through her and vice versa."

Yurika's eyes began to water. Minato sighed and flicked a hand through her hair. So much for making her feel better.

"So his feelings and memories are still shared with Lapis," she said slowly, trying to find words to put it delicately. "I think he wants to, um, spare her from... things... that she shouldn't be experiencing. Till she's older. And even then..."

Yurika's thoughts flashed back to when Lapis had fallen asleep on her lap, stroking her hair, and she turned bright red. "You don't think..."

"I think Akito's been very careful about what he lets her feel." Minato said gently, relieved that she didn't have to go into greater detail. "But he probably doesn't trust himself that much, especially around you."

A puzzled frown was brushing Yurika's features, but her arguments were half-hearted. She wanted to believe Minato desperately. "Maybe you're right. But if that was the only reason, wouldn't he have told me? There's got to be something else..."

"If there is, then you'll find out when he's ready to tell. You can't fall apart over something you can't help." She put the hairbrush down and turned the chair around so Yurika faced her. "All right?"

This time, the smile was completely genuine. "All right."

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