Witch Hunter Robin Fan Fiction ❯ False Echoes ❯ Echoes of the Past ( Chapter 8 )

Witch Hunter Robin
False Echoes

Chapter VIII - Echoes of the Past

Disclaimer: You know by now I don't own Witch Hunter Robin®, which belongs to Sunrise® and Sci-Fi® Channel. You know this already.

Nor do I own the song False Echoes; I just borrowed its title.

Storyline, Plot, Kenny Avery©, Roger Williams©, Kichiro Wantanabee©, Rick Richards©, Michael Campbell©, Rosalind Nichols© and Mr. David Rica© are mine.

Author Notes:

Well, here's chapter eight. The end of what I'm calling "The Simple" part of this story. Yes, it gets even more confusing. ^^

*Nods and grins*

Now we move up to the exciting part! David Rica returns to Japan! w00t! I know many of you have been waiting for that!

Also, the cliffhanger is back.

*Hides*

I know! But I had to have a small cliffy on this one…

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

How in the world Sakaki and Doujima managed to get all the way from the dark, damp street corner under the silvery moon's single, beady eye, and all the way back to the equally dark and damp alley where her apartment lay, while all the while kissing one another, was beyond both of them.

Finally Sakaki's prized motorcycle arrived outside Doujima's apartment, and the pair of young teens climbed off. Their feet passed over the very spot that Kichiro had stood only half an hour ago as they arrived on the small stone steps outside the oak door of the brick building that housed Doujima's apartment.

Doujima's back collided with the door of the building, slightly painfully, as the kissing began once again. Sakaki, who had once been furious beyond all comprehension at the blonde, was now kissing her lips with a hunger beyond any he had had for revenge against his empty shell of a father.

It couldn't really be called kissing; it was more trying to devour one another's mouths entirely. Like a stunt on Fear Factor in which you had to eat a frozen cow tongue, but the tongues weren't frozen, and they weren't cows'.

Lips connected with lips, hands roamed over bodies, and neighbors stared at the whole thing.

It took Doujima a moment to notice her eighty-five year old neighbor down the hall standing at the bottom of the steps. She wore an ugly maroon dress, had matted gray hair, and a leathery handbag hung from her arm. Her aged eyes behind horn-rimmed glasses were popping out and staring at the teens.

"Haruto, stop!" Doujima hissed as her sapphire eyes shot down to the little old lady.

Sakaki turned his head for a moment, observed the lady, and then shrugged. "So?"

Doujima glared at him. "So? So there's an old lady watching us!"

Sakaki gave a small groan. "She's old, Yuri-chan; she doesn't have much to live for. We may as well make a reason for her to exist, eh?"

Doujima flashed him a sly smile, and nodded her head. Sakaki was filled with joy, until she spoke. "You want to give the old lady a reason to live? Then maybe you should sleep with her."

And before he could speak, Doujima had shimmied out from under his arms, opened the old oak door, sped inside, and closed it tightly. Sakaki stood in mute amazement at how stupid he truly was.

"I'm ready if you are," the old woman said suddenly from behind him. Sakaki screamed and pounded on the door loudly.

"Doujima!"

There was a laugh from the other side. "What's wrong, I thought you were with Mrs. Kinoto?"

The old woman spoke again from behind him. "When I take my teeth out, I can give one hell of a blow-"

"DOUJIMA OPEN THE DAMN DOOR!"

The door gave a click as it unlocked, and Sakaki hurried through it to the sounds of Doujima laughing. Inside, Doujima was leaning against her own apartment door; laughing so hard tears were streaming down her pale cheeks. The tears stung at the large, slashing cut that had been made by Kichiro, but she was laughing too hard to notice.

"You're evil," Sakaki spat.

"No," Doujima finally replied as her mirth died down; she wrapped her arms around Sakaki's shoulders, staring into his cobalt eyes with her deep cerulean ones. "If I were evil, I'd say `cold shower'."

Sakaki grinned back, kissed her once on her lips, and was going to kiss her again when an annoyed "Hem, Hem" came from behind them, and they turned to see the old woman glaring at them.

"Oh, Haruto-kun, your girlfriend's back."

"Shut up," Sakaki said firmly as he opened the door to Doujima apartment. And the two disappeared inside, leaving the old woman alone.

----

Robin wasn't speaking to Michael anymore.

It was by far the most childish thing the fifteen-year-old craft-master had done since she arrived in Japan, and the most childish thing she'd done since she was seven, in fact. Still, it worked.

Robin was slumped in a corner of Jyou's office; she had decided to get some sleep since `someone' (as she was referring to Michael now), had announced that he needed to hack into his files at Raven's Flat to learn how to defeat a undead echo, and they may be here overnight.

Her petite form was buried beneath her deep, burgundy coat, and her tired face rested on a small pillow, like the kind you find on an airplane, that Jyou had given her. She had thanked him happily, muttered a goodnight to `someone', and tried her best to let sleep have her.

The floor was icy cold, the pillow itched her face, and she was uncomfortable in the black nun's skirt that covered her body, but she really had no choice in any of those things. She would have heated the floor a bit to remove the chill, but the memories of Michael screaming as fires danced on his skin were horrible.

Robin closed her eyes as the tears fell. She cried silently, but she still cried; she was furious with Michael. True, his plan had worked out, he was alive, and she was not angry because he had made her light him on fire. She was not even angry because she could have killed him. She was angry because she knew she could never be with him now.

Every time she looked at him, or heard his name, or even used her craft, she thought of Michael burning, Michael dying. She hated that thought, because she loved Michael. She loved him, and yet she had already made up her mind to break up with him when she awoke.

She loved him, but she could not be in love with him anymore.

----

Later . . .

----

Sakaki was shaken out of his sleep by the sound of someone pounding on a door. It wasn't Doujima's door, it sounded like the neighbor's across the hallway.

"Hey, Yuri-chan, did you hear that?" Sakaki looked down to where Doujima was snuggled into his chest, sleeping peacefully. He reached down and shook her softly, his ears still listening for any sound of pounding.

"Mmm?" Doujima murmured quietly to show she was listening to what her boyfriend was saying, while at the same time showing she was asleep and couldn't care less about any pounding doors.

Then the explosion was heard.

"Shit!"

Doujima was wide awake now, as the sound of a bomb going off was heard clearly from the hallway. Both of the young teens quickly shot out of bed and went for their guns, which were buried somewhere in the small pile of clothes at the foot of the bed.

Then, there was pounding on their door. Sakaki found his gun buried beneath his trousers and raised it, aiming it at the door. Doujima, who couldn't find her gun, simply ducked down behind Sakaki and glared at the pounding door.

Then, it burst open, and Kichiro Wantanabee stood in front of them, holding in his massive ex-football player arms an M-16 machine gun, an invention of the Americans during Vietnam. It was quite deadly.

"Thought I'd find you here." Kichiro laughed in his saltiest voice as he smirked, showing those horrible yellow teeth. His dark eyes scanned over the half-naked teens and the one gun between them, and he grinned even more as he raised the machinegun.

Sakaki was in a bit of a trance at first as his father clicked back the large gun and aimed it, and Doujima herself could not move. Neither of them believed it was Kichiro who stood in their doorway, behind him the apartment across the hall was smoking and burning.

"I got the wrong apartment," Kichiro laughed. "But I shall still get you!"

He opened fired with the gun, and Sakaki screamed as the bullets went sailing towards them, whistling their deadly cry in the air as they zoomed for the kill. Squeezing his eyes shut, Sakaki clenched his entire body. When his eyes finally opened, over thirty bullets were suspended in mid-air just in front of him.

He took one look at the bullets, and they fell harmlessly to the ground. Kichiro cursed.

"Damn it! I didn't expect you to awaken," Kichiro growled.

"I awoke three years ago," Sakaki muttered quietly. "I just don't use my powers because they remind me of your ugly ass."

Kichiro glared and narrowed his eyes. "Baka."

A second later, Doujima's TV set, which lie on a dresser in front of the bed, shot off the ground and up into the air. Sakaki twisted his head and the dresser beneath the TV shot straight up so fast it smashed the TV set into the ceiling before Kichiro could launch it.

"Not bad." Kichiro flashed his salty grin.

"No, bad is those teeth, dad. I mean it's called a toothbrush, buy one." Sakaki grinned sarcastically. A second later, he narrowed his eyes and the welcome mat which Kichiro stood on shot out from under him and caused him to fall down, landing on his back.

"Let's go!" Doujima called from behind him as she dashed out of the house, pulling on her dark STN-J coat over her small, light blue nightgown. Sakaki nodded, grabbing his own coat and running over his father's body as they ran into the hallway.

The teens ran from the house and jumped onto Sakaki's motorbike as he revved up the engine and began to speed away from the apartment complex. He could have, of course, shot his father, but he did not.

Doujima had convinced him not to take a life. He had promised her he wouldn't kill, and he would never break a promise to her.

The motorcycle sped off down the road, but only minutes later as they continued onward, they heard shots behind them. Turning their heads, they saw Kichiro, on a black motorcycle of his own that bore the STN-J crest across its windshield.

"STN?" Sakaki blinked as he read. "How the hell did he get an STN bike?"

"Zaizen," Doujima muttered to herself.

"What?" Sakaki asked, looking down at the blonde who road behind him, clutching his waist.

"Haruto, he must have escaped from the Factory and stole some gear."

Sakaki cursed as they rode on down the busy streets at two in the morning, half naked except for boxers and a coat, with his crazy father chasing them.

----

"Got it!"

Michael's excited cry woke up both Robin and Jyou. Robin was still in the corner, beneath her coat, when his voice woke her from her nightmares. Of course, she saw herself burning him once again, but she couldn't wake up no matter how hard she tried. And, of course, in the dream there was no watch.

Jyou had passed out in a chair in the corner. He was old, and sleep came easy to him after a day as extreme as this one. His old blue eyes and Robin's young emerald ones were now focused on Michael.

"Robin." Michael spoke quietly, without looking at her. He knew she was mad with him. "I need your help."

"What do you need, Michael?" Robin asked in a quiet, shy voice he had not heard her use since they had first met. It was the voice of a stranger, not the woman he loved. Michael sighed and bit his lip.

"If you can burn away Rick Richard's portrait, it should destroy his echo."

Robin sat silently for a moment. "Michael?"

"Yes?"

"What about the echo in the watch?"

There was a moment of pause in which nothing but the quiet breathing of the three could be heard, broken only by the distant shouts of `Campbell!' from the other side of the door.

"The echo in the watch used up its power to save me. Nothing should change."

"Should?" Robin's voice was no longer hallowed and empty, no longer shy. Her passion was back, but not her passion for their love, her passionate anger. Her eyes glared at Michael. "So if I do this, there is a chance you die?"

Michael closed his sky blue eyes, refusing to look at the young girl by his side. At length, the seventeen-year-old hacker spoke. "Yes, there is a chance I may die. But if we don't do something soon, all the people in this museum will die, and we will too."

Robin bit her lower lip and stared down at her lap. She couldn't believe that she had to destroy the portrait when there was a clear chance Michael would die. She sighed. True, she was mad at him, and true, any chance of a romantic relationship they ever had was now gone, but she still couldn't stand to think of a world without him.

"Robin, you have to." Michael's gentle, but firm hands moved down and rested on her shoulders. She tilted her head up to stare at his own where he sat in the rolling chair. Jyou's office computer, as old as it was, was now hacked into the STN's files.

"Michael . . . I can't." She spoke quietly.

Michael's lips found her forehead. "Robin. I promised you something before. I'm going to keep that promise; I'll never leave, because I love you."

Robin was silent. Her eyes were full of tears once again, and all at once she buried her face in Michael's chest and began to weep openly for the first time in a long time. Michael's arms slipped from her shoulders down to around her back, and held her tightly.

"Promise me, Michael." She spoke quietly into his black shirt. "Promise me you won't die."

Michael sighed. "I can't do that."

Robin sighed. "Michael-"

"Robin," he cut her off. "Every day you go on a Witch Hunt I worry about you. Every second you're out there, in danger, I'm afraid. Every minute you're not in my arms, I feel fear. But you have a job to do, and so do I. This isn't about us. If we don't do something, a lot of people will die. This is bigger than us."

Robin closed her eyes tightly.

"I'll do it." She spoke softly at length.

"Arigato. Arigato to Ai Shiteru. (Basically means Thanks and I love you.)

Robin said nothing; she just sat on the floor quietly, tears still burning her cheeks. Michael sighed.

"Alright, here's the plan."

----

A Few Minutes Later . . .

----

The echo of Rick Richards was standing about a hundred feet from Jyou the guard's door, his long rapier in hand and his eyes, a color darker than black, still glaring. Occasionally he'd yell `Campbell!', and then wave his sword for a while.

Then all at once, the door opened and Michael walked out. He held in his hand Jyou's gun, and on his face was the look of a man in pain. Richards grinned and waved his sword, shouting the name of Michael's ancestor.

"Yes, Campbell, right," Michael spoke back. He raised the gun and brought it up to his side, pressing the edge of the gun barrel to the side of his stomach. Richards ran forward, waving his sword like a mad man, and Michael pulled the trigger.

The gun went off, shooting a bullet out, which grazed across Michael's skin, tearing it and causing blood to flow at once. The second the blood hit the air, Richards screamed and vanished.

"GO!" Michael yelled as he ran, tearing off towards a room labeled `Feudal Era Dynasty'. A second later, Robin took off like a bullet out of the guard room, a walkie-talkie in her hand and her glasses on her face. Jyou followed last, a walkie-talkie in his own hand, following Michael.

A second later, Richards was back, his long sword waving once again, and he ran, ignoring Robin, and following Michael and Jyou to the Feudal Japan branch of the museum.

"CAMPBELL!"

Richards's eyes scanned the room as he looked for Michael. The cowering aged security guard was hiding behind a row where Samurai armor was displayed. The many body armors and helmets, along with Katanas, lined the back row of the room.

And standing in the middle of the row of armor, was a large red samurai outfit, complete with a mask modeled after a youkai's head. And wearing that red youkai samurai suit was Michael Lee, a katana in his hand.

"You want to wave swords around?" Michael grinned as he lifted the Katana. "Let's dance."

"CAMPBELL!" Richards bellowed as he waved his rapier.

"Lee," Michael grinned back as he stepped off the Samurai rack and walked slowly towards the grinning fiend before him.

Richards ran forward, and Michael slashed out with his sword; unfortunately Michael knew nothing about sword fighting, and he missed Richards completely. Richards, however, was able to slash his katana across Michael's back, cutting the armor and grazing Michael's skin.

"Cheap Samurai armor," Michael muttered. "Probably Chinese."

He rolled over on the ground as Richards brought the rapier up for a second swing. Jyou shook his head and spoke into the walkie-talkie.

"Robin, hurry up!"

Michael shot up off of the ground, running as quickly as he could, but not quickly enough as the rapier flew and slashed the back of the youkai helmet mask he wore, causing it to break and fall off.

"Why does this armor suck so much!?" Michael yelled as he ran into the main hall of the museum.

"It's four hundred years old!" Jyou called back.

Michael was in the main corridor now, near the front door; he held the Katana awkwardly. Richards walked out with his rapier and charged, screaming `Campbell!' once again. Michael moved the Katana up, blocking the thinner blade in a horrible fashion, but saving his life.

"CAMPBE-AHHHHH!"

Suddenly flames engulfed Richards's body. He dropped the rapier to the ground as his body burnt upwards. There was a second's pause before Michael looked down to see that the only trace of Richards was a burnt, hundred year old slab of painting on the ground as it turned to ash.

Michael turned around as Robin appeared. Her eyes were full of worry, but Michael was alive and well. She ran out, a tiny bracelet in her hand. Michael recognized it as Rosalind Nichole's bracelet, and she handed it to him.

"What's this for?"

Robin spoke softly. "I thought that it might have one of those echoes in it, too. So maybe if you were hurt, it could save you again."

Michael smiled sweetly, and wrapped his arms around her as he dropped the bracelet into his pocket. "I love you Robin."

Robin remained quiet. She sighed and buried her head into his shoulder. "Michael . . ."

Michael sighed. He had expected this. "Robin, do you really want to throw away everything we have together because of one mistake?"

"No," Robin said quickly. "But I don't have a choice."

Michael's lips found her forehead, and worked their way down to her own. At first she did not return the kisses, but after the fourth time his lips pressed to hers without any repayment, she kissed him back. The fifth time, she met his lips and they kissed quietly. The sixth and seventh times, she was doing most of the kissing.

And then the lights came on; the doors and windows all opened up once again. People, who had been hiding in the dark, gave cheerful cries, and Jyou could be heard yelling in joy amongst them. Robin and Michael ignored all of that as their lips met for the eleventh time, kissing each time with a growing hunger.

And then, the screaming started once more. Michael and Robin broke apart in time to see the motorcycle come flying through the now open front door . . .

----

Five Minutes Ago . . .

----

Sakaki and Doujima both exchanged their share of cursing as they swerved in between the many cars on the road. Even at two in the morning Tokyo was crowded, and motorcycle driving was nearly impossible on these streets.

Sakaki revved up the engine, and they sped forward, dodging between two taxi cabs as they ran a red light. Behind them, Kichiro wasn't being as nice about his driving, using his craft to smash the sides of cars as he drove between them.

"We need a plan!" Doujima called to her boyfriend.

"I know that!" Sakaki shot back angrily as he tried to avoid a red Honda as they sped past.

"What's that ahead?" Doujima asked, noticing that the street was splitting off in two directions. A large gray building loomed ahead of them on their path.

"Museum" Sakaki replied as he prepared to turn. Suddenly he got an idea. "Hang on, Yuri!"

"What? Why? NO!"

A second later, Sakaki revved the engine again and shot forward towards the museum door.

----

Present Time

----

Michael and Robin broke apart in time to see the motorcycle come flying through the now open front door. The two teens ran quickly to the left as Sakaki and Doujima went flying by them on the back of a motorcycle, and Sakaki turned hard to the right and came to a screeching stop.

A second later, Kichiro's motorcycle came flying in just behind them, but Kichiro wasn't as good on a bike as his son was. When he tried to screech to a stop, he failed and crashed right into one of the walls, throwing Kichiro off the bike and towards a wall, but the witch's craft kicked in and stopped him from hitting it, landing on his feet.

"Damn! Didn't expect that." Sakaki cursed.

"Haruto?"

Sakaki and Doujima suddenly blinked and turned around. It was quite a sight to see. Doujima and Sakaki, both of whom were dressed in their undergarments and their dark coats sat on the back of the motorcycle, staring intently at Michael, who wore Samurai armor and carried a sword, and Robin, who was blushing red from her kissing session.

"Michael?" Sakaki grinned. "Is it Halloween already?"

"They're called pants, some people wear them." Michael shot back, and Sakaki blushed and pulled his coat shut.

"Doujima, what-" Robin began, but a loud curse from Kichiro cut them all of. He was now walking towards them with his aged face full of fury, his yellow teeth grinding together angrily and his salty voice spitting hatred.

"I hate you all!"

Sakaki reached inside his coat and pulled out the handgun from before, holding it aloft. The crash had hurt Kichiro. His leg was cut from where it had been jammed into the exhaust pipe, and blood was oozing down. His face and neck were covered in cuts and burgundy fluid dripped down from the corner of his mouth.

"I…will…KILL YOU ALL!"

Kichiro flashed his powers out, but Sakaki's own equal craft flashed back and sent his father falling to the floor in a heap of blood. Sakaki cocked the gun in his hand and walked over, his eyes full of rage.

"You killed mom." He said quietly as he pressed the nozzle of the gun to his father's head.

"I sure as hell did." Kichiro grinned back.

Sakaki pressed the gun tighter into Kichiro's forehead, and he loved it. He loved seeing his father lie on the ground in pain, and he loved the knowledge that one squeeze of a trigger and his dad was dead forever. It was more enjoyable than fun, or food, or sex. It was the best feeling in the world.

"Haruto-kun!"

Suddenly, Doujima spoke, and Sakaki suddenly felt bad. Not just bad, he felt dirty. He felt worse than he ever had. He had been an inch from killing someone, and he had loved it. He had already been itching to kill, and wondering when he could do it again, when Doujima broke the spell.

He felt horrible. He had been ready to commit a cold-blooded murder.

Just like my father.

Sakaki threw the gun to his right and screamed. He hated how much he had enjoyed it. He hated the feeling he had loved so much only seconds ago.

"Not even going to kill me, eh?"

"No." Sakaki shook his head. "No, I won't kill you."

Kichiro closed his eyes and let his head fall backwards onto the ground. "That's too bad."

Suddenly, Kichiro shot upward and his boot connected with Sakaki's chin before the blonde could move. Kichiro stretched one of his hands out and suddenly the rapier that had fallen to the ground after Rick Richards was destroyed flew to his hand.

"Go visit your mother!"

Kichiro raised the rapier over his head and stabbed it downward at his son, but at that very moment the sound of gunshots was heard and Kichiro's chest and head exploded in several tiny spots as bullets tore through the skin, through his chin, through his throat, his lungs, heart, and brain, all destroyed by the barrage of bullets.

Sakaki blinked as he opened his eyes to see his father killed. Kichiro's body, now with fourteen new holes in the head and chest, slumped down to the cold marble floors of the museum as he dropped the rapier.

The eyes of Sakaki, as well as those of everyone else in the museum, shot to the door where Amon and Karasuma stood with black handguns out in front of them. Both of them released the empty clips, which fell onto the floor, breaking the stone silence with an eerie gong sound.

"Amon." Robin whispered quietly.

Karasuma was breathing heavily, her eyes wide and fearful. Doujima sighed, and she knew that look. It was the same hallowed look her own eyes had worn, after she killed David Rica.

Amon, however, showed no sign of pity or remorse for the now dead father of Sakaki. He just turned around and hurried out the museum door.

All of them were so caught up in the moment, that they never noticed Kichiro's hand was slowly moving. Moving ever so slowly towards the black rapier hilt, as if being drawn by some invisible force. None of them heard Kichiro as his hand touch the rapier and he spoke in a quiet, raspy voice, a single word.

"Campbell . . ."

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

*listening to Jimmy Wayne's I Love You This Much*

Dude, this song SO reminds me of Kichiro and Sakaki. Listen, or read rather…

He can't remember,

The times that he thought,

"Does My Daddy Love Me?
Probably not,"

But that didn't stop him,

From wishing that he did,

Keep him from wanting,

Or worshiping him,

I guess he saw him,

About once a year,

He can still feel the way he felt,

Standing in tears,

Stretching his arms out,

As far as they'd go,

Whispering daddy,

"I want you to know"

I love you this much,

And I'm waiting on you,

To make up your mind,

"Do you love me too?"
However long it takes,

I'm never giving up,

No matter what,

I love you this much.

He grew to hate him,

For what he had done,

Cause what kind of father,

Could do that to his son?

He said "Damn ya daddy"

The day that he died,

The man didn't blink,

But the little boy cried,

I love you this much,

And I'm waiting on you,

To make up your mind,

"Do you love me too?"
However long it takes,

I'm never giving up,

No matter what,

I love you this much.

Halfway through the service,

While the choir sang a hem,

He looked up above the preacher,

And he sat and stared at Him,

He said, "Forgive me father",

When he realized,

He hadn't been unloved,

Or alone all his life,

His arms were stretched out,

As far as they'd go,

Nailed to the cross,

For the whole world to know

I love you this much,

And I'm waiting on you,

To make up your mind,

"Do you love me too?"
However long it takes,

I'm never giving up,

No matter what,

I love you this much.

Don't you think that's kind Sakaki and Kichiro's Luke/Vader relationship?

And just like in the song, somewhere, deep down inside, Sakaki still has feelings for Kichiro. Not love, and not respect, but some kind of feeling near that nature.

Anyway, I'm out of here,

Oh, and go read In Your Eyes by Kanno, it's a good fic, and I highly recommend it. You'll love it. I did.

Ja Ne

~Golden-sama