X:2099
A fanfic by Epeeblade aka C. Pontoriero
Part 2
“So, nice place you got here, Subaru-san.”
Another interruption, Subaru sighed, looking up from his desk, allowing the eyepiece to
adjust to the dimness of the room and filter images so it was almost like having two eyes
again. Standing at the door stood the tiny Kamui, his current partner. “Oh,” he said softly,
realizing that he was assigned to work with this stranger and had better be on his best
behavior, “Thank you, um, you don’t have to stand by the door, please come in.”
The young man took him at his word, entering the room with a somewhat haughty stride.
“What are you looking at?” he peered over the screen that blinked up from the desk.
“And don’t you ever put any lights on?”
“Lights, 89%,” Subaru commanded into the microphone at his lips. How could he explain
that he liked his office dim? That the interior darkness only served to illuminate the
brilliance that was Tokyo through his window even more. “I am doing research via the
Sumeragi family archives, the digital version anyway.”
Kamui grinned, “Yeah, it’s not like anyone uses paper anymore. So, did you find
anything interesting?” He leaned over to look at the screen, but found it was all gibberish.
“How can you read that?”
Subaru turned and stared at the neophyte’s luminous violet eyes. “You don’t have an
eyepiece, or even cyber-shades. How do you expect to be of any use to me if you can’t
even interpret a computer screen?”
The boy scowled. “I can get you out of this dingy office for one. You think you’re gonna
find references to old legends on that screen?”
“Well, where else am I going to find it?” Subaru snapped, out of patience.
“Out there.” Kamui flung out his wrist, and the picture window shattered. Before Subaru
could even gasp, the boy had grabbed his arm and leapt out the window, pulling Subaru
after him.
“We’re going to die!” Subaru screeched, closing his eyes as they plummeted towards the
earth at a frightening speed.
***
Seishirou fanned out the slim computer chip cards in either hand, tossing them into the
atmosphere of the hologram, the illusion he was so adept at creating. The chips fluttered
into large silver hawks, diving towards the two young girls who stood in the center,
balanced precariously on boulders that weren’t really there.
“What sort of magic is this?” Said the younger girl, gasping at the sudden appearance of
the hawks.
“Jump,” The other commanded and the two leapt out of the way of the attacking
creatures, each now on separate sides of the illusion.
Sorata nodded at the other man, before leaping to the side of the girl with long hair. He
grasped her sword hand tightly, so she could not strike, “Sorata Arisugawa, at your
service, pretty lady – once you give up this sword that is.” He reached up with his other
hand and caressed the skin at her wrist. “Your skin is so soft!”
She frowned and twisted her body to send him sprawling with a well-placed kick.
“Well, I was going to play nice, but now you’ve PISSED ME OFF.” He began to
concentrate, then pointed at her location as a bolt of lightening projected from his hand.
Instead of dodging, she merely lifted her sword and deflected the lightening.
“That’s one heck of a sword.” He murmured, leaping out of the way of his own
lightening. “You’d think the metal would have absorbed the heat, or at least given ya a
shock. It /is/ lightening.”
“This isn’t metal.” She told him, lifting her sword and leaping to attack.
“Hey now, no need to get offensive…omph!”
On the other side of the illusion, Yuzuriha knelt, her clothes torn and blood seeped from
various cuts. Her ‘sword’ lay at her feet. She glared up at the stranger with anger.
He merely smiled. “There, that’s a good girl,” When he reached to pick up the sword he
was met with a snarling dog. “What?” he gasped, backing away slowly from the growling
wolf like creature.
“Get him, Inuki!” she cried, as the dog latched on to the man’s wrist.
“Hey, Seishirou, got a feeling, these ain’t the swords we’re looking for?” a voice called
from the darkness.
“Exactly what I was thinking, Sorata.” Seishirou shook himself free of the dog, then
clasped his hands together, activating another of his famous holograms, this one making
it seem that he and Sorata faded away into tiny Sakura blossoms.
“We’ll meet again, babe,” Sorata’s voice could be heard as the inky blackness faded
away and revealed the bright lights of the city.
***
“If we had not been in the poor quarter, we could have detected the deception earlier.”
Seishirou muttered as the two made their way back to BEAST 0101, the central
headquarters.
“What the heck are you talking about?” Sorata skipped a bit in front of the man.
“I mean holograms. That sword held by the young lady I fought transformed into a wolf,
and a physical manifestation as well.” He showed the young man his wrist, which was
marred by a nasty looking dog bite.
“I thought illusions were /your/ specialty.” Sorata mused, “And I know what you mean,
the babe I fought, her sword wasn’t even metal, and it wasn’t any plastic alloy either, let
me tell you that. And the creepiest thing…did you see what she did when you recalled the
illusion? When they thought we were gone?”
“She retracted the blade into her hand.” Seishirou grimaced.
Karen was waiting for them when they returned. “Now you guys look like you got into a
fight. That was more exciting that my day.” She sidled up next to Seishirou, wrapping her
arm around his before pecking him on the cheek.
“Of course, you had to spend it with ‘I have no personality’ Nataku,” Sorata mocked.
“But it just got better, now that you’re here.” She purred.
“I’m going to call a meeting now.” Sorata hopped into the closest transport tube. “Later.”
At Karen’s inquisitive look, Seishirou sighed, “We encountered the enemy.”
“Ah,” she nodded. “I thought you were supposed to look for this sword the clairvoyant
mentioned.”
“It started out that way. I think there are too many swords in this story already.” He
started walking towards a tube, inadvertently dragging her with him.
“Where are we going?” she asked, giggling.
“Nothing so crude. I want to ask Subaru-kun if he’s got any more information about these
swords.”
“Then you’re going the wrong way, he left with Kamui this afternoon.”
“WHAT?”
“Stop it,” she chided, as the tube slid into motion. “You’re planning something.”
“What are you talking about, lovely?”
“Oh don’t even pretend with me. /Me/ of all people. You’re playing him like a fiddle, but
I can’t figure out why.”
“Isn’t the challenge what attracted you to me in the first place?” He purred, his voice
vibrating in the small chamber.
For some reason, she found herself shivering in the warm tube.
***
Subaru discovered that Kamui had better control of his psychic ability than he had
anticipated, since they were both on the ground and neither of them seemed to be dead.
After the rather abrupt landing, Kamui led him to a small park, nearly a quarter mile out
of their way. Subaru gasped when he saw it, the little patch of green so bright against the
silver, a starling contrast just as the single emerald eye he retained shined from his pale
face. “What is this place?”
Kamui shrugged, “Ueno Park, what’s left of it, that is. I wonder sometimes why she
didn’t plow the entire thing over. Come on!” he called, running ahead like the boy he
was. Subaru only caught up with him once inside the park.
Kamui sat on a swing, kicking his legs back and forth to keep pushing himself higher,
ever higher. Hesitantly, Subaru slipped into the swing next to him, but didn’t feel brave
enough to attempt to swing.
Eventually Kamui slowed his ascent and descent enough that he was level with Subaru.
“You don’t swing?”
Subaru smiled at that, “I haven’t in years.” He reached inside his jacket pocket for the
carefully secreted box of cigarettes he kept there. Ignoring the look on Kamui’s face he
proceeded to light one. /If he can swing, I can smoke./ he thought pleasantly to himself,
as he inhaled the scent, thinking of the man whose scent was so similar. “Why are we
here Kamui?”
“This is the only place in the entire city where she can’t hear us.”
“She can always hear us,” Subaru tapped his earpiece.
“You can shut it off for a few minutes, can’t you?”
“Not if I want to see,” Subaru answered petulantly, but reached up to switch off the piece
anyway.
The boy looked abashed at that. “I’m sorry. H-how did you lose your eye?”
Subaru shrugged, staring at the line of smoke as it trailed towards the sky. “It was
necessary for me to be better integrated into the command systems.”
“Satsuki,” Kamui said softly, answering the question. “How long have you been hers?”
“Since I was nine.” He whispered. “My family’s position was no longer necessary in the
new order. My talents weren’t magic, they were un-categorized psychic manifestations. A
new name for everything.”
“Do you believe in magic?” Kamui whispered back, as if even here in this place of safety,
there was the threat of detection.
“What does it matter?” Subaru declared, tossing away his cigarette, stomping it into the
dust with his foot.
“It’s important. Do you believe in Destiny? I’m here because my mother believed in my
destiny.”
“Where is your mother then?” Subaru snapped back, angry and tired of this useless
conversation.
“Murdered, by Satsuki Yatohji.” Kamui snarled, “And she LET herself be killed, all for
the sake of Destiny. All for the Holy Sword.”
“You hate her.” Subaru said softly.
“Don’t you?”
It took a moment before he realized they were talking about two entirely different people.
He stood abruptly. “You mean, you have the sword?”
“Satsuki does.” Kamui answered hesistantly.
“Come on, I have to see it,” he said hungrily, this time leading the way back to BEAST
0101 himself.
Behind them, the sakura rustled in the wind.
***
Arashi frowned from where she stood under the lamppost, facing away from the light so
as not to obscure her vision, but checking behind her back every so often. Where was
Yuuto? He should have relieved her 20 minutes ago.
When she and the princess had returned to the Mission, the boy they had rescued in tow,
the others were shocked that Yuzuriha had come so close to danger.
“Surely princess, you can’t allow this to happen again.” Aoki declared, carefully
wrapping the wounds on her arms.
“We’ll set up a guard,” Kusanagi began to plan, deciding that it was better they should
have some kind of warning when their enemy would attack.
“Excuse me,” the boy, Keichi, called before he entered the upstairs room they happened
to be using as a war room. “I was speaking to Sister Kotori…”
“Kotori?” Fuuma asked, puzzled. “That’s her name?”
“She has a name?” Yuuto commented absently from the other side of the room, where
once again, he sat in shadows.
Keichi cleared his throat, not really wanting to interrupt, but didn’t see a way around it,
“Yes, it’s her name. We were wondering, who exactly are you? And why are Satsuki’s
inner circle attacking you?”
Well, then, that caught their attention. If Keichi knew more about their enemies than they
did, he would certainly have to be consulted. But not before guard was set.
And unfortunately, Arashi drew short straw, and found herself under the glowing
lamppost, watching the lowlife of this city walk past and gaze at her strangely, even
though now she was disguised in the clothes Sister Kotori had given her. She wanted to
be inside, hearing about this new world, /that/ was the best way she could protect the
princess, not standing out here looking as if she was advertising herself.
“Well, hello babe, looks like we meet again.”
She stiffened, and whirled around, hoping not to see the person who stood there, leaning
against the wall of the mission, looking completely non-threatening, with an odd cap on
his head, and long bulky clothes so unlike the blue uniform he had worn earlier.
Sorata Arisugawa.
To be continued….
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