Fantasy Stellar ARMOR Satellizer (Ranix Aurus & Admiral19)

[Admiral19]

There, poking out from beneath the rubble...Rui dove in, dug through the debris, and—

Aquarius. It was nearly under their nose.

...They couldn't let these people have it.

Suddenly, almost too suddenly, Rui rushed past the three, out into the snow. This was it. Now they just had to get the other medallions, and whatever infernal plan the Kaiserin's working on—

Rui skidded to a stop in the snow. Aoi was shaking herself off. Aina was panting heavily, in severe condition. And...

Shouji lay unconscious in the snow, Gemini sitting right beside him.

A thousand thoughts flooded Rui's brain. Aina picked up the medallion and stumbled to her feet before Rui could force any of them out.

"Rui." She knew what they were thinking. "We're leaving. Don't take too long."

 

[Ranix Aurus]

"No!" Seiichiro wanted to stop them, but he was too late. They were gone in an instant, taking Aquarius along.

Oh God. No, no, no! It couldn't be!

The scientist chased like his life depended on it, and what he saw in the distance was the two other Holders talking to Rui, with Shouji laying unconscious by their feet.

Seiichiro's face was as white as the snow.

Hotaru took some time to follow him. She too quickly realized what had happened when they came within view.

Gemini. They've lost it... and that meant there was nothing to protect them from Aesir in this frozen land.

 

[Admiral19]

For what it was worth, none of the Holders lashed out, not immediately. Rui especially didn't do anything, just stood there and looked down at Shouji as a biting cold wind picked up.

There was no way. They couldn't want him like they wanted to. It hurt. Why did everything...god fucking dammit, why was this so hard...?

Aisuke stood a ways away. This had to be tearing at Rui...he didn't know what else he could say to them.

But they weren't the biggest issue right now. "We need to return to Japan once Shouji's more stable. All of the medallions have been found in America...there's no point in staying. As for Gemini...we need to think of a game plan."

As Aisuke was speaking, Rui followed the other Holders. Aquarius was theirs, and so was Gemini. Fantastic! So why did Rui still hurt?

 

[Ranix Aurus]

That... was it? They only took the medallion and left? Seiichiro couldn't believe it, but as they disappeared from sight, he finally felt blood rushing through his veins once again, pushing him back into action. He quickly crouched beside Shouji, checking on the young man's pulse.

"He's still alive!" Seiichiro exclaimed. However, he still hadn't regained consciousness yet. Worse, his pulse was weak, and his breathing was dangerously shallow. He needed medical attention as soon as possible.

 

[Admiral19]

Aisuke didn't need to be told twice. Swiftly, he gathered Shouji in his arms(and gave Rui one more apologetic look) before making his way to the van. "It's okay, Shouji," he said, "tomorrow we'll be going home. We need to figure out Aesir's next move."

Before everyone piled in, Rui stopped Hotaru, grabbing her shoulder as she walked by.

They looked up at her. Their face was obscured by their ARMOR, but the pain was still there.

"I..." They couldn't keep speaking. They wanted to wish Hotaru luck, they wanted to lament their pain, they wanted to cry, they wanted to scream at her, but they just couldn't.

 

[Ranix Aurus]

Hotaru placed her hand over theirs, before slowly pulling it down.

"Whichever choice that you made in the end, I hope that it'll be the best for you. But,"

She gave them a fierce glare.

"...If you or Aesir dare to hurt Kanae... I won't let any of you off. Remember that."

She pushed their hand away as she went back to the van.

---

"It is done. We have acquired the last medallion."

Alfred was reporting the Holders' achievements to the Kaiserin. The final part of the puzzle had been found. Now all they had to do was to collect the other pieces from Leo and her merry little group. And then... finally, their ambitions will be realized at last.

"Rejoice, my Kaiserin! For your New World shall arrive!"

He turned around to address his subordinates. "Immediately start the preparation for Project Clearwater. Once the Holders returned from the north, we shall return to Japan. And then... it will be the time for that annoying Leo to perish!"

With their Holders and the monsters under their control, there was no chance for Leo to survive this. None!

 

[Admiral19]

"Ah, I love hearing a plan come together! Hurry them along, then! We've got lots to do!"

Things were falling into place, and the Kaiserin couldn't be more excited. Her "stage" was complete, Alfred was busy gathering her "audience", and very very soon, her "costume" will be finished. She did love a good show...

---

"What do you mean Gemini's gone?!"

Kanae shouted over the phone. The whole conversation wasn't entirely clear, but Akira could probably get the idea of what's happening. In their efforts to retrieve Aquarius, not only was it lost, but Shouji overclocked himself and lost Gemini as well.

That was a problem.

"...Alright. We'll see you guys soon." Kanae remained silent for a moment after she hung up, before knocking her fist against the wall in frustration. "Hm."

 

[Ranix Aurus]

Akira could gather what was happening from Kanae's replies. So they had lost Gemini... he didn't know how to feel about it. After all, he wasn't the original owner of that medallion. Still, that meant only Kanae was able to actively fight.

That wasn't good.

"Kanae," Akira called out to her. "This entire thing with the medallions... I think that we should give it up. You're the only one capable of fighting right now, and they have three people on their side, not counting the monsters that they seemingly are able to control now. This is too dangerous. We need to stop."

He clenched his hands. He knew that Kanae wouldn't like it, but... for him, "the world" didn't matter. Kanae's safety was the most important.

"...I don't want you to be hurt. Please."

...Perhaps he was really the same as his father, after all.

 

[Admiral19]

Kanae looked at Akira incredulously. "You can't be serious. You can't be serious! Akira, do you hear yourself?! We got this far only for you to..."

She took a breath. It wouldn't be good for her to get all angry. "Okay. Let me ask you something. How long have I known you and Hotaru?"

 

[Ranix Aurus]

"Kanae..."

There was a pleading in his eyes, but Kanae's voice toned down his stubborness. "About... thirteen years?" He timidly answered. That was yet another year of moving out from their previous house. It used to be the worst moment of Akira's life.

Until he met Kanae.

 

[Admiral19]

"Right. Akira, if Aesir manages to pull off whatever they're trying to do...fuck, this is gonna sound selfish, but...I don't want to lose either of you. I'd rather die in a world with you than live in a world without."

Thirteen years is a very long time. It's long enough to take your first visit to an aquarium. It's long enough to go to three different arcades. It's long enough to complain about tests and schoolwork all through high school.

And it was long enough to realize what you're willing to lose. Kanae knew that it wasn't gonna be Akira or Hotaru.

And...

"Can I tell you something?"

 

[Ranix Aurus]

"Go ahead," Akira nodded. He was starting to get nervous. Kanae looked like she was about to tell him something important that would change their relationships forever.

He didn't want that, but at the same time, curiosity was a wanting beast.

 

[Admiral19]

Well, she had to say it now. Kanae took a breath.

"Firefly, she..." A warmth bubbled in her chest. Under any other circumstance, it would be welcome...but it burned beyond belief, searing the very edges of her heart in the most painful way possible. "Ever since we returned her to normal after she became a monster, I've felt...I don't know. I feel calmer, but it's in a different way than when we're all together, or even when it's just you. It's weird! I have a feeling I know what it is, but..."

But if she said it, if she spoke it into life, then it would be real. And then it could crush her, the idea that she was feeling it and that it could be...unrequited. She'd be sitting with this warmth that, until it was doused, would burn her soul alive.

"It's selfish, but I don't want her to suffer through any of this. If it were up to me, she would have never gotten into this in the first place. But now that she's in it, I've gotta protect her, and I've also gotta protect you, and Dad and Mom and Uncle and...it's so fucking selfish, but I want you all to be safe!"

 

[Ranix Aurus]

Akira's eyes were opened wide. He had an inkling of what Kanae was trying to say, and his feelings were... complicated.

Really, really complicated.

"Kanae, don't tell me, to her, you..."

He chuckled. He smiled. But it looked so ugly, so forced. Right, so that was why they looked so close to each other. So that was what it was... did she knew already?

No, it wouldn't even matter, would it? After all, she--

"Kanae," Akira looked down, avoiding her gaze. "Are you serious... about this?"

That was a stupid question. Thirteen years. He should be familiar with her at this point. But it still...

...He felt like he was getting left behind.

"...Kanae, you want us to be safe, but we also want you to be safe. You shouldn't sacrifice yourself just for us. We don't want you to, never will. So please... for our sake, let's just leave, together? We'll escape somewhere far away, where they can't touch us. Then... we can go back to our old lives..."

Together.

But even he knew that it was a lie. The world was rapidly descending into a new place, and soon, it would be embroiled in a nasty fight for survival. Where would there be any place safe?

 

[Admiral19]

"Soon enough, there's nowhere we'll be able to go!" Kanae was hurting, a little at a time, the more she spoke. "Our old lives are dead! They've been dead for weeks! I don't know what you want me to say!"

He wanted her to say that she'll stay, that she won't risk herself. But Kanae could no longer promise that.

"It's not like we have a choice. I'm the only person who can do this. I can't just let Aesir do whatever they want! I have to do something!"

Her eyes started to water, though tears still didn't spill over. "I wanna live on as much as you two do, but if we do end up dying, I don't want to be the only one of us three alive. I couldn't live knowing that you two are gone. I couldn't live if I lost you and I could have done something about it. I couldn't live in a world where I wake up every day and realize that I can't see you, or hear you, or even send you a goddamn text!

 

[Ranix Aurus]

"Kanae, I..."

He choked on his own words. What could he say? Even he knew that his wishes was all that; wishful thinking. He was not better than his father, that stubborn old man who also clung to the past, trying to grasp a time that had long since gone.

The world... would never be the same anymore. What old lives? They had nothing of it left.

"...I want to rest for a bit," he murmured as he turned around so that his back now faced her.

He... wanted to be alone right now. No... he wanted Kanae to be by his side more than anything else at the moment, but it hurt even more the longer she did. He hated himself for thinking like that, but there was nothing that he could do.

---

Shouji had somehow passed the critical moment.

It was hard to get a plane back from Alaska, but thankfully, emergency services were ready to help. They didn't think that they would end up flying back with a helicopter, though.

The young man was quickly admitted to the hospital, and after a few hours of grueling wait, the doctors finally gave him the green light. They didn't have an inkling about Jotunn serum, but they did realize that he looked severely malnourished, as if parts of his body was being eaten away from the inside. With a huge dose of nutrients from numerous IVs connected to his body, they finally were able to stabilize him.

"He'll be fine for now, but he still need a lot of rest after this. What were you doing to get him to this point? Keep watch of his nutrient intake in the future."

The doctor had even considered calling the police, but Aisuke and the rest didn't look like bad people, so he ended up refraining from doing it. He only gave him a stern lecture before moving on to another patient.

"Haah..." Seiichiro collapsed on the bench. His taut nerves had finally loosen up, and now his legs were losing strength from overexertion.

"I'll check on Kanae and brother," Hotaru said to the two as she made her way to the elevator. They had lost Gemini... she didn't know how to explain it to Kanae. She had failed her...

 

[Admiral19]

Aisuke only sighed. Things have gotten dire, and now Kanae was the only one who could take on anything...they would need a plan now more than ever. He just hoped Aesir didn't have any other tricks up their sleeve...

---

"Sure. Rest well."

Kanae's voice was dejected, void of all joy. She hoped that Shouji was okay(the very first time she thought that). She hoped everyone came back from Alaska. She hoped that Hotaru came back. She needed her here, she needed Akira here, she needed...

 

[Ranix Aurus]

The elevator stopped at Akira's floor. When Hotaru walked out, she saw Kanae in the corridor, looking like she had nothing left to look for in life. She didn't know how long that girl had stood there, but it made her want to pull her into a tight embrace, and--

She coughed. Alright, she might had been thinking too much lately. About Haru, about what Aesir was trying to do.

"Kanae," Hotaru called her name softly, like a touch of cotton. She stepped over to her before giving her a hug, enveloping herself in Kanae's scent. After experiencing the freezing cold Alaskan weather, Kanae's warmth was the best.

She didn't want to let go. If only she could stay like this forever...

 

[Admiral19]

"Hotaru—" The moment that Hotaru's arms wrapped around her, Kanae froze. Every emotion that built up over the past few weeks welled up in her, crashing over like a wave, until she was desperately clutching Hotaru's shirt and burying her face in the crook of her neck.

Drops of wetness gently splashed onto Hotaru's shoulder.

...Tears.

"Please..." Please, what? She didn't know. She couldn't finish.

 

[Ranix Aurus]

Huh?

Hotaru had always seen the cheerful Kanae. The bright Kanae that brought light into everyone's life. So when she saw her breaking down like this, she was genuinely at a loss on what to say, or what to do, or what to think at all.

The only thing the came to mind was to gently pulled Kanae over to the bench, sat down side by side, and let her cry it all out. Hotaru hugged her tightly, wanting Kanae to know that she was not alone.

"Kanae... what's wrong? Did Aki- did big brother make you upset?" Hotaru frowned. "I'll make him regret it if he did."

 

[Admiral19]

"No, he didn't do anything. I got a little overwhelmed from everything. It's fine."

It wasn't fine.

Kanae's head stayed on Hotaru's shoulder. It had to be now. It had to be now, or Kanae would be consumed by this feeling for the rest of her life. It had to be now, or her feelings would be taken to her grave, and they would eat away at her the whole way there.

"Hotaru." Her voice didn't sound like Kanae. "Can I sound a little selfish?"

 

[Ranix Aurus]

Hotaru blinked at her. "What do you mean? Isn't Kanae always selfish?"

After a few seconds, she let out a light chuckle, smiling goofishly at her.

"You can. You can be as selfish as you want, Kanae. You're worth this entire world."

 

[Admiral19]

With that, Kanae's forehead pressed against the side of Hotaru's neck. "At my place. The aquarium. The hotel in New York. I thought about you all those times. And every time, I would feel...something. Something warm. I didn't have—" A lie. "...I had. A feeling. But I didn't want to say it back then. And I'm afraid of admitting it now."

Her tears flowed freely. Her body shook. She realized it the moment she opened her mouth again, realized very quickly.

"I love you." It didn't feel right to say in her mouth, not yet. Her eyes widened, then squeezed shut as Kanae buried her head further. She kept saying it, to the point where she started breaking down more, sobbing against Hotaru's chest, wanting so bad to hear that heart beating, wanting so bad to know that she was still here.

Don't be shy. Say it again.

I love you. For being so pretty she don't know what to do.

I love you. For indulging her late-night ramblings.

I love you. For being what brought her through years and years of loneliness.

"Fuck..." She felt insane. Kanae wanted to be insane, if it meant she could still be beside Hotaru. "I love you. I love you I love you I love you, God fucking dammit, I love you..."

 

[Ranix Aurus]

Hotaru blanked for a moment.

She thought that her ears had been playing tricks on her. No, it was real. What Kanae had said just now... everything was real. Her heart started beating faster. Faster. Her mind was clouded with ecstasy. A certain warmth- scratch that, she was burning, the place where Kanae was touching was searing like the heat of the summer sun.

And yet, and yet...

Her knee-jerk reaction was to push Kanae away and run as far as possible. She was afraid. Afraid that this happiness would ultimately be transient. Because she... she didn't deserve this. Never had, never will. She couldn't, Kanae couldn't be allowed to make this mistake. She had to turn it down.

And yet...

"Kanae, you're... selfish. So selfish..."

Hotaru gently placed her hands on Kanae's shoulders, before pushing them away.

Kanae was really selfish. Really, really selfish. So selfish that she couldn't help it.

"...That's why..."

Would it be okay for her... to be selfish as well? After all, it was only fair.

Her lips curved into a helpless smile before she leaned forward. Closer, closer... until she could feel the warmth Kanae's breathing on her skin. Until she could hear her sob so close in her ears. Until the tips of their nose brushed over each other.

Until their lips finally touched, and she closed her eyes, relishing in the sweet taste that she had yearned for so long.

 

[Admiral19]

Fear was the first thing she felt as Hotaru kissed her. Was Kanae doing this right? She's never kissed anyone...ah, shit, was she making this awkward by thinking too hard about it?

And then, when they parted, Kanae went in to kiss Hotaru again, and the second thing she felt was relief; Hotaru felt the same, Kanae wasn't crazy, she wasn't going to be pushed away.

On the third time, the third thing Kanae felt was joy. Hotaru, who she's spent a good thirteen years with, who she reached out to because she didn't feel right leaving her alone and Kanae herself didn't want to be alone...this was how her lips felt, how her smile felt, how her love felt.

Kanae pulled back(though she wanted to kiss Hotaru until she ran out of air) and pressed her forehead against Hotaru's, sitting in the space between their breaths. She hummed, an aimless little song, the sort one could only make up in moments like these. The tears that ran down her face were tears of joy. For the first time in a good while, she was completely silent.

That all-consuming fire died in her heart, replaced only by a wonderful warmth, a beautiful little bloom of happiness.