Fantasy Stellar ARMOR Satellizer (Ranix Aurus & Admiral19)

[Ranix Aurus]

The guest room was still dark when Akira went in to check. There was a big lump on Kanae's guest bed. It was none other than Hotaru, who was still sleeping soundly. Her eyes were closed, her breathing slow and steady, the same as usual. As if the nightmare last night hadn't happened.

Akira leaned a bit closer to see her face. He reached out his hand, gently rubbing her hair, before his fingers trailed down her face.

The piece of memory from earlier flashed by.

"It was my fault"

It was your fault, alright.

His fingers slowly wrapped over neck. Slowly, slowly, they started to tighten-

"What are you doing, Akira Tanaka?"

A soft voice called out to him. He immediately took his hand away.

"How are you feeling?" Akira asked with an awkward smile. He looked straight at that pair of inquisitive golden eyes.

"I've been better," she replied. Then blinked. Two pairs of black eyes, the color of the night, stared at each other for a full minute before Akira broke contact first.

"Uncle wants to do some tests later. Thought I'd let you know."

"...Understood," Hotaru nodded. She was pulling the blanket closer when she seemed to realize something. "What about Kanae?"

"She's fine. She'd gone to campus. I... have no idea how she still have the energy to go. I'm just too tired myself. Well then, I'll see you later," Akira made his way out of the room, closing the door slowly. Leaning on the door frame, he flashed a mocking smile, directed at himself.

It was your fault, alright. But what can he do about it?

 

[Admiral19]

There were a handful of reasons why Kanae could muster the energy to head to school. For one, she...had a quiz in a class she was going to today. Akira would have torn into her if he knew, which is why she had said nothing about it.

But the other reason was for the sake of keeping up appearances. Kanae was late to class sometimes, but she was never absent; her suddenly disappearing for days on end would probably spark all manner of speculation, and that kind of commotion would almost certainly bring someone unsavory right to her. So for now, today was any other day on campus.

And the first thing that would contribute to that image was...ah, the quiz. Haaah...

 

[Ranix Aurus]

"Kanae! I haven't seen you in a while! How's the States?"

An acquaintance called out to Kanae. She was close enough to be called a friend, but the girl spent her free time doing part-time jobs to help pay for her tuitions, so it was a relationship maintained during periods inbetween classes. Perhaps it was because of such reason that most people were amiable toward her. She didn't occupy enough of their time to form negative opinions.

"Are you still with that boy... whatshisnameagain- Tanaka?" She asked, although that didn't seem to be the main focus of the conversation. "I saw Mochizuki just a while ago. He'd heard about your return as well."

That was a kind of a warning.

Mamoru Mochizuki was, to put it in one sentence, a painfully stereotypical sleazy rich second generation. When everyone was busy preparing for their graduation thesis, he spent his time making passes on women instead. Most of them ended badly, or broken up after a few weeks, top. He had expressed interest for Kanae before, but her departure cut that dream short. Now that he had just gotten rejected by another girl, he might redirect his attention back to her.

 

[Admiral19]

"Hey!" Putting the looming threat of multiple choice and short answers behind her for now, Kanae waved to the girl approaching her. "Went great! Managed to get more work done than I thought I would, so that's fun!" Was that something to praise oneself for...?

That wasn't a question to be answered, because right now there was a...much greater danger to be weary of. Fuckin' Mochizuki...maybe she should have turned him down before she left.

He'll be looking for her after class, surely, if not on the way or—god forbid—during. Sure, compared to what she's been through recently, a clingy rich boy who picks up girls like pennies off a sidewalk is nothing, but she still didn't wanna deal with him...

"My class is in an hour," Kanae told the girl, "if you see him and I haven't met him by then, tell him I ain't interested." Satisfying enough, unless he truly couldn't take no for an answer.

 

[Ranix Aurus]

"You bet. But I can't promise much, really. That dickhead is... well, you know," she waved Kanae goodbye as she went for her next class. If Mochizuki would take no for an answer, that would be the best. Nobody need to waste their time that way.

Of course, if that was truly the case, Mochizuki wouldn't be Mochizuki.

He had paid Kanae's class a visit right after it was done. The boy was dressed in branded clothing showcasing his family's buying power. Except that his fashion sense wasn't up to par, thus it only felt tacky on the eyes. The students had gotten familiar with Mochizuki's antics, thus they opted to simply ignore his presence unless it was absolutely needed. Out of sight, out of mind. The more emphatetic ones extended their condolence to the current target of his fancy. The boy was ultimately harmless, he was just very... annoying. Like fruit flies.

"Kanae~" He called her name in overly-familiar way, even though it seemed that they had never been that close before? "You've finally returned. Have a token of my sincerity," he pulled out a bouquet of rose from his back and then offered it to her.

 

[Admiral19]

Kanae would like to believe that she could handle annoying people; a dismissive wave, a polite smile, a joke as she walked away. She would be fine. Hopefully.

Well, that's what she thought.

Kanae internally cringed as Mochizuki came up to her. Just what she needed, huh. She graciously took the bouquet that he presented her; no matter how she felt about the guy, she couldn't be an ass and not take the flowers. "Woah, thanks! Uh, I appreciate the gesture, Mochizuki, I really do, but I was just about to go, actually. I gotta get some stuff, see." That'd be enough to placate him, right?

 

[Ranix Aurus]

Mochizuki's face brightened when Kanae took his flowers.

"I knew that you'll love it! Rose suits you the best. They're beautiful, like you. What're you busy with? I can help you. Just say the word and I'll get it done!" He smiled brilliantly, perhaps foolishly even, as he followed her around like a little tail. He wasn't hindering her path, just buzzing around her completely absorbed in his own monologue. Truly like a fruit fly.

The girl from earlier had just finished her class as well and noticed Kanae's predicament from the distance. She waved at her, wondering if she would need some help with the "admirer".

 

[Admiral19]

"Ahm..." As she was talking to Mochizuki, Kanae very carefully signaled to the girl that she needed him to be distracted so she could leave. "You don't have to. I don't wanna take up any of your time, yanno?"

Yeah, like he has anything to do in his spare time. Flattery's not gonna get this guy anywhere.

"Besides that, it's really more of an errand...boring stuff, you don't want any part in it." You really don't, unless you wanna see some monsters!

 

[Ranix Aurus]

"No worries, no worries, if it's just errands, I can do it for you, how about we hang out instead-"

"Kanae! There you are!" The girl came over and linked her arm with Kanae's, acting like they were the bestest of friends. "We have that group project for the next class, remember? Let's go and discuss it right now!"

"Oh, uh..." Mochizuki pulled the brake on his rambling. "I thought you're going on an errand...?"

"Yes, with me!" She interjected with a wide grin. "Sorry, but it's really urgent! We only have until next week to finish it!"

"Ah, right. Okay then..."

The boy gave Kanae one last look before he sullenly retreated. He still glanced back from time to time until he finally went out of sight. The girl heaved a sigh before letting go of Kanae's arm.

"Seriously, that guy... I wonder what's going on in that rich brain of his?" The group project was, of course, a lie. They weren't even in the same major. Not that Mochizuki would know.

 

[Admiral19]

Once they were safely out of danger, Kanae breathed a sigh of relief. Lucky that girl had come by; Kanae didn't know what she'd do if she ended up getting stuck trying to fend off Mochizuki. She wouldn't say she was bad with talking to other people; in fact, she'd say she was good. But with how overwhelming Mochizuki got sometimes...she wouldn't be able to keep up.

Plus, Kanae's never really been into boys. Well, most boys.

"I'm gonna say not much, probably." Kanae laughed at her own joke. "Thanks for the save, by the way. I'm trying to get places, and I probably would have been there forever if it wasn't for you."

 

[Ranix Aurus]

She giggled an approval to Kanae's joke. "Glad to be of help. I'll take my leave, then. My schedule is kinda tight today, you see," she had another part time job after this. The image of a hardworking poor student. Perhaps a bit too hardworking.

Back at the house, Seiichiro was scanning a trickle of blood -Hotaru's- in a small vial. His custom-made phone had advanced technologies only available to OLYMPUS's R&D department, but there's not much he could do without additional reagents for further experiments. For now he could only do with what he had.

Mikawa was watching over the recordings in his camcorder, hooked to the widescreen television. It already contained a lot of clear footage from the fight last night, but there were too many revealing shots regarding their identity. Akira especially refused to approve any footage with Hotaru's face shown on it.

"We can censor it," Mikawa suggested.

"More importantly, would they believe it? They'll think we're using CGs," Akira pointed out.

That would be a problem. How would they convince people that their videos were real in this era of computer editing and fake news?

 

[Admiral19]

There was a knock on the door. "Housekeeping?"

A chipper voice came through before the door opened up, revealing Kanae with armfuls of shopping bags containing various cooking ingredients, as well as some extra things for the house. "I'm back, all! How's the science experiments?"

She looked over at the tv to see the fight she had with Hotaru last night. Ah, this is what Mikawa probably captured. She set down the bags onto the kitchen and went over to watch as well. Perhaps the biggest concern they had was validity; how were they gonna prove that this footage was real? She thought about bringing people to the warehouse that they fought in, but they'd get concerned by her knowing where it was that they fought if they still didn't believe her.

Mmm...what to do...

 

[Ranix Aurus]

"Yo, you're back- Ohohoho~ you've worked hard~"

Seiichiro brightened up like a child entering a candy shop. He took the shopping bags with almost maniacal fervor before trodding away to the kitchen to perform his scientific degeneracies. "Baking soda, flour, hmm we can get some magnesium out of this. Then if I extract iodine out of the milk-"

Akira felt like he would learn some cursed black magic if he listened any further, so he pried his ears away and focused on the television instead.

"What do you think?" Mikawa frowned. His usual cowardice was being replaced by a professional drive as a proud reporter. "I'm not sure how we can make this more authentic. Maybe if we release some documents revealing the experiments? But I don't know if Uncle have them ready. And OLYMPUS will just legally and illegally pressure us or simply label us as liars. What we need is for reputable sources to vouch for our truth."

A quiet pitter-patter came down the stairs at that moment. Hotaru had her Kanae radar flaring up when she got home, and now she was hopping down the steps two at a time before engulfing Kanae in a hug from behind.

"Welcome home," she purred sweetly.

 

[Admiral19]

Erm...yeah, maybe she oughta leave Uncle to that. She watched the footage with everyone else, brows furrowed in thought. "Hm...is there anything the ARMORs can do that an editing software can't recreate? If we run into trouble again, we can do that..." Well, editing softwares can do a lot, so it'd be hard trying to do something that wouldn't be imperceptible to the human eye.

Kanae immediately leaned back into Hotaru's arms as she hugged her, a content smile on her face. "Hey, Firefly. Are you feeling any better?" Whenever her mind had a chance to wander while she was on campus, they often wandered to Hotaru and whether or not she was alright. It was good to see that she was, and it was certainly good that she was still as close to her as she was before.

 

[Ranix Aurus]

"Hmmhm," Hotaru didn't say much. She simply enjoyed the feeling of having Kanae close to her, rubbing her face on the other girl's back. It made her content, for whatever reason.

"Well, we can try, but honestly CGI these days is too advanced. It's more likely that computers can do what your ARMOR thingy can't do instead. What we need is witness. Unquestionable witness whom everyone will believe, but that's hard to find. Anyway," Mikawa shrugged. "It's not like incident like yesterday will happen again so soon, right? OLYMPUS is not dumb. They won't make a ruckus without a good reason."

That was quite a flag there, Mikawa-san...

---

Late at night, Mamoru Mochizuki was out drinking with his buddies, getting smashed over pointless nonsense. He was complaining about his misadventures with girls, especially about this girl called Kanae Saitou, who had indirectly rejected him that day.

It wasn't as if he held a hatred against her or anything. They were just trashtalking to pass time. Anyone would do, at worst they would forget about it the next morning thanks to the hangover.

"Smell you later,"

"Take care, man."

The rich kids sauntered off the nightclub. Usually Mochizuki would have his valet picking him up, but tonight he wanted to feel the night wind for a bit, so he told the driver to meet him a bit farther down the street.

It was at that moment when a stranger approached him from behind. As a rich kid, he was used to stories of kidnapping attempt, so he immediately tensed up. The stranger, however, was a step quicker. Coupled with how drunk he was, Mochizuki was immediately at the mercy of this person as he was dragged into a dark street.

"I heard something interesting back there. What if I say that I have a way to get you even with Kanae Saitou?"

Under his hood, Shouji flashed him a maniacal grin.

 

[Admiral19]

That day ended up being—for the most part—productive. So far, Uncle's research was inconclusive, and they still didn't know how to get the ARMOR system out to the public, but other than that, things were slowly returning to normal, or as normal as things could be.

Kanae was up for most of that night, wracking her brain for a way to get some evidence. If her dad still worked for OLYMPUS, then maybe he'd be able to get the story out...but even then, OLYMPUS could probably cover it up...but either way, if indeed there was some group taking advantage of OLYMPUS, they would be unaffected, even if OLYMPUS collapsed on itself!

Kanae couldn't sleep. She needed someone to talk to.

And so, she knocked on the door to the guest room Hotaru slept in. "Hey...can I come in?"

 

[Ranix Aurus]

The door to the guest room cracked open. The person inside took a peek through the slit before the door swung open in a flash. Hotaru looked sleepy as always, but she was visibly perking up when she noticed that it was Kanae outside the door.

"Kanae! Come in, come in!" She grabbed her hand and pulled her in. Only then did she notice the crux of the problem. "It's so late, why are you not sleeping yet?"

Seiichiro on the other hand was still awake downstairs, doing some... science-y stuff involving greenish mist and bluish glowing liquid. Mikawa didn't want to know, Akira was curious but too afraid to ask, so the two boys decided to go to sleep instead. Ignorance is bliss.

 

[Admiral19]

"Can't sleep," Kanae said. She laid down on one side of Hotaru's bed, staring aimlessly at the ceiling. "I wanted to talk to someone, but Akira and Mikawa went to bed already. And Uncle's doing some...science stuff, so I don't wanna bother him. So, naturally, that left you, Firefly."

She sighed. "It's like...I can't sleep, but I'm tired. Sure, we're learning about the ARMOR system and about everything trying to come after me, but we're not really making progress, yanno? We don't know who wants my medallion and what for, we don't know where these monsters came from, I don't know about Taurus and the other ARMOR user..." She put a hand in her hair and ruffled it in frustration. "Fuck, we don't even know if it's exclusively OLYMPUS doing all of this or if there's someone pulling at some strings! It's so fucking frustrating!"

Kanae turned on her side, grabbing a pillow and hugging it to herself as she did. "Everything's too uncertain." Her voice was muffled by the pillow. "And I don't know if I'll be able to take it all on by myself. Yeah, I'm technically not by myself, but I'm the only one out of us who can fight! Things are gonna get tougher, and there's gonna be a point where...I'm just not gonna be strong enough."

 

[Ranix Aurus]

Hotaru climbed up on the bed, listening to Kanae's self-admonishment with a somber look on her face. In the end, she laid beside Kanae, hugging her from behind. It seemed that she liked physical contact with Kanae the most. She knew that Kanae needed it. No, perhaps Hotaru herself was the one who needed it.

"I wish that you don't have to fight, Kanae," Hotaru leaned closer and whispered, her warm breath tickling her ear. "I don't want to see you in danger. But I also understand that sometimes there is no other way but to fight... it frustrates me so."

She rubbed her face on the nape of her neck, acting like a spoiled kitten.

"You are strong enough. I believe in you. And I'll always be on your side no matter what happen in the future. If... if you'll allow me to..."

Her voice grew smaller at the end, reflecting her insecurities. Kanae was bright, like the summer sun. She on the other hand was a despicable shadow desiring for a trickle of that light. Even though she wasn't worthy.

 

[Admiral19]

Kanae hugged the pillow tighter. She wished she didn't have to fight too. She wished that she could just be here, wished that Uncle and Mr. Mikawa could take care of themselves, wished Akira could berate her for her bad jokes, wished Hotaru could hold her close, wished that she could feel her warmth for as long as she wanted.

But even if she wasn't strong enough...to keep the things close to her safe? Kanae would fight until she bled, would fight until her ARMOR crumbled and her claws shattered and her body fell.

Hotaru...she made Kanae feel better, made her feel like she was worth having around. Everyone did, but there was something about Hotaru especially, something that made Kanae want to stay, made her want to stay close, made her want to...

Kanae shook the thought out of her head before it materialized.

"Of course." Kanae leaned back into Hotaru's touch. She was the shadow here; Hotaru and her brother went through a lot, and yet here they still were! Meanwhile, if Kanae hadn't met them... "I'll let you be here for as long as you'll let me be here."

 

[Ranix Aurus]

Hotaru snuggled closer to her. "That's... a logical paradox," she murmured a reply, although perhaps it wasn't really necessary. What they wanted to convey was understood enough, and that was all there was to it.

She wasn't fond of sleep.

Sleep was a weakness. It was a welcome for predators to strike at a moment of fragility, when one was unable to fight back. And yet living beings required sleep. Humans even more so. It was something unique to their culture; to sleep near the presence of other being was a sign of genuine trust.

"Kanae is weird... nobody wanted to play with me before. Kanae was the only one who gave me her hand. Everyone left, but only Kanae stayed. Why are you... like this? To someone like me..." She whispered in a barely audible voice, as if she wanted nobody to hear it. "Silly Kanae..." Her breathing slowed down, one breath at a time, as she dozed off into slumber.

Hotaru wasn't fond of sleep, but strangely, she was fine with it this time. Because it was Kanae.

Because it was her, and nobody else.

 

[Admiral19]

"Why?" Did Kanae need a reason? All the whys were in her head now; why didn't that phrase sit right in Kanae's brain? Why did it make her angry? Why did it make her want to turn around and bring Hotaru closer and tell her every reason why Kanae was like this to her?

And more importantly, why was Kanae too afraid to do so?

Welp, it didn't matter now; Hotaru was asleep, and Kanae couldn't in good conscious couldn't so much as stir, much less turn to face her, now could she? The age old vow not to move when you're cuddled up to wasn't a clause exclusive to pets. That was fine; she just had to hug the pillow in her arms tighter, just had to use her imagination...she's always been good at that.

"Yeah," she whispered, entirely to herself now, "that's me, alright. Silly, weird, illogical ol' Kanae."

Sleep left one vulnerable. But Hotaru cared for Kanae enough to trust that she would kill every nightmare that threatened to arrive.

Kanae wasn't gonna break that trust. She knew how it felt to be alone and afraid, and she doesn't want that for Hotaru. Not now, not ever again.

 

[Ranix Aurus]

Seiichiro spent all night doing... science. At the wee hours of the morning, he finally took a break. Like a deranged mad scientist he lifted his creation up against the light, the whitish-blue liquid inside the vial shimmering ever so slightly.

"Finally, I've finished it! The de-monsterification agent!" He proclaimed smugly, although reality dawned as quickly as the adrenaline rush. It was merely a prototype- no, it was even earlier than prototypes. With only one dose to try on, and no one to test it with, it was nothing more than a foul-smelling juice made with a combination of mysterious ingredients and a sample of Hotaru's blood.

In the end, he didn't find any trace of the monster, or the strange transparent liquid, in her body. No foreign substances detected. Yet. He was simply doing tests with the most bare necessities, so he really couldn't tell for sure. At the very least, the young lady wasn't in any immediate danger, medical-wise.

It seemed that that was enough for Akira. As long as Hotaru was fine, what's an extra tentacle or two?

"Papa... don't cry... I'll do better next exam... papa..." Mikawa was sleep-talking suspect words again, which Seiichiro didn't want to know. Goddamn, this team was a mess...

 

[Admiral19]

Morning always came with this unavoidable grogginess. No matter how long she slept, Kanae couldn't avoid it, so the best thing to do was just not to bother and simply sleep enough so that her grogginess is at least a little bit lessened.

Such as this morning. Kanae felt like cold syrup trying to pull her mind out of sleep, but compared to most mornings where she felt like frozen molasses instead, this was much better. And it was even better once she realized who she was sleeping by.

Very briefly, Kanae thought of yesterday when Mochizuki gave her those flowers, then questioned why she thought of that as she was being held by Hotaru. It wasn't as if she liked the guy; he wasn't awful, but she couldn't get behind how often he went after girls and how hard he tried to get them to like him. Feelings like that should be developed naturally, slowly, over a long period of time!

Those flowers were pretty. She would have accepted them with a bit more gratefulness if someone else gave them to her. Someone like...like...

She could swear she felt Hotaru's arms tighten around her.

Mmm, maybe it was time to get up.

 

[Ranix Aurus]

"Good morning," Hotaru murmured. She spent a lot of time sleeping, but at the same time she was also a light sleeper. The slightest movement was enough to stir her awake. Just like how she knew when Kanae had woken up just then. She squeezed her one last time before getting up herself.

"...Do you have class today?"

Hotaru had class that day. Not that she could be bothered to attend. It wasn't really the best of time to think about college, and her health problem excuse would be best held if she feigned absence for longer than a day. She could only wish that Kanae wouldn't be so enthusiastic about education, though.