.gestalt (original fic, chapter 4 posted)

[bury the year]

IF A POST IS CUT OFF, HIT THE "QUOTE" BUTTON AND READ IT THERE.

 

[spoiler=Writing Mission]This work is not intended to be entirely original, nor do I expect it to be so. However, with this little work, I plan to take many tropes and clichés of the genre it is in (in this case, mecha with a bit of tokusatsu) and twist or completely shatter them. Put the “un” in “un-conventional”, so to say. I do realize that my ambitions might seem rather grandiose for such a humble media, but hey, why not set the bar high? Other than that, I don’t know where this story will take me. Also, let’s hope I can concentrate enough to get this fic past the third chapter. Finally, any reviews or critical feedback would be greatly appreciated, and I most likely will revise my writing with any advice given.

 

[spoiler=Author Notes]Names will be given in Eastern order (family name first) in dialogue, but in Western order (given name first) anywhere else to avoid confusion. (There will be characters with Western names in here, which would sound odd in Eastern order.)

 

[spoiler=Chapter Index]Chapter 1: Growing Up (Part 1)

Chapter 2: Growing Up (Part 2)

Chapter 3: Fire

Chapter 4: An Education (Part 1)

 

[spoiler=Chapter 1: Growing Up (Part 1)]A lot of people think that daydreamers go nowhere in life.

 

I know for a fact that’s a lie. Just look at how many great inventions and technologies in our world today were brought into existence. The TV, the aircycle... Hell, even the basis behind flexfilm was developed when some guy was staring at his konnyaku for too long. (At least, that’s how it supposedly happened. I doubt it, but it’d be cool if it did.)

 

Sometimes, though, I wonder what good most of this random stuff does for the world. Yes, aircycles are rather convenient, but there are standard motorcycles as well, and they’re a lot safer in case you crash. Flexfilm too; even though it makes accessing data a lot easier, it rips just as easy, and those things cost a ton to repair.

 

That’s just inconvenience, though. There are some things in this world that are downright deadly, no matter how helpful they might be billed as. Just a few days ago, in fact, the military got rights to develop a gun that can burn a person from the inside by remotely boiling their blood. Makes me shudder just to think about it. And then, there are those machines which don’t exist to the world. They’re buried out of view and prying eye, behind countless piles of red tape and firewalls. If you know about them when you’re not supposed to, you, for all intents and purposes, don’t exist as well. It’s like you were never there to start with.

 

So how did I get involved with one of these technological myths? To be honest, I’m not entirely sure. The facts are still a bit blurry, and frankly, I sometimes think that all this was some weird dream of mine. I’ll wake up, and it’ll be over.

 

Yeah. Just a dream.

 

...There I go again.

 

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

 

February 25th, 2036 – Shirokane District, Minato Ward, Tokyo Prefecture, Japan

 

The sky was blue. A soft wind blew across the tops of the Tokyo skyline. There was a bit of smog laced in with the breeze, but considering the level of filtration that was installed in the tallest of buildings after the 2014 environmental crisis, it was a major step up. A faint but definitely-there cacophony of car horns, pedestrian chatter, and the steel-on-steel clatter of trains and buses hummed along in the background. It could take some getting used to for any newcomers to the city, but after a while, it just faded away into unnoticebility, like the beating of the heart beneath skin.

 

It was just starting to transition into morning, and thin beams of sunlight peeked through the windows of one particular room in a particular apartment building. Shin-Murasako Apartments weren’t exactly known for their classiness, but what they had were stable rooms and stable prices, a good combination in an urban area.

 

Therefore, the aforementioned room wasn’t very heavily decorated. A small desk was at one side, a flexfilm interface tossed carelessly on top of it. An equally-small bookshelf was at another wall, with a small number of neatly-organized books within. In between the two was a futon, a rather overstuffed one at that, and sprawled on top was a teenage boy.

 

He didn’t appear to be much older than sixteen. A mop of messy black hair covered a rather contently-sleeping face, which was happily snoozing away. He was only clad in a pair of boxers and an old white T-shirt, with an old gakuran uniform thrown down at the futon’s edge as evidence of what he was wearing earlier. In all, it was a very peaceful scene...

 

...until a bright light popped up from the flexfilm on the desk, and a chipperly annoying tone rang out from a holographic anime blob. “WAKE UP, TAKUTO-KUN~!”

 

“Huh?” Shooting up from beneath the pile of covers he was cocooned under, Takuto Kouzu opened up a pair of green eyes and surveyed the room groggily, trying to locate the source of the ear-piercing disturbance. “Can’t you let me sleep in more?” he asked the dancing blue blob, who continued to ignore him and began to tune into a radio station to wake him up even more.

 

“Good morning, Greater Tokyo, this is Harasaka Toshio with JOQR, and here’s the morning news-”

 

“I don’t need any news, ya damn hologram!” Takuto exclaimed angrily, a pair of veins pulsing comically on his forehead. Pawing around the edges of his futon, he found an old book and heaved it in the figure’s direction. As the book made contact, the blob squeaked, as if surprised, and vanished along with Harasaka’s commentary. The modern snooze button, in a word.

 

Falling back onto his covers, Takuto let out a soft grunt. “Why did I ever let that woman convince me to download that app... Damn thing never does me any good.” Continuing his little grumbling rant to no-one, he eventually rolled off his futon, spilling sheets and food wrappers everywhere, and proceeded to pull on the gakuran. “Need to ask her to get this thing ironed...” he mumbled, still half-asleep, but was interrupted by a sudden roaring from outside his window that stopped just as quickly as it started.

 

“Was that... a jet engine?” he wondered idly. However, after a second, he nodded it off and threaded his belt through the belt loops. Probably some kid’s bike backfiring. Heck, with all the new things put onto the market each day, one didn’t know what to expect. Putting that thought aside, the teen finished up with getting himself dressed, and wandered out into the hallway connecting his room with the main area.

 

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

 

A woman in her mid-twenties was standing over the stove, vigorously stirring water in a boiling pot with a wooden spoon. She was making breakfast. However, in this sense, “breakfast” wasn’t much. Just two bowls of rice. It wasn’t entirely filling, and Mika knew that her younger brother was probably going to pick something up at a convenience store or the like on the way to school, but she wanted to him to at least start on a good foot. Mondays were tough, a fact she knew the hard way. Plus, she had a holocom meeting in ten minutes, and she couldn’t miss it for the world.

 

“Oh! Perfect timing,” Mika Kouzu chirped as the contrastingly-tired Takuto stumbled into the main room. “Here’s your breakfast,” she said as the boy walked over to the dining table, ladling piping-hot rice into a waiting bowl and throwing it over with a finely-practiced motion. “Eat up.” Sifting the rest out for herself into a matching bowl, she pulled the headwrap that was holding her hair back off, letting a veritable black tangle drape down from its confines.

 

“Itadakimasu,” Takuto muttered, shoveling rice into his mouth with the pair of chopsticks at his place setting. By his mannerisms, Mika deduced that he was distracted by something, something she wasn’t too sure about. However, that was boys for you; rather impenetrable and difficult to discern.

 

Sighing, Mika sashayed over to the table, sitting down across from her little brother. “Itadakimasu,” she echoed, and got ready to follow him in eating. However, something on the small TV caught Mika’s attention out of the corner of her eye, and she set her bowl down. “Takkun, can you turn it up?” she asked.

 

Wordlessly, her brother got up and hammered at a button on the thin console, getting the volume to a discernable level.

 

“Now, continuing with the disturbing story that has unfolded across Tokyo over the past few weeks, it seems like another victim connected to the Two-Part Man serial killings has emerged. The corpse was found by the banks of the Tama River near the northern edge of Setagaya Ward, and it had apparently occurred recently judging by the decomposition rate. The police urge all citizens to report any knowledge they may have immediately.”

 

The two of them started at the screen, which depicted the scene of the crime. Policemen were bustling around, and one of them was being interviewed about the murder. Takuto thought it was a bit sickening to think about, in all honestly, and Mika seemed to agree, as she quickly got up and turned the TV off. “Ugh. I thought that was going to be something a bit lighter,” she joked, laughing slightly between bites of rice despite the seriousness of the situation. “Just be careful when you’re going out, Takkun. Can’t anything happen to you, right?”

 

“Yeah. Sure, sis.” Seemingly distracted, Takuto placed his finished bowl on the table and got up. He walked over to the main door, slinging his waiting bag over his shoulder, and put a hand on the doorknob. However, a single thought flitted through his head, and he ran back to Mika and hugged her from behind. “Love ya, Mika.”

 

“I know, Takkun.” Returning the embrace for a second, Mika then shooed her younger brother off. “Sentiments won’t get you anywhere, though. So get going!” she exclaimed, waving the rice paddle over her head to emphasize the point. Seeing his sister getting violent, Takuto gulped in fear and dashed out of the apartment, breaking whatever tenderness the moment had.

 

Mika sighed for a second before going back to washing the dishes. As she turned the tap on, her eyes wandered to a photo set on a high shelf, and a single memory came back to her.

 

‘Mina, you’d be proud of your little brother. I’m sure of it.’

 

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

 

Sounan High School was a rather veritable institution. Despite being a public school, it had rather high rates of students getting into high-paying business positions, which then looped around in the form of generous donations to the school. Therefore, it had very high standards when it came to education and extracurriculars, and many kids enjoyed their time at Sounan.

 

However, Takuto Kouzu wasn’t one of these people. He didn’t see the need for school most of the time, especially because he wasn’t the smartest of people by a longshot. School was just another irritation for him, a thing to remind him that he was stupid. Besides, he didn’t have a ton of friends at school, and that always made things a bit more difficult.

 

Therefore, as Takuto swung his shoe locker open and pulled on the white slippers that were supposed to be worn inside, he was a bit disgruntled when a familiar face interrupted him.

 

“Takuto-kun!” A peppy voice filled his ears, and the boy turned around to see a girl, not much older than him, standing in back. “How was your weekend?”

 

“Eh. Okay, Minazuki-san,” Takuto responded as he finished changing and swung the locker door shut.

 

“Jeez, Takkun! You’ve known me for so long, so why won’t you just call me Yuhi?!”

 

Yuhi Minazuki frowned momentarily and pulled a short lock of brown hair out of the way of a pair of light-blue eyes. She was somewhat short for her age, and combined with her facial features and somewhat-pale skin, she gave off the overall appearance of looking very doll-like. She was relatively popular in her grade, but for some reason, she counted Takuto within her “inner circle,” no matter how much he didn’t want to be.

 

“Fine, Yuhi-san.” Takuto smirked playfully and got back up, swinging his bag over his back. “See ya later,” he said over his shoulder, almost as an afterthought.

 

“Nyah!” After Takuto left the room, Yuhi stomped her food on the ground in a childish manner and pouted. “That kid needs an attitude adjustment,” she stated to nobody in particular as she pulled off her own shoes. “I mean, why is he always so-”

 

“Yuhi-chan~!” Her rambling cut off, Yuhi was suddenly tackled by a girl from behind, dropping into a disjointed pile as the two got tangled up.

 

Looking up at her assaulter, Yuhi laughed. “Risako-chan, you startled me there!”

 

“Sure did!” Grinning, Risako Himejima reached down to help pull her friend off of the floor. With long blond hair tied back in a ponytail that whipped around as she pulled and light-coffee colored skin, she looked rather exotic in contrast to Yuhi’s paleness. “Who were you talking to?” she inquired once the two were untangled.

 

“Oh. Just Kouzu-kun,” Yuhi responded. “Why?”

 

“You mean Kouzu Takuto?” Risako said. Taking her friend’s silence as a “yes,” she looked around momentarily, as if she was going to reveal a big secret, and continued. “I don’t really get why you hang out with that kid. I mean, he’s always so rude and distant. It’s difficult to even talk to him, much less be a friend.”

 

“You think so?” Yuhi frowned slightly.

 

Risako gave an odd half-smile in response, as if she didn’t know exactly how to respond. “Yeah,” she stated finally. “I think so. Well, see ya later, Yuhi-chan!” she chirped. With her indoor shoes on, she dashed out of the locker room, leaving Yuhi as one of the last people in the room.

 

‘Seriously?’ Yuhi thought. ‘Takuto’s not that bad. Is he?’

 

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

 

The day had flown by, and before anyone knew it, the dismissal bell at Sounan High School was ringing. Students rushed out the front door, eager to get home and relax after what most would consider a stressful day. Takuto was among this throng, but he wasn’t in any rush. He had too much stuff on his mind to rush, anyways.

 

‘Ugh... I did horribly today. I’m pretty sure I failed that chemistry exam, I’m positive I failed that math exam...’ Stomping along with his head ducked, the only thing that Takuto needed to complete this scene was a miniature raincloud floating over him.

 

“Crap! I really need to study more!” he announced to the world, but nobody responded, and he grew dejected again. “Why can’t I be a bit good at- oof!” This last exclamation came from Yuhi tackling him from behind, for what seemed to be the second time that day.

 

“Takkun~!” Almost irritatingly perky, Yuhi grinned at Takuto, unaware of the stuff he was grappling with. “Wanna go out and grab some hotpot? I’m starved,” she admitted, and her stomach started growling at the exact same time.

 

Takuto’s eye twitched a bit, and he was very tempted to just stalk away, ignoring his friend. However, he knew that would end badly for the two of them, and so he resisted the urge. “Sorry, Yuhi,” he said, “but I need to study. My grades have been tanking lately, and...”

 

“Oh. Okay, then.” Yuhi’s tone dropped, and Takuto knew he had disappointed her, but that wasn’t something that concerned him too much at the moment. “Guess I’ll just go with Risa-chan.” She spun around quickly, and although Takuto couldn’t see anything odd, he noticed her voice had a very slight quiver to it. “See ya!” Yuhi walked off in the direction she came from, her spin having some forced enthusiasm to it.

 

“Um, okay then?” A bit confused by his friend’s suddenly-bipolar reaction, Takuto shrugged and continued on his walk home. ‘She’d just be a bother, anyways.’

 

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

 

The rest of the walk was rather uneventful, and since school got out a bit later than normal, Takuto arrived at Shin-Murasako Apartments around when the sun was just beginning to set behind the horizon.

 

“Mika, I’m home!” he yelled as he stepped into the modest apartment, but was greeted by silence and a note left on the flexfilm message panel set into the door. “Heh?”

 

Hey, Takkun. If you got this note, it’s probably because I’m out either running errands or trying to make sure that my boss doesn’t fire me. Anyways, I might not be back until late, so there’s food in the fridge if you’re hungry. Just don’t make a mess! d(^_~)b

-Mika

 

“Well, that answers my question.” Shrugging his bag onto the floor, Takuto walked over to the fridge and pulled out a marked container. He opened it and stuck his tongue out at the foul smell that wafted out. “Urgh. Can’t she cook curry better once in a while?” Snapping the lid back on, he stuck the container back in and turned on the TV with the nearby remote. After a bit of channel-surfing, nothing looked very interesting, so Takuto turned it off once more and headed to his room.

 

Booting up his computer, Takuto started to prep himself for doing homework, but a nagging thought at the back of his head stopped him. ‘Those Two-Part Man murders...’ His curiosity needed to be satiated, especially because of the gruesomeness behind them and the fact that they came out of seemingly nowhere.

 

Before he knew it, the teen had stumbled across a webpage after a few minutes of searching, and he began to read up.

 

“Lessee... There have been five of the Two-Part Man murders committed over the span of the last three weeks... All of the victims were male, none of them had any relation to one another, and all were found cut jaggedly in half, seemingly while alive... The culprit is still unknown, and whether it is just one is also undetermined.”

 

Thankfully, he didn’t try to search for any pictures, but Takuto was shaken regardless. Who the hell had the strength needed to do such an act? It was unnerving just to think about it.

 

“Ugh... I shouldn’t have looked that up after all.” Takuto closed the webpage and got up from his chair. Having not eaten wasn’t the best idea, and his stomach was growling.

 

‘I should’ve taken Yuhi up on her offer after all...’ he thought as he opened the fridge door. ‘What else do we have?’

 

“GRAH!”

 

He stopped short. A loud distressed yell echoed through the complex, followed by what sounded like bone snapping. Letting the door swing close, Takuto quickly thought to himself, ’Did someone just get in an accident? I need to go check, or at least get help!’

 

Grabbing his cell phone from a nearby table and pulling on a jacket, he slipped outside. From what he had heard, the noise seemed to come from the roof area, only two or so floors above Takuto’s apartment. It wouldn’t take long, so he started to dial the phone number for the police as he ascended the flights of stairs.

 

Finally, the door to the roof approached him, and Takuto extended a hand to push it right open without being impeded. “Hey, are you okay-”

 

His voice cut out, and Takuto was suddenly filled with the urge to throw up. Whatever this was, it was no accident. The corpse of a man was laid in the roof of the building, torn into two pieces at the waist. Blood had sprayed everywhere from the gruesome crime, and some viscera was discernable, a sight that he didn’t want to see, nor could ever forget. That wasn’t the strangest part, though. A mechanical... thing stood over the dead man. It was a dark shade of blue, and was roughly humanoid in shape, but had a large serrated blade attached to the top of each arm which were both dripping with gore. The thing evidently noticed the teen, and slowly began to walk over towards his direction, scraping its blades against one another in a threatening manner.

 

Shocked, Takuto dropped his phone, letting it bounce off the tiled roof. “What... What the...”

 

“What the hell is this?”

 

[align=center]- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 

TO BE CONTINUED[/align]

 

 

[spoiler=Author Notes]- Personally, I think the intro sucks. If anyone has any ideas on how to fix it, be my guest.

 

- I apologize if this first chapter is a bit bland, but it is the first part of two, and the second half should reveal more.

 

- Kindly don’t complain about the gratuitous Japanese. I’m trying to only use it when necessary. (Then again, does that make it gratuitous in the first place?)

 

- This chapter clocked in at 3361 words. A bit more than what I was aiming for.

 

[spoiler=Introduced Characters]Takuto Kouzu (神津拓人, Kōzu Takuto) – Our protagonist. He lives alone with his older sister for as-of-yet unexplained details. He’s always a bit grumpy and harsh to other people, and has a somewhat-misogynistic mindset.

 

Mika Kouzu (神津美華, Kōzu Mika) – Takuto’s older sister. She acts as the mother figure for her brother, and worries about him and his personality.

 

Yuhi Minazuki (水無月優陽, Minazuki Yūhi) – A friend of Takuto’s. She feels that he’s too distant from her, and is really sensitive.

 

Risako Himejima (姫島理佐子, Himejima Risako) – A classmate of Yuhi and Takuto’s. She has a hyperactive personality, but is a close confidant to Yuhi.

 

 

[Twig]

I managed to get through all the introduction to get the exciting part. Nice cliffhanger there. ^^

 

By the way, is tackling someone unexpectedly a form of hello in Japan?

[Guest JoshIcy]

I managed to get through all the introduction to get the exciting part. Nice cliffhanger there. ^^

 

By the way' date=' is tackling someone unexpectedly a form of hello in Japan?

[/quote']

 

Do it playfully between friends, and it's a form of hello anywhere...

 

And this is the third time I've read it lol. I enjoyed every minute :3. No complaint's yet xD

[bury the year]

Thanks for the feedback, everyone!

 

On another note, I'm now having doubts about setting this fic in Japan, and am trying to decide whether to move it to New York City instead. I've posted a poll that'll stay open for a week: I'll rewrite the chapters after to suit that setting. :3

[Dr. Cakey]

Thanks for the feedback' date=' everyone!

 

On another note, I'm now having doubts about setting this fic in Japan, and am trying to decide whether to move it to New York City instead. I've posted a poll that'll stay open for a week: I'll rewrite the chapters after to suit that setting. :3

[/quote']

 

You could also set it in Generic New Tokyo City, Japamerimaybe, the site of a good 50% of anime and all 4Kids dubs. Personally, I don't feel like there's any problem having it in Tokyo and I don't see any need to move it.

 

And...so far, so excellent.

[bury the year]

Thanks for the feedback' date=' everyone!

 

On another note, I'm now having doubts about setting this fic in Japan, and am trying to decide whether to move it to New York City instead. I've posted a poll that'll stay open for a week: I'll rewrite the chapters after to suit that setting. :3

[/quote']

 

You could also set it in Generic New Tokyo City, Japamerimaybe, the site of a good 50% of anime and all 4Kids dubs. Personally, I don't feel like there's any problem having it in Tokyo and I don't see any need to move it.

 

And...so far, so excellent.

 

Alright. I'll probably keep it in Tokyo unless I get significant support for the other option.

 

Also, Chapter 2 is about two-thirds done, and should be completed tomorrow.

[bury the year]

I'm incredibly disappointed, YCM. I went on an unannounced vacation for 2-ish days and not a single new comment upon my return. BUMP.

[Dr. Cakey]

I'm incredibly disappointed' date=' YCM. I went on an unannounced vacation for 2-ish days and not a single new comment upon my return. BUMP.

[/quote']

 

Would you say that u r disappoint?

 

I was re-reading your notes (because I'm pro like that), and was thinking about your system for name order. I think using Eastern order in dialogue and then Western in description is a bit confusing. I think it would make more sense to either put all names in Western order always, or to put Eastern names in Eastern order, and Western names in Western order (that's what has usually been done in the anime that I've seen, at least).

[Lord Smeagle]

Yeah, well I went on a 4 DAY VACATION and the only new comment I got was Dr. Cakey. He's my only loyal fan!

 

This is a good fic, though. Kind of vague and mysterious...in a good way.

[bury the year]

[spoiler=Chapter 2: Growing Up (Part 2)] Shocked, Takuto dropped his phone, letting it bounce off the tiled roof. “What... What the...”

 

“What the hell is this?”

 

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

 

He didn’t know what he had just stumbled into, but whatever it was, Takuto had a bad feeling that he was going to be next on the monster’s list if he didn’t do something.

 

Unsure of what exactly to do, however, he tried to size the thing up, but just doing that made him even more nervous. The machine-cyborg thing was taller than him, a bit larger than an average adult, but unlike most adults, this thing was athletic and armed to kill. This wasn’t the “normal” killing, though. The cyborg seemed to be designed by a complete and utter sadist. Gulping, Takuto noticed that there weren’t just the two serrated arm-blades attached to the thing, but also two more pairs attached at its sides. Obviously, it was prepared if anything went wrong, which unnerved him even more.

 

‘Why... Why here? Why now? Why... Why do I have to die?’ Quivering in fear, the teen tried to pull himself together. Like everyone he knew, he didn’t want to die. He was afraid, afraid that there was nothing left for him after that final breath. Therefore, while a part of him told him to pray to whatever gods may be, another part of him told him to muster up whatever skills he had and fight. Or at least find a way to safety.

 

Luckily, Takuto was in relatively-good shape for a boy of his age, and the fact that he used to play basketball at school helped even more. However, he wasn’t prepared for the robot rocketing forwards at near-blinding speeds, tackling him and almost running him over in the process.

 

The wind was knocked out of him, and Takuto almost threw up from the sheer sudden impact. It felt like a small truck had rammed right into his stomach, and he was thrown against the hard tile in shock. The cyborg threw its arms over, straddling him from above. The teen looked up into the monster’s visor-covered faceplate, and he was greeted by a pair of soulless blue eyes against the black material. Although they didn’t express any emotion, if they could, Takuto was sure it would be some sadistic glee.

 

The robot paused for two seconds, seemingly savoring the moment, and Takuto used the opportunity to elbow his right bicep into its arm in an effort to dislodge it. Luckily, he had timed it just before the blue being had attempted to attack, and he was flung sideways partially out from under the robot by his own momentum, skidding across the slippery surface of the roof. Although he couldn’t see it, a pair of sharp sounds, metal cutting metal, rang out from behind him, followed by an ear-hurting screech as the cyborg dislodged its weapons.

 

Rolling onto his side, Takuto pushed up, wincing at his now-bruised arm, and got onto his feet. A bit unsteady from the blow that nearly killed him, he broke into a half-run, trying to get to the door that would lead back into the building. However, his assailant seemed to have recovered faster, and before he could make it two-thirds of the way, he was blocked off by the disturbing figure, who raised an arm and slashed downwards.

 

Something in Takuto’s muscle memory surged to the surface, a memory of a basketball game that was probably one of the most difficult of his short career. Slipping down to get past the “defender,” he imagined the door to be the hoop, and wrapped around the blue robot’s side, pushing off in a quick dash.

 

“Anyone! Can anyone hear me!” His voice was hoarse, but he had the faint hope that someone could hear him. However, his words fell on deaf ears, for the only things Takuto could here was the faint babble of street-level traffic and the hiss of the robot’s blades as they swept through the air. He could also feel his lungs throbbing in his chest, a definite sign he was running out of juice. It had been a while since he had actually competed in a basketball game, and his endurance must have slowly slipped since then.

 

‘I won’t be able to do this much longer,’ Takuto thought to himself. Although externally he was starting to lose it, on the inside the teen was trying to keep himself as cool and as logical as he could be in such a deadly situation. ‘I’m gonna either have to make a break for it soon, or go somewhere where that... thing won’t try to follow me.’

 

As he judged his surroundings, the second option became less and less plausible. The roof was mainly wide open, with nowhere for him to try to squeeze into, and dropping off the roof wasn’t a good idea. Shin-Murasako was six stories high, and even if Takuto landed on a balcony roof, he’d most likely be stunned from the fall, and he assumed the robot was designed to take a fall that short easily. However, Takuto’s thought processes were halted as a faint voice echoed out across the rooftop.

 

“You’re... young. Haven’t... gotten one of yours... yet.”

 

“Did you... speak?” Takuto panted. It was a rusty mechanical voice and very quiet, but he much preferred when the thing wasn’t speaking. Before, he assumed it was just some freakish AI soldier that got loose from the nearby development facility. Now, only one thought ran throughout his head.

 

‘Holy shit. Is this thing... human?!’

 

He didn’t want to even entertain the thought, of how that thing managed to exist or why it wasn’t locked up or dead right now. However, that wasn’t the greatest concern of his right now. A cramp was seizing up in Takuto’s thigh, decreasing his already slowing speed. At this rate, there wasn’t going to be any way he could dodge the next attack. “Why are you attacking me?!” he cried. “I didn’t do anything!”

 

“That... matters not to me. I have no... reason to give you. You are... below me.” The cyborg’s voice crackled in and out sinisterly as it slashed at Takuto with its armblades. “I... need to kill you.”

 

“Please, don’t!” Takuto begged in response. He had been diverted too far off track from the only exit, and it wouldn’t be long. “Someone, help!” A rushing noise filled the roof, starting quiet but rapidly growing in loudness. Taking this as a sign that death was coming, he closed his eyes for a second. The teen waited for the expected blow, but a loud ringing shook them open. “Wh... what?”

 

As he looked up, the teen saw a sight that surprised him even more. No longer was there just one of the figures on the roof. A second had arrived, heralded by the loud rushing noise. However, instead of the sharp angles of the first cyborg, the second one was more curved and almost feminine, and had an off-white and grey color palette instead of the other’s dark blue. A pair of segmented strips hung down and around at the being’s hips, and as he watched, it pulled at one of the strips at the front, revealing a long whip-like blade made of bright orange energy. It advanced on the two of them, and Takuto mentally cursed his luck. ‘Great. I now have two inhuman things fighting to cut me apart. What could happen next?’

 

For the second time since he had arrived on the roof, Takuto began to close his eyes, but like before, a noise blew them open. In this case, it was a humming, the kind that preceded lightning strikes. Although it was barely audible, it cut right through to the teen’s brain, making him grit his teeth in pain. The other robot seemed to have the same inclination, as it recoiled backwards. However, Takuto saw a faint flash illuminate its left armblade, and suddenly the blade cut itself in two and slid apart, falling to the floor with a “clang!”

 

“Huh?” A bit dumbstruck by the flow of events, Takuto watched as the feminine robot dashed in to engage in combat, seemingly ignored. “Is that one... fighting for me? Or...”

 

“Does it just think I’m the weaker prey?” he concluded, his face filling with fear. He began to panic again, his heartbeat racing. “I gotta get out of here!”

 

Willing up all energy he could manage, Takuto broke into a fevered run, curving around towards the rooftop door. The blue robot was parrying the other’s whip with rather ineffectual results, and when a blade was sliced down to the hilt, another simply slid in to replace it. At the rate the battle was going at, it wouldn’t be long before it would lose any way to defend itself and would turn to attacking its original prey. He was halfway across the roof from the door. His chances were good.

 

Suddenly, the white robot faulted, throwing a whip strike too high, and its opponent took the opportunity to counter, slamming its last blade across the other’s shoulder and sending it tumbling to the ground. It quickly shot up and over to Takuto, wasting no time. Raising the blade high, it prepared to slash down into the defenseless boy and kill him once and for all. As he cowered, the teen heard that unholy voice cackling out.

 

“I got you! I got you! I can finally do it! I-”

 

It suddenly ceased to speak, and Takuto’s shudders of utter fear slowed for a second. As the blade fell, a faint orange line grew down the robot’s body, and as the boy watched stunned, it split in half, frozen in assumed victory. The halves fell apart from one another, and they seemed to... disintegrate as they went, turning into black dust before they hit the ground. The white robot’s figure stood behind it, retracting the whip back into its “belt.”

 

“Thank... thank you.” Takuto was almost positive now that this one was benevolent, and as a show of courtesy, he began a bow of thanks. However, his stomach tensed up, and he could feel his pants grow wet and sticky from an unknown cause. “Huh...?” He reached down instead and touched the fabric.

 

It was blood. Sickening red blood that spread from a large deep gash on his stomach. “H... how?” That was the only word Takuto Kouzu could muster. After that, as if his body was finally catching up to him, his eyes filled with black, and the last sight he could see before his eyes closed into unconsciousness was a face. A woman’s face, rather severe, that was rapidly approaching his.

 

‘...Mina...?’ he thought, the force to make the words in his head incredibly labored. Then, everything went black.

 

[align=center]- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 

TO BE CONTINUED[/align]

 

 

[spoiler=Author Notes]- After discussion with Umbra, I cut the last portion of this original chapter and am turning it into the beginning of Chapter 3.

 

- How does everyone think the fight scene went? I’m pretty happy with how I wrote it out.

 

[spoiler=Introduced Characters]None.

 

 

.

I'm incredibly disappointed' date=' YCM. I went on an unannounced vacation for 2-ish days and not a single new comment upon my return. BUMP.

[/quote']

 

Would you say that u r disappoint?

 

I was re-reading your notes (because I'm pro like that), and was thinking about your system for name order. I think using Eastern order in dialogue and then Western in description is a bit confusing. I think it would make more sense to either put all names in Western order always, or to put Eastern names in Eastern order, and Western names in Western order (that's what has usually been done in the anime that I've seen, at least).

 

The only problem with that is that Western names in Eastern order sounds forced and rather unnatural, so I think I'll stick with the system I have.

 

Chapter 2's up, obviously.

[Umbra]

I'm incredibly disappointed' date=' YCM. I went on an unannounced vacation for 2-ish days and not a single new comment upon my return. BUMP.

[/quote']

 

Two days? Lucky you! I have spent weeks trapped under a block of concrete without anyone commenting on my fic!

 

...ahem.

 

Apart from the things we discussed over IM, I feel as if you could have ended the chapter after Takuto passing out, and then started with Chapter Three from there onward. It's a bit of wasted cliffhanger, if you ask me.

[bury the year]

I'm incredibly disappointed' date=' YCM. I went on an unannounced vacation for 2-ish days and not a single new comment upon my return. BUMP.

[/quote']

 

Two days? Lucky you! I have spent weeks trapped under a block of concrete without anyone commenting on my fic!

 

...ahem.

 

Apart from the things we discussed over IM, I feel as if you could have ended the chapter after Takuto passing out, and then started with Chapter Three from there onward. It's a bit of wasted cliffhanger, if you ask me.

 

I get the hint. And after further consideration, I'm taking your advice and cutting the last bit to save for the next chapter.

[Guest Supreme Gamesmaster]

Chapter three's been chopped off partway through. >.>

 

This looks really, really promising. Like, best-mecha-series-since-Gurren-Lagann promising. Already I see the setup for plenty of genrebusting, so I'm certainly going to keep reading.

 

The title seems a bit dark for the series's tone, though. I'm going to assume it's leading up to future events.

[bury the year]

Chapter three's been chopped off partway through. >.>

 

This looks really' date=' really promising. Like, best-mecha-series-since-Gurren-Lagann promising. Already I see the setup for plenty of genrebusting, so I'm certainly going to keep reading.

 

The title seems a bit dark for the series's tone, though. I'm going to assume it's leading up to future events.

[/quote']

 

Goddammit. It glitched up again? Dx

 

Thanks for the comment, anyways. The series is going to take a bit of a darker tone later, but nothing too extreme.

 

EDIT: Should be fixed now. :3

---

[spoiler=Chapter 3: Fire]“Hey. Is he awake?”

 

Takuto opened his eyes into a bright dizzying light. It filled his entire field of view, and almost seemed to spin and flex around. His body felt hot and feverish, flushed with sweat, and his stomach ached horribly, almost as if a buzzsaw had traced a line across it. It was the worst he had ever felt in his life, by far. The only other time was...

 

“I dunno. Should I really care?” Although the first voice seemed somewhat concerned, and had a masculine inflection to it, the second was harsh and authoritative and was unmistakably female. “Whatever. I’ve already done what I shouldn’t have. If he doesn’t survive, I can at least have a steady conscience, right?”

 

“Who are you people?” Takuto wanted to ask, but no words came out and his lips wouldn’t move. The rest of his body felt summarily paralyzed. “And... where am I?”

 

“Oops. Sojuro, it seems as if the sedative is beginning to wear off. Look,” the female voice said, almost as if she had heard Takuto’s mental pleas for help. “See his eyes moving? Lucky us,” she deadpanned in a manner that made the boy twitch nervously.

 

A clomping of boots against wooden floors was heard. “Gimme a sec, Mio-chan, I’ll check. Hey kid.” A shadow moved over Takuto’s head, although it was still too blurry to make out any features. “Can ya hear me? Blink a lot if ya can.”

 

Although sweat was pouring all over the teen’s face, he managed to rapidly flutter his eyelids.

 

“Good,” the voice responded, seemingly satisfied. “We had to inject you with a- ow! Rei-chan, don’t hit me while I’m talking!” it suddenly shouted, spooking Takuto. “Anyways, like I was saying, we had to inject you with a sedative and a tranquilizer while we... worked. The first should be wearing out now, but the second might take a while. Just rest and try to sleep. Your body’s been through a lot,” he concluded.

 

“You deserved it, Sojuro,” the woman shot back. “Don’t mess my name up again.” She then seemingly turned to address Takuto. “It’s not an option, kid. You need sleep. I’ll knock you out if you don’t.”

 

Shivering a bit inside at the venom behind the words, Takuto closed his eyes, despite them feeling like they were on fire. “Hey,” he said quietly after a moment, unable to decide who he should talk to. “Will you tell me what happened when I wake up?”

 

He was starting to drift off into unconsciousness, so he couldn’t exactly tell who was speaking. However, the two words were unusually reassuring.

 

“I will.”

 

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

 

“Gyah!” Takuto woke up with sweat covering his forehead. For a second, a thought ran through his head, a thought that everything that happened since he went to investigate the noise on the roof was just a dream. However, as he looked around, his vision finally clearing, his heart sunk. No such luck.

 

He was in a small, nearly one-room apartment building, lying on top of an old futon. Milling around the room around him were two people, and judging by their appearances and voices, Takuto guessed that they were the same two he had heard speaking in his earlier feverish waking period. The one sitting at the base of his futon was a man, with bleached blond hair, a pair of sunglasses sitting on his forehead and multiple piercings in his ears. Despite looking like the types of gangsters that Mika always warned Takuto about when he was little, there was a look of genuine worry on the man’s face.

 

The other one was a woman, and at first appearance, she was probably more intimidating than the man. It wasn’t the clothing, which was a rather standard business suit in comparison to the other’s combat fatigues. It was her face. A pair of icy-blue eyes framed by long black hair, she screamed “serious” from every pore. It made him shiver for a second, but when Takuto connected the appearance to the harsh voice from before, it made sense.

 

“So, kid. You’re alive.” The blond man rolled off of sitting on the backs of his heels and walked off, returning with a cushion a second later. Sitting down cross-legged, he dropped his chin into his palms and studied Takuto for a second, who had propped himself up into a semi-sitting position. “Where would ya like us to start?” he inquired.

 

“Start?” Takuto echoed, shaking. Although it was a drastic decrease from his previous state, he was still rather dizzy, and even trying to speak made his stomach roil. Looking down, he noticed that his shirt, which had been soaked in blood, was lying next to him and a large bandage was wrapped around his midsection. “What do you mean?”

 

“What you saw on the rooftop, what happened to you, what our names are, if people know that you’re safe, those kinds of things.” The standing woman spoke, a set of brusque statements coming from nowhere that surprised Takuto. “I’d recommend you start with the last two, if I were you,” she added as an afterthought, grabbing a nearby purse while speaking and fishing around the contents.

 

“Um... Alright. Who are you people?” the teen asked nervously.

 

The blond man pulled a cigarette out from a box beside him, but didn’t light it, instead holding it in his hand like it was lit. “I’m Ogata Sojuro, and that’s Hourai Mi- oof!” The last exclamation was from Sojuro falling backwards suddenly from his compatriot throwing a glasses case right into his forehead. Takuto sweatdropped watching the event unfold. ’That was... interesting.’

 

“My name is Hourai Rei,” the woman continued without missing a beat. “Not Mio. The two of us are... coworkers,” she concluded after hesitating momentarily. “To answer your next question, we’re currently in a rented apartment in the same building that we... found you on. We contacted your sister and told her that we found you passed out on the roof. She wanted us to bring you back to your apartment, but you weren’t in a stable-enough condition, so we managed to negotiate. She left work after, and should be here sometime in the next 10 minutes.”

 

“Wait,” Takuto interjected, laughing nervously a bit. “You convinced Mika-nee to change her mind? And why couldn’t she get here sooner?”

 

“From how it sounded,” Sojuro stated, waving his unlit cigarette around for emphasis, “she’s a business type. Probably got stuck in a meeting with some higher-ups.”

 

Takuto didn’t respond, but frowned for a second. “Makes sense.” The three sat in silence, Sojuro playing with his cigarette and Rei applying lipstick. “So, um... what happened on the roof?”

 

At this, the other two of them in the room exhaled simultaneously, an unnerving thing. “Well...” Sojuro started, but was cut off.

 

“I’ll give you two options.” Rei dropped down to eye level with Takuto, looking him in the face. “One, you can listen to every word I say, understand them all, and accept that you’ve been shoved into a world that you aren’t going to leave anytime soon.”

 

She lifted an impeccably-manicured nail and shoved it in Takuto’s face. “Two.” A second finger rose to meet its twin. “You will be killed here and now for holding classified materials and will be summarily disposed of. Your choice.”

 

“I guess I’ll listen,” the teen responded with a gulp.

 

“Good,” Rei said. Standing up, she went to walk to stand behind Sojuro. “I’m not in a very killing mood anymore.”

 

“Alright, kid.” Sojuro pulled out a lighter from his pocket, stuck the cigarette in his mouth, and lit it, taking a long drag. “Do you remember that thing you saw last night on the roof? The one that killed that other guy?”

 

“Like I could forget,” Takuto shot back, shuddering all over. That was going to be an image that would haunt him for quite a while.

 

“Okay. Do you remember the other one?”

 

Takuto nodded. The white robot which had cut the other into mincemeat and saved his life was equally memorable.

 

“Well.” Sojuro pulled the cigarette out of his mouth, blowing a cloud of smoke to the side. “That robot and Rei-chan behind me are one and the same,” he stated matter-of-factly. “Thank her for saving your life.”

 

The teen’s reaction was... interesting. On the outside, he seemed rather pensive, frowning and looking down. However, on the inside, his brain was racing. ’How the heck is that possible?’ he thought. ’I mean, that entire scene looked like something out of an old manga. Since when did they have that kind of stuff available?!’

 

“What Ogata-kun might be saying is odd, but it’s the truth. That... thing,” Rei spat, “and myself are what you may call Gestalts.”

 

“Gesutaruto?” The word was unfamiliar in Takuto’s mouth, and he rolled it around a few times with his tongue.

 

“It’s German,” Rei added, evidently understanding Takuto’s confusion. “It literally means “shape,” but has the greater concept of being something that’s greater than the sum of its parts. This is because Gestalts are transmitted through nanomachines, which bond to a person’s cells and replicate this status throughout the body. If you took biology, prions have a similar method. However,” she said, fiddling with her makeup case, “these are much more beneficial. Controllable via nerve impulses, customizable to the user’s specifications, easy to reduplicate...”

 

“And therefore dangerous,” Sojuro interjected. “We don’t know why, but there have been sporadic outbreaks of Gestalts that are simply uncontrollable. People get this power, and they don’t know how to use it.” He puffed on his cigarette again.

 

Takuto thought for a second. “So it basically turns you two into Kamen Riders?”

 

At this statement, Rei frowned. “Quaint, but in a way, yes. Not just us, though.” She put her index and middle fingers to her eyes and poked. Takuto freaked out silently for a second, but she pulled them back to reveal she was wearing a pair of colored contacts.

 

Rei got down a bit closer to Takuto. “I am going to present you with three statements. Firstly, all Gestalts are identifiable by iris scarring in a distinct pattern: it’s like the nanomachines’ control center.” As Takuto looked on, he noticed her eyes had a faint circle looping around the colored disk of the iris. “Secondly, when we found you on the roof, you had passed out from blood loss due to a large wound to your stomach and lower intestine. You would have gone irreversibly comatose within four minutes, brain dead within six, and dead within ten if we didn’t intervene. Lastly, those with the Gestalt nanomachines are subject to enhanced healing and cellular regenerative properties, spiking at ten minutes after injection. Do you see what I mean?” the woman concluded.

 

He was a bit confused, but as he pondered them, the three seemingly-unrelated things came together in Takuto’s mind. A sinking feeling of dread settled in his injured stomach. “You mean...?”

 

Rei held her index finger to her lip and popped open her compact mirror, holding it up to Takuto’s face. The reflection that stared back at him had two circular marks, one in each eye.

 

“You’re one of us now.”

 

For some reason, Takuto couldn’t think of anything to say. Sure, he was stunned. Who wouldn’t be? He was just turned into a machine-human mix without any consent of his own, and his body felt like had been left under a radiator for a few days or so.

 

“Wait, huh?” he exclaimed finally. “Why me?”

 

“Because, kid,” Sojuro stated between puffs of cigarette smoke, “ya’d be dead otherwise. Your intestines were nearly punctured during that attack. That’s why your stomach probably feels so bad.”

 

‘That’s an understatement,’ Takuto thought grimly as he laid in bed.

 

Rei suddenly pulled out a cellphone from her bag, her jacket sleeve slipping back to reveal a silver bracelet that Takuto looked at with a quizzical look. “Hm?” Feeling his stare on her, Rei glanced momentarily at the teen, who turned back ashamed, and went back to flipping open her phone. “I don’t think I got your name yet, as a matter of fact. It is...?”

 

“Kouzu Takuto,” the infirmed boy said, a bit peeved at how long it took her to notice. “You need my number too?” he said, slightly irritated.

 

“Yes,” Rei replied, ignorant of Takuto’s anger. He gave her the numbers, and Rei’s fingers flew across the ultra-thin keyboard. After a minute or two, she pressed a button, and a “ping!” was heard. “I told your sister that you’ve woken up.” Another “ping!” was heard, and Rei glanced down at the screen. “She’ll be here in 10 minutes,” she announced, and slapped the phone shut with one hand. “I suggest you try to sleep again.”

 

“Fine, fine.” Although Takuto’s stomach was feeling a bit better, the meds that were given to him were making him sleepy, and he eventually closed his eyes, dozing off for the second time that night.

 

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

 

Sunlight reddened the inside of the teen’s eyes, and Takuto opened them. It was morning, and he was lying down in his own bed.

 

‘Heh?’ he thought groggily, and rolled over. From the faint memories he had of waking up intermittently throughout last night, Mika must’ve carried him into his room after he fell asleep.

 

Yawning exhaustedly, he lifted his arms over his head, clasping his hands, and stretched. However, Takuto stopped when he felt an odd growth on this inside of his left wrist. “Heh?” Lowering his hand to inspect it, he was greeted with the sight of a raised glassy orb, irregularly cut from what seemed to almost be a light-grey glass, that was set right over the bone. “What’s this?” he asked himself, puzzled. There was only so many times he could freak out, anyways

 

Suddenly, as if on cue, the phone that was lying next to him shuddered, the sign of a new message. Takuto flipped it open and read.

 

I didn’t get to this last night, but there should be a crystalline mineral deposit growing on the inside of one of your wrists. Don’t worry. It’s the nanomachines’ control node: it’s what keeps them coordinated and under control. Make sure that the node doesn’t get damaged, and everything should be well. Also, it won’t stand out for long: the machines will adapt it into a more... aesthetic form in the long run. Hope everything works out.

 

-Hourai Rei

 

PS: If you’re wondering, your sister gave me this number. I’ll use it to stay in touch.

 

Takuto sweatdropped and looked at the lump on his right again. ‘Thanks for not mentioning that,’ he thought bitterly, but then realized something. It didn’t seem to be in Rei’s personality to tell something unless it was absolutely needed at the moment. Despite the reassurance at the end, her message lacked any real compassion or warmth behind it. It was closer to a machine-generated thing.

 

A bit disgruntled, the teen tapped at the node. It was hard and slightly cold, absorbing the warmth of his finger. He tried to pull at it, but it seemed to be joined not just to his skin, but also the bone underneath. No matter how much Takuto tried, it wouldn’t move.

 

Finally giving up, he pulled an old linen wrapping bandage from off his desk and tied it around his wrist to disguise the lump. Satisfied with his work, Takuto gave a faint smile and proceeded to change into his school clothes, yanking his shirt over his head. Last night might’ve been odd, but it wasn’t a good enough excuse to give Mika. There was one thing that she was relentless with, and that was Takuto keeping up his education through high school.

 

He stopped for a second, however, to look at himself in the mirror. Takuto was in relatively good shape, but that wasn’t what he was concerned about. He was looking at his stomach. Normally, due to the large wound he received last night, there should’ve been bandages, blood, a large pus coating, anything. However, there was only a thick, jagged white line of scar tissue drawn across, starting from the bottom-right corner and curving up to the base of his ribs on the left side. Frowning, the teen poked it, and recoiled as what felt to be a miniature fire lit itself for a moment. He doubled over in pain.

 

‘Okay, Takuto thought. ‘New thing I’ve learned. Those nanomachine things must have that regenerative properties Hourai-san mentioned, but they must heal the outside a lot faster than the inside.’ Grimacing, he bent over until the pain subsided.

 

He finished with putting his clothes on and stumbled into the main room. “Hey, Mik- oof!”

 

His words were cut off as he was caught up in a near-bone-crushing hug. A bit surprised at the sudden outburst, Takuto felt a few long strands of hair tickle his face, and looked up to see his sister’s face bent down, eyes closed.

 

“Christ, Takuto,” she muttered into his hair, squeezing him tighter to her. “When those two people called last night, I was so worried. They said you got hurt, but by the time I got out of work and raced home, you looked perfectly fine. I don’t know how you managed to get out of that, but next time...”

 

Takuto waited with bated breath. He didn’t know what was coming.

 

“...Just think before you go try to be the hero,” Mika concluded.

 

Feeling a bit squashed, Takuto pushed out of his sister’s embrace. “Mika, I’m not a little kid anymore,” he stated, a bit annoyed. “I can handle myself just fine.”

 

He walked over to the door, slipping his waiting shoes on. “After last night, I’m not really hungry. I think I’ll just pick something up on the way.” Takuto turned, putting his hand on the doorknob, but hesitating slightly.

 

“See ya tonight,” he concluded, and opened the door, walking out and letting it close behind him.

 

Mika waved to wish him well, and then sashayed back over to the dining table, plopping down on a chair. ‘Takuto, you’re pushing yourself too much,’ she thought to herself wearily. ‘Not everything can be made up for, no matter how much you may try.’

 

‘You’re not an avenger.’

 

[align=center]- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 

TO BE CONTINUED[/align]

 

 

[spoiler=Author Notes]- I don’t like how the Gestalts were explained, because I feel like I crammed too much in there when trying to finish. Oh, well. More explanation will follow in chapters to come.

 

- The Mio/Rei joke might not make much sense at first glance, so I’ll try to explain. The character for Rei’s name (澪, waterway) can be read either as “mio” or “rei,” with the former being much more common for given names. Therefore, she doesn’t like it when people call her the wrong thing, and Sojuro abuses that fact with glee.

 

- I’ve decided to replace the Introduced Character section with a Character Profile, giving some facts on each major character. First up is our protagonist, Takuto Kouzu, whose last name I changed from Kogure.

 

[spoiler=Character Profile 1: Takuto Kouzu]

Name: Takuto Kouzu (神津拓人, Kōzu Takuto)

Gender: Male

Age: 16

Birthday: April 12th

Zodiac: Aries

Blood Type: AB

Favorite Food: Inari-zushi, hamburgers

Theme: Kasabian –

 

 

[Guest Supreme Gamesmaster]

It works, though there's an unsightly duplicate. Happens in Debates all the time. I recommend using the full edits and replies for everything long; it tends to go much more smoothly.

 

Good ol' nanomachines. Takuto is oddly interesting for an everyman; I can see a personality emerging, and it's not the usual. He seems a bit more like a harem protagonist than a mecha protagonist, which should be awesome to see.

[Umbra]

Poor Takuto. With all the tackles that boy's been getting, today doesn't look good for his stomach.

 

I don't have any problems with your explaining of Gestalts (which happen to have the same meaning in Swedish as in German) and it certainly didn't feel crammed. You managed to weave it in nicely into the rest of the story and introduce bits as you went.

 

Overall, you did a good job on this one. The name change confused me at first, but now it's all good.

[bury the year]

Bump? D:

 

Chapter 4 will be up sometime this weekend. I'm a bit too tied up to finish it any earlier at the moment.

[bury the year]

[spoiler=Chapter 4: Education (Part 1)]As Takuto walked out of the steps of Shin-Murasako Apartments, his thoughts started to tumble around his head. It was going to be a long day, especially due to the chaotic events of last night still omnipresent in everything he saw. Every time he saw a particularly looming shadow, he flinched a bit inside and looked up, just to make sure it wasn’t another murderous robot waiting above his head to deliver the long-waited deathblow.

 

However, there were no obstacles blocking his way, and Takuto continued relatively unobstructed on his way to Sounan High School. That last statement was rather objective, however...

 

“Oof!” A familiar force hit him in the back, and the teen turned around to see an even-more familiar face. “C’mon, Yuhi,” he complained fruitlessly. “i got hurt last night, so do you really have to irritate it any more?”

 

“Hm.” Yuhi frowned, unlatching herself from her friend and racing to walk in front of him, short brown hair waving in the faint February breeze. “Well, then,” she concluded, “you can consider that payback for not going out for hotpot last night. I ended up just bringing Risa-chan and Chiaki with me. We all missed you,” she added at the end with a smile.

 

“Eh, sure,” Takuto responded, waving it off. “I had... stuff to do last night.”

 

Yuhi laughed. “That’s a lie, Takkun, and you know it!” she said playfully. “After you quit the basketball team, you haven’t really done stuff. You just go home and lie around, or at least that’s what I’ve gathered.” She turned around, intently staring at her friend for a second. “Why don’t you do anything anymore?” she inquired.

 

Takuto shrugged, dismissing the question like he did before. “I’unno,” he said. “Nothing really interests me now.”

 

That, of course, was a lie, or at least a half-lie. With the revelations of last night still hanging fresh in the air, he was prepared to do a bit of his own background investigation into just what the Gestalts were. However, for now, he couldn’t let Yuhi onto his tail. She was friendly and outgoing, but had the nasty little habit of digging into people. That was a distraction the teen didn’t need at the moment.

 

“Hm.” Yuhi paused to think for a second. “Why don’t you join up in the newspaper club with Chiaki?” she suggested to Takuto.

 

“Eh...” he responded, shrugging his shoulders. “I’m better at math and sciences than writing.” ‘It depends on what you mean by ‘better,’ though,’ he thought.

 

“Fine, fine,” Yuhi responded, flicking a few short strands of hair back behind her ear. “You’re always stubborn when it comes to stuff like this,” she added.

 

Takuto didn’t retort, but sighed and looked back up at the clear sky. ‘Can we just get to school?’ he asked himself, a bit annoyed at Yuhi’s persistence. The answer came soon enough, as the looming Sounan building appeared in front of them. The two of them must’ve been walking at a faster clip than normal, and the normally-somewhat-lengthy walk was cut down significantly.

 

“Well, here we are Takkun!” Yuhi announced, passing through the large wrought-iron gate. “See ya later!” She waved her friend goodbye and dashed inside, in a rush for something that Takuto was completely unaware about.

 

‘Hmph.’ Strolling onto school grounds, Takuto absent-mindedly tugged at the wristband hiding the growth. Nothing seemed to have changed, and he slipped it back into place. Sighing, he weaved through the surge of chattering students and made his way into the building.

 

However, there was one person he didn’t notice, especially since there were the boatloads of people blocking his view. It was a man in his 20s, hanging around near the inside corner of one of the walls. He didn’t match the neat-and-clean façade of the student uniforms, instead being clad in a mess of assorted rags and tattered clothing. His face was unshaven and his hair tangled, but his eyes were oddly alert, darting back and forth as he took the scene in.

 

‘So, if I do that, he’ll give me more?’ the man thought. ‘That’s good. I need some more.’

 

He slunk out of his corner and walked to behind the school building, disappearing from view.

 

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

 

“Yo, Takuto! Where the hell were you last night?”

 

“Heh?” Leaning back on his chair and trying to rest, Takuto was jolted up by a familiar voice. “Oh,” he said. “Hey, Chiaki.”

 

“That’s not much of a response, Takuto.” Smiling, Chiaki Kitagawa looked down at his friend. His long-ish tangled reddish-brown hair obscured a set of playful grown eyes and a narrow face, almost fox-like in nature. That was a good comparison for Chiaki, as he never seemed to be able to keep out of mischief and pranks. The camera tied to his belt marked him as a member of the newspaper club, but he seemed to use it to take “candids” more than actual reporting. However, that didn’t detract from his popularity. Oddly enough, despite his “antics,” a lot of girls found him somewhat attractive.

 

“So, Yuhi said you were going to join the newspaper club with me?” he inquired, tapping the camera attached to his belt out of habit. “We do need another member, y’know.”

 

Takuto flinched a bit inside, and mentally cursed him not beating Yuhi inside. Once she had something stuck in her mind, she could almost be as stubborn as Takuto himself. “I dunno...” he said lazily, trying to draw Chiaki away from the topic, but his friend’s grin indicated that wouldn’t happen. “Listen, Chiaki, you know I’m no good at writing-”

 

“So?” Chiaki interrupted, deflating Takuto’s defense. “We could always use an interviewer to help out. Whaddya say?”

 

“I’ll think about it,” Takuto finally concluded.

 

Chiaki smiled, satisfied, and took the seat next to him. The two had names that went in alphabetical order, so their seats were adjacent. “Well, homeroom’s about to start, and I don’t wanna get in trouble with Nozaki-sensei, so I’ll get your decision later.”

 

“Sure.” Takuto smiled in response, and turned to the front of the class room.

 

“Alright, alright, everyone,” came the voice of the class rep from the front of the class. “Stand! Bow! Sit!” Takuto got up and did the customary actions, and Hiroyasu Nozaki entered the room. He fit the image of a traditional schoolteacher, right down to the fussily-organized suit and tie combination.

 

“Okay, students,” he started once he got to the front of the classroom. “Before I start class today, I’d just like to make a public announcement. Many of you might’ve heard on the news about the most recent Two-Part Man murder. I do not want discussion about that to take over classes. If I hear about it from any other teachers, you guys will be in trouble. Okay?”

 

However, his warnings fell on deaf ears, as the class immediately erupted into a quiet bubbling of conversation. Nobody started talking to Takuto, so he just laid back and listened to the flow of words around him.

 

“So there was another one last night?”

 

“Yah, didn’t you hear? It was on top of an apartment building. Not too far from here.”

 

“Hey, doesn’t Takuto-kun live there?”

 

“I dunno. I don’t think he’d be at school today if he was.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Police investigation, maybe?”

 

“Or maybe he’s just too damn scared.”

 

Takuto was just about to jump up and say something in response to that last comment, but he was interrupted when Nozaki hit the top of his desk multiple times.

 

“Quiet down, everyone! What did I just say?!” Nozaki held his brow in his hand and shook his head. ‘Sometimes, I wonder why I got into teaching in the first place.’

 

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

 

“Alright, kids! Down one, down two, down three, down four!” The gym teacher, Sachiko Tsurumi, was leading Class 2-C in a set of calisthenics before gym class started. It was an unstated fact throughout the class that nobody liked doing them, but everyone knew that if they disobeyed Tsurumi, they’d be at the business end of an order to do 20 laps around the outdoor track, usually more. She dropped mood changes at a moment’s whim, and it wasn’t a good idea to get on the bad part of those.

 

The students were all dressed in their gym uniforms: white shirts and blue shorts for the boys, and white shorts and bloomers for the girls. Although a lot of the boys were checking the girls out as they did their exercises, Takuto was a bit distracted by other things. The bump under his wrist bandage was itching a bit, and he wanted to scratch it badly, but he didn’t want odd stares from his classmates. Therefore, he just put up with the odd sensation, letting it continue its futile attempts at irritating him.

 

“Hey, Takkun.” Chiaki was standing next to him, unaware of his friend’s... secret. “Didja decide on joining the newspaper club with me yet?” he whispered, unwilling to invoke Tsurumi-sensei’s infamous wrath.

 

“What?” Takuto hissed back. He wasn’t exactly concentrating fully on the task at hand, and he didn’t want to risk angering the woman just around ten feet in front of him.

 

“Down eighteen, down nineteen, and down twenty! You two, in the corner!” Without missing a beat, Tsurumi waved the shinai she was using to direct the group at Takuto and Chiaki. “No talking during exercises! You know what comes next, right?” she inquired with a devilish smile, tapping the piece of equipment against her thigh while smiling wickedly.

 

“Yes, Tsurumi-sensei,” the two boys responded, and quickly dashed off onto the track, away from the rest of their class in the center. They didn’t have an opportunity to stretch, so as Takuto started to run, he felt a bit sore all over. It was a definite sign that he needed to get back into shape.

 

He grumbled in irritation. “Thanks a lot, Chiaki,” Takuto said under his breath spitefully. He really didn’t want to get pulled out for something he didn’t have much responsibility for.

 

“Hey! Don’t blame me,” Chiaki replied cheerfully, unaware of his friend’s anger. “You were the one who talked back, anyways,” he ribbed.

 

The two continued to run their laps in silence, until Chiaki decided to pipe up again. “So...”

 

“Quit it, alright!” Takuto barked suddenly, startling the other runner. “Can you be quiet for just a few minutes and stop bothering me? You never shut up when you get like this, and it bothers the hell out of me!” The two of them had stopped running, but Takuto was too inflamed to care. “You’re so single-minded sometimes, and you don’t even realize it! Just... get out of my hair!”

 

The black-haired boy stopped running, and Chiaki turned around to look at him. The expression on his face was a combination of hurt and unsureness, as if he was still struggling with how to respond to his friend’s outburst.

 

“Um. Fine, Takuto. Guess I’ll need to get someone else, then.” He turned back towards the problem at hand and jogged off, quickly leaving Takuto behind.

 

Takuto stood there, suddenly a bit ashamed at how harshly he had treated his friend, but was soon snapped out of his reverie by a loud, “Move, Kouzu-kun!” Sighing, he started to run again, attempting to catch up to Chiaki and apologize.

 

However, as he rounded the bend of the track and looked up at the school rooftop, an unusual sight met his eyes and he stopped again. Squinting, Takuto stared at it for a second, and he was suddenly horrified.

 

It was a Gestalt. However, unlike the blue one from before, this one was grey and animalistic, shaped like a panther. A large pair of cylinders were mounted on its shoulders, and each one had a nasty-looking spike attached to the end. As Takuto stared, the panther-Gestalt turned to meet his gaze, and it almost... seemed to grin. It then raised the pillars so that the spikes were facing down at the roof. Suddenly, there was a deafening “bang!” and the entire roof area went up in a burst of smoke and rubble.

 

“What the hell?!” The dust cleared, and Takuto’s jaw dropped. There was now a large hole in the corner of the school, with rubble falling into the nearby area. A loud siren began to ring, and his class in the center of the field, who were just starting to get a game of soccer ready, started to panic, running as far away from the building as possible.

 

“Everyone, quiet down!” The chaotic students stopped as they heard Tsurumi’s voice echoing over the alarm. “Stay calm and gather over here!” She waved her shinai in the air for emphasis, trying to corral the kids together.

 

Many of them followed her to a tight-knit circle near the edge of the track, away from the now-partially-ruined building. However, Chiaki Kitagawa wasn’t one of those people, and instead of following Tsurumi’s orders, he ran back towards the school building.

 

Takuto saw him, and turned to run over, picking up the pace. “Chiaki!” he yelled as he got closer. “What the hell are you doing?!”

 

“My camera and stuff’s in there!” Chiaki yelled back, picking up the pace. “I can’t lose that thing!”

 

Takuto groaned. “It’s a camera!” he shouted at his single-minded friend. “It’s not the end of the world!” Face-palming, he hurried in after him, and suddenly realized something.

 

‘I need to call Hourai-san. She’s probably the only person who can really help out here!’ With a new motivation to follow his friend, Takuto ran into the shaking building after him. It took a while, but by fighting against the waves of people that were struggling out into the hit building, he finally made his way in. Chiaki was long gone, probably racing to get up the two flights of stairs and down the hallway that separated him from his beloved camera.

 

Looking around to familiarize himself, Takuto quickly found the stairs and dashed up them, taking the slabs two at a time. As he made his way up, he encountered a student who was obviously confused on what was going on. However, that wasn’t what he was concerned about. It was rather the cell phone in the boy’s hands that he had just evidently finished up with.

 

“Hey!” The black-haired teen waved his hands to get the attention of the other boy, who was just folding the phone up. “Can I see that phone?”

 

“Wh... what are you gonna do with it?” The other boy’s tone quivered a bit, and probably not just because of the shaking building. When he was in a hurry, Takuto usually could intimidate if need be.

 

“I’ll give it back in a bit, okay?!” Takuto snapped. “I just need to make a call!”

 

Wordlessly, the underclassman handed his phone over and dashed off, confirmably frightened. Still dressed in his gym outfit, Takuto continued to run up the stairs while flipping open the phone and dialing a number he had memorized only the night before.

 

There was a ringing sound on the other end. The teen held his breath for a second, and began to speak hurriedly.

 

“Hourai-san, it’s me! Kouzu Takuto! Another one of those Gestalts has attacked!”

 

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

 

Rei Hourai was in her car when she heard the message. She was driving in to meet up with one of her clients, but it would have to wait for now.

 

Tapping a button on the central console of her sporty silver car, a thin projection appeared on the side of her windshield to indicate there was a connection. “Where?” she quickly stated, making no room for pleasantries.

 

Several blocks down from Rei’s current location, Takuto was pounding up stairs, trying to find Chiaki as quickly as possible. “Building B of Sounan High! It’s on the roof, and I’m not sure if it’s moving or not! It’s shaped like a panther and it’s going really fast and-”

 

“Fine,” Rei responded curtly, cutting him off. “I will be there in about five minutes. I’m not too far from your school, according to my GPS,” she added, glancing over at another small school. “However, I have a few instructions for you in the meantime.”

 

“What?” Takuto panted.

 

“Make sure nobody gets near the Gestalt if you come across it,” the woman said plainly. “Don’t try to fight it either, especially using... yours. Just run. Make sure you can get to a place it can’t follow you to.”

 

‘Easy enough for you to say,’ the irate teenager on the other end thought. He was on the top floor at the moment, and now had to start looking around. “Okay,” he said finally. “I’m where I need to be now.”

 

“Good.” There was a click on the other line, and Takuto heard the beep of a disconnected line. Shoving the phone into his pocket, he began to check each door rapidly. There were no more students, because the majority were on the lower floors and were settling in when the attack hit.

 

‘She’d better get here quickly,’ he thought to himself. He didn’t know what would happen if she didn’t.

 

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

 

After Rei hung up the phone, she turned to the road and focused. Another thought flitted through her head, one she didn’t think was too significant at the time, but it was.

 

‘Why are they going after Kouzu-kun?’

 

[spoiler=Author Notes]- C’mon guys. If you won’t read, I won’t write.

[spoiler=Character Profile 2: Rei Hourai]Name: Rei Hourai (宝来澪, Hourai Rei)

Gender: Female

Age: 25

Birthday: July 19th

Zodiac: Cancer

Blood Type: B

Favorite Food: Fried soba, oddly enough.

Theme: Holly Miranda –

 

 

[Guest Supreme Gamesmaster]

Yay, new chapter~!

 

I had high hopes for this story, and those hopes are being fulfilled; the direction it's going pretty much can't go wrong, and I'm sure it won't with you at the helm. A few word choices seemed a little off to me (e.g., "stated" with a question), but that's probably just me. You might do with a bit more description during repetitive action scenes (it's a great time for introspection).

 

Your character design is impeccable, though I must admit, when Chiaki was introduced, the first thing I thought was "SHAMEIMARU~" (to say nothing of my reaction to "Hourai-san"). So far, the characters are the highlight of the story, which is impressive, because the action in the earlier chapters was very well-paced and surprisingly easy to follow. The personalities of the named characters (all of them) are simultaneously defined and interpretable, and what little that's here is communicated well; anyone whom you choose to explore will probably be a very effective character. Besides the oddly sympathetic Takuto (mecha protagonists are usually boring everymen, which Takuto... isn't), Yuhi looks very interesting, and Rei manages to be enigmatic without even trying.

 

Ordinarily, I'd say Takuto was guaranteed to pull out his Gestalt in chapter 5, but given the aims of this story and their execution thus far, it's possible for the future to go either way. As usual, I'm thirsty for MOAR, and what's already here is exceptional. I'll read, so please write.

[bury the year]

Ordinarily' date=' I'd say Takuto was guaranteed to pull out his Gestalt in chapter 5, but given the aims of this story and their execution thus far, it's possible for the future to go either way. As usual, I'm thirsty for MOAR, and what's already here is exceptional. I'll read, so please write.

[/quote']

 

Yay. Don't worry, I'll keep it up~

 

*cough*chapter6-7iswheniplannedit*cough*

[Umbra]

Jay, update!

 

[spoiler=Thoughts as I read (Warning: Incoherence)]:

 

I have no idea what you mean with the "objective statement". Is this some sort of grammar humor I don't know about?

 

Tackling has now become synonymous with Yuhi. I expect her to take down the main antagonist by using this method.

 

So, Yuhi's kinda stalkeriffic. And she tackles people. Why did Takuto become friends with her now again?

 

If a person stands in a crowd, but no one notices them, do they really exist?

 

So if I'll do that, he'll give me more?

 

That's what she said.

 

How can he disappear from view if no one saw him? Heck, how can he disappear from view at all? I'll pull out one of Crab's favorite statements; this isn't an anime. It's not actually visualized; there is no "view". Oh, and NUMBERS.

 

I always consider "Hi!" to be inappropriate responses to my greetings. Not to mention that both Chiaki and Takuto drop the question without really caring.

 

You could say "inside" some more, just to get the point in. (Although the second use could have alternate interpretations of the bad variety.)

 

What, a teacher wants his class to be organized? He clearly shouldn't be a teacher. >>

 

Tsurumi-sensei, on the other hand, should not be a teacher, yet Takuto has grown used to this.

 

Chiaki is probably one of the most intelligent characters ever.

 

Something about this makes me think Takuto's hair is far more important than has been shown earlier. I still vision as Kabuto Kirisaki, so it kinda makes sense.

 

AND WE GET BACK TO THE ACTION. "It looks like a robot panther k" might not be the best case of description, but it works in the context. Also, it took me a second read-through to connect the Gestalt to the guy who nobody saw at the start of the chapter.

 

the roof turned glow and smoke.

 

Chiaki further proves his intelligence.

 

I'll give the boy some credit, regarding today's incredibly versatile phones and the future's being probably even more so, but when someone runs up to you and asks to borrow your phone, it seems pretty obvious that they're gonna call someone.

 

Right now, the situation is this: Chiaki and Robopanthera at the burning building, Takuto and Rei outside. Something makes me believe that we'll have a Rescue Arc on our hands soon enough.

 

 

 

Overall, it was a good chapter. It built on the existing story well, and introduced the Villain of the Week smoothly. I look forward to Part 2.

[bury the year]

Jay' date=' update!

 

[spoiler=Thoughts as I read (Warning: Incoherence)']:

 

I have no idea what you mean with the "objective statement". Is this some sort of grammar humor I don't know about?

 

Tackling has now become synonymous with Yuhi. I expect her to take down the main antagonist by using this method.

 

So, Yuhi's kinda stalkeriffic. And she tackles people. Why did Takuto become friends with her now again?

 

If a person stands in a crowd, but no one notices them, do they really exist?

 

So if I'll do that, he'll give me more?

 

That's what she said.

 

How can he disappear from view if no one saw him? Heck, how can he disappear from view at all? I'll pull out one of Crab's favorite statements; this isn't an anime. It's not actually visualized; there is no "view". Oh, and NUMBERS.

 

I always consider "Hi!" to be inappropriate responses to my greetings. Not to mention that both Chiaki and Takuto drop the question without really caring.

 

You could say "inside" some more, just to get the point in. (Although the second use could have alternate interpretations of the bad variety.)

 

What, a teacher wants his class to be organized? He clearly shouldn't be a teacher. >>

 

Tsurumi-sensei, on the other hand, should not be a teacher, yet Takuto has grown used to this.

 

Chiaki is probably one of the most intelligent characters ever.

 

Something about this makes me think Takuto's hair is far more important than has been shown earlier. I still vision as Kabuto Kirisaki, so it kinda makes sense.

 

AND WE GET BACK TO THE ACTION. "It looks like a robot panther k" might not be the best case of description, but it works in the context. Also, it took me a second read-through to connect the Gestalt to the guy who nobody saw at the start of the chapter.

 

the roof turned glow and smoke.

 

Chiaki further proves his intelligence.

 

I'll give the boy some credit, regarding today's incredibly versatile phones and the future's being probably even more so, but when someone runs up to you and asks to borrow your phone, it seems pretty obvious that they're gonna call someone.

 

Right now, the situation is this: Chiaki and Robopanthera at the burning building, Takuto and Rei outside. Something makes me believe that we'll have a Rescue Arc on our hands soon enough.

 

 

 

Overall, it was a good chapter. It built on the existing story well, and introduced the Villain of the Week smoothly. I look forward to Part 2.

 

Yah. I'm actually not too satisfied with this, mainly because while all the others were written within the span of two to three days, this one was written on-and-off for two weeks. Because of that, it doesn't "flow" as well as I'd like. Besides, I'm also planning on reorganizing some major ideas in the series, so I might just pull everything for a reboot. :/

[Twig]

Keep writing Rinne! I'm reading it, too.

 

I don't have a lot to say other than good job.

 

Yeah...I just posted to say I'm reading. =/

[bury the year]

I need to rework and reconsider stuff. Locked until further notice.