2.1

Reflection

How many hours had passed? Outside, the moon lit up the sky before retreating back to show a burning sun on Eden’s plain. Still stuck on his seat all his time was Hiro, sitting there silently, waiting alone. Soon, a door opened as the little Haruka entered the train car, holding a tray of food with a sword strapped on her back.

“You are still here?” She asked, puzzled by this action.

Hiro nodded slightly, acknowledging her existent. He remained quiet, however, being in no mode to talk. His mind was devoted what was going on in the next car, the med bay.

The young girl sat near him, not knowing what to say. The food was put on a table.

Soon, the silence was broken by a voice from within Hiro himself.

Momo-chan: [You are still awake]

The voice said with a hint of shame in his voice. When Suiren collapsed he thought his non-existent heart would stop. He was here along with Hiro to wait for any news about her. But despite being the one having a crush on the masked woman, he fell asleep. Meanwhile, Hiro continued to wait.

Hiro: {I thought you wouldn’t be up this early, sleepyhead}

Momo-chan: [How can I sleep still while Suiren condition is still…] The voice sighed, couldn’t finish his sentence. He couldn’t comprehend why Hiro would be even more desperate than him about Suiren. Perhaps it had to do with the years that separate them.

Having heard Momo’s voice cleared Hiro’s mind somewhat, he turned to the girl, loosening his tie.

“How are you doing this morning?”

“Fine” She replied, still finding his action puzzling “Your food is here, eat while it is hot”

“I’ll be alright, why don’t you have it instead?”

“Why do you think I would want your share” Haruka answered, she sounded defensive.

Momo raised his imaginary eyebrows, what with her. He could hear Hiro giggled mentally, a perfectly normal giggle, yet the voice found it disturbing coming from his host. The young man looked at the girl with a tired smile.

“So someone is trying to change her image”

“That’s not it, I am just not hungry, that’s all”

Hiro patted the girl’s head gently, to his surprise, she looked back with a cautious expression. Being with Willow had certainly given him false expectation. The young man retracted his hand.

“It’s fine, I’ve heard about the condition you arrived here at. There is no need to be shy, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to eat a lot”

“But I really don’t want to eat now” The young girl answered meekly, pausing a bit before continuing “Maybe a bit… but this is your share, I ain’t touching it”

“Thank you” Hiro answered weakly and grabbed the tray, he started to take a few bites then stopped. The young man just didn’t have the appetite. He put down the tray and the silence set in again, but this time, Hiro decided not to let it go on.

“Talk about where you from, how is it like… back then”

They are both Japanese and yet, the young girl seemed so foreign. Especially for a city boy who had never stepped his foot out of Tokyo like Hiro. She might as well be a foreigner.

“I… don’t have much to say”

Looking at her, Hiro mind went wild. Her condition was critical, was the young girl neglected, abused or just in extreme poverty? Whatever the reason, she didn’t want to disclose it. Haruka never returned to her world as well, an understandable choice.

Perhaps she wanted this to be a new beginning, one she had no intention of looking back on. Except for one broken memento.

“That katana, I’m sure Victor could fix it”

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Haruka immediately glared at Hiro, her gaze filled with hostility. The young man continued.

“That knight, Conrad, his longsword was broken as well. But Conrad made it better than even before. Don’t you want to see it, that katana of yours, shinning again?” From Alva’s description, the thing was already unusable before being broken just by a drop.

The girl was still unconvinced; however, the katana was now moved into her arms. Haruka held it tightly, her legs curled up on the chair.

Was it insensitive of him? Hiro wondered. But seeing the girl sitting like up awakened something in him. He wanted to protect this little girl, to shield her from harm. A feeling he hadn’t felt since… more than 15 years ago. In his mind, the memory was vivid.

Mother had just returned from the hospital, with her was a new member to the family.

That day, Hiro had made a vow. He had suffered, he was beaten, he was neglected. The little boy promised to himself to protect his new-born sister. He would love her, he would never let the misfortunes that befell him happened to her. Little Yuuko would get to be happy…

Hiro: {NO, I did my job, I took care of her, I slaved my life away for so she could live a normal life… I kept my promise!}

Momo-chan: […Are you alright]

Hiro: {You heard that?}

Momo-chan: [You practically screamed that to me…]

Hiro was speechless, both outside and inside. He knew why Momo-chan could hear it. The young man wanted someone to hear it… to hear his justification. But why did he even need to defence himself to himself. He did his job…

His mind was soon diverted back to Haruka. Her sword, where did it come from, her father? Inside, Momo-chan was trying to say something but the young man couldn’t hear any of it.

He immediately stood up, however, when the door to the med bay opened, exited Alva.

“How is she! Will she be alright!” Hiro gripped on the girl rock solid shoulder.

“Her condition has stabilised for now” She said.

“But what happened to her in the first place!”

This is such a strange scene for Alva. Why would he care so much for a Fallen, why would they had to try so hard to keep her alive. These masked drones were endless, they could be remade infinitely if one knew how. He must have known this and yet…

“She was never intended to live for long. You must have noticed how she never eat nor drink nor sleep” Nevertheless, he deserved an explanation.

“Of course I did”

“Well, the reason a masked person could function like that is because they have a storage of energy to put it simple. But after that deplete, a Fallen is programme to dissolve along with their equipment” The Fallen’s weapons were also kept together by a Mana core, making them virtually indestructible “Currently, the Heretic is working on removing her mask, allowing your Suiren to be able to function like a human again”

Hearing that stunned Hiro, Suiren’s mask will be removed. He is no doubt excited, the young man and the voice had wanted to see her real face for so long. Inside them there was a small doubt that she wouldn’t be as fair as their expectation, that doubt was drowned out immediately by another worry.

Would her memory returned… Hiro wondered.

It would be wonderful for that to happen but Hiro and Momo still worried. Suiren had a history, she was a wife, possibly a mother. What would a woman like that felt about being used by a lonely pathetic guy from the future. Would she react with disgust, would she abandon them?

Of course, with his power, Hiro could make sure that wouldn’t happen. However, that thought never crossed his mind even for a split second. If that made her happy, then he was willing to let her go. Although he would probably need to go back to his world for a bit to hit that bar again.

His younger self, however, was feeling ashamed of himself. He feared the worst, and to combat it he thought of using the worst, their power. Momo berated himself for even thinking about that method.

“Um, can you let me go now” Alva kindly reminded Hiro, who promptly did so.

The girl left to re-join her fiancée, but to her surprise, the young man held her back.

“Are you alright?” Hiro asked, concerned about a glimpse he caught.

“Why are you asking that” Alva smiled “Of course I am alright. Anyway, your Suiren will be alright, why don’t you take a rest now”

“But you looked so sad” It was just a split second, but that expression was unmistakable.

Like Willow, there was something about Alva that reminded Hiro of his sister. Perhaps because they were of the same age and had black hair… Actually, that was about it…

Alva simply brushed his concern away with a smile “Thank you, but I am alright. Anyway, I need to go before Jo makes a mess of himself again~”

With that the girl was gone, leaving Hiro and Haruka behind. The two looked at her and back at each other. Both of them saw it, that sombre expression.

Still, now knowing Suiren would live, a huge weight was lift of Hiro’s shoulder. The young man sat back down with a thud. He gazed outside to see the plain, its greenery soothing both for his weary eyes and soul.

Haruka decided it was time for her to leave as well.

“I will ta…” As she turned around the young girl saw Hiro already sound asleep “So fast!”

She tipped toed away in silence, only to return later with a blanket. With some difficulty, Haruka managed to throw it over the tired office worker. ‘He doesn’t seem like a bad guy’ she thought to herself.

This was such a foreign world, and they were faced with a grave danger in the form of the Biker. So when Haruka’s group finally encountered Hiro’s group, there was no doubt tension. But the young man had tried hard to ease that, by organising that sushi meal. His effort didn’t go unnoticed.

While Hiro sat here waiting for news on Suiren, many had visited him. Eikichi was the first and he didn’t stay long, followed by Jim. Then there were Mara and Fleur. Willow of course barged in but was dragged away by Johann.

Among Hiro’s group, he was the most suspicious. Having some sort of mind control power and a ‘slave’ in form of a woman. Willow hanging around didn’t help, even Johann was worried for his sister. But seeing Hiro like this, his dedication to his ‘Suiren’, one couldn’t have but admire.

Still, Haruka wondered why his two other companions weren’t among the visitor. The girl entered the next train care, those two were still busy making papercraft.