Blind Echoes

Even with victory over the Tactician, it didn’t feel like one. Yuki wasn’t the only one feeling a little off about the whole encounter. The ominous message left behind didn’t help. No one said anything about it immediately. Attention went to recovering Yumi and regrouping. Everyone was just happy to have Yumi back. So it was easy to push looming things to the background, even if they shouldn’t be.

But it only introduced new worries for everyone. Once they returned to Phoibe’s home it became clear that there might be something more to the problem.

They put Yori’s sister to rest in her bed from before. “She ain’t waking.”

“It’s only been a few minutes,” Saki replied, trying to think about it in a positive light, though they were all thinking the same thing. Worry ran thick and uncontrollable. They didn’t know if they had failed. Or maybe they made it worse somehow. “She’ll wake up soon. We just need to give her time.”

“Saki’s right, Seiji. We’ll just wait for her to come back on her own time.”

Saying nothing, Yori walked away from the back of the room going to the door before Seiji noticed. He turned to see him grab the handle. “Hey man! Where ya goin’? Aren’t you going to stay by your sister’s side?”

Yori paused in the middle of opening the door. “My sister’s safe,” he answered without even looking back at them. After his reply, the door finished opening and he disappeared behind the door as it closed.

Such an answer didn’t really give what Seiji was looking for. He didn’t understand Yori's terse reaction. Though he said nothing more than a direct statement, Seiji could feel there was something bothering him. It wasn’t outward anger like he had before. He wasn’t even sure if it was anger at all. Something deeply ate him in a new way that he hadn’t seen from him before. “What’s his problem? He’s been on edge fighting us over protecting Yumi and now he just leaves without even a word now.”

Stepping out into the main room that had become known as the waiting room, Yuki sat down at the table recovering from the encounter. “Let him be, Seiji. He’s got a lot on his mind right now. His pride took a big hit.”

“Pride? Because he wasn’t able to save Yumi by himself?”

“No, it’s more complicated than that.”

Seiji walked away from Yumi’s bed to sit down at the table wanting some answers from Yuki. “What are you talking about? We save her, does the means of doing so matter?”

“Things aren’t that simple, Seiji,” reminded Saki as she sat down as well. The matter of Yori wasn’t the immediate problem on Saki’s mind though. She quickly shifted focus away from him. Staring across the table as Yuki, she pushed the bigger concern. “Anyone else bothered by that warning saying the test wasn’t over?”

“It’s just sour grapes,” Seiji dismissed with a wave of a hand. “They were overconfident in their abilities and were just upset that they lost to Yuki.”

“I’m not so sure about that.” She looked back over at the sleeping Yumi. None of them really understood what was going on with Yumi. It was beyond what they normally dealt with. And things didn’t feel right to her. Saki could tell it bothered Yuki as well.

“I’m with Saki on this, Seiji. The way the Tactician talked, they wouldn’t be a sore loser over something like that. I almost got the feeling that they were pleased to have lost or that maybe even losing was planned. It feels like there’s something bigger going on that we can’t see.”

“Aren’t you just trying to make this out to be a bigger thing than it actually is?”

“I hope you’re right. We’ll know in time.” He looked at Yumi. She would answer which of them had the correct feeling in time. But if he was right rather than Seiji, he had no clue how to proceed.

Chapter 379 – Blind Echoes

Night fell on the city and the fears that Yuki and Saki felt started to become well founded. Yumi continued to sleep. Despite efforts by Nerine, more experienced than Yuki with their powers, she could do nothing to wake Yumi forcibly. It started to look like they hadn’t actually saved her.

To make matters worse, Hiroshi returned from his UN meeting. Once the door opened and the two walked through Yuki immediately stood up. He looked over at Yumi for one last time and then made for the door. “I’m going for a walk.”

“Yuki!”

“Don’t worry. I’ll disguise myself.”

The door closed behind another leaving Saki with Hiroshi and Tatsuya. She sighed to herself before sitting down again. “That’s not the point…”

“It’s fine. It’ll take time for him to get used to me again.”

“I fear time won’t be enough.” Hiroshi joined her at the table with Tatsuya coming up along his side. She could see the long expression covering his face. It had to no doubt be a long day for him. However, she hoped that there might have been some progress in the peace efforts.

That ended up being Seiji’s cue to step out as well. “I’m going to get some fresh air as well. I don’t really have an interest in all of this politics talk.” He threw his arms up to cross behind his head as he casually made for the door. Before he could open it, the door flew open with a familiar face. “Hey! It’s you!” A wide grin came across his face. “You had an impressive fight!”

Miyako glanced over at Seiji and immediately recognized him from their fight. Greeting Seiji with a bump of their forearms, she gave him a smirk back with acknowledgement. “Sounds like you got a raw deal.”

“Yeah, but there’s always something to learn from a loss.”

“I’m impressed, that’s very mature of you.”

“I’m used to losing a lot. So I just turn it around to something I can use the next time.” Seiji caught the look of Saki out of the corner of his eye. He quickly quieted up about such talk. “I’m going to the roof for some air, you’re here to see Hiroshi I’m assuming.”

“Right!” She looked over at Hiroshi at the table watching the two of them. Miyako sharply refocused her attention on him and walked away from the door. “I got word that you returned, Commander!”

“Enough with the Commander already, we aren’t even a fighting force anymore.”

Nerine stepped away from the table as well. “I’m going to excuse myself as well. These are not matters for me to be present for.” She quickly rushed over to follow Seiji out of the room.

Saki turned her gaze away from the two leaving and back to Hiroshi. “So what happened? You’re both back in one piece, so things didn’t break down into fighting at least.” Though she had pushed the initiative and Hiroshi agreed, she still feared a little that it was just going to turn into a fight or that the UN would just arrest them.

Tatsuya started in place of Hiroshi, as he still seemed to be collecting himself. “The Masayuki guy was there as we hoped. That seemed to help things a little, but it was just mostly a bunch of suits. No one really important in the UN was there.”

“Though there was someone not representing the UN there as well. He was actually in a suit and seemed to have a lot of sway with the others.” Hiroshi recalled the meeting and the nerves going into it. In a way, not meeting with the General or something really important in the UN came as a bit of a relief. Though at the same time, it annoyed him since they still weren’t being taken seriously. After a single day of working together, he knew that he couldn’t expect that much from the UN. “The rest of the suits as Tatsuya puts it were just military representatives in uniform.”

The man in the suit interested Saki. “I remember there being a man in a suit when I met with the General as well. Do you think it was the same guy? A sort of bookish, mousy looking man. Sort of average looking like he didn’t belong there, but somehow held more respect than it looked.”

“Sounds like the guy, but I didn’t get a name. He mostly just seemed to be observing the meeting.”

“Any agreements made like supplies or trade?”

“Unfortunately, no,” Hiyoshi replied to Miyako. He sighed pressing his hand to his head. “It was all really frustrating to listen to. They barely even acknowledged us. They just saw us as a couple of kids in the adult’s playground like we didn’t belong.”

“It’s a joke, since they are so afraid of us and our powers. They just kept talking without really letting us answer anything. They want to dictate all the terms.”

“I’m not sure what I expected to happen. This just seems like what we should have seen coming.” It was hard for him to accept. Hiroshi hoped with the aid of Masayuki things could be different. They didn’t have to fight anymore. He didn’t want a life of being on the run and fearing for those that he loved. Yet that dream seemed to be far away. “We’ve got no power. Nothing to negotiate with.”

“They met you at the table, that’s something.”

“Only because they fear us I suspect, not because they respect us or want to work together.”

“Then we just need to give them something to respect,” answered Miyako, dropping her fist to the table.

Hiroshi felt a little uneasy about what she might be suggesting. Making something forced wasn’t going to be any more convincing to them. “What exactly are you suggesting?”

“When negotiating, you need power. You said yourself. We have no power. We’ll need something that will give them a reason to treat us seriously and not as just a bunch of citizens grouped together.” She still hadn’t reached the actual suggestion she had in mind and their looks made that clear. “I know people. Some of them we picked up and are in the group already, those that still live. But I’ve still got connections in the city. If we’re going to have a stronger presence at the bargaining table we’ll need to unite more of the city under us.”

“I’m not conquering the city just to have negotiating power with the UN, Miyako!”

“I’m not suggesting that. Let me work my connections. I have a life still and I will put it to good use so that it’s not a waste to those that we’ve left behind.”

Hiroshi fell into silence seeing the determination on Miyako’s face. He hadn’t seen her talk about her men since they died. He wasn’t sure how she was holding up. They hadn’t had a moment to rest and mourn. But she was strong. Though he feared how long that would last before she crumbled. “Alright, fine. Just remember, we’re not fighting. You’re probably right that we’re too small. We’re just a neighborhood and barely that now. If we have more of the city banded together maybe they’ll start listening to us. At the very least, we might be able to hold back the violence.”

“One step at a time, you’ll get there.”

“You’re the only one that seems to have the confidence that this will work, Saki.”

“Because I know you can make it happen. I can tell.” She stood up from the table walking to the door now as well. The path was set for Hiroshi, she felt good about where it was headed. Now she just had to wait. ‘In time, I’ll be able to introduce them to the Alliance… They’ve still got a ways to go before that can happen though…’

“Where you heading now?”

“To find a solution to our current problem,” she said looking back at the beds. Saki then closed the door behind her and went to the rooftop. A quick leap put her to the ledge of the building staring out at the city with Seiji and Nerine by. “Where’d Yuki go?”

“Hell if I know!”

“He went west back to his home.”

“Thanks, Nerine! That makes sense!” She jumped off the building to land on the adjacent building. Using the buildings for quick traversal, Saki made it out of the business district quickly. The transition to homes came abruptly, though still far away from their neighborhood. Finding Yuki was far too easy. Even in disguise.

Landing down next to a middle aged woman, Saki stopped in front, blocking the way. “You found me fast. Meeting already over?”

“It’s not very hard when most people are too afraid to walk alone in the streets. We have more important things to discuss than Hiroshi’s plans.”

“Yumi.”

“That’s right. We can’t leave her like that.”

“We don’t know yet if she’s going to stay like that.”

“Holding out hope on that?”

“A little. I’m out of options. I’m not digging around in her mind with my powers. I’ve done everything I can to free her, but she’s still stuck somewhere in her mind I fear.”

“She’s far enough forward that the other personality can’t control her, but not enough that she’s conscious.”

“As little sense that makes, yes. That’s what I fear. Which means going into her mind to get her free.”

“Didn’t Athene go into Yori’s mind before? And even Ayumi said that they wipe memories of people regularly in Atlantis with their powers.”

“Yes, but I don’t feel comfortable doing that. I might be the most powerful MP user in the world, but I’m still very new to using my powers. I don’t want to risk a mistake in Yumi’s head.”

“Nerine worked on the border patrol as well. She might be able to do it.”

“That’s true. Nerine might be our last chance to truly save Yumi.”