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(let’s. make. reality. fictitious.)

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Shizuha hid I a small compartment of the ship. She knew that her master would wake up and be furious with her. When she heard the missile crash into the spaceship, she knew that Rikyu had arrived. Now she had to do her part. Evade and escape the master while taking control of the ship’s Mother brain to keep Rikyu and the others safe. She squeezed in the cramped spot of a hidden hollow in the ship, breathing steadily and hoping that the man won’t catch her. If he caught her, then there was no hope of escape for her. Or if he captured Rikyu and killed him, or the others, then there would be no reason for her to live. She would simply be a slave to this man who only used her brain to develop weapons and technology that suited him, instead of the benefit for humanity.

But Shizuha would not give up hope. She could still escape. She could be granted freedom. Her brother has come to rescue her. Tears started to prick her eyes. Rikyu really would move the sun and moon, the entire universe, for her. He could do it, she was sure. In all actuality, Rikyu was never the inferior one; she was the inferior one. She knew that she was blessed with a better standing than he was, that she didn’t have to work as hard as he did, and she became compliant. But Rikyu…he worked hard to become what he was today, and she admired him for his work ethic. It wasn’t his genius and accomplishments that drew her to him, but his kind heart and sense of humanity and fairness.

She hoped that her brother could disable the man on the ship while rescuing her and her men.

—x—

They boarded the ship. Kazuo took out men left and right, to give them easier access to the ship. But they had a time limit. They had to make sure that the man that held Shizuha captured wouldn’t launch into space into an escape pod, or else they would have no one to confess to their crimes about the huge conspiracy that involved RIkyu and his sister and enslaving children to him.

Kazuo needed to do this for Kyu-chan and Shizu-chan. He loved them both like his own siblings when he was little, and he would protect them now. He always hoped that the two would be reunited together again, and ti was thanks to Tomoyo that this was possible. If it weren’t for Tomoyo’s interference and good will to help other people out, maybe Rikyu and Shizuha would’ve never reconciled. Or maybe Rikyu would’ve help onto his unhealthy grudge and inferiority complex, and it was because of Tomoyo that he was able to overcome these and decide that his sister and himself should work together instead of fighting one another.

When they entered the main control room, they heard a scream.

Shizuha.

Shit, Kazuo thought to himself, and Rikyu charged down a corridor where he heard the scream coming from, though Kazuo held him back.

“We can’t let him get you too. Stay back; Tomoyo can at least defend herself with her shinai.”

“I’m not entirely defenseless,” Rikyu said as he held a gun in his hands. The man shouldn’t be able to defeat me with this.”

“You know how to handle guns?” Tomoyo said with surprise. “You’re full of surprises, aren’t you, Rikyu? I thought you said that you couldn't use guns>”

“That was a little white lie,” Rikyu admitted. “True, I said that I don’t have the marksmanship skills of Kazuo. But I do know how to handle a gun if I calculate trajectories and ranges and terrain and other factors. I can do this all in an instant in my head, you see. But Kazuo does it as a natural. It’s something that you can learn too, Tomoyo.”

Tomoyo grinned. Let’s go together, then.”

“Right, Rikyu said, as they charged down the hallway and into the room where the found a blond haired male grabbing Shizuha by her long black ponytail.

“So we meet at last,” the man said. “But unfortunately, you’re too late. I’m holding this entire ship hostage. I’m going t to set up a self-destruct sequence and there’s nothing that you can do about it.”

Everyone froze. No one dared to move a muscle. Kazuo knew that the bastard was trapped like a cornered fox, Shizuha stood limply by the male’s side, who’s eye ticked in rage. He obviously tho9ught he wouldn’t be bested, though as the last desperado move, he would blow up the ship. Every Rikyu seemed at lost. He probably didn’t factor in the man’s crazy emotions and his endless greed and need to win that would lead to getting them all killed. Kazuo suspected that this man might be like this, though he didn’t want to stop Rikyu from trying to save his sister because nothing, neither Heaven or Hell, will stop Rikyu from getting what he wants. But was this entire situation Kazuo’s fault? Maybe they should’ve waited, maybe they should’ve…

Well, there was always improvisation. He was sure that Tomoyo would be there to help. The man hadn’t yet seen Tomoyo enter the ship, as she was seemed to run off to do her own thing. What was going on? But then, Kazuo thought that it was a lucky stroke that Tomoyo was separated from them and could no doubt get them out of this pickle.

—x—

In the meantime, Tomoyo heard a voice in her head. It was a faint whisper, though she was sure that voice was Shizuha. Was this another remanent of the great power that she held within herself? She didn’t know. But if it could save them all in this situation and punish the bad guy, then Tomoyo was up for it. It seemed like a daring plan, but Shizuha, even though she was captured by the bastard that tortured her and treated her like trash, was still gaining agency in the entire scenario by contacting her through her mind.

How this happened, she wasn't sure. But she felt a gentle nudge in her mind and now she was on a separate mission from the rest to break down the control that the male had on the ship by contacting the true brain deep in the ship to take control once more.

Tomoyo, Shizuha whispered inside her head. I’m so glad that I get to meet you. While this man thinks that he has me in a cornered situation, you will stop the self-destruction of the ship by taking control of the mother brain and overriding his chip in the computer with your will.

What exactly is this power? Tomoyo questioned inside her mind while Shizuha gave her directions to a secret key that Shizuha stored somewhere in the ship while avoiding guards that were unwillingly patrolling for the male.

Telepathy, Shizuha said. It’s what we Gifted possess to communicate with one another, because once upon a time, there was a time when the Overmind didn’t have a physical body to communicate and gathered otherworldly knowledge by extending his consciousness throughout the universe. The fact that this is possible is amazing, and our last resort. However, be careful…the longer that we spend in one another’s heads, the more that we will lose our sense of selves.

All right, Tomoyo said, as she entered the room by overwriting the code that led into the secret office that Shizuha described. I’m in. So what’s the combination for the lock?

I’ll give you the combination, Shizuha said. But I think that he’s starting to catch on. He will look for you.

No problem Tomoyo thought, as she carefully listened to the tumblers in the lock and finally clicked it open. Success! However, she took her time to browse the contents of the safe and wondered which one was the right key. Could it be this one? Perhaps it was. It looked like the key to the super secret location in the ship that Shizuha saved. But what was this? A picture o fRikyu and Shizuha together? She could definitely see the family reference. Rikyu was actually smiling in that picture. He looked beautiful when he smiled like that. But what was it that took away his smile and his good-naturedness? Why’d he have t grow up so fast? Why’d THEY have to grow up so fast? Tomoyo didn’t know.

Tomoyo then ran straight towards the control room that Shizuha secretly told her about. She got into the chair that held the Mother's brain, and Tomoyo simply submitted herself to Shizuha’s will as the ship stopped its countdown into self-destruction.

—x—

The male must’ve realized what was happening, as he let out a snarl of rage and stalked towards the fallen form of Shizuha.

“You little bitch!” he snarled. “What’d you do?”

Before the male could land a hand on his sister, RIkyu shot at the male’s hand, effectively disarming him while Kazuo shot towards the blond haired male in a flash and started to strangle him.

“We’re not gonna let you get away!” Kazuo said, and the male chuckled before he punched Kazuo away and overpowered him.

“You may have stopped the ship’s self-destructive sequence, but I can at least take one of you with me!”

With that, the man rushed towards Shizuha to strangle her, though Kazuo intervened by body blocking the man. He huddled his body over Shizuha and held her in a hug while Rikyu aimed his gun at the madman. The male battered blows against Kazuo, punching and kicking him, and Rikyu fired a warning shot at the man before him, trembling.

The male stopped his ministrations before saying to Rikyu, “How cute. A little tyke with a gun. Does ikkle Rikyu-kins know that playing with guns is dangerous.”

“Shut up,” Rikyu said with gritted teeth. “Next time I’ll shoot you for real.”

The man smirked.

“You can’t shoot me. I know that you can’t. It’s not programmed into you to take a life.”

“Try me.”

While the male was distracted, Kazuo let go of Shizuha’s limp body and tackled the man before him. He pinned the elder man down on the ground with a snarl on his face.

“If Rikyu can’t kill you, then I will,” Kazuo said with a snarl, and the madman laughed right at his face.

“Even if you kill me, there are others like me…you know the saying that if you cut off the head of a hydra, it splits into two? You don’t know what you’re messing with, boy. This is only the beginning.”

Kazuo aimed his pistol at the man’s head and pulled the trigger. Rikyu turned away from the sight, and he still trembled as his hands dropped his own gun on the floor, still trembling. Kazuo went towards Rikyu to pat the ki on the head before he went to Shizuha’s fallen form. When he picked Shizuha up, Shizuha’s head lifted and the voice that came through was not her own, but Tomoyo’s

“Are you boys safe? I’m in control of the Mothership right now. Shizuha helped guide me and I stopped the detonation sequence with the mother brain. Did you get the guy?”

Kazuo nodded. “We did, but Rikyu is a bit shaken.”

“Poor thing,” Tomoyo said softly through Shizuha’s mouth before she said. “Well, I suppose the existence of technology that exists beyond this world is now out in the open.”

“That is true,” Kazuo said while eyeing Rikyu. “Though I’m guessing that Rikyu’s goal is to expose the organization responsible for using these weapons of destruction for their own selfish purposes and have justice enacted upon him.”

“Is Rikyu into heroes of justice?” Tomoyo asked.

“He always watches those Saturday morning cartoons,” Kazuo said with a smile. “Along with a carton of chocolate milk. His favorite.”

“There, now he sounds more like a little kid,” Tomoyo said, before looking serious. “Come find me, Kazuo. I’ll guide you there with Shizuha.”

Kazuo picked up Shizuha carefully, and one of the crewman working n the ship thanked Kazuo profusely.

“You are our heroes,” the male said to Kazuo. “That man was holding us, hostage..,.threatened to kill our Captin if we did n’t comply with him. That’s why he got hold of the ship, see, that Shizuha constructed.”

“Yeah,” Kazuo said with a nod before Rikyu started to stir.

“Kazuo…” Rikyu said, the shakiness out of his voice now. “You really killed him.”

Kazuo nodded.

“I stained my hand so that you didn’t have to, Kyu-chan,” Kazuo said before he departed to find Tomoyo.

—x—

“Tomoyo,” Kazuo said when he shook her awake from the mastermind control chair that had a helmet fitted over her head. “You’re safe now. Everyone is saved…thanks t you.”

Tomoyo blinked, before staring dazedly at the lights above and Kazuo’s face hovering worriedly above her. Was she dreaming? What was going on?

“What…happened, Kazuo?”

“It looks like you and Shizu-chan helped save the day, that’s what,” Kazuo said with a grin towards her. “You helped us out a lot. We killed the guy that was trying to get Shizuha.”

Tomoyo frowned before she hugged Shizuha close to her body. “She looks so much like Rikyu…Well…I’m glad that everyone’s safe, but…you guys did all these crazy things to save the life of a little girl. I would scold you for doing these things and breaking protocol and rules, but you did save the life of Shizu-chan. So I suppose that scolding will have to wait for another day…or I could turn a blind eye towards your actions.”

“Still strict as ever, huh, Class Prez? “Kazuo said with a wink before Tomoyo and Shizuha laughed together.

“I was afraid for you all…you know?” Tomoyo said as she got up from the seat and Kazuo held her in his arms bridal style while Shizuha was lax in Tomoyo’s arms. She really was sleeping, wasn’t she? She was so tired herself. But Shizuha deserved a nice long rest for her actions today. In fact, Tomoyo wasn’t sure it was really her actions that saved the day. IT was Shizuha’s ideas, after all, she was just the vessel for acting through Shizuha’s will.

Tomoyo’s brow furrowed.

Another thing that worried her was the fact that Shizuha was now a part of Tomoyo now…and Tomoyo now a part of Shizuha. She peered into Shizuha’s memories, and she was sure that Shizuha saw her memories as well. They were bonded as one, and Tomoyo understood Shizuha on a far deeper level more intimate than anything she’s ever known at all. It was the union of two souls.

Tomoyo thought of her own lost childhood and she cried.

Kazuo looked startled.

“Tomoyo…”

“I just…wish I could do so much more for Rikyu and Shizuha,” Tomoyo said as she wiped her tears angrily. I understand the pain of a lost childhood. But if we ever make it out of this; if shit doesn’t hit the fan…then I’m hoping that we could raise Shizuha and Rikyu together.”

“You do know that Shirou is Rikyu’s legal guardian, right?” Kazuo said with a grin before Tomoyo stuck out her tongue at him.

“After all we’ve been through together…” Tomoyo said. “I wanted to thank you properly, Kazuo.”

“Oh?” Kazuo said before Tomoyo captured his lips within her own. His eyes widened before he melted into the kiss and returned the favor with sweetness and passion. When they parted away, both were left gasping.