9 No More Roses

A pair of dark oak doors crashed open as Ken made his way to the roof. Ken looked up and felt the rain falling from the sky. It was raining softly and water droplets seared holes through Ken's Khami. His Khami had reduced greatly in size until it was about as small as an angel on top of a Christmas tree. Posters, Jumbotrons, Night Clubs, and Neon Signs glowed through the dark rainy night while people continued about their business. The day never really ended in Neo Tokyo. The sound of chopping helicopter blades was replete while the wind was blown throughout the rooftop. Ken was too slow as by the time he got there Rossette had boarded a military-grade helicopter. She hung from a handle on its roof, leaning with one foot on the vehicle whilst she waved at Ken. Ken's hand hovered by the gun on his back, but there wasn't much he could do without his Khami. And so he let Rossette fly off into the Neon-lit sky while the rain slowly turned to snow.

With Rosette gone, Ken went to help his teammates, but by the time he got down there Purge and Gore, Rosette's body-guards, had left as well. There was a suspiciously shaped hole in the wall that suggested the two had barged their way out of the fight. The large hole brought in the cold breeze from the outside. Everyone seemed to be in good condition, except Fuyuji who had a round scar on his arm covered by a pink band-aid. By Fuyuji's feet lay his shield which had been dented severely so that it wouldn't shrink as it was made to. Dust had filled the room and rubble from cracked marble and the broken wall surrounded the floor.

"Did you catch her?" Georgia asked getting up from her kneeling position.

"No, I was just barely late," Ken lamented.

"Of course," Hagashimi grunted. She and Fuyuji followed Georgia's suit as they stood up. "Sorry for leaving you on your own Ken, I'm sure if we fought together we could have caught Madame Rosette." Ken felt a little disheartened for letting everyone down. But, there wasn't much more he could have done. Especially with the rain and snow taking away the use of his most useful tool. "I think it's about time we caught up with Ryu. We still have the other half of the mission to complete."

"Oh right, I forgot about that," Fuyuji murmured. "I guess it should be easier now with the building empty. Or, at least more so than earlier."

"Probably not," Georgia concluded. "I'm guessing they would have wiped or burnt any files before ditching. That's what I would have done."

"We still need to check," Hagashimi remarked. "The data center is near the building entrance so it'll be on our way."

"How will we find Ryu without our coms?" Ken asked.

"We look," Georgia replied. "But we should hurry before any cops get here." With no way to contact their lost partner, they had no idea of knowing if he was even still alive. It wasn't that long ago that Georgia seemed to have finally gotten over that fact, but she was still as determined as ever. She wasn't giving up on Ryu.

The group set off back through the elegant hallways. Although they went a different route, all the halls and rooms looked the same. Everything was just as silent and eerie as before. It was odd that such a beautiful place could feel so desolate. The walk was silent too, leaving Ken to nothing but his own thoughts. Even though killing Rosette wasn't his main objective, he still felt as though he were on the losing side. He thought to himself that it was his fault that they were coming back with only half the mission done. And that's if they could still access the gang's files, they could very well be coming home with nothing at all. Had he taken out Purge and Gore, Rosettes guards, his team would probably be able to help him take Rosette down. Ken's mind filled with alternatives where he wouldn't be those few inches behind Rosette, but, as they say, hindsight is 20/20. Ken kept quiet mostly due to this, he felt like he made of fool of himself. He was left alone for less than 5 minutes and he had already messed up, he just wasn't quick enough.

During the time spent tracing back their steps, Ken's khami began to reform and his back dried up. Ken used to think he was lucky when it came to his powers. It was a gift to have a khami in the first place, as less than one-eighth of Japan's population had one. He was especially lucky having one made of fire pretty much let him fly, with some limitations. But that was what brought his overwhelming ability down, it's limitations. He couldn't actually fly very much. Ken was reduced to guiding, and if he really focused he could fly for a few minutes straight before his khami started retracting from overworking itself. For Ken, flying was like an average person trying to do pull-ups with one arm vs gliding which was like a buff guy using both arms and a strap keeping him from falling. One was definitely a lot easier. On top of that, anytime he was confronted with any form of water, like rain, he was at a great disadvantage. Over the past month, Ken had been able to increase his time flying and resistance to water through extensive exercises, but he still had a way to go. The latter being the hardest to figure out.

After a while of walking in one direction, Ken and the other turned the corner to find Ryu standing bloodied in the middle of the hallway. His arms were scared and there was a cut in his shirt going all the way from his stomach to his chest. His arms lurched forward and he was slightly leaning on his right leg.

"Ryu?!" Georgia exclaimed as she ran up to him with open arms.

"Ngh," Ryu winced when she bumped into him. "Hey."

"I was so worried about you," Georgia wouldn't let go of Ryu and was squeezing him tightly. She looked like a little girl greeting her father after he got home from work. The air of distress and worry that had been floating around her seemed to disappear in an instant.

"What's that?" Hagashimi asked pointing to a leather pouch Ryu was holding.

"This," he said while handing the pouch to Hagashimi "is the file you were looking for." Blood dripped from the handle as he let go.

"Thanks, but it should've been a flash drive, not a physical document?"

"It's in there," Ryu promised as he pulled out a black USB drive. It was exactly as Hagashimi had described in their briefing. It encased in green and in the middle was the AGUS x Japan insignia of the American flag interrupted by the sun of the Hinomaru flag. It was hard to tell from far away, but Ken could make out the date August 6, 2046, on it. "I grabbed whatever I could find from the data room. Most of the place had been burnt down, so we're lucky this didn't melt or anything."

"Good job Ryu. I guess that khami of yours sure is something!" Fuyuji said scratching his head.

"Sorry to leave you on your own," Ken said.

"Don't be, it was my call. Everything turned out well anyway, so we're all good," Ryu replied.

"Well, mostly," Georgia remarked staring Ryu down. "I've got bandages and hydrogen peroxide, so you should cover-up."

"Thanks," Ryu said while Georgia began to clean some of his wounds. He winced when Georgia started to dab his cuts.

"You're such a baby Ryu," she said.

Hagashimi started to tap the floor with her feet. "We need to hurry up," she interrupted impatiently. "Clean up on the go, the cops will be here soon." Hagashimi pocketed the drive in a pair camouflage cargo pants she was wearing.

And so the group head off with now with their lost teammate, who limped as he walked. They were pretty lucky to have found Ryu in such a large building, especially since he came with the files they needed. Otherwise, their mission probably wouldn't have been a success. Ken realized how admiral Ryu had been. At first, Ken had written him off as some sort of short-minded jock, but he now saw that he couldn't have been more wrong. Ryu single-handedly took down the strongest enemy they came across and had the time to search for and find the files they needed. Ken was beginning to shape Ryu as someone to admire and a valuable teammate. The rest of them didn't even need to be there since Ryu handled himself pretty well. Without him, they'd be in a much worse spot, no thanks to Ken. As they ran, the hallways began to grow shorter and branched off much more. Hagashimi led the way with a holographic map, replacing Georgia as the team navigator. Georgia continued to help Ryu cover up his injuries by holding bandages while he cleaned with the hydrogen peroxide and vice versa. Ken and Fuyuji stayed in the back of the group running from a short distance.

"You know, it's a little weird..." Fuyuji started to say.

"What is?" Ken asked.

"I mean, I'm glad we caught up to Ryu and he had all the stuff we needed, but It's strange that he knew where to look without a map."

"It's probably just a lucky coincidence. Either that or he studied the route beforehand."

"I don't know," Fuyuji pondered. "He doesn't strike me as the type of person to pay super close attention to that sort of thing. Plus, I didn't get any maps to study beforehand and I'm not sure that he did either."

"I guess..." Ken said. It was a little weird, but Ken was happy either way.

"I'm just thinking out loud," he said scratching his head again.

'Doing that so often has got to hurt right?' Ken thought to himself. Everyone has their own quirks, he figured, just like having a khami. Not too long after their little conversation, Hagashimi stopped in the grand ballroom they were in when they entered the building. The previously magnificent marble floor had been cracked and various parts reduced to rubble. Bodies were scattered across the floor, most notably a large one in the middle. Around him were stapped pieces of metal that slowly turned to dust which rose upwards. His flesh was pale white and a piece of the dark metal was embedded in his bloodied chest. Upon coming closer, Ken found that it was Hankatoba, the opponent they left Ryu to fight with. His pupils were fully dilated and blood trickled from his mouth. Ken looked towards Ryu, all wrapped up and bandaged, who neglected to even glance at the corpse before them. No one made a comment as they climbed a ladder to the gated stairway above.