H was waiting outside while the Dyed-haired man talked to the Berryz regarding their next project. The other Guardians were also out for their work. H2 was busy because C-ute was out shooting the PV for the new single.
So far, Hisoka and the others have not made trouble. But that worried H. Dan warned them that they might be planning something again so he advised them not to slack off.
After the meeting, the girls were instructed to go home. They were told that the company car would take them to their residences so that they didn't have to use public transport. They had a quick chat with H before they left.
"Hikaru-chan, Maimi-chan asked me to give this to you." Saki said as she handed him an envelope.
"What's inside?" H asked.
"How should I know? It's addressed to you so I why should I open it?"
"Are you jealous?" H said.
"Me? Jealous? In your dreams!" a blushing Saki answered.
"Maybe it's a picture of you kissing someone again. Hehe." said Chinami. "Maybe it's me this time."
"Or maybe it's me!" said Risako. "I think it's a love letter though."
"Nah. Maimi-chan probably wants to challenge him in a duel to the death." Miyabi told them. "I'm gonna bet my money on her if that happens."
"I'll let you borrow our weapons, Hiakru-chan." joked Maasa. "But you'll be needing something more than that."
"Come on. She's not that kind of person." Yurina said. "She probably wants to fix things between them."
"Yeah. Knowing Maimi-chan, she probably wants to settle this in private." Momoko added.
H opened the envelope and read what's inside.
"You two are right, Kumai-san, Tsugunaga-san. She just wants to talk to me." he told them. "To settle things."
"See. I told you." said Yurina.
"I've got to give you some advice though, Hikaru-chan." Chinami told him.
"Advice for?"
"Now that you know how it feels to get punched by her, you better dodge this time."
The other girls laughed at Chinami while H could do nothing but scratch his head.
The company car started to beep, telling the girls that they were leaving. They waved goodbye to H as they got in the vehicle. As soon as they left, H deployed his butterfly mechs to watch over them as he headed to the place Maimi wrote on the letter.
===
H reached the docks. It was late afternoon and the sun was ready to set. He had difficulty in finding Maimi, but he found her before it was dark.
"I didn't think you'd come." Maimi told him.
"I got lost. Why'd you choose this place anyway?"
"It's near where we're shooting the PV."
"I see. So Higure and the others must be around."
"No. I sent them home."
"Okay. So, what are we gonn..."
"Check me out."
"Okay."
"…"
"Wait, what?"
"I said check me out. What part of that didn't you understand? Come on. Use your robotic sight already or whatever you call it."
"What are you talking about? Robotic sight?" H asked. But he had a hunch that Maimi might know something about him being a cyborg. The question is, who could have told her about it.
"Just check me out. Please."
*gulp* "Okay."
H gave her a look from head to toe. Maimi wore a jacket, a Snoopy jacket, over her clothes. The shorts she wore were quite…well, short. It was probably her outfit for the new PV. H didn't find anything unusual. But he stared at her legs for a few minutes.
"Ehem. So?"
"You look healthy Yajima-san. And looks like you gained weight too." he told her. "Not too much weight though."
"And?"
"And what?"
"And?"
"Alright. You have nice legs."
*sigh* "Guess I have to do everything myself." Maimi said as she approached H. When they stood face to face, a red faced H tried to escape Maimi's stare. But without any warning, she grabbed H's hand and placed it on her hips.
"W-wait! W-what are you doing?" he asked her as she started guiding his hand up her waist. Then she slid his hand inside her clothes. "Don't stop!"
"..." Maimi looked at him with raised eyebrows.
"...I mean, I mean, that's a line from your new single right? Right?"
"Yeah. Right."
"Whew! Safe!" he thought.
"Can't you feel it, Hikaru-chan?"
H didn't know what she was talking about. He told her to stop, but did he really want her to? Until he found out what she was talking about. There was something strapped onto her.
"I'm sorry Hikaru-chan." Maimi told him as she started to get teary eyed. "But you shouldn't have come here. This is a trap."
"A trap? Yajima-san, don't tell me you're a..."
Maimi gave him a glare. Suddenly her tears didn't feel like bursting out anymore.
"That was unfunny." she said as she gave him a nudge.
"Ouch! What do you mean? So it's a real trap?"
"Well duh? He said he'll hurt the other girls if I didn't follow him."
"Who told you that? And what's that thing around your waist?"
"It's a bomb H. And if you don't follow what I tell you, she's going to die."
H turned around. It was Hisoka. He was sporting a topknot and his hair wasn't dyed anymore. He was also carrying some kind of lead pipe.
"Nice hair by the way."
"So it's you again huh?" said H. He stood in front of Maimi, to protect her in case Hisoka decides to do something. "You want to get hurt again, don't you?"
"Nah, that's not what I'm here for."
"What do you want?"
"I want you to disable your Guardian mode H. I'm going to give you a beating the old fashioned way." Hisoka said as he hoisted the lead pipe over his shoulder. "Don't worry, I'll do it with my powers disabled too. So it'll just hurt a bit. You'll just end up in the hospital. Or maybe not."
"You bastard! Why'd you have to involve Yajima-san?!"
"Oh? So you have concern for her after all! When I found her, she was crying because of you. I don't know why someone like her fell for a wuss like you though."
"What are you talking about?"
"You still don't get it? Alright, I'll tell it to you so you don't have to think. Yajima has feelings for you!"
"I-is that true Yajima-san?" H said as she looked at her. Maimi didn't answer him.
"Don't you have emotions H? Of course she does! Or are you just too enamored with your little captain?"
"Shut up!"
"So what is it? Are you going to let her die?" Hisoka asked him as he flashed the detonator. "One click and C-ute's gonna need a new leader."
"Hisoka...please stop this..." whispered Maimi. But Hisoka was still able to hear it.
"Alright, I'll give you a deal. Split up with Shimizu and start going out with Yajima. If you do that, I'll go away. That's what she told me, H." Hisoka said as he pointed at Maimi.
"T-that's not...he's lying! Don't believe him, Hikaru-chan."
"Let her go." H said as he turned off his Frame's abilities. "I shut it down already. Let Yajima-san go."
"Full shutdown H. I don't want you to catch me off guard the way you did back then."
"Fine." H said as he started to disable all his Guardian functions completely.
"Hmm. You give me the impression that you really don't want her."
"That's not what this is about."
"Tsss. That's not how I see it. See Maimi, he still won't leave Saki for you, even if I force him too."
"Hisoka. That's not..."
"That's not what you want? Don't betray your feelings, Maimi! You know you still want him! You'd even go as far as taking him away from Saki in any way possible!"
"Hikaru-chan, please, don't listen to him."
"Hisoka! Stick to your word! Let her go!"
"I will, I will. But she can't go just yet. I want her to watch you get beat up. I think she's been wanting to see that happen too."
H turned around and faced Maimi. He placed his hands on her shoulders to stop her from shaking.
"I'm sorry, Hikaru-chan. Some of the things he said are true. I do have feelings for you. But I don't want to take you away from Saki-chan."
"I don't blame you if you had to go out with his scheme. You did it to protect the other girls. You deserve to be the leader."
"I'm sorry."
"Did he hurt you or do anything to you? Don't be afraid. Please tell me."
Maimi just shook her head as she started to cry.
"Don't worry. I'm not going to die. I still have to get back at him for dragging you into this mess. Everything will be fine. I'm going to distract him and get rid of that switch. When that happens, run and call Higure okay. Do you have his number?"
"I'll just call Airi-chan. He's probably with her. Please be careful, Hikaru-chan."
"I will be fine." H said as wiped a tear from Maimi's cheek. "Stop crying. You look prettier if you're not crying, Yajima-san."
"T-thanks, Hikaru-chan."
H walked towards Hisoka but even before he could get any closer, Hisoka swung the pipe at his head. H fell on the ground as he held the part of his head that was hit. It started bleeding profusely.
"Hikaru-chan!"
Maimi was about to run to him, but H waved his hand, telling her to stay away. Hisoka approached him and prepared to hit him again but his was struck by a baseball. It hurt Hisoka, since his Frame's abilities were shut down too. (He kept his word about disabling his powers too after all) H held him back, knocking the switch from his hands. He then stomped on the switch as he started to reactivate his Guardian mode.
"Run, Yajima-san!"
Maimi ran at full speed. Hisoka elbowed H's face so he could escape. He made sure that H won't be able to follow by hitting him a few more times with the pipe. Then he proceeded to run after Maimi. He caught her wrist to stop her. Maimi got free from his grasp after slapping him.
"Where do you think you're going? Wow, you sure sweat a lot huh, Maimi."
"Hisoka...I thought you were...You weren't like that before."
"I'm a bad guy, Maimi. Get your facts straight."
Maimi slapped him again
"..."
"I'll be honest. I like you Maimi. What do I have to do to make you forget about H? I know I have the ability to make you forget, but...I just can't...I don't have the guts to do it to you..."
"Stop it! Don't tell me any more lies."
Hisoka grabbed Maimi's hand and placed it on his chest. "I might be an artificial human created from a lab and some of my internal organs might not be organic, but I have a heart. I have feelings too, Maimi. And I have feelings for you."
"H-Hisoka..."
"Tell me honestly Maimi, if I were a normal person, if things weren't like this, would it be possible for someone like you to like me?"
"O-of course. It would have been a lot easier for me to like you..."
"Thanks. That's all I needed to know."
Maimi didn't resist when Hisoka embraced her. She didn't resist when he kissed her on the cheek. Then he proceeded to remove the thing strapped onto Maimi.
"Goodbye Maimi."
"W-where are you going?"
"I'm going home. To get some rest, listen to your radio show and maybe think of another plan. You should go home too."
"Goodbye?"
"Yes. Goodbye. They'll probably erase everything about me from your memory. You won't know who I am the next time we meet, that is if we still see each other in the future."
"I see..."
"Don't worry. I won't bother you anymore. And I'm really sorry for dragging you into this. Please forgive me."
"Hisoka."
"Yeah. That's how it is. Pretty sad, isn't it?"
"..."
"Maimi."
"Y-yes?"
"I-if, if you want, I can walk you home though. For the second and last time."
"S-sure. But we can't leave Hikaru-chan."
"Oh. You don't have to worry about him. Because he's here."
Hisoka was right. He was surrounded. M, D, H2, Jack and H, who was still bloody, were ready to take him out.
"Dammit D! I told you not to use that girly cologne! He must've gotten a whiff of your scent, that's why he found us."
"Shut up! That cologne differentiates me from a filthy being such as you! And what were you doing anyway, M?" D said as he pointed at M's notebook.
"Taking down notes. This kid is pretty good. I can learn a thing or two from him when it comes to pickup lines. And K said he needed some material for the dating sim game he's developing. That line about him being an artificial human is pretty cool don't you think?"
<Are you okay H?> Jack asked him. <Your face is a mess.>
"I'll be fine. The bleeding stopped already." answered H.
"Let go of Leader-Maimi-san!" H2 told Hisoka.
"Higu-kun..."
"Don't worry Leader-Maimi-san! We will save you!!!"
"Just as I thought. Stories need to have hostage situations like these! But it never crossed my mind that Yajima-san would be the damsel in distress here. She gives me a vibe that she can take anyone on." said M. "Sugaya-san and Hagiwara-san could be your typical choice as kidnap victims but…oh boy! Those are pretty short shorts! Is that her outfit for the PV H2?"
"Yeah. But you should see Suzuki-dono's outfit! It pwns! And you should see their dance! Woohoo!"
"She has that green outfit right?"
"Yeah, but she has a different outfit for the PV."
"Short shorts?"
"Yeah, yeah!"
<Umm, I don't think it's the right time to talk about that.>
"I scanned the area and he's alone. We can take him on." D said as he vanished.
"Going to use your speed huh? Very well." Hisoka smirked. "Oh, I forgot to tell you H, the one earlier wasn't the real switch." he said while taking out a similar switch from his pocket.
*click*
There was a burst of light, but there wasn't any explosion. Maimi couldn't believe it. She was alive. However, the Guardians, though they were still standing, were unconscious. Maimi tried to wake them up but she had no luck.
"That Frame disruptor Miki created is pretty effective. Being her guinea pig for testing it wasn't a waste after all. It's just too bad that K and S aren't here so I can get rid of all them at the same time. Eh?"
There was one Guardian who was still standing. Hisoka did a scan but he found out that this Guardian didn't have a Frame installed inside him.
"So you were the one who saved H from getting his ass kicked last time huh?"
<Yes. That was me.>
"WTF? Subtitles?"
<What? You don't understand it? I can switch it to a different language if you want.>
"Don't bother. I'm just gonna kill you anyway."
<Let's see who kills who.>
"You're just a normal kid. Are you sure you want to fight me?"
<I will fight you. And I will defeat you.>
Topic: Detonator M Shuffle (Read 25937 times)