Dan's Lab
The Guardians were called to discuss about their new enemies. Dan used the battle data from H's encounter with them. He showed them the video H was able to record during the fight.
"Hehe. H got his ass kicked." teased M.
"Did not!" said H. "I haven't powered up yet, that's the only reason why he had an early advantage."
"Excuses, excuses! How come you're the one lying on the ground?"
"Hisoka just used some kind of immobilizing beam that's why I wan't able to move."
"It looks like a molecular destabilizer to me." added S. "Pretty advanced stuff there."
"But that was kinda sweet, for Shimizu-san to protect you." K said.
"I guess your body wasn't the only thing that got stiff huh. Hehe." M said as the video showed the part where Saki was touching H.
"SHUT UP!"
"As you can see, the three are also cyborgs like you guys. One of them is a clone of H, possibly the one who's trying to set him up for trouble. The other is a clone of Ichiro and the other is..." Dan was interrupted before he could finish.
"It's a girl right? How come we can't see her face clearly?" M asked.
"Errr...the rain messed up my optics." H answered. "So I wasn't able to give her a good look."
"Really now? I think you were just focusing on something else aside from her face. I know it was difficult. Cute girl, plus rain, plus seifuku, plus zettai ryouiki? What more could you ask for?"
"Pure plus?" H2 said as he hid behind M.
"You two are really trying my patience, aren't you?"
"Now we know what the two of them look like, we need to know what the girl looks like too." D said. "She's still a threat."
"Do you remember anything about her, H?" K asked.
"All I can remember about her was that she had a Snoopy umbrella, high socks and umm....striped..."
"Striped what, striped what?" Kirari asked.
"Data striping? For RAID?" asked S.
"No. She had striped....striped underwear."
"Oh great! The girl has striped underwear!" D said sarcastically.
"Almost every girl has at least one striped underwear, right?" K asked them. "I know Tanaka-san does..."
"I don't have one. Yet." Kirari answered.
"I can help you buy one, Kirari-chan." D told her.
"Fujimoto-san has orange ones..." whispered H2.
"I know." S whispered back.
<That's quite vague. We'll have a hard time looking for her. Besides, who would like to go around town looking for a girl wearing striped underwear...oh...> That's what all Jack could say as he saw M writing notes in a handy-dandy notebook.<My bad.>
"Striped undies. Check. Do you remember if it was cotton or silk, H? Hey! Waittaminute! S, aren't those the same kids we saw before."
"Yeah. For the first time you're right M. But the girl wasn't wearing striped underwear that time." answered S. "I know."
"How'd you know that?"
"There was a mild breeze."
"Yeah right."
"The girl is a clone of Matsuura-san." Tezuka told them.
"WHAT?!!"
"Tezuka is correct. She is also a clone. We found out after we checked the DNA capsules. We don't know how Ichiro got hold of it. Maybe he went here before and took it from me. Maybe I gave it to him. And he just erased my memory so I'd forget. But his fingerprints were on the vials so it is safe to assume that Ichiro is again involved."
"But he's dead, right?" K said. "How could he..."
"We're thinking that he already planned this from the start. He expected to be defeated by you guys so he had a contingency. He never told me about this. He could have been doing this behind my back. Or maybe he told me about it or I found out and he just erased my memory. He knew that I wouldn't help him with that anymore." said Tezuka.
They couldn't believe that Ichiro was once again behind their problems. They thought they got rid of him but now, he brings them three more things they have to worry about.
"Did someone from the future tell you that something like this was gonna happen, Dan-san?" M asked.
"What are you talking about?"
"You know, did someone like Mirai Trunks appear and say that these clones are gonna cause trouble? Maybe it was a Mirai H or Mirai Kirari that told you about this stuff. Or maybe one of the Mirai H!P kids."
"You watch too much anime." Dan told him. "Time travel is still not possible. And besides, if any of the kids went back in time, they'd still call you HG."
"Oh well, at least now we know what we're up against." M said. "But we still need to find out what their real motive is. If it's just to bullshit H and make the kids hate him, then it's pretty lame."
"Jirou said something about a 'plan' but that's pretty much it." said H.
"Maybe they'll try to pose as us too and do bad things to the girls!" H2 exclaimed. "I won't let them get near C-ute!"
"Well, what else can they do to Niigaki-san that M hasn't?" D said jokingly.
"Fuck you! At least I don't go around stealing their shampoo! I heard that Ishikawa-san lost some clothes last week. Was that you too?"
"D, you're the shampoo thief? Damn, I gotta tell this to Tanaka-san!" K said. "Finally, she won't be ripping me off my stuff anymore!"
"Tsss. At least I don't spend the night chatting with Kamei-san..." D told him.
"Hmmm. So, you're that kamekameoioi dude from the chatroom?" S asked K. "You're security settings are pretty 1337, I can't bypass it."
"What? It's not like we cyber or something. It's just wholesome chatting S. Besides, it's always you she talks about anyway. And you're the one who made my firewall remember?"
"I see. I guess when I try to teach one of them to swim, I better learn to swim first myself." S said as he looked at H2. "One was enough, but how many mouth-to-mouths did it take Suzuki-san to revive you again? Nine?"
"I didn't drown on purpose! I just had cramps! And I was really unconscious back there! It's Aniki who doesn't know how to swim. That's why he only agrees to go out with them when they invite him to go to hot springs!"
"What the heck are you talking about?" H asked.
"Oho! That probably explains those stained sheets back when he was unconscious hehe." M said.
"What stained sheets?!!!"
Jack, Kirari, Dan and Tezuka watched them as they started ratting out each other's activities.
"So it was D-san who took my shampoo...his hair looks so nice...alright, I'll ask him to help me buy undies too next time." Kirari said.
<Should we stop them? They might...>
"Nah. They won't go hitting each other." answered Dan.
<Are they always like that?>
"Yes. But at the end of the day, they go back to normal, just like nothing happened."
After the Guardians settled down, Dan told them a few more instructions.
"Alright boys! We already have a patch that can decrypt the software they're using that prevents you from scanning them. The only downside is we only have five versions of the patch available. We can't just copy-paste it, since each of your FRAMEs have different configurations. But since S, K and Kirari are gonna go out of town in a few days, you four will be installed with it this afternoon." he told M, D, H and H2. "So better eat a lot because the upgrade will take some time. In the meantime, you can go back to your activities. I'll just call for you when it's time."
After the Guardians left, Tezuka remembered something.
"Dan-san, you forgot to tell them about the clones' blood. Graft was infused to their blood right?"
"Yes. But I don't think Ichiro did that to make them stronger., I mean yes, it does increase their power, but that's not its main purpose."
"What do you mean?"
"Remember what happens when you get an overdose of Graft?"
"Yes. A Graft overdose causes death. Wait. You mean..."
"Those clones won't live for long. And I don't think they even know it."
"Ichiro. That bastard!"
"I understand your sentiments. The three are just his pawns. Something bigger is still going to happen. That's why we have to be ready."
====
A few days later, K, S and Kirari left along with Reina, Eri and Koharu for the photobook shoots. Aika was temporarily assigned to D.
"It's kinda boring here if S and K are not around." said M.
"Why? Can't find JAV torrents on your own?" asked D. "You can ask Dan-san too you know."
"Well, yeah. But that's not it. S hasn't told me what I should tell Gaki-san when I give her this." M said as he took something from his jacket.
"I you wanted help with girls, you could have just asked H2. You know how easy he talks with the girls, right? S couldn't even give a complement to Kamei-san." D told him.
"Oh yeah. But H2's style only works for kids. I'm not sure if it'll work on Gaki-san."
"It worked on Nakazawa-san and Abe-san." said D.
"And Goto-san." boasted H2.
"Anyways, I'll see you guys later. I just got a message from her."
===
Rooftop
"Sorry to keep you waiting, Gaki-san."
"It's okay Michii-kun. I know you guys are kinda busy too. I should be the one thanking you for finding the time to go up here with me."
"You know I'd go anywhere you tell me to, Gaki-san."
"Hmm. I don't like the sound of that. It's like saying that you're my slave or something. You're not something like that."
"Sorry if it sounded that way."
"It's okay. Just don't think of me as a master or boss of some sort. I may be an idol, but I'm just a person like you."
"It won't happen again. I promise."
"Thanks."
"Hey, what's that?" M asked as he pointed at a box Risa was holding.
"Oh, this? This is for you, Michii-kun." Risa said as he handed it to M. "Go ahead, open it."
M opened the box and took out its contents.
"I noticed that the one I gave you before is already torn, so I made a new one for you." Risa told him as she pointed at M's scarf. "Go ahead, try it on."
M took off his old scarf and placed it in his jacket. He was too careful in putting the new one on so it ended up looking awkward on him. Risa moved closer and fixed it.
"There. That looks better."
"How do I look, Gaki-san?"
"You look cute."
"Cute? Not Berryz?'
"No." Risa answered before she giggled.
"Thank you, Gaki-san. Umm, by the way, I have something for you too." M said as he took out something from his jacket. Risa took it from his hand. M turned around. "I hope you don't have that yet."
"Hmm? What's this? Maria Ozaw..." Risa said as she slowly removed the wrapper.
"Oops. Sorry wrong one." M said as he snatched it from her before she could give it a good look. He then took out the right item from his jacket. "This is for you."
"Thank you. What was the other one?" Risa said as she started to open the thing M handed to her.
"Oh that? Something I borrowed from Hikaru. You know, teens and their raging hormones and stuff."
"I see. Oh, this is cute! Thanks a lot!"
"Y-you like it?"
"Of course! I love it!"
What M gave her was a Robby and Kerobby plushie. He didn't have enough money when he went out with S before but he showed him an arcade that had those UFO catcher machines. It took him a few weeks before he was actually able to get one though. He first thought that it was a cheap gift to give to her but after he saw how happy she was, M understood that gifts aren't valued by how much you bought it for.
"Thanks a lot, Michii-kun." Risa said as she gave him a hug. M noticed a tear on her cheek so he wiped it away. Risa pouted and pinched his cheek. "I have to go now, I have to wake up early for tomorrow's taping."
"I'll see you tomorrow then."
"Okay."
They just started at each other, both of their faces were red. No one wanted to talk. Until Risa's phone rang.
"Okay. See you, Michii-kun." she said as she headed for the exit.
"Gaki-san, wait."
"Yes? What is it?"
"Ganbatte!"
Risa didn't need to blush anymore. She just smiled and waved at him before she went down.
M looked at the new scarf Risa gave him. He noticed that it was hand-knit.
It was then he remembered that there was a time when Risa's had her fingers bandaged.
"Damn. And I teased her that time for being too clumsy. How fucking dense can I get?!" he said as he slapped himself. "Shit!"
"No need to swear, Michii-kun. I know you didn't mean it."
"Gaki-san?! What are you doing back here? I thought you were..."
"I forgot something."
Risa walked towards him and kissed him in the cheek. Then she ran back to the door.
"Thanks again, Michii-kun." she said before she went down.
"I..."
"I should be the one thanking you, Gaki-san..."
How rare
He was crying.
For he has never felt so important in his whole existence.
Topic: Detonator M Shuffle (Read 25945 times)