Part 2


Chapter One
Longing
1

April came without even a sign of spring. Snow fell about every three days. People who were not accustomed to shoveling snow were unhappy. They would take a breath and stare at the naked branches of cherry trees. Flowers and insects all waited for spring to arrive. If flowers bloomed they would die in the cold wind. If insects emerged from their pupae, winter's fang would kill them. Here, in the heart of the city, there were cherry trees in the large park. In a normal year it would be crowded, but this year it was very quiet. Not one blossom had opened, and so no one had come to see the trees in cherry-blossom viewing season.

It had been a long time since there was such a fine day. Several children had come to make a snowman. First, with their arms around balls of snow, they made the torso. Next, they made a smaller ball for the head. They had embedded a tricycle in that head. They piled up snow in a round ball around it. The rear wheels looked rather like great big ears sticking out of the sides. A few dead leaves and pebbles for eyes and the nose, and the snowman was complete. The children joined hands and danced around and around it until they stopped.

"Who is behind you?" they asked the snowman. Of course it did not answer. Once again the children joined hands and danced about it. "Who is behind you?" They continued the ritual of their game. The ritual involved making a sacrificial offering. The children instinctively knew it. Of course, it was the snowman chosen as the offering. The children took small stones in their hands and threw them at the snowman. One stone hit it right between the eyes. The head fell off and split down the middle. The tricycle was visible now. A little girl with bobbed hair approached to take the tricycle from the center of the snow.

In the distant west, the sun set. Mothers came and called their children. One boy rushed over to take his mother's hand and go home with her. The little girl began to clean up the snow from the tricycle with her gloved hands.

The tricycle was wasted away. The saddle wobbled and handlebars were all rusted. There were stickers all over it. Before the little girl had it, it belonged to her older brother. Before him, their older brother owned it. It had been passed down again and again. The girl shook hands with her friend and they parted, she hastened the tricycle on the road home.

She braced herself on the pedals and rang the bell as she went. Her bangs were cut beautifully over her brow, they swung as she road. When she came to the sidewalk next to the main road, she called "Ring, ring" as she rode faster and faster. Suddenly the handles turned right. The girl tried to turn left. The pedals revolved automatically. She tried desperately to stop. The tricycle was going on its own as if possessed of its own purpose. There was nothing she could do. It was going so fast, and she held on to the handles. Her throat was so tight with fear she could not cry out. As the tricycle rolled down onto the road, the girl heard a horn blaring and turned her head. There was a huge truck full of gravel coming at her. She was thrown under the wheels and ground up. The tricycle hit the sidewalk covered in blood, fallen on its side, wheels still revolving madly.

All the people on the road rushed to the huge truck, which had suddenly stopped. No one paid the least attention to the tricycle. The high sound of an ambulance siren came closer.

The tricycle slowly righted itself. Surveying its surroundings, the handles slowly turned right, then left. It began to roll slowly away. Blood stained its tracked almost like paint. The tricycle kept rolling from quiet road to quiet road.

At about the same time, within that dead womb floating in the depths of space, Radiguet was keeping a watchful eye on Juuza's expanding abdomen. Like Radiguet, Toran and Maria never slept. Because the lower half of Juuza' body was fuzed with the wall, the upper half of her body jutted out, an ugly, dried-up mummy. Coagulated eyeballs gazed out. The lower jaw was only skeleton. Her ribs were fossilized. Her arms were thin, like dead branches, reaching out as if to embrace something. Her body shifted, as though she would draw herself out of the wall. Her formerly concealed abdomen became visible. It looked as though it had split open.

Tentacles stretched from her body and wrapped like a cage around Gray. They pulled him into her belly and swallowed him up. The broken abdomen sealed itself shut without a sound. Now her belly swelled as though she were pregnant. Just after Juuza swallowed Gray, the tricycle began moving on its own.

2

Lyta Ooishi

Kaori Rokumeikan

Ako Hayasaka

In one room of the base, Odagiri quickly scribbled out her assessment of the amateur warriors. She paused to take a breath. Only one month had passed since the Earth Ship was destroyed. In that time she had not had much chance to rest. Surely Kaori, Ako and Lyta would be able to make it through her hellish training course. Every morning they had their 20 kilometer run and weight training. Every afternoon they had hand-to-hand combat and marksmanship practice. And when that was done, Odagiri gave them lessons in anatomy and thermodynamics. They were getting results, really.

Every week their physical strength increased. They were learning to use the Bringer Sword and the Bird Blasters. But there was still so far to go. The task loomed like a mountain. But each one of them had to become a perfect Jetman, and there had to be all five of them, or they could not come into their full power.

And then there was the other problem.

Gai Yuuki. Ever since they found him, Odagiri and Ryu had contacted him again and again. They had begged, pleaded, tried to persuade him. Each time he gave them only a cold rejection. Perhaps that meant he was the only one of them with any sense, thought Odagiri. If anyone was suddenly asked one day to fight for the Earth, they would not be able to give an answer right away. It was the same as saying you have to give up your life, give up your destiny.

If truth be told, that is what Odagiri wanted of him. She wanted him to abandon his present life and come fight as a Jetman. She could not give up trying to make him change his mind. However strong his rejection was, they needed to have all five Jetman. Even missing only one person, they could not face the Vyram's aggression. And now Odagiri had yet another problem to deal with. It had to be done with delicacy and careful planning. The question of sex.

Though they all knew the danger to Earth because they had battled the Vyram, within them certain instincts were stirring. Though resigned to their fate, the simple human passion within them could not be wiped away. For example, within this mere one month Lyta had come to thoroughly understand how he felt about Kaori. In the midst of his training, Lyta had managed to build a small, vinyl house near the base in which he planted tomato seedlings. After all, Odagiri had put him on a vegetarian diet. All those vegetables tasted horrible, so he grew at least tomatoes. And though one would think tomatoes would grow and ripen during winter, the strange world climate was right for tomatoes lately, cooler.

And Kaori helped him do it. Funny, you would think that unusual. However, Kaori found each stage of the tomatoes' development a fresh wonder. Even one centimeter of growth in the saplings delighted her. And Lyta was always watching her innocent figure with dazzled intentness. After every practice the two went into the vinyl house to talk to each other about the tomatoes' growth as though nothing else mattered in the world.

To Lyta, Kaori seemed like the perfect woman. Slender body, long hair, large eyes, white skin... it was almost unbelievable that she was only human. She seemed alert to the current fashions, he liked that she was so fashionable. She never wore the same clothing from day to day. He didn't even know the name of her light perfume. She wore just perfect makeup. When she tilted her head in puzzlement and smiled, when she looked angry and her cheeks puffed out, Lyta felt as though an eagle tore his heart from his chest.

As he became more and more attracted to Kaori, he also became more anxious about his own appearance. When he stood naked in front of the bathroom mirror, he cursed his parents. He had such a plain and simple face, a heavy, fat body and stubby legs. Compared to the stunningly beautiful Kaori, he was not even a wild animal. He did not even have an ounce of the ferocity of an animal. Princess and the Pig. Not a wild pig, of course. More like one of the stupid, silly pigs raised on a farm.

Lyta was determined to lose weight and become thin, so he complied absolutely with Odagiri's diet plan. In fact he overdid it. He weighed one hundred and ten kilograms, and wanted to get it down to eighty. Two weeks and all he had eaten were vegetables and light meat. Lyta very timidly checked his weight. The weight measure showed him at one hundred ten kilograms. Not even one kilogram down. Hating himself, he cut his eating in half. After a week he checked his weight again. Naturally it was still exactly the same. He stood on the scale, his mind blank, and stared at his body in the mirror. After a while, a rather strange thought occurred to him. He had flabby flab because it reflected his mind. His insecurity, awkwardness and anxiety... that was his character and that made his body heavy. Therefore there was nothing to do but give up. If it were easy to change his character, he would already have done so a long time ago.

Kaori noticed the willful determination with which he stuck to his diet. "Because you are you," she said. "Aren't you fine the way you are?" Lyta could not forget the gentle words Kaori used in the vinyl house. "You are so cute taking care of your tomatoes," she said.

For Kaori, it was as easy as twisting a baby's wrist to control simple-minded Lyta. She was the type of woman who did not feel good unless she had someone falling in love with her, whether she liked the man or not. Ever since she was a child, Kaori had been raised in beauty and was beautiful. When she was old enough to court, men came crawling out of the woodwork. They were all terribly boring, but to them Kaori was just what they wanted and they worked up pretty passions about her. Even if she could not stand them, she was still gracious. Whenever she received such one-way affection from men, she became more beautiful.

Of course she knew she was beautiful. You knew it when many men acted that way and put you up on a pedestal. It took her no time at all to realize how Lyta felt about her. "Yet another fan," she thought. She knew just what kind of woman Lyta would go for. A pure woman. An innocent woman. One of the ones everyone calls cute. So she encouraged his interest. She wore pastel-colored one-pieces. Sometimes she wore a blouse and flared skirt. She wore little makeup and no accessories. When she smiled, she tilted her head slightly and was overly pleased with little things. When she caught his eyes she would blush. For him, a silent girl would not do. When she initiated a conversation about her childhood, she always praised Lyta at just the right moment.

Kaori's acting was perfect. Just as she intended, Lyta became wild about her. But then something happened and Kaori's attitude changed. Once she was kind, and then the next day she suddenly became cool and disinterested. And there was a reason for this.

It was because of Ryu.

Ever since she first met him, she had been left with a strong impression. To her, he was as close as she could imagine to a perfect man. She could not count how often she reminisced on his strong body as she had seen in the battle with the Vyram. But Ryu did not see Kaori as a woman. He treated her as if she was a warrior, a member of the team, just like the others.

To Kaori this was a humiliation. All her womanly charm was totally negated. He was completely oblivious to her brightest smiles and her fawning on him. Now at first she was very hurt, but then she accepted the humiliation of it. She was reborn, and began throwing herself wholeheartedly into their practice sessions.

Ryu had been put in charge of teaching Kaori and the others grappling technique and marksmanship. The only time Ryu showed any kindness towards her was when she did well in the training. After particularly hard sessions, the only comfort he gave her was a bright, encouraging smile. On those days when she received such approval from Ryu, Kaori was also kind to Lyta. However, when she did not do well and received no smile, she was cold to him. On those days, when he tried to talk to her she gave him the cold shoulder.

And so Lyta was heartbroken. Those nights he could not sleep until late. I must have said something really stupid to make Kaori angry, he always thought.

And then there was number one My Pace Ako. She was always the same way with everyone. She never showed any respect for Odagiri. She went until she was worn out and never put on airs. She was almost always open. Anyone who spent an hour with her ended swallowed up and moving at her pace. Because she was frank and open-hearted, you just ended up speaking to her. Even Lyta, who was not good at speaking, could pour his heart out to her. Though Kaori was meant to be a woman from the moment she was born, Ako was not a woman yet.

"What do you think of Kaori?" Lyta asked her.

"Isn't she good?" Ako responded.

"But what kind of man does she like?" Lyta continued, digging.

"Eh, I don't care," Ako replied.

"I suppose someone handsome and stylish, with brains and a lot of money. That kind of man would suit her."

"Oh, who knows," Ako answered his musings.

"Well look. It's not that unusual for beautiful women to go out with ugly men, it's happened. Handsome men and beautiful woman, just doesn't feel right."

But Ako already understood that there would be no relationship between Lyta and Kaori. Kaori was attracted to Ryu, but he pretty much did not notice that she existed. He bore the thick wounds of a past love, Ako surmised from what she saw. Most probably even now he loved a long-lost girlfriend.

Although she was right, Ryu's emotions were far more complex than Ako could ever guess. When Maria had made her appearance, Ryu felt as though the unfathomable hands of the gods were working on his life. Maria looked just like Rie. Of course there was no way Rie could be Maria. She was dead. Maria was a hateful enemy. But... but could it be just a coincidence? Maria appearing immediately after Rie's death? Ryu wanted to believe that this coincidence had hidden meaning.

About that time the first tomato plants in Lyta's vinyl-house were fruiting. There was a way to commemorate these that Kaori and he had made together. Lyta took a red, ripe tomato and slowly bit into it. The tomato's flavor spread into his mouth. He ended up vomiting. It tasted utterly horrible.

While Ryu and Odagiri were engaged in karate, Kaori took Ryu's bracelet from the clothes basket. Looking around to make certain no one was watching, she pressed her lips to the bracelet.

2

The tricycle continued going. Being unmanned did not slow it down. It avoided people's eyes. Only stray dogs and cats took notice of the strange tricycle. As the animals raided the garbage for food, they heard the wheels approaching and turned their heads to look in alarm. In the next moment they fled. They were terrified of the tricycle.

Wherever the tricycle went, it caused strange things to happen to anything it was near. Televisions changed channels by themselves; streetlights flashed on and off; word processors seemed to strike their own keys; mannequins' head turned 180 degrees; cars on display revved their engines. All these things occurred one after the other within a five hundred meter radius of the wandering tricycle. It was almost as though machinery, tools and toys responded to the thing. As though they responded to it with a will of their own. But people who observed the phenomenon did not think deeply about it.

Kaori was out on the streets doing some shopping for things Odagiri wanted. She waited in front of a traffic light for it to change and thought it must be broken. The traffic jam of the day seemed endless, and the air was filled with the noise of honking horns. She finally started to cross, ignoring the broken signal completely. A motorcycle swerved around her and came to a stop in front of her.

The rider glanced back and she saw his face. "Oh!" she exclaimed on seeing him. It was Gai.

"Oops. A justice warrior like you shouldn't be crossing against the red light."

She knew, from Odagiri and Ryu, that this man was one they were desperate to have with them. And so she invited him to tea.

"So, what shall we talk about?" he asked. They were in a restaurant/bar, facing each other in a back nook.

"About the Jetman," she answered him. "We would really like you to join us."

"How's about instead," Gai said, staring hard at her, "I'd like to take you home and get to know you better, I'd enjoy that."

Kaori was startled when she met his intense gaze and gave him a dazzling smile. Maybe this conversation would be over quickly. Maybe if he's interested in me he'll decide to join us, and she tried to turn the talk. "I could be your friend, if you would join us." She studied him through her eyelashes. She knew that was best, men really got into that. She was intrigued by his mysterious darkness. This man seemed all hard, cutting edges, compared with Ryu's burly strength.

"That's such a nice expression," Gai commented. "You think you can get a man to do what you want just from looking at him. That's nice, too."

Uncertain, startled, Kaori asked, "What do you mean?"

"Don't try that on me. You know perfectly well what you're up to."

"What are you talking about?!" Off-balance, Kaori raised her voice slightly in alarm. "You don't know me."

"Oh, but I do. I've seen lots of women of your type. You know, there are so many women like you, just like a lot of garbage."

Before Gai finished speaking, Kaori jerked to her feet. This was the first time in her life anyone had ever insulted her. All the other men she had known never said anything of the sort. She would not stay in his company a moment more!

"Sit down," he told her firmly. "Maybe you can persuade me." Kaori took several deep breaths unconsciously. The effort would be wasted if she lost her temper like a child. Gai asked curiously, "Well, why did you become a Jetman?"

"Of course... to protect the peace of Earth."

"Bullshit." Gai laughed lightly through his nose. "You are the type who only thinks about yourself. You wouldn't care if you stole bread for yourself from a starving kid."

"That's cruel," Kaori told him. "Please don't talk as though you can see through people. First of all, what kind of person are you? Are you the type who blames everyone else?"

"Oh, you and I are alike. We both put ourselves first. But I'm not quite the same as you. I don't blame you. Someone who's selfish is much better than someone who's a hypocrite. For instance, I can't stand that Ryu-guy...." Suddenly Gai shut his mouth, lips tight. He had just seen Ryu pull up on a bike outside the window.

When they went into the bar, Kaori had secretly sent a signal to the base with her bracelet. "Ryu," she said when she saw him enter the bar. Her entire face lit up at the sight of him.

"Huh. It's that increasingly pesky, boorish pain." Right in front of Ryu, Gai frowned. "You know, you're interrupting our date. We were about to go to a hotel."

Kaori about had an apoplexy. "WHO -- " Ryu grabbed her shoulder and she reluctantly sat back down.

"Gai, please listen," Ryu began. "It's not me alone. Kaori, Ako and Lyta, everyone's waiting for you. Please, come and be a soldier with the Jetman."

"I don't get it. What makes me so popular with you guys," Gai grumbled. "Why do we have to fight the Vyram? They said they came from outer space to save the world. We should thank them. Maybe I should join the Vyram."

"They said they'll save the Earth all right; by wiping the human race out. Do you think that's right!?"

"With all the environmental problems, racial discrimination, unlimited wars... maybe it's better if human kind is gone."

"But you're one of us human beings. If humanity dies, so do you."

"Yeah, right, whatever. That's why it's better to enjoy life now. Like they say, 'If tomorrow the Earth would be destroyed, I'd plant apples today.'"

"You!!" Ryu snatched at the collar of Gai's shirt. Understanding a person like Gai was completely beyond him. He was losing his temper.

Gai's eye fell on the bike helmet Ryu held in his hand. His glance traveled away to the bike Ryu had come here on. Looking at the rider, machine and helmet, you could generally get a good idea what kind of driver the man was. Pretty good, Gai thought. "Come on, with me. We can finally settle this." With a great show of ignoring Ryu's hand, Gai slowly stood up.

3

The two men were astride their respective vehicles at the top of a slope. The slope had yet to be paved and went down at a steep angle. The path meandered left and right, and eventually curved into an upward slope. Kaori was at the top of the other rise. From the two to her it was just about one kilometer. The circuit was incomplete. Below they could see the gravel pit, the bulldozer, everything was still. Today was an off-day, and children came on their mountain bikes to play. The kids took a break from playing, alerted by the bizarre feeling of tension that seemed to float in the air around the watching men.

This was the venue they would use to decide. Ryu accepted Gai's challenge of a bike match. "You understand?" Gai called over the rumble of the engines. "If I win you leave me alone."

"I got that," Ryu replied. "And if I win, you'll join us."

The winner would be the one who reached the place Kaori stood first. The men revved their engines. The exhaust note slowly rose. The sounds blended into harmony the moment before they started. Gai's remodeled Harley had a long nose, it was not really meant for motorcross. Gai believed utterly that he would win, because he had been on bikes riding these kind of races ever since he was a child.

Ryu also radiated self-confidence. At any rate, Ryu had perfected his technique from back when he was a pilot trainee. One of the requirements for being a soldier was developing excellent riding techniques.

"GO!" they cried together.

Their tires spun and tore up the moist ground. Kaori clasped her hands in front of her chest and thought a small prayer for Ryu to win. She watched, sure in her heart that the person who reached her first must be Ryu. It would be symbolic of the future.

The two men hurtled down the cliff slope. They rode, cutting through the wind and light. At first, Gai was in the lead. He shifted into acceleration smoothly. Ryu just kept at Gai's back. He rode right in Gai's tracks.

They rode into the shallow curves. Neither man used his brakes. They opened out their throttles full. As they rode, they could hear the children cheering. Ryu was planning where he would pass Gai. They were rapidly closing on a hairpin curve. Because of the Harley's long nose, the steering could not turn so sharp. Gai would swing wide at the curve. That would be a good place to go in. Ryu aimed his bike and leaned in to add impetus to the forward motion.

Gai saw what was going on in his rear-view mirror and smiled. He had been well aware of what Ryu was planning to do some time ago. His Harley's front wheel left the ground as Gai threw himself back and rode on the rear.

Ryu gasped, dumbfounded.

The Harley moved on that one wheel, and it cut around the inside of the curve. Ryu could not get past him. They were closing on Kaori's figure. They were almost at their goal. Ryu had only one chance left. Very close to them the path was broken. The path seemed to rise and they hurtled at it. Ryu would use that undulation to make a huge jump. The children called their cheers. But there was something they did not notice. The dim sound of a turning wheel. A high-pitched "kikokiko" sound.

The tricycle was coming. Leaving thin tracks in the moist ground, the red tricycle came up behind the children.

Ryu's bike landed in front of the Harley. "Ku!" Gai groaned. Ryu's back was like a thick wall in front of him.

"Got you." Ryu knew he would win now. All that was left was to ride in a straight line.

At that moment, the children's cheers turned into screams. At the strange sounds, Ryu turned his head to look. And an instant from victory he executed a U-turn. Gai hit the goal an instant later.

"Ryu!" Kaori cried.

Gai bit his tongue in fury. Once more he started his engine and hurtled off after Ryu. Ryu had reached the children and stared in shock at the sight that met his eyes. Bicycle handle bars were stretched like vines around their necks. Chains twined around their ankles. Ryu leaped from his bike and used his hand to chop at the chains and handles, getting the kids loose. "You all right?!" he asked as he pulled the terrified children into his arms. The bicycles had fallen over and trembled like living things. "What the hell..."

"You idiot! Why bother with the race?!" Gai stood and shouted at the still stunned Ryu. "No one could help you! For godssake, think of yourself first before thinking of other people!! That's NORMAL!!!"

"No it isn't, Gai," Ryu answered him. "People can't live only for themselves."

"Yeah, that's what YOU say! I beat you. You have to never bother me again!"

The tricycle came to a stop a short distance from the two men. Ryu and Gai had not really noticed it. If they had, they would have thought it simply a child's forgotten toy. The tricycle headed into the construction site and wandered around. After a bit it oriented itself towards one corner of the site. The broken earth was in piles and nearby there was a bulldozer. The unmanned bulldozer began to move.

It changed gears all by itself and the caterpillar rotated. That sound finally broke into Gai and Ryu's attention. For the bulldozer was bearing down on them. The two stared as it picked up speed.

"WHAT in -- " Gai gasped. The bulldozer's steel blade raised up and then slammed down towards him. Gai leaned his Harley out of the way of the attack. The blade rose and came down again.

"Gai!" Ryu leaped to protect him. The blade cut down like a guillotine and Ryu caught it against his crossed lower arms. A terrible shock ran through his arms.

"Like I said!" Gai nimbly got his autobike up. "It's dangerous to worry about other people!"

"You're one of us!" Holding the blade up as he was, Ryu could not move. Just a little more power and his bones would break. And he called, "We help each other, for NO reason!"

".... G'bye." Gai fled on his bike.

Kaori leaped into the fray, changing into her armor. Gai did not look back once as he disappeared. Kaori was hit severely by a blast and sent flying. Its attack on Ryu interrupted, the bulldozer went after Kaori with the side of its blade. It closed on the fallen girl. Ryu transformed. Just before the caterpillar would have flattened her, he leaped into the small space left to stop it. He threw himself at the bulldozer with all his strength.

The two powers collided head-on. The engine roared as it tore up the earth, held in place. The ground developed deep gouges under Ryu's braced heels. Able to open his arms, he drew his Bringer Sword and drove it deep into the bulldozer's body. The bulldozer rushed him. He pulled the Bringer Sword out, and slammed both hands into the exit wound. Arm deep, he heaved and tore the bulldozer in half. It split and the two sides fell in opposite directions. The caterpillar stopped. The engine dropped out onto the ground. It was pulsing like a heart, but that pulsing slowed to a halt.

Ryu stared numbly at his hands, approving his own strength, and then he clenched them together. You can do this kind of thing yourself with the Jetman power, he thought. Kaori gazed at him in admiration and relief. While Ryu and Odagiri had been doing karate together, Kaori had taken his bracelet from the clothes basket and kissed it. She believed with all her heart that her kiss had protected Ryu. She murmured his name and took his arm.

Chapter 3: Toy