7th Moon
Chapter 12

Hidariude was standing alone just outside of the shrine. It was quiet except for a strangely familiar voice chanting and praying from inside. He reached for his sword, but he could not find it. “It’s okay, just come inside.” He had no idea why this voice answered his unspoken question but now that he heard some specific words that he knew, he realized how impossible the voice was. Still he did as he was told and entered the shrine. He saw an old man sitting in the middle of the floor with his back to the door. Hidariude slowly approached the man, and then walked around to face him. He could not believe his eyes. “Hello Hidariude. It’s been a while.” Ryu greeted him.

“Master Ryu, how is this possible?” Hidariude asked with great surprise. “Didn’t you…”

“Die?” Ryu completed the thought Hidariude could not bring himself to say. “Yes, I did. But now I am your ancestral kami and I have come to you through Shinryuu Masamune. I want to let you know that I am still with you and your brother, and as long as you keep this sword, I will fight with you, you are not alone.”

“Isn’t Shinryuu Masamune a Yoshiro for Shinryuu or Kyutsume?”

“Yes, but as we have discussed, the spirit of Kyutsume has found a new vessel, and as I’m sure you’ve realized, Shinryuu has as well. So there’s a bit of a vacancy in this particular Yoshiro. Besides I’m also spending some of my time in the afterlife with a few other souls, such as your mother.”

“My mother? You knew her?”

“Of course.” Ryu suddenly realized there was something else he had never discussed with Hidariude. His appearance grew younger until he looked exactly like Hidariude. “This is how I looked when I first met your mother at the Shrine of the Golden Dragon. I am your father, and Kichiku’s as well. You really are brothers, both in spirit and in blood. Seventh Moon created you but even they cannot create something from nothing. You are our children who were changed by them into something more. But no matter what, you are my sons, and I will love you even from the next life.” Now his appearance returned to what Hidariude was familiar with.

Hidariude was a little stunned, yet he was so used to thinking of Ryu as his father, it didn’t seem like a huge surprise. “Easy for you to drop this on me now, since you’re free to disappear into the afterlife. Whatever happened to mom?”

Ryu hung his head and closed his eyes. “She passed away when you were born. In fact, I was told you did not make it either, and for many years I didn’t know you were alive. When you were born without an arm, they wanted you for their own purposes. But when I saw your face, I knew you were my son.” Ryu looked at his son and smiled. “Well, it was good to see you again. Tell Kichiku, Keisei and Douji that I am proud of what you are all doing, fighting the good fight. And always remember that I am with you.” With that, Ryu got up and walked back out the front door of the shrine and a bright light shined out from the door.

As the light faded from Hidariude’s vision, he woke up from his dream in the Gokoku Shrine, lying next to Keisei as he did every night. He looked over to his sword lying on the floor on his other side. He whispered to himself “Maybe I’ve been working too hard with Sora.”

Ever since Sora had shown them the mecha, he had them helping him restore it to working condition, which mostly meant they hauled the spare parts from his truck to the Genbaku Dome so he could use them in repairs. Sora explained that mecha were the weapons of World War III. Every country that had enough resources to make them did make them. For energy, they used the cores of nuclear weapons, so many of them had been named after the bombs they were made from. After the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, it had been deemed irresponsible to use bombs and so they used giant robots to create the same level of destruction only more controlled and without the radioactive fallout. Unfortunately, the cost of creating these robots in haste had led to a war that could not be sustained. Every last resource of technology, materials, and energy had gone into the mecha, all with the hope that the victor would take all the remaining resources from the defeated nations. Since every nation that had any resources worth taking put those resources into their weapons, the prizes of war were also the weapons themselves put into war. The war was reduced to an elimination tournament between the robots, though no one even realized it until the last battle ended and all nations had been reduced to the same state of poverty. There was no prize to be claimed, the soldiers returned home empty handed and global civilization was doomed to collapse. It was only then that New World Enterprises had begun exporting from the Seventh Moon to the Earth. Meanwhile the mecha had been left in the outlands waiting for someone to put them back together. There were very few in Japan, but Sora was pinning his hopes on getting at least one to function again so it could be used against Seventh Moon.

Hidariude, Kichiku and Keisei were amazed by Sora’s engineering skills. They watched in awe as he climbed and jumped around the mecha with tools in one hand, requesting parts as he moved, retrieving them and placing them in almost the same movement without breaking momentum. They realized that they were seeing him as he saw them when they fought, functioning on a whole separate level that simply could not be fathomed by the observer. They truly had no idea what he was doing, but they knew that he was more than aware of what he was doing. His mind was two steps ahead of his body, grabbing what appeared to be random scraps and put the pieces in place as if they were meant to go there all along. He had a sense of intuition comparable to the espers’ psychic abilities.

“So it can use the swords and guns like a giant person?” Hidariude asked Sora while he was working on the arms.

“Yes, and I’m sure the swords would be better used if it were piloted by someone who actually knew how to use swords.” Sora replied while looking at Hidariude. “Of course, one would also have to know how to operate the machine, so this will be complicated. As for the guns, they’re no good without ammunition, and these guns were emptied in this mecha’s last battle. In fact, that’s probably why it lost. Anyway, I’ll need to get more ammunition, and since nobody makes this stuff anymore, the only choice is for me to make it myself.”

“What would you make it from?” Kichiku asked.

“From the leftover scrap I’m taking out.” Sora answered while patting the pile of scrap. “Once I’m sure I’ve got enough parts to get this thing working again, I’ll melt down the rest to make bullets. The guns will have to be a last resort, we can’t just shoot everything knowing there’s no guarantee we’ll ever have more bullets.”

“But will you get this thing working soon?” Zokushou’s voice startled all of them as she walked in on the scene. The espers could normally sense her coming, but they were distracted by Sora’s work and they had relaxed their senses since they entered Hiroshima. Since she had insisted they weren’t a threat and the city was safe enough they enjoyed the break from the hypertension they had gotten used to.

“I really think I’ve actually fixed everything here.” Sora answered. “I just need to make a few more adjustments and then it should be ready for a test run tomorrow.” Just then something blew in the mecha making a loud noise and releasing smoke. “Make that next week.” He immediately jumped back in the mecha to repair the damage.

She looked at Kichiku. “It’s a good thing he has you to help him with the heavy lifting. He seems to have been making a lot more progress since he got back with you.”

“I just drag the big stuff here from his truck.” Kichiku said modestly. “I really think the key to his improvement is the parts he brought back, though how he knows where to put everything, I’ll never know.”

Zokushou nodded to Kichiku then turned to Hidariude. “He told me he got some insight from your cyber arm. He says having an actual cyborg around has inspired him and it’s all falling into place.”

Hidariude was also humble. “I’m glad I could help in some way, but for the first time in a long time, possibly ever, I feel useless next to him.”

“I’m sure you will contribute plenty during the test runs.” Zokushou assured them. “He’s a great mechanic but nobody’s piloted one of these things in twenty years so before this is of any use to us, he’ll need to learn some combat movement. Ever trained a robot to fight?”

Keisei decided to take a turn and very confidently answered. “There’s a first time for everything.”

Zokushou seemed to ignore Keisei and finished her conversation with the men. “Well, keep up the good work, keep me posted and let me know when he’s done.”

After Zokushou left, Keisei commented on her attitude. “Did anyone else notice that she ignored me?” Hidariude and Kichiku nodded in agreement.

Sora happened to climb back out of the mecha just in time to hear Keisei’s question. “She enjoys being queen bee. She started the resistance and everyone has followed her since. Most of the higher ranking members are men. You’re the first powerful woman to show up and threaten that.”

“But I don’t want to take over her organization.” Keisei replied. ’I just want to stop Seventh Moon so we can go home in peace.”

“It doesn’t matter whether you want to or not, in her head any strong woman is a threat.” Sora explained. “Haven’t you noticed the way guys around here look at you?”

Keisei rolled her eyes. “Yeah, but I can’t help that. I was made for that, and I hate it. It’s why I like Hidariude and Kichiku, they’re the only guys I know who don’t look at me that way.”

Sora was confused. “I thought you and Hidariude were a couple?”

“We are, but not for the reasons you think.” Hidariude told Sora with a tone that let him know that he shouldn’t press the issue.

“Well, anyway, you guys may have yourselves all figured out, but she still thinks you’re a distraction.”

“If you understand all that, why didn’t you tell us before?” Keisei asked.

“I honestly didn’t think it was going to be an issue.” Sora answered. “I was more concerned with you being an asset and I hoped she would see it the same way. You guys may have ESP, but I don’t and for the rest of us, that’s just not something we can prepare for.”

Keisei thought for a moment. “I’ll go talk to her. If we’re going to work together, there can’t be even the slightest animosity between us. Besides, Sora’s doing all the real work here anyway.”

Keisei went off after Zokushou. She caught up to her while she was still walking down the street. She knew what Sora had told her, but she also understood that such a proud woman would not respond to an approach that was too direct. “So I think we got off on the wrong foot, is there any way we can start over?” Zokushou kept walking, still completely ignoring Keisei. Keisei looked over Zokushou, she seemed to be an attractive woman, a very muscular build, just well hidden under fatigues and dirt she hadn’t bothered to clean off. “When was the last time you had a day at the spa?”

Zokushou turned on Keisei with an unmistakably angry face. “I’m in charge of a resistance effort to liberate the Earth, or at least Japan, from Seventh Moon. I do not have time for a spa!”

Keisei actually expected this and was unfazed, then continued to talk to Zokushou. “I understand you have the weight of the world on your shoulders, but that is exactly why you need to relax once in a while. Your tone tells me you haven’t had a day off since you started this organization. How long has that been?”

“Three years.” Zokushou admitted while rubbing her neck with her hand. “Three long years. But the people need me.”

“And they need you to have a clear mind.” Keisei replied. “I come from a place where my kind works hard every waking moment. It was very refreshing to finally be free and relax for the first time when I got away from that. It’s great that you work so hard, but if you don’t stop, take a step back, and take some time to just think about what you’re doing, you may not be helping anybody. You’re tense and it’s making everyone around you tense too. Just take one day off okay? I learned some old herbalism secrets from Master Ryu that will make you feel a lot better.”

It really did sound good to Zokushou, but she didn’t want to give Keisei the satisfaction. “Just what do you think you can do for me?”

Keisei’s ESP let her know what Zokushou was really thinking and played along. “I’ll collect everything we need at the shrine, meet me there tomorrow okay.” Keisei then ran off before Zokushou could say no.

Keisei went above ground to look for herbs; the things she needed wouldn’t be in the greenhouses or cultivated fields, she would have to check the outskirts of town. She sensed some scavengers coming while she foraged, but she hid from them and they went on by. Or at least she thought they did. One of the scavengers was a very skilled tracker who noticed her footprints and the remnants of plants she had harvested and knew there was somebody around. They walked off a bit and then hid themselves to wait for Keisei to come out and show herself. As she stepped out to collect some more herbs, the tracker made his approach.

’Well ain’t you purty?” The scavenger said before his partners pounced on her. She planted her hands on the ground and kicked both of his partners, and then bounced her feet off of them and used the momentum to kick the speaker with both feet. She gathered up her herbs and returned to the city before they could regain consciousness. By the time they did wake up, they knew better than to follow her; she really hurt them, and that was when they ambushed her, they didn’t want to know what she would be like with preparation.

The next day, Keisei was preparing her herbal treatments and putting the finishing touches on her makeshift spa. Hidariude, Kichiku and Douji went off to assist Sora, leaving her alone when Zokushou joined her. “Welcome to my spa. Please put on this robe.” Keisei offered an old but soft plain white robe for Zokushou to wear during her treatment, then she went to another room for some privacy to change her clothes. While Zokushou was changing, Keisei lit some candles to create a pleasant ambient aroma. A few moments later, Zokushou came back out wearing the robe and Keisei directed her to an ergonomic chair. Once she sat down, Keisei began to apply a cream to Zokushou’s face. Once she was done with the face, Keisei began applying lotion to Zokushou’s hands and feet, massaging them as she went. She brought out small scissors and trimmed Zokushou’s nails and filed them with an emery board. After all this, the cream on Zokushou’s face had time to settle in and do its work, so Keisei brought out a basin and a pitcher of water to rinse off the face mask and wash Zokushou’s hair. Keisei had made some shampoo with lavender to help Zokushou relax. In spite of herself, Zokushou was relaxing and let herself go while she rolled over for a back rub.

Once Keisei had done all the hard work of getting Zokushou to relax, she had one last thing for them to share. She took Zokushou by the hand to a hot spring where they could both sit in the water and relax. Keisei went first, removing her robe before stepping into the water. Keisei was very comfortable with her body, having spent most of her life naked, but it was a very different situation for Zokushou. First of all, she was surprised to see that Keisei had fur covering her breasts and pelvis, so being naked wasn’t quite the same for her. As Keisei sat in the water and let the heat soothe her muscles that were so sore from the journey she had been on for the past few weeks, she noticed Zokushou still standing by the water’s edge somewhat nervous. “Come on in, the water’s perfect.”

“It’s not the water.” Zokushou said nervously. “It’s um… I don’t know about taking off my robe in front of you. I’m not really comfortable being…you know…naked…in front of others.”

Keisei’s ears drooped, she was confused. “I’m sorry, I’ve been naked and around naked women most of my life, I don’t know what the big deal is.”

Zokushou felt silly, she didn’t quite know how to explain how she would look different, but at the same time, she realized Keisei really did not understand and she would just look more foolish. With a sigh, she removed her robe and stepped into the water, trying to cover herself with her arms.

Keisei’s ears perked up with surprise, she really wasn’t expecting what she saw. Keisei had seen naked women before, but they were all like her, with furry parts, she had never seen a woman without fur. Zokushou actually looked more like a man to Keisei because of this, and yet, the shape was still like a woman. Keisei had known for a while that she had been made to be different than normal girls, but it wasn’t until now, when she saw a truly bare female form, that she truly understood how different she was.

They sat in silence relaxing and enjoying the break from the rigors of the resistance and survival in the outlands. “I forgot how good this can feel.” Zokushou said. “I haven’t done this since I lived with my father.”

“How long has that been?” Keisei asked.

Zokushou sighed. “Since I found out he was making people to kill for him and to serve him and his cronies. I was only a teenager when my mom caught him with a girl. She was afraid I’d be next, so she took me to Earth. What she didn’t know was that that same day, I saw the boys training. It was scary to see such young men being so violent. After I got to Earth I grew up in Tokyo and saw how different things were, and all because of what my father did on Seventh Moon. It made me sick to know that paradise came at such a cost, boys being raised to be killers, girls raised to be slaves. I was a part of it, living off of money my dad made running this whole thing. I had to do something, but nobody wanted to believe the truth until I met Sora. He introduced me to the outlanders who needed our help. I’ve never looked back.”

“I understand, that’s what drives Hidariude and Kichiku, the guilt that this is all somehow our fault.” Keisei replied. “But we each have our own path, and once we have chosen to go against Seventh Moon and stick to our goals, it’s all right to take a day off every now and then. The worst part of Seventh Moon was how weary we got from serving our superiors until we fell asleep and by the time we woke up, we were starting over again. We’re fighting for the freedom not to be that way, and if we don’t take a little time for ourselves every now and then, it’s no better than the way things were before.”

“I guess you’re right, I never thought about it that way.” Zokushou sighed again and stretched, almost coming out of the water.

Just then two men walked by and saw them. One whistled and Zokushou shrieked a shrill cry, blushed and ducked under the water. Keisei immediately sensed her discomfort and decided to deal with the men. She pulled herself out of the water, her wet fur sticking to her body. She leaned on one hand and using the other hand, crooked her finger in a come hither gesture. The man who whistled pointed to himself as if to ask, “Who? Me?” Keisei nodded back and he approached. As soon as he got close enough for her to reach, she grabbed his arm and in one swift movement twisted him around, holding him in a very painful position. “A gentleman respects a woman’s privacy. Move along.” She pushed him away and he and his comrade moved along very quickly. “That’s how you handle a situation like that.” Keisei told Zokushou.

Zokushou began to pull herself back up above the water. “That’s what really gets me. How do you do that? I’m so embarrassed they caught me, but you didn’t skip a beat. How do you do that?”

“Well, I didn’t have much choice.” Keisei replied. “I first learned to fight on Seventh Moon when guys mistreated me. When I escaped, I fought five guys naked and unarmed. There’s a bit of an instinct in me to fight even when I’m vulnerable. That’s the trick you need to learn. I can sense you’re not comfortable being naked, and I remember being vulnerable like that. But that’s what they want. When I learned to fight properly with Hidariude and Kichiku, I found out that the key is to get any advantage you can. If they sense you’re weak, they take advantage of that. But if you don’t let it be your weakness you can catch them by surprise. Of course those guys thought I was going to be an easy target here, and that’s why I got the drop on him. Turn your weakness into strength, bait them in by letting them think they have control, but don’t ever give in.”

“Easier said than done.”

“Meet me back in the shrine tomorrow.” Keisei said. Before Zokushou could respond, she shook herself dry, put her kimono and sandals back on and walked off like she did the day before.

The next day, Zokushou showed up at the shrine as Keisei had asked her to. She was surprised to find Keisei was naked. “Strip down to your underwear.”

Zokushou was shocked. “What?”

“You heard me, down to your skivvies missy.” Keisei pointed to the ground in a rather clear gesture demonstrating where she wanted her clothes to go. “You have an issue with confidence, you sense I’m stronger because I have an advantage, and that advantage is that I can fight naked. If you can learn to get comfortable fighting naked, it eliminates my advantage and restores your confidence. Now clearly, my naked body looks a little different than yours, so let’s settle for getting in your underwear.”

Zokushou found that this actually made sense, so she stripped down to a sports bra and panties. She was then surprised to be ambushed by Hidariude and Kichiku who were both wearing boxer shorts. She dodged just in time. “What is the meaning of this?”

“You’re even less comfortable around men than when you’re around me when you’re naked.” Keisei explained. “I have sparred with both Hidariude and Kichiku plenty of times. For you to prove yourself my equal, you need to have the confidence to fight all of us at once.”

“But why are they naked?” Zokushou asked.

“Why not?” Keisei replied. “When we fight, we focus on the fight itself. None of us are any stronger or weaker right now than when we are wearing clothes. Look at their faces, do they look like they’re afraid or concerned about being naked? No, because they are warriors, they fight under any circumstances. Clothed, naked, armored, wounded, the true warrior fights with everything they have and doesn’t make excuses for being weak. If you’re impressed by our psychic abilities, don’t be, they are only the result of extreme training, pushing ourselves to the limit and beyond. Your only weakness is the one you put on yourself. Turn it into strength and you too can be invincible. Until you own that as a part of yourself you’re no good to us or anyone else in the resistance as a leader.”

“How dare you talk to me like that!” Zokushou screamed back at Keisei. She did not like Keisei’s tone at all. She reached out and punched at Keisei.

Keisei blocked, “Good, that’s what we need.” She encouraged Zokushou to continue fighting, and as they traded punches and kicks, Hidariude and Kichiku got in on the action as well. They could have easily defeated her at any point but instead they used their ESP to stay one step behind her and let her have the advantage. It wasn’t long before she figured this out, and for a second she was offended that they were letting her win. But then Zokushou realized something, these were the most powerful fighters she had ever met and they were letting her win to boost her confidence. That was saying something about their loyalty; that they respected her enough to submit to her authority. Once she realized this she became much more confident and started fighting with more force, and the espers reacted with increasing force to keep her going. They could feel a new energy in her and soon all four were moving like a well-oiled machine.

Just when it seemed like Zokushou was going to win, they were interrupted by Sora. “Zokushou I…oh sorry I didn’t know I was interrupting.” He held his hands up in front of his eyes when he realized they were all in their underwear. “Why aren’t any of you wearing clothes?”

Zokushou looked at the others. Keisei nodded, and Zokushou understood. She walked over to Sora, and pulled his hands down from his face. She smiled letting him know she was okay with him seeing her in her underwear. He had never seen her in her underwear, or out of her fatigues at all for that matter. He had thought about it, but actually seeing it was something new and different. After a moment she nudged his head up by the chin to meet her eyes. “What’s so important?”

Sora regained his composure rather quickly. “The mecha is ready to go.”

“Good we’ll have a party to celebrate.” They were all a little shocked to hear her say this. No one, not even Sora had ever known her to be in any kind of party mood. “We need to relax every now and then. Let’s go get the good sake.” She walked back to the others with a bit of a saunter. Sora couldn’t help watching her butt. Suddenly he realized everyone was looking at him looking at her and he found himself a little embarrassed. He blushed and ran back to the dome.

“I think he liked what he saw.” Keisei said. They all broke out in laughter.

That night everyone was gathered in the Genbaku Dome wearing their best attire, which wasn’t that great in most cases considering how poor most of the locals were. Zokushou was wearing a silk dress and looked gorgeous after a makeover from Keisei. Everyone was stunned by how great she looked, having been used to her wearing fatigues and keeping her hair tied back in a ponytail.

“Everyone, I thank you for joining us here today for this celebration. After three long years of hard work, Ijirimawasu Sora has finally gotten the Hiroshima mecha functional again. Today we will see our greatest weapon in the war against Seventh Moon in operation, observe now the beacon of hope for the resistance!” She raised her glass and every member of the resistance cheered.

Sora climbed up into the cockpit of the mecha and activated it. Everyone cleared out of the way as it walked out of the dome and into an area that had been cleared for test runs and demonstrations. After a few test punches and kicks, the mecha climbed out a special door made just for it to exit to the surface. As it reached the surface, the scavengers Keisei had encountered a couple days earlier were stunned by what they saw and decided to leave the Hiroshima area forever.

Meanwhile, the espers noticed a large pile of folded paper. “What’s this?” Kichiku asked.

Douji answered. “Origami cranes. You get a wish if you fold one thousand of them. I wished for victory.”

It seemed that right at this moment that the wind picked up the cranes and then blew away out the exit passage. It appeared that they actually flew out the passage, and for a moment, the espers could swear they saw the flock of paper cranes take on the shape of Ryu, just long enough for him to wink before the cranes came apart and dispersed into the night sky.

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