Random Genderbend Micchy commentfics
Jul. 31st, 2014 08:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
estiroseWanted to keep these organized, so they're in the comments. They all feature Michi, the genderbent Mitsuzane I created for "Smoothing Skirts", but they're not stuff that I really want to put on AO3 right now. One is a universe where Takatora discovered that Michi was Ryugen far earlier than in canon, and another is where Michi is sleeping with Kouta - slight underage due to the fact that Micchy/Michi is 16 and Kouta is 20.
Michi wakes up to find that her brother knows she's Ryugen, Ryouma ends up giving her a Genesis Driver Just Because He's Ryouma, and how Takatora found out in the first place. Also, Michi meets Ryouma, Takatora talks to Ryouma after Michi's exam, and Michi originally doesn't want a Genesis driver.
Michi has to get birth control pills for her cramps, and Takatora tries to reassure her that he's not upset. However, Michi really got it in case she decided to sleep with one of her Gaim teammates, and likes to observe Kouta as he sleeps after they've had sex.
Alternate POV/Missing scene for Smoothing Skirts part 6, and a crackfic fragment inspired by same where Michi decides to try to get Takatora to disown her.
Michi wakes up to find that her brother knows she's Ryugen, Ryouma ends up giving her a Genesis Driver Just Because He's Ryouma, and how Takatora found out in the first place. Also, Michi meets Ryouma, Takatora talks to Ryouma after Michi's exam, and Michi originally doesn't want a Genesis driver.
Michi has to get birth control pills for her cramps, and Takatora tries to reassure her that he's not upset. However, Michi really got it in case she decided to sleep with one of her Gaim teammates, and likes to observe Kouta as he sleeps after they've had sex.
Alternate POV/Missing scene for Smoothing Skirts part 6, and a crackfic fragment inspired by same where Michi decides to try to get Takatora to disown her.
Takatora has Michi's Driver
Date: 2014-08-01 04:01 am (UTC)Reaching down to pick up her Driver and Lock Seed, she frowned as her hand encountered air. "What?" she said to the room, looking at her dresser.
Had she somehow forgotten to put her Driver on her dresser? Apparently so. Which meant that they were in her team clothes, which she had to put in her bag anyway.
A quick lookthrough turned into a frantic one as she couldn't locate the Driver anywhere. She'd been wearing it when she'd gotten home, hadn't she? She thought she'd put it on her dresser.
She couldn't look for it much longer and make her brother wonder why she wasn't going to school. So she reluctantly picked up her bag.
Hurrying downstairs, she noticed her brother just sitting down on one of the chairs. "Michi," he said gravely.
"Big brother," she said, "Is something wrong?" It would be a good thing to pay attention to how he was feeling, even if he didn't bother about how she felt. The only thing that mattered to him was her scores.
He looked down, and she froze as she realized what was in his lap. Her Driver and both Lock Seeds! She quickly schooled her face.
"We have to talk." He held the two items tightly.
"I have school, and don't you have work?" She could deal with this later, when she had time to formulate a plan.
"I already called in for you and for myself." He stood up. "Let's go upstairs." It wasn't a suggestion. It was a command from her older brother.
She was trying to think of how to salvage the whole thing. Sid's words to her came back, and she could always claim she found it. Why she wanted it? Well, she could always say that she had a secret admiration for the Beat Riders and wanted to be one, sort of. That would protect Team Gaim. After all, Bravo wasn't originally a Beat Rider, why should Ryugen be?
Following her brother into the parlor, she sat down opposite him. "I'd ask how long you've been involved, but...." He pulled out his laptop, opening it and entering his password.
On the screen was a document with a picture of her in her school uniform, her default form as Ryugen, and lines of information.
"I had them send me everything on Ryugen." His voice was unsteady, unusual for him. "Michi, what were you thinking? Joining a Beat Rider team, lying to me... becoming an Armored Rider."
He knew about Team Gaim. He knew she was part of it. "How much information on me is in there?"
"A whole biographical writeup and every report that anyone had made on Ryugen. Your medical records. Now answer me. What were you doing on Team Gaim?"
She had to warn Kouta to dispose of his armor without telling him why. She couldn't bear to see him unhappy. That assumed that she could get out of the house any time soon.
"I needed something to buoy up my spirits after school. I get bored so easily there, and I figured if it made my scores better, you could hardly complain. But I knew that you wouldn't approve, so I couldn't tell you. I know my scores dropped after becoming Ryugen, but...."
She could live without being Ryugen if she could be with the others.
"Your scores were dropping before that," her brother corrected. "The highest drops were after you became Ryugen."
Michi nodded. "I'm sorry, big brother." If she acted genuinely sorry, she could always steal her Driver back somehow. She didn't like the attention he was now paying to her. She'd take cold and distant any day.
"My sources say you picked up a lost Driver." It was probably in the reports, she guessed. Apparently the Lock Seed dealer had reported it that way.
"Yes, I needed the driver to protect my team. I was intending to return it, but Kouta told me it was locked to me now, and I couldn't. And after that, I needed to be able to defend people." Mostly her team, though Kouta could sometimes be annoyingly infectious.
He looked at her like that was the stupidest decision she'd ever made. She just schooled her face so that it didn't reflect the worry she truly felt.
"Normally, I'd just have you put in a containment cell until your body got used to being without the Driver. You would have been going through it anyway, like hte rest of the Armored Riders."
She froze at that. "It's addictive?" That might explain some of how she'd ended up doing so many things with Kouta and why she'd found it so hard to face letting go of her own Driver. Of course, why any of them would have had to be put into containment was a question to be asked later.
"In a way. You'll learn why shortly." He was staring at her file, then he abruptly closed the lid on the computer. "Get into something more comfortable."
Michi got up, wincing a little at her bruises. "I'll be right back."
"Stop. How hurt were you?" Her brother asked. "Let me look."
She felt a vindictive happiness as she shrugged out of her jacket and lifted the back of her shirt so that he could see exactly what he'd done to her. It was nothing compared to what else he'd done in her life, but it was a start.
"We're going to the doctor as soon as we're finished with what I need to show you. I'll meet you in the hallway."
Michi tried to hurry out of there as fast as she could. Changing into something more casual but respectable, she joined her brother in the hallway. He led her out to the car, and they were soon being driven to his work. Even she couldn't help but gawk a little as he led her to the other side of the crack that Kouta must have seen.
He handed her the Driver. "Put it on, it's safer." She noted that she hadn't gotten her Lock Seed back, but followed his instructions.
The trip to wherever they were going was mostly silent. Michi didn't really have anything to say to him, and he was busy concentrating on their route.
"Here we are." He stopped, and motioned for her to join him. She saw that they were on the edge of a cliff. "Look."
She saw where he was pointing. "That's...." she'd wanted to say cliffs, but they were plainly structures.
"Remnants of a civilization absorbed by Helheim forest, years ago." His expression was grim. "Yggdrasil estimates that Helheim will take over our world in less than ten years."
Her legs were giving out, and Michi was glad that she'd been wearing pants on this trip as she landed on the ground. "But the people...." Team Gaim. She had to protect Team Gaim.
"We can save about a billion people. Maybe more, if you get involved." He was talking to the air more than to her, she was sure.
"More if I get involved?" she asked. She was aware of how dumb that sounded.
"Yggdrasill actually needed you last year, but I wanted to protect you. I guess you're a Kureshima - you don't need protecting." She looked over as he knelt beside her. "These Drivers that we're wearing convert Helheim Fruit safely into Lock Seeds, and then allow the wearer to safely absorb the Lock Seeds as nutrition. Since the Forest will kill the native vegetation, we'll need them to stay alive."
She looked down at her Driver. "But the Armored Riders use them to fight." Best to let him think she was on his side.
"We needed these versions so that they could be distributed among people who could test them without any preconceptions." He stood up, helping her stand as well. "We needed the test data so that we could see what we needed to improve. I understand that someone was ecastic that Ryugen was female."
From his expression, she guessed that her older brother wasn't thrilled about this.
"You said that you would have tossed me in a containment cell to fix whatever the Driver did to me," she said, to prompt him to get off the topic.
"Yes. If I'd had to. We'll be capturing them shortly in little groups to start the process. It's the least we can do for them." He looked over at her. "It's time for you to leave behind this... group of yours and join Yggdrasill. We need you far more than they ever would."
She doubted that. Nobody could need her more than Team Gaim. But she had to pretend to be the good younger sister until she found a way to make sure all of them had the Drivers. At least Kouta had one, and she just had to work out a way for him to keep it and not be captured and separated from it. Even if it meant that he would keep doing those silly heroics of his, it would keep him safe.
He wouldn't have to sacrifice for his team. Now it was all her turn.
"I understand. I'll work with you." But only to keep the Team safe.
Her brother smiled. "Thank you." He stepped away from the cliff. "Now, let's get you to a doctor...."
Maybe she needed one of those. But her mind was too full of plans to really think about it, and she followed him back in silence.
And Ryouma ends up giving her a Genesis Driver just because
Date: 2014-08-01 04:03 am (UTC)"She does need to be able to defend herself in Helheim. It's a dangerous place." The scientist hadn't lost his slight smile. "With the upgraded driver, you don't have to worry about her. And it didn't take her long to adjust to a bow and arrow instead of a gun. Give your sister some credit, Takatora."
"Michi shouldn't even be in Helheim." Sure, she wasn't a bad fighter, but she didn't need to go anywhere near the Crack. "She's supposed to be researching under you."
Ryouma cocked his head. "These things happen. I need her to go to the Base Camp every so often. I need her insights. Besides, if you're so afraid for her, train her. She is brilliant, after all. It shouldn't take her long to pick up any skills you want to give her."
Takatora gritted his teeth. He didn't want to teach her how to fight - wouldn't have even if she had been a boy, he told himself. He'd seen the recordings of Michi sparring with her "teammate", he knew that she was determined to become better, but that didn't mean that she should put herself in danger. She was not expendable. However, she was a teenager, and while she was an extremely responsible, thoughtful one, he was afraid that she'd do something stupid against her best judgment if she was presented with a chance. "She's irreplacable."
"I'm aware of that." Ryouma cocked his head. "Unfortunately, I need her in her curent duties. That's why I gave her an upgraded driver - I figured you wanted her as safe as possible."
He was going to have to train her, wasn't he? For his peace of mind. "Next time, I want to know if you're giving her any new Drivers or Lock Seeds."
"I understand." Ryouma smiled more broadly. "Don't worry, she's in good hands."
And how Takatora knew that Michi was Ryugen.
Date: 2014-08-01 04:34 am (UTC)Besides, Michi's innocence gave him the push he needed sometimes when he thought about Project Ark. He had to protect her; she was his younger sibling after all. It was with that intent that he knocked on her door - didn't want to walk in if she was undressing, after all.
But she didn't respond, so he quietly opened the door. A look confirmed that she was fast asleep, and he smiled a little. She'd grown up well. He glanced over at her nightstand, frowning a little at the object on it, its familiar shape. Walking over softly as he could, he peered at it.
It was one of Ryouma's Drivers, one that was made for those street gangs they were testing things on. But why would his sister have one? An activated one, too, from the looks of it. There was a Lockseed next to it, the grape pattern recognizable even in the dim light.
The Lockseed made him freeze. He'd fought a grape-themed Armored Rider in Helheim Forest, the only one he hadn't knocked out. The user had sounded female, but he hadn't cared much at the time, given that the Riders shouldn't be in the Forest at all. Besides, why would he know a kid from a street gang?
He wondered if he'd have recognized her if he had knocked her out of her transformation. In any case, maybe Michi had quietly grown up, and he'd just been too busy to ever notice. Maybe she was ready to join Yggdrasill.
Maybe it was time for Michi to step in and find a way to save even more people.
In any case, until he figured things out she shouldn't have the Driver back. If she was just doing it for fun, he'd promptly take her to Yggdrasill to put her in confinement until her body adjusted to living without the Driver. If she was showing a sign of the Kureshima drive, he'd bring her in on the Project. Given how she'd fought, he suspected Yggdrasill would have a new employee very soon.
His eyes dropped down to one exposed shoulder. There was a darkened area there, probably a bruise or other injury from fighting him. He winced, and wondered how many others there were. Michi had told him she ran into a door in a hurry, but obviously that was a lie.
He rubbed his eyes. This was not quite what he was expecting, and time was of the essence. Taking the Driver and Lockseed out of Michi's room, he settled into the parlor and drew out his laptop. He'd have to find out which one Michi was, and read everything they had. He didn't want to bring Michi in unless she was ready.
It was going to be a really long night.
Michi has to get birth control pills, and Takatora just wants her back to normal.
Date: 2014-08-01 04:37 am (UTC)"It's all right, Michi," he reassured her. "I don't think less of you for having to take these."
She shook her head briefly, turning to the view outside. He was looking forward to having Michi back to normal and her scores up to what they used to be. It was too bad that she'd waited so long to tell him, but that was Michi's way. She didn't bother him with things until she had to.
Takatora wished she'd be more open with him, but as Ryouma had pointed out, she was a teenager and sometimes even the most obedient ones didn't want to talk about things and even got sullen sometimes. That was after he'd been pacing in Ryouma's lab, and he suspected that the scientist had spoken to get Takatora out of there so that he could do his job.
Really, why was he asking Ryouma anyway?
He wondered if Michi had already figured out what she had and had been too embarrassed by what she'd need to take care of her problem. It wasn't like she wanted to talk - she had always been the quiet one, even as a little girl.
And it was a good backup, just in case something happened beyond Michi's control. He couldn't believe he hadn't thought about that, but he'd had a lot on his mind.
He gave his sister's hand a small squeeze and turned to look out his own window, knowing that all would be as well as could be soon.
Michi observes Kouta as he sleeps
Date: 2014-08-01 04:41 am (UTC)After her brother had taken her to the ruins of Helheim, she'd needed comforting. She'd somehow ended up in bed with him, though not without precautions - she, as a Kureshima, was on birth control, and she'd long stuck condoms around the place just in case anybody got any ideas. After all, she couldn't have someone's pregnancy cause Team Gaim to fall apart.
She alone carried the guilt about Yuuya. Kouta could never know that he'd unknowingly killed their friend and leader. She treasured his innocence, and she didn't want him to lose that endearing quality. She was trying to keep him away from the Inves and Yggdrasill and keep him safe. Even if he didn't like it for a little while, eventually he came to accept everything.
It was what endeared him to her.
Kouta had asked, hesitantly, if he could meet her family. She had demurred, knowing it was an awful idea. Even if her brother was allowing her to stay in Team Gaim as a mole, he would go ballistic if he found out she was dating one of the street rats she was supposedly observing. She'd sometimes entertained getting pregnant herself and marrying Kouta, but that would hurt Team Gaim, infuriate her brother, and force Kouta into the life she never wanted him to have at Yggdrasill - she wanted to see his gentle smile every morning, not one that cracked because of what was going on with Project Ark. As her husband, he would be part of a terrible project that would break him.
No, she wouldn't ask that of him.
Michi would keep Kouta as innocent as she could, because that was part of her duty to him and the team. Keep smiles in their faces and joy in their hearts. Her team loved her and she loved them back, and she'd do anything to keep that going.
Pass the Forest By
Date: 2014-08-29 12:03 am (UTC)However, there was no way she could share that with Kouta. No way to let him know that an alien forest was going to evade Earth through the gateways that they called cracks. Couldn't know that the Inves were just a way to get people used to the fact. Of course, he knew some of it already from their little game in the Forest and also from what he'd been told when he'd been captive at Yggdrasill. But she didn't want him to know what happened to people who wandered into the Forest and ate of its fruit.
She didn't want him to know what happened to Yuuya and how he'd inadvertently killed his best friend.
"Yes," she said. "We have condoms around here, and I'm on birth control." It was one of those things that had happened because she was a Kureshima heir and a genius besides. Given the situation, it was extremely unwise for her to become pregnant, and she agreed. Besides, the last thing she needed was for either Kouta to decide he needed to marry her, or for her brother to kill him for getting her pregnant.
"Right. Um..."
"Taped under the counter," she said, calling to him. She knew where they were because she'd put them there herself and checked to make sure that they didn't disappear before being restocked.
"Okay." He retrieved the package and came back, settling down beside her. "Are you sure you don't want to talk about it instead?"
"I'd rather forget about it and not talk about it." She couldn't, of course. She tried to avoid bringing her teammates into her world, and especially Kouta. She was trying to make the Christmas Game his last exposure to that damnable Forest, even if she hadn't figured out how to keep him from running into danger the first chance he got. It was one of his most irritating traits, this tendency to want to save everyone. He couldn't, he should stick to making sure the team was okay like she did. She only became Ryugen to keep the others safe, and she expected the same of Kouta, only to be disappointed every single time.
At least here, she could have him and nobody else could. Even her teammates couldn't have him at the moment. He was there for her when she needed it, and that was all she could ask for.
"Okay," he said haltingly, breaking over the package. In response, she leaned back, willing him to forget about everything but this precious time together before the Forest could crash down on everything in her world.
Not Actually Commentfic, but...
Date: 2014-08-29 12:08 am (UTC)Even when Michi was out late - supposedly studying, though he knew now that it was a lie - she'd always come home before nine. And while he was exhausted, busy with work and finding out exactly what she'd been up to, he wanted to be there when she got home. He wasn't ready to confront her yet, but he did want to make sure she was okay. Then, when he had evidence, then he'd confront her. He knew, reluctantly, that what she had found out meant she had to work for Yggdrasill now where he'd hoped to keep her safe. But she was a Kureshima, and true to her blood she'd been intelligent enough to figure out what wasn't always as it seemed and bold enough to do something about it.
And now she hadn't come home, and her tablet and phone weren't giving off any signals. He found himself pacing, commanded himself to stop it, and went over to his computer. He'd already spent too much time on the files regarding Ryugen - he refused to think of Michi as "Test Subject #3", even if he knew that's how the staff referred to her - and everything Yggdrasill knew on her. He knew that she'd undone her transformation shortly after she left the tunnels, blending in with the crowds.
It didn't make him very happy, so he sat down with his laptop and called up the latest version of the information on her. It hadn't changed since she'd left the tunnels, no biodata, which Ryouma had told him was normal; they didn't regularly record that type of data because it was a drain on the battery.
When Michi got back, he would be sure to get her Driver modified so that it recorded even when she wasn't wearing it. There was no excuse for a Kureshima heir to be wandering about without anybody knowing where she was or whether she was alive or dead.
But what if there was a way to get that data? He paused, considering the possibility, and then pulled out his phone. Ryouma might still be at work; sometimes he forgot to go home. He might fuss, but ultimately if there was a way, Ryouma would do it.
"Takatora?" He could almost see the scientist rubbing his eyes under his glasses, but at least he was at work and still answering calls. "What can I do for you?"
"Is there a way to pull data from an inactive driver? You said that we didn't regularly do such a thing, but...."
"Stop worrying about your sister. From her records, she's a nice, healthy - if average - young woman." The scientist sounded amused, but there was a sigh in there. "I could possibly pull some of her biodata, depending on whether the driver is close to her body."
"Do it." At least there might be a way to find out if she was still alive. She could fight as Ryugen - he'd seen it himself - but she hadn't transformed for a while.
There was a rapid tapping of keys, followed by a pause, and then a second round of typing. "I just sent out an order to the driver to wake up and report. I should have something shortly."
Takatora took a deep breath. It might not be anything, but on the other hand, it might give him the peace of mind that he needed.
"This reminds me of the time that you came to me because she wouldn't tell you about her *awful* cramps." Ryouma was typing away again, and Takatora hoped it had to do with their current conversation.
He suddenly wondered if one of the reasons Michi hadn't come to him was because she was afraid he'd somehow found out she was on a Beat Rider team. He'd have to ask her about it. "She's a heir to Yggdrasill, I want to know when she's in pain like that."
At least she wouldn't get pregnant. He hoped for her teammates' sakes that none of them were sleeping with her, but at least she had some protection. Fleetingly he wondered if her push to get birth control was more to protect herself among those street rats than her cramps, and then he decided that even if it was it wasn't important.
"Ah." Ryouma sounded distant on the phone for a moment, and then came back. "So, the good news is that your sister is fine. Biodata corresponds with what we have on her. Looks like she's moving, not sedentary. Maybe she's going home?" There was a note in his voice that suggested - gently - that Takatora stop bothering him and let him get some rest.
"I hope so. You should get home as well," Takatora said, and there was an amused huff at the other end before Ryouma hung up.
And then the front door opened. Takatora headed to the bannister, relieved to see his sister come in, looking weary from the way she hung her head. But she dutifully plodded up the stairs as if nothing had changed. "Michi," he said, coming down the same stairs. "You're late."
It was all he could say, really, without a torrent of questions coming out that didn't need to be asked that night.
"I was studying," was all that she said, and he nodded. It wasn't a lie that he would fall for again, but then again it wasn't going to be an issue anymore, not after she became part of Yggdrasill.
"Good," he said, trying to sound soothing. "Go to bed, it's late."
She nodded, lowering her head and continuing her plodding way up, and Takatora didn't move until he was sure she was safely upstairs.
Michi makes a bad choice and Kouta ends up almost becoming a Kureshima
Date: 2014-08-29 12:24 am (UTC)Kouta stared at the man who had come in with Mai, claiming to be Michi's brother. He was a well-dressed businessman with a grim demeanour, and Michi was staring at him with a strange mix of anger and fear, very slowly backing away.
"It's time to go home now, Michi," Michi's brother was saying.
"How did you find her?" Kouta asked. He was kind of relieved that someone was actually worried about his friend, because he thought the man might be, but he didn't like the way that Michi was reacting.
"You left your tablet's signal on," the man said, not paying attention to him.
"I didn't...." There was a strange look on her face for a split second, or maybe he imagined it. "I guess I did."
The man nodded. "So I came to look for you."
"Well, you don't need to look any longer, because I'm not going to be a Kureshima any longer," Michi said, stepping to Kouta's side. "I'm going to get married." She wrapped a hand around Kouta's arm, continuing to glare at her older brother.
"Wait a minute, I didn't agree to get married!" Kouta said. He was willing to put up with a little deception on Michi's part, but this? This was insane. "And you're too young to."
"It doesn't matter. You agreed to take me in, and that means that we're going to get married."
"Kouta, did you...." Mai was looking from one to another.
"I said that my sister would be willing to have her stay the night if she'd go home after that!" He was sure that the offer didn't include getting married to a teenage girl, no matter how smart she was.
"And I did, because I'm going home that way. You and your sister are people I can live with."
"Uh, Michi...." When he'd suggested it, he didn't think she'd take it that way.
Her brother was staring at him in an unreadable way, but Kouta was sure he was about ready to kill Kouta for daring touch his baby sister.
"In any case, while you'd make an excellent member of the family," Michi said, as if he hadn't spoken, "I'm choosing to make myself one of yours."
"I want you to go home to yours," Kouta said, gently trying to detach Michi's hand from his arm. "Maybe if I go with you?"
He might not come back, but he wasn't willing to risk Mai, and maybe if Michi could see she was safe, she'd drop the whole thing and he could convince Michi's brother that no, Michi was not sleeping with a guy four years her senior.
"Michi has a path in life that doesn't include you." The man spoke calmly. "Either of you."
"Maybe if you give me a chance, I can change your mind." Michi needed support, and even if he had to play boyfriend for while, he could extract himself eventually.
The man studied him. "Maybe you can come with us," he said.
Kouta nodded. He just hoped doing this wasn't a mistake.
Michi's family was rich, Kouta realized as they went through the gates of their estate. She hadn't stopped clinging to him since they'd left Gaim. Kouta hoped she'd calm down and feel safe. He'd never seen her this afraid; she was normally the calmest member of the team. Even when fighting, she fought analytically.
He was starting to wonder if he did really know Michi as well as he thought.
The entry hall was huge, but what caught Kouta's attention was the picture of the Yggdrasill Tower on the stair landing. It hadn't occurred to him that one of the things that Michi didn't want to talk about was the fact that her family was connected to Yggdrasill, and things suddenly made much more sense. If Michi's brother was high-level Yggdrasill staff, then she knew that her family was doing things to her friends that she didn't want to be associated with.
But Kouta didn't want Michi to rush into a bad decision, since he had no job and she was too young to really make a decision like that. Even if he wanted to get her safe, he wasn't going to have her suffer.
"Michi, go upstairs," her brother told her, which only caused her to hold onto Kouta harder.
"I'll be fine," Kouta said, and gave her the best smile he could. If Michi's brother was going to say something, Kouta didn't want Michi in earshot. She was scared enough.
"No, I'm taking you to my room," Michi said, pulling him in the direction of the stairs.
"I'm not going to your room. Um, I'm going now." He didn't want to abandon Michi, but if something had happene to her, like she had injured herself and needed medical care, he didn't want her to continue to not seek help. He pried her fingers off her arm. "I'm sorry about this. We're not even dating! We're just friends! She's a little sister to me."
She might be the most intelligent, wonderful girl he knew apart from Mai, but she was way out of his social classand he didn't want to get in trouble with her older brother. She might be safer if she stayed with her family instead of using a Driver. She'd been right in ways he hadn't understood and should have.
She was trying to grab onto his arm again, and he neatly dodged. He was glad for all his sparring practice with her. "With all the data you have on us, you know he'd be a good member of our family. But if you won't accept it, I'll become a member of his."
"Wait... you have to do with the Sengoku drivers?" Kouta asked.
"I'm the overseer for the Research and Development department of Yggdrasill." His voice was deep and Kouta wondered why he sounded somewhat familiar. "I'm very familiar with your name, Kazuraba Kouta."
"Pleased to meet you, please treat me kindly." The man might have to be one of the ones responsble for treating Kouta as a guinea pig and then having him held captive, but he was Michi's brother and he was going to prove to the man that he was a nice person.
"See? He has manners. He's better than you think he is." Michi had grabbed Kouta by the wrist, where it was easier for her to wrap her fingers and Kouta found it hard to remove her hand.
He wanted to demand answers from the man, but politeness held him back because of the man's relationship to his friend.
"Michi, go upstairs." Michi's brother strode forward, studying Kouta. Michi seemed to understand something with the way her brother was moving, and let go of Kouta.
"Don't scare him with what you do." With that, she let go of Kouta's wrists and went upstairs, leaving Kouta alone with her brother.
"Thank you. I'm worried about her; I've never seen her act like that." He hoped the man would catch the hint and get his friend the medical attention she needed.
The man was studying him, and he forced himself to stay still. "You wanted her to go home?"
"She has family, and family is important to me. You might not like me, but I know that she'd miss her family if she stayed with us. I don't want her hurt. She's my friend - the friend of everybody in Gaim. I'd be honored if she dated me when she was older, but for right now, she's a good friend."
The man sighed and, surprisingly, relaxed a bit. "I'll find you a room to stay for the night."
"You will?"
"Michi normally is a good judge of character. I'm not sure why she's acting this way, but I trust her judgement for the moment on you."
Well, it was better than nothing, Kouta thought. "I'm not sure she's feeling all right at the moment. She's never acted this way with us."
"I'll talk to her. In the meantime, there will be a room for you."
Kouta was reflecting on how strange it was to be at Michi's house - no, estate, the Kureshimas were rich - when there was a soft knock on the door. "Come in," he called, wondering which of the siblings wanted to talk to him. Maybe it was about Michi going to a doctor.
At least she was safe, and he'd go home tomorrow. He wondered how to explain this to the rest of the team; Michi seemed fairly sensitive to the revelation.
Michi opened the door. She was wearing a backpack. "Kouta?"
"Yes?" Kouta asked. This was Michi's world; he'd let her explain.
"I'm sorry." She shook her head. "I was hoping to convince my brother to disown me, not drag you into this."
Kouta just had to stare for a moment.
"I have to get us both out of here before he starts deciding to groom you as a corporate heir." There were tears in her eyes, and while Kouta had to admit he was kind of upset at Michi, she'd been trying to get out of a situation that she couldn't accept.
And being Michi, she was going to get them out of this. Even she made mistakes sometimes, and Kouta could live with that.
"I've got some data I grabbed from Yggdrasill while I was looking for you and Kaito. I've got my laptop, but nothing that can trace me." She sniffled. "I'm leaving my Driver here, because that's how he found me in the first place."
"What?" Kouta barely managed to keep his voice down.
"Yes. I had my phone and tablet off, but he had another way to check. We'll take your Driver; it's a risk, but he's less likely to try to try to find you."
"Oh." He decided he hated Yggdrasill even more, but there was no way he could hate Michi; she was a teenager stuck in an impossible sitution.
"It'll be hard, but maybe we'll be able to fight back now." There was a quiet hardness in her voice. "We'll just wait until big brother goes to bed, and we'll leave."
It was an awful solution, Kouta didn't want Michi to lose her family, but it was better than it could be. He quietly put his arm around her shoulder and waited.
Michi meets Ryouma for the first time
Date: 2014-08-31 03:47 am (UTC)Therefore, she was rather surprised when her brother took her down to a spacious area. "Michi," he said, looking grave, "I'm going to have Sengoku Ryouma take a look at you. We agreed that he might be able to treat those bruises the best."
"Who?" she asked politely, trying to look as much the obedient younger sister as she could.
"He's an old friend of mine. He developed the Sengoku Drivers that we both use." Her brother pressed a keycard against a platform. "I'm thinking of putting you under him - you'll find him to be quite intelligent."
Intelligent and boring, no doubt, if he was anything like her brother. She just politely nodded, trying to focus on what was going on instead of how she was going to fix things for Team Gaim. After all, she couldn't manipulate things if she didn't pay attention to what was going on.
"Ryouma," her brother said to the man sitting at the desk, "This is my little sister, Michi."
The man stood up, a huge grin on his face. "Ah, so this is Ryugen!" he proclaimed, adjusting the glasses on his nose a little bit. He seemed so warm and friendly that Michi barely stopped herself from staring at him. "Pleased to meet you. Sengoku Ryouma at your service."
"Pleased to meet you," she said, trying to be the reserved little sister.
"I'll make sure she's all right, Takatora," Sengoku Ryouma said. "You know I'll take good care of her."
"I know you will." There was a small smile gracing her brother's face. "Give me a call when you're done."
With that, her brother was leaving, mind obviously on other matters. She folded her hands politely, deciding to get to know this old friend of her brother's more before letting her true self show. She wondered on how he planned on examining her; there was no gown that she could see, and she was aware of his female bodyguard standing almost motionless nearby.
"Ah. If you'll step over here, please?" He picked up a rather large scanner, clearly intending to use it on her. Relieved that she didn't have to take any clothes off, she walked over to where he indicated and closed her eyes. There was light near her closed eyes, and the gentle swoop of the air as he passed the scanner over her, and then nothing. "You can open your eyes now."
She did, and when he turned to his screens, she did too. There was an image of a female human body - hers, she presumed - on one and a computer-generated image of Ryugen with text on the other. Details about her, she realized as she looked at the text. She was apparently Test Subject #03, which made sense given that she was the third Armored Rider, not counting her brother. She'd known from Kouta's infiltration of the Base Camp that they'd been test subjects, and so it wasn't so surprising to see it confirmed.
Sengoku Ryouma was typing on the keyboard, and the information about her winked out to be replaced by other data. "You'll be pleased to know that you have no bruising over a level 2," he informed her with a smile. "Some time with a Lock Seed, some rest, you'll be good as new."
That piqued her curiosity. "There's another purpose to the Lock Seeds?" She was aware of how she had to look, being curious like that.
"The belts weren't built just for fighting. It just happens that adding a combat function was... useful to getting them tested by unknowing subjects. Their real purpose, I'm sure you're surprised to hear, is to aid humans in surviving when Helheim takes over our world, allowing humans to subsist on them. When combined with a regular human diet, they provide extra healing to their users."
"That makes sense." She eyed the Lock Seeds at his desk. So she just needed to get her Lock Seeds back to heal faster, did she?
"Here." He tossed a Lock Seed at her, a plain Himawari, and she inserted it into her Driver experimentally. Even without cutting it, she felt a burst of energy after a moment.
She let the burst subside, and then looked over at Sengoku Ryouma. "I suppose, if I'm all right, I should go back to my brother." She really didn't want to go, she wanted to be back with Team Gaim, but she needed room to breathe and for the moment her brother was fairly happy and not annoying her as much.
"I suppose you'll be working under him?" the scientist asked, with an eyebrow quirked as if to invite more conversation on the matter.
"He told me that I could work under you." She folded her hands, trying to be as invisible as possible. No matter how friendly the man seemed, he was still a good friend of her brother's.
"I could put you to good use. Unlike him, I know exactly how you got your Driver. Quite unlady-like, wasn't it?" There was a look in his eyes that told her that he was actually quite dangerous despite his friendly manner.
Michi shrugged. "I did what I had to do." She gave him a look that conveyed that she knew what he was implying and dared him to go through with it. "I am a Kureshima, after all. I would be expected to take risks like that."
"Ah, but it quite infuriated him that you were putting yourself in danger." There was a smile there, that of a very smug shark. "You should have heard how he reacted when he found out you'd faced him in combat."
"Well, it's not like I'll be in combat again, will I?" Takatora would probably never let her handle a lockseed ever again.
"You'd be surprised. I am not opposed to you resuming your daily activities with your team. I find team interactions quite... fascinating and would like to hear more about them."
In other words, she'd be a spy for him if she went back. Well, there was no reason why he had to hear everything about what was going on with Gaim. "I can do that." Let him think she was easy to manipulate while she was manipulating him right back. She could do that if it was something that would help the others.
"Good." There was a more shallow smile on his face. "Let's get you to the infirmary, shall we? A little rest and you'll be better than new."
It gave him more time to plot, she knew, but it also gave her time to think. Time to figure out how to use Yggdrasill's efforts to her advantage. She smiled. "Professor, thank you for taking me on."
He smiled back. "I'm sure we'll get along fine."
Takatora talks to Ryouma after Michi's exam
Date: 2014-08-31 03:49 am (UTC)"Because I assumed she had your permission. After all, the sister you've always told me about wouldn't accept a Driver without asking you first? And she did accept it willingly." Ryouma leaned back as if Takatora wasn't leaning over him.
Takatora had to stop for a moment. Ryouma's words made sense - after all, the Michi he thought that he'd known wouldn't have taken on a strange device. Why would the Yggdrasill staff assume otherwise?
"Besides, having data on siblings helped perfect the devices. I presumed you let her have one in order to help Project Ark."
More sense from Ryouma. As much as he hated it, Michi was his baby sister, and it did make sense for Yggdrasill to have them both using Drivers. It was just the idea of her putting herself in danger. He'd seen the footage of their fight multiple times, and only his holding back and Michi's own fighting skills had saved her from any more damage. "I guess you're right."
"And yes, she's fine, Takatora. You did have me look at her bruises for a reason, after all." Ryouma turned his head to look at some data - Michi's, Takatora presumed from the header, internally wincing at the continued "Test Subject #03" designator. "With the slightly accellerated healing from the Driver, she'll be bruise-free in a few days. No damage other than those bruises, either."
"There's nobody I would have trusted more to look her over. I know this isn't quite your field, but I'm grateful." Ryouma didn't normally have patients, after all. But he probably knew Michi's body better than even her own normal doctor.
"It wasn't a problem. I presume you want her under me, am I right?" Ryouma looked up at him. "That's what she told me. She's quite talkative."
To everybody but him, it seemed. Takatora wondered why she was so close-mouthed around him. Ryouma had stated that it was normal teenage rebellion, but that seemed impossible for her. Apparently not. He looked at Michi's Lock Seeds and with a sigh, handed them to Ryouma. "I don't have the time to seperate her from her Driver, so I'm entrusting her - and her Lock Seeds - to you. I trust you to keep her out of trouble, and I'm hoping you can make use of her brilliance, even if she hasn't been to University."
"I can use her, actually. Please leave her to me." Ryouma bowed slightly. "And Takatora? Please don't destroy any more of my Drivers, will you?"
That was Ryouma's way of asking him to leave Ryouma alone and let him get back to his work. Takatora gave his friend a half-grin, aware that he should have done better, could have done better at saving the Driver. But he hadn't.
Maybe Michi was the only way he could, in the end, save everybody.
Michi initially doesn't want to get a Genesis Driver
Date: 2014-08-31 03:51 am (UTC)"It's for *Helheim*," the Professor said, almost pouting. "I don't want to blow your cover with the teams. You're doing well keeping them in ignorance."
"I know better than to say anything." She was glad that Professor Ryouma had kept her brother from bringing any of the Armored Riders in; for all she thought that Ryouma was someone to watch with a wary eye, his goals were, for the moment, like hers.
That netted her a smile that was less innocent than it seemed. She knew that Professor Ryouma wanted nothing more than to run Yggdrasill without her brother's interference, and she would support that as long as she could get Drivers to her teammates. Which she was starting to do; she'd just smuggled out a fourth driver meant for a trooper to a safe place for when it was time to give it out.
"See? That's why I like you." He handed the Genesis Driver to her again, along with a Lock Seed that seemed descended from her own Grape. "Let's practice, shall we?"
Practice - data - always made him happy. It was why she was sparring with Kouta more often because he got to play with the prototypes and Ryouma got the data he wanted.
She suspected that he wasn't as interested in her biodata. She knew it because she'd broken in to the computer systems and altered hers to something nonsensical and he hadn't even noticed. If she went out with Ryugen instead of this new form, he'd never know. And then she'd have another Driver that would go to someone else in her team - Mai, most probably, to keep her safe.
"Let's go," she said with a smile, and let the professor take her arm on the way to the practice room.