[Mushverse, for the Shinkengers] Well, time for Plan B

[kogarashinomai]

I don't know how the others did it but they got to Takeru, for which I'll need to pay them a visit. Messiah's pissed and shrieking about traitors and revenge but if it thinks I'm going against Takeru it can think again. There are other ways to get the job done that don't involve him; they'll just be a little more complicated, that's all.

I wish I knew I'd be able to count on Nee-san but she's not really herself anymore, she might follow an order to take Takeru down and that's really not part of the plan at all, not that I have much of a plan right now. Still, if Takeru's with the other three then getting him back gives me an in with them and that would work better. There's no-one that can stop us when we're all together.

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[kogarashinomai]

Blood roars in my ears and I sink into him as the pain in my head doubles. It's hard to breathe past the pounding in my chest and everything's too confusing, I can't make sense of it. Messiah's pulling me in one direction, demanding obedience, and Ryuunosuke's pulling me in another, demanding... nothing, except that I come home.

I let go of my head gingerly - it's not doing any good anyway - and slide my arms around his back, fisting my hands in his shirt.

What can I say, I've never been good at obedience and the more Messiah screams for it the more I rebel. I don't know how long I can hold out for, though, not with this thing in my head.

[kabukisamurai]

She goes slack against me, and for a second I can't breathe, scared that something terrible has happened, that the evil that's taken over her body has gone too far and taken her from me properly, killed her to stem the liability. That can't be. I won't let her go, not now. Please, not now.

But then her arms shift, and she's holding onto my shirt, and I know that she wants to come back.

"Tell me what to do. Chiaki, tell me how to help you!"

[kogarashinomai]

"B-back of m--"

Before I can get the words out, tell him where to look, the chip seiezes control, exerting pressure enough to stop me finishing them and I thump his back in frustration at my failure.

"I can't," I growl. "Damn it."

[kabukisamurai]

She almost gets something out, and I pull her back so I can look at her face, watch the struggle there, the darkness lurking behind her eyes that she's fighting with as much passion as she's ever put into anything.

"Back." I repeat. That's all I've got to go with, and I've got to do something, fast, before this Messiah takes her over completely and makes her turn on me.

I really won't be able to fight her now, not knowing how close to the surface she is, how close I came to almost getting her back.

I grasp one of her wrists and spin her, bringing her arm around her front to pin her against my chest. It might hurt her arm in the long run, if she, or her body anyway, starts struggling, but I need time, whatever little amount of time I can get.

"Where?" I hiss, frustrated. My free hand brushes beneath her hair, across the nape of her neck.

[kogarashinomai]

I would love to make some smart-ass comment about the way he's holding me but it's taking too much effort now to hold off Messiah to do that. My body shifts in place, ready to bolt and I'm losing control of the situation again, he needs to find that chip fast before I have to start fighting him again.

My head jerks back into his hand as I grit my teeth, forcing myself to keep still as long as I can. Come on, Ryuunosuke, find the thing already.

[kabukisamurai]

She starts to struggle, weakly at first but it's only a matter of time before she, no, the thing controlling her, breaks away from me, turns on me, attacks me with the face of a friend.

This has to stop.

Her head twitches at the brushing of my fingers against her neck and it comes to me in a flash, Tono trying not to let on that he was favoring an apparent wound there. I'd dismissed it at the time, but now...

My fingers glide across the back of her neck more intently this time, and I find... something. Something wrong, most definitely, something decidedly inhuman, feeling of metal with a vicious pulse.

It's a chance, a terrible one, but it's a chance I'm willing to take. I seize the offending bit of metal between my fingers and thumb, let the arm holding her drop down to clutch her around the waist just in case, and pull.

[kogarashinomai]

There's a brief moment of relief when he finds it but it doesn't last long. Pain rips through me as he pulls it out and I'm pretty sure I'm screaming with it. Even if this kills me, though, which is a really good chance, at least it'll be as myself, completely myself, not some manipulated puppet who only thinks she has freedom.

[kabukisamurai]

I almost stop when she starts screaming, but I can't now. I have to see this through. Even if... Even if it kills her.

Better that than letting her go on like this.

I tear the tiny thing free from her and I don't even bother to examine it before I throw it to the ground and crush it with my foot, grinding it into fine sparkling bits. It only takes a second, thankfully, and then I can turn her around, take her gently in my arms.

She feels so small. I cup her chin in one hand and tilt her head back, trying to look into her eyes. "Chiaki? Chiaki, can you hear me? Please be okay."

[kogarashinomai]

I tell him exactly what he can do with that extremely unhelpful comment but it comes out as a garbled mumble that I'm not going to repeat. If he didn't get it the first time, too bad.

I am going to lean into his hand, though. Just for a moment and I'll deny it if he ever mentions it to anyone ever but it feels... kinda nice. It'd probably be better if I wasn't feeling so awful otherwise, though.

[kabukisamurai]

Well, she's not screaming anymore, and her response is mumbled past the point of comprehension, but the tone is unmistakably her, the real her, and I clutch her close to my chest and, to hell with anything approaching emotional reserve. I let out a dry sob into her hair.

"You're back."

It occurs to me belatedly that I should probably get her inside, now that I'm fairly certain she's safe. Messiah must be seething at this point, losing two of them.

How ever are we going to get Mako back?

First things first. "Can I carry you inside?" I have to ask, because even if she's half-dead, if she doesn't want me to pick her up, I'll get kicked from here to kingdom come.

[kogarashinomai]

I look up at him, surprised by the hoarse sound in his voice and by the way he's clutching at me, like he never plans to let go. I've never seen him like this over me before. Various shades of aggravated, yes; this kind of desperate relief is new.

"I can walk," I say carefully, gingerly pulling away to stand on my own. Then my legs give way.

[kabukisamurai]

She's back. She's back, that's all that really matters is that she's back.

I relinquish my grip on her reluctantly, but keep a hand on her arm as she insists she can walk under her own power, and promptly proves herself to be lying.

"No, you can't." It's stating the obvious, but I'm too pathetic with relief to care.

I sweep her up into my arms, and manage not to even stagger as I carry her towards the entrance of the mansion.

There are kuroko waiting just inside the door, but even so I almost protest when they move to take her away from me, though I'm sure they're only going to bear her to her rightful room and lay her down to rest.

They're right, of course, even in their silence. I need to go tell the others, and begin planning for how we're going to retrieve Mako.

I do give her another quick crushing hug first, though.

[kogarashinomai]

Well, I thought I could. Way to let the side down, legs. I thump his shoulder in retaliation as he picks me up and carries me back towards the mansion. This is so many kinds of mortifying. And nerve-wracking, because after what happened it doesn't feel right to be back here even though I know none of them are going to blame me.

Ryuunosuke gives me another quick hug before the kuroko take over and head for my room. It's looking a bit empty seeing as it doesn't have all my stuff in it anymore but whatever, it's my room and I'm kinda glad to be back in it, situation aside.