Hotaru Wars, Return of The Miyagi [Part 2]

****Extra Perspective******************************The Final Ame Owari******

She plucked away at the strings, randomly at first, then with purpose, feeling her way through the song and trying to make something new of her experiences. “The zoo, the zoo, I guess that’s where I’ll find you-u.” She stopped, leaning over the guitar, and writing down a few notes on the notepad at the end of her bed.

“Who is at the zoo?” she sang. “Is it a place for me and that stupid fool?” She stopped again, scratching her head. “No, no, all wrong!” She decided, ripping out the piece of note paper and tossing it in the wastebin.

The fell back on her bed and curled up, holding her pillow. “No love songs. No way!” She yelled at herself, thinking back on a time when she would have loved to share such feelings. She sighed. “I just can’t do it. Not until you apologize.”

****Extra Perspective****************************The Final Hajime Naoko******

“And don’t come out until you’ve finished studying for that test, young man! No more days off for you!” His old man yelled, slamming the bedroom door in his face. It was fine though, he was used to it. Of course, taking a ride home in the back of a police car was a new one. Naoko was sure the old man was going to have a stroke. His mom nearly fainted and had to sit down as the officer explained what he’d been up to.

Of course, he’d lied his pants off. It was the first time he could recollect doing such a thing and for what? For Ame Owari? Naoko dropped face-first on his bed and groaned loudly. They used to be such good friends in elementary school.

“What the hell did I do?” He asked out loud, to no one in particular.

****Perspective***********************The Soldier, Hotaru Miyagi (632-E)******

Hotaru Miyagi hardly slept but when he did, he didn’t sleep well. The image of the woman he had shot blazed across his dreams like a fire, eating up his rest. As he drifted off, he could hear the shot ringing out, see her severed hand sticking out of the sand holding a rose. In the dream, he rushed up to her and pulled back the hood covering her face. She looked back at him with an intricate metal eye patch and long black hair.

“Welcome back, Miyagi-kun!” The apparition spat.

Hotaru shot up, sweating profusely. He felt around him, he was laying on his couch. In the dim light of the foyer, he could see confetti on the floor and a few discarded party hats. A dream, just a dream… he reassured himself, casting off his blanket and walking to the kitchen.

The clock on the microwave read 4:45AM. Too early to get up, but too late to go back to sleep. He sighed, made breakfast for himself, and got ready for school. After showering, he came down to the foyer and shrugged on his Hiwara Uniform, still wet from the party last night. He did his best to ignore the dampness then sat down in the entryway to put on his shoes.

“Miyagi-kun?” A voice came from the hallway, feminine, sweet. He whirled around expecting to see the apparition again, the woman of his nightmares, Hinako.

Final Ethel rubbed her eyes sleepily, wearing long, loose pajamas with unicorns on them. “It is you. What’s up? It’s so early in the morning?” she yawned.

Hotaru relaxed visibly. “I just woke up and figured I should get a head start.”

“Yeah, we heard you showering, it woke us up.”

“Sorry.”

“S’okay. Hey, I don’t know if Alpha told you this, but we don’t have a plan for you today. Just enjoy yourself and say hi to Naoko. That’s it. We’ve taken care of the other stuff we have planned essentially, so you uh…” She took a break to yawn loudly, her antennae stretching out and curling adorably. “You just be you. Okay, Miyagi-kun?”

Hotaru gave her a long look, of course he had been debriefed on what the plan was, but it still bothered him. Nothing? Nothing but following Naoko around and being his friend? Having fun? Instinctively, he reached for his back to draw his railgun. It was gone. He’d left it with Zero-2. His hands had no gauntlets, no armor, no protection. He stared at the door. Suddenly a bit worried what might be outside.

“Miyagi-kun? Are you okay?” Final asked, cocking her head in concern.

Hotaru finished tying his shoes and stood up. “I’m fine.” He assured her. She nodded.

“If you want you don’t have to go to school, you know.” She told him.

“If I don’t go. I’ll feel bad.” Hotaru admitted, slinging his schoolbag over one shoulder, and marching out the door.

The walk to school was eerily quiet and lonesome. Though he passed many people, few of them were students. Especially at this hour. He had scarcely crossed the threshold of the school grounds when it happened again.

“Rise and shine, Miyagi-kun. The Early bird catches the worm.” The voice sounded close. Nearby. Unbidden, he cried out.

“Hinako! Is that you!? Where are you?!” He whirled around the empty schoolyard scanning for signs of life. The only person aside from him was his homeroom teacher who had stopped at the front doors of the school, gaping at him. Hotaru composed himself and resumed his walk. Head swimming, tired, and delirious he made a fast decision. He decided he would confront her at lunch.

****0_0****

The day progressed slowly but deliberately with nary a sign of Hinako which only made his worry worse. It didn’t help that the messages started to come into his mind more frequently at this point. The first was a question asked during first period: “School is pretty fun, isn’t it? I know I’m having fun, are you?”

“No!” Came his reply, out loud. Which prompted the teacher to ask if he was doing okay. Hotaru shrugged it off, ignoring the icy stare of Alpha from behind him.

Later, between first and second period he leapt from his seat and wandered into the halls searching for Hinako. He was unsuccessful, sure enough, at lunch he’d need to rush over to class B to try and find her. On his way back to class he felt a hand tug at the back of his shirt, he swung around, arms flailing only for them to be swatted aside by Alpha who pushed him up against the wall.

“Hold still, idiot.” She told him, sticking a wet finger into his left ear. Hotaru flinched, then heard a familiar feminine voice.

“You left without establishing comms, Hotaru. What’s up?” Omega asked, her voice even.

“Nothing. I’m good.” He replied, breathing heavily from the sudden assault.

“Good. Now, I have a mission for you Miyagi-san. I know I said I didn’t but something’s come up. Can you handle it?”

Hotaru leaned forward “Ready.” He said.

“Good, I want you to head downstairs to the bottom floor northwest corner, can you handle that?”

“Sure thing.” Alpha released him and straightened his shirt a bit. As he walked away several of his female classmates were pointing at Alpha and whispering. This was quickly silenced when she stepped towards them and made a rude gesture.

Hotaru tuned out the white noise, feeling his heartbeat even a bit. He followed the staircase down to the first floor passed the principal’s office and walked to the northwest corner of the building where four snack machines crowded the hall.

“I’m here.” Hotaru said.

“Good. Now, there should be two drink machines I want you to walk up to the one furthest left.”

“Got it.” He said, moving into position.

“Reach underneath the machine and feel around, there should be something there.” Hotaru did as he was bid, finding a small white envelope.

“Found it.”

“Good, make sure no one’s around and open it.” Omega relayed.

Hotaru peered around, finding no one he slid his fingers into the envelope and slid it open finding inside two nickel 100 yen coins.

“Insert them into the machine.” Omega ordered. Hotaru obliged. “Now, press ‘A, 7’” Hotaru entered the buttons and watched as a metal arm slid upwards and grabbed a 500ml bottle of water and dispensed it.

“Take the bottle and drink it dry, Hotaru.” Omega said, her tone serious.

Hotaru drank long and deep not coming up for air until the entire bottle had been drained. He gasped for air and tossed the bottle across the room to the nearby recycling bin.

“Get the change.” Omega ordered.

“And now?” Hotaru asked, expectant.

“That’s it. Go back to class and stop freaking out.” Omega cut off abruptly leaving Hotaru in the hallway by himself.

“Omega!” He said, pinching his ear.

“What?”

“Have you been messing with me all day? Have you been talking to me?”

“What? No!”

Hotaru let out a deep sigh, running his fingers through his hair. “Geez, I thought maybe it was you.”

“You haven’t had your comms on all day. I think you’re exhausted Hotaru. Unless you think something’s really wrong with you.” Omega stated grimly.

“I mean, maybe…” Hotaru admitted. “I did shoot someone earlier yesterday; it was kind of a lot.”

“Hmm, you might be experiencing some shock. Would you like me to have Hinako give you a brain scan?” Omega asked. The image of prisoner H-666 appeared in his mind again. Her sly smile, her metal lock, her weird ominous message.

“You know what? I’m good!” Hotaru said flatly, pinching his earlobe twice to cut off comms again. He walked back to class in a huff, turning the heads of a few faculty members as he climbed the stairs three steps at a time. Once at the top of the stairs, in the hallway back to class he ventured to glance outside and saw Hinako standing in a cherry tree.

The voice clamored back into his mind. Hotaru could feel it now, he could tell when it was making contact. It was almost like the voice knocked first before sneaking inside to mess with his thoughts. “So you have tasted the nectar of life, have you? You’ve seen what lies beyond the bounds of ‘one world’ like me.” The voice said, sending shivers down his spine.

“You and I have a lot in common, Miyagi-kun. I think we could help one another.” Hinako turned toward him from her vantage point in the tree, acknowledging him with a nod. Hotaru leaned up against the glass.

“I don’t want help. I just want to be left alone.” Hotaru said under his breath.

“As do I,” the voice said, “But things are not so simple. I need someone I can trust, someone to keep a secret with, very few can speak my language, you see.” Hinako turned away from him, staring off at something distant.

“How do I know this isn’t me going crazy? Are you really talking to me in my mind? Hinako.” The last word in his question was like a whisper. A long pause took over the hallway as Hotaru waited to hear back.

“I can prove it, Hotaru.”

“Then do it.” He asked.

“What’s tall, brown, and has spots all over?” The voice asked.

“I don’t know.”

“Look to your left.” The voice whispered.

Hotaru glanced leftwards, where Hinako was looking. At the edge of the schoolyard, with its head rising over the fence and trees was a giraffe. Hotaru nearly tripped over himself as he stumbled back. He turned to Hinako, still in the tree. She met his eyes and placed one finger over her lips as if to shush him. “The answer to my question Miyagi-kun, is a man. Every man wears his spots differently. Be careful how you wear yours.”

And with that, the voice left his mind again. Hotaru took off down the hallway, jumping whole flights in his haste to get out of the school, to get away, to get somewhere. Anywhere was fine, so long as he could escape Hinako. Though he wasn’t at all sure it was possible, he clung to that hope as he made a mad dash for the footlockers.

A slight girl stepped directly in his path. It took Hotaru all the effort he could muster not to stumble headfirst into her which ultimately proved futile as he bowled her over falling with his stomach in her face. The girl hugged him with her arms and legs and flipped him over, effectively mounting him. She stared down at him with the angriest expression he’d ever seen her wear. It was Alpha.

Hotaru breathed a sigh of relief and Alpha Ethel pulled out a large metal device that looked like a gun with five barrels in a half-circle.

“Hold still! Dummy!” She bellowed, forcing the device into his face, and pulling the trigger. Hotaru closed his eyes, fully expecting that this was it, he’d finally bought the big one. A loud beeping emanated from the device in his face.

“You’re clean, dummy. No brainwave abnormalities.” Alpha said, standing up and offering her hand. Hotaru tried to decline but that made her grab his shoulder and pull him to his feet. She was surprisingly strong. “What is up with you today?” She asked, appearing genuinely concerned.

“I don’t know. I’m just, I’m seeing stuff, I think. I don’t know.” He panted, avoiding eye contact with the girl of his dreams.

Alpha sighed and buried her eyes in one of her hands. “Look, Miyagi-kun. Omega told me you were hearing voices in your head, are you feeling all right?”

Hotaru glanced up, noticing over Alpha’s shoulder the thing he dreaded most, Hinako Takayama. In the corner of the entryway, far from prying eyes she was assembling an intricate piece of technology that looked an awful lot like a high-powered sniper rifle. His heart thumped in his chest until all he could hear was the blood rushing to his ears.

“Miyagi!” Alpha yelled, grabbing his face. “What!?”

Hotaru pointed toward Hinako, who once again shushed him. Alpha glanced back at her. “Hey, do that somewhere else, Hina-chan.”

“Roger.” Hinako droned, nodding at Hotaru before lumbering off with a half-assembled rifle.

“Don’t worry about her, Hotaru. She’s got some unfinished business to take care of and it’s none of your concern.” She let go of his face allowing him room to breathe and for the flushing in his face to go down.

“Go home, man, seriously. I know you’ve seen combat in our universe, but I imagine Zero-2’s was still a lot to take in. We were prepared for that, and we wanted to have you relax for a while before using you for the field again.” She placed one hand tenderly on his shoulder. “If you want to go home and sleep it off, I think you should, Miyagi-kun.”

Finally, completely emotionally spent, Hotaru collapsed next to the footlockers. He couldn’t hear a thing over the buzzing in his own ears and for what felt like several blissful minutes, Hotaru dozed off in a dreamless sleep.

****-___-****

Hotaru woke in a dark room feeling rested and oddly warm. An unfamiliar ceiling hung overhead and a few feet away from him a tall metal cylinder buzzed and glowed ominously. Hotaru pushed back the massive, fluffy comforter on top of him and realized he was in a girl’s room. Final’s room to be exact.

Everything smelled nice, the pillows, the blankets, the air itself felt fresh. The room felt unnaturally warm. Hotaru realized the heat was emanating from the device in the corner that looked and sounded like it might catch fire. He climbed out of bed and peeked out the curtains making sure they didn’t accidentally brush the device. The stars were out, so somehow, he had slept through the entire day.

Hotaru groaned as he lumbered out of the room making sure not to trip over anything. He vaguely remembered seeing Alpha by the footlockers and Hinako but that was all he could muster. He dragged his feet out into the hall and down the stairs, realizing with a start that he was still wearing his uniform.

So they dumped me in Final’s bed without taking off my sweaty clothes? Figures. As he rounded the corner he was met by a blinding flash. An octagon of every color in the rainbow appeared in front of him and from it walked Hinako. She turned around after stepping through, and the portal seemed to shrink and zip towards her face and disappear. She gave him a sideways glance with her right eye which glowed with every color of the spectrum.

“I uh, I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to…”

Hinako placed a hand on his shoulder, cutting him off. “Hotaru, I can see you’re stressed but it’s not the end of the world. You understand?” Hotaru nodded, too afraid to do anything else. Hinako sighed, as if trying to teach a child.

“What does a rhinoceros and a rhinoceros beetle have in common?” She asked.

“I don’t know.”

“They both keep charging forward, Hotaru. That’s what you’ve got to do. Just keep charging forward and everything will eventually work out.” The voice crawled into his head again as Hinako pushed past him and up the stairs.

“We just need to keep moving Hotaru. We’re all we’ve got, buddy.” Hotaru collapsed onto the floor, clutching his knees.

“Why do you keep messing with me, Hinako? Just tell me straight what you want! I can’t live like this. I just want to be left alone, please!” Hotaru whispered, almost crying.

“Because I still think we can help each other, like I said, I scratch your back, you scratch mine.”

“How so?”

“I can tell you how to impress Alpha. Your Ethel.”

The scrambled mind of Hotaru Miyagi, now straining for any semblance of sanity, finally snapped. “If I help you, will you get out of my head?” He asked calmly.

"Maybe. I got a question for you. What's spacious, cold, and filled with memories? A hard drive. But that's not important right now. The answer I'm looking for is… a park." The voice said. Hotaru straightened up and crossed the room in three strides taking from behind the couch the signal beacon he had gotten from his internship.

As he laced up his shoes in the entryway he was approached again. “Miyagi-kun! You’re up!” Hotaru had to double check which Ethel was addressing him. It was final, wearing the same unicorn pajamas as that morning, holding a whole waffle stacked with meat and condiments in one hand.

“We thought you were gonna be out all night, so we were gonna have a sleepover in the living room. Are you feeling all right?”

“All right? Better than all right, I feel great!” Hotaru lied. “I was just going to head down to the convenience store for some ice cream.”

“We’ve actually got ice cream if you want some.” Final said, tenderly gesturing towards the living room where five loud Ethels were playing some card game.

“I’m good. I want to have my own tub!” Hotaru stood up and opened the door. “Don’t wait up!” he admonished her, before closing the door in her face. He felt a slight twinge of guilt at leaving her hanging but with his mind racing and his delirium sinking in he couldn’t think of anything else to really do but head off for the park and try to bring an end to this nightmare.

“You’ve made the right choice, Hotaru.” The voice reassured him as he arrived at the park. “Go ahead, find a bench and sit down. I’ll meet up with you shortly.”

Hotaru collapsed on the first bench he could find. Despite his recent sleep he felt like he could pass out any minute. Whatever it was Hinako needed from him he hoped she’d make it quick so he could pass out and forget everything. He waited for a good while, how long he couldn’t tell but eventually he became aware of someone or something sitting next to him. Hotaru turned his head and just beyond the bench, kneeling in the grass with its head stretching upwards twelve feet in the air was a giraffe. The giraffe looked down at him.

“Hello, Miyagi-kun. A pleasure to see you again.” Hotaru nearly fell off the bench. It was almost too much and yet, just enough for him to finally figure out what had been going on. He snapped awake, suddenly alert, suddenly aware.

Hotaru clenched his fists, doing his best to maintain composure. “What the hell do you want?” He asked. Feeling stupid.

“I want what all men want, Hotaru. I want a friend, someone I can trust, someone I can turn to when times get rough.”

“Don’t you have zookeepers for that?”

“Hardly, I’ve grown beyond the need for such creatures, after all.”

Hotaru paused, trying without success to come up with a clever way to ask, it came out just the same. “So, you’re not Hinako, are you?”

"Maybe I am. Maybe I'm a Hinako from another reality. I, like you am not from here, after all." Hotaru glared at the giraffe, incredulous.

"Well, it was worth a shot."

"For someone who wants trust you have a funny way of asking for it."

"For someone who wants to be happy you have a funny way of not getting it, Hotaru. Do you know why I started talking to you?"

"No. You're a giraffe. I don't get it."

"It's because you let me in. You wanted to be talked to. I can't reach just anyone's mind someone has to be open to it. And that makes you special, Hotaru. You keep pushing forward day after day thinking eventually your hard work will pay off but really you need someone that can help you too. If you let yourself be alone it'll crush you. I can help alleviate that. All I need from you is a promise." If a giraffe could express a far-off look, this one had it. Staring into the distance, musing.

"What's that?" Hotaru asked, reaching into his pocket, and wrapping his hand around Zero-2’s call beacon.

"That when I ask for your help, you'll do one thing that I ask you to do. And I'll help you with anything else you need."

Hotaru held the badge up to his face, pressing the green button. "I need help. Will you help me?"

"Of course." the giraffe said, craning his neck down to face Hotaru. “What are friends for after all?”

A blinding multicolored flash lit up the sky above them. One lone muscular figure dropped through the air and tackled the giraffe’s head, taking it to the ground. The creature lowed in pain and kicked, upturning the bench Hotaru was sitting on. Hotaru grasped his head and rolled, glancing up as the multicolored portal erupted out of existence.

“So you have chosen the Ethels, have you?” The giraffe asked, as his body frothed and struggled.

“Yes! And I gladly would again!” Hotaru said, grabbing a sharp shard from the wooden bench and charging the creature.

The giraffe contorted in a sickening way, bending its limbs like a spider until they were underneath it then whipped its head faster than Hotaru had ever seen something move. The muscular figure was tossed high into the air. A portal opened above and they fell into it only to come back through holding a massive black cube which they slammed into the giraffe’s face causing it to fall back and collapse.

“You okay?” The person asked, landing next to Hotaru, and dropping the massive lump of metal. He realized with a start that it was his armor.

“Thanks. I’m fine.” Hotaru admitted, meeting the person’s eyes. He recognized her as the imprisoned Hinako from earlier, prisoner H-666. She wore a pair of military dress slacks and shoes; an officer’s jacket was tied about her waist, her muscular frame covered by a loose white tank top.

Hotaru cleared his throat. “I’m doing better now that you’re here.” He admitted. Fussing with the cube until he found the activation button.

“Good. Shall I call in reinforcements?” She asked, touching the metal contraption on her right eye. It opened like a flower finally showing Hotaru her secret. Her right eye was darker than the edge of space. Instead of a pupil, flashing symbols in every color of the rainbow appeared, constantly shifting. A circle, then a triangle, then a square, then an octagon.

“No.” Hotaru said, activating the armor then stepping into it. “We can handle this ourselves.” He said with confidence as the armor shut around him with a hiss.

“The hell you can!” came a voice to their left. From out of the shadows five Ethels and a Hinako came charging towards the giraffe wearing pajamas. Each were carrying some kind of high-tech weapon, a pistol, a railgun, and so on. Etel had grabbed a whole computer tower and was swinging it about effortlessly.

The giraffe stood up finally, snapping its broken neck into place with a sickening pop. “Then you have chosen… death.” The giraffe uttered, out loud, through its giraffe lips. The creature began to glow bright blues and greens and lifted off the ground, floating in the air.

“Ethels! Destroy the cosmic giraffe with extreme prejudice!” Omega yelled, tossing her head back as she pointed at it.

The heat of battle erupted across the park sending laser beams and explosions into the sky. Hotaru jumped at the giraffe punching its torso but was rebuffed when the giraffe caught him with a lucky head swipe. Etel tossed her computer at the giraffe’s face spraying it with hard drives and cables. Alpha and Final began slicing away at its neck with railgun blasts and a small laser. After a few shots the head fell from the giraffe’s body and disappeared, turning into mist. In it’s place three more giraffe heads sprang up swinging downward at the group in a wild frenzy.

Hotaru was about to stand up when he noticed the two Hinakos talking, after what seemed like an angry and frustrated exchange the two shook hands firmly then yelled in unison: “Everyone step back!”

Hinako lifted the bangs on her right eye as prisoner H-666 opened her eyepatch once more. Two bright lights shot from them and wrapped around the giraffe like neon threads. The threads formed cubes and octagons of light, spinning in bands of tessellating geometry until the entire giraffe was covered in bands of bright lights.

One of the heads slipped upwards out of the sphere but was sliced off by the bright patterns of lasers. Hotaru followed the head as it fell to the ground and winked at him before blinking out of existence with a flash.

“Omega! Task 86!” Hinako yelled, still spooling lights from her right eye.

Omega pulled back the sleeve on her right arm and punched in a series of numbers on her portal watch, opening a large fissure beneath the floating giraffe.

“I know you have rejected me. But I still trust you friend.” Said the voice, clawing back into Hotaru’s mind. “I trust you will do the right thing, Ranger F.”

“Get lost!” Hotaru screamed, jumping atop the light sphere with his power armor. He brought his fists down on the light cage and it fell through the portal into an expanse of concrete and metal. Omega closed the portal as soon as the bands of light were out of sight and Hotaru barely missed the portal before it closed. He hit the grass face first. The two Hinakos collapsed, holding their sides, and gasping for air.

Hotaru rolled over on the grass. “Where did you send it?” He asked.

“The same place we send every cosmic entity.” Prime Hinako said with a gasp.

“The Council of Ethel’s lockup.” Rogue Hinako finished, closing her eyepatch with the press of a button.

“Miyagi-kuuun!!!” Final screamed, running up to bash Hotaru in the face with a piece of broken bench. It shattered against his helmet, so she started grabbing pieces of grass to fling over his visor.

“Cut it out, what?” He said, sitting up and trying to shove her off. Her antennae unfurled from their usual bow shape and wiggled between the seams of his armor prying open his helmet so she could yet at him directly.

“Why didn’t you tell us a Giraffe was trying to kill you!?” She asked, flicking his forehead with her index finger.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t know! I thought,” Hotaru looked down at the dirt trying not to make eye contact with anyone in the group. “I thought Hinako was messing with me. I’m sorry.” He muttered as loudly as he dared to.

Alpha walked up and shoved Final aside. “Don’t worry, Hotaru. This was kind of unexpected for all of us. We were trying to keep you out of the loop until you were feeling all right but if we’d at least told you a bit more this could’ve been avoided.”

“You mean, you knew about that thing?”

“Well. We didn’t know it was cosmic, right?” Alpha said, looking to Hinako for reassurance. Hinako scratched her head and glanced away sheepishly. Alpha cleared he throat, “Well, yeah, it kind of attacked us a while back but it wasn’t messing with our heads or anything. Sorry. Like I said.”

Alpha finished all of that without making eye contact. It was probably the kindest gesture Hotaru had ever been offered from her. He decided that he didn’t want to waste it. “I’m sorry too.” Hotaru rocked forward onto his knees and bowed his head to the dirt in Hinako’s direction.

“I’m sorry I suspected you, Hinako! You really, honestly aren’t suspicious at all! In any way!” he yelled, trying to convince himself.

“That’s okay. I understand.” Hinako started, putting her glasses back on and fidgeting with them. “I’m not the most talkative person, especially around men.”

“Huh, why’s that?” Hotaru asked without thinking.

“You’ll understand when your older Hotaru.” Omega said to the nodding approval of everyone present. "Agent Hinako has many duties extraneous to our mission here. After all, it's the strange subspace phenomenon in her right eye that gave us ethels the breakthrough we needed to span the multiverse. She's possibly our strongest piece on the board. This is why we keep her missions, and their goals, top secret.”

"It's because she's a lesbian." Rogue Hinako chimed in, loudly, folding her arms and puffing out her chest. "That's why she likes being around Ethels so much!”

Prime Hinako blushed from ear to ear. Never in his entire life had Hotaru seen a person turn such a deep shade of red. She adjusted her glasses, nervously sputtering out: “That’s not all I am! I’m smart too!”

“No way!” Rogue Hinako bellowed, placing an arm around her. “Listen, Hotaru, Hinakos are the hardest working human in any universe. The whole reason Ethels rely on us so much isn’t because we’re smart but because we love doing stuff! We can’t help it! We practically never sleep! It’s insane!”

“Then why were you locked up?” Hotaru asked, incredulous. “You seem like a straight-shooter, Rogue Hinako!”

“Do I now!?” Rogue Hinako responded with a massive grin, a little too excited at the ‘compliment.’

“Gross. She isn’t normal Hotaru.” Prime Hinako admonished. “There’s a reason they locked her up. Of all the observable Hinakos she’s the only one who’s straight.” Hinako shuddered at the last word, as if it violated some natural law.

Hotaru looked down at the grass, trying to make sense of it. “Being straight isn’t normal?” He asked.

“This is why we said we’d explain when you’re older.” Omega chimed in.

“When would I ever be old enough to understand!?” Hotaru asked, causing the group of girls to break out laughing.

After a few more jokes at Hotaru’s expense the group decided to head home and part ways. The Houston team took a stealth portal to the living room while Hinako left alone before anyone could catch her. Alpha and Final hung back to keep an eye on Rogue Hinako and Hotaru as the two of them tried to pry him out of his suit without breaking it.

“Ethels.” Rogue Hinako spat. “No respect for decent tech, this thing’ll probably have to come off in pieces unless I can get this to work.” She said, pulling up panels of pliable metal and poking inside with a sharp instrument.

“Sorry for all the trouble. I know the call beacon is only supposed to be used in special circumstances.” Hotaru said.

“Sure, I guess.” She responded.

Hotaru made a sudden connection. “Hold on, I thought the call beacon was something she handed out to special agents of hers, right?”

“She, said to keep it a secret, but I don’t care. That call beacon is one of a kind as far as I know. Empress Ethel hasn’t made any others.”

“What?” The locks on Hotaru’s suit released him with a hiss.

“There!” Rogue Hinako said, pulling him out of the suit by his shirt. She pulled him close and kissed him on the mouth before shoving him onto the grass. “Be a good boy now, Hotaru!” She yelled. And for the first time he realized she’d been calling him by his first name the whole time.

“Hey!” “Uncalled for!” Alpha and Final yelled, rushing towards them. Rogue Hinako gave them a rude gesture then jumped through a portal of her own make.

“Well, shoot. I knew we should’ve stood closer!” Alpha insisted.

“She didn’t hurt you, did she?” Final said.

Hotaru scratched his head, not really sure what to make of the situation. “I guess not,” he decided, looking up at the stars. “I guess I’m fine.”

“Hey, Miyagi-kun,” Alpha offered her hand. This time he took it and allowed her to help him up. She hugged him tightly then let him go immediately. “That’s a friendship hug, Hotaru. I’m glad you’re back. And I’m sorry you had a rough time. We just needed you to change a bit and become more independent. We’re proud of the person you’re becoming and the effort you’re putting towards making Ameko happen.”

“Yeah,” Hotaru said with a smile. “Ameko forever?”

“Whatever.” Final said, grabbing his hand and walking off towards home. “Let’s get some sleep.” She yawned, as Alpha sidled up to them, arguing fervently about the mission. For the first time in a long time Hotaru felt fortunate to be where he was. He glanced up at the stars again as the two Ethels bickered and argued.

“I think I want to take a break from school.” He thought out loud.

****Extra Perspective**********************************The Final Ethel******

Ethel immediately walked into the living room and whistled for the group’s attention. “Hey! Hotaru was acting really suspicious I think we should follow him and find out what’s going on.”

“What do you mean, suspicious?” Alpha asked, raising an eyebrow.

“He said he wanted ice cream.” Final admitted.

“We have cream ice.” Etel stated, holding up a fist of strawberry vanilla.

“He said he wanted ‘his own tub’ and he was going to the convenience store to get it.”

“All right, something’s up. We gotta shut him down, by force, if necessary.” Alpha decided. “Listen up, Ethels, I haven’t been all that proud to be among you but tonight, you’re my sisters! I need you to embark on the toughest journey of your young lives!” She said, pulling out a laser pistol. “Tonight, I need you to stop a man from killing himself!”

The crowd of Ethels cheered, and Alpha led them out the front door each carrying a dangerous weapon.

“Wait…” Final said, “That’s not what I meant…!”

****Secret Perspective:**************************?????? ?, The Giraffe*******

He wandered and ran, hoping to find peace but never found it. He was angry, but that anger held purpose. He was strong, the strongest there was, at least he had been until that day.

The lights danced about the ground as the tiny things made their threats. They couldn’t touch him. They couldn’t reach him. High above them he stretched, taller than the sky.

He beat his feet against the ground and ran, frustrating the tiny things on the ground. Only he knew the joy of his existence. Only he knew what it was like to be free.

“Ranger F. I hope you’re ready to listen to me now…”