Chapter 10:

Chapter 10: Goro/Trimy

The Fading Spark


Goro waited behind the line at the station as he saw Kanna off. They waved to each other through the window, and as soon as her train was out of sight, Goro walked away with a smile on his face. Quite sure of himself that he had saved the date. He also flipped open his phone to admire the new contact he just made.

Momo Kanna, he read. There was a skip in his step as he walked down the stairs and out of the station. It was nearly dusk, and Goro felt more like celebrating than going to sleep. He took out his phone again, eager to call up the guys to tell them all how it went, when he felt an all too familiar gaze coming from the dark rooftops above. Goro looked directly up at Trimy, the sneaky wolf’s eyes were glowing and everso watchful. Goro pointed up at it and then down, ordering Trimy to meet him on ground level. Trimy ducked out of view, making it clear to Goro that he wanted to talk.

Meanwhile, Goro made a point of entering a dark alleyway just out of sight of the people slowly waking up to the nightlife. Office workers were finishing up work or getting dinner before going back to the grind. Some stores were closing for the night, while others were only beginning to open. And all around him, Goro heard the talk of Hanabi Ryu and Kaiyo Omo teaming up to defeat a new force of evil they were calling Kaminari Hime, the Lightning Princess.

Goro transformed into Kaiyo Omo, blending in with the shadows of the alley and waited for Trimy. When Trimy eventually found its way down to the ground, it looked around, not finding Goro anywhere. It started to inch over to the streets when Goro snuck up from behind and tapped its shoulder with a tentacle.

“Oi,” Goro said deeply, scaring Trimy out of its fur.

“Don’t do that!” It growled, but Goro said nothing in response. The wolf stepped back into the alleyway. “Martria has returned the tengu and Izanami back to the Underworld,” Trimy reported.

“Any clues as to how they escaped in the first place?” Goro asked.

“None yet,” Trimy said, a little too fast. Goro narrowed his eyes on the wolf. “The seals have been remade for their cages, but the guards there are double checking the other seals on all the other gods and demi-gods as we speak.”

“Has Izanami said anything else since being recaptured?”

“She hasn’t confessed as to how she escaped,” Trimy said. “But she has said that she’ll tell Hanabi Ryu.”

“Well, that's not happening,” Goro said.

“Agreed,” Trimy seconded, and then the two grew quiet and awkward. Trimy tried to put on its best smile, only to earn a frown from Goro in return.

“Did you need something else?” Goro asked, and Trimy stopped pretending and looked up to Goro with indifference and professionalism.

“Who was the girl?” It asked.

“None of your business,” Goro said, who knew this talk was coming. But Trimy just scoffed at that.

“It is my business,” it said, and Goro inched closer, his mood growing more sour by the second. “Listen, Goro, it would be one thing if you were chasing after another monster’s tail, but I think trying to make a relationship with a human is pushing your involvement on Earth way too far.”

Goro raised an eyebrow to that, and laughed a little. “Since when has my involvement with humans ever been too much?” He asked. Trimy avoided eye contact as it realized its mistake. “It was never too much when you suggested we try to flood Japan, or lay siege to Tokyo. So why now, when I’m causing the least amount of chaos, that you grew wary of our dealings with humans?” Goro leaned down to force eye contact with Trimy, but the wolf merely moved its head, almost pouting. “Usually you’re swimming around in my head during times like these, giving me advice as I fight the enemy. And you never failed to assist me in any way. But you were very quiet today, why is that?”

Goro was suspicious of Trimy, he had been for some time. But Izanami’s words had made him all the more curious of his wolf friend’s habits and schemes. An outside source, a goddess, not a magical girl or a human mentioned and talked at length about causality, the mysterious force that Goro had been performing acts of chaos under for the past fourteen years.

Martira always talks about how he distrusts Trimy, Goro thought. And now I’m starting to see what he means. Something doesn’t add up about what Izanami said, and it all stinks of Trimy.

“Trimy,” Goro persisted, turning every which way to look the wolf in the eye, until the wolf laid down and covered its eyes with its paws. “Trimy, stop avoiding me and-”

“I don’t like her!” Trimy blurted. Goro stepped back to listen. “I didn’t want to hurt your feelings, which is why I said what I said in such a roundabout way. I’m sorry but it's just how I feel.” Trimy whimpered as it continued to hide its face from Goro, ready for the lecture of a lifetime. But oddly enough, no such inclination arose from Goro. Just a brief pause of relief.

That’s it? He thought. All the silence, all the secrecy? He was just jealous? Goro laughed heartily and almost doubled over from the absurdity of his suspicions.

“What the hell was I worried about?” Goro mumbled.

“Huh?” Trimy sat up. “You aren’t mad at me?”

“A little bit,” Goro confessed, finally calm. Goro returned to his human form and waved a hand over Trimy, casting a spell that made it utterly invisible to anyone other than monsters. “I’m going to celebrate my successful date tonight with the others, wanna come with?”

“Hmm… Not exactly something I’d like to celebrate,” Trimy admitted.

“We’ll sneak you some sushi under the table,” Goro offered, forming a message for the members of the Osoroshi Kaidame and hitting send. And within seconds, all four of them had replied affirmatively to join in Goro’s night on the town.

“Well… It’d be a shame if any sushi dropped to the floor and I wasn’t there to catch it.” Trimy reluctantly agreed. Goro smiled and took the lead out into the streets with Trmy at his side The two headed south of the city, past the night crowds to the downtown area, where all the good restaurants were.

“So what about her don’t you like?” Goro said Trimy, referring to Kanna. He asked out of curiosity if nothing else. But thought it was important to know as to why.

“That she’s human,” Trimy stated.

“A purist through and through huh?”

“All humans are scum,” Trimy said. “And the sooner we purge the planet of them the better.”

Goro nodded along, agreeing in part, but not so much when it came to Kanna. He looked forward to seeing her again, that alone made him happy. But there was a sadness within Goro as he glanced down at Trimy. The wolf seemed personable now, and his suspicious behavior may have been out of jealousy, but Goro knew deep down that there was something that Trimy wasn’t telling him.

Despite how you may feel, Trimy, we are friends. Goro thought. And not just with me, but with Denki, Katsuo, Shingo, and Rin too. To Goro, words couldn’t describe how truly grateful he was to the cosmic wolf. It had been there for him in even the most crushing of defeats. And whether he and his team had succeeded or failed, Trimy was there for them, to congratulate and cheer them up every time. We’re here for you too. Goro added. I just hope you come to understand that someday.

-------

This is worse than I thought, Trimy mulled the situation over in its head. Goro is smitten with Kanna, and it seems like they’re hitting off. Trimy was sitting under the table of an outdoor sushi joint where Goro and the others took turns handing Trimy sushi dishes that they swiped from the convaderbelt. Trimy was grateful to have the treat, but he couldn’t help but groan as the others encouraged and supported Goro in his relationship with Kanna.

It’s clear that getting Goro to break up with Kanna is going to be impossible. I’ll keep my opinion the same and condemn the relationship from the Goro’s side of things, but I’ll need to put most of my hopes on Kanna ending it. Goro was the next one to give him some sushi, but it took a little longer this time for the plate to be handed down. The plate did come eventually, but this one was a tall pile of raw fish. The meat glistened before Trimy’s eyes and it instantly started to dig in, growling in happiness. But half way through its meal, Trimy spotted Goro looking under the table at him, smiling. Trimy smiled, his teeth full of fish, before Goro sat back up. Trimy frowned as soon as Goro was out of sight, and no amount of fish on his plate was going to make him feel better.

I’m sorry, Goro, Trimy thought. If it were any other human than one of the Hanabi Buso, I would have supported you with all my heart. But your love for Kanna is off setting causality, and sooner or later, the true evils of the universe will notice you and Kanna’s union, and vow to crush it.

Trimy continued to eat the fish, the tenderness and flavoring of the dishes for the rest of the night tasted like ash in its mouth, and Trimy wished above all else that happiness would visit Kanna and Goro in the future. To find joy with whoever completed them, just as long as it wasn’t with each other.