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Splintered Secrets

an Ultraman Moebius fanfic by Hoshikage

Chapter 7.


Ryuu opened his eyes and looked up at the ceiling in his room.

It almost didn't seem worth the effort to try and get up, but eventually he felt enough stirrings of responsibility that he turned over enough to look at the clock. Stiffened limbs protested, healing bruises throbbing as he rolled onto his side and grimaced at the accusing digital numbers. He'd overslept again.

He wasn't really surprised that no one had called or knocked on his door to try and rouse him, though.

Slowly, he maneuvered himself upright and toward the shower. His body ached, but his mind felt strangely numb and empty, just as it had for the past two days. A hot shower eased the aching, but it did nothing to clear the fog in his mind. Moving on autopilot, he dressed and left his room, shrugging on his jacket mechanically as he wandered toward the operations room.

He was surprised to find it empty.

The screens hummed quietly in screensaver mode. He tapped a key on the computer at his own station, but as it came back up it displayed only the normal programs running, no indication that there had been a monster attack or anything to draw the team away from their stations. Ryuu automatically reached for his communicator to find out where everyone was, then stopped and let his hand fall, dropping heavily into his chair.

If it wasn't an emergency that had drawn them away, it was probably lunch or something social like that, and he just couldn't bring himself to care, much less take part. Instead he looked across the table at the empty seat where Mirai had been sitting three days ago.

Mirai had never kept anything personal at his station, not like the rest of them. Now Ryuu knew why. Had he really had anything that held meaning for him, here? Ryuu had peeked into his room before, and had seen plenty of things, but nothing that really showed anything of who Mirai was. A poster of flags of the different nations, a globe... those things made so much more sense now, along with the poster of human anatomy on the wall that he'd wondered so much about before. Ryuu snorted. An Ultra cheat sheet, of sorts.

But now, without his presence, there was nothing left of him in the operations room to show that he had ever been there, ever even existed. Konomi had her origami on the wall, Teppei had his shelf of toys, the Captain had his coffee... even Marina had her stash of motorcycle magazines, and George did a bad job at using his sports magazines to hide a stash of chocolate.

Ryuu looked at the card of Ultra precepts he'd painstakingly calligraphed himself, sitting next to his own monitor. Some of them, he had to admit, were pretty damn stupid. The original Ultraman who'd said them must have had a pretty weird idea of human culture if his idea of great wisdom to pass down to humanity was "Don't go to school on an empty stomach."

Maybe being stupid and clueless was a required part of being an Ultraman, or something.

Ryuu picked up the card. Captain Serizawa had taught him these precepts in the first place, but Serizawa was gone. Even Ultraman Hikari had left, taking whatever was left of Serizawa with him.

And now Mirai was gone, too.

Ryuu's hands tightened on the card, and in one decisive motion he ripped it in half, and then again, before he crumpled the remaining pieces into a ball and lobbed it angrily into the garbage.

To hell with Ultraman, anyway. We don't need him. Any of them.

His conscience twinged, reminding him of Moebius snatching Marina from a monster's slimy mouth, snatching him from teeth and prehensile tongue. Ryuu stuffed the thoughts down. Mirai had up and left all on his own, so they didn't have a choice but to make do, anyway. So much for protecting humanity - apparently all of a sudden he was more worried about homicidal aliens anyway.

Ryuu glowered at the garbage can. Some hero. Some best friend, for that matter.

We don't need him, Ryuu told himself again, trying to believe it.

I don't need him.

*
Moebius had been on Earth long enough that arriving back in the World of Light was disorienting. It was like a flood of light and color to someone who had been blind, a rush of sound replacing deafness. The Earth was quiet and dim in the flows of energy that flowed intense and wild in the World of Light, and human senses could never begin to perceive them in the first place.

He realized as he tried to readjust that he didn't feel at home, that he longed for the Earth even more now than he had on the journey though the dark emptiness of space, and in his sorrow his lack of homecoming felt like yet another failure.

But he didn't have time to dwell on it for long. A presence formed in front of him, and Moebius bowed his head in shame. He didn't have to look to know who it was; vision was near-meaningless in the World of Light when each Ultra's energy presence was more distinctive than their appearance.

Ultra Mother...

But her first words were not what he expected. You are hurt, she said, and he raised his head again in surprise.

I'm not wounded, I'm fine... he started, when she shushed him with a shake of her head and an invisible caress of energy.

That is not what I meant, she chided, the words overlaid with layers of implication, amusement and sympathy.

Moebius cringed, all too aware of the dark roiling eddies of his own despair, the stain eating into him where he once had been bright. Mother...

She didn't touch him with her form, but her power reached out to him, a balm of calm and love, and he felt something inside him give way. Helplessly he let everything out, a torrent of emotion that never quite translated into words, all his pain and grief flooding out of him. Light surrounded him, holding him, and he gave himself up to it, let it ease the darkness eating away at him.

But he'd still failed.

I believe a friend of yours had some wise words to say. A new presence. That anyone can make a mistake... that the important thing is not to repeat it.

Moebius looked, and started. Hikari? he asked in surprise.

The blue Ultraman looked at him, head cocked in an attitude of amusement. And to think you told me that it was me Ryuu wanted to fight alongside. I'd say you've been proven wrong on that, too.

How... Moebius gasped. You! It was you who saved him this time...

Hikari shrugged. A part of me... is still of Earth, still connected to him. I cannot be there in whole, but in small ways...

Thank you, Moebius breathed. But I... He didn't have to continue, everyone could feel how not even their words and reassurances could warm that frozen core of him. Hikari sighed, radiating something that wasn't quite annoyance or exasperation. Ultra Mother only laughed, softly.

You wish me to send someone else, correct? a third voice entered the conversation, soft and powerful as faraway thunder. Moebius turned to face Ultra Father, and nodded. He couldn't speak, because a wash of grief went through him at the thought of having to leave Earth behind forever, even though he knew it was for the best, and he could never stay there permanently anyway, no matter how he might wish for it...

Ultra Father regarded him measuringly, then finally spoke. I think not. You have not finished the task I set you.

Moebius jerked upright, his head lifting. What?

You have not yet found your important thing. Have you?

Baffled, Moebius repeated, Something... important? He did remember Ultra Father sending him off with those words, but as he thought, the only thing that came to mind was an image of Ryuu, and a tangled wash of emotions he couldn't fathom even in himself. Ultra Father chuckled.

I see you have not. You can hardly leave Earth with your task unfinished. I will simply have to send you back until you have learned what you need to learn.

Moebius thought that he'd never been so happy in his life to hear that he was ignorant and immature. Yes, Father!

The darkness inside him loosened its hold and evaporated, pain fading away into light.

*
"We should all go do something nice for dinner," Konomi declared out of the blue.

Ryuu lifted his head to look at her. "What for?" he asked dully.

Konomi wilted a little under his gaze, but then she lifted her chin. "Well, just look at all of us," she said, gesturing at the entire operations room, where everyone sat listlessly at their stations. Even the Captain looked disheartened, Ryuu noticed, though he was clearly paying attention to Konomi's words.

"We're all... sad that Mirai is gone," Konomi went on. "But we can't stay like this forever. That's a pretty rotten way to remember what he meant to us."

Ryuu felt dull anger rise again, but it died immediately. What was the point? "Yeah, but did we mean anything to him?" was all he managed, and even then it came out in less of a growl and more of a mumble.

Marina heard it, though, and shot him a look. "Don't be stupid," she said sharply, then sighed. "Of course we did. He would never have stayed with us at all, otherwise."

Teppei toyed with one of his monster models. "And I hate to say it, but we really can't be depressed forever. I don't think the monsters are all gone yet, even if it's been quiet for the last week."

George snorted. "Yeah, that would take a kind of luck we haven't got."

The Captain stood up. "Well then," he said lightly. "I suppose we really will have to go do something fun for a change." He smiled. "I'll even treat this once."

Ryuu felt a smile stretching his face despite himself. "I guess you'd have to, because I bet Teppei spent his last paycheck on monster toys again."

"I did not!" Teppei protested, quickly putting the toy away. He got up and huffed, "Besides, the newest release was just Redking, and I've already got the limited edition anyway."

George snickered as he got up and moved toward the door. "I think you're only digging yourself deeper here, amigo."

Konomi grabbed Marina's hand and the two women followed George out the door. "And we can't forget dessert!" Konomi enthused. "There's this lovely bakery nearby, they make the best cakes..."

Marina laughed. "I don't think it's fair to make the Captain pay for dinner and dessert, Konomi-chan!"

Ryuu hesitated, then pushed himself up out of the chair and followed the group. As the girls headed out the door ahead of him, he reached out and flicked the lights off. The room darkened, but then suddenly brightened again around him, light radiating from behind him and illuminating the wall, spilling out into the hallway through the open door. Ryuu stiffened, and slowly turned around.

Light swirled down through the ceiling, like a fountain in reverse, glittering sparks swirling into a twisting infinity loop before they coalesced into a human form. The others crowded into the doorway around Ryuu, pushing past him, running back into the room as the light solidified and faded into a faint halo, before even that was gone and Mirai was standing there in front of them. He opened his eyes and smiled.

"I'm home," he said softly.

"Mirai..." Ryuu grated. Suddenly all his anger came back in a rush, and he surged forward, grabbing the collar of Mirai's shirt as he drew back his other hand in a fist to deliver that long-overdue punch. But even as the others yelped and grabbed for him, he stopped, hand still upraised.

Mirai didn't even flinch, didn't try to dodge. He had simply closed his eyes and was waiting for the blow.

Slowly, Ryuu let him go.

Mirai opened his eyes again, looking confused. "Ryuu-san...?"

Ryuu swallowed. He couldn't understand what he was feeling, it was all a tangled muddle of anger and relief and other things he couldn't place. "What took you so long?" he growled.

Mirai smiled weakly. "It takes time," he said apologetically, "to travel between here and the World of Light. I came back as fast as I could, but..."

"I thought you weren't coming back," Ryuu snapped.

Mirai met his gaze fearlessly. "You can hit me if you want to, Ryuu-san," he said. "If it'll make you feel better."

"Argh!" Ryuu exclaimed. "Forget it, I don't want to anymore!" He slashed a hand through the air. "I'll collect the next time you do something stupid."

"I won't do something that stupid again, Ryuu-san," Mirai said seriously. "I won't leave like that again."

"You mean you're staying with us?" Konomi asked.

"Even though we found out who you are and everything?" Teppei asked. "I mean, aren't there some kind of rules against that or something?"

Mirai smiled again. "They knew," he said quietly. "When they saw Ryuu-san, they knew, but they saved me anyway, and then said I had to come back to Earth. My duty here isn't finished."

Ryuu started. He'd almost been convinced that whole thing had been a dream, or a vision... he hadn't really thought he'd actually seen other Ultra in person.

"I'm guessing you still don't want all and sundry to know about it, though," George said. "So maybe next time you should try the front door like a normal person instead of materializing out of nowhere."

Mirai ducked his head. "Well..."

Marina chuckled. "You always were really bad at this 'normal person' thing!" she teased. "And now it all makes sense!"

Mirai looked up at them shyly. "You will... let me stay, right?" he asked.

Ryuu sighed gustily. "Idiot. What sense does it make to kick you out, anyway? We've still got monsters to fight, and it makes tons more sense to work together. You should have said something ages ago, if your Ultra-Mama and Ultra-Papa weren't going to ground you for it."

Mirai turned bright red. "Ryuu-san!" he spluttered. "You shouldn't call them that!"

"You do have parents, then?" Konomi giggled. "That's so wonderful! Just like a human family!"

"No - I mean, yes, but--" Mirai floundered.

Ryuu leaned back against the table as the others pestered Mirai for more details of his life as Ultraman. Serves him right, he thought, feeling no desire whatsoever to rescue Mirai from the flood of attention. He expected to still feel angry, but somehow everything had just clicked back into place now that Mirai was back, and he felt a strange and pleasant satisfaction, a feeling that this was how his life was supposed to be.

A hand landed on his shoulder, and Ryuu looked up at the Captain. Sakomizu was smiling broadly. "Well," he said. "I guess we do have reason for a celebration, after all."

Ryuu turned back to watch Mirai again, and smiled. "Yeah."

*
They were careful not to discuss the true situation while the restaurant staff was in earshot, but since they'd managed to get the private party room reserved for dinner, they still had plenty of opportunities to press Mirai for information. As though he was trying to make up for hiding everything from them before, he freely explained everything now, from how Urzan had wanted his Light (Ryuu still wasn't sure what exactly that Light was or anything, but it probably didn't matter for now) to rejuvenate his planet's star, to the reason for returning to the World of Light. When he admitted that he'd asked for a different Ultra to replace him, Ryuu whacked him over the head.

"You really are an idiot," he said again. Then he went on, "So did they have anything useful to say about the aliens?"

Mirai nodded. "They said they'd try to find another way. Or at least another planet for them to live on, so no one will have to die."

Teppei looked thoughtfully at Mirai. "You really did want to save them, even after everything that happened."

Mirai smiled. "It's what we do," he said. "I can't blame Urzan. He just wanted to save them too, the only way he knew how..."

It's what we do...

Ryuu watched Mirai as he ate ravenously in between explanations. Why? he wondered. Why do you do it? For a planet you don't even belong to...

The conversation turned to other topics, and Ryuu let the question lie as he saw Mirai rub his eyes wearily. He could ask later. For all that he was trying to keep up with the conversation, Mirai looked exhausted and drained, and Ryuu let him be.

He glanced down a little later as he felt something thump against his shoulder. Mirai had nodded off and ended up leaning against him, using Ryuu's shoulder as an accidental pillow. Ryuu shifted a little uncomfortably, but Mirai only murmured in his sleep.

Konomi noticed Mirai had fallen asleep, too. "Poor Mirai-kun, he must be exhausted," she said quietly. "It must have been a long trip through space."

"Well, obviously, he's been gone for days," George said.

"And this after everything else that happened," Marina said with sympathy.

It felt like so long ago, Ryuu had almost forgotten how much Mirai had been through. They'd all had a chance to recharge themselves, but they hadn't had the worst of it, and Mirai hadn't taken any time to recover...

"Well, time to go home I think," the Captain said. "It is getting late, and we could probably all stand to go to bed. I've been missing our morning meetings!"

Everyone else groaned as he expected them to. "Roger," they all chorused reluctantly.

*
Somehow Ryuu had ended up supporting a very sleepy Mirai most of the way back to his room. "Thank you, Ryuu-san," Mirai mumbled as they approached his door.

Ryuu shrugged. "Don't worry about it." He paused as Mirai got the door open and moved inside, his arm slipping off Ryuu's shoulders. Ryuu spoke before Mirai could close the door. "Mirai..."

Mirai turned back, blinking sleepily. "Yes?"

Ryuu hesitated, then asked, "Are you... okay?"

Mirai yawned. "I'm all right, really... Just tired, I rushed back here so fast..."

Ryuu shook his head. "Not like that, I mean..." He stopped, frustrated. He didn't even know what he wanted to say.

Mirai smiled radiantly at him. "I'm fine, Ryuu-san. Better than fine. I'm glad to be back home. I missed it... I missed you."

He yawned hugely, and Ryuu quickly said, "You better not oversleep in the morning. The Captain'll have your hide."

"He's too nice for that," Mirai yawned, and moved to close the door. "Good night, Ryuu-san."

The door closed, and Ryuu stood outside it for a moment.

"I missed you, too," he whispered.

Then he turned away and walked down the hall toward his own room. This time, he knew he wouldn't have trouble finding a reason to drag himself out of bed in the morning.


--The End--

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