Chapter 25 : Weakness in Red

Elisa and Zwei were the last remaining customers at Café Boulevard Rosé. They had been talking for the better part of four hours about everything from their favorite movies to common battle strategies. But the two of them knew better. It was all just a bunch of formalities, masking what was actually an intricate mind game. They cleverly tried to weave the conversation to get their adversary to reveal something about them that would help in the coming tournament. Subjects like gunpla progress, team composition, and opponents to be wary of continued to duck in and out of the limelight. All with a smile that would lead strangers to assume that all they were seeing were two friends having a long overdue catch up.

"How was your final battle, Elisa? Quite a shame that it wasn't broadcast."

"In some ways, that might not have been so bad. I did lose, after all."

"Well, that's something we would have found out anyway. What of your opponent?"

"She was good enough to defeat me, that's for sure."

Zwei smiled at Elisa. She swung open her laptop, slick and silver. Navigating to the image gallery she bookmarked earlier, pulling up photos of the Sapphire Exia and the Flight Booster. She slid her laptop to Elisa.

"This the one?"

Elisa recognized the blue Exia and its double GN blades. She couldn't help but form a slight grimace.

"Yeah. It's a lot better than it looks."

Zwei slid her laptop back in front of her.

"It already looks pretty incredible to me."

Elisa brushed her hair aside.

"Pretty incredible? That's some pretty high praise from the legend Zwei herself."

"The legend? I hold no such title. I'm merely commenting that it is a well built model."

"Does it intimidate you, Zwei?"

The rain pitter pattered by the café's window. The warm, yellow lighting illuminated the two at the table. It was a little serene, if not eerie. Like an interrogation scene in a detective movie; though who's the interrogator and interrogated wasn't very clear.

"No, I'm not intimidated. I just thought I'd welcome this gunpla to the club of "models that have defeated Elisa in battle""

The taunt didn't work. Elisa reached out and took a sip of her drink. She knew that black tea would keep her up at night, but it wasn't like she was lacking things to do at home, so she didn't mind the caffeine in her system. Zwei watched her closely for a reaction, anything. But she had to concede that the attempt at provoking her just didn't work.

"Well, it's not a very big club. Perhaps I'll ask the pilot out for a cuppa tea, come the near future"

For some reason, deep down in Elisa's gut, she had the feeling that she didn't have to worry about that in the near future.

Please set your GP base.
In the dorm's battle room, Grind and Kosetsu prepared to battle each other. Kosetsu didn't even bother to bring her bags back up to her room. Something about the way Grind was carrying himself tonight told her that could wait. There was a thick tension in the room, and however dense Kosetsu was, she could feel it weighing down on her.
Please set your gunpla.
Kosetsu reached into her black gunpla holder and placed her Sapphire Exia Repair on the plate, still missing an arm. A black cloth hung loosely over where its left arm once was. From across the battle machine, Kosetsu saw Grind place down his gunpla, but it wasn't what she expected. It appeared to be an earlier rendition of the Void Striker, missing the inner frame that he built on the last day of the tournament. It had an older version of the IWSP. Just from a glance, Kosetsu could tell that this Void Striker was way weaker than the one that fought against Raul. Given that, it'd stand no chance against Kosetsu's Sapphire Exia, one armed or not.
Field 05: City
Blue Plavksy Particles quickly materialized a basic cityscape for the two gunpla to fight. It was something Kosetsu had seen a million times before, and this time, she wasn't fazed. She was curious about Grind's situation. What's going on? Why was he up this late at night? And why was he using a different gunpla than usual? Did something happen?
Battle Start!
The Sapphire Exia involuntarily launched itself out of the gray hangar, with Kosetsu still lost in thought. Something told her that she shouldn't straight up ask Grind about it – he seemed way too intent on battling. But at the same time, something was clearly on his mind, and this battle was a step to remedying that. It might be-
A red beam shot out from across the battlefield in the direction of the Sapphire Exia. Kosetsu barely caught onto it, but before she found the need to activate her wrist mounted beam shields, the red beam shot past her. Grind missed. The Void Striker readied itself for another shot, and Kosetsu responded accordingly. She dashed around the cityscape, quickly ducking out of sight before a second beam came rushing out from Grind's rifle.

Kosetsu thought carefully to herself. What kind of battle was this? Was it a friendly skirmish? Didn't seem like it. But then why was Grind taking this so seriously?
From behind the Exia, Kosetsu heard approaching thrusters. They sounded violent and uncoordinated. She could already predict Grind's next few moves, and to prepare for them accordingly, she drew the broken blade of her GN Sword. Just as she thought he would, Grind sliced through the building Kosetsu was taking cover under with his Void Striker's beam saber. The building Kosetsu was ducking behind was cut in half, crumbling into pieces of cement. The Sapphire Exia ducked out of the way, and prepared to counterattack immediately. The broken GN blade clashed against the Void Striker's single beam saber, and as the blade clashed, Kosetsu felt a dark fury within Grind. She pressed the attack. The Sapphire Exia leaped forward, kicking the Void Striker hard in the chest, knocking Grind back with tremendous force. The Void Striker crashed through four buildings before coming to a forceful stop at a fifth. Without Grind's custom inner frame, the older version of the Void Striker had its chest armor shattered.

The Void Striker struggled to get up, and once it did, it reached back for its IWSP blades. He drew both of his blades, and prepared to dash at Kosetsu once again. Kosetsu frowned. Why would Grind choose to engage in close quarters combat when he knows of the Sapphire Exia's abilities? Typically, he would assess the situation from afar and choose a more tactical approach, like coming in from long distance with his beam rifle. This wasn't typical of the teammate she knew.
Swinging furiously, the Void Striker started wailing its anti-ship swords against Kosetsu's Exia. She dodged every strike with ease, gently stepping back to avoid each strike. Grind made little effort to vary his attack pattern, making every single strike predicable.

Did something happen while Kosetsu was at Cindy's? What happened to the second Void Striker? And why was Grind fighting like this? Even with a crippled, one-armed gunpla, there was no question about it, Kosetsu could win this match with her eyes closed.
The Sapphire Exia's constant backstepping drove it into a corner. The back of the Exia's GN drive made contact with the towering walls of a massive skyscraper. The Exia couldn't retreat any further.

Completely calm, Kosetsu thought about what she should do. Should she take the fight seriously, defeat Grind in a matter of seconds, and then go to bed? That was what she felt like she should do, but that would leave the situation inconclusive. If she needed answers, the best thing to do was to scale her fighter skills down to Grind, and try and get as much information from him as possible. This fight was never about who was the stronger fighter or who had the better gunpla, she knew that it was her and she didn't feel the need to prove it.

It might be a better idea to handicap herself in some way to level the playing field. That way, maybe, she'd be able to understand Grind's feelings from combat alone.

The Void Striker lifted its right IWSP blade over its head, and prepared to strike down.
Suddenly, a pang of guilt struck Kosetsu, as Cindy's words from earlier echoed in her head.
Grind swung his IWSP blade down.
When you're so high up in the world, you can forget what it feels like to be on the ground.

The gray IWSP anti-ship sword snapped in half as it made contact with the Exia's GN field. Its out-of-the-box plastic too weak to handle the enhanced barrier output of the Sapphire Exia. The Sapphire Exia stood motionless as the Void Striker completed the follow through of his sword slice, with only half of the sword remaining. Not too far from the two of them, the tip of the blade landed on the ground, lying flat.

On the other side of the battlefield, Grind gripped his controllers in uncharacteristic frustration. He felt as though his fingers were going to break under the tension.
"I can't even cut it when it's not MOVING"

Kosetsu flinched at the sound of Grind's voice. Something about it seemed aggressive; almost malicious. She had to do something about this, but didn't have a clue where to start. If only she had some way to understand Grind's feelings. If only she had some way to look into his heart.

And then she remembered how she used her esper powers and entered Elisa's memories during the school tournament.

"You sure you don't want to just stay another night? I'd be more than happy to have you over."
"Thanks for the offer, Tobias, but I've overstayed my welcome"
Taijin packed his bag, with an extended essay's worth of notes on the winning gunpla from the previous national championship. His gauntlets were tucked away in his bag, safe and secure. The clock ticked 2:15AM. Tobias looked at the time and couldn't help but yawn.
"You shouldn't walk home this late, at the very least. Call a ride or something."
"I'm already on it."
Taijin flashed a charismatic smile at Tobias. Tobias tried his best to return one, but even he wasn't used to staying up past midnight frequently. He was an early riser.
"We've already exchanged numbers, yeah?", Tobias confirmed
Taijin opened his contacts, and just to prove his point, showed his phone to Tobias. Tobias nodded.
"Give me a call when you're back. Let's keep in touch and train together."

Taijin bowed gratefully and walked out of his front door. He watched as Taijin gently closed it from the other side. As if on cue, Tobias whipped out his phone, and like magic, he got a text from Taijin. It simply read

Thank you! :) Here's my num. Text me whenever!

Tobias smiled, and went back, to his recent texts. There was one more waiting for him.

Hey Tobias,

Thanks for signing onto this project and agreeing to help me out with this. I appreciate it loads. I know that you aren't really familiar with them, but they're nice people. I promise! I think you'll get along with them, especially this one guy in particular. I'm not sure if you've heard, but he recently was a huge reason for his team winning his interschool tournament. I think you two are on the same wavelength, but that's just a feeling. He's a rusty fighter, but I'm hoping that you'll change that.

Please keep me in the loop of how things are on your end.

Thanks knight.

Tobias sighed. These kinds of long messages sit better in emails and not text messages. He responded simply and concisely.

Cindy, dym texting normally?
its late. ill sleep and text you tmr.
gn

Kosetsu tensed her mind. Remember, how did I do it before? How did I learn about Setsuna and the other Exia?
The Void Striker continued to swipe at the Sapphire Exia in vain. Kosetsu was only half-paying attention to the battle, but even so, she was able to dodge every attack with ease. Instead of continuing to use the broken IWSP sword, Grind threw that away in exchange for his beam sabers.
Kosetsu suddenly remembered Ming Nuan. The Blind Esper that had complete omnipotence in gunpla battle. She used the properties of the Plavsky Particles to her advantage and was able to use them to see. Kosetsu had an esper power too, and she knew it. She used it once before, so why couldn't do the same now when she actually needed it?
Think of Ming Nuan's advice and training…
Suddenly varying his attack pattern, Grind tucked away his IWSP sword and reached for his beam rifle. Not bothering to aim with both hands, he pointed it in the general direction of Kosetsu and fired. The shot caught Kosetsu by surprise, but yet again, the beam missed. It barely scratched the black cloth that was covering the Exia's missing arm.

As if by reflex, Kosetsu lunged forward and skirted around the Void Striker, leaning towards the arm that was holding the rifle. Before she even had time to reconsider, her GN blade sliced upwards, and Grind's beam rifle exploded.

I managed to do it before with Elisa. Ming Nuan was able to do it with consistency. I just need to draw out this battle for as long as possible, and given enough time, I'm sure I'll be able to do it.

Parrying another beam saber strike with ease, Kosetsu leaned back and assessed the situation. For now, her objective was simple. She needed to use her esper power and understand what Grind is going through. Only then will she know how to help for sure. She doesn't have to win right away. Rather, she shouldn't.
The red beam that came out of Grind's beam saber dwindled and shrunk. It ran out of particle charge. That made sense, since Grind had the setting on its highest output the whole time with no modifications to the beam saber itself. The Void Striker threw away the white beam handle and reached into its side skirts, pulling out two gray anti-armor daggers. The Void Striker threw one of them like a throwing knife right at the Exia, with Kosetsu barely managing to dodge the strike. Kosetsu barely caught onto a subtle white trail that followed the dagger.

A wire?!

The Void Striker swung its arm downwards and closed its fist, and the dagger responded accordingly. The wire wrapped around the Sapphire Exia's shoulder, with the dagger dangling behind the Exia's armguards. The Void Striker then tugged backwards violently, pulling the Exia towards it with the wire.
Although the rest of his gunpla was absolutely nothing to be worried about, this trick had Kosetsu concerned. She quickly surmised that the wire was something similar to fishing wire, and it wouldn't be as easy to break as Grind's other weapons. Kosetsu folded her GN blade, with the motion of the moving blade freeing up a little space. The Sapphire Exia stumbled, but just for a second.

I can't think straight! I can't use my powers!

Kosetsu's battle instincts took over. She wrapped the wire around the Sapphire Exia's wrist, and then gripped it tightly. With one smooth tug, the Void Stiker's hand was violently torn right off of its arm. A terrible plastic crack formed above the wrist, and with nothing to manipulate it, Kosetsu freed the wire from her gunpla easily.
What's happening? I feel a little…light in the head.
The Void Striker charged at the Sapphire Exia. Kosetsu felt beads of sweat form on her forehead. She felt herself heating up, and she felt her head begin to spin. Suddenly, she the Void Striker's movements slowed. No, that wasn't accurate to say. It was like time itself was slowing down. Kosetsu's eyed widened in surprise when she noticed something weird with her Exia.
Huh? Is it just my imagination, or is my Exia black and red?

"Welcome back, Setsuna."

The white-haired boy entered a snazzy hotel room somewhere in the city. Despite the rain, his PPSE coat was completely dry. A man in a lab coat sat on an armchair in the hotel room, seemingly free of worry. On his lap was an open book. As soon as Setsuna started getting comfortable in the room, he closed it dramatically. The book was in German. Setsuna couldn't make out the title.

"Any progress?"

"I have names.", Setsuna responded tightly.

The man reached over to the bedside table, and pulled over a few squares of lined paper and the hotel's complimentary pen. He gave Setsuna an expectant look, followed by a slight nod. Setsuna returned the gesture.

"Taijin Sakamoto, Kosetsu Yukimura, Elisa Ayumi", Setsuna listed each name one by one monotonously, with a pause between each one.

The scientist scribbled the names down. He tapped his pen on the paper, curiously eyeing each name.

"I don't recognize the first two names, but Elisa Ayumi does ring a bell. Do we know her from somewhere?"

Setsuna ignored his question and walked towards the bed, removing his jacket and folding it carefully.

"Maybe she was a student at the gunpla academy…perhaps we can pull out some records and get some information", the man continued. Setsune nodded, and unclipped his gunpla holder from his belt. The scientist smiled at him.

"Brush up your Exia. This battle might be hard"

"I'll win"

"I know."

I'm seeing things, aren't I? It's just really late at night, and I don't understand what I'm looking at.

The Void Striker lunged with its last anti armor dagger in its remaining arm, deciding to engage Kosetsu in extreme close quarters combat. Kosetsu didn't know this at first, but this was Grind's specialty. Holding the daggers backwards like kunai knives, Grind continued to jab and slash at the Sapphire Exia, desperate for an opening that Kosetsu would not give.

Something's definitely up. Why did my Exia change colors?

While Kosetsu was lost in thought, Grind saw a brief window of opportunity. He leaned into slice into the left side of the Sapphire Exia's waist. Kosetsu hesitated to respond; the Sapphire Exia's entire left arm was supposed to be missing and replaced with black cloth, so she might have to just take the hit, she thought. Instinctively, she still tried to reach out her left arm to parry Grind's attack. She knew that it didn't exist – and that what the arm she was seeing on her Exia wasn't real. It was just a figment of her imagination made by her sleepy, broken mind. Or so she thought.

Somehow, the Exia's new red and black left hand reached out and grabbed the Void Striker's wrist. It made contact. In sheer surprise, Kosetsu commaned her Exia to lunge back, though at that point, she wasn't sure if she could even call it her own Exia.

How did I parry an attack with an arm that shouldn't even exist?!

Kosetsu looked down at her gunpla. It was red and black, and completely foreign to her. It was an Exia, there was no doubt about it, but she had never seen this machine before. She noticed a set of fangs on the Exia's back, but also two prominence blades on its waist. This was a gunpla built of the highest calibre – one of the most finely built pieces she had ever seen, but it wasn't hers.

Grind lunged forward with his anti armor dagger in a fit of sheer rage. Kosetsu needed to buy time to figure out what on earth was going on, so prolonging her match was still her objective. She dodged, parried, and ducked through Grind's attacks, but deep down she felt as though the gunpla she currently piloted was more than strong enough to just take those attacks head on. No, if it had to, it could probably easily tank hits from the Sapphire Exia, even at it's best.

The Void Striker lunged forward again, dagger in hand. Grind telegraphed that he was going to make a swing – a heavy and brutal one ; one uncharacteristic of his usually tactical nature. Kosetsu panicked. Does she counter? She could end the game right now if she chose to…no. That wouldn't fix the issue. She could dodge, but then what? What's the point of buying time? She doesn't need time, she needs answers…

The red Exia caught the Void striker's arm mid swing. In one stern motion, Kosetsu used her other arm, one she shouldn't have been able to use, to shove the Void striker away. The broken, black Strike gundam easily collapsed under the weight of Kosetsu's push, falling on the ground with a crash.

Kosetsu focused her attention on the gunpla she was piloting. The gunpla she was controlling but could not call her own. She breathed in, and out, and she felt a slight burning in her eyes. Now's not the time to hold back.

Now's the time to answer Grind's feelings.

"I'm back…"

Taijin murmured to himself as he opened the front door of the building of C2. He didn't actually speak to be heard – it was more of a habit for him at this point. He swung the front door closed with care. He didn't want to be waking anybody up right now. There was something a little strange about the late night air that night, though. There was a strange palpable tension that haunted the air.

"It must be my imagination" Taijin presumed as he began taking off his shoes. He was the type of person to undo the laces of each shoe carefully before taking them off; he took good care of his shoes and never felt an urgent need to buy new shoes. He undid the laces of the first, weaving the shoelace back into its natural state. He begun to undo the second, but he head a door close further down the hallway.

"What the"

It was 3:20AM. Nobody should be awake right now, realistically. Taijin, with one shoe on and one show off, crouched and begun to approach the corridor. He whipped out his phone and prepared to dial the police. He heard footsteps. They were slightly loud, almost angry. Taijin relaxed a little. He was either dealing with someone who lived there, or the world's worst burglar. Either way, he eased his hands and watched as a dark silhouette emerged. It was a little small, slender, with cream hair…

"Ah! Kosetsu! Why are you up this late?"

Taijin spoke up in a loud whisper. He didn't want to wake up anybody in the house, after all. Kosetsu gave him a blank stare. Taijin smiled back, it was a relatively normal expression for her, after all.

But Taijin looked a little closer and saw a hint of sadness. Almost as though she were holding back tears.

"Hey, what's wrong"

Kosetsu shook her head lightly, her expression absolutely unchanging. She looked Taijin dead in the eye, reflecting a hint of sadness. She spoke in her monotone voice:

"I did something really bad."

Taijin looked at her in confusion and despair. He turned back to put away his shoes before he came into the dorm and talk things through, and he noticed something that sent shivers down his spine.

Grind's favourite pair of outdoor shoes were missing.

A.N

It's been a year, but hello hello.

I recently had a long plane ride, and I'm not sure what came over me, but I thought it was time I started wrapping this up. So I punched out a few chapters.

Having to read the series back made me realise that, damn, I was not a great writer six years ago. But that's okay. If you've stuck by the story throughout the whole time, I hope you can see the progression.

Have a nice day!