Parallel Vol. 5

Chapter 58: Unexpected Visitor (Season Finale)

"Ngh." Suzuki softly groaned as he sat up in the Full Body Virtual Drive. The young man ran his fingers through his hair, his mind a jumbled mess as he gazed at the empty darkness. He took a moment to regain his wits. Although only a few hours had passed since he entered L.N.E, this last trip felt more like years.

Fortunately, Suzuki only needed a few moments to regain his wits. He climbed out of the Virtual Drive, and then proceeded to take a shower to freshen up. He emerged from his room a few minutes later in a loose, black hoodie and shorts. Suppressing a yawn he made his way down the corridor, and then stairs, to the large, living area.

Feeling extremely parched, he opened the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. Suzuki downed the bottle in one go, but seemingly unsatisfied, he finished another bottle, before grabbing a final one to go.

"Your breath is too loud," Suzuki coldly chastised as he shut the fridge door to reveal a grinning Taiga.

Taiga playfully pouted as his plan to scare Suzuki crumbled. "Aww, you're no fun." But then, his brow rose as he considered something. "Hold on. You heard my breath?"

"Yeah?" Suzuki replied as he picked up the TV remote off a table and pushed the power button. "It's pretty loud."

"Yeah, nah. My breath's the same it's always been," Taiga stated with a doubtful gaze. Suddenly his eyes widened as he thought of a possibility. "Wait. It can't be—"

"ARGH!" Suzuki dropped the remote, involuntarily crying out, and clutching his ears as the Surround System connected to the Television explosively boomed to life. "Turn it off!"

Taiga quickly picked up the fallen remote and dialed the volume all the way down to 2. He then tossed the remote on a sofa and bent over the groaning Suzuki. "You okay?"

Suzuki groaned. No, he was not okay. He felt like a thousand elephants were stomping on his eardrums, though the pain was beginning to subside into a dull ache. The young man looked up at Taiga, and questioned through pained pants, "You didn't feel that?"

"Kinda," Taiga replied with a smirk. He held out his hand, and then helped Suzuki to his feet before explaining with a tap on his ear. "I just learned to limit how much sound passes through my ears. If not, I would have gone crazy a long time ago."

"Humans can do that?"

"Define 'human.'"

Suzuki frowned. "What the hell is Genaco doing?" Taiga's response all but confirmed a sneaking suspicion. Suzuki ahd felt himself inexplicably growing stronger and faster than any exercise could justify. He suspected Genaco was juicing them to make it easier to pilot the Gladiator suits, but Taiga's weird answer suggested something more sinister.

"Saving the world." Taiga replied with a sardonic grin. Manically spreading his arms out wide, he added, "They want to save the world, one child sacrifice at a time."

"Huh?"

"Bahahaha!" Taiga burst out laughing at Suzuki's stunned expression. "God, do you take everything so literally?" He playfully patted the young man's shoulder as he soothed him, "I don't mean it literally. They're not planning to sacrifice us—not directly at least." Taiga took a seat by, and then sprawled over the kitchen table. "There's a war coming. A big one. They need us for that."

"Japan hasn't been in any war in ages." Suzuki once again opened the fridge, this time taking out some tomatoes, onion, chillies and other ingredients. As he cleaned them in the sink, he asked, "Who would we be fighting?"

"Who knows?" Taiga shrugged, but then added when Suzuki glared at him. "Telling the truth, I swear. That part I haven't figured out yet. They're keeping it pretty hush-hush at the top. Whoever we're fighting has them pretty spooked though."