Hydraheads

Chapter 4: Krypta der Zivilisation

NOTE: This chapter is the start of something different that I want to try. We will explore two storylines to get a bigger picture of the Hydraheads' conflict origin. Needless to say, Rao's storyline was a red-pill moment for me, lol.

I hope that you will enjoy it as much as I did when researching and writing this part!

"Kamisama, this feels weird...." Riamu walked down the corbelled corridor of the Hydrahead base while loosening his right shoulder. The wound had healed away almost miraculously, but the sensation was still there. He felt like the muscles had been replaced by inelastic rubbers.

He saw a familiar figure. "Oh, hi, Sagisu-san." Riamu quickly corrected himself. "Kanon."

"Hi there, Riamu-kun," replied the ample girl calmly while touching her reddish long hair. "Feeling well?"

Riamu tried his arm again. "Kinda, it's still stiff for me."

"Well, you'll get used to it. You're lucky that Durgasaur's nail didn't sever anything important." Kanon placed her hand on her friend's shoulder.

Riamu blinked. They glanced at each other and blushed. Kanon lumberingly retracted while looking the other way. "Sorry about that...."

"It's... It's okay." Riamu looked up instead. His eyes peeked once in a while, at least looking at Kanon's neon Alice band. He coughed to break the awkwardness. "So, um, how's your brother? I saw him in the other house the other day."

"You did?" asked the slightly confused Kanon. She then got it. "Oh, right. Yeah, he's healing faster than before. Rao said that his condition is stable but there are still some internal discrepancies that need to be checked. Well, I'm using her words verbatim. I don't what she meant by that. Perhaps Durgasaur left my brother some nasty stuff."

"Hope he can go back here," said Riamu.

"He won't," replied Kanon promptly. "You've taken his place."

Riamu didn't know what to say. "I... I don't know what to say."

"I don't know either, but I do know what I want to say." Kanon gave that cryptid kind of smile. "Thank you for staying."

It took a few moments for Riamu to respond. He felt like going through an emotional minefield. "Huh, really?"

"What do you mean? Of course, I'll say thank you!" This time, the smile had a clearer meaning. Her braces peeked from behind her lips. Her monolid eyes made crescents. "Rao gave me the recording of your misadventure in Durgasaur's wiggly dimension. I'm just glad that the Zennyo Hydrahead's position can now be filled by someone who fits the bill."

Riamu's left eyebrow hiked. "And you think your brother couldn't?"

"Oh, he's more than qualified. But if that's the case, it wouldn't be good for me."

"Why's that?"

"Remember the saying, 'don't focus on saving the world, just one person'? He's my person. He's the one I want to play sparklers with every year in festivals." Kanon gave a wink before walking away all of a sudden. "Anyway, please take care of her."

"Huh, take care of who?" The confused Riamu looked behind him.

"Hey ya!" saluted Naniwa out of nowhere. Needless to say, she startled him.

Riamu exhaled. "Please don't do that...."

"Don't be a wuss, Mu-chan," replied Naniwa while giggling. She even slapped the shoulder that just healed. "Oops, sorry...."