Pandion (Genera #1)

Chapter 20

O n the third day of his migraine, Harumine ran out of medication. He was getting dressed to go out to get some more when Kagesawa intercepted him at the door.

“Are you sure you’re OK? I can come with you if you want.”

“It’s fine. Go do your thing.” Harumine was surprised Kagesawa had even noticed him since he’d been so engrossed in going through the files the past few days.

“I don’t mind.” He seemed worried.

“It’s not the first time I’ve had a migraine. I used to have them all the time from stress back in uni. Get back to your thing. I’ll be back in a bit.”

Harumine didn’t feel great, but he didn’t think he needed a chaperone for such a short trip. He wouldn’t have minded sending Kagesawa to run the errand in his stead, but since he had to go see the doctor to renew his prescription anyway, he might as well go to the pharmacy himself while he was out.

“All right, but let me know if you need anything.”

This was the first proper migraine Harumine had had since graduation, so it stood to reason Kagesawa wasn’t used to them. Even so, Harumine hadn’t expected this level of concern. He would have appreciated it more had he not felt like puking from the pain. Maybe he’d remember to appreciate it later. He nodded and headed out.

The doctor’s office was quiet. The doctor called him in almost as soon as he’d arrived.

After some raised eyebrows and concerns about the newly stripped port, the man declared he would need to file a report—which Harumine wasn’t too concerned about considering the current chaos at the EA—but agreed to run all the necessary diagnostics.

When all the tests indicated the organism was tolerating the medication without showing signs of distress, the doctor renewed the prescription, reminded Harumine to take it easy and sent him on his way. The whole thing, complaints and all, took less than fifteen minutes.

There were a few more people queueing at the pharmacy, so Harumine was forced to wait for his turn and his prescription to be filled. The fluorescent lights were much too bright, and the general smell of the place was unpleasant, but he lifted the hood of his hoodie over his head and covered his mouth and nose with his sleeve to make it bearable. He’d be home in a bit, take his meds and sleep for a day or two more.

Usually these episodes resolved themselves in a couple of days, so there couldn’t have been that much left of this one. He’d strained himself more than usual, but he’d lived through worse. What he could have lived without was the little TV blaring at the back of the room. It probably wasn’t as loud as it seemed, but to Harumine’s oversensitive ears, the news anchor’s voice was like a fork being pulled across a ceramic plate. When he was called to the counter and the pharmacist was packing up his medication, the TV was right by his ear, and he had to cover his ears to save himself from the worst of it.

The pharmacist thanked him and wished him a good day. Harumine nodded and retreated away from the counter. Even in this state, he caught a few words of the news broadcast.

“The protesters have now entered the building. We advise everyone in the area to stay indoors. Mr Watanabe, how does it look where you are?” Harumine forced himself to look at the screen. The broadcast continued from what looked like the front of the local EA offices. “We already know that the Stand Against Invasion, or the SAI movement, has joined forces with the long standing anti-empath movement, the AEM. I am here with the representative for the Justice for the Organism association, Miss M. Miss M, what is your involvement in the current situation?” The news reporter pointed his mic at a woman who had obscured her face with a scarf.

“This is intolerable! It is slavery! If we cannot separate the organisms from their captors alive, we are willing to make a compromise. I say we free them by giving them the gift of death! These beings are innocent, they are capable of consciousness, and they deserve better than to suffer in servitude!”

The young woman didn’t so much as blink as she said this. Her eyes glimmered as if she’d gone raving mad from her righteousness. Behind her, dozens of others echoed her sentiment, many of them armed.

An empath was pushed forward to the front, held by two burly men. Miss M did not hesitate when she grabbed the empath by the hair, revealed the port at the back of her head, ripped it off and tazed the opening. The officers at the scene moved to detain the deranged woman, but it was too late to save the empath who jerked and fell dead to the ground.

“You will all get what’s coming to you! We are many, we are strong, and we will come for you!” She laughed maniacally as the police dragged her off. The broadcast was moved back into the studio.

“We apologise for the inappropriate scene you have just witnessed. The police have requested that empaths remain indoors and keep their doors locked until the situation resolves. We have received numerous reports of attacks against empaths by the JufO, the SAI and the AEM across all of the fourteen prefectures. We urge the citizens to remain calm.” The news anchor then continued on to a segment about seasonal delicacies as if a woman hadn’t just died in the middle of this bizarre broadcast.

Harumine closed his eyes. “...this time of year the juiciness is unparalleled…” Had he imagined all of that? The EA offices were a stone’s throw away from where he stood. He tried to loosen his grip on the bag he was holding. His hands were squeezing it so tight they were shaking.

Satoru? Hadn’t he passed the EA offices about an hour ago, on his way here? Hello? Are you all right? Had there been people there? Was that a live broadcast, or…? Surely they wouldn’t have shown something like that live on purpose.

“Sir? Are you all right?” the pharmacist asked.

“Huh? Ah, yes.” Harumine moved out of the way to let the next customer pass.

“...paired together with this delicious piece of…” The sound of the TV seared into Harumine’s ears.

Satoru? Answer me. Are you all right?

Was it safe to go outside? Was it safe to stay here? How obvious was it that he was an empath? He was wearing his SEU hoodie. Should he discard it? Was that overkill? Something like that wouldn’t actually happen in reality, right? It had been a skit of some sort. How else would they be discussing salad dressing and shrimp right after? Harumine staggered to the door.

SATORU! Kagesawa’s projection cut through the splitting headache with enough force to cause Harumine to cradle his head and whimper out loud.

Shit, be quiet for a bit, I’m trying to think! Projecting back was humiliatingly difficult.

Harumine looked around before exiting the pharmacy. The street was empty save for a couple heading the opposite way. Maybe it would be safer to go around the park. The distance was not ideal with this headache, but there wasn’t much else he could do.

If he took his meds now, it’d take approximately a half an hour before they kicked in and walking around medicated—while more comfortable—would be much less safe even if he didn’t bump into anyone.

He needed to do something about the hoodie. As he took it off, the chill would have caused him to shiver had he not already been trembling. He turned the hoodie inside out and rushed to put it back on.

What’s going on? Where are you? I’m coming to get you. Kagesawa’s words made Harumine wince. He hurried his step.

No, don’t. You need to stay at home. Lock the door. Stay. I’m coming. He almost ran into the person coming toward him and only dodged him at the last minute.

“Watch it!”

“I’m sorry,” Harumine mumbled and tried to walk past.

He’d run into a group of people. With a glimpse, he could tell they were associated with the types he’d seen on TV only a moment ago.

“Hey, want to come along? We’re patrolling for empaths.” The person Harumine had almost bumped into grabbed him by the forearm to stop him.

“I’d love to, but I’m not feeling well.” Harumine clenched the bag in his hand, realising it was the exact wrong thing to draw attention to. If these people went as far as to check his meds, there was a good chance they’d be able to tell…

“It’s not contagious, is it?” To this, Harumine thought to fake a cough. It was enough for the group of them to withdraw, but it also made his head feel like it might split open.

He wanted to cry from the pain, but at least his sniffles made it seem more realistic. It took him a moment to force himself to move on and distance himself from the danger. Thankfully the group had been quicker to be on their way.

Unable to withstand the worsening pain, Harumine turned aside to a more secluded spot and took his meds, risks be damned.

With the detour, he figured he could still make it home in time if he hurried. Hurrying was easier said than done, though. Not only did his gait exacerbate his headache, but also, him running might raise suspicion. He walked as fast as his head allowed, and whenever he ran into people, slowed his pace to seem less conspicuous.

“Hey, you!” Harumine was stopped by another protester where a loathsomely rambunctious group of them were loitering at the park, recruiting others.

“Excuse me?” He needed to remain calm and polite while the insides of his head were screaming.

“Are you an empath?”

As if in this situation anyone in their right mind would answer yes.

It was oddly tempting to say yes, though. The headache was so bad, being tazed to death seemed like an improvement.

“Do I look like one?” It was a struggle to convey this counter question in the right tone, but it seemed to do the trick.

“Hmm, no? Well, have you seen any?”

“No, I don’t know. I don’t look for that stuff.”

What the hell is happening over there? Why at the worst of times was Kagesawa butting in again? Harumine schooled himself to focus.

“Fair enough. Let us know if you see any, yeah? We want to bash all their heads in.”

“Yeah! Hear hear!” some of the others chimed in.

The anger seemed irrational. How Harumine managed to smile when he promised them he would, he wasn’t sure. Perhaps it was thanks to the last shreds of self-preservation his migraine-addled brain had left.

He walked the rest of the way unable to think coherent thoughts. After being stopped several times and having had to slow down to not attract attention, he was about ten minutes late. During those ten minutes the pain slowly drained away, and his tired brain started to misfire trash codes, mostly out loud.

A few passersby stared at him. They weren’t part of what was happening, but had they been asked to report sightings, they’d no doubt mention him as someone abnormal.

Hurry. Harumine tried to recall why. What was he so worked up about anyway? Everything was fine. There was a lovely park bench not far from him, calling his name.

Satoru! He frowned. He hadn’t realised park benches could literally call his name. What the hell is wrong with you?!

“Huh?” It didn’t sound like a park bench. He made an effort to think. He had to stop walking to concentrate. Oh, right, Tsuyoshii… hello. What was I doing? He stared at the pharmacy bag in his hand. What is this? Something awful had happened, but it had stopped happening now.

“Satoru!” Kagesawa’s voice sounded like it wasn’t inside his head for a change. How strange. Harumine looked up.

“Oh, hello,” he greeted Kagesawa. “Why are you here?”

“I was worried sick. What the hell happened?” Kagesawa looked oddly perturbed. Harumine frowned.

“I’m not sure… oh, right, 7—7— I have a lovely little blue migraine. That was the thing. And something else…?”

“Let’s get you inside.” Kagesawa ushered him through the door.

Harumine listened in a daze as Kagesawa screamed his head off at Takazaki at the door to the man’s apartment.

Why are you yelling at him? Harumine stood in the corridor with his eyes closed and his forehead lightly pressed against the wall to help with the dizziness. Now that his head no longer hurt and the world had stopped moving, he was in no particular hurry to go anywhere. The brain fog was still there, and the side-effects of the medication didn’t do much to help his comprehension.

“It wasn’t me!” Takazaki insisted.

“You’re the only one I gave that data to. Who else could it be? I specifically told you not to tell anyone!”

“I know, and I didn’t!”

“I knew I shouldn’t have trusted you. I’m such an idiot.” Kagesawa seemed ready to punch Takazaki. Harumine tried to send something calming through the link, but when this was met with brief dismay and the link was as if clamped tighter shut from Kagesawa’s end, he gave up trying.

“I’ve never betrayed you. I know I’ve come pretty close on occasion, but that’s because I didn’t know you were him . You need to calm down for a second—”

“How the fuck do I calm down? You don’t understand! These are death threats!”

“They are extremists. The authorities will sort them out. You just need to lie low for a while.”

“Your trust in the authorities is remarkable considering your past loyalties.”

“That’s beside the point.” Takazaki took a hold of the door frame and swung out to look into the corridor. “You’d better get inside. The neighbours don’t need to hear all this.”

“I think we’re done here.” Kagesawa’s expression turned cold. Harumine shuddered.

If whatever secrets Takazaki had kept from Kagesawa had soured their relationship before, it was probably beyond salvaging now. Kagesawa grabbed Harumine’s hand and pulled him along.

“Kagesawa…” Takazaki sounded sad. Harumine glanced back to see the man turn away from the door, looking as depressed as he’d sounded.

Once inside their apartment, Kagesawa locked and bolted the door.

“I checked the news when you didn’t respond. It’s everywhere. If it were just the AEM barking like they usually do, nothing would have come of it, but they’re forming new causes and teaming up. This sentience thing may have been what pushed it over the threshold.” Kagesawa checked the fridge. “We don’t have much food left, and this might last more than a couple of days.”

Harumine watched him check the cupboards and the closet for what they had at hand. “You could have asked Takazaki to fetch us something if you hadn’t yelled at him.” He sat down and made an effort to suppress a few sort codes. Kagesawa was glaring at him, but he couldn’t quite connect the dots to understand why.

“That stuff you’re taking is frighteningly effective.”

“Yes. It does the job.” Harumine leaned back and exhaled. Sleep would be great. He was about to close his eyes when Kagesawa interrupted him.

“I’ll let you sleep, but I need you to do something for me first.”

“Hmmmwhat do you need?”

“Can you project what you saw for me? Is that possible? I need to know what’s out there in case we need to leave in a hurry. They’ve cut access to the security cameras in the area.”

“All right.” Harumine sighed and tried to concentrate.

“If it’s too much, can you describe it to me?”

“Wait, wait…” Don’t be so impatient. I’m trying. It’s a bit fuzzy. He’d been at the doctor’s office, then the pharmacy. The TV… He had to try to recall it bit by bit to keep track. “Right, so I turned my hoodie around.” He stared at the hoodie. A handful of people, two more… They were congregating at the park. Hundreds in front of the EA building. He tried showing it to Kagesawa, but he’d never relayed memories like this, so he could only assume how it was done based on other similar skills. “That’s all I saw. I couldn’t look for very long, it’s so bright out there. Is that enough? Can I sleep?”

“Yeah, I think I got it. You can sleep. We’ll stay put for now, but we need to be ready to leave if it comes to that.”

“Leave where?” Harumine asked, but once he’d lain back down, his mind started to wander.

“I’ll figure something out.”

“Uh huh. Good. I can’t… Red. God damnit. Red, blue.”

“Sleep.”

“OK.”