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It takes Neo Japan an entire day after the conclusion of the 13th Gundam Fight to get Domon Kasshu to leave the shell of Gundam Spiegel. The huge machine lies where it fell, curled around its cockpit as if to protect what slumbers inside. Somehow, the machine is still active, though all readings for its pilot have gone dark.
Domon is certain that Schwarz Bruder - or rather, Kyoji Kasshu's DG Cell replica - is still alive. He promised he would survive, after all. And of course Domon has no intention of leaving his older brother to wake up alone for something as useless as a parade.
Rain watches the negotiations from a distance on the ship she and her father were herded onto by Ulube's men. Everything is being recorded now. There is no privacy to be found on Lantau Island. If they return to the colonies, they'll probably find that they'll never have any privacy ever again. The pressure is already wearing on Rain's nerves.
No wonder Manon was willing to set her life on fire so Gentle Chapman could keep up his winning streak. What is a champion without his reputation? And what is his mechanic without him?
There is a hollow in Rain's chest where her dreams used to sit. She went into medicine for a few reasons, some of them more selfish than others. She was made to be good at science, but design didn't really speak to her the way that maintenance did. Research medicine and drawing up blueprints are not her areas of interest. No, Rain Mikamura wants to help.
Her hands tremble in her lap. She can't help Domon like this.
She can't help anyone like this.
On the screen, Commissioner Karato finally makes an offer good enough to lure Domon out from the sharp metal spires of Gundam Spiegel's fractured carapace.
"Of course, your father! I'll send word to have him defrosted immediately," he says. Even through the tinny audio, his voice drips with greed and grease, so thick she can feel it. "And... if you like this wreck so much, you can keep it! Neo Germany won't be able to complain if we claim it as salvage. Yes, to the victor go the spoils!"
Domon curls his lip, but he stands up and emerges from hiding. He's been swayed. When it comes to someone like Domon, that's always the hardest part: convincing him to give something a chance.
One year ago, it took Rain almost a day of arguing with Domon to convince him that he couldn't head to Earth alone - that he needed to bring her with him. She'd been so certain that her presence would be the difference between life and death for her estranged childhood friend. And how did things play out? What has she given him but pain?
On the screen, Domon stalks sullenly toward God Gundam - another of her father's tainted creations - and hops up to its armoured shoulder with the casual ease of a wild animal. He glares down at the camera, then sets his gaze forward.
In the abandoned shell of Gundam Spiegel, scans show the mechanical body of Kyoji Kasshu, eyes open, completely immobile. She wasn't even able to do anything when he was in the hospital. He was lying just a few feet away from her, limp and occasionally twitching with damage she didn't have enough time to properly diagnose, and she did... nothing. Nothing at all. She might as well have killed him.
Kyoji has died on her three times now. Some doctor she is.
Elsewhere, her father and Ulube raise their voices as Karato calls them. He directs them away from Gundam Spiegel as if it's a trophy to be awarded. Ulube didn't plan on taking it anyway - something is strange about the DG Cells in that machine, and it worries him - but he argues with Karato regardless. He's become noticeably more aggressive since the Devil Gundam's defeat. Rain doesn't know what he's planning, but she's sure it has nothing to do with Earth.
Good.
The view of the scene turns to follow God Gundam as it glides into place and the parade gets ready for its belated start. Domon stands on top of his machine where it stands on top of a float, and neither he nor the mobile fighter look happy. Her eyes skitter away from them both.
In all the time Rain spent with him, he never looked happier than he did in Neo Hong Kong. He has friends here - a place to live, even. People who'll look after him when she's gone. Even if he stays here, waiting for Kyoji to wake up, for the rest of his life, he won't wait alone.
There is a story from old Japan that Kyoji used to read to Rain and Domon when work ran late and their parents weren't around. Rain's mouth moves silently as she mouths the words.
'Once upon a time, there was a dog named Hachiko who loved his owner very much. Every day, Hachiko would wait for his master at the station, and they would walk home together. But one day, Hachiko's master died while at work. Hachiko continued to show up at the station for 10 years, waiting for someone who wasn't coming.'
Hachiko got a statue and a legacy. As a winner of the Gundam Fight, Domon will get even more than that if he returns to Neo Japan. But he won't understand it any more than a dog would. He's not made for the world he's been forced into.
He should stay here, she thinks. Somewhere he's wanted. Somewhere people will care for him after the arena is cleared and the rubble cleaned up. Manon enabled Gentle Chapman to the end and watched her husband self-destruct. Rain won't fall into that trap. The best thing for Domon isn't another fight with her at his side. It's a quiet retirement on Lantau Island, where what's left of his family is already sleeping.
He'd understand if she told him. But she can't bear to face him. Not with the weight of everything her family has done to his pressing down on her shoulders.
Rain closes her eyes. She stands up from her chair and requests paper from the nearest soldier. She has a letter to write.