Mechagodzilla: Shiryu

-2-

Akane's father was waiting for her at the building's front entrance stairway.

He has gotten older, she could see that, but his face was still recognizable even after all these years. "Father..." Akane said, smiling as she walked up to him. "It's been such a long time." Shiragami said, wearing a weak yet warm smile as he walked forwards and extended his arms out so the two embraced. Both of them hugged each other tightly, having missed the one to the other much and enjoying the moment, before letting go. "How have you been? Are you feeling well? Want to go out to eat? I know a good place to go after work" he said, almost in a hurried manner as if he wanted to take care of things planned in his mind. Though Akane stopped him so that he could look at her in the eyes. "I already ate before. Right now I want to talk to you, just like you promised on the phone." Akane said to him, hoping he'd understand. "Oh, right right right. Come inside. We'll go into my office to talk." Shiragami said as he led her inside the building.

Once near the room, they went inside where Akane found that it was quite in the middle of a disaster space. To be fair, it looked as organized as the laboratory rooms that she had seen before while at the various Monarch headquarters, but it still looked like a mess to her. "Please, step inside and make yourself comfortable. I don't get a lot of visitors often." Shiragami apologized, moving some paperworks and small tables out of the way so that he could bring some seats for the two. "Noticed." Akane said as she sat down in a seat. Her father sat down and took in a deep breath, exhaling as he looked up at her again. "So...want to tell me how you have been doing on your job? Doing the best you can to use the skills you have learned abroad?" He asked her, smiling as he was ready to listen. "I...now work as part of the military force alongside Monarch. I won't go into details as I have been ordered to keep anything sensitive...classified." Akane said to her father. "Ah...I see. So...you are part of that team to help fight against Godzilla and the other titans?" he asked her, not showing any sign of resentment when hearing the name of the organization. Akane expected him to react in a harsh way as one time in the past she once heard him say it was their fault for everything that has happened. But now...it was different to say the least. At least he hasn't become vengeful like some other people have against the titans. "Not quite. I mean, sure, sometimes, though that's the regular army's side of choice. And mostly it's escort or support that I take part in, not fighting..." Akane explained to him as her eyes drifted off to the side, noticing something like a piece of paper that had some weird formulas drawn on it.

She extended a hand and took it, peering at the notes that have been written all over. "Ah, that's part of my work. I'll explain it to you soon." Shiragami said, standing up and going over to Akane to extend a hand in order to take the paper away. Akane caught the words "Radiation-Absorbent Bacteria" on the paper before she gave it to her father. "Hold on...what exactly are you doing here?" Akane asked her father as he walked around collecting other notes and papers to organize them. "Research. Studying the new data from other sources and countries now that the titans have emerged and are now changing the world. Medicine is one of those fields, which is why I decided to continue my research. To develop cures for diseases like cancer and other defects." Shiragami explained to her, walking around still collecting papers until he gathered them into one folder and sat back down. "No, seriously. What exactly are you doing? Don't you think anything with the word "radiation" bring any concern to you?" Akane asked, starting to worry about her father. "Relax. It's nothing harmful that I am doing. Although...I've been getting requests from many organizations to develop some new products. Harmful ones. Not to worry, I've already told them countless times that I do not specialize in those things" her father said as he began to ramble about various things involving past experiences of such.

It was too much for Akane to process, so instead of just sitting there and listening to him continue she told him to stop. Which made him flinch when he realized he must have been missing a point. "Dad...what made you disappear and change contact information? Didn't you think of me even when you were working?" Akane asked, putting a bit of strength in her words to make them get through her father. Shiragami was silent for a moment, slowly looking down a bit in either shame or regret as those words impacted him. A beeping sound from a device broke the silence between father and daughter, making Shiragami stand up and go over to the table in order to turn the sound off. He stood there for a long and silent moment, his face hidden from Akane's sight with no reflective surface to let her know his expression.

"I still miss Erika, my dear. I still miss your mother...very much." He said after a while.

Hearing her mother's name made Akane's eyes widen a bit and her muscles tense up as she looked at him in surprise. "I've been working on something in order to not let those memories from her fade away. Something very important...so that it wouldn't be used in the wrong way." He said, looking to the side before heading to the other side of the room. Shiragami reached a door, which was locked with a keypad, and began to enter the passcode. The door unlocked with a beep and he opened it, looking to Akane and gesturing her to walk over to where he was. Akane got up from her seat and went over to her father, who went inside the other room so she could follow. They went past shelves of what looked like vials of chemicals and substances before arriving at yet another locked door. Shiragami entered the passcode and scanned his fingerprint on the scanner before unlocking it, opening it and letting Akane see inside. What she saw made her gasp in surprise. "This is..." she breathed as memories began to flood into her head. "That's right" her father said, smiling proudly.

Inside were rows of tables filled with flowers.

And these weren't just ordinary flowers. These were special flowers that Akane and her parents used to plant in their house's garden when she was just a small child. "Adenium obesum. The only flower that is resistant to the harsh environment of the desert. It can adapt to any sort of alternate environment, be it arid, humid, or normal. However...it's also the only plant that doesn't survive with radiation..." Shiragami said, first with a proud tone before it switched to a more sadder one. "Doesn't survive radiation? How come?" Akane asked, confused as she kept listening to her father. "With the emergence of titans all over the world, their radiations started to spread across the terrain. But instead of harming any living thing, like plants for example, it actually makes them more healthier and stronger. All over the world the titans' radiation effects are making possible the regrowth of plants in places that were impossible to accomplish it, such as deserts and places where nuclear disasters took place. All plants seemed to thrive...except these" he explained to her, gesturing to all of the flowers that were present. Akane noticed that some were withering and dying, while others looked healthy and beautiful. "Also...I even put a bit of your mother's touch into them. So that they could remain like the ones we used to plant back in the old times" her father added.

"So that's what you were doing; you were trying to help this species of flower survive. By making them strong enough to absorb radiation." Akane said, turning back to her father. "Precisely. It's taken me some years, but I am close to making a formula to help them evolve and adapt. It's gotten much attention from several medical branches...and some unwanted ones" Shiragami said, looking to the side as a thought made him have a face of disgust. "Unwanted ones?" Akane echoed. "The military. Those that want the titans destroyed. Like I told you, they wanted to use my research to create something harmful; bioweapons. To be used against the titans. I knew that I couldn't let them do that, so I did everything I could to hide my true research. Even to the point of...cutting contact with you. I...couldn't bear the thought of putting you in danger if the military went as far as trying to search for my research in other hands. Just in case it went in that direction. All I want you to know is...I'm sorry. For treating you this way..." Shiragami said, walking to one of the tables and brushing the petals of one flower.

From the side, Shiragami could be seen shedding a small tear as he stared at the flowers in front of them. Akane now understood why her father did all these things, and she found it pointless to be mad at him. He did this for the love of his daughter...and the love for the world, straying away from the vengeful path that the majority took. "Thank you for helping me understand. And...thank you for helping keep mother's memory alive with us." Akane said, moving to hug her father from the side. Shiragami tensed up as he felt the hug, and then let go of the tears he was holding as he moved to hug her back. "I swear...once all the debate against the titans is over, we can spend more time together than before. That is a promise" he said, both of them hugging tightly. Then Akane let go to continue looking at the flowers. "Now that we have finished clearing things up...why don't we go to the place you said we could go eat? Now I am feeling more hungry." Akane said, trying to lighten up the mood. Shiragami nodded and smiled, like the father Akane knew, leading her out from the room to lock it up.

"I'll be happy to take that offer." Shiragami said as they went outside the lab room and out the medical center.