Aestheticism Summaries: West End I

West End 3

Author: Aoi Futaba and Kurenai Mitsuba
Imprint: Super BBC
Publisher: Biblos
ISBN:4-88271-783-2

Summary by Jeanne

Note: this is a summary, not a review. Spoilers abounding. Beware.

We're in the desert town Kiri and Tonami arrived at in the middle of a sandstorm back in vol.2. A couple of toughs are engaged in a little illegal activity and complaining how the storm keeps them from going out to the big demi sale. 'One of these days heaven'll get you,' one says. At which a large crate falls from the sky, crushing them both. Sensei comes to retrieve the package from the Castle (the plane missed its target because of the storm.) It proves to be full of flowers.

Kiri meanwhile has been fulfilling contracts and comes bearing the heads of his last three targets, then goes off to a restaurant as of old for dinner. Unthinkingly he grabs at a passing darkhaired demi and wonders what the hell he's doing. 'I'm the one who kicked Tonami out.' But the memory of Sensei carrying Tonami off galls him, and he muses that with the storm raging outside the town's borders, the two must still be in the city.

Tonami meanwhile is dreaming of growing up. He's crying, and someone comes with open arms, and he wakes up to the smell of the flowers that used to decorate the Castle. He tries to get out of bed but falls in his weakness, and sees his beloved sensei who says he's come to take him back to the Castle. Tonami is delighted, only he remembers that Kiri's dumped him so he's miserable. He starts crying and can't stop, greatly to Sensei's distress. Sensei gives him medicine for his fever and Tonami falls asleep, to dream that he's a young demi again wondering to Sensei what's wrong with the bit between his legs. 'Nothing,' Sensei says, 'It works just fine', and demonstrates that this is so. Tonami wakes, embarrassed by his dream, which exists only because every episode of WE must have a sex scene, and since Tonami has been parted from Kiri, the authors have to make do with what's to hand. Tonami starts to moon over Kiri again.

Kiri is still off working, not noticing that his guts are hanging out of him after an attack (never mind his recuperative powers, what's with the absence of nerve endings?) while he stews over Sensei. He arrives at a mental conclusion which pleases him-- obviously he's simply annoyed because somebody took something that was his. Note this little defence mechanism: it's about to become an iron-clad part of Kiri's thinking. Having solved his mental dilemma of why does he care that Tonami's gone when of course he doesn't care for Tonami perish the thought, he's then at liberty to go and get Tonami back.

First off he needs a knife like his old one. The store can't supply it, but the guy makes knives to order-- hence he has a workshop-- hence Kiri can use his workshop to make a knife like the one he lost.

Tonami wakes again. Sensei had said the Castle was trying to repair the old defensive machine that caused the sandstorm in the first place but it would take more than three days to do it, and though three days have passed the storm still rages. Tonami does a little poor poor pitiful me weeping about I hope Kiri got his knife I hope he likes it but maybe he doesn't want a knife that was bought with my money he must have thrown it away just like he did me shiku shiku. Sensei comes to console him, much put out by Tonami's grief. 'You're everything to me. Being with you is my greatest happiness. I don't know what to do when you cry. I'd do anything for you, but I have no way to stop your tears.' Tonami asks him suddenly why it is they must return to the Castle, and Sensei says he can't tell him. 'Believe in me. Believe in the Castle.' Tonami says he does, but the idea of leaving the place where Kiri is torments him.

Sensei goes off to make tea and has an odd conversation with himself, which may make more sense if you realize that he's receiving subliminal orders throughout it from the Castle, presumably from the original Sensei there, of whom this Sensei is a copy. Our Sensei- we might as well start calling him by the name we'll learn later, Tsuvai- is calculating (quite literally) how to get Tonami to the Castle in his current weakened state. 'A plane can't come here because of the storm machine. If I could send Tonami off from a place where it has no effect--' 'Impossible. If we do anything noticeable, *he'll* become aware of Tonami's existence- the Man in the Farthest West will try to stop us.' Our first indication that the source of Kiri's search is involved with Tonami. 'The chances of getting Tonami back would drop by 70%. But why should *he* care?' Tsuvai wonders, and is told not to think about his orders. 'Another three days recuperation and I should be able to get him back. In three days the chances of his surviving the journey will be (whirr and click of internal circuits) 10.2%!!?? Why so low?' and is told subliminally just to do what he's told. 'Bring Tonami back to the Castle and get rid of anything that will stop you.' Tsuvai concludes it's a good thing Kiri has abandoned Tonami because now he doesn't have to kill him, which would distress Tonami.

Kiri is being conducted by an employer through one of the more unsavoury parts of the city. They see a demi in the process of disintegration, which makes Kiri wonder what demis were created for in the first place, if they're so weak. His guide asks him if he's been up to any part-time work lately? 'There's this guy going around slashing people, killing them at a stroke. Thought it might be you. And there was this box fell out of the sky and crushed a couple of guys. It was empty and no-one knows what it was made of.' Kiri pricks up his ears. 'So where'd this happen?', and gets directed to a half-ruined underground factory over in the city's south end.

The storm is over. Tsuvai and Tonami prepare to leave, and when they emerge above ground, there's Kiri waiting for them. 'So I've finally found you, just in time. I've come to get Tonami back.' Tonami is ecstatic at the words- 'finally', 'just in time', 'take Tonami back'- oh joy, he wants me! But Tsuvai isn't about to just hand him over, and gives Kiri lots of opportunity to expand his new 'What's mine is mine and I want my demi back' line. Tonami is all ready to run into Kiri's arms, whether or no, but Tsuvai prevents him. 'I've always wanted to kill you,' he tells Kiri, with a flash of individual feeling. The two prepare to fight while Tonami is sent off to shelter in a nearby building. In the course of the fight Tsuvai explains that he's an android. As we'll discover a few pages, he's half super-human flesh and half computer. His clothes as well as his body are a weapon and he has no nerves to feel pain. Kiri takes one of his eyes out, but Tsuvai sends Kiri smashing to the ground with the laser energy that comes from his hands. Tonami runs and shields Kiri before Tsuvai can deliver the final blow. 'Don't hurt him any more!' 'But you know he can't die,' Tsuvai says. 'I said don't hurt him!' Tonami cries. 'It hurts me when you hurt him. He's my master!' Tsuvai is once again overcome by Tonami's tears-- and at that moment the factory, weakened by the explosions from Tsuvai's beams, collapses above them. Kiri, though stunned and badly hurt, grabs Tonami to try to shield him, and at the same time Tsuvai uses his lasers to create a safe space about the two of them.

'Let me ask you one question,' Tsuvai says to Kiri as the dust settles. 'Why did you save Tonami?' 'I'm not just gonna stand there and watch my property be destroyed!' Kiri retorts. Tsuvai says something not entirely complimentary about the toughness of the human race; you may debate whether he means the strength of Kiri's willpower or the thickness of his head. Tsuvai's arm has been damaged, so he simply drops it from his body, like a salamander dropping its tail. But since he needs repairs he's in no state to take Tonami back to the Castle, which is the purpose for which he's been created. He's an improved fighting model of the Sensei whom Tonami knew back home. For the moment he lets Kiri and Tonami leave, but promises to follow when he's repaired.

They leave and Tsuvai reports to the Castle what's happened. And wonders why in fact he let Kiri take Tonami away. 'I can't stop Tonami's tears,' he thinks again. (It's ok, Tsuvai; no-one can.) Back comes the Castle's message, as ever- carry out your orders, keep watch on Kiri and Tonami, carry out your orders. A suggestion here that Tsuvai too, as well as Tonami, isn't following the programming intended for Castle products. Tsuvai switches himself off while Kiri and Tonami have an extended screw to make up for lost time. After which Tonami catches sight of Kiri's new knife on the table. 'That knife...' 'It's a new knife. Feels good. Your knife...' Kiri doesn't finish the sentence, for whatever reason you care to name, but Tonami is left in the blissful belief that it's the knife he bought for Kiri.

Follows an interlude where Kiri is attacked by toughs prepared to use Tonami as a hostage, and Tonami throws himself into the river or something rather than let that happen. From which he's pulled by an irritated Kiri, not at all impressed by having a demi who will die for him.

Kiri and Tonami come to a new town. Evidence suggests it's the one the toughs were talking about at the start of the book, a center of demi distribution. The guy who books rooms is all ready to charge Kiri double because of his Castle demi, but Kiri persuades him otherwise. A demi medicine salesman has a new line of pills that require only one a day instead of the usual 5 pills every eight hours max. He also has a disintegrating demi to illustrate what happens when your demi doesn't get his medicine. Kiri is appalled-- 'Give that stuff to your own demi!'-- and Tonami is chilled by the fate that's inevitably in store for him. Someone snaps Tonami's picture and runs away. A helpful woman explains that there's a ring of demi-stealers who take photographs and then kidnap the demi for whoever shows interest in it. With Kiri beside him, Tonami isn't worried, but he still has a foreboding after seeing the dying demi.

In the demi-jackers' headquarters, a client comes to order some more underage female demis (so female demis do exist.) The gang entrusts the job to their usual strong man, Scarface-- a dark-skinned silver-haired guy with his left arm wrapped in a bandage. The gang owes their current prosperity to his skill with a knife. The boss offers him permanent employment, but Scarface says he's only passing through looking for somebody. Looking over the day's pictures, the gang sees this neat Castle demi and decide to have him for their own. Scarface says people who go for demis are crazy when they could do it with humans instead. But when sees the picture of Tonami that has Kiri in it as well, he says he'll go get the demi.

Tonami is cooking and comes out for a breather. Kiri says the current town reminds him of the one he grew up in. He starts reminiscing about his past- how he was abandoned at birth in among the garbage of the town, picked up and raised by the boss of a gang of thieves, left his boss cause he was fed up being an errand boy and took up with the gang we learned about in vol.1. After he escaped he learned how to use a knife from a friend he made as he was wandering around. Pat on cue comes Scarface, Kiri's old friend. Scarface's gang grabs Tonami while Scarface distracts Kiri's attention with a slash to the face. Scarface vaults down the building and Kiri turns to see his demi is gone.

Back at deminapper HQ the gang are shooting blue pictures of themselves screwing Tonami. They invite Scarface to join them, but he says 'I'm only interested in one person in the world.' The gang tries to give Tonami his medicine but he refuses to take it, much to their surprise. Scarface gets up. 'Changed your mind, Scarface?' they ask. 'Tosa,' he says. 'Huh?' 'My name is Tosa. And I said I'd only hang out with you till I'd met the guy I was looking for. I've met him--' and now he can massacre the whole gang.

Tosa gives Tonami his anti-liquefaciants ('You wanna see Kiri again?') He asks if Tonami loves Kiri. 'Demis... aren't allowed to say things like that,' Tonami falters. 'It's ok. It's the same with me. If I can't see Kiri I'd rather be dead. I've been looking for him forever.' He asks Tonami how Kiri screws him and proceeds to do it himself, while Tonami lets him because Tosa feels the same way he does. Meanwhile Kiri, lying in bed alone recalls meeting Tosa, and a woman who asks both Kiri and Tosa to take her away from the place they're in, and Tosa saying 'Lisa. My sister, Gorgeous, isn't she?' A rock comes through his window with one of the blue pictures of Tonami attached and an address below the city. Kiri follows instructions, meanwhile remembering his young self. Tosa asks why he's always sticking his neck out. 'Why not? I can't die anyway.' 'Do you want to die?' Lisa asks. 'Why, when it's so useful not being able to die?' Tosa tells him about the man in the West who knows how people will die. 'You really want to die?' Lisa keeps asking Kiri, who snarls at her to leave him alone. 'I won't leave you alone. Before you die I want you to help me. My brother- Tosa- he loves us, you know- you and me.' Kiri comes out into a junction of the sewer system and finds pornographic pictures of Tonami on the walls to guide his steps. And there's Tosa with a knife to Kiri's throat. 'I missed you, Kiri. Day in, day out, all I could think of was you.' Tosa's love looks like the fatal sort, frankly.