#//or the suits the seeds crew wore but i wasn’t trying to go for that

[henshinwolf89]

Zeiram 1 Retrospective

When it comes to Tokusatsu, it can be somewhat tricky to initially get into. With such a long history and back catalog, and an often 50+ episode long commitment, it can be daunting to newcomers. That’s why I usually say to find what appeals to you and go from there. Maybe find something that’s on the shorter side of things before trying to tackle the bigger ones. Standalone Tokusatsu movies can be a good starting point.

That leads me to suggesting one such movie series as a potential starting point into the larger world of Tokusatsu, the Zeiram series, which consists of two feature-length films and a six episode OVA. Zeiram was created by the insanely talented Keita Amemiya, an absolute legend in the Tokusatsu industry. Having worked on almost every major Tokusatsu franchise in some form at one point before creating his own series, such as the incredible Garo franchise, he quickly established himself as a unique visionary of the business.

Zeiram is Amemiya’s second film after Mirai Ninja, his debut movie in 1988, and began its life as a sequel to it before evolving into its own thing. The first Zeiram movie was released on December 21, 1991, and reportedly had a smaller budget than Mirai Ninja, thirty million yen, which is roughly two hundred thousand dollars. The entire film’s budget is apparently the cost of just a single episode of Garo! However, just because it had a smaller budget doesn’t mean that they skimped on the special effects. The film deploys an impressive array of special effects, ranging from amazing suitmation, puppetry, pyrotechnics, wire work, fight choreography, and even stop-motion animation!

The film stars actress Yuko Moriyama as Iria, a tough as nails intergalactic bounty hunter. Moriyama was a relatively new actress, having her start on a contact lens commercial for Seed Contact Lenses and mostly doing TV work. Moriyama was initially hesitant to play Iria, as she had no prior experience playing action roles, but enjoyed her experience as Iria by the end and came out with a very positive outlook. She wasn’t used to using guns or gun props and was pretty surprised by the impact of the model gun the first time she used it. She got used to it eventually as she knew Iria was a professional and needed to act the part. Soon, she found firing the guns to be really fun. Moriyama also stated having difficulty with the suit Iria wore. It’s bulkyness making her feel like a robot and bruising up her body quite a bit. She got used to it after a month. However, the suit was very squeaky and noisy. You could always tell when she was nearby, much to the amusement of the rest of the cast and crew.

The other two major characters are the two average working Joe electricians, Teppei and Kamiya, played by Kunihiro Ida and Yukijiro Hotaru, respectfully. Ida was in Amemiya’s previous film, Mirai Ninja, and is a varied actor being in the original Japanese version of “Shall We Dance?” Hotaru, on the other hand, is an accomplished stage actor and should be a familiar face to Tokusatsu fans. He played The Evil Emperor Diable in Bishoujo Kamen Poitrine, had a cameo as the suicidal man in Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack or GMK for short, and most famously played Tsutomu Osako in the Heisei Gamera trilogy, and Gonza Kurahashi in Garo. Hotaru and Amemiya are good friends, and they both have a tremendous amount of respect for each other.

Moriyama, Ida, and Hotaru all developed a great working chemistry with each other. Ida was very supportive of Moriyama, frequently psyching her up and giving her emotional support, while Hotaru often gave her acting advice. They did line readings together often and read through the script many times before shoots. They did this in advance as often as possible. Hotaru during shoots would hunch over to make himself look smaller in comparison to Moriyama, so Iria had a larger and more imposing presence.

Next up is Bob, Iria’s A.I. partner. Who is voiced by Masakazu Handa. He sadly died at the young age of 47 due to heart failure on August 26, 2014. Handa was a professional voice actor who also did a lot of narration work and announcement work at events like martial arts tournaments and sports games.

Finally, the titular monster, Zeiram, is played by suit actor Mizuho Yoshida, and the suit was made by famous sculptor and artist Takayuki Takeya. Yoshida’s first role was in Mirai Ninja, but he has played many Kaiju characters as well, such as Mother Legion in Gamera 2: Attack of Legion, Zedus in Gamera the Brave and Godzilla in GMK. In the Rebirth of Mothra movies, he played Desghidorah and Dagahra in the sequel. He has also provided motion capture work for video games such as the Tyrant from Resident Evil CODE: Veronica, Dylan in Dino Crisis 2, Dead Rising, and Onimusha. Most notably was the mo-cap actor for both Solid Snake and Naked Snake/Big Boss in Metal Gear Solid 1-3.

Amemiya drew many designs to find the look of Zeiram, an alien wearing a sedge hat. He settled on the look of a traveler from the Edo period, as he thought it would be scary to see someone like that in the streets in the middle of the night. The Zeiram costume was quite heavy, most of the weight being on the head with tension on the neck. According to Amemiya, Zeiram is female, but in the films, the characters use male pronouns, so I’ll be using gender neutral terms to refer to Zeiram. I mean, it’s a bio-mechanical alien. It probably doesn’t even fall into our human definitions of gender anyway.

But enough about the behind the scenes tidbits for now, let’s get into talking about the actual film!

The movie opens with an intense scene showing how dangerous Zeiram is. A group of armed men are brutally slaughtered by the ruthless alien. A bounty is placed on the capture of Zeiram, and Bob accepts the order and claims no one may interfere with Iria and Bob’s job. Next, we see Iria skulking through the streets of Tokyo, gathering supplies. Then we are introduced to Kamiya, who is elated to finally strike it big gambling on horse races. Kamiya is divorced, most likely due to his gambling habits. Teppei is next, trying to contact Kamiya about their next set of jobs. He wants to quickly get them done as he has a date with the company’s secretary, Yumi, something Kamiya teases him about.

I like Kamiya and Teppei. They’re just two average dudes that are about to find themselves in something extraordinary. They are the source of comic relief and provide a contrast to Iria’s stoic badass demeanor. Their hapless antics don’t distract or ruin Iria’s action scenes, and they even contribute tremendously to helping Iria. Honestly, they remind me of Val McKee and Earl Bassett, played by Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward from the movie Tremors.

Anyway, Iria and Bob’s base of operations are siphoning a lot of electricity, and so Kamiya and Teppei are called in to investigate. Iria and Bob are building a device to trap Zeiram in a place called the Zone. They need to use the Zone to capture Zeiram to avoid causing collateral damage to Earth’s environment and population. Bob says that they need this job to pay off debts racked up by Iria. After catching Zeiram in the Zone, the two electricians arrive, and Teppei accidentally stumbles into the Zone’s teleporter. Iria gives chase, and Kamiya invites himself along. This is where the movie primarily takes place in the Zone, where no other life is allowed in outside those permitted or teleported there.

Iria traps Kamiya in a protective barrier and goes off to pursue Teppei and find Zeiram. Unfortunately, Teppei encounters Zeiram first and is attacked. He flees, and Zeiram produces a creature called the Lilliput monster to give chase.

The smoke in the scene where Zeiram attacks Teppei with the Lilliput was created with oil at 2 o’clock in the morning. One of the first locations they shot according to interviews. People who hung their clothes out to dry had them covered in oil the next morning, Amemiya feels guilty for it and was sorry. The Lilliput monster was played by suit actresses Mayumi Aguni. Apparently, an early example of a woman playing a monster in Tokusatsu. It’s unfortunately difficult to find information online about female Kaiju actors. The only others I’m aware of are Yumi Kameyama as Super Gyaos in Gamera: The Guardian of the Universe and, of course, the popular and adorable Rie Ota as Baragon in GMK.

Back to the movie. Iria manages to track down Zeiram and lures it to a warehouse that she previously laid with booby-traps. She ensnares Zeiram in a wire trap and begins to gloat about her victory. Her confidence gets the best of her as Zeiram seizes the opportunity and surprises Iria with the parasite in it’s hat, and cutting itself free. Meanwhile, Teppei stumbles upon Kamiya frozen in the barrier. He attempts to free him. The fight between Iria and Zeiram rages on, as they exchange fire between each other. However, Bob warns that conventional weaponry is useless, so against Bob’s wishes, Iria reveals her battle armor and switches to hand-to-hand combat.

Iria’s armor proves effective as Zeiram’s payload of artillery is reflected. Zeiram chooses to fight with melee as well and begins to overpower Iria with shear might. Iria lures it to another trap, restraining it in place. Zeiram unleashes more Lilliput monsters to buy itself time to escape. Iria defeats the Lilliput monster, but Zeiram escapes its binding. Zeiram presses forward and corners Iria, but just before it can finish her off, she manages to finally trap it in the same confinement barrier she trapped Kamiya in.

With Zeiram in custody, Teppei finds Iria and requests she release Kamiya. Iria complies, and she explains the situation to the two men. Just as Bob is preparing to teleport everyone back, a Lilliput monster attacks the group. Iria defends the two but gets transported along with the monster, leaving the electricians behind with the frozen Zeiram. The scuffle with the monster damages the control panel, cutting off access to the Zone. Bob reveals it has also destabilized the Zone too, and not much time is left before it completely vanishes.

Waiting for Iria, Teppei rifles through Iria’s bags as Kamiya grows impatient. Another Lilliput monster attacks Kamiya, and Teppei uses Iria’s weapons to fight it off. In the struggle, Zeiram’s stasis pod gets damaged and releases it. The two electricians attempt to flee by hot wiring a truck. Unfortunately, Zeiram corners them and bites Kamiya’s arm with it’s parasite. They manage to shake off Zeiram and escape. It’s revealed that by consuming its victims’ DNA, Zeiram creates its clone monsters. It creates an imperfect clone of Kamiya, but it is unable to follow orders. In its rage, Zeiram kills the clone.

The scene where Kamiya gets attacked by Zeiram’s tentacle is one of the final scenes to be shot. The tentacle was controlled by wires, and the prop was quite short. They had to utilize camera tricks to make it look longer. After Zeiram removes its scarf, revealing its face, to make the Kamiya clone, its face seems reminiscent of the Predator. I wouldn’t be surprised if Predator played a role in inspiring Zeiram in some way.

The two electricians flee into a beer storage warehouse and attempt to defend themselves from Zeiram. The fight causes Teppei to get separated from Kamiya. Teppei is unable to locate Kamiya, escapes, and contacts Iria. Iria and Bob debate sending Teppei the Metis Cannon to fight Zeiram after Teppei resolves to make a last stand after he assumes Kamiya might be dead.

Teppei heads to the drop-off point on a motorcycle to retrieve the Metis Cannon, Zeiram intercepts, and corners Teppei. Suddenly, Kamiya returns to save Teppei with a construction crane. However, Zeiram overpowers it and knocks Kamiya out of the vehicle. Then Iria swoops into the rescue, armed with a bazooka. Iria unloads the bazooka’s only shot towards Zeiram, severely damaging its body. Zeiram discards its lower half, revealing its true body is the hat, and mutates into a more skeleton-like creature to continue pursuing our heroes.

The bike scene was shot in a plane hanger in Haneda Airport. Amemiya had no prior experience with shooting a scene with a stunt like this before and was worried about the safety of the actors. The wire connected to the stunt actor on the bike fortunately snapped off, had it not, Yoshida, in the Zeiram suit, would have been hit and seriously injured. The Zeiram skeleton showcases Amemiya and his teams talent at practical effects with an impressive display of both stop-motion animation and puppetry, bringing the creature to life.

The trio, with Zeiram in tow, flee through a maze-like web of rooms in search of the Metis Cannon to kill Zeiram. Iria stays behind to stall Zeiram, leading to her being flung out a window after damaging Zeiram with a grenade. Kamiya and Teppei find the Metis Cannon but struggle to put it together in time, Zeiram tracks them down and corners them. Iria locates them in the nick of time and quickly assembles the Metis Cannon and uses it to destroy Zeiram’s skeleton. She then captures Zeiram’s hat in a barrier.

Bob transports Kamiya and Teppei back to home base outside the Zone. Then, he brings back the captured Zeiram. Next, he attempts to bring back Iria. However, Zeiram breaks free, damages the transport device, and goes on the offensive once again mutating further. Iria is trapped within the Zone as it is collapsing. Bob instructs Kamiya on how to repair the transport device as Teppei attempts to hold Zeiram back with a makeshift wooden barricade. Zeiram breaks free and is poised to kill Teppei when Kamiya fixes the device, and Iria arrives to save the day by lighting Zeiram up with as many shots as it takes, finally killing it.

As the morning comes, the trio catch their breath and thank each other for everything. Iria cuts off two locks of her hair and gives it to Kamiya and Teppei as a way of saying thanks and for them to have something to remember her by. Bob then asks if the three could group up for a commemorative photo. As Bob snaps the picture, everyone smiles and credits roll.

Though Moriyama was inexperienced as an action actress, by the time of filming the final confrontation with Zeiram, she was completely in character. Amemiya found it easier to direct her, as she had become accustomed to fighting, and he had gained more experience as a director. Despite a few bumps in the road, the cast and crew had a pleasant experience with the movie. The only major problems were the weather, which seemed to be against them, according to Amemiya.

As for my thoughts on the film? I absolutely love it! I would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone, whether you’re into Tokusatsu or just like monster movies or creature features, like Predator or Alien. I’d even recommend this movie to a Resident Evil fan! I couldn’t shake the feeling of being reminded of my love of the intense rivalry between Jill Valentine and Nemesis. I wouldn’t be surprised if this film played some role in inspiring Resident Evil 3, though I have zero evidence to back that claim. Zeiram even goes through several mutations, like a final boss from Resident Evil.

Even if you’ve never heard of Keita Amemiya’s work prior to this, chances are you’ve encountered his work vicariously through some games you may have played. Games like Hagane: The Final Conflict, Onimusha 2-3, Clock Tower 3, Genji: Days of the Blade, Final Fantasy 14, and Shin Megami Tensei IV. Like I said, he’s a legend of the industry, and he has fans all across the world.

If you’re interested, you can easily pick up a Blu-ray copy for a good price. It recently received a fantastic 30th Anniversary Edition re-release back in 2021 by Media Blasters. Go check it out! You won’t regret it!

[mechahero]

desert traveler alternate

beltless 

[thebeautifulgame7]

Reputation

CHAPTER INDEX

CHAPTER TEN:

Sergio’s POV:

I woke up with Iris still wrapped in my arms. One draped over her middle, the other under her head. I had slept better than I had in a long time and the smile on my face said it all. She was still here, and we hooked up last night. Sure we didn’t go all the way, but the potential is there. She was after all, still in my bed.

I pressed a soft kiss to her shoulder before admiring her sleeping form. She looked so lovely even with her mess of hair splayed across her face.

I couldn’t wait for her to wake up so I could make breakfast with her and enjoy the morning before I left for training. I could have only dreamed of this until last night.

I gently moved my hand from her middle and brushed some of Iris’s hair from her face before kissing her temple. She stirred and groaned lightly.

“Good morning hermosa.” I whispered softly. Iris only responded with another groan before she slowly blinked her eyes open.

She turned In my arms to face me, “Good morning.” She said in a hoarse morning voice, her eyes looked tiredly at me.

I tucked some hair behind her ear before leaning in and kissing her. I couldn’t help the smile on my lips as I did so. I could feel Iris’s hand trail up to my chest, softly pushing me away.

“Sergio, no.” She spoke in a gentle voice. I pulled away puzzled.

“What do you mean?” I asked, sitting up as she did as well.

“I mean this.” She gestured between her and I before she moved to get out of bed.

“You and I? I thought that’s why you came here.” I responded, still sitting in my bed.

Iris searched for her clothes, the small pile was sitting on a chair. “Last night we had a good time.” I added before she looked up at me.

“Last night shouldn’t have happened.” Iris said and I felt my heart drop. I frowned and looked at her more confused than ever.

“But I thought you chose me.” I breathed out softly, watching her slide her pants back on. I could feel my heart breaking a little, a sensation that was very new to me.

“It’s not that easy Sergio.” Iris said plainly. “I can’t just jump into this with you.” She added.

“I’m not asking you to, but I thought you left him for me though. Surely you can see there’s something between us.” I responded, desperation creeping into my voice.

“Is there? Or did I just like what I couldn’t have. Did you just like what you couldn’t have?” Iris answered back and I felt my heart sink even more.

“Iris, what are you talking about?” I raised my voice slightly. I knew what I was feeling and it wasn’t just lust.

“Sergio come on, you’re Madrid’s most eligible bachelor, it’s hottest playboy, why would you want anything more than just sex with me? Lust is powerful and maybe that’s what we felt.” She responded, causing anger to boil inside of me.

“You’re kidding me right? You’re gonna stand here and tell me that what we have is nothing? Why would I have even bothered if that’s all I wanted.” I shot back and Iris just stared at me. “If you remember correctly, there’s been plenty of opportunities for me to make that happen and I haven’t.” I added. We could’ve had sex months ago, but we didn’t.

“Maybe you just love the chase.” She responded with an indifferent tone.

“Pr maybe I just wanted to see where we could take this. You can’t handle the fact that what we have could be amazing. You’re scared of what would happen.” I answered, a glare fixed on my face.

“That’s not true.” Iris said quickly, not holding eye contact.

“It is Iris. You’re scared because of what everyone says about me and you’re finding every excuse to not give us a fair chance.” I spoke, trying to keep calm.

“There is no us, Sergio. It’s just not meant to be.” And with those words still echoing in my head, Iris made her exit.

I quickly followed her downstairs and out to my front door. “Iris come on, just give me a chance.” I practically begged.

She stuck her hand out to keep my at arm's length. “Enough Sergio, it’s just not the right time.” She said softly, turning to head out.

“Then when is the right time?” I asked, a glimmer of hope still in my voice.

Iris turned and looked at me sadly. “I don’t know.” She practically whispered before walking off.

I yelled after her, but she never turned around. I even watched her drive off, hoping she would come back, but she didn’t.

***

“Iker I just don’t get what I did wrong this time.” I said in a sad tone as we headed to our cars after training.

“What happened, like the whole story?” He asked as we stopped at his car.

“She called saying that she needed a place to stay. I said yes and sent Ana home before she got there. We had a drink, I showed her the suit you picked out for the wedding, and we hooked up.” I said looking at my friend for any facial cues that what I did was wrong.

“What do you mean you hooked up?” Iker asked with a puzzled look on his face.

“Okay well we didn’t have sex. We just made out a lot and I fingered her. It’s so high school I know, but I didn’t think us having sex right after her breakup was a good idea..” I shrugged. “So we just cuddled and went to bed afterwards, she wore my shirt and it was amazing.” I added, looking at Iker, hiding my feelings of sadness and rejection.

“And this morning she just flipped on you?” He asked to make sure he got the story right.

I nodded, “yeah we kissed and then she pushed me away, talking about how all we had between us was lust and it wasn’t the right time.” I spoke, looking down at my shoes.

“You know what the worst part is?” I glanced back up at Iker who prompted me to continue. “I was so ready for it all. I woke up thinking about what we were gonna make for breakfast and how the day was gonna go. I’d call her after training and we’d hang out. I was ready to take it all slow with her but be by her side while she worked through everything. I was excited about a girl for once and she just crushed it all while she still had my t shirt on.” I confessed, not embarrassed but upset.

“I know how you feel about her.” Iker said, pulling me in for a quick hug. “We’ll fix this. It’s going to work out.” He added, trying to be supportive.

“I don’t think so, I want her, and I really thought she felt the same. I’m just confused and I’m hurt. I wasted so much time.” I practically mumbled, still feeling the emotions of this morning. “It just sucks because I thought I did everything right this time.” I said quietly.

I had to let her go, at least for now. Iris didn’t seem to want much of anything to do with me. I guess I would just back off for a while. There was only a month until the wedding anyways, I’d see her soon, maybe by then she’d be better.

***

Iris’s POV:

I know, I freaked. I messed up, but what else was I supposed to do? I couldn’t just let him think everything was okay, it wasn’t.

I can’t pretend with him, he’s too real with me. I had to leave because if I didn’t, this thing that Sergio, and maybe I, want so desperately to work out wouldn’t. Being around someone who’s ready, or at least seems like it, when you aren’t feels wrong.

I know the whole argument about him just wanting my for sex was a cop out but what else was I supposed to do? Why would someone as famous and good looking want me for anything more than that? I know Sergio said that wasn’t true, but the seed of doubt had been planted in my mind. I needed to focus on me for a while, free from distractions.

It was hard for a while, coming home to an empty apartment, not being able to text Sergio to come over. I wanted to see him, but I knew if I did things would happen and I needed to be sure I was ready for that.

The last month leading up to the wedding I did most of the planning duties myself, Sergio kept bailing on me for interviews or photoshoots. It was all very convenient, but who could blame him after the way I acted. I would send him pictures of layouts and color schemes and I would get short, one sentence responses. It was disheartening to say the least, but this time away was needed. I just had to hope and pray that he would be there waiting when I was ready. I wasn’t sure if he would be.

Joey had proceeded to text and call me almost everyday, desperate attempts to get me back. I never answered, I had outgrown him. It was easy to keep my mind off of him for the most part, but getting Sergio out of my head was a whole other challenge.

Recently Joey’s attempts to talk with me had gotten more invasive. He had shown up at my work multiple times and even tried to get into the apartment building we used to live in together, thankfully I had changed the access code. Our anniversary date was not something I needed to be reminded of every time I wanted to get into my building.

I wasn’t necessarily scared by it, but it was a little unnerving. I just wanted him to get the hint that I was done. I thought I had been clear enough when I dumped him, but he could be quite thick when he wanted to be.

About a week before the wedding I was the last to leave the office on a late Tuesday night. I gathered my things and grabbed my bag, taking the elevator down to the parking garage. It was empty except for the night crew’s cars, my own, and an unfamiliar black Mercedes sedan.

To be honest I didn’t think much of it, I worked at a large building, it could’ve been someone on another floor who was pulling a long night like myself. I went about my business and got into my car, starting the engine and looking out the rearview mirror. The black Mercedes has started its engine as well.

I frowned and shifted into drive, pulling out of the garage swiftly. I started driving towards my apartment when I noticed the Mercedes was following me. I took a few unnecessary turns, hoping  I was just being paranoid, but the Mercedes was still on me. Now was when I began to feel scared.

If it was Joey, I didn’t want to know what had made him go mad to the point of stalking me. If it was Sergio, I would have been more confused than anything and I highly doubted he had the time and motivation to do something so creepy. He never struck me as the crazy obsessed lover type, so I guess I could rule him out. If it was some stranger, well, I wasn’t sure if that was scarier than Joey.

My heart began to race, I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t call Sergio, surely he wouldn’t answer. I needed a man, someone who could protect me in a situation like this. I reached into my purse, glancing between it and the road until I found my phone, dialling Iker’s number.

“Pick up, come on Iker, pick up.” I groaned to myself listening as the call went to voicemail. “Fuck.” I shouted to the empty car, the Mercedes now following closer to me. I could feel my heartbeat in my chest heavily now and my palms started to sweat.

I couldn’t stop the car, I was too scared that the person would get out, and I certainly could not go home right now either. I cursed quietly to myself before dialing up the man I had no hopes would answer.

Three rings and I could feel my anxiety increase from the situation and the fact that Sergio could pick up at any moment. At this point, I really hoped he did. The Mercedes sped up and tapped the back of my car. I screamed and began to shake.

“Iris?” Sergio’s voice asked through the phone. I audibly sighed with relief as I listened.

“Oh thank god you answered.” I responded, glancing in my rearview to see the Mercedes.

“Is everything okay?” He asked me in a slightly concerned voice.

“Um actually no. Look I’m sorry that I called and bothered you but someone is following me right now and it’s really late and I’m very scared.” I blurted out quickly. The Mercedes revved it’s engine and hit the back of my car a little harder this time. “Oh my god!” I screamed, tears welling up.

“Wait what?” Sergio said, sounded much more interested in the conversation now.

“I’m driving around Madrid right now with a black Mercedes following me and it just hit me! I don’t know what to do and I’m scared.” I cried into the phone, the gravity of the situation sinking in. Why did I even bother to call him in the first place it wasn’t like he could do anything right now.

“Drive to the police station right now.” Sergio’s voice turned serious and stern.

“Huh?” I asked a little confused. The Mercedes picked up speed, almost hitting the back of my car again.

“Drive to the nearest police station, if this person is trying to hurt you, they won’t do it in a police parking lot. Call the police, explain to them what is happening, tell them you’re coming. They should have someone outside waiting when you arrive. You can file a report, or wait it out with them and then have a police unit follow you to your apartment and check everything out.” Sergio explained calmly through the phone, his voice steady and reassuring.

“And that works?” I whimpered through the phone.

“I’ve done it, and it works.” He said. “With my job I have to watch my back, one of my teammates told me about this.” He added.

“Thank you.” I practically whispered.

“I’m gonna hang up now, call the police, do what they say and I’ll be waiting for you at your apartment.” Sergio spoke.

“Sergio you don’t-”

“No, I need to see that you’re safe.” He interrupted. I thanked him again before hanging up and calling the police.

***

Just as Sergio promised, he was parked on the street outside of my apartment, lent up against his car waiting. He waved at me as I pulled into the secure parking garage underneath the building and the cop car behind me parked behind him.

I quickly gathered my things and walked out to them both who were already chatting.

“Ms. Leiker, would you like me to come up and inspect the apartment?” The policeman asked and I nodded. I glanced at Sergio and he gave me a soft smile.

I let the three of us in and we rode the elevator up in silence. The cop went ahead of us checking the hallway and Sergio placed an arm across my shoulders, pulling me into him. I went with it, feeling safe nestled against him.

I handed the cop my keys and he unlocked the door, “Now you two just wait out here while I check everything.” He instructed and we both nodded.

He walked in and began searching the large flat. Once he was out of sight I turned to Sergio, dropping my things and wrapping my arms around his middle, tears welling in my eyes.

“Shh, shh, it’s okay, you’re safe, I’m here.” He whispered, holding me tightly in his arms and resting his head on mine. “You’re okay Iris, I won’t let anything happen to you. You did the right thing.” Sergio said softly.

We stood there for a while, him just holding me in silence while I sobbed quietly, the stress of the situation catching up with me. The cop returned after almost ten minutes, “All clear Ms. Leiker.” He said and handed the keys to Sergio’s outstretched arm. Sergio thanked him quietly. “You two have a good evening.” The officer said and I mumbled a thank you from my place on Sergio’s chest.

Sergio thanked the officer as well and released me once he got into the elevator. “Let’s get you inside.” Sergio said encouragingly, bending down to pick my stuff up.

I nodded and sniffed, walking inside cautiously. “Why don’t you go take a warm shower and I’ll keep watch.” He smiled softly. “You’ve had a tough evening.” He added, taking my hand and leading me up to the bedroom.

We made our way into my bedroom and towards the bathroom. “I’ll just wait downstairs okay?” Sergio asked, looking at me with concern clear on his face.

“Could you actually just sit in the bathroom?” I asked him sheepishly. “I don’t want to be alone.” I added softly, a tear rolling down my cheek.

I felt Sergio’s thumb move to wipe it away and I looked up, seeing a small smile on his face. “Of course.” He answered.

He took a seat on the bathroom counter and covered his eyes as I closed the bathroom door. “Let me know when you’re in the shower so I can open my eyes and keep watch.” He said, trying to make a little joke.

I laughed nervously and quickly undressed, glad that he was respecting my privacy. I stepped in and turned on the hot water. “Okay, I’m in.” I said softly.

I let the water run over me, the warmth calming me slightly. It was silent for a few minutes before I heard Sergio again. “Iris?” He asked.

“Yeah?” I responded, rinsing the shampoo out of my hair.

“What made you call me? Not that I’m not glad you did but, you know.” He trailed off and I could imagine him looking down at his hands at this point.

“Truthfully, I didn’t want to, because of how things have gone, but when Iker didn’t answer, you were the only person I could think of. I was scared and my mind kept telling me to call you.” I said. “I didn’t think you were gonna answer.” I added quietly.

“I’m glad you called.” He responded in a gentle voice. “I’ll always answer when you call.” He added as I shut off the water.

“Here.” Sergio said, handing me a towel with one hand and covering his eyes with the other. I smiled slightly and wrapped myself in it.

I quickly dried off and changed in the bathroom, leaving Sergio to sit on my bed. He smiled gently when I came out.

“I should get going.” He mumbled.

“No.” Was all I could say, “Please, stay.” I quietly begged.

“I just, I don’t know. I’m glad you’re safe but I don’t think I should stick around.” Sergio said, not really looking at me. It hurt knowing I did this to him.

“I can’t be alone right now.” I answered, tears coming back to my eyes. I sniffed quietly.

“Is there a couch or a guest room or something?” He asked, seeing my eyes filled with tears.

“Sergio please, I’m sorry I’ve treated you so terribly but I am so scared right now.” I begged. “Can you please just sleep here with me.” Tears were running down my face at this point.

I sniffed as I waited for his response. “I’m sorry I’ve been awful to you and I’m sorry for leading you on and I’m sorry for being such a bad person. I’m horrible I know and I don’t deserve your kindness but please.” I said, not bothering to hear what he had to say.

“I never said those things about you, and I don’t think that.” He said calmly, still sitting on the edge of my bed.

“Well you’ve done a great job at avoiding me.” I whimpered, tears still falling.

“I had to do that for me, for you and I, but tonight when you called, I couldn’t just leave you. I had to make sure you were safe” Sergio answered, getting up and walking over to me. “I’ll stay.” He whispered as he hugged me tightly again.

With that, he undressed down to his boxers and t shirt and we slipped into bed. He laid on his back as I reached to turn out the lights. Without hesitation I moved to lay on his chest and cuddle him.

“I forgive you.” Sergio whispered, wrapping an arm around me.

I needed this right now.

I needed him.