| adopt your own virtual pet! |
17
“This thing is amazing” said a fascinated Konkon looking at the little machine in her hands “There’s no way I can understand how it works”
“Then.., you can’t fix it?”
Kaoru’s voice sounded desperate and dreadfully scared. Until that moment, she had been so excited about the possibility to meet the Konno of another world that she didn’t realize that maybe she couldn’t do anything. As well as she came from the future, her world was also more developed about technology. Twenty years were a big gap and the fact that the people of that world had to survive with the basics and were more worried about the monsters menacing their life… well, was quite a drawback.
Konkon saw the restlessness in Kaoru’s eyes and answered with a smile.
“I didn’t say that” then she returned her attention to the Traveler “If, as you told me, the machine was damaged during the shooting it may be a something external. Then, we just have to find it”
With these words Kaoru sighed in relieve.
“Well, why don’t you tell me about your trip while we work?”
***
Ishikawa was walking through the corridors trying to find Miki without luck. Lately, they’d been a bit distant to each other and, since her last talk the younger seemed to be avoiding her. Maybe it was just her imagination, but Yossi and Kaoru’s arrival had make things even more complicated, not to mention the new Miki’s pastime, which was right now in front of her.
At first, she doubted to ask her. That girl was really difficult to handle and Rika didn’t want to make any mistake that could make things worst between them. But the truth was that she’d been closer to Fujimoto the last two days than Rika herself.
“Have you… seen Miki?”
“No”
Matsuura’s answer was cold and sharp, enough to discourage Rika to try to keep a conversation. Then, another girl joined them and Aya decided that it was time to leave.
“I guess you’ll want to be alone, excuse me” said the younger.
But before she could leave, a strong hand held her.
“I want to talk with you”
“We don’t have anything to talk about” Aya tried to release her arm from Yossi’s grip but she couldn’t.
“You’re going to come with me and we’re gonna talk, you like it or not”
The determination and strength in Yossi’s words took off guard both Aya and Rika and, before they could process what was happening, Yoshizawa had already disappeared with the younger, although she could hear Aya shouts and complaints from far away.
Ishikawa stayed there immobile, remembering the first time that she’d seen that same scene. It was the day she met Aya for the first time, the day Hitomi died. She’d remained calmed while her sister was ranting and raving about Yoshizawa’s plans ‘til the older, with just a word, made her shut up. Then, there was the same strength in her voice as in Yossi’s just minutes ago. There was no doubt that they were the same girl, it doesn’t matter how much Yossi tried to deny it. And that was killing Rika.
She could act strong, she could repeat to herself over and over than Yossi wasn’t going to stay, but her heart refused to accept that she was going to lose the love of her life again. Fate was, indeed, cruel.
Immersed in her thoughts, Ishikawa had forgotten completely about Miki until she saw her friend appear at the end of the corridor.
“Oh, Mi…”
“You’ve seen the princess?” cut it the younger before Rika could say anything.
“Aya?” asked Ishikawa to be sure they were talking about the same girl. Miki just nodded “She left with Yossi a few minutes ago”
“Shit”
Fujimoto was going to turn and leave the same way she’d came but Rika didn’t give her the chance.
“What’s going on between you and Aya?”
That was funny. The same annoying question had been floating in Miki’s mind all night without being able to reach any conclusion. Finally, she gave up trying to understand it and just accept it.
“I don’t know”
“What’s that suppose to mean?”
“That I don’t know, damn it!” shouted Miki in her desperation “I just have this… urge… to be near her and, the more she rejects me, harder I try it”
“That’s not new Miki. The moment you’ll get what you want, you’ll get bored and all that interest will disappear” stated Rika, crossing her arms and leaning against the wall, sure to know her friend enough to understand what was happening.
“I’ve already got it”
Rika didn’t catch the meaning in Miki’s sentence at first. The younger saw the clueless expression on the face of her friend ad made a gesture with her head trying to make her understand, something that seemed to work ‘cause, seconds later, Ishikawa’s eyes where wide open in astonishment
“You slept with her?!”
“Yeah”
Ishikawa wasn’t expecting that. First, she couldn’t believe that Aya had given up so easily to Miki and second, the fact that Fujimoto didn’t tell her before. It had become a routine for Miki to inform her friend about all her conquest in her effort to make the older a bit jealous so, this new behaviour was totally a surprise.
“So…, it’s like, you know… you like her?”
“I guess so”
The older kept silence again. That was definitely new…
“What? Disappointed to know that you’re not the only one anymore?” asked Miki in a sarcastic tone.
“I’m surprised, that’s all. You’ve never shown interest in someone beyond the first night”
Fujimoto took a step closer to the older and leant towards her.
“Except with you” she said playfully, but with a hint of sadness in her voice.
“Miki, not again”
The memories from years ago, when Ishikawa used more than words to make Miki stay with them, brought a deep red to the older’s cheeks. That was something they didn’t talk about usually… Funny, it was Rika who took the first step then, kissing a stubborn Miki before she could leave or they could end punching each other. Too bad that she didn’t know where she was getting into releasing the ‘beast’ in the younger. Just one night was enough to make Miki stay with the propose to win Rika’s heart, but someone got it first…
“Don’t worry, that’s over” said Fujimoto moving away from her “I’ve realized that there are wars that I can’t win. A ghost is an adversary to difficult to beat”
“And you think you can win with Aya?”
“I don’t know but, at least, I’ll have fun trying it”
***
“So… basically, the Konno from your world, who was good friends with your mother, gave you the Traveler to help you with your research?”
The other girl nodded. Konkon was still working but paying attention to Kaoru’s story at the same time. She told Konno exactly the same she explained to Yossi the first day when they just arrive to that world, but leaving out some little details like her mom’s identity.
“You know… That’s an amazing story” said Asami while she examined the machine carefully with a magnifying glass and tongs, removing the covers carefully “Now I’d like to hear the truth”
“What do you… mean?”
“Well, if I was the Konkon of your world, I’d never gave you something that could be dangerous and, of course, I’d never let you go alone in this kind of trip, less being a good friend of your mom. I don’t think that someone who cares about you would let you take that risk just because a school work so…” Konno left the Traveler and her tools on the table and turned to face Kaoru “…the truth”
Labels: Traveler
The new day found Yossi lying in the bed, face down to the mattress and with the pillow over her head, trying muffle the fuss coming from the outside. It had been a long night. She spent hours talking with Rika about how different their worlds were and how the younger ended traveling with an almost unknown girl. Of course, Yossi didn’t tell anything about Kaoru’s origin. That would be too shocking for someone who was already talking with a clone of her dead girlfriend. Besides she didn’t have too much to tell. Kaoru just told her that Ishikawa was her mom, nothing more.
Rika as someone’s mom… That was so weird to think about…
For some reason, Yossi began to wonder how Kaoru’s father would be. Ishikawa’d always got high tastes so, the man was probably handsome and polite, the perfect partner. Yocchan built in her mind an image of the happy couple with a little baby-Kaoru in their arms and something deep inside her cracked. Why that single though hurt her so much?
Because I still miss you…
That was the awful truth that she had been denying all this time. Her feelings hadn’t disappeared. They had been hidden, waiting for the right time to get out and make her life miserable again. So much time fighting against herself for nothing. Just one smile from that newly found Rika and everything went to hell.
Yossi squeezed the pillow against her head harder to erase all that thoughts from her mind and get some sleep, but that was until a certain and annoying girl rushed into the room and began to shake her.
“She’s back!”
“Hnn…”
Yossi grumbled but didn’t even bother to stick her head out of under the pillow.
“Yoshizawa-san!” shouted the younger shaking her again “She’s back!”
“Who?” asked the singer finally, but without paying too much attention to whatever Kaoru had to say. She just wanted to get rid of her and go back to her attempts to get some sleep.
“Konno-san! She’s here!”
Hearing that name, Yossi’s senses came back to life again and she woke up quickly. She threw away the pillow hurling it against the wall, stood up from the bed and grabbed her clothes to put them on while she followed Kaoru out of the room.
***
“Any problem?”
“Not really” answered Konno to the leader while leaving her heavy bag on the floor “We bumped into a bunch of drunken men two days ago but Risa got rid of them easily”
Yuko walked towards the younger and tapped her head.
“Aah~ our little Nii-chan has grown up well”
“Stop treating me as if I was still a child. I’m already eighteen, you know?” said Gaki-san with an offended pose “I’m not a sca…”
Suddenly, Risa fell silent, her face turned pale and her eyes wide open while she was pointing with her index finger to something.
“Ghost!”
Everybody there turned to look at what Risa was pointing at or, to be exact, at who she was pointing at.
“Hi” said Yossi already used to that kind of reaction.
“What?! Nobody can see it?!” the calmness in the other girls began to desperate Gaki-san who took the nearest girl to her and began to shake her “It’s a ghost! A gho…”
Plaf
She’d chosen the wrong girl to shake.
“Better now?” asked Miki with her hand still raised, ready to slap the younger again if it was necessary.
Risa just nodded, unable to say something coherent, while she was looking at the apparition in front of her.
Plaf
“Miki!” shouted Yuko.
“Just in case”
Nakazawa rolled her eyes and turned her attention to Risa, who was holding her aching cheek and had took a step back in fear to avoid a possible new attack from Fujimoto.
“It’s a long story, Gaki-san, but she’s not a ghost” explained Yuko “But we’ll talk about that later. Now, we need our brilliant Asami to help us with something”
***
“So, there’s something you can do?”
“I… don’t… know…”
Konkon had the Traveler in her hands and was watching it carefully. Kaoru had summed up briefly how the machine worked, but she was still clueless about what could have happened. Besides, the whole time-travelling story was too shocking and she needed a few minutes to recover and process all the information.
“As I told you, I’ve never seen something like this before” said Konno “I can repair radios, make cars work… but this is out of my league”
“I’m sure it’s just matter of time for you to figure what the problem is” Yuko took the young genius under her arm and smiled “Well, girls, I guess you’re not going anywhere for a while, uh?”
“I guess so…” answered Yossi disappointed.
Yuko smirked.
“That’s good, ‘cause I need you to do something”
“What do you want know? ‘Cause if you need someone to have Miki entertained again I’ll tell you right now that I pass…”
The older took Yossi out of the room, leaving Konkon and Kaoru alone working with the Traveler. Standing in the corridor, the two women stared at each other for a moment. The expression in Yuko’s face had changed completely. Now she had that serious look of a leader that made Yocchan respect her so much.
“I want you to talk with Aya”
“Me?” asked Yossi surprised “Why?”
“That kid is lost. She needs to know that she’s not alone”
“But… I can’t. I won’t know how to do it. In my world, Miki’s the closest one to Aya. I barely talk with her”
“Miki?” laughed Yuko “I knew there’s something about those two… Anyway, it has to be you. Aya won’t hear anyone else”
“She won’t talk with me”
“She’ll do it”
“Why are you so sure? She’s been avoiding me since I arrived here”
“Of course she did it. Did you really think that she was going to accept you as well as Rika-chan did it? Even if Ishikawa seems a dreamy girl she knows that you’re not going to stay longer and she’s strong enough to handle it, but Aya… It’s easier for her to avoid this new chance than getting hurt. That’s why I need you. You have to open that door to let the rest of us enter her life before you leave her again”
Yossi leant against the wall of the corridor and sighed
“She’ll kill me before being able to say anything, you know it, right?”
“Nah. Just let out the Yossi that fought against Miki yesterday and Aya won’t be able to deny you anything”
“What are you talking about?”
“Don’t ask. Just do it”
“But…”
“DO IT”
If there was someone in the Earth able to go against Nakazawa, that wasn’t Yossi. So, she just could nod in agreement and see the woman leaving with a smile of satisfaction in her face. Then, she let her back roll against the wall and, sitting in the floor, buried the head between her knees.
“I wanna go home…”
Labels: Traveler
After a few endless minutes, the kids seemed to calm down, letting Fujimoto seat in front of the fire and breath again. One of the children was next to her, looking at the scratch that had left the edge of Yossi’s sword.
“It hurts?”
Miki denied with her head and smiled at the kid.
“Not at all”
While she was trying to convince her little demons that it was already time to go to bed, Fujimoto saw someone standing behind her. After what happened, the last thing she wasn’t expecting is that Matsuura wanted to talk with her.
“How’s your leg?” asked the older, standing from her seat and walking towards Aya.
“Better”
End of conversation. None of the girls knew what to say and that lead to an awkward silence. They just stayed there, staring, waiting for the other to say the first word. Luckily for them, someone interrupted their ‘moment’ pulling from Miki’s trousers.
“She’s Mikitan’s girlfriend?”
The question came from below, from a tiny voice which belonged to a little girl, no more than five or six years, big eyes, messy hair, puffy cheeks and an innocent smile, that was waiting for an answer.
Aya’d frozen for a moment, but Miki just smiled and kneeled to be at the same level as the child.
“Nah…, she hates me. Besides…” she said pinching the kid’s right cheek “I only have eyes for you”
The little girl was pleased enough with the answer and left with a wide smile in her face. Fujimoto looked at her walking happily and then stood up again, just to find Matsuura staring at her with a weird mocking face, trying to hold her laugh.
“What’s so funny?”
“Miki… tan?”
“You have a problem with that?” asked Fujimoto a bit angry.
“No… no, it’s just that… you know… isn't too cute for you?”
“Because I’m a scarred face monster who likes to seduce helpless girls?”
“Sort of”
“You know… I’m a nice girl…” said Miki taking a step towards Aya.
“Let me doubt that”
“…and you’ve begun to like me…”
“Keep dreaming” Matsuura crossed her arms as trying to avoid any contact.
“…as much as I’ve begun to like you”
“You’re sure you didn’t hit your head in that fight?”
“Yeah, pretty sure” smiled Fujimoto, who was enjoying her little game “If you don’t like me then tell me, why are you talking to me right now?”
“I was… bored” answered the younger.
Of course, it was a lame excuse that Miki didn’t believe. The older smirked at Aya’s reaction and walked a bit closer to her, leaving just a breath between their bodies.
“Then…” began to say Miki with a playful voice “…we could repeat what we did hours ago to keep you entertained…”
“No, thanks”
“Why not? You had fun…”
Aya blushed just remembering what happened, but she tried to not show it to the other girl.
“No, I didn’t”
“Yes, you did” insisted Miki
Fujimoto surrounded Aya’s waist with her arms and leant dangerously to reach the younger’s lips. Miki had prepared herself for any kick or punch or whatever kind of attack that Matsuura could burst in, but it never happened. Aya just stayed there, as trying to show that she was strong enough to hold any attempt that the older could make to seduce her.
“Don’t even try it…”
“Stop me” said Miki with a sexy voice, not scared of Matsuura’s threatening look.
And someone stopped her. Not Aya, though.
Still with the younger in her arms, Miki bowed her head and saw the kid from minutes ago pulling again from her trousers.
“The elders are bothering me~” said the kid with her eyes red from crying.
Miki looked at the kid and then at Aya again. Such a bad moment to interrupt.
“Come on, Tan” said the younger with a mocking tone in her voice “A helpless lady needs you”
And that’s how Fujimoto Miki had to give up this time at her attempt to win another heart. She took the kid in her arms and looked at Aya one last time before leaving, just to make the younger know that the game hadn’t finished yet.
When Miki was far enough, Matsuura sighed and her heart began to beat again at its normal pace.
Something’s really wrong with me today…
***
“So, when’s going to come back her friend?”
“Maki?” asked Yuko looking at her friend “I told her to wait a few days”
“Why?”
“I want to have Aya here alone. She needs to get out of that little world where she lives and begin to communicate with people”
Kaori stared at Matsuura, who was standing a few meters ago, near to the bonfire, still at the same place where Miki had left her.
“Why do you care so much about that girl? I know you always liked challenges but yet…”
“I was there the day Yoshizawa found her” answered Yuko.
“Really?”
Nakazawa nodded.
“My father was Yoshizawa’s superior and I was with him all the time. One day, being on patrol, we found the remains of a community which had been just attacked. There were only two survivors; Aya and her mother, but the woman’s wounds where too serious and she didn’t survive. Before she died, we promised her to take care of the kid and that’s what I’m doing”
“Who’d gonna say it…”
“What?”
“That a rebel like you could be such a responsible mom”
Yuko glared at her friend as if she was offended, punched Kaori on the shoulder and then both laughed.
Labels: Traveler
“Ouch!”
“Whiner…”
“Whiner? Did you see what she did to me?” complaint Yossi, pointing at her swollen lip while Ishikawa was trying to clean the wound.
“Yeah, I saw it. But I saw what you did to her, too”
That’s right. Yoshizawa had almost forgotten about it, but she was the one who hurt Miki first and, just the idea of her opponent not able to avoid the sword in time, made her froze. How could have that happened? She’d never had a weapon in her hands and, of course, never had that kind of fight before but there, in that square with Fujimoto, her body had reacted by instinct, as if she had spent her life doing that. Even now, she could feel that it was still there, that… strength.
“No one had disarmed Miki before…” said Rika still taking care of the wounds.
“Well, someone had to be the first”
“You don’t understand. She hates losing. If Nakazawa-san hadn’t stopped the fight…”
“You were worried about me?”
Rika’s hand stopped and dropped the gauze which she was cleaning the remains of blood with. Her eyes first glued to the floor as trying to find something to say. Then, she raised her head and looked straight into Yossi’s eyes.
“I can’t help it” was her answer.
Yossi closed her eyes, feeling the warm that came with Ishikawa’s hand caressing her cheek. She knew how the older must be feeling, the fight that must be inside her, because she began to feel it too. Yossi knew she wasn’t her Rika but, even so, she can’t fight that urge to hug her. She spoke like her, she walked like her, she even smelled like her… it was driving her crazy ‘cause, in the end, she wasn’t Rika. As well she wasn’t her Hitomi.
The younger opened her eyes again. She had to make things clear before Ishikawa took a step that she could regret later. Because, if something was clear was that she would leave soon. But, before she could speak, Rika’s index finger sealed her lips.
“I know” she said with sorrow in her voice “But it doesn’t matter who you are or where you came from. The only thing that matters is that Rika will always love Hitomi”
***
There it was that strange feeling again, oppressing her chest since she’d woke up the first time in that strange room. It felt like home… safe… She didn’t feel like that since her sister died.
Hitomi… It wasn’t just that she looked like her… Now it moved like her, fought like her, even the way she stared at Ishikawa was the same. That made Aya feel sick, just like months ago.
She’s not her… I shouldn’t care about that anymore…
But, what if that girl was her second chance? What if fate sent another Hitomi to let her rectify her mistakes? Maybe that way she could forgive herself for being a coward and run away, not just from the monsters but from her own feelings.
“Not hungry?” asked someone sitting next to her.
Returning from her inner thoughts, Aya looked at her plate. It’s true; she almost hadn’t touched her dinner. The confusion in her head was affecting her stomach too. Then, she noticed who was at her side and went back to her usual self.
“It’s none of your business”
Obviously, Yuko wasn’t expecting a kind answer coming from Aya. So, she just smiled and stayed there.
“I know you’re not like that”
“You don’t know how I am” replied Matsuura with her rough tone.
“Well, maybe I don’t know the woman…” said the older, who was trying her best to keep a conversation “…but I knew the child, and you know? You were a good kid… stubborn, annoying and a cry-baby but a good kid. And something tells me that that little Aya’s still there”
Matsuura didn’t answer. She just glared at the woman and returned her attention to her food, trying to not seem interested in whatever Yuko had to say.
“Good.., keep that invulnerable façade all that you want…” Nakazawa stood up ready to leave “But if I didn’t give up with Fujimoto I’m not going to give up with you.”
“And what has to do Miki in this?”
The question surprised both Yuko and Aya herself. For some weird reason, the simple mention of that name caught her attention. Yuko smirked. It wasn’t in her plans to talk about Fujimoto, but she didn’t see anything wrong about it as long as she could keep Aya interested. Maybe it would be a good way to approach her.
“You’re pretty similar, you know?” began to say the woman “Both stubborn to death and with the same need to feel loved by someone…”
“I’m not like her”
“That’s true, there’s a difference” answered Nakazawa laughing “You didn’t punch me yet”
Yuko stared at the younger a few seconds before continue to be sure that Aya wanted to hear the story. Seeing that she didn’t move from her seat, even if she seemed a bit pissed of so, Nakazawa spoke again.
“See those kids?” she said pointing at a group of children playing around the bonfire, throwing the remains of their dinner to each other “They’re here ‘cause someone took care of them, because someone wanted to give them a safe place where they could live and feel loved. Those kids, the same as you did, will grow up being watched by someone who’ll protect them ‘til death”
While hearing Yuko’s words, Aya saw Miki walking towards the kids and trying to stop the pitched battle that had began around the fire. The girl stayed there glaring and shouting to the hyperactive demons to be quiet but she just got to become the target of the attacks.
Matsuura couldn’t help but smile.
“She didn’t have anyone” continued Yuko, staring at Fujimoto with a motherly look in her eyes “We found her half dead five years ago. We carried her here, took care of the wounds and wait until she woke up to know what had happened to her. What we weren’t expecting was that she could hit me right before opening her eyes. With that, she stated that she wasn’t going to allow anyone to help her. Luckily, she was too weak to leave”
“But she recovered”
“Yeah, and faster than anyone was expecting. But there it was Rika-chan to make her stay”
“How?”
“I don’t know. Mysteries of this live. I didn’t asked, either”
“I don’t believe a single word of that story” said Aya “How could you don’t know anything about her and even so to want her to stay?”
“There are times when you don’t need words to know someone, Aya. But if you still don’t believe me, believe the smile in the faces of those kids. I know there’s a reason for Miki to take care of them and I just hope that, someday, someone will be able to find that answer”
The younger looked at Fujimoto who was trying to get rid of a bunch of kids climbing on her back. She really seemed different from the image that Aya had about her at first. Someone who, apparently, cared so much about the people around her couldn’t be so bad, right?
As if she hadn’t enough with her sister look alike…, now she had to deal with that annoying feeling of confusion about Miki.
Labels: Traveler
aah~ it was really difficult to write this..
13
Matsuura had dressed up and left the room after hearing noises coming from the outside. Walking slowly to not force her leg, she followed the voices, reaching the exit of the dorms and walking in a little square where all the girls were cheering. Curious about hearing Miki’s name a few times, she walked towards the group and reached the first row to have a good view of what was happening. First, she was surprised that nobody had paid attention to her… then; she saw it too…
The end of one of Fujimoto’s
“Amazing, huh?” said someone next to Aya “Five minutes and she’s still standing”
Yuko was watching the fight with a serious expression in her face but Matsuura didn’t pay too much attention to her. She just returned her eyes to the centre of the circle.
“You’re slow!” said Miki releasing her weapon and throwing away Yossi’s.
Yoshizawa saw herself unprotected. She knew that the fight was just a practice, a way for Nakazawa to test her, and that Miki won’t attack her being disarmed. But when she saw the
She stepped backwards and, with a fast movement, picked up the sword again, just in time to avoid Fujimoto. Her opponent relaxed a bit and let her a few seconds to stand up and recover her breath.
“Who are you in your world? A clown?” said Miki with a mocking tone while she began to walk around Yossi.
“I’m the leader of a group” answered Yoshizawa brandishing the sword again ready for the next round “We sing, dance and work hard to make people happy with our songs”
Fujimoto couldn’t help but bursting out laughing.
“Yeah.., but don’t laugh ‘cause you’re the subleader”
The new information took Miki of guard making her loose the concentration for a moment, just a second, but enough for Yoshizawa to attack. Everybody kept their breaths when they saw the sword grazing the older’s arm. Luckily, Miki reacted just in time to avoid the sharpen edge and it ended just in a scratch.
“You have to stop this” said a worried Ishikawa turning to Yuko.
“Not yet”
Miki stared at the thread of blood rolling down her arm and then, looking straight at Yossi, she smiled.
“Now it’s gonna be fun”
She attacked again and this time Yossi didn’t move back but wait her opponent firmly. Something in her eyes had changed but Miki noticed it too late. So fast that almost anyone had seen what happened, Yoshizawa got rid of the
Seeing that, Aya’s heart began to beat faster. Nakazawa saw it too and she became a bit worried. The leader turned to Kaoru, who was behind her watching concentrated.
“She did that before?” asked Yuko.
“I… don’t know…”
“She’s faster than before…” said the older staring again at the fight “…more firm and precise…”
“She moves like her…”
This time even Rika turned to look at Aya.
“What do you mean?” asked Nakazawa.
“I’ve grown seeing my sister fight and every single of her moves are stuck in my head” explained the younger “That’s her…”
The mood from the beginning of the fight had change completely. The cheering had stopped and now everybody remained quiet and expectant. What was a simple practice had become a real combat where none of the girls was going to give up.
Having Fujimoto disarmed, Yossi thrown her sword too and both girls agreed to continue without weapons. Now was a hand-to-hand fight where the faster was the first to hit. And that was Miki.
The older’s fist connected with Yoshizawa’s face at the level of her mouth and, immediately, the younger returned the blow hitting Miki’s stomach with her elbow. The fight intensify, the movements were faster and harder. A kick followed a punch and then a grip from behind that Yossi’s got rid of it easily knocking down Miki. The younger didn’t give up and, taking Yoshizawa’s leg, knocked down the younger as well, keeping the fight on the floor.
“Ok girls, it’s over”
Nakazawa finally had seen that the youngers were going too far with the practice and it was time to stop it. But the girls didn’t seem to agree ‘cause they stood up and keep fighting.
“I’ve said it’s over!”
This time the woman stepped inside the circle and stayed between them with a menacing glare. Both Yossi and Miki knew that it was better to not make Yuko angrier, so they relaxed and began to walk in opposite directions leaving the square.
“That’s better” sighed Nakazawa “That was enough for today…”
To be continued...
Labels: Traveler
12
“Hey”
Yossi had went into the room that she shared with Kaoru and saw the younger sitting in one of the sides of the bed, writing frenetically in her computer. Because of that, she didn’t notice Yoshizawa at first and the older had to clear her throat to attract her attention.
“Something interesting?”
Finally, Kaoru raised her eyes from the screen and gave a fast look at Yossi before returning to what she was doing.
“The girls told me a lot of things about this world” she answered without stop writing “You know that the city wasn’t destroyed by a natural disaster?”
“Really? What was then?”
“Bombs”
This time she looked straight at Yossi, who sat at the corner of the bed and waited for a more extended explanation. The younger had really caught her attention.
“It seems that sixteen years ago there was an earthquake…”
“Didn’t you say that it wasn’t a natural disaster?” interrupted Yossi.
“I haven’t finished yet…” answered Kaoru glaring at her.
“Oh… Ok, ok, sorry”
“Well.., as I was saying…” continued the younger “There was an earthquake, not a stronger one but global around the world”
Kaoru turned the screen to show Yossi a 3D map of Earth simulating the moment. The whole planet had shake at unison as a balloon in a kid’s hands.
“Of course, even if it was a small one, the fact that it was worldwide caused millions of deaths. Imagine the chain reaction; a small earthquake in
“The monsters?”
“They say that the beasts appeared right after the earthquake, coming from the core of the planet, and began to hunt.”
“You mean to…”
Kaoru just nodded and suddenly, an image of Miki’s documental with lions passed through Yossi’s mind. She quickly shook her head and return to the conversation.
“So…, the bombs…?”
“Our last chance”
Nakazawa’s voice coming from the opened door surprised both girls.
“…or that’s what the big heads of the country thought…” continued Yuko.
“And the army?
“They fell like lambs under the wolf’s claws one by one. So, they decided to fight the fire with fire”
The girls remained in silence trying to imagine how desperate the situation was to don’t have another chance but destroy your own country to save it and after that, see that it was not use at all. Thousands of people dead to kill just the half of them.
“Anyway, stop talking about sad things” said Nakazawa taking the katana that Yossi had left next to the door and throwing it to her “I wanna see what you’re able to do”
***
Aya woke up in the same room again for the second time that day. The difference was that nobody else was there. Feeling her leg still a bit weak, she sat up at the corner of the bed and raised a hand to stroke her hair.
Then, spread all over the floor, she saw her clothes.
“You’re gonna pay for that, Fujimoto…”
Matsuura blame herself for being so weak hours ago. How could Miki dared to touch her, to… kiss her… And even worst… How could she let her do? The moment they fell on the bed she should had kicked her ass and ran away to some place where she could hide herself from that… person.
Getting up from the bed, she walked towards the window and looked outside where the sun had begun to disappear. Aya was daring, but not crazy. In the end, Miki had got what she want, to make her stay.
“Damn you…”
***
“You have to be kidding me…”
“No, I don’t”
“But I don’t even know how to hold this!” complaint Yossi, shaking the sword in the air.
“You’ll do it well” said Yuko tapping her in the shoulder and smiling “Just don’t let her intimidate you”
Nakazawa had taken Yossi to the building’s square, where the rest of the girls waited. The younger didn’t know what was going to happen ‘till she saw the people cheering and screaming the name of her opponent.
Yuko leave the circle and, at the other side, Yossi could see Fujimoto, standing with the
“Ready?”
To be continued...
Labels: Traveler
