Summer's Day
"Ehh... aaaahhhhhhhhhh." Shion yawned widely, arms reaching for the blue brilliant sky. She had just wanted to lay there in bed forever, listening to the birds chirping away in the forest and up on the cliffs, imaging herself playing with the dolphins as they splashed in the cove, lulled in and out of sleep by the soft lapping of the water. But eventually her mind recalled she had work to do, and had finally forced herself upright. "I'm getting to used to feeling like I'm on vacation..." she said to no one but a little lizard that was scampering its way across the sand.
Doctus would probably be upset if she saw how laxidasical Shion was being today, but after being on edge non-stop for years on end while working at Vector, and with the situation boiling over the way it did 8 months ago nearly pushing her to the breaking point, and then the Lemegeton incident 2 months earlier compounding to the stress, she just really wanted to be able to appreciate the opportunity to relax and have nothing to worry about at all. But, of course, work never ceased, even after quitting. Its true what she was doing now with Scientia was entirely voluntary, but sometimes she wished she didn't want to find out the truth about Vector at all. But she did desire it, and that's what made the doubt fade away and the stress seem less than when she had been working for someone else's desires. Oh, maybe that's what that very nice realian onboard the Woglinde had been talking... about...
She wiped her eye quickly, sniffed loudly, and tried to put the past behind her. She quickly changed into her bathing suit. Always putting the past behind her, when could she ever decide to face it head on? The water met her with a splash and a wonderful embrace, and opened up beneath her as she dove a little deeper, trying to find a little fish she liked the colour of. It was a bright orange one, and it came swimming over when she released a little bit of food in the water.
As she dried off after finishing up, she plopped down in front of her computer terminal. Still drying her hair with the towel in one hand, she quickly checked her messages. "Crap... crap... sale on connection device upgrades, might save that for later... crap... would you like to invest in our company? Now I thought I removed myself from their mailing list. Gurr, Bunnie..." She made sure the little white rabbit understood that he needed to be doing his job better, or else he would quickly find that she had programmed a newer better Bunnie.
"Wait, wait, I'll be good, I swear! Here, I have something to show how useful I am, see?" He pulled out a voicemail out of nowhere and opened it for Shion.
"Oh, it's from Miyuki! But this says it was sent yesterday Bunnie." She glared reproachfully at him. "Don't you think you could have told me a little earlier about this? What if its something important?"
Bunnie's eyes got big and he floated backwards. "Aaaah aaaah don't get rid of me pleaaaaaase! Miyuki told me to hold on to it till now, I swear!!" He made a little pleading motion in cyberspace.
Shion giggled. "I was just joking, I would never get rid of something I programmed myself!" She tried very hard not to think about how she had left KOS-MOS behind at Vector.
"Oh sure you wouldn't!" Bunnie began to hop around angrily, which made Shion giggle even more.
She placed the towel on the table, having long finished with her hair, and opened the voicemail from Miyuki. Her friend's sly voice materialized, filling her with some feeling of having actual company for once. "Hey Shion! Umm... there's some things we need to go over together in person, some important files concerning... well, you know what, and we just can't discuss them over the UMN! So... I'm heading down there today, and I'll meet you halfway at Insula Palmosus at around, oh... nine-thousand! HAHA! Just kidding Shion, meet me around sixteen hundred hours at the Circumspectus restaurant (we can have dinner while we're there, hehe!) Oh, and you know who to ask for! See you then!"
"What the..." Shion didn't quite know what to make of this. "Can't discuss it over the UMN? How could it possibly be so sensitive that we have to meet in person. And at a restaurant... Miyuki what are you scheming this time?" She shook her head and checked the time, and let out a long low sigh. "Well I guess today's work can wait a bit, I slept in so late that I might as well just leave now... Doctus will understand... if she's capable of empathy that is."
After scarfing down a couple of breakfast bars, she changed out of her bathing suit and decided to dress to match the meeting place. She grabbed a tight-fitting orange and pink blouse, a white short-sleeved bolero, and a red crumpled mini-skirt (longer on one side and shorter on the other of course), grabbed a flower from the jungle to stick in her hair, put on a pair of sunglasses and said goodbye to Bunnie. Carrying her shoes with her, she went barefoot down the beach and past the rocks to the little dock where she had parked a sleek, white (with purple accents), streamlined hydrofoil of a medium size and with an open top. She would use it to get to nearby islands to pick up groceries and whatnot, but today it would instead deliver her to Insula Palmosus. Insula Palmosus was a tropical island halfway between Pedia Island and Mitrei (the capitol city of Second Miltia), famous for its resort town and the fine dining to be had at the five-star restaurant Circumspectus. As Shion's boat flew across the ocean, she suddenly wondered who would be paying for dinner.
She put her shoes on and climbed out of the hydrofoil after having docked, though she had arrived a bit early. She spent some time checking out some stores around town, but didn't see much she was interested and headed towards the Circumspectus when it was time. Approaching from the south, the Cirsumspectus was a marvelous sight to see, built in a style not commonly seen on Second Miltia. It was a rounded multi-tiered building with parabolic forms in the shape of a wing jutting out from one side, which as Shion got closer she noticed that these forms weren't merely decorative but were moving to shade a portion of the restaurant from the direct sunlight overhead. The entrance was on the west side of the building facing the ocean, and the building jutted outwards towards the ocean so much that it was like have an umbrella overhead as Shion entered. The inside was, if it was perhaps possible, even more lovely, filled with organic glass shapes , water features, tropical plants from the island, and wide open spaces surrounded on all sides by windows. The light level had dropped, so Shion removed her sunglasses and proceeded up the glass steps to the main dining floor. Briefly scanning the packed tables for a loud girl possibly already stuffing her face full of food, she approached the maître d' and requested whether a Miss Itsumi had arrived.
"You ah' Miss Uzuki zen I pre-sume? Fol-low me please." He waved to a waiter to take his place and led Shion upstairs.
Shion began to worry about how much all this would cost her when the maître d' led her to a private dining area. Continuing past the many low-set seating areas with their own little gardens growing around them, they reached an area with many private balconies, and Shion was informed that the middle balcony had been reserved for her. The man said no more and returned the way they had both come. Shion became very worried at the astronomical cost of all this, but was instead surprised when she emerged out onto the balcony to be greeted by shouts of cheer.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHI-OOOOON!!!" Miyuki ran over and jumped on Shion, giving her a big hug.
Shion was stunned for a second. "Wha... whaaaaa?" Was it really her birthday? She thought about it for a minute and realized that it was, and that she had completely forgotten. She hadn't celebrated her own birthday for many years, she had always been too caught up with developing KOS-MOS, or too busy with schoolwork back when she was still in school. Though she hadn't really told anyone exactly when her birthday was either, because she figured she didn't want anyone to go out of their way to put her on a pedestal while everyone else was working their asses off. She hugged Miyuki back and struggled to pull her off. "Th... thank you Miyuki. You can let go of me now."
Miyuki let go and stepped back a bit, and smiled wryly. "Ohhh, I bet you thought you could get away for another year and not have a birthday party huh? Well! I just couldn't let that happen now could I?" She giggled mischievously, obviously pleased with herself. She was wearing something other than the Vector uniform for once, a breezy tourqouise top and a pair of white capri pants.
"H... how did you afford all this?" Shion looked around at the wide semi-circular balcony overlooking the ocean, and having an excellent view of the nearby palm forest. There were two tables loaded with food, one of which had a cake that said 'Ha, GOTCHA! Happy Birthday Shion!' on it. She wasn't sure she was up to eating anywhere near this much food. "More importantly Miyuki, who's going to eat all this?"
"Wellllll..." She dodged the first question instantly, "I had asked Togashi and Allen to come, but they just couldn't make it, I'm sorry Shion. They did both wish you a Happy Birthday though!" She gave Shion two more hugs for the both of them. "I also asked Junior, chaos, MOMO, Ziggy, Mary, Shelley, and Gaignun if they could come but... seems the foundation was too far away to be able to make it in time, and they had to decline as well. Doctus said she would like to come, but when I told her we having the party here... well she just didn't seem too enthusiastic about it anymore. They also wished you a Happy Birthday!" She gave Shion yet another big hug, who by this time was starting to feel sore. "And of course Juli Mizrahi's been busy with some big government project again so I didn't feel like bothering her or anything, heh heh..."
Shion looked suspicious about who she was leaving out. "And what about Jin? Did you ask him?"
Miyuki laughed nervously. "Eh heh heh, well see that's the thing, Jin's the one that told me it was your birthday today! Please don't kill him Shion..." She seemed to be making the same pleading motion that Bunnie had been making earlier, at which Shion unconsciously let out a laugh.
"No, that's alright, really, Its just I haven't celebrated my birthday in so long that... well where is Jin anyway?" Shion began to look around as though he might pop out from anywhere at any moment.
"Oh well, he figured you'd rather not see him today, so it's just the two of us! He wrote you a letter though, let me go get it." She went over and grabbed it quickly off the table, and then jumped, startled. "OH! OHohohohoh THAT'S RIGHT. Shion I'm sorry, I forgot, just the THREE of us. Canaan's here too."
Shion came over to where Miyuki was standing and sure enough, there was Canaan, seated on the long bench going around the balcony. He had been hidden from view by the large cake. Shion perked up, glad to see she wasn't trapped alone with Miyuki. "Hello Canaan! How are you?"
Canaan smirked. "Trapped alone with Miyuki." He raised one hand in greeting, which was amazingly ungloved, as he had changed outfits to suit the hot weather the same as Miyuki. Miyuki shot him a warning glare, which he ignored. "But really though I'm just the same as ever." Miyuki handed Shion the letter from Jin as she was sitting down next to Canaan, and then sat opposite the two.
Shion smiled, his responses were always so brief. "Oh I see. What made you decide to come out today?" She set the letter down on the table next to her plate.
He seemed to need a minute to think about this, and then answered, "Well, there was nothing else to do today really."
Miyuki butted in, "I called Helmer to ask if he could have the day off and he said he could! So he changed and came over this morning, and when I got here he was already waiting for me!" She leaned across the table and whispered, "He's actually happy to be here, he just doesn't know how to say it." She winked and leaned back.
Shion smiled. "Thank you for coming Canaan, it means a lot to me." Canaan nodded. "And thank you Miyuki for doing all this. You're a really good friend. Both of you are." She gave Canaan a hug and got back up to give Miyuki the hug for a change.
"It was no problem at all Shion! You should have let me throw your birthday parties more often, otherwise I wouldn't have had to go to such extremes! Oh, and Canaan, could you please remind me to give Shion her present after dinner?" She put her finger to her chin and attempted to look cute, letting her pupils expand to enormous proportions. It kind of creeped Shion out.
Canaan nodded, though slightly distracted by her facial expression. "Yes it shouldn't be a problem... but could you please stop looking at me like that?" Miyuki laughed maniacally and then forced Shion to sit down again so they could all eat.
It was a long dinner, but dinner is usually longer when you're spending it with friends, spending time talking about things and eating little bits here and there in between. Canaan was made more and more talkative during that time the more and more alcohol he ingested (Shion wondered if it was safe for a realian to be drinking), and had eaten his fair share as well. Miyuki of course was eating the most of all of them, but never seemed to get stuffed. Canaan concluded she must have an abnormally high metabolism. Shion had been eating in moderation, though she couldn't help herself when it came to the cake, she hadn't had anything quite so delectable in quite a long time (she had always been a little inexperienced when it came to cooking desserts). By the time the sun began to set they had already eaten about half the food!
"Ooooooohhhh", Shion moaned, "I think I'm full you guys, I couldn't eat another bite." She doubled over, though she wasn't really that full.
Miyuki took a spoonful of her dessert and offered it to Shion. "Did you try the Chiffon? Son très délicieux."
Shion picked her head up and took a taste. "Mmmmmmm! That is really good!. Ah but... NOW I'm full!" Miyuki laughed and surprisingly this got a chuckle out of Canaan as well.
Canaan shuffled from the otherside to stand up and stretch. During the course of the dinner, Miyuki had convinced him to help Shion, her, and Doctus out with Scientia related operations whenever he could. When he asked 'what kind of person this Doctus was', Miyuki only winked and said he'd get along great with her.
"Well, dinner's over Miyuki, you should probably give that present to Shion now." Miyuki made an 'oh yeah I almost forgot' sort of face, and thanked him. "Oh and Shion, Happy Birthday. I'll see you two again sometime soon I suppose, but until then I must return to Mitrei." Shion and Miyuki both gave him one last hug and said goodbye. It had been great having him there.
After she was sure Canaan was out of sight, she turned around with a gleam in her eye. "And now for the fun part!" She went over to the other table and grabbed a small wrapped present. "Open it, I'm sure you'll be pleasantly surprised. Oh ho ho ho ho ho!"
Now was the time for Shion to be extremely suspicious, and rightly so. As she unwrapped the present her eyes grew wider and wider at what was inside. "MIYUKI, WHAT THE HELL IS THIS? A BOX OF CONDOMS??"
"SHHHHH SHSHSHHHHHH! Shut up, don't announce it to the whole island! So, do ya like it?" She grinned.
Shion set the box aside and put her head in her hands. "Miyuki, I don't have time to be running around getting guys all the time, you should know that by now..."
Miyuki leaned closer. "Well then, now's as good a time as any! It just so happens that down the street there's this wonderful place I want to show you." She grabbed her by the hand and, making sure they didn't forget anything, left the money with the maître d' downstairs, who would be forced to figure out something to do with all of the leftover food they didn't eat.
"Ah, but Miyuki! Wait!" But all Shion's protests went unheard as she dragged her down the street. They were off for a night of fun!
After a VERY long night, Shion remembered that Miyuki never told her how she got the money to pay for all of this. After interrogating her about it, Miyuki finally revealed that she had charged it all to Vector. After Shion got finished yelling at her about the dangers of doing such a thing, she revealed it was money the company had misplaced, to which Shion replied that it was still wrong of her to do.
After arriving home back on Pedia Island, she finally got the chance to read Jin's letter. It made her think that she should thank Miyuki again, and forgive her for taking Vector funds to pay for her birthday, and she did. Here is what the letter said:
Dear Shion,
Happy Birthday little sister. I hope you have a wonderful day, and that you appreciate what Miyuki has done for you by going to all this trouble. I know I never really did anything for your birthday, and I'm not sure why, but now I wish I had known what it was like to give you something to show how much I admire you. I promise that I'll try to celebrate your birthday with you next year, and every year after that. If you'll have me there that is. Well, I hope to see you soon regardless.
All the best of wishes,
Love, Jin
She still holds on to that letter to this day.