Log Entry: More Explanations and an Unwanted Visit
Boom! Crack!
The den lit up with naturally brief lights, flickering suddenly through the large bay window. The storm was not really as small as the meteorologists had said; the wind picked up in huge gusts, blowing the trees in different directions, as if the very music for the lithe dancers to move violently to. Their leaves showed their white underbellies, wanting and begging for the liquid of the rain that came down in torrential pours from the dark-clouded skies. No stars would show their face that night…
I noticed every single detail of this mainly because there was nothing else to do. I checked the clock absently; it was after 12. My oldest sister was staying at the house of her boyfriend, Steve. Terror #2, The middle daughter, was still living in that hellhole 412 in the local suburb. Even my parents had gone to bed, but not before Dad strictly forbade me using the computer. "Surge-protectors won't do crap when lightning hits!" he remarked. Oh blah… whatever.
I picked up my book, the biography entitled, "I Am Jackie Chan." It was a good read, but I was bored…and wide-awake. School was out for the next two and a half months, so no schoolwork would be done either. Now that does not mean there was none assigned, but please! If you were me, would you work on homework in the middle of the night? I would find something to do…no matter how lame! Anything was better than school!
The room suddenly shook as the force of another thunder bolt echoed massively through the neighborhood. Otis, our liver and white English springer spaniel, put his stub of a tail between his legs and walked fearfully over to me. I reached down a hand to rub his soft back, crooning, "It's okay, Otis, it's just thunder. Nothing to be scared about, ya chicken-dog." I slapped his rear unceremoniously as he walked away.
He simply replied by going over to the air conditioning vent, turning around in two circles and finally lying down, resting his head on the floor. He was probably thinking something to the effect of, "Screw you." Like I really cared…
I stared up at the ceiling and started thinking aimlessly. I was lying on the couch in the complete dark, staring up at the ceiling as I pulled a blanket up to my chin. Hopefully nothing weird would happen tonight with the storm going on. Lately things had been…strange, to say the least. I had started doubting my sanity…now that is not an easy comment you would hear from me. Despite my outcast-hood in school, when it comes down to it I am just a normal teenager, nothing special about me. I go to school, hang out with my friends, read, write, and enjoy a good anime just like the next person. I have hobbies…karate, soccer, whatever. Nothing unusual, right? Wrong! Seems that as of late I have been hearing voices inside my head. Yeah, voices. Now before you write me off as the lonely eccentric, let me tell you about it. They aren't just any normal voices…but the voices of characters in the anime I watch! And usually a few at a time for a long time! You think its weird? Don't go there 'cause you have no idea. And trust me, having Vegita the Saiyajin Prince and the goddess Urd in your subconscious at the same time does not make for pleasant conversation!
And you want to know something weirder? I can feel them. No, you pervert, not like that; I can feel their emotions. And more importantly I can feel the pain they cause to my inner self. You see, when I talk to them, there is a subdivision of me in there. Almost like a mini-me that walks, talks, fights and does whatever I want it to do. A representation of me, with my same traits and abilities. In other words, if InuYasha were to decide that he doesn't like my personality, he could pull out the old Tetsusaiga and start going at me. Now I can fight back, mind you, but there are limits…I mean I can't just start Kamehameha-ing with the rest of 'em. It takes some major meditation concentration to get even a good ki blast going, plus my body is only as strong as it is in reality. And if their strikes hit the mark, well, I feel it... I even have to heal! So we are talking some long-term damage if I am not careful. And collapsing in the middle of Patrick Henry Mall because an invisible sword stabs me in the chest does not look really good…
Another unfortunate side effect of this 'condition,' as I like to call it, is that sometimes the more powerful characters can appear outside of my mind. In other words, I can see them standing or doing whatever right in front of me, even though no one else can. Ok, no big deal, just big imaginary friends, right? Well, then we come to the disadvantage: I can still feel them, too. And if they get mad, guess what great big target they have to vent their frustrations on? Yeah, little 'ol me. They can even touch things…so you see why they have to be pretty dang powerful; it takes a lot of power to concentrate themselves into existence. But that's only happened once before, and, luckily, having Belldandy out and about doesn't exactly bother me. Not too bad, considering the person and everything…although her cheerfulness gets old…fast. I am surprised Vegita hasn't made it out yet…maybe its that whole good vs. evil thing? I can only predict these things…all of this is pretty new to me. And I still have no idea why its happening period!
Luckily there are some advantages to the extra condition. One, it isn't permanent; they go back in about a day at most. Belldandy was around for about twelve hours, tops. Second, they can only leave my perimeter as far as I want them to…I guess that can be good or bad, again depending on the person. Personally I don't exactly want to be elbow to elbow with Piccolo, if you know what I mean. Strange enough as well, the people don't appear as their cartoon selves…they actually look like people. Real people. Yeah, life definitely hasn't been the same for the past two weeks…
I closed my eyes warily, hoping that maybe I would fall asleep on my own. I sat like that for about five minutes, listening to the roaring of the storm and watching the surreal colors inside my closed eyes. I started thinking things randomly…what soccer camp next week would be like, if I passed those cursed exams, how mad Ryan would be if I called him back at this hour. Oh well, this was boring, so I decided just to go to bed…nothing else to do…
I opened my eyes to suddenly see a pair of wider ones looking right back at me.
Unfamiliar wider ones.
"Kuso!" I cursed, hauling off and abruptly punching straight at the face above me.
Oh, come now…wouldn't you have done the same thing? I reacted! I mean, waking up to someone standing right about two inches above you don't exactly make you calm, now does it? Well it doesn't to me, anyway…
The guy caught my fist, his eyes showing no real affect from the strike. My fist! Have you ever seen me punch?! It's fast and, humbly I say this, very strong. It takes one of the higher belt black belts in my adult Karate class to even block it! It would take a superhuman to…wait a second… I took a second to look at the guy's face on the other side of my fist in his hand. His eyes were still wide, sort of curious in a way and his hair was quite frankly all over the place. Literally extending in all directions from his face, where choppy bangs hung over his forehead. And when I took a look at his hand, I realized how muscular his body was. It was dark in the room, but I could just barely make out the lighting of a brightly colored shirt. Oh no…not again…
"Ossu!" he piped cheerfully.
I knew it. "Goku, right?"
He let go of my hand. "Yeah! You're Jade, aren't you?"
"Uh-huh… but how'd you get out here?" I don't want to know. Don't tell me…
"I thought I would come out and visit! That was easy!" he continued, smiling like an idiot.
Kami, help me. I sat up, pushing the embroidered blanket off of me, so I sat with just my multicolored Allman Brothers shirt on. I looked up…and up…at Goku. Chikuso! He's a tall one! "So tell me," I started, crossing my arms over my chest. "Why did you come out? Any real reason?" Or did you just decide to torment my sanity a bit more like the rest of 'em?
The young-looking man reached a hand back behind his head, still grinning. I could see why Vegita got so annoyed by him all the time… "Well, I thought maybe with the storm and everything you might want some company!"
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah! I mean, I saw that you were sitting up by yourself and I figured, 'Why not pop out to see what's going on?' So here I am!"
"I see…" No, Lord say it isn't so…not now…
Suddenly, the room fired up into a white light, followed abruptly by the bomb shell of aftershock thunder. I barely heard the noise when suddenly I realized I couldn't breath. At all. I felt a snap and hoped to all that was good and pure that I didn't break something vital. Goku was nowhere to be seen…until I looked down. His eyes were squeezed shut and both of his arms, the same ones that had punched and thrown innumerable opponents, were wrapped around my midsection. When I finally managed the words to finally speak, it was barely a rasp. "Let…go…"
The blasted idiot finally glanced up at me, peering through his bangs like a little kid who had gotten caught going to the cookie jar. He laughed nervously as he let go and sat on the other side of the sofa. Oxygen! Fresh and pure! My chest ached as I started breathing normally again. "You know…" I choked and coughed haphazardly. "You know, I'm really just fine…you can go if you want."
Goku seemed a bit hurt. "Are you really sure?"
"Positive." And it finally dawned on me…why hadn't I seen it before? Because you're an idiot, I reminded myself. He's scared…the great Super Saiyajin is scared of a storm! I would have laughed if I didn't remember how I was so scared of thunderstorms when I was little. Yes, it was sad. Pitiful. And I actually felt sorry for the big guy. But not so sorry I wanted to get crushed in the process!
But I had to know for sure… "Son Goku, you're afraid, aren't you?"
He nodded once, and even in the dark I could see him turn red.
I could not help but start laughing. "Ahahahahahaha! You're kidding! You managed to beat the snot out of Vegita countless times, kill the entire Red Ribbon Army, even come close to tearing Frieza apart, and you're afraid of some thunder and lightning?!"
"Yeah…I guess…"
Geez, this was really bothering him… I hated to admit it, but I felt really bad for him. But having a Saiyajin with Goku's nervous power could be extremely hazardous to my house…hmm… "What about Chichi? Have you told her about it?"
He hugged his knees. "Nope."
"Vegita?"
He looked at me with one of those are-you-crazy looks. "Would you?"
"Good point… have you told anyone? At all?"
Goku sat for a second as if in contemplation…not something you see very often. Then he laughed again. "Actually, no. No one!"
Sugoi…just friggin' sugoi… now just what was I supposed to do? Mr. Happy over here was not going to be exactly calm all night… My thoughts were interrupted when Otis started scratching on the front door. I stood up. "Just hang here for a sec, I'll be right back."
"Hai!"
Could things possibly get any worse? No, they couldn't, could they?
That was when another louder crash sounded from outside.
There was a sharp, high pitched squeak followed by a sudden swish right before I fell face first on the floor. "Nani kuso?!" I growled, my hand crushed under my stomach. I twisted my neck to glare behind me, only to see a heap of orange gi and a head of unruly black hair wrapped around my knees. "Goku…"
"That was a loud one," he peeped.
Funny…I was just thinking the same thing…
"You've gotta knock this off, Goku…" Or you'll end up killing me!
"Can't I stay just tonight? Please?" he turned his puppy eyes up at me, looking almost on the verge of tears.
I pried my legs off and walked over to the door, opening it for Otis. When I turned around, I almost walked right into him. And still with the eyes! "Listen, Goku…"
"Please?" he squeaked, looking like he was about to break down bawling.
"But…"
The great Saiyajin started sniffling.
Kami, I was going to regret this. "Okay, okay, Goku. You can stay." I went to walk down the hall. I was going to regret this…
Crack! And all of a sudden I had a new Goku backpack, complete with an overwhelming, crushing strength and a killing ignorance of its awesome power. His arms were wrapped around my neck, his legs around my waste, crushing…crushing… and shaking with a quaking fear. I could hear him mumbling, "When will it be over…when will it be over…?"
I felt another pop. "Goku…"
"But I'm so glad you let me stay, being alone is just too scary…"
Pop. "Goku…"
"And none of those other guys would understand! Not Chichi, not Gohan, not even Dende would!"
Pop. "Goku…"
"I mean, would you blame them? A great big Super Saiyajin, the strongest guy in the universe, afraid of a…"
Crack. "GOKU!"
He glanced up at me just as I was starting to loose the remnants of my voice and air supply. "Yamero…air…please…"
He let loose with that grin of his. "Heh…gomen!"
I fell on the carpet, gasping and holding my throat. What have I done? Why me? Why in the seven layers of hell did it have to be me? I practically crawled into my room. "Okay," I started, my voice still a bit wheezy. "I am going to sleep. Now. See the beanbag? You can sleep there, just don't go trashing my room."
"Hai! Arigatou!" He sat down on the beanbag and laid back. "You are a wonderful person, Jade!"
Yeah, right, right, whatever. "Good-night, Goku. Go to sleep" I rested on my stomach, my back cracking and my body relaxing. Free…free at last…wonderful sleep…beautiful sleep… My mind started swirling, and that was all I saw… it was pleasant, overwhelmingly perfect…sweet dreams lay ahead…
My eyes snapped open to the numbness of my legs and a sudden shaking of the bed. No…no…not Instantaneous Movement…and now that oaf was on both my legs. He was shaking like a leaf, too, and as the wood on my bed started to sway I awoke into total consciousness. I wanted to kick the guy, the kusotare…
And no puppy eyes were going to calm me down this time. "Kisama…" I growled, my voice still cracking from not being used for a while. I reared forward to just nail him as hard as I humanly could. "Shineeee…" I started. The only thing that stopped me was the sudden connection with the ceiling, and I cursed the highness of my bed. Aggravated, I slammed my head back into the pillow. The pain…the pain…
His obsidian eyes cracked open and looked at me pleadingly. He seemed uncaring of my words to him. "That beanbag is right by the window…what if I got struck by lightning? And it hurt my back, too…" He started toying with his belt, not even bothering to let go of my feet. "Can't I…?"
"Fine. Fine, fine, FINE! Let go and let me down!" I was mad, yes, but more than that I just wanted to sleep. I wanted to return to the lovely slumber I had almost achieved moments before. I climbed down the ladder and practically jumped on the beanbag and the pillow I had down there. I wasn't even asleep before I could hear his obnoxiously loud snores from above.
"Finally…rest…"
My eyes were closing…closing…
Until something wet dripped into my right retina. I rubbed it away, not caring, not wanting anything but just some sleep. Drip. Again. I reached up angrily to strike it away, only to feel a steady, warm stream moisten the back of my hand. I glared upward to look straight at Goku's sleeping face. His mouth was cracked and he was…on…me…
I felt like screaming.
I felt like crying.
I wanted to die.
Someone kill me now…
There was a low murmur. "No, Chichi…why won't you feed me?…No! Cell in disguise…in the name of the moon…I will punish you…" He rolled a hand over the edge of the railing. "Now…you will die…young…Skywalker…"
Boom! I thought it was thunder at first until I felt the sudden fiery pain hit me like a freight train in the chest. A ki blast! While he was asleep?! Owww…no…more…pain…please… I looked down at my shirt to find it scorched, a red welt forming on my skin. Oh geez…this was my best shirt too…I hate to say it, but things are now officially a living hell.
Creeeeak…boom! I looked back up at the source of my problems…to see him plummeting straight at me! I couldn't move, I couldn't do anything, and suddenly the air was knocked out of me…again. "Oh no…" And as a steady set of snore erupted from Goku's sleeping form, I knew he wasn't going anywhere…not for now…
I coughed, catching a small breath of air. I felt him bury deeper into me, like I was a mattress or something. Each movement was a bit more pain. I glanced down at him, watching his sleeping face smile with a quiet joy. "Arigatou gozaimaz, Jade-san…" he murmured, right before starting to snore again.
I grinned a bit. Yeah, it was going to be a long night…but not that bad…