Summer
by Aestivate
Author's Note: There are instances in which I will change from "Max" to "Makkusu" or "Emily" to "Emili", as to show what language the person speaking is. They are merely Romanized versions of their name (from the Katakana), but I want to keep the Japanese and the English separate. All reviews going against my view of this pairing will be deleted, no questions asked.
Most of this fic was written last year and I finally got around to do some hardcore editing. Forgive the lack of talent that comes with premature writing.
Max Mizuhara gave a huge sigh. He had a headache, it was annoying and it hindered him from doing anything productive that afternoon. Shame, really, he really wanted to tinker around with his Attack ring for a while... He peered outside his window, rubbing his forehead unconsciously, looking down to the daily bustle of a New York City day, as looking down was the only logical way to see the world, as his mother's penthouse apartment was on the top floor. His mother had agreed for him to stay with her for the summer.
It was hot, almost breathlessly so. This summer had actually felt like summer, compared to the previous years. It didn't bother him though. Japan's summers were a lot warmer, and this was nothing compared to there. Speaking of Japan...
Max's clear blue eyes wandered toward a photograph on his desk, and he remembered his friends. The original members of one of the teams where his loyalties lay, G-Revolutions... The determined yet cocky Takao... The balanced, intense, yet not unkind Rei... Computer geek but lovable Kyouju... The rigid, though wise Kai...
He recalled their last conversation together with fondness.
"Why are you going back there, Max?" Takao asked. He looked skeptical, why wouldn't he be? They were all back in Japan, a little over a year since they received their league back... Why would Max want to go back to the states now? Max nodded, his straw colored hair bobbing. The smile that was plastered on his face had worn off ages ago. He thought fleetingly of a girl... "There's stuff I have to take care of."
"Like what?" demanded Takao heatedly.
"Takao!" Hiromi warned.
"Just some... stuff. I won't be long, I promise," said Max, the grin returning as quickly as it had left. His blue eyes shone with a set determination. "I'LL COME BACK SOON!"
He whirled around, running off to his father's car, waving back as he ran.
In shaky English, accented, unlike Max's clean tongue, Hiromi, Takao, Kyouju, and Rei replied, "YOU BETTER!"
There were smiles on all of their faces - even Kai's.
The sun was setting on the Kinomiya Dojo that afternoon, Max recalled, a large orange sun with purple streaking the sky like a surreal painting. But that afternoon, nothing shone brighter than the love for his friends in Max's heart. This wasn't like a normal parting, he knew by the time he was back he would be different, feel different, be all around different.
He shouldn't have come
back to the states, there was nothing here but disappointment anyway.
His so called 'stuff' was not done, he couldn't do it, couldn't
say it...
Max's head pounded dully. He shut the blinds of his
room, which although shut out the sun and the sight of the zipping
people and cars, did not shut out the sounds of horns beeping in the
distance, or the thudding in his temple. He thought of doing some of
his summer homework, but the humidity made him lethargic, so he put
down his pencil and flopped unceremoniously onto his bed.
He'd
been like this ever since he arrived. Two weeks was a pretty long
time for someone to mope around in. Not like he was moping, anyway.
Lately he'd just been... lost in thought, which was a better way to
put it. But thinking about her made his breath quicken, made his
chest constrict, made his gut wrench - feelings like this only grew
from age. At seventeen and a champion Beyblader, he thought he'd
have it easy - but the hardest battles he'd ever faced were nothing
like this. The worst pain in the world did not match this. It wasn't
pain, exactly. It was more like... Max couldn't place it. But
something lifted every time she was with him, her spunky tennis built
body making him feel like he was incompetent, inferior to her beauty.
Every amount of working out wouldn't match Emily's perfection.
Strategy, Max, strategy. Figure out what to say to her, first,
Max told himself. No, you idiot. That's always how you do
things. Do things impulsively for once. Think Takao. You don't need
to think to tell her how you feel, just DO IT!
Easy for you to
say, Max wanted to yell back at himself.
A trickle of sweat found its way down the side of his head. He sat up, was greeted with a thud from his headache, and his back was damp. Summer really was a blessing. Not. Except arguing with yourself was hard in its own right.
Max wandered toward his desk again and pulled out his Beyblade. He clutched his Draciel to his chest, as if asking, "Draciel, what should I do?" Max stared at his Beyblade for a while, and for the first time he was disappointed in it. The Holy Beast it contained seemed to always answer his questions, make him feel confident, but it seemed that even Draciel was at a loss for what to do. Max peered at it for a moment longer, and felt his eyes droop. He glanced at the clock. It was early, too early for someone to feel tired.
It had been two weeks, and he still wasn't used to the time difference. Max used to be so good adjusting to jet lag, being jettisoned from Japan to the states and back again. Someone knocked on his door, and Dr. Judy entered with a suspicious smile on her face.
"Hello, Max."
"Mom? What are you doing home so early? I thought you would be at the lab all day," Max said, his own smile forming on his lips."I just wanted to come see you. It's my lunch hour, after all. How's your headache? Did you get the chance to modify your Beyblade?" Dr. Judy asked, her maternal instinct surfacing.
Max gave a groan and flopped backward on his bed next to his mother, who had sat down just moments earlier. "Pounding, and I haven't been able to get anything done," he informed her, sighing loudly. "It's alright though," he added. Quickly sitting up again, he turned, staring at his curtained window.
Dr. Judy opened her mouth to say something. Instinct told her that Max hadn't come just to spend a summer with her, that much she knew. She also noticed the drawn, longing face of her son. There was a hint of sadness in those eyes, but also a blazing look of determination locked beneath them. There was an internal struggle, Dr. Judy could see, as mothers knew everything about their children. Except really, Max wasn't a child anymore. He was a man now, she knew it the moment she saw it the second she saw Max at the plane terminal.
She played with words in her mind for a second. Maybe it was a girl. She raised her brow. If that was the case, he would have said so. Was there trouble with friends? She shook her head. If she asked that, Max would be suspicious that his mother was suspicious. Or something along the like. But what to ask? She was concerned of course, but nothing seemed right. Words that were best left unsaid died on her tongue if not in her head.
"Are you... alright?" Yes, that was the right thing to ask.
Max turned around and grinned. "You worry too much. I'm sure I'll be fine after I eat." He jumped up and bolted out the door.
Dr.
Judy cursed herself for overlooking Max's physical health. That was
obviously a factor here, right? Maybe jet lag was making him sick.
But then again, who had jet lag for two weeks? And yet... she had
noticed dark circles under his eyes. And he hadn't asked to go to
the research facility since he'd been back. That was odd. There was
something Max was avoiding, and something he wasn't saying. Or
maybe Max was right, and she did worry too much. But her mother's
intuition had yet to fail her, so why should it fail now? She
chuckled, in spite of herself. Shaking her head, she too rose from
the bed and headed toward the kitchen, where she saw Max sitting at
the table patiently, the characteristic smile rooted to his face,
which was a good sign.
"What would you like to eat? I only have
a half an hour on my lunch break, so it has to be quick," said Dr.
Judy, quickly getting to the point.
Max was about to open his mouth and say "Wudong noodles, please", but remembered he was in the states, which proved he hadn't seen much in the time he was here. Mainly, he was at the Statue of Liberty and across the River in Edgewater, at the stretch between the ferry and Whole Foods, just watching the river flowing. Max always loved the Hudson River, it seemed to keep secrets deep within its banks. It was always peaceful there, with people minding their own businesses, and the sweet riverside air, as well as the sort of mystical power the river had that let the person let himself go, and think of things that had meaning in life. The person would lose himself, into a dream world that only the river's powers could muster.
That was the power of the Hudson. It was much calmer than the commute between Jersey and the city, than the bustling streets and the people-filled sidewalks, than the dismal streets of the Bronx, and the many lights of Broadway, the action and movement of Chinatown. Max remembered every detail, as they were a part of his life and were imprinted in the tapestry of his mind. He liked being in New Jersey, watching the Hudson from that side of the river, because of the luscious quiet. Max remembered watching the Hudson and wondering how long it took for it to reach the ocean, and could almost feel the breeze from the ferry lapping against his face. But that memory changed... Into stepping out of the La Guardia airport to a welcoming crowd of faces. It nagged at him that the first face he saw was Emily's smiling one, greeting him back to America... Through the years, she'd really changed. She'd grown up and was much kinder to people in general. And no, that wasn't right either. Hold habits die hard; therefore she maintained a status quo in that respect. But different, in so many ways. Max realized, too, how differently he thought about her.
Max couldn't help picturing her amethyst eyes... Or were they more blue? He mused to himself about this, and wondered how they looked so close that they met his, and was only a fraction away from his face... Looking at his own eyes lovingly, tenderly, yet with a strong sense of pride... The way only Emily would be able to. He wondered how her fiery hair would feel if he would ever stroke it. Would those unruly strands be coarse, yet yielding, or silky soft, yet proud? How the curves her built body and her skin felt against his own, while her lips brushed against his ear as she whispered words he longed to hear... It seemed erotic, wonderful, something he wanted, and just like that, he was on the road to becoming as hard as a rock.
Max shook his head, then blushed, attempting to adjust the fly of his jeans. His thoughts had wandered off track. No. If he wanted a relationship, he wanted to remain pure to it. But there was something about Emily that made him want those things, and more. That was to be expected. But he couldn't help but think of her and also think of the receding Hudson, and the sun's golden rays washing over her body, a smile playing on her face, drawing him near her, and he obliging her welcome.
Emily. How they'd gotten off to a bad start. Max shook his head once more. He knew the reason he came back to the states, but he didn't know why this was the reason. Especially since every part of him seemed to want to shrivel up and crawl under the nearest rock when compared to her. He always had feelings for the most unlikely candidates. But... Emily seemed so, so perfect. In ways that Mariam wasn't, the girl Max always thought he'd come to... have feelings for. But they evaporated with his adolescence, though Max still couldn't put together a conclusion that started these strong feelings for Emily. Was it... because of her uncanny similarity to him once he got to know her? Or... the spirit that brought him to the states from Japan, just to confess his feelings for her? But that was triggered by something. Or maybe just meeting and knowing her grew into these...
"Max, Max, earth to Max."
Blinking twice, feeling quite confused and disoriented, Max snapped back into the reality without Emily and was hurled back into his kitchen. "Oh, what?"
"I said, what do you want to eat? We're dwindling to about twenty five minutes here," Dr. Judy said. Her tone grew serious. "Are you alright, Max? Your spirits seem lower than usual, and you're not acting... how should I put this, normal. What do you see in that dream world of yours?"
Max's
automatic answer would have been "Emily," but he stopped
himself before he could blurt
out the forbidden name. "I'm
fine, really. I think it's just culture shock," he lied. He
quickly added guiltily, "I'm sorry for wasting your time." His
gaze wandered off to the kitchen windows, which were large and faced
east, to welcome the morning sun rise and the moon peeking through
the clouds at night.
"Max, what's up with you? " Dr. Judy was beginning to lose her temper. "I'm tired of you spacing out and not answering when I'm talking to you. Tell me, what's on your mind? You hardly come out of your room and you haven't practiced Beyblading since you got here. And here I thought Beyblading was your life. What's going on in that head of yours?"
Once again, Max's mind quickly told him to say "Emily" but his gut shut his brain up and he replied quickly, "It is. I care a lot about Beyblading. It is a big part of my life. There's nothing wrong, really, Mom. I'm fine, honest. You don't have to worry. I'm just... preoccupied, that's all."
Dr. Judy's gaze softened. "Is it anything you can talk to me about?"
Max thought fleetingly of talking about Emily with his mother and shook his head rapidly, his face hot with embarrassment. "You wouldn't understand."
Dr. Judy gave a soft "Oh," and continued. "I see. Anyway, I'll toss together a salad. We're dwindling on twenty minutes, maybe less." But her eyes never left her son, as it troubled her to see him this way.
Max longed for his friends, longed to speak to them. It was so comforting to speak to them, and in this world without them, Max felt lonely. "Mom? Can I give a call to Takao and the others tonight?"
Dr. Judy raised her brow. "Long distance calls are expensive."
"I know - I won't be long, I promise."
"Ten
minutes sound reasonable to you?" Dr. Judy asked, opening the
kitchen to take out some ingredients.
Max's face fell. He wanted
enough time to be able to speak to everyone. "Fifteen," he
reasoned.
"Fine," said Dr. Judy, giving in almost too willingly, much to Max's astonishment.
"Thanks, Mom" Max cried, jumping up and throwing his arms around her.
"Sit down, lunch is almost ready," Dr. Judy instructed, almost indifferent. He sat down obediently, a bright smile on his face. She relaxed a bit and even smiled in seeing Max so happy. She reasons she would have nothing else to worry about - maybe the only reason Max seemed so down was because he missed his friends. He would always have friends here among his teammates, but Dr. Judy knew that his old teammates meant the most to him - they were his best friends and were his first team, after all.
In the middle of loud chewing due to the hard American lettuce (compared to Japanese lettuce anyway, Max noticed), Max opened his mouth to speak, found it too full, chewed, swallowed, and finally managed to get out what he wanted to say: "Mom, can I go back to work with you after lunch? I want to see everyone and want to hear their input on how to increase Draciel's momentum." And, of course, he wanted to see Emily. Maybe the rest of his teammates thought he was avoiding them - he wouldn't want that. No matter how foolish he felt being here, they were still his friends and they deserved the right to ask questions if they wanted to. After all, they hadn't seen Max since they saw him at the airport terminal. Dr. Judy was surprised by his question. Why now? Max had already waited two weeks, and this sudden outburst was a bit odd. Though, being a mother, she didn't question it. "Of course. But... what is this sudden interest in the lab?"
Max was in mid-bite and nearly choked. "Um, t-to increase the power of my Beyblade. I need my teammates' insight. It's been years. Draciel HMS needs upgrading."
"Alright then... But I have a meeting to go to, so I won't be able to chaperone."
"That's fine, there's no problem. I'll just be at the training center anyway."
"Then it's settled. Grab a coat," said Dr. Judy briskly, whisking away the dishes.
"Wh-what?" A coat, in this blistering heat?
"Lab coat, lab coat. Come on, we have to go, or else I'll be late for my meeting." She walked over to the thermostat. "I'll turn on the air conditioning so we can go home to a nice, cool apartment."
To be continued
