ACT II – Days Gone By

I wake up in my bed and find that my head feels kind of hazy. The last thing I remember was coming home and lying down on my couch, I don't remember what I did for the rest of the day or even when I went to bed. I'm dressed in only my body suit, so at least I didn't sleep in my clothes. I remember what day today is, so I swing my legs over my bed and stretch my back. Might as well start planning out what I want to do today. Yayoi will be in school but she said she'd drop by, until then I think I'll look at some old pictures and videos.

"Good morning Jin." Hilda greets me entirely differently today. Her voice is quieter and she's not her usual peppy, sadistic self. This is the one day every year she doesn't torture me. It's times like this that I remember the days where she was the one raising me. I don't think she really hates me in reality, in fact she's never actually tried to seriously harm me. If I had to describe her antics I'd merely call them playful pranks, although it does get old after awhile.

"Morning, Hilda." I reply lazily with a large yawn and stand up feeling the soft springy carpeting under my floor. My room is actually pretty big although you wouldn't realize it just by looking. Since I'm the only one here I took over the master bedroom after my parents died. There's barely any floor space left as it's covered in all kinds of things whether they be failed inventions or books… actually, I should probably pick up that ritual dagger that's lying on my floor. That would suck to step on.

I make my way into my bathroom which is just across the hallway, waiting for the door to slide upward and disappear into the slot on the doorway with a faint hissing of the mechanisms inside it. The lights come up with a small pop and the shower automatically starts, out of habit I test the temperature of the water to make sure Hilda hasn't played any tricks. She hasn't.

"There's a surprise waiting for you downstairs." Hilda says as I step out of the shower and start to dry my hair.

"Alright, thanks Hilda." Before I realize it I actually thanked her as I put on my collar and push the button to activate my body suit. Returning to my room I throw on a fresh pair of clothes not paying much attention to what they were. Silently I wonder what this so called surprise was Hilda is talking about so I quickly make my way down the stairs and into my living room.

I can hear noise coming from the kitchen, it sounds like music, the clattering of dishes, and what I think is humming. It sounds like some J-Pop idol but I didn't recognize who she was. I turn the corner and see that the one doing the humming while cooking in my mom's apron is Yayoi, who is supposed to be at school. It's actually really surprising. She looks… happy. Her hips sway back and forth in rhythm to the song as the faint sizzling of something in the pain in front of her almost drowns out her voice. The smell of eggs fills the room and I can't help but think that she looks like a newlywed wife cooking for someone she loves. I don't know how long I stood there staring until Hilda decided to step in.

"Yayoi, Jin is staring at your butt."

"Hm?" Yayoi turns around to confirm that I am in fact standing there. The second she sees me she smiles brightly, in her hand she holds a spatula. "Good morning." She says brightly.

I quickly look away from her and try to hide my embarrassment by scratching my cheek. "Morning. I- er… really wasn't staring you know."

"Yes he was." Hilda chimes in.

I heave an exasperated sigh, silently wishing at that moment that Hilda was really an AI so I could just turn her off. My eyes find their way back to Yayoi who had been blushing.

"You know I don't mind if you stare a little…" She says softly, her hands going to the bottom of the apron which ends in a horribly ostentatious pink frill. She pinches the edges and starts to slowly hike it up. Her legs became visible after a brief moment and then after that she continued to hike it up until I could see her thighs. My breathing stopped until she hiked it up so far that I saw her body suit underneath it.

I let out a breath of air. "Don't do that…" I knew she wasn't naked since I saw her from the back, but my mind sort of seemed to forget that fact the minute she turned around. What an evil trick.

Yayoi giggles and lets the apron fall back down. "You look disappointed." She says with a grin.

"Hmph. Aren't you supposed to be in school? I have an excuse, where's yours?" I cross my arms and look away from her.

"I said I wanted to be with you today didn't I?" Yayoi leans forward and puts her hands on her hips, looking offended. It wasn't like I didn't expect her to come at all, I just didn't think she'd skip school for me.

"Maybe your parents were right. I think I am a bad influence on you." Yayoi's parents are alive and well, she still lives happily with them. I don't actually see them very much because I've only been to Yayoi's house a couple times. From what I heard from Yayoi, both of them have received Sealing Designations from the Association so they don't get out much. Yayoi's talents in magic aren't combat based, in fact I don't think she knows any offensive magic at all, her parents are like that too. It has something to do with their family crest but I can't exactly ask about it because that has to do with family secrets.

"I appreciate you worrying about me, but it isn't like I plan on making a habit out of this." Yayoi turns around and fiddles with the egg which smelled like it was about done frying. She takes a plate and puts what looks like an omelet and a piece of toast on it. If she didn't do this, I might not have eaten at all today. She turns around and produces a plate of food. "Here you go." She says proudly.

"What about you?" I ask as I take the plate. She smiled again, probably happy that I'm worried about her.

"Don't worry about me, I ate at home." She says as she grabs my shoulders and pushes me to the table. I ate in silence while Yayoi just sat and watched, looking happy. It was then I realized that it was because she was here making me breakfast that I wasn't feeling so bad anymore. A strange feeling came over me, my heart started to pound in my chest and I start to feel a knot in the pit of my stomach when I look at Yayoi. It wasn't really a bad pain it felt for lack of a better word… warm.

Since my parents died four years ago she's always been there for me. Yet until today when I saw her cooking in my kitchen and skipping school for me, I never saw her as anything more than an old friend. I've always been conscious of her because of how pretty she is, especially this past year, but I've never felt the way I do now. I realize just now how much she really means to me.

"Are you two going to kiss or just stare at each other all morning?" Enter Hilda. Moment Killer.

"Ugh… shut up." With a loud bang my head falls and smacks onto the table. I wish I could at least see her, so I could have someone to glare at.

"I'll um… go take care of the dishes." Yayoi says nervously and grabs the plate just in front of my head. I hear her walk quickly to the kitchen, turn on the water, and begin bustling about.

While Yayoi is in the kitchen I pick my head up off of the table and head to the living room and sit out my couch. There's a small computer terminal in front of it which I turn on by flipping a small switch on the side. The computer itself is about as large as a piece of paper and only about an inch or two thick. The interface is all holographic, projecting an image of a keyboard and the information in an area in front of me. It's blue glow is pretty comforting to look at. I'm actually pretty good with computers and being a member of the Aoyagi family, I know quite a bit about the internal structure of Fuyuki II. Which makes what I'm about to do a lot easier.

I crack my knuckles and touch the area the keyboard is floating in. The screen ticks out information in front of me with a bluish glow emanating from the tablet itself. My parents loved to look at the stars, probably why they chose their work the way they did. They were Archeologists, so naturally they spent a lot of time traveling to Earth and back, I'm sure they took a lot of time to look at the real sky there. Unfortunately, the holo screen covering the "sky" prevents us from looking into space other than at night. My parents weren't the ones who actually helped build the ship of course, but the knowledge and knack for technology got passed through our lines by word of mouth. I didn't just get trained as a Magus by my parents. They spent quite a lot of time teaching me about the ship too.

Getting through the government's security firewalls was cake. Lucky for them I'm not going to mess with anything major and they can't back hack me because I bounce my signal all over the place. There are thousands of old satellites still orbiting Earth, pretty handy for bouncing signals around. After I'm through the firewall, I plant the gift for my parents I've been working on in the programming for the holo sky. It's on a timer, which means Yayoi and I should probably get going.

I turn off my computer after that and look towards the kitchen. Yayoi seemed to have finished the dishes and she was now folding her apron. Under it, she is wearing a blue skirt with a simple white t shirt. I watch her as she turns around and makes her way into the living room.

I get up off my seat and ignore the faint pain in my left shoulder that seemed to have shown up out of nowhere. It was uncomfortable like being stabbed with a knife that didn't quite break the skin. I rolled it once to shrug it off my mind and addressed Yayoi. "Shall we get going?"

Yayoi's smile drops, knowing full well where I plan to take her. "Okay." She nods.

"Say hello for me, Jin." Hilda says as she opens the door.

I lead Yayoi out of the door and hear the hissing of it sliding back into place and then a short beep as it locks behind us. Hilda has control of most of the systems in the house, hence how she can let Yayoi inside and use the house systems to torment me like she does. I used to ask about her when I was younger, she wouldn't go into how she died at all of course, but she did say that in the house she's practically omnipresent. She has the ability to talk to someone in a different room while she's controlling the temperature of the water upstairs or turning on the TV. The spell that bound her to the house must have been pretty impressive to do that. Hilda claims that provided she got enough mana put into the seal that binds her that's located somewhere in the house, she could materialize herself for at least a little while. I've tried looking for said seal, but I could never turn up anything. I'll admit I am slightly curious about it, or at least I used to be.

Yayoi and I set off towards the cemetery in silence. I'm not using the belt buckle because I'm not really in a hurry, and quite frankly I do enjoy walking next to Yayoi. It wasn't long before she started to walk closer and her fingertips brushed against my own, sending what felt like a static bolt of electricity up my arm. I felt my face heat up and I look over at Yayoi who is looking back at me expectantly.

I take a breath and grab her hand just like she wants, enclosing her soft and warm hand in my own. Normally, I'm not that bold and usually she's the one clinging onto me. However today I'm finding her company really comforting. She squeezes my hand and my shoulder gives a slightly more intense twinge of pain which I manage to suppress by gritting my teeth. I don't know what was going on with it, but I don't want to worry Yayoi any more than she probably already is worried about me.

At this time of day there are still a few vehicles on the streets. Cars haven't really changed much. They still run on four wheels, have headlights, turn signals, and run completely on either solar power or electricity. The only real difference is that they have the option of AI auto piloting, the designs are sleeker and more rounded than the cars of the 21st Century, and naturally the safety mechanisms have improved significantly. These days it's pretty rare for car accidents to happen. I'm almost thankful my parents didn't leave me a car when they died, I shudder to think what would happen if they bound a spirit like Hilda to drive the car.

The cemetery is about a 30 minute walk from my house. I make this trip every year, usually alone. I'm really not this depressed all the time, but my mood turns a little sour a few days before the anniversary. My parent's death wasn't exactly sudden. It takes quite awhile to die from space radiation sickness, and it's slow and painful. My parents spent most of the time lying in hospital beds while the doctors did whatever they could to "make them comfortable". They were the only relatives I had that were alive so when they died I had no one to take me in, hence why I was looked after by Hilda.

Despite how she normally acts how, during that four years it was just us she had this maternal charm about her. She always made sure I did my homework and got up for school in the morning, she did everything a mother could despite being intangible. When I got into trouble her punishments usually consisted of a jet stream of water to the face from the sprinkler system, which felt like getting punched in the face. Say what you will about ethics, but I don't hate her for it. Nothing calms you down like a freezing cold blast of water. She always made good afterwards of course, if she had arms, she probably would have hugged me. As I got older I guess she felt like I could look after myself and the maternal part of her gradually went away and she turned into the playful prankster I have to deal with now.

Yayoi and I arrive at the cemetery together. Somewhere along the walk when I was lost in thought she must have let go of my hand and held my arm and walked close to me instead. We step through the iron gate and onto the grounds, the row of gravestones look almost eerie as they stick out of the grass in perfect rows. Silently we walk in a few rows and arrive at our destination.

It wasn't a big stone, my parents probably wanted it that way but they did want to be buried together. Their names were etched into the metal gravestone reading their names.

Here lies Ken and Motoko Aoyagi.

I stare at their names, and the memories come flooding back all at once. They were gone at work a lot, but when they came home we always went on picnics in the park. We went to festivals together and watched fireworks. They really were great parents and great Magi as well. I don't know where they found the time to do all the things they did and spend time with me… but I was blessed.

I feel Yayoi squeeze my arm harder. Her body warmth next to mine was comforting and she was looking at my face, wordlessly telling me that it was okay to cry. I couldn't afford to cry, not in front of Yayoi. So I choked it back even though I could feel my eyes welling up. It felt like my feelings were being held in a lump in my throat. I looked at my watch, there were only about 30 seconds until the trigger I put in the sky's programming took effect.

Suddenly, the sky went dark with a faint popping sound as the hologram in the sky was switched off. I heard Yayoi gasp, it probably surprised her since she didn't know that I did it. Turning it off was harmless, and it would only last for about an hour. I just wanted to be with my parents under the stars, one last time.

I crane my neck upwards. Tiny amounts of stars dotted the sky and the sun shined brighter than ever against the dark void of space. The Milky Way could be spotted overhead as well, it was a beautiful display of color, the browns and whites of the galaxy mixed together in what looked like a huge hazy cloud dotted with stars that shimmered like diamonds.

"Jin… did you?" Yayoi seems to have figured it out as her voice was filled with amazement.

I nod, choking down some more tears trying my best to hide it. Unfortunately it's getting harder as I automatically imagine my parents sitting next to me on a blanket like we used to, and a tear streams down my face. I feel Yayoi wrap her arms around me and pull me against her, her fingers find the back of my head and she starts to stroke my hair in a motherly fashion.

"Don't…" I manage to choke out. If she holds me like this… I can't hold it back. I don't want to do this in front of her. I can't look weak in front of Yayoi. I don't want her to see me like this. Letting her come was a mistake.

"It's okay. Let it out." She whispers softly. I wish she wouldn't do that. It's like she's taking down my mental barriers. I feel more tears stream from my eyes and down my cheeks. I feel my arms raise and wrap themselves around Yayoi's body, she smiles and holds me tighter. The pain in my shoulder intensifies, probably because my mental barriers were taken down by Yayoi's embrace. It's almost like my mom is holding me again.

"I miss them Yayoi…" I continue to cry silently for another minute or so. I'm pissed that I let myself cry in front of her, but afterwards it feels like a sort of weight was lifted off my shoulders. Even after I stop crying, Yayoi continues to embrace me for several minutes before finally breaking off.

I wipe my eyes and heave a sigh. Yayoi smiles up at me, it's a comforting smile. She's saying that it'll be okay even without opening her mouth.

"I think if they were here, they'd be proud of you." Yayoi whispers and steps forward to grab my hands.

"Kyaa! Jin you're bleeding!" She exclaims and looks at my left hand. Sure enough, down my entire arm streams a bit of blood. It's not a lot, but enough that it drips off of my fingertips. The pain in my shoulder is still there.

"Okay, what the hell is going on?" I grab the collar of my shirt and pull it back to expose my shoulder. Sure enough I find the source of the blood.

On my shoulder a pattern emerges. It looks sort of like a tattoo on the back of my left shoulder, it vaguely resembles six angel wings split up into three sections. The design itself twists and curls about like some sort of old tribal design. Strangely enough it doesn't hurt as much as you would think just by looking at it. I remember my parents once telling me about something like this, but I can't quite remember what it was.

"J-Jin? Are you okay?" Yayoi asks, her eyes are wide and she looks worried.

"It doesn't really hurt, but we should head back. I have some reading to do apparently." I let my collar go and it covers up my shoulder again. At least I'll have something to do besides get depressed in front of Yayoi again.