Walk Me Home
Chapter 10
Kabao was minding his family's store when suddenly...
"Hey Kabao!"
Nearly stumbling over when he saw Perman suddenly land in front of him, he managed to hold up and respond properly. "P-Perman! What are you doing here?" he asked.
"I wanna ask you something Kabao," he answered. "I heard Mitsuo was supposed to be with you guys just this afternoon? Where was he the last time you saw him, because he hasn't come home yet."
The kid didn't hesitate to answer the question. "Yeah, he was with us, playing baseball."
"And did you do something else, like went somewhere out of the field?"
"No. In fact, Mitsuo seemed to disappear from us in the middle of the game. It was really strange."
Kabao tried to recap the whole scenario to Perman and his family. He was the pitcher and Mitsuo was the batter. Already, he had one strike. He began to throw the ball towards, hoping that he'd miss it again until it was three strikes and he's out.
Yet much to his surprise, and might as well every kid who was watching, Mitsuo hit it this time. Not just that, he hit good and the baseball was shot far off the other side of the field.
Mitsuo was running towards the bases, while Sabu chased the ball while Kabao yelled to do what he was exactly trying to do.
Sabu reached the ball and threw as far as he could to the shortstop but only landed to where Mitsuo's foot would run into. Predictably, Mitsuo stepped on the ball, sidetracking him far into the field, flailing when he saw he was about to crash into a bush.
The kids all flinched when they heard the loud crack from its branches as they saw him disappear into it, assuming he must've hit the fence behind it really hard.
"Mitsuo!" Michiko cried, who was also watching the whole time.
Everybody ran to the bush to see if he was alright. They waited for him to get up from where he had just crashed into but they heard not even a rustle. Kabao went to see for himself if he was there at all.
"Mitsuo, are you... What?"
"What is it, Kabao?" Sabu asked.
"He's not here!"
"T-that's impossible! We all saw him go in that bush, right?"
The children agreed, mumbling to themselves how that he could just disappear without them seeing him crawl or run out of the shrubbery. It was very strange indeed.
And that was all Kabao had to tell him.
"We assumed he somehow ran away and went back home, even though we never saw him do it," he concluded. "I know Mitsuo is clumsy, and there was no way he could sneak off just like that."
Other than furrowing his eyebrows at the unnecessary side comment, Perman just scratched his neck, confused as ever. "So what you're saying he literally just disappeared?"
"More like 'poofed out' of the bushes," he said. "Without a trace! Just a lot of leaves that fell."
The information helped but it was of no use for the family. They couldn't imagine how one can simply vanish and have someone who witnessed it simply inform they had no idea how.
Nonetheless, Perman thanked him and he and the whole family decided to carry on searching, though they haven't a clue where they would go to next. They walked a few steps with their heads hung low.
"Where could my son, be?" the mother wondered.
"Don't worry, we're not stopping yet," the father said to her.
"I'm with papa!" Perman said. "No way we're going home, giving up. As long as you have me, we'll have a better chance finding where Mitsuo could be. He's probably walking around the city and with me being able to fly, I can see even from the highest— Whoa!"
Suddenly, Perman felt something pulling him back, which was taking him away from the family, to whom they assume that he was proving a point about how far he was able to see.
"Hey, wait Perman!" Ganko called. "We get it; you have a very super vision! But you have to find big brother while you're at it, alright?"
The pull was out of Perman's control. He was being dragged off in the air until he was dropped on the top of the nearest building. He could only guess what that means.
After landing hard with an 'oof', he turned around to see what he had been expecting.
"Why am I not surprised?"
Birdman was leaning on his UFO, being as casual as possible whenever he needed to see Perman again.
"Now I know you get into a lot of things, but now you involve your entire family?"
"I know. I sent my copy robot out to play and now I can't find him anywhere... And when I asked my friend about it, he just said he disappeared."
"Is that so? You think he could've somehow been deactivated when he crashed into that bush?"
At that moment, Perman came to a realization. "Of course! How did I miss that? He's probably still in the field!
"Hold on... how did you know that? Have you been listening to us this whole time?"
Birdman laughed and shook his head.
"Here." He threw the deactivated copy robot at Perman's feet. "Thought I'd give you a hand. I'm sure you can take it from here and explain how you found him." Birdman boarded his ship, preparing to fly off but not without saying one last thing. "Expect to see me again later, however." And with that, he was gone.
He looked on, wondering what he could be talking about. Since he now has the robot, he brought it to life again and quickly told Mitsuo what his unexpected disappearance have caused so far.
"You're gonna have a lot of explaining to do, robot," he warned.
Perman with Mitsuo on his back was flying all over to see if the family had gone on looking for Mitsuo elsewhere if not still waiting near Kabao's family's shop.
Lucky for him, they were only a few miles away from where they stood and he quickly landed in front of them, presenting their son.
"I found Mitsuo!"
The whole family heard and turned to see Perman carrying Mitsuo behind him. They were all relieved and happy to see him again, Mitsuo's mother being the first one to approach him and hug him. His father and sister followed.
"Where on earth have you been, Mitsuo?" she asked.
Yet again, it strikes. He's unable to think quickly enough of an answer with a valid explanation. He didn't let it show and simply looked at his mother.
"He got lost, Mama!"
The copy-robot Mitsuo heard Perman answer. He grimaced at how blatant his answer was, even his whole family thought so who simultaneously held curious expressions of a flat what.
"I mean, that's what he told me. And there's also how he got lost in the first place," Perman began, "Okay, let's see...
"After he fell on the bushes, he, uh, ran home to get himself cleaned when suddenly..." Perman paused for a bit thinking some more, making it up as he went. "...he accidentally stepped on this wild dog's tail and it chased him. Because of the ca— I mean, dog, he was trying to find a way to lose him." He giggled, scratching the back of his neck, "It worked too well because when I found him, I just saw him wandering around town!
"So I flew down, talked to him, told me everything that happened, took him to you guys and, well, here we are!" Perman finished. "I hope you understand."
A few seconds flew by before anyone said a thing.
"I see," the father said, taking it in, "My goodness, I thought you were kidnapped again. You had us worried sick!"
"Mitsuo, how could you manage to wind up getting lost in town? You must've run so fast to be able to get there so far," the mother assumed.
"He was in town, but he wasn't that far." Perman tried to make the situation less implausible than it seemed. "Anyway, I think you guys should go home now and hope that there won't be too much trouble when you get home."
"We'll see about that," the mother stated, "We're going to have a talk, Mitsuo."
Later that night, Perman decided to split up from the family. He flew back to the Suwa's home and he saw that they made it there already. He couldn't help think about the time when he had accidentally damaged a part of their house, and he was greeted with something that had warmed his heart.
"He did fix it...!"
He landed near his bedroom window and entered. The copy robot was already sitting on the bed with his head down. The talk might not have gone so well.
"So what happened, robot?" Perman asked, beginning to get out of his costume.
"You're grounded, Mitsuo," the copy robot answered. "Mama and Papa said they were so worried sick that something very bad happened to you. They said they had no choice but to keep you from playing with your friends for a while.
"I'm sorry..."
Then the time came for him to go to bed, but he couldn't sleep just yet but not because he was feeling a bit upset about his punishment his parents laid on to him. He just felt that there was something he needed to wait for. Specifically, someone.
The sound of his window being slid open at last was heard, but not the billowing of the curtains. It wasn't a breezy night tonight. Just as when he was about to approach him...
"What is it, Birdman?" Mitsuo asked, sitting up from his sheets.
"Ah, so you were expecting me! Very good, Perman," Birdman said. He stepped inside completely into the room. "I guess you still remembered what I said to you last."
"I did. What do you want?" Mitsuo, put his feet down on the floor, still sitting. "If you only came here to lecture me, I just wanna tell you, my parents already did that to me. Well actually, it's to my copy robot. But what difference does it make. I'm grounded for a week, okay."
"Consequences will be consequences. But unfortunately, that is what I came here for. Your copy robot is your responsibility. Worse things could've happened to it if it were left in there any longer. And this wasn't the first time that you did such a thing, was it?"
Birdman continued talking but Mitsuo blocked out all of the words he was supposed to be hearing. He pouted in his bed with his arms crossed. Then he got to thinking, something he wanted to ask him. The past few days had had his family and some of his classmates and friends notice his 'unbecoming' behavior. It was his turn now to notice somebody else's and that somebody wasn't very far. Not to mention, he had a hand on how Mitsuo's habits have changed immensely.
"That is why I think from now on, I shall keep you under tight surveillance until I feel it's appropriate to continue your job properly," Birdman concluded from whatever he had said before.
"That's what I was thinking," Mitsuo said. "I feel like I'm being watched everyday. At school and especially while on patrol. I don't know, it just feels like I do and I think it has something to do with you."
"What are you talking about, Mitsuo?" Birdman asked.
"Birdman," Mitsuo started, "Why are you suddenly visiting me?"
"I don't understand," Birdman said, "Don't I do that anyway?"
"Not like back then like only when I'm in trouble. Right now, I've been seeing you a lot," he said. "And if it's still because of that accident back in the mountain, I think you should start getting over it. I'm being very careful now, you don't need to worry.
"But if it's not because of that, like, if there's another reason, I would like to know," Mitsuo said.
Birdman stopped and let the question sink in. It was making him uneasy because he didn't know what to say. "It's definitely not because of the first one," he simply answered.
"Then what is it?" Mitsuo asked more insistently. "I wanna hear it!"
"You are not advised to talk to me in such a way," Birdman said. "I've said everything I needed to, goodbye!"
"Hey wait a minute!"
Mitsuo grabbed on to his cape when Birdman had already flew out of the window. He dangled, holding on and screaming, afraid of letting go and falling.
"Mitsuo, no!" Birdman cried. "Stop it!"
"Not until I get an answer!" Mitsuo said. "I can't believe you'd ignore me like that."
"Mitsuo, I'm flying back to that window and you are going to bed," Birdman said, beginning to fly back to his room.
"No!" Mitsuo climbed up to Birdman's back and attempted to stop him with both of his hands now holding on to his shoulder, making them both struggle.
"Mitsuo, you're going to drop us both!"
"No fair, you're still ignoring my question!"
Birdman was falling and Mitsuo still fidgeted all over him, hitting him with his fists. He was lucky enough to be able to regain his flying and stopped himself from touching the ground. He tried to go for the window again but Mitsuo's tantrum got him sidetracked again and again.
"You are in very big trouble... for this! Mitsuo, I promise once I see you tomorrow while on patrol—"
"Hatori, just tell me the truth!"
When everything went silent, they froze in midair.
Mitsuo quickly realized what he just said and for it, he was hypnotized by Birdman to unconsciousness, and only once he regained it was he to know what will happen next.
-To be continued-
Two chapters to make up for forgetting to update last Sunday. Sorry about that. It's just that there have been other things in mind since then.