Walk Me Home

Chapter 12

It played like a montage their uneventful treading in the forest. They were nearly completely silent but the few times something caught Mitsuo's interest and he would audibly point it out.

The forest was noisy with the birds singing, leaves rustling and he swore he saw a fox hiding itself on a pile of leaves. It gave him an idea.

The leaves fell so much he was able to make a pile by just gathering them from the ground. Hatori just watched him work on his own, the kid not really bothered that he wasn't helping him. Still, when he saw that Mitsuo was gathering the leaves below a tree ready to have all its leaves well...fall, he gave the tree one punch in the trunk and in an instant, the leaves rained down where Mitsuo was busy making the pile bigger.

He emerged from the fallen leaves and said after an awkward laugh, "Hehe... Thanks."

Hatori smiled at him and nodded. While he wasn't looking, Mitsuo grabbed his arm.

"Come on, join me!" he said, playfully, successfully brining down the man with him into the pile, sending the leaves upward from the impact.

He tried to bury him in the leaves while he was entirely facedown. It only served to conceal a sneak attack in which Hatori pulled him down by the legs, sending both under, squirming. They popped out of the pile, laughing and began throwing leaves at each other, playing like two kids for a while at the expense of their energy.

So when it was decided that it was time to rest, they chose to stay in the spot. Hatori was up in the now bare tree, cheering for Mitsuo who was still climbing up. "You're doing great, Mitsuo! Just a little more!"

"I'm so tired..." Mitsuo whined, while holding on with all of his four limbs on the trunk. "Can't you help me?"

"I can, but you're too far for me to reach," Hatori said. "Come on now, you can do it!"

Mitsuo struggled very much trying to climb up the tree, understandably so as he had not done it before if there were no planks nailed on to it that would act as the ladder. He had to climb up with all that he's got and Hatori's encouraging words.

It seemed to have helped. Mitsuo was close to the tree's branches, and the branch where Hatori waited. "I'm gonna make it—whoa!"

"Gotcha!"

That was close, they both thought. Quick reflexes had saved him from slipping off the tree by grabbing a hand.

Mitsuo was up with him at last, pulled up by the arm. He sat beside him, relieved that he made it, his heart beating from the near fall but was otherwise fine.

"You did great for someone who hasn't climbed up a tree yet," Hatori said, giving him a pat on the back.

"Well, it's because..." Mitsuo tried to look forward for a brief second but had ended up gazing at something in wonder. "...because..."

His attention was completely taken by the horizon he saw from their position. It just took his breath away.

"This is amazing..." he awed.

"Suddenly, all that slipping and almost falling off was all worth it, wasn't it?" Hatori joked but was sincere about the last part.

He got the joke and giggled. "Yeah... but hey, are you sure this branch will hold us both?" Mitsuo asked.

"Don't worry," he reassured. "It's a strong tree with strong branches. See?" He bounced up and down, to make his point.

Mitsuo felt the tremor. "Ah! Okay, I get it!" he said, hoping he'd stop that.

He went back to appreciating the view, Hatori doing the same. He had an arm to him that Mitsuo had not yet asked to take away as it's currently draped on his shoulders.

Mitsuo looked down, swaying his legs. Because there was quite a nip in the air from the autumn breeze, he was now hoping that Hatori had not taken his usual clothing that included his shorts which only covered half of his thigh. Hatori's arm around him may have kept him warm in a way, but he couldn't help but feel chilly down there.

"Hatori, you know, if you planned all along to take me here, you could've at least brought my pants or thicker socks," Mitsuo said, rubbing a leg. "It's really cold now that we're up here."

"Heheh, sorry... I was still upset with you at the time," Hatori said. "I wasn't thinking about bringing you here. I just wanted to get your clothes."

"I guess it's okay, now," Mitsuo said. "And I should say sorry too for attacking you when you were about to fly out of my room. You know..."

"Already forgiven," Hatori said. "And you shouldn't be the one apologizing. I was gonna turn you into an animal and I almost...uh, almost, never mind. The point is, if I actually had done either of those things, you'd have hated me forever."

"You know, I was still wondering about that. I'm starting to see if you have any special feelings for me because—Hatori, I may be a kid but don't think that I don't know what they are.

"I know that you tried to force yourself onto me."

"Mitsuo!" Hatori said, surprised that he knew the term. "Watch what you say!"

"I know that you tried to hug me... and kiss me, too..."

Hatori was beginning to feel guilty, and looked down at the ground.

"Hey, don't feel bad though," Mitsuo said, holding his hand to console him.

"Not feel bad? I should not have done that!" Hatori said. "I scared you..."

"You did, but only because I still don't know why," Mitsuo said. "You like me, and you just don't know how to show it. That's why you did it, right?"

"Um...close. But I still wish you didn't have to see that."

"If it makes you feel any better..." Mitsuo scooted closer to Hatori and rested his head onto his chest. "...I like you."

Though his mood had recently gotten heavy, he found himself smiling again and chuckled at what Mitsuo said. "I knew that," he said. "Just like you knew about me.

"While we're on that, there is something on my mind," Hatori traced circles on the branched they sat on. "I think it could be... maybe the right time to tell each other's... uh, I can't find another word to make this sound less corny... ugh, feelings."

Mitsuo rolled his eyes just hearing how dramatic Hatori reacted. He thought it over, a few seconds passing before he said, "You know what, Hatori? You're right. This is a good time. It's better than on top of a building where there is smoke everywhere and, uh, and the cars are all noisy from below. This place isn't like home at all..." He suddenly stopped and repeated something. "Home... Home, oh no!"

"What is it, Mitsuo?" he asked.

"What time is it back in Japan?! I have school! Is it Monday now?! Ah...!"

"Mitsuo calm down," Hatori said. "I've activated your copy robot before we left. He'll be taking over your duties while you're gone. I'm sure you know that."

"Oh, well... that's good to know," Mitsuo said. "But now I'm worried about that. He better be good while I'm gone!"

For whatever strange reason, after he was activated, he saw Birdman carrying a sleeping Mitsuo over his shoulder. He wasn't given the chance to ask what was happening but instead, was ordered by Birdman to take over Mitsuo's routine for tomorrow. Still confused, he slept that night.

Waking up on a Monday morning was always the most tedious thing. Even the copy robot would agree to that only because he has the exact thoughts of the original. Mitsuo was awake but has not got up from the bed yet. He just stretched and turned as he lay.

It had to take for his mother to come up to him and scolded:

"Mitsuo, I know you're upset about being grounded but you still have to wake up at the exact time. It's time for breakfast!"

"I'll be down in a minute, Mama!" Mitsuo said.

Sitting beside his sister, Mitsuo was eating his breakfast while the television was on the news that covered an ongoing hostage situation. The reporter informed that it had been since the early time the building had opened. The police have gathered but so far, nothing was going anywhere.

"Shouldn't Perman be helping them?" the mother wondered.

"Hey big brother," Ganko called suddenly, "You should give him a call and tell him about this!"

"No way I'm gonna do that, it's too early!" Mitsuo said. "And besides, I haven't seen him since last night when he flew me home.

"I wonder where he is..."

Back in the forest, somewhere very far away from the Suwa's, the real Mitsuo was with a friend and by now they had grown very fond of each other. They were still sitting on the branch on top of the bare tree.

Almost half an hour had gone by, and neither were done talking. Mitsuo continued from what he had said. "... after I saw what was under your mask, I still wasn't sure if it was really you even though you and Birdman had the same face shape. It's your...chin, actually. And your mouth. And your voice.

"I can't believe I didn't see that."

"I was hoping I could keep it up much longer," Hatori said.

"But I'm so happy when I found out that it really was you all along," Mitsuo said. "You're a very good friend. I couldn't have seen that when you were Birdman."

"And I'm happy that I chose you to be Perman No. 1. What better candidate but a clumsy, lazy kid that only wanted to play all day? You needed to get some responsibilities on your hands if you ever wanna go places, after all."

"I still don't know how to feel about that, the first time you said it," Mitsuo said, pouting.

"It just means you're actually a very clever kid if you didn't hold back so much," Hatori said, then patting his back as he consoled him, "I know that you wanna go back to being a regular boy but you're growing.

"You still have a long way to go, but you're already so far from where you used to be. For that, I'm proud of you."

"Hatori, stop..." Mitsuo said, starting to feel embarrassed and a little too flattered.

Just then, his badge began flashing and beeping from his pocket. Someone was calling. Mitsuo groaned because its noise had ruined the moment.

However, it meant something urgent was up. Picking it up, Mitsuo phoned, "This is Perman, speaking! Who is this?"

From the other end, a monkey-like cry replied.

"Booby. What's going on?" he asked.

More unintelligible chatters followed that Mitsuo was able to comprehend.

"Hostage? Police can't get in? And you need help?"

"Yes, we're in trouble and we can't handle this alone!" a female voice said.

"Pergirl, you're there?"

"And Perboy's here, too," he himself said from the other line. "You have no idea how bad the situation is here. Where on earth were you? You should've been here since you heard the news."

"You see, I was..." Mitsuo was about to say what he was doing but noticed Hatori looking at him intently. "Uh, I was..."

"Tell us your dumb excuses later!" Pergirl yelled. "We need you here and we need you now! Meet us in the mall at the first floor. We're hiding near the department store window. People can't get out and there are a lot of criminals here with guns, ready to fire at any moment! Hurry, Perman!"

"Whoa, okay! I'm on my way!" he said frantically, having just heard that it really was serious. Pergirl this time had every right to scream at him for his absence. "I have to change to Perman, now!"

"Affirmative," Hatori said, back to his commanding tone. "It's time to do your job, Perman No. 1!"

A quick change later, Mitsuo was now Perman. "Okay, I'm off!"

"Wait, No. 1!" Hatori called, stopping Mitsuo midflight. "It's way too far for you to fly alone from here to there. Follow me!" He jumped down from the tree and ran.

Flying, Mitsuo followed wherever he was going which he soon found that it was to the first spot they landed on. Hatori disappeared through a group of trees, "I'll be quick!" he said, gesturing for him to stop.

He remained floating until he saw Birdman emerge from the trees on his ship. "Hop on! Just hold on to the ship!"

"Okay!"

Birdman's ship took off into the sky with Perman hanging by, the speed they were in was so fast that he had to use one hand to make sure his helmet wasn't blown away even if it was strapped around his chin. Soon, they were high up in the skies where he can see the forest disappearing from his sight until they were surrounded by clouds.

Minutes in, they made it.

The mall had attracted a crowd who watched the police standing their ground just outside the entrance. Some news crew were also there, doing their coverage on the situation.

Birdman and Perman watched it all from the small screen of the ship. He could only imagine what must be going on inside, and then he uttered:

"Oh no..."

-To be continued-