Chapter XXV: Science Fiction and Magical Girl Anime
Hello, everyone and welcome to another chapter of "Summer Love, Summer Fears!" Sorry for the length of the last one, folks but we just had a hard time breaking that one up. We're glad you were able to read and review. And so we bring you something a bit shorter and at Domino Children's.
Last time, Violet had some bonding time with Kisara and Bastion turned out to be rather amusing when half-asleep. Kisara went home to take a well-deserved nap and Seto played soccer with his and Kisara's four children.
Disclaimer: Peach and 15animefreak don't own the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise or the Star Trek franchise. Peach just happens to adore Deep Space Nine and knows the first episode very well. She owns the entire series on DVD; nothing more. Peach Wookiee owns Annie Hanson, while 15animefreak15 owns Violet and Rosa. Together, the two authoresses own the idea of "The Adventures of Mana, the Dark Magician Girl."
Authors' note: There is mild swearing in this chapter. Just wanted you to know.
Meanwhile, at Domino Children's Hospital, Annie remained sound asleep, due largely in part to the sedative Kisara had given her in addition to the medication to keep her heart rate down.
Syrus was also asleep on the lounger beside Annie's bed, though his sleep was more of a light doze than Annie's deep one.
"Syrus?" Jayda Yuki called softly as she came into the room.
Syrus yawned and opened his eyes a little, still half-asleep. "Huh? Jayda??" he mumbled tiredly.
"Hi, sweetheart...I just wanted to check on you. You've been asleep for quite some time," she said, coming over and sitting down on a chair next to his lounge bed.
"Really?" he yawned. "I must have dozed off..."
"You did, but I'm glad to see you got some rest. Your mama was worried you wouldn't and get sick." Jayda laid her hand on his shoulder. "How are you feeling?"
"Fine, except for being a little tired. I'm just glad that Annie's okay."
Jayda, through a great deal of practice, was able to keep her expression from shifting to major worry. "Yeah...well, we're going to have to have you go home...Syrus..."
Syrus frowned. "But...I don't want to leave her alone," he replied, placing his hand on his love's hand.
"I know, honey...but you can't run the risk of getting sick yourself," Jayda sighed. "You wouldn't want to have to leave her and be stuck at home, would you?"
"No...but I don't want to not be here and then something happen. I promised her that I'd be with her...that we'd get through this together," he explained.
"Syrus...you are here for her, sweetie...like you were there for Jaden your first school year and this year, too." Jayda smiled at this, remembering the emails from her only child about the bluenette boy who'd been her son's first real friend in years.
Syrus sighed. "But what if something happens, and I'm not here to help her or comfort her? I promised," he mumbled, biting his bottom lip.
"Syrus...how do you feel about Annie?" Jayda asked. From Jaden's emails, she knew things were serious, but she wanted to know more.
"I love her a lot. More than anyone else I've ever spent time with. She's funny and kind, and she doesn't care that I'm smaller or that I've been in a lower ranked dorm. She helped me gain more confidence, and now I'm returning the favor by sticking through this with her," he explained.
Jayda thought quickly. 'He doesn't want to leave her...and maybe making him leave would be worse...' "Syrus, would you be okay if we had your mom or dad bring you changes of clothes and stuff so you can clean up? We do that for moms and dads here, and at Domino General, that's done for people who don't want to leave their spouses."
Syrus blushed a little at the word "spouses", but was glad that they wouldn't make him leave. "That's fine. Just as long as I can stay and be here for Annie..."
"Okay, sweetie. Oh, your dad did bring this by earlier." She held up a bag of fresh clothes, sneakers and underwear as well as his toothbrush, toothpaste and shampoo and conditioner. "You can use the bathroom in there. There are some towels and a nice shower. While you're doing that, I'm going to get Annie into a nightshirt of hers, okay?"
Syrus nodded and smiled. "Thanks, Jayda. I'm glad I can stay..." He took the bag and went into the bathroom, changing out of his dirty clothes. Syrus then got into the shower, letting it wash over his tired body before shampooing his hair.
Meanwhile, Jayda quickly adjusted the bed so she could pull the traditional hospital gown off of Annie and get a purple cotton nightgown that was a bit more modest onto the girl. She could also quickly give Annie a sponge bath. "There you go, honey..." So deep in sleep was Annie that she didn't even stir as the doctor cleaned her. "You'll be all right...We're going to help you be okay..." Once the girl was clean, Jayda got the gown on her. "There you are...all better," the doctor said. "I just hope you realize how much he loves you..."
Syrus had conditioned his hair, and now got out of the shower to dry off. He put on some fresh clothes and brushed his teeth, before going back out into the hospital room. "How's she doing, Jayda?"
"Sound asleep...If she doesn't wake up on her own in a few hours, I'll need to wake her to feed her. Her vitals seem good, though."
"That's good," he replied.
Jayda looked at the small aqua-blue haired teen thoughtfully. "Are you hungry, Sy?" The sound of a loud growl from his stomach answered her question well enough. "Okay, honey...What would you like? I'll get something from the doctor's cafeteria for you..."
"I don't really mind, anything's okay. I never was a picky eater...except when it came to vegetables," he replied, sweat-dropping.
"Okay...how does a nice roast beef sandwich sound?"
"That sounds great!" Syrus' stomach grumbled in agreement, and he blushed a little.
"Okay, I'll be right back, sweetie..." Jayda headed out of the room, smiling a bit and Syrus was alone with his love. The purple cotton nightgown looked good on her, though the shade of purple did make her look a little paler than she was.
Syrus sighed and sat on the lounger, taking Annie's pale hand into his own. He had to admit, she looked cute in that purple nightshirt. "I'm glad that you're okay, Annie. Get better soon, so we can all have fun and hang out!"
At this moment, Annie stirred. "Urmph..."
Syrus blinked in surprise. "Annie? Are you awake?? Can you hear me?" he asked anxiously.
She squeezed his hand a little bit, and her eyes fluttered open. "S-Syrus? What...where...I wasn't dreaming, was I?"
"Dreaming about what, Annie? You're still in the hospital...the others had to go home to rest," he explained, frowning.
"I thought...I just dreamed I was...oh, Sy..." Her eyes were tearing up again.
Syrus' eyes widened. "Annie, what's wrong?!"
"I'm really in here...and...I'm going to be here for a while..."
He blinked in surprise again. "What do you mean, Annie? The doctors haven't said anything serious is going on..."
"I just have this feeling, Syrus...Kisara had to use medicine on me last night, and I know what it was...it was something for the heart...I'm scared, Sy..."
Syrus squeezed Annie's hand. "Annie, don't worry. I'm sure that if something was wrong, they'd tell us. And besides, even if something was wrong, I'd be here for you. I told you we'd get through this together, remember?"
She nodded, but still looked scared. "Thanks, Sy...I...love you so much..."
"I love you, too, Annie. And there's no way I'm going to let you deal with this alone..."
Jayda, by this time, came back with Sy's sandwich. "Hey, sweetie, I brought you something...Oh, Annie...welcome back, honey..."
"Hi, Jayda..." Annie said, wiping her eyes fast.
"She woke up a few minutes after you left, Jayda. Thanks for getting me some food..." he replied, taking the sandwich.
"You're welcome. I'll get someone to bring something for you, Annie, okay? I'll bet you're hungry."
Annie nodded. "Sy and I can have..." she looked at the clock... "…lunch together. After that, can I talk to my parents?"
"Of course, sweetie...We talked to your parents and brother, and they'll want to talk to you...but eat your lunch first, okay?"
Annie nodded eagerly. "Yay, lunch!"
Syrus grinned, taking a bite out of his sandwich. "I'll wait until your food gets here to eat the rest. I just needed to stop my stomach from growling!" he laughed.
"Okay," Annie said as Jayda headed out. "I wonder what she'll bring for me...Hospital food can be okay or it can be nasty..."
"Let's hope it's the good kind. But if it's bad, maybe Jayda will let me split my sandwich with you," replied Syrus.
Meanwhile, Jayda walked down the hall to go back to the cafeteria to get Annie a sandwich as well. 'I need to talk to Darla,' she thought, worried. 'And...the kids are all going to need to know soon...'
She was lucky, because Darla was just heading to the hospital cafeteria for her lunch break. "Oh, hi, Jayda!" she greeted.
"Darla, Annie's awake...I'm getting her something...And Sy's going to be eating with her. He woke up a bit before Annie did and he's gotten a shower and is in clean clothes..."
"Oh, well that's wonderful!" Then, Darla's expression sobered. "When do you think we should tell the kids?"
"Soon...Annie'd been crying, but she tried to hide it from me...Darla, I think she knows something is wrong..."
Darla sighed. "She is a smart girl. I wouldn't be surprised by the fact. Of course, that means that we'll have to tell them as soon as possible. All at once is better than one at a time." They'd reached the cafeteria, and Darla got into the lunch line.
"Hmmm...do Annie and Sy like chocolate?" Jayda asked, looking at the parfaits.
"I know Syrus does, and Annie probably does as well. Not many kids dislike chocolate," Darla replied.
"Okay, then..." Jayda said, taking two parfaits and then a sandwich for Annie. She also added some fruit punch. "I got some fruit punch for Sy, too. Jaden goes crazy for this stuff...I wonder how they handle his sugar highs at Duel Academy?"
"I believe that Syrus and the others sent emails explaining Jaden's various sugar highs. They sometimes complained that he just kept going no matter what. Anyway, bye, Jayda!" Darla went her own way to sit at a table while Jayda left the cafeteria.
"See you, Darla," Jayda said. She headed back down the hall with the tray of food. 'Stiff upper lip,' she thought, entering the room. "Hey, kids, I'm back! I'll bet you're hungry, Annie!"
"Yeah, thanks, Jayda," Annie said. "Oh, are those pudding parfaits? Yum!"
"Eat all you want, okay?" the doctor said. Annie nodded.
"Cool! Thanks, Jayda!! They look tasty," replied Syrus. He went back to eating his sandwich, smiling happily at Annie.
Annie didn't talk for a minute as she bit into her sandwich. 'I'm so lucky...' she thought. 'God,' she prayed in her head, 'please...even if...I might not be here...just give me a little more time with Sy...'
Syrus noticed that Annie was being really quiet. "Annie? Something wrong??"
She smiled at him. "Just thinking...how lucky I am to have you here, Sy..."
Syrus blushed. "Aw, thanks, Annie. We're both lucky to have each other."
"Hey, later, if it was okay with you...could we watch some Deep Space Nine? If you didn't mind watching Star Trek, that is?"
"Uh...sure. I've never seen it before, but maybe I'll end up liking it!" he replied, grinning. Admittedly, he wasn't sure that he would like it but he'd watch it and even lie through his teeth to keep her happy.
"Okay," Annie said. "Oh there is a DVD player in here...I guess we'll start with the first season...It might be a little scary, but it is the best of the five live-action series," she explained.
"It's all right, Annie. As long as you're here I'll be fine," Syrus smiled, having finished his sandwich and started on his parfait.
Annie had nearly finished her sandwich when Jayda smiled. "We just happen to have the DS9 series if you'd like to start, Annie. Feel like it now?"
"Yeah, if Sy is game..."
"Sure! I'm excited to see it," he replied, grinning.
"All right," Annie said, as Jayda got the DVD fixed. "Annie you know which one to pick," she said when the main menu came on.
Annie nodded. "Okay...we're watching the very first episode...'Emissary...' Ready, Syrus?"
"Yup! Ready when you are, Annie." He scooted closer to his bed.
"Why don't you sit up here with me?" Annie asked. "Can he, Jayda? Please?"
"All right, honey..." And Jayda helped the boy onto Annie's bed.
"I think you'll like this first episode...but you might get a bit scared of the space zombies," Annie said.
"Space zombies?" Syrus laughed a little. "I can't wait to see what they look like," he added, taking her hand again. Privately he was nervous, though.
"They're the bad guys from the second live-action series. They're called the Borg," Annie smiled nervously. "They're all people that got given robot parts...kind of like the chicken on Robot Chicken..."
Syrus laughed again. "They sound kind of cool...like my Roids. Now I really want to see them."
"Um...they're not as cute as your monsters, I'll tell you that..." And then, the show started. It began with a huge space battle and the captain of another Starfleet vessel looking like a gray version of himself with a scary robot arm. He was threatening the commander and the captain of the other vessel as an enemy. "I always hate this part..." Annie said.
Syrus blinked. "Why?"
"Captain Picard's always so nice...and now he's a monster...And that commander is about to..." And then the ship was hit by the fire from the huge cube-shaped ship and other ships were being destroyed.
"Whoa..." Syrus' eyes went wide.
"That's not the worst of it..." The commander was yelling at the ship's command staff for a damage report and almost everyone was dead except for a guy with blue skin. "That's still not the worst part of this, Sy," Annie whispered, gripping his hand.
Syrus wondered how anything could be worse than so many people dying, and returned the tightened grip. They watched the commander make his way to his quarters where he found his son and his now-dead wife. His son was hurt, but alive. Even so, the commander wouldn't leave her. He had to be dragged from the room, kicking and screaming, "DAMMIT, WE JUST CAN'T LEAVE HER HERE!" Syrus bit his bottom lip, finding this a lot sadder than he thought it would be. 'I'd be like that if that were Annie; I wouldn't want to leave her…' he thought. Annie looked at him, thinking much the same thing.
The couple watched the episode together and Annie patiently explained anything Sy wanted to know about the episode and the aliens. She worried he would get bored or that he didn't like the show and was lying through his teeth to keep her happy. However, she needn't have worried. He found himself really getting into the show and wanting to know more about it.
"Wow...this is pretty cool, Annie. I can see why you're so into it," he said.
"Yeah..." They watched the nearly two-hour episode and Annie sniffled a bit when the aliens that the Bajoran people revered as gods helped the commander come to terms with his wife's death and prevent the space station from being destroyed. "That is so awesome..." Annie said.
"Yeah. That was amazing, Annie."
"Yeah...want to watch some more?" she asked. "Jayda, do we have the season 6 set?"
Jayda checked. "Yeah, why?"
"I think we need a funny episode..."
"Sure! These are cool, Annie!!" Syrus said, very intrigued now.
"All right, Sy! I've made you a Niner!" Annie said as Jayda handed her the set of DVDs. Annie picked one and handed it to Jayda. "Okay, this episode is called 'The Magnificent Ferengi...' This is hilarious!"
"Great! I need a good laugh," he replied, grinning excitedly.
And so they watched as seven unlikely heroes went to rescue a woman from some bad guys...all while almost totally clueless. "They can't even shoot their phasers!" Annie laughed, watching the unlikely protagonists go through a bizarre training simulation.
"Wow. They really ARE clueless!" They watched the episode to the very end, laughing until they cried as a prisoner exchange went terribly wrong. The unlikely heroes successfully completed their mission and everything ended happily.
"Thanks for watching with me, Sy," Annie said and yawned tiredly. "I'm glad you don't mind Star Trek and are willing to sit through a few episodes."
Syrus was glad he had enjoyed the show because now he didn't have to lie to spare Annie's feelings. "I really liked the show, Annie. I'd like to watch more with you. But would you like to watch a favorite anime show of mine?" he asked curiously.
"Sure, what is it?" she asked, intrigued.
"'The Adventures of Mana, the Dark Magician Girl,'" he said, blushing slightly. When he was younger, it seemed that only girls had watched the show. However, ever since the day he'd met Dark Magician girl at the age of 5, he loved seeing anything with the pretty mage and her sister monsters, White Magician Pikeru, Magician's Valkyria and the others. "I…I know it's a girl's show, but I love it all the same…"
"Syrus…it's okay. And Dark Magician Girl is pretty tough. Why should you think it's a bad thing to enjoy the show? We'll watch it together and enjoy it, okay?" she said. "Doesn't it show her as a superhero?"
"Yeah, a magical girl. She's kind of like Sailor Moon," he explained, blushing a little bit. "Her name is Mana Mihama, and one day she gets this magical pendant that gives her the power to transform into a mage named Dark Magician Girl. She fights crime and also tries to find out more about the ancient magician she turns into. She also meets a young man named Shou Marufuji that she falls in love with. He's…well he's sort of like me. Until Mana came along, girls didn't pay attention to him and guys beat him up. Would you like to watch the first episode?" he asked.
Annie nodded eagerly. "Yeah, let's do it and maybe we could watch Episode 2!"
"All right, you two. Luckily we have all five seasons of the series, so you kids can watch all you want," Jayda said cheerfully. "This is the dub, so I hope you don't mind…"
Sy shook his head. "I started with the dub and I like both of them. I know they're different, but I think they stayed faithful to the heart of the story."
"Yeah?" Annie asked curiously.
"Yeah, that love and friendship can triumph over evil," he answered.
They listened to the opening theme song called "Magical Escape," and were soon engrossed in the first episode…
--Episode 1 of The Adventures of Mana-- "OH NO! I'm late for class again! Miss Yagi's going to make me stand out in the hall again!" Mana shouted as she headed down the street toward Shibuya High School. There were two things she could do. Go all the way around the buildings and be late, or cut through the upcoming alley and maybe get there on time. "I'll cut through the alley! I can't have another tardy!" she groaned. "Mom will cut my allowance!" She picked up the pace and began running not looking carefully at her surroundings.
Suddenly, a large man dressed in black and holding a baseball bat stepped out of the shadows in front of her. "Well, well, what do we have here?" Another man in torn jeans and a grimy white shirt stepped behind her, swinging a chain around. "Looks like a little schoolgirl who's late for class..."
She gasped. "W-Who are you? I don't want any trouble and... and... WAH!!" she cried. The two men blinked in slight surprise, not expecting her to just start bawling like that.
Then, the one in black smirked. "Don't worry, little girl. We won't hurt you if you just hand over that schoolbag of yours..."he stated, stepping forward.
"B-but there's nothing in there that's valuable to you! And I need my homework!"
However, his friend wasn't listening. "Hey! He told you to give him that bag you little brat!!" The man behind her yelled, swinging the chain he held in her direction. However, rather than hit her, it ended up wrapping along the shaft of a long, green staff that got in its way. Mana had closed her eyes, anticipating the blow. But now she opened her blue eyes to see a young man in a strange purple costume with big gray eyes.
"Who's that?" she gasped. The man glanced at her, then returned his attention to the man he'd stopped.
"Hey! Who do you think you are?!" the thug growled. He tried getting his weapon loose, to no avail.
The man with the staff gave it a quick tug, pulling the thug over before giving him a swift punch to the face. "Attacking innocent women is unforgivable. You both should be ashamed of your actions." Mana watched, eyes wide. This young man was shorter than she was, but he was braver. She trembled a little. The punch was delivered with enough strength to send the thug flying into a group of trash cans, knocking him out.
"Hey you pipsqueak! You'll pay for that!!" The other thug yelled, swinging his baseball bat at him. The young man turned and knocked the weapon out of the thug's hands with his staff, then delivered a swift kick to his head. This sent the second thug into the same group of trash cans as the other one, knocking him out as well.
Mana got up on shaky legs from where she'd been cowering. "T-thank you...whoever you are..."
The man turned to her, staring at her with eyes that seemed could look through one's very soul. "I am Dark Magician," he stated simply, nodding his head in greeting. "And you are?" She got lost in his stormy eyes.
"My name's Mana Mihama..."
His eyes widened in surprise; the girl's name was the name of the person he'd been searching for. "Your name is Mana??" he asked, reaching into his cloak.
She nodded. "Yeah...I totally can't believe what you just did."
"Never mind that. Here, take this." He stated quickly, handing her a pink and blue heart-shaped pendant about the size of her palm.
"What's this?" she asked, holding it.
"It will allow you to transform into Dark Magician Girl," he answered simply.
Suddenly, the pendant glowed, and then a pink Winged Kuriboh flew out of it. "Kuri!!"
"Oh, my! Who's this? You're awfully cute!" she exclaimed.
"That is Fubuki. He will help you when needed and lives within the pendant," he explained. Then, the orb on Dark Magician's staff glowed and he frowned. "I'm afraid that I must go. But we will meet again, Mana," he stated bluntly before jumping up and flying out of the alley.
"Uh...how do I use this thing?!" Mana called after him. She ran out of the alley and bumped into a boy about Dark Magician's height. "Oof! Watch where you're...going?!" She was on the ground and looked up at him. The boy held the same storm-gray eyes that Dark Magician had, but looked far less intimidating.
"Hey, you ran into me..."he replied shakily, glaring at her.
"Sorry about that," she apologized and then noticed his uniform. "Oh, you go to Shibuya, too? I'm Mana Mihama and I'm a sophomore there. How about you? I haven't seen you before."
He helped her up before he spoke. "I'm Shou Marufuji. I just transferred here from another school. I'm a sophomore, too," he added.
"Oh, great!" And then she looked down. She had a cut on one leg that was bleeding onto her white sock. "Oh, noooo! My uniform sock..." And then she heard the bell ring. "Oh, NOOOOOOO!" she cried, letting loose with tears, anime style. "I'm late AGAIN!!"
Shou blinked a few times, worried he'd done something wrong. "Uh...do you need help to the nurse's office?" he asked.
"Yeah...My mom's gonna be mad, though...I'm late to school again...but it wasn't my fault for once..."
"You probably got hurt when you fell...I'm sure your mother will understand."
"I hope so..." She shivered and limped a little bit as they headed toward school.
"Sorry that I can't carry you like most guys...I never really hit my growth spurt..." he apologized.
"It's all right," she answered, noticing how cute he was with his fluffy purple hair and square-framed glasses. 'He's cute...'
Shou held open the front door for her. "I'm sure the nurse will give you a pass...so you won't get in trouble for being late."
"Y-yeah..."
"MANA MIHAMA!" shouted the principal, Narue Nanase. Mana shivered. "Late again!" The principal had long blonde hair and blue eyes. She also wore a blue dress with many pink ruffles.
Shou sweat-dropped, and stepped forward a bit nervously. "Uh, m-ma'am, it wasn't her fault..." he began.
"And why is that, Mr. Marufuji?" the principal asked, enraged.
Shou shrank a little. "Um, well, I...ran into her. She wouldn't have been late if I hadn't knocked her down...she even got injured..."
"B-but..." Mana turned pale and sank to the floor.
"Miss Mihama...Nurse!" Principal Nanase called out. A woman with frizzy orange hair and blue eyes came running down the hallway dressed in a school nurse's outfit. It was Aiko Fujiwara, the school nurse; but most of the students and teachers called her Nurse. "Oh, now what happened to Mana??"
"Something happened...Probably the usual chaos..." Nanase sighed.
Aiko kneeled beside Mana and flipped her onto her side, easily spotting the cut on her leg. "Looks like she tripped again..."she stated. Shou was about to say that he ran into her again, but the nurse interrupted him. "Young man, could you help me carry her to the infirmary?" she asked.
He blinked. "Uh, well, I mean..."
"Just help her, Marufuji. Mana is pretty light," Nanase commented.
"Er, okay..." he replied. Together, he and Aiko lifted Mana and started carrying her down the hallway. Shou was obviously struggling with his end. Fortunately, the nurse's office wasn't too far down the hall, and they got her there quickly. The nurse bandaged Mana's injury and let her lay in a bed.
"Oooh..." Mana moaned softly.
Shou decided to stay with her, and nervously fidgeted in his seat. "M-Mana? Are you awake??"
"Yeah...Shou, right?"
He nodded. "Yeah...you passed out..."
"Great. Was that in front of Principal Nanase?"
"Uh...yeah."
"Oh...did you try to take the blame, because it wasn't your fault I got hurt. Someone tried to mug me..."
He blinked in surprise. "What??"
"Yeah...these two creeps...they wanted my school bag..."
"But then...how did you get away?"
"I was saved by a young man in a purple costume..."
"A man in a...purple costume?"
"Yeah...he said his name was Dark Magician..."
"Really? That's funny...there's a Duel Monsters card with that name."
"Yeah. He saved me, but he didn't look exactly like the card..."
"What was different about him?" Shou asked curiously.
"He had...these haunting eyes...like yours..." she said as she drifted off in exhaustion. The pendant was in her pocket and it glowed. –End Episode 1—
"That was great, Sy," Annie smiled and yawned. She was feeling worn out again as the credits rolled.
A second yawn followed the first, though this time it had come from Syrus. "Looks like we're both a little tired..." He was beginning to drift off perhaps largely due to the fact that he'd been emotionally drained.
"Let's just stay here..." she murmured, eyes closing.
Wisely, Jayda quietly removed the DVD from the player as the two kids fell asleep together. "Just relax, you two..." she said softly. They would watch Episode 2 later…
So Sy and Annie have had a peaceful time at the hospital which is good for both of them. But what of our other couples and families? How is their rest time going? Next time in Summer Love, Summer Fears, we focus back on the Rhodes residence and Jaden reveals something. Until then, read and review! Thank you!