6) In Matt Oda We Trust
Part 5
Matt has his eyes closed for a while, not knowing what he is doing and why. When he opened up his eyes again, there he stood in a huge room that's all bluish around him. It was the same subspace void he visited.
"This place," Matt said, "it's the same one as last time." He looked around some more to see anything particular. "Am I dreaming of this place again for a reason?"
Matt looked until he remembered something that got him shivering. The last time he visited this huge room, he was chased and smothered by shadow women of different sizes and shapes. He hoped that it wouldn't happen again as he sweated in fright. He looked all around again to make sure that no shadow women were coming close to him, especially on his feet.
"You're still frightening about women?" said a womanly voice.
Matt jolted a little after hearing that voice and turned to see who said that. There he sees a shadow woman standing a few feet away from Matt. He shook more in fright as the woman just stood there.
But the woman held out her right hand toward Matt and says, "It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you."
Matt calmed down after hearing what she said, and she walks towards him. When she got close enough, he can see her whole body in vision, her shoulder less and sleeveless shirt and long skirt. It is the same young woman Matt met the first time while he was trampled by the shadow women. He didn't get to see her face, but the woman lifts her face up to Matt's eye level that got him flinched. When Matt saw her face, it is the same as Matt's, but with a little bit of a feminine look. Matt is confused and can't figure out what's going on.
"You look like me…" Matt stated calmly, "…but you are a woman."
"Surprise…?" said the woman version of Matt, "Well…, I came for you."
"For me…? Then…, who are you?"
The woman kept staring at Matt for a moment. "…I'm…you."
Matt blinked in confusion. "What…?"
"It's true, I am you…, or I rather say, I'm a part of you."
"Part of me?"
The woman put her hand on her chest. "I'm a particle from your mind that contains all about feminism, beauty, friendship, trust, and of course, love… to and of a woman."
"A part from my… mind?" Matt became even more confused about who this woman version of him is talking about.
The woman stares at Matt's eyes, "Your phobia abandoned me when you were young, and I've been trying to reach and make contact with you ever since. You start to like Asuna and the other girls you made friends because you are trying to overcome your fears of women. But you can't fully succeed that… without me."
"But then if I need you to overcome my gynophobia…, what are you?"
There is a moment of silence, but then the woman speaks up. "…I am 'you' like I really said, but I really am…" A moment of silence again between Matt and the woman.
"…your personality of liking and loving women."
Matt blinked in little surprise when he heard what his womanly side said. "In other words, without me being with your mind again…, you will always fear of women forever."
Matt was shocked in surprise after hearing what she said. Matt then says, "Then, if this is true… without you I'll… I'll never stand or face a woman again. I'll be a wimpy dog to all women forever."
"That's why you need me, Matthew Oda," said the woman version of Matt.
Matt realized something and turns back to the woman. "But wait…, if you're trying to reach me back so we can be together again, why we can't still?"
"Because that phobia of yours is still active. It's like a barricaded wall, preventing me from going inside into your conscious mind. As long as that wall is up, I can't reunite you and be trapped forever in this lonely void."
Matt makes a concerned look on his face and begins to think. "I really want to understand and be with women instead of being afraid of them all the time. But if I want that, how can I defeat this 'wall' and we can be together again?"
"You already completed the first step, which is making friends with girls or women. That step is helping you get close to women, even with that phobia of yours still active. But the next and final step is… why do you want to be around with women?" Matt didn't say a word but just stared at his woman version self. "If you can find that… the wall will make a hole for me to reach your mind, and we'll be together."
Matt didn't know what to say, and he is confused about finding the answer to that problem. The woman grabs his right hand to get Matt's attention, and she makes a small grin to him. "I know you can do it," she said. After she let go of Matt's hand, she starts to fade into the distance.
Matt noticed and tries to call out for her, "Wait! Wait! I still don't know why."
"Find the answer, Matt, and I will join you again." Those were the last words she said to Matt before she disappeared into the far distance of the void.
"No stop! Wait! Wait!"
Matt then suddenly opened his eyes and woke up. He sits up straight and sees he is in Asuna, Konoka, and Negi's dorm room again.
Matt looked down and thinks to himself, "Why I want to be around with women…?" Matt paused a moment and looks at the clock that says 5:13. He looks down again, "I'm not sure how to find that answer…, but I'm not really sure if this phobia will go away forever."
Matt felt worried and didn't know what to do. He looks around the room to see if the other three residents are sleeping. But to Matt's surprise, Negi is sleeping in Asuna's bed… again. Matt shook his head in grief and starts to get Negi back into his sleeping bag again.
Matt sees Negi and Asuna sleeping together, and Matt starts to pull Negi towards him. Asuna is sleeping and facing Matt, so he has to be extra careful not to wake Asuna up. As Negi got close to Matt, the mystery gentleman reaches his arms to grab hold of Negi's whole body.
"Okay… very gently now…" Matt whispered, "…slowly… steady…" Matt got both of his arms grabbing hold of Negi. "Okay now… slowly… slowly…"
But just as Matt is about to climb down the stairs, Asuna slowly opened her left eye and spots Matt. He jolted in fright, and so did Asuna. The two, both stunned in fright, kept staring at each other until he broke into a scream.
"WAAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOWWW!"
The next morning during the students stampede toward Mahora Academy, Negi, Matt, Asuna, and Konoka were quickly walking down the street discussing what happened last night.
"I can't believe it," Asuna shouted in deep rage. "I thought for sure Negi would stop doing that."
Negi cried in pain as he got a huge bump on his head. "I'm sorry, Asuna," Negi apologized, "I just can't resist it still."
Chamo, who is on Negi's shoulder, looked at him in pain. "Jeez Bro, I don't know if you ever grow up," the ermine said.
Matt looked down in depressed, feeling ashamed to keep the embarrassing secret from his two best friends. "I'm really sorry you guys," Matt apologized in grief. "I didn't mean to hide this crazy scene from you."
"Then why did you not tell me, Matt-san," Asuna said in little anger.
"Because Negi is just a kid, and I don't want someone to hurt him just because he wants somebody to cuddle when he's lonely."
Konoka came in and talks to Matt, "Actually Matt, the reason he likes to sleep with Asuna is that she resembles Negi's older sister."
"A sister? I didn't know you had a sister Negi."
"Yes," Negi stated, "she is a very kind sister who takes care of me when my parents aren't present with me."
"But still Matt," Asuna interrupted, "that's no reason for you to keep a dark secret from me. I thought you are a gentleman."
"I am a gentleman," Matt replied. "Did you not notice that Negi was still sleeping in his bag when you woke up. Even if it means keeping secrets, I had to do something to keep you from freaking out. What kind of responsibility is that?"
Asuna blinked of what she heard from Matt. She then paused a moment and thinks clearly. Then she answers, "O-kay, maybe I'm a little too hard on you."
"But still Asuna, I'm sorry for all this."
"No Matt, I'm sorry for pushing you too hard. I should've remembered about your phobia, and I got mad at you because I freaked out when I saw you and Negi… that is until you told the whole truth." Matt heard Asuna's apology, and he smiled.
The gang arrives at the front entrance of the academy and heads inside the academy's grounds. As they got close to the academic buildings, Matt announces to Negi, Asuna, Konoka, and Chamo.
"Now remember," Matt speaks, "we need to be prepared for the thieves that are going to ambush for the emblem. Inform the other club members to meet me at the club as soon as your classes are done, capeesh?" The gang nodded in response and understood the whole situation. "Alright, I'll see you this afternoon. Be at the club sharp."
And with that, they split up. Matt heads towards his club, while Negi and the girls head toward their class.
Later in the afternoon, after everyone was done with their classes for the day, somewhere out in the Restaurant District are Ayaka, Chizuru, Natsumi, Kazumi, Sayo, Zazie, and the cheerleaders sipping with their favorite juice drink to enjoy the day. The rest of the girls enjoyed talking about their upcoming summer vacation, but Ayaka is still thinking about Matt Oda.
"I think I understand why Matt is such a nice guy, and why everyone is treated him like he's their own brother," Ayaka thought. "And Negi…, he's doing the same thing for him."
Kazumi noticed Ayaka's thinking state and calls out to her.
"Hey Class Rep, you alright?" Kazumi asked.
"Huh?…Oh yeah, I was just thinking about Oda-san yesterday," Ayaka replied calmly.
"Ooohhh…, do you like him?"
"Uh! No! It's just that he's a sweet guy and that he seems to be sad when he's alone."
Ayaka's last words grabbed everyone's attention.
"I know what you mean," Misa responded. "It must be hard to avoid the pain that he lost his parents due to that accident."
"I know," Sayo followed, "but I'm glad that Negi and the rest of the girls are trying their best to help him."
They all paused a minute thinking about Matt Oda, until Natsumi got an idea. "Hey I know, why not join his club?" Natsumi suggested
This made the girls blinked. "Natsumi..." Chizuru pondered.
"I mean, all of our classmates have already signed up for Matt's club, and they all like him. I'll bet he'll be honored to have us join in his club, and besides, I like to do these mysteries with him as well. He's outstanding, and I can learn something from him."
Everyone else stopped for a moment and looked at each other. Then everyone grinned.
"I'm in," Kazumi answered. "I think going on these mysteries is a lot more fun than finding good scoops."
"I'm also interested in going on these mysteries with Matt," Sayo followed. "So why not? I'll join too."
"Oh my…," Chizuru said with surprise, "well, I like to join too. How about you, Zazie?" Zazie only smiled and gave a thumbs-up in response, saying she agrees and says yes.
"Well, count on us too." Sakurako cheered. Misa and Madoka nodded in agreement.
Then everyone's eyes turned to Ayaka being the last girl to decide. "Class Rep…?" Chizuru asked.
Ayaka took a moment to pause and thinks very carefully. She then comes to a final decision and says, "I am the class representative, which means I have a lot of responsibilities to take care of things, including my clubs." The other girls got depressed, thinking Ayaka won't make it. "However…" the other girls twitch for the class rep. "At least joining with this Matt Oda guy might be pretty interesting…, including on how well he does on mystery solving." The other girls smiled, hearing Ayaka will join Matt Oda's Mystery Club.
They cheered in excitement until something grabbed Kazumi's attention. Sayo noticed Kazumi's reaction and curiously asked her. The reporter shushed her ghostly friend as she pointed to an alleyway where some unusual people are hiding and gathering. The other girls noticed too and wondered where the suspicious people are heading. Kazumi, an anxious reporter, didn't want to miss this opportunity to find out, so she checks it out to uncover the truth.
"Hey Kazumi, wait," Sayo called out as she followed her. Ayaka and the others decided to follow as well.
Once the girls arrived at the alley, they slowly and quietly spy what's going on inside the alleyway. There they saw a few women dressed in black talking and discussing something.
"I can't quite hear them," Kazumi said. "I'm going to get closer."
And she did as she sneakily got closer to the small mysterious group. Sayo followed Kazumi while the others stayed behind out of trouble.
"What are they saying?" Sayo asked.
"Shh! Listen," Kazumi commanded.
"…once we grab our prized possession, we'll make a run for it?" said the first gal.
"Right, and remember, we can't fail this operation," said another woman
"Our leader depends on us to get the job done," said the last woman of the group, "We must make sure our heist is perfect and on the spot."
Kazumi and Sayo flinched in surprise that the women they're eavesdropping are thieves.
"Once we obtained Mahora's Crowned Emblem tonight, we will be the master thieves of all," said the first thief.
The two spies jolted in surprise and then looked at each other.
"Did you hear!?" Sayo quietly shouted. "They're going to steal the most sacred symbol of Mahora."
"We've got to warn everyone about this," Kazumi commanded. "C'mon, let's go report Matt Oda about this."
"Oh, I don't think you're going to get away with that."
Sayo and Kazumi jolted when the two heard the voice so close to them. They looked up and in front of them is the criminal leader Mieko.
"You two aren't going anywhere, including your friends," Mieko said.
The ghost and reporter girls blinked in a confusion of what Mieko last said. But then the two looked behind her, and see in great shock, Ayaka and the rest of the girls were captured by Mieko's cohorts.
"Gang! Get them!" Mieko shouted.
The thieves leaped toward Kazumi and Sayo to capture them, but the two girls managed to slip away and make a run for safety. Kazumi and Sayo were almost at the entrance of the alleyway, but Kazumi somehow tripped to the ground. Sayo noticed and looked back at Kazumi and noticed her feet were wrapped up by the bolas.
Kazumi struggles to break free, so she makes a command to her ghostly friend, "Go! Get out of here, Sayo! Find Matt Oda, Hurry!"
"But…" Sayo said in concern.
"JUST GO!"
Sayo did what Kazumi said and dashes to the exit.
"You're not getting away!" said one of the thieves.
The thief girl twirled her bolas fast and then quickly launches to Sayo. It was zooming closer to Sayo as she kept running, but the bolas went right through her body. The thief was surprised that her bolas missed and went right through Sayo. Sayo reached the exit and escaped as she flew into the sky when no one, not even the criminals, was looking.
"She's getting away!" cried the thief.
"Forget her," Mieko called out. "We got enough captives to help us with our heist tonight."
Kazumi gritted her teeth in anger. "You're going to use us as ransom?" Kazumi growled.
"No, my red-head pal. You girls are just the thing we need to make sure our getaway is clean."
Kazumi and the other girls are worried, wondering what evil scheme is Mieko and her thieving minions are up to.
