A/N; Just another way of looking at Zinging in the Train

7. Denial

The trouble with denial is that when the truth comes, you aren't ready.

-Nina LaCour, 'We Are Okay'

xxXxx

Machida growled low into his cell phone as he pounded one fist into the wall. "Seriously, Tsuge? You'd rather study with some girls than with your best friend?"

"I don't think you're seeing the big picture, buddy," the voice on the other side tried to coax. "Haru knows the book inside and out, plus her mom's an even bigger nerd for that family. This is going to be an easy 'A' for anyone that happens to have note-taking supplies handy when either of them start going off, according to Hiromi. Come on, you know for a fact that Haru wouldn't mind an extra person at the study group if it's you."

Machida closed his eyes before breathing through his nostrils. "I'll pass," he said flatly. "I'm sure I can fill an essay on some stupid book without her help."

"… She's not a bad person, you know."

"I never said she was," the dark-haired teenager defended himself before tacking on a hasty farewell and ending the call.

He just didn't have the enthusiasm to get into that argument again. Ever since Tsuge started dating Hiromi, Machida had been getting nudges to give Haru the same treatment, especially after things didn't work out with his last girlfriend.

It wasn't that he found Haru ugly, per say. She was okay, but… just a shade too boring for him. She was almost too polite, and too quiet if she knew he was within earshot. When the most exciting thing she could do was come in late for school every day, that was a pretty good indication that he should hold out for something better.

His teeth grit in suppressed fury before he unrolled his sleeping mat for a comfortable position to study. One hand slid the door for his room open enough for an encouraging whistle.

A beautiful Akita dog bounded down the hallway before barking excitedly at his feet.

"Come in, Ryoushi," Machida encouraged warmly, letting the dog into his room so that he could honestly claim that he didn't study alone.

The only problem with his plan was that Ryoushi wanted affection instead of laying quietly by his master's side, so the boy eventually came to the compromise of keeping his eyes and one hand on his book, but the other doing slow circles on his beloved pet's fur as it whimpered contentedly.

Curious thoughts tried to lure him to think about how the snacks at Hiromi's place would help keep him awake, since that was where the study session was before the girls had a sleepover. But he firmly grabbed a granola bar from a nearby box and unwrapped the top half before laying his book on the leg that didn't have Ryoushi's head on it.

Dracula.

Machida couldn't help sneering at that title. One would think that now that monsters were out of hiding, making books like this required reading in public schools would be insensitive.

The seventeen-year-old boy had never read this book before. He was more into books about dogs than anything else. Another wish was given that he could only study to be a vet for dogs since he had no patience for other animals.

But hey, anything for a decent grade. He chewed slowly through the half-full box of granola bars as he slowly turned the pages, taking breaks only to refill his water bottle or take an occasional trip to the bathroom.

Huh. Dracula could turn into a wolf? That was a cool power, at least.

Machida wasn't paying attention to the clock, but he did manage to get to Lucy's funeral before fading into a deep slumber…

ooOoo

"Young master? It's time to get up," a familiar voice informed him.

It was a voice that had no business inside his room.

Machida's eyes snapped open in surprise, and he sat up so quickly that his many blankets flew into the air as well. He gaped in shock at the huge western-style bed he had woken up in, and the bedroom that was easily as big as his father's entire apartment!

For some reason, Yura was in a modestly old-fashioned maid's outfit and was startled away from the covered breakfast tray she had just set on the bedside table. "Young master?" she asked, more nervously than she had ever spoken to him before. "Was it a nightmare?"

"What are you doing here?!" Machida demanded angrily, looking down to see that his pajamas were also exchanged for a nightgown! "What am I doing here?! Is this a prank, Yura? If it is, it isn't funny!"

Yura flinched and back away a few more paces, catching his startled attention.

'Since when does Yura cringe?'

"I don't understand, young master," she confessed worriedly, now inching her way to an intricate door. "Would you prefer for Mary to deliver your breakfast from now on?"

"This has nothing to do with breakfast!" he fumed, extracting himself from the admittedly comfortable bed on the far side from where Yura was. "Where is this place? How did I get here? Where's Dad?"

"Dad?" she asked while narrowing her eyes in confusion.

Machida nearly growled in frustration. "Yes, my dad! Father!" he added while noticing how old-fashioned his surroundings were.

"Oh!" she exclaimed in enlightenment before turning to a wardrobe on her side of the bed. "The master is in his room, of course. Eating his own breakfast and preparing for the day. Would you like me to tell him you would like to see him?" she asked while hurriedly laying out what he was clearly intended to wear for the day.

"I'd appreciate that," Machida said with some relief.

His father could be a bit of a prankster, but he'd break character if pushed hard enough.

After Yura fled out the door, he experimentally took off the silver lid that she had set on the bedside table. The smell that hit him square in the face was poached eggs, sausage, and buttered toast.

"Okay, so maybe this prank isn't all bad," he conceded, sitting back down on the bed to enjoy breakfast. He was a bit more used to steamed rice and soybeans in the morning, but this was a nice change of pace.

It also helped assure him that he wasn't dreaming. Machida could admit to himself that he wasn't the best cook in the world, but every bite assured him that this meal had never had any interaction with a machine, except maybe a mill for the toast.

Since he couldn't think of anything else to do, the teenage boy walked up to the clothes that Yura had set out for him. But just before his hand touched the plain linen shirt, his head swiftly turned to the side enough to make his neck crack audibly.

There was a mirror in his room. But it wasn't showing Machida. Slowly, the boy forced himself enough to drag his feet closer for a better look. In sync with him, the strange man in the mirror braced himself against the wardrobe and then a spinning globe, almost sending both human and reflection to the ground without warning.

By the time Machida was able to gather his footing, he was standing close enough to see that it was him, in a way. He started feeling his face to make sure that his mind wasn't still groggy from sleep.

He was older, maybe by three or four years. He had grown just a bit more, and his hair had turned a sandy brown instead of familiar black. There was a modest mustache on his lip, still containing a small bit of egg from breakfast. He rubbed it off his face with one hand, still staring.

Those were still his cheekbones, those were still his eyes. Sure, they were more hazel than brown now, but they were still his eyes.

This was still him. But… how?

He was still staring when the door opened behind him.

"Art?" an unfamiliar voice asked with gruff surprise. "Why aren't you dressed?"

Machida turned around to see a young man, about the age he seemed to be right now, coming in and shutting the door behind him.

The intruder was unfamiliar to him, but there was something about the man that made Machida immediately think of an adventurer. He was tall and solid and gave off the impression that he could wrestle a bear into submission within five minutes.

"Who are you?" Machida asked, a little intimidated by being in such a powerful presence.

The man gave him a surprised look that was also injured. "Don't be daft, man. What was all this about frightening Julia? The poor child could barely speak, she was so taken aback."

Machida was taken aback by the unfamiliar name. "Who's Julia?"

The man blinked before drawing closer with a suspicious look. "Follow my finger with your eyes," he commanded, slowly moving the digit from one side to the other.

"But-"

"No buts. I want to see if you hit your head in the night."

Machida groaned but did as the strange man ordered him.

This went on for a few minutes until the man was satisfied. "I see no sign of trauma, at least. Now get dressed. I imagine your father is rather worried about you right now after hearing Julia's stories of your behavior."

Machida laughed a little, though the sound was strained. "I'm starting to think that he won't be able to help me. What is this place?"

The man's eyes nearly bulged out of his head. He tried to speak once, but then shook his head to clear it before forcefully helping Machida get dressed.

That shouldn't have been difficult, since pants were still pants and a shirt was still a shirt. But the lack of zippers threw him off, as well as all the layers that he was being forced to wear.

"It doesn't look like it's going to be that cold today," Machida protested after the strange man unfolded a brown jacket while the boy was still trying to button up the rich red vest.

"A true gentleman always dresses to impress," the man recited firmly, forcing the brown jacket on before grabbing a comb and a small bottle. "Now hold still. From how addled your mind is, I don't trust you to style your hair at the moment."

"My girlfriends never complained," Machida muttered under his breath, shrugging on the jacket before standing still enough for the man to meticulously comb the oil into his hair. The smell reminded him of coconuts, for some reason.

"There!" the man exclaimed with satisfaction, setting the bottle and comb down before steering Machida to the door. "Now let's get you to your father before you spout any other foolishness."

"Fine by me," Machida sighed, sneaking a glance at his reflection before leaving the room.

He thought the way the man combed his hair made him look like a dork, but now wasn't the time to worry about it.

The hall outside was long and looked like he was in a castle. There were portraits of stern-faced people lining the walls, and if he looked carefully, he could see a resemblance here and there to himself. One in particular reminded him of an old picture he had seen of his grandfather.

Just what was going on? Who would bother to prank him this hard?

"Come along, Art," the man coaxed while herding him down the hall to a grander set of huge oak doors.

"Art?" Machida asked, but he was being ignored now.

The man opened the door just a crack in order to be heard. "I'm here with your son, Lord Godalming. It's worse than Julia said."

The teenager's mouth dropped open in shock. "Lord Godalming?"

"Please come in," a tired voice whispered feebly, but it wasn't the voice of his father.

The one escorting him now took a firm grip on the boy's arm and dragged him into the darkened master bedroom.

This room was even grander than his own, but Machida could barely notice. His eyes were now locked on the frail, sickly man propped up by a mountain of pillows on the large bed. "Juno-sensei?" he gasped in disbelief.

His homeroom teacher looked awful, worse than the boy had ever seen him before. It briefly reminded him of the rumors that Juno-sensei had suffered through a health scare a few years before. But it still kind of scared him to see his no-nonsense teacher looking slightly better than a corpse.

"Juno, what?" the man rasped, making the Indiana Jones impersonator shut the door behind him and march up to the bedside.

"It's worse than Julia said, my lord. I couldn't find any bumps on his head, but he seems to have forgotten his own identity."

"I have not!" Machida retorted hotly, suppressing the urge to stamp one foot in frustration. "My name is Mishuzi Machida. I'm seventeen years old, and I live in Tokyo, Japan with my father and dog. If this place and this charade is your idea of a sick joke, I'm not laughing."

Juno-sensei took in a long, troubled breath. "Oh dear. I knew you weren't taking things well. I never dreamed you'd be driven mad by the decision."

"I'm not!" Machida insisted before suddenly smacking himself on the side of his head. "Oh, wait, wait. I get it now. This is a dream from reading that stupid book so late at night." Without wasting any time, he tugged on one cuff in order to pinch his bare wrist.

The pain was nothing to complain about, he knew that. Heck, he'd gotten worse from it while teaching his beloved Ryoushi that he could trust Machida. But that and the self-administered smack proved this was no dream.

He was struck speechless. With visibly shaking legs, the boy walked over to a window enough to peer out.

The gardens and woods below were not anything he recognized. At least, not from personal experience. Even the gardener out working the rows of cabbage was dressed like he had been locked in a time capsule.

"What's going on?" he whispered hoarsely, bracing himself by the windowpane as his mind whirled at the implications.

"Art, just sit for a moment," his large companion said with a gentle gruffness, guiding him by the shoulders to sit at the high back chair that happened to be closest. "I understand that what happened was very hard on you, but there's no reason to completely lose your head. What would Lucy say if she saw you like this?"

Something clicked in Machida's mind. After another minute of measured breathing, he looked up at the man who felt himself to be a friend. "… Quincy Morris?" he guessed in a small voice.

"Yes," Quincy said with a wave of relief. "I'm the friend you made when we intercepted each other in Africa last year. You are Arthur Holmwood, son of Lord Godalming." He emphasized the last part with gesturing at the sickly man on the bed.

Machida's thoughts were racing. If this was a joke, it was a little too convincing. But if it wasn't…

"I… this is impossible," he breathed, holding the sides of his head as if worried it would explode. "There's no reason for this to happen. It was just a book."

But then again, he had thought the same of Count Dracula. Nothing more than a book character for scaring the gullible and giving movie directors something to milk when they ran out of ideas. He really should have thought about the possibility that maybe the other characters weren't as fictional as he thought.

Suddenly he froze, remembering just where he had been in that book before blacking out. The fact that Lord Godalming was still around was promising. "Did I propose to Lucy Westenra yet?" he asked worriedly.

Quincy winced. "I'm sorry to say… you did."

"Crud," Machida choked, rising to his feet and heading for the bedroom door.

"And where do you think you're going?" Lord Godalming rasped as Quincy tried to intercept the misplaced teenager.

"I have to find Lucy," Machida insisted, trying to forcefully get around his large friend, but his size and personality made the 'adventurer' vibe seem well equipped for holding one man at bay. "You don't understand! I must have switched bodies with the Arthur you knew! I really am a seventeen-year-old from Japan, but I live one hundred years from now! I know what will happen to Lucy if I don't warn her!"

That made Quincy stop cold, as Machida had suspected. He was her rejected suitor, though not her rejected friend. "What's going to happen to Lucy?" he asked in a steely tone that screamed 'who am I going to have to kill?'"

"She's going to be turned into a vampire after dying from multiple vampire bites," Machida blurted, grabbing Quincy's shoulders to ensure his full attention. "But because humans are too cynical to believe in vampires yet, we won't take the symptoms seriously until I-Art, that is- is forced to stake her! Do I look like I want to stake Lucy?!"

It was with the teenager's deepest regret that a clock on the other side of the room struck a quarter of the hour with a precious little cuckoo bird.

It wasn't hard to see that the clock was voicing Quincy's opinion.

"Please let me just warn her?" Machida begged. "All I have to do is tell her how Count Dracula got her, and it will only take a handful of small precautions to keep herself safe. Mina Murray accidentally thwarted him a few times, too! If they stick together, he's not that likely to get close enough for a bite."

That was when the skeletal figure on the bed started laughing, though it was a sick sound.

"Lord Godalming?" Quincy asked in a panic, but that weak little hand raised up a little to calm the man.

Once Machida's 'father' was in control of himself, he gave his 'son' a tight grin. "As you wish, my boy. Quincy, would you do the honors of making sure he gets to Lucy within the hour?"

"Surely you don't beli-" the man tried to protest, but only got another raised hand to silence him.

"Let him say his piece to our dear Miss Westenra. I know we can all count on her to take the appropriate actions," the older man said with a smirk. "After all, we are fond of her, and wish her only the best, don't we?"

Quincy winced, making Machida feel a bit self-conscious. It really said a lot about how good friends they were, that the adventurous man wasn't angry enough about losing Lucy to take it out on Arthur.

That gave Machida something to think about as Quincy led him down the hall, a staircase, and out to a garage that had a very old-fashioned car in with the carriages. Quincy insisted on driving the car, which was just fine by Machida.

"I'm certain that you're more used to flying cars anyway, given the era you hail from," Quincy managed to say light-heartedly as he navigated the car off of the Godalming estate and out the heavy iron gate.

"We're still working on that," Machida said with a small bit of embarrassment. "I mostly uses buses or trains when I don't walk."

"Buses?" Quincy asked while carefully turning down a cobblestone road.

"Erm, public transportation. I'm not exactly rich in the future," Machida apologized, though he didn't understand why. "My dad's a police officer, and I'm studying to be a vet. Pet doctor," he clarified just in case.

Quincy gave him a strange sidelong look before returning his attention to the road. "I'm shocked you didn't decide to become a dog breeder."

Machida scowled while looking at the passing houses and people, some of which he recognized from his modern life. "I already looked into it. There's plenty of breeders, but not always enough vets. I'm still trying to figure out how I can exclusively help dogs without facing discrimination lawsuits."

Quincy laughed at that as he turned the car around another bend. "Still hate cats in the future, do you?"

"Oh, yes," Machida growled with extreme prejudice as he thought about that bad-tempered cat monster that lived in the next apartment over. "Filthy, yowling beasts with no respect for anyone. Even their owners! All cats are good for are keeping the mice and rat population under control!"

Far behind them, a clock tower began striking nine o'clock.

His friend only rolled his eyes as he pulled slightly off the road and close to a short wall of common rock. "At least I have the comfort of knowing you won't be different later. Since you're convinced you're seventeen, keep an eye out for me in two more years if you get back to your own time." He then started climbing out of his side of the car after shutting off the engine. "Also, don't be afraid to try new things, or we may not meet at all."

Machida followed suit, his heart fluttering uncertainly in his chest. "I'm just hoping that this is why our souls got switched. Oh no, what if Arthur went ahead in time to my body?" he suddenly choked in horror.

"Oh, I imagine Art will have a story to tell if he did," Quincy laughed, gesturing at a very picturesque cottage that was nestled tightly against the woods.

There were no other houses nearby, but Machida could feel his heart soften as he got a good look at the two-story building. That looked a lot more like a home than the estate he had woken up in. He wasn't one to turn down luxury, but as for living every day somewhere, he'd definitely prefer a cozy dwelling like this.

"Well?" Quincy asked, already through the arched gate.

Machida shook his head out of the clouds, only now realizing that if he truly did use to be Arthur Holmwood in another life, he was literally about to meet his soulmate. The girl he loved enough to save from a cursed eternity as a blood-sucking monster. The girl that inspired him to team up with a band of monster-hunters to avenge her death and save her best friend from suffering the same fate.

Would he recognize her? He carefully combed his memories while walking through the stone archway and past a lovely flower garden on both sides of the little path leading up to the front door. What if she was someone he'd already met? Had it been a girl he already dated? Who did he know that could qualify for a 'Lucy'?

Machida squared his shoulders, promising himself to memorize Lucy's face no matter who it was. There would be time to track her down later if he ever managed to get back to his own time.

Quincy reached the front door first, and he was having trouble hiding a bit of wistfulness in his dark eyes as they seemed to stare through the door and to the young lady within.

That was all the confirmation Machida needed that Lucy was every bit the beautiful, sweet angel she was in the book. One that could even stay friends with two rejected suitors without causing alarm to the man of her choice. 'Okay, Machida, calm down. You're just about to meet the love of your life. Whatever you do, don't wreck things for Arthur in case we switch back.'

"Shall I do the honors?" Quincy asked to distract himself, pointing at a simple chain hanging from the side of the door and trailing through a small hole into the cottage itself.

"Be my guest," Machida encouraged his friend, fighting back the urge to play with his hair and get that strange oil all over his pure white gloves. In his own time, playing with his hair right before talking to a cute girl was almost an automatic response, but the smell of the oil reminded him that his hair was fine for this time period. He privately thought he looked dorky with that hairstyle, but he had more important things to worry about at the moment.

Quincy yanked on the chain, making a bell jingle merrily from the other side of the door. After a minute, they could hear footsteps racing down a set of stairs and through a room to answer.

'Just be calm, she loves you. Just be calm, she'll agree to the precautions to ease 'Arthur's mind. Just be calm-'

The door opened to reveal what could easily have been the most beautiful girl he had ever met in person.

Machida's jaw nearly fell off his face in shock.

"Haru?!"