I'll Be Here
By Juuko
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* * *
Flying
Lessons
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* * *
You walk around with your head
held high,
To disguise any sorrow or pain,
You never smile but there's a
look in your eye,
That shows some kind of hurt or
strain.
* * * *
* * *
"See
you tomorrow!"
"Bye!"
"Ja
ne!"
Excited
chattering voices mingled with the pattering of footsteps and roar of
motorbikes around the packed courtyard and leviathan concrete buildings
signalling the end of a school day. A sea of the checkered blues and white
poured out from the centre and swarmed around the gates and footpaths like
bees, some staying to chat with their friends while others hurried to get out
of school as soon as soon as possible. Marron tried to ignore the pushing and
shoving as she broke away from the crowd and headed for the more desolate side
gate.
The
sound of a small pair of feet tapping lightly on the hard grey cement was
audible now that she had escaped the mad afternoon rush. I wonder if our car is
ready yet, Marron stared absently down at her rumpled white socks that had once
again fallen over her black buckle shoes, or am I going to have to walk to
Capsule Corporation this time? There was a faint rustle of movement from the
ochre-brown brick wall next to the gate. Marron's head snapped back up and
found a tall figure silhouetted against the fiery afternoon sun on top of the
stone wall.
"Juunana!"
Marron waved to him and sped up her pace until she had reached the west wall.
"Why are you here?" Juunana-gou tucked a stray hair behind his ear and hopped
down from his perch so that he was standing a hairs-breadth away from her.
"Yeah
well, clever me, because of my little ruse on dwarf boy Juuhachi and Bulma have
decided to make me fly you to and from school from now on," he said sardonically,
grabbing Marron's hand as he had done that morning and elevating them both into
the air, "I think they know their aircars are no match for my flying." Marron
giggled at his childish arrogance, overjoyed that she would experience the
thrill of flight with Juunana again. She could feel something being roused
inside her as the powdery clouds whirled by her windswept face.
"How
do you do it?"
"Do
what?"
"Fly."
"Nani?
Why do you want to know, and why would I want to teach you?"
"If
I could fly on my own, then you wouldn't have to take me anywhere anymore, ne?"
"…"
Juunana slowed down and considered. I certainly don't want to end up as chauffeur
– and she should have some flying ability hidden in her somewhere. He
cast his mind back to the time when he had sensed her inflating ki. Oh
well, even if it turns out she can't fly, it isn't my fault if she falls.
Juunana released his hand from Marron's and heard her panicked shriek before
she plummeted down to the scatter of trees below. Putting on a burst of speed,
he dived straight under, catching her in his arms just before she hit the first
branches of the canopy.
"Naaaaani!?
What did you do that for?!" Marron yelled through her chattering teeth, trying
to wrestle out of Juunana's grasp as they swooped upwards again in a slow arc.
The jinzouningen gave her a withering look.
"Hasn't
anyone taught you anything? You were born with the ability but you need the
right moment to release it."
"Like
when I'm about to crash into the ground and break every bone in my body!?"
"I
think you'd rather fly than do that." He let go of her once more. This is
insane! Marron screamed at herself, feeling her clothes billowing around her.
The winds of dropping altitude cut through her head like a searing brand. I'm
going to die! She was only a split second away from the dreaded impact with the
earth and she couldn't see Juunana anywhere with her smarting vision. No! You
are not going to die, an unfamiliar voice commanded from the unconscious levels
of her mind. A burning energy tore itself from its former nest inside her small
body. Instead of hitting the rocks, when Marron feebly opened her eyes she
found herself soaring around in the air.
"Yosh!
I… I'm flying just like you, Juunana!" Marron made small circles with her arms
as she experimented with her new skill, going higher and lower in zigzags and
wide loops. After a while of frolicking around in the sapphire blue sky Marron
noticed Juunana's eyes fixed on her like a metal clamp and glided unsteadily
towards him. There was a slight scowl stamped on his smooth features. Marron
stopped her laughing and wheeled closer in concern.
"What's
wrong?"
"Nothing."
"Hontou?"
The impish grin returned to her face as she lifted off into the clouds once
more and executed a triple flip and spun around with a diving motion, as if she
was swimming in the sea. Busy trying to get her bearings straight Marron didn't
see the large brown eagle winging towards her. The bird rammed into her
unsuspecting body and they fell in a wild tangle of hair and feathers. With an
enraged squawk the eagle flapped its plumed wings upside the girl's head and
grabbed one of her cherry-pink baubles in retaliation before taking off to the
distant mountains.
The
sight of Marron gaping dumbfoundedly up in the air with half her hair falling
over her red face and her clothes covered in feathers was too much for Juunana.
A strange tricking travelled up his throat until he couldn't help but laugh at
Marron's foolish display. He wasn't sure that the clear, lilting sound that was
so different to the crazed screaming he knew was coming from his mouth.
"You
look hilarious!" Marron glared, blushing a deeper shade of red before realising
how ridiculous she must have looked and burst out laughing herself.
"Chikushou!
How am I going to get all these things off me?" she cried in the middle of her
giggles, trying furtively to dust herself off and stay aloft at the same time.
Juunana smirked and bent over to pluck some russet feathers from her knotted
hair.
"Ow!"
"Gomen."
He eased the last quill out more gently from its jammed position on a blonde
lock. After tossing it behind him Juunana looked Marron over critically.
"What
will those bakas say if I took you back looking like this?" he muttered,
"you clothes are fine enough but you hair…" he untied Marron's remaining bauble
and dropped it in his pocket before taking off his own scarf and bunching her
goldenrod hair together with one hand while tying the orange bandana around it
in a large bow with the other. Marron shivered involuntarily, the cool air of
the afternoon seeping in as he released his hold on her.
"There.
That's a fair trade, ne?"
"A…
Arigatou." Marron swallowed and gingerly fingered her new "ribbon". It was
still warm, and had a soft silky feel that was pleasant to touch. Smiling
cynically he turned away from her to face the obscured mountains.
"Do
you know why I came her, Marron? Because I wanted to know if I could be human
again. I think both Juuhachi and I knew that the mechanic business was just an
excuse. I've always denied it, but the reason I hated humans so much was
because I could never do or feel the things they could. Something is definitely
happening to me, and Bulma is working on it, but I'm not sure if I'll ever be
completely human." Juunana-gou stared out over the vast city bathed in indigo
shadows with fierce yet misted eyes. Marron felt an over-whelming surge of
compassion for the stolid jinzouningen. In some ways, now he was more
human and closer to her than anyone else.
"Silly.
It makes no difference at all whether you are a jinzouningen or not. To
me, you are Juunana-gou and I care about you." Their eyes locked momentarily
and exchanged looks of subtle understanding after all the emotionally draining
confusion. Then it was over, and the two took off westward to Capsule
Corporation.
* * * *
* * *
The rapid tapping of keys echoed around the white-walled laboratory as Bulma's nimble fingers flew over the keyboard of her main computer. The screen emitted a bright neon glow that spread across the room and illuminated tables and shelves buried in chemical beakers and test-tubes. Leaning tensely over Bulma's shoulder and looking at the monitor was Juuhachi, flanked by a growingly impatient Krillin. Try as she might even her enhanced knowledge couldn't decipher the foreign numbers and symbols in front of her.
"So,
what are the results?" Juuhachi asked in exasperation. After typing in a few
more words Bulma took her attention off the screen, with her delicate eyebrows
furrowed in a look between frustration and astonishment. She closed her eyes
briefly before answering.
"That's
the problem. I'm not sure," she said, stretching her tired hands behind her head,
"the results say that the added components are dematerialising of their own
accord, which can't be right because strangely enough the scans show that
Juunana-gou was structured differently to you. At this rate the only thing that
should be left is the main nucleus." Bulma motioned towards a pile of diagrams
and print-outs spread out over her polished chrome examination table.
"It's
amazing, really, all the detail and advanced programming Gero put into those
things. I reckon it'll take me a month at the most to properly configure the
equipment for the operation… Hey Krillin, get away from there!" bored and
confused with the discussion and technical what-not, Krillin had wandered off
to take a closer look at a pile of scrap metal and blinking buttons that had
been somewhat sloppily stashed away in a half-open cupboard. Hearing Bulma's
loud command he jumped back, the sudden movement cutting his hand on a
protruding wire.
"You
idiot! I told you not to touch anything in here! It's dangerous!" Bulma dashed
over to his side and wrapped a spare piece of cloth over the bleeding wound.
Turning her attention fully to the machine, which was now making a shrill
beeping sound and flashing a blinding light that stung her eyes, Bulma groped
around and struggled to pull the roughly spherical object out of its cave. Now
that it was clearly visible, Juuhachi and Krillin found that it was in fact
quite a large object, at least big enough to fit a grown person. It resembled
an over-sized bird's egg, only with the top half chopped off and replaced with
a piece of curved glass. The bottom half was fitted with an engine that had
obviously not been covered yet, and was the part sticking out from the cupboard
that Krillin cut himself on. The whole thing looked like it had been made
purely from scraps and cannibalised parts of other appliances, and stood on
four short spindly steel legs.
"What
is this… invention?" asked Juuhachi, shielding her own eyes from the
white flare.
"My
latest project, before I started research on jinzouningen," came the
sharp reply, "it might not look like much, but lately I've been remembering the
time machine my future counterpart created – you know, the one Mirai Trunks
came here in? So anyway, I'm experimenting around with a 'time machine' of my
own, but my goal is to create one that didn't run into any parallel universes.
Of course, I don't know whether it works or not yet, and I don't intend to find
out right now either. It was all for a bit of fun really." At this point Bulma
flashed a murderous glance at Krillin.
"And
this baka has messed around with it and Kami knows what is going to happen now…" Just as Bulma withdrew an irritated sigh and turned back to attempt
to de-activate it, there was a heart-wrenching shriek of corrugated metal and
the 'time machine' vanished in a dazzling explosion and a deafening bang. There
was a momentary lapse of silence before Bulma staggered backwards, wide eyes
gazing in fear at the spot where the contraption had been standing just a
second ago. All that remained to prove its existence was a charred black streak
left from the engine's fuel.
"Iie…" she moaned softly,
collapsing back into a shelf and making it wobble under her weight. Juuhachi
walked over and placed a hand on the shaking woman's shoulder.
"Don't worry yourself, Bulma. The
thing was probably faulty anyway, and even if it wasn't what's the chance
anyone would know what it is? It'll most likely get discarded as a piece of
junk." Bulma nodded as soon as she could move again, slightly comforted but
still with a sense of foreboding weighted on her heart.
"I just hope you're right, Juuhachi."
"Suki da."
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