Chapter 5
A Gender Related Dilemma
His eyes were focused sharply with concentration and beads of sweat dropped steadily from his brow. The screen flickered with color and vibrancy as Kiko gave it all he could. His friends gathered around him with an intense and anxious atmosphere. It was only him and a single barrier that was obstructing him from the one dream he sought: a level 97 Natural Critical Assassin armed with two Triple Critical Jurs and a Mocking Muffler.
"You can do it Kiko!" Jing cheered him on.
"Go get 'em, Tiger!" Gee exclaimed.
"Relax..." Eric wheezed in his ear.
"Riiiiight..." Mimi rolled her eyes sarcastically, but was silently rooting for him too.
He was deaf to their words; all he cared about was his Hunter's Bow and this guy's Triple Critical Jur and how to surpass him. He dodged and hit the guy with all the Oridecon arrows he's got. And then...
"Did-did you... win?" Gee stuttered disbelievingly.
"I..." Kiko was speechless in excitement.
"YATA!!! Way to go, Kiko-chan!" Mimi evclaimed.
"Well done," Jing said simply.
"There's only one thing to be done in a situation like this one," Eric figured.
Gee and Mimi smirked at each other.
"BLOWOUT!!!"
The gang went in the restaurant they had been dining in the last weeks. It was called Yosen-Shuka and their specialty was pork buns. While it was elegant in the outside, the inside was always a crowded place with much shouting and mess. They took their places near the kitchen door, where they sometimes liked to peek inside to watch the chefs at work.
"What'll it be for you guys?" the smiling, flat-chested waitress asked them. Eric and Kiko both exchanged looks of amusement as the girls took care of their order.
"What's the matter with you two?" Gee demanded.
"Gay," Eric said simply, "The waitress is gay."
"I don't think so," Mimi protested, "She looks very nice and her hair's excellent."
"He wears make-up and the hair is a wig," Kiko countered, "We're boys, and boys know a girl from a gay."
"Let's just say, gender-confused so that no one's going to blame no one," Jing, the peacemaker, said.
"Your pork buns," the gender-confused waitress laid the steamers on the table and went into the kitchen hurriedly.
"If you say so," Mimi agreed and they all began to eat their pork buns.
Kiko went back home so exhausted with the thoughts of the spoils of war that he fell straight to sleep as soon as he got to his bed. No sooner had he entered dream world when his cellphone began to vibrate with Mimi's number on the screen.
"Kiko!" Mimi's frantic voice startled him.
"What? Is there an Invader attack!?" Kiko sat alertly awake.
"I LOST OUR SCIENCE GROUP REPORT!!!"
Ten minutes later, Kiko, Mimi, Gee and Jing were gathered in front of Yosen-Shuka with droopy eyes and jackets over their bathrobes. They hadn't had any time to change since they were all in a dash to save the only thing that would keep Kiko from failing physics (the girls didn't need to worry because they got a hundred and twelve percent at the exams).
They approached the door silently and Gee twisted the doorknob to submission. The door creaked but nobody seemed to be inside. It was eerie to be in the old restaurant at night. Every gliding shadow seemed to be a dark phantom in the night.
"It's still here, thank God," Gee muttered at a brown paper envelope under one of the tables, "C'mon, let's get outta here before someone kicks our asses."
Suddenly, the kitchen lights turned on and the clank of utensils started to be heard, as of someone cooking something.
"Let's leave this place and never eat here again, ok?" Mimi told them in an already panicky voice, "I'll lose all the points I got from Mr. Akihabara for knowing about central tendencies if we're caught!"
She spoke too soon for Jing was already peering at the lighted kitchen. Apparently, somebody from the staff had stayed behind to do some cleaning. The other three glanced at each other in panic and had the sudden urge to leave Jing behind and head for the hills
"Look over here, guys!" Jing motioned them.
"SHHHH!!!!!" they shushed at her.
Jing clasped her hands to her mouth. The guy inside didn't seem to hear Jing's voice. They peeked inside and saw the waitress they had seen earlier, only not wearing any more make-up. She was deeply absorbed in the making of her fried rice that she didn't notice the four staring at her from behind the kitchen window. The fire beneath the pan seemed to have increased in rage at the waitress' command, it was growing so large every second that they were in fear that the ceiling might catch fire. As the waitress was working, they caught sight of red spirals in the fire, a sure way that she was a Gatekeeper.
"Ah! A GATEKEEPER!" Gee bellowed.
This time the waitress took notice that someone was watching her. All of them except Gee dove to hide. She caught sight of Gee and Gee found out that what Eric and Kiko were saying was true. His (not her this time, mind you) wig fell off his head in alarm and Gee stared open-mouthed at the cutest guy she had ever seen.
The guy panicked and the fire behind him grew and grew in intensity until what the gang feared happened. The ceiling caught fire and spread.
"C'mon, let's get out of here before we get burned into a crisp!" Gee grabbed his hand and they ran out of the kitchen.
The others were already outside and Jing was already in hysterics. Gee and the guy joined them and they ran away until they can't run anymore. They were halfway to Mimi's house when they ran out of breath and stopped.
"Woo hoo!" Gee shrieked, "Let's do that again!"
"Right," the guy said in a surprisingly deep voice, "I'm sorry to have done that. I just can't control the- never mind."
"It's my fault, I didn't mean to scare you," Gee suddenly began to be conscious that she was still holding his hand so she let go and blushed.
"Is this what I see?" Mimi said mischievously, "Gee, the one and only tomboy, is blushing?"
"I am not!" she turned even redder.
"Oh yes you are!"
"AM NOT!"
"YOU ARE!"
Gee started to chase Mimi down the alley. Kiko had started to explain everything to the confused guy and Jing seemed to die of exhaustion at the corner.
"I can't leave the restaurant," the guy said, "I have dreams of being a chef and I can't just fight battles the government has to take care of. I'm very sorry but I have to go back to my job back a Yosen."
"If there is a Yosen to look forward to," Gee figured as soon as she got Mimi's hair out of her ponytails and practically ruined them, "You burned it already, remember? If you join Team BLITZ, you'll have a job and get an education at the same time. You'll be with us. You can start by telling us your name, stranger."
"Can you please call me Cordelia?"
"Your name is Cordelia???"
"Er... no, I've been urging people to call me that, but they always refuse to. My real name is Leonel Takeru Kazama, I'm sixteen and an orphan," he said, "As much as I'd like to join you guys, I'd rather be a lousy gender-confused waitress..."
"You heard our conversation?" Jing finally said.
"Well, you guys were talking so loud it can be heard inside the kitchen," Leonel told them.
"So that's the reason why you wouldn't join us!" Mimi exclaimed, she liked to psychoanalyze people, "To hell with that thought. We'd accept you even if you're gay."
"Mimi!" Kiko snapped at her, "Don't mind her, she's always like that. Anyway, are you joining or not?"
"I'm sorry," Leonel told them, "I really can't."
And with that, he walked away. Gee watched him go without a word. She felt so sorry for the guy that she almost burst in tears, but of course she didn't. Mimi took one look at Gee and read her mind.
"Oh, sens figuré misérable, Gee!" Mimi told her and to Jing she said, "Elle amour masculine! Que faire?"
"She speaks French?" Kiko exclaimed in amazement, "I didn't know you spoke French. What did she say, Jing?"
"Sorry," Jing smiled, "I can't tell you. It's our secret."
"Women!" Kiko exclaimed in exasperation.
"Don't worry," Gee told him, "I can't understand them either."
The Gatekeepers continued their lives the next morning. The mysterious burning of Yosen-Shuka was on the news that morning but nobody dared to say a word about it. They got through the day alright except Gee, who was silent the whole day.
"Hey, Gee! Odekake desu ka?" Mimi asked Gee as they went home that afternoon, "I thought boarded at the school dorm."
"Yep, I'm going out," Gee answered, "I just have a feeling I might meet someone. See you later, Mimi."
She walked down the path to Yosen, a peculiar feeling creeping up to her. She stood in front of Yosen, or what remained of it, and saw a familiar sight. Leonel was with her in a second, clearly lamenting the end of his workplace.
"I guess I made a silly move last night," he said, "I'm lucky to have bumped you. I want to join you guys but I thought I wouldn't see you again."
"As we said, you're always welcome," Gee started to smile, "Come on, I'll show you to the Chief."
Gee couldn't help but grin. For the first time in her life, she felt like a girl.
A Gender Related Dilemma
His eyes were focused sharply with concentration and beads of sweat dropped steadily from his brow. The screen flickered with color and vibrancy as Kiko gave it all he could. His friends gathered around him with an intense and anxious atmosphere. It was only him and a single barrier that was obstructing him from the one dream he sought: a level 97 Natural Critical Assassin armed with two Triple Critical Jurs and a Mocking Muffler.
"You can do it Kiko!" Jing cheered him on.
"Go get 'em, Tiger!" Gee exclaimed.
"Relax..." Eric wheezed in his ear.
"Riiiiight..." Mimi rolled her eyes sarcastically, but was silently rooting for him too.
He was deaf to their words; all he cared about was his Hunter's Bow and this guy's Triple Critical Jur and how to surpass him. He dodged and hit the guy with all the Oridecon arrows he's got. And then...
"Did-did you... win?" Gee stuttered disbelievingly.
"I..." Kiko was speechless in excitement.
"YATA!!! Way to go, Kiko-chan!" Mimi evclaimed.
"Well done," Jing said simply.
"There's only one thing to be done in a situation like this one," Eric figured.
Gee and Mimi smirked at each other.
"BLOWOUT!!!"
The gang went in the restaurant they had been dining in the last weeks. It was called Yosen-Shuka and their specialty was pork buns. While it was elegant in the outside, the inside was always a crowded place with much shouting and mess. They took their places near the kitchen door, where they sometimes liked to peek inside to watch the chefs at work.
"What'll it be for you guys?" the smiling, flat-chested waitress asked them. Eric and Kiko both exchanged looks of amusement as the girls took care of their order.
"What's the matter with you two?" Gee demanded.
"Gay," Eric said simply, "The waitress is gay."
"I don't think so," Mimi protested, "She looks very nice and her hair's excellent."
"He wears make-up and the hair is a wig," Kiko countered, "We're boys, and boys know a girl from a gay."
"Let's just say, gender-confused so that no one's going to blame no one," Jing, the peacemaker, said.
"Your pork buns," the gender-confused waitress laid the steamers on the table and went into the kitchen hurriedly.
"If you say so," Mimi agreed and they all began to eat their pork buns.
Kiko went back home so exhausted with the thoughts of the spoils of war that he fell straight to sleep as soon as he got to his bed. No sooner had he entered dream world when his cellphone began to vibrate with Mimi's number on the screen.
"Kiko!" Mimi's frantic voice startled him.
"What? Is there an Invader attack!?" Kiko sat alertly awake.
"I LOST OUR SCIENCE GROUP REPORT!!!"
Ten minutes later, Kiko, Mimi, Gee and Jing were gathered in front of Yosen-Shuka with droopy eyes and jackets over their bathrobes. They hadn't had any time to change since they were all in a dash to save the only thing that would keep Kiko from failing physics (the girls didn't need to worry because they got a hundred and twelve percent at the exams).
They approached the door silently and Gee twisted the doorknob to submission. The door creaked but nobody seemed to be inside. It was eerie to be in the old restaurant at night. Every gliding shadow seemed to be a dark phantom in the night.
"It's still here, thank God," Gee muttered at a brown paper envelope under one of the tables, "C'mon, let's get outta here before someone kicks our asses."
Suddenly, the kitchen lights turned on and the clank of utensils started to be heard, as of someone cooking something.
"Let's leave this place and never eat here again, ok?" Mimi told them in an already panicky voice, "I'll lose all the points I got from Mr. Akihabara for knowing about central tendencies if we're caught!"
She spoke too soon for Jing was already peering at the lighted kitchen. Apparently, somebody from the staff had stayed behind to do some cleaning. The other three glanced at each other in panic and had the sudden urge to leave Jing behind and head for the hills
"Look over here, guys!" Jing motioned them.
"SHHHH!!!!!" they shushed at her.
Jing clasped her hands to her mouth. The guy inside didn't seem to hear Jing's voice. They peeked inside and saw the waitress they had seen earlier, only not wearing any more make-up. She was deeply absorbed in the making of her fried rice that she didn't notice the four staring at her from behind the kitchen window. The fire beneath the pan seemed to have increased in rage at the waitress' command, it was growing so large every second that they were in fear that the ceiling might catch fire. As the waitress was working, they caught sight of red spirals in the fire, a sure way that she was a Gatekeeper.
"Ah! A GATEKEEPER!" Gee bellowed.
This time the waitress took notice that someone was watching her. All of them except Gee dove to hide. She caught sight of Gee and Gee found out that what Eric and Kiko were saying was true. His (not her this time, mind you) wig fell off his head in alarm and Gee stared open-mouthed at the cutest guy she had ever seen.
The guy panicked and the fire behind him grew and grew in intensity until what the gang feared happened. The ceiling caught fire and spread.
"C'mon, let's get out of here before we get burned into a crisp!" Gee grabbed his hand and they ran out of the kitchen.
The others were already outside and Jing was already in hysterics. Gee and the guy joined them and they ran away until they can't run anymore. They were halfway to Mimi's house when they ran out of breath and stopped.
"Woo hoo!" Gee shrieked, "Let's do that again!"
"Right," the guy said in a surprisingly deep voice, "I'm sorry to have done that. I just can't control the- never mind."
"It's my fault, I didn't mean to scare you," Gee suddenly began to be conscious that she was still holding his hand so she let go and blushed.
"Is this what I see?" Mimi said mischievously, "Gee, the one and only tomboy, is blushing?"
"I am not!" she turned even redder.
"Oh yes you are!"
"AM NOT!"
"YOU ARE!"
Gee started to chase Mimi down the alley. Kiko had started to explain everything to the confused guy and Jing seemed to die of exhaustion at the corner.
"I can't leave the restaurant," the guy said, "I have dreams of being a chef and I can't just fight battles the government has to take care of. I'm very sorry but I have to go back to my job back a Yosen."
"If there is a Yosen to look forward to," Gee figured as soon as she got Mimi's hair out of her ponytails and practically ruined them, "You burned it already, remember? If you join Team BLITZ, you'll have a job and get an education at the same time. You'll be with us. You can start by telling us your name, stranger."
"Can you please call me Cordelia?"
"Your name is Cordelia???"
"Er... no, I've been urging people to call me that, but they always refuse to. My real name is Leonel Takeru Kazama, I'm sixteen and an orphan," he said, "As much as I'd like to join you guys, I'd rather be a lousy gender-confused waitress..."
"You heard our conversation?" Jing finally said.
"Well, you guys were talking so loud it can be heard inside the kitchen," Leonel told them.
"So that's the reason why you wouldn't join us!" Mimi exclaimed, she liked to psychoanalyze people, "To hell with that thought. We'd accept you even if you're gay."
"Mimi!" Kiko snapped at her, "Don't mind her, she's always like that. Anyway, are you joining or not?"
"I'm sorry," Leonel told them, "I really can't."
And with that, he walked away. Gee watched him go without a word. She felt so sorry for the guy that she almost burst in tears, but of course she didn't. Mimi took one look at Gee and read her mind.
"Oh, sens figuré misérable, Gee!" Mimi told her and to Jing she said, "Elle amour masculine! Que faire?"
"She speaks French?" Kiko exclaimed in amazement, "I didn't know you spoke French. What did she say, Jing?"
"Sorry," Jing smiled, "I can't tell you. It's our secret."
"Women!" Kiko exclaimed in exasperation.
"Don't worry," Gee told him, "I can't understand them either."
The Gatekeepers continued their lives the next morning. The mysterious burning of Yosen-Shuka was on the news that morning but nobody dared to say a word about it. They got through the day alright except Gee, who was silent the whole day.
"Hey, Gee! Odekake desu ka?" Mimi asked Gee as they went home that afternoon, "I thought boarded at the school dorm."
"Yep, I'm going out," Gee answered, "I just have a feeling I might meet someone. See you later, Mimi."
She walked down the path to Yosen, a peculiar feeling creeping up to her. She stood in front of Yosen, or what remained of it, and saw a familiar sight. Leonel was with her in a second, clearly lamenting the end of his workplace.
"I guess I made a silly move last night," he said, "I'm lucky to have bumped you. I want to join you guys but I thought I wouldn't see you again."
"As we said, you're always welcome," Gee started to smile, "Come on, I'll show you to the Chief."
Gee couldn't help but grin. For the first time in her life, she felt like a girl.