Forgotten Truths Arc (pt.2)

Chapter 1: Plane Rides of DEATH!)

Also Titled Meetings

Naori's P.O.V

By Hannah-chan

"I'm going to Japan."

My mother spewed her tea across the table in surprise. Sel patted her awkwardly on the back, stunned.

"You're what?!" My mother demanded.

"I'm going to Japan. For a few months, at least. I'm not sure when I'll be back."

"B-b-but... you can't even speak Japanese!"

I arched an eyebrow curiously. "Says who?"

"Says I!" She cried, as if this settled the matter.

I rolled my eyes. "Mother, I can speak Japanese fine. Not fluently, granted, but I'll learn anything I need to know there."

It was about a week later, and the mysterious Instant Message had grated my nerves so much, that I was resolved to go with my instinct on the matter. I had sat my mother and sister down at the table, knowing my mother wouldn't want to be standing after a few minutes.

"But-" Sel started, and I cut her off.

"You can have my room."

She gaped at me openly, then let out a whoop, running upstairs, no doubt to start moving things. I had already packed, unbeknownst to my mother. I even had the one-way flight tickets in my wallet.

"But.... why?" She spat, as if everything on the right side of America was dirty and shameless.

I blinked. How the hell was I supposed to explain to my mother than I had gotten an anonymous Instant Message, subconsciously willing me to Japan?

"Um.... Eastern.... Medicine?"

My mother quarked an eyebrow. "Try again."

I fidgeted nervously. "It's... just something I have to do, alright?"

She set her lips in a firm line. "When?"

I flinched. "....Tomorrow."

"WHAT?!" She shrieked.

I was sure our neighbors had heard her. Two blocks down.

"When did you do this?!"

I licked my lips nervously. "Three days ago."

I swear I say her twitch. "On such short notice!"

"Well, yeah. I'm taking the express flight, actually."

My mother seemed determined to keep me here, firmly locked up in America. "Where will you stay? You can't very well sleep in a hotel for a month."

I muttered something under my breath.

"What was that?!"

"It could very well be up to four months."

She gapped at me, but snapped her mouth shut. "Answer my question."

This I could do without flaw. "Remember my friend Ahrica who move a couple of years ago?"

She nodded slowly.

"She's going to let me stay with her until I find a decent apartment!"

My mother groaned, and giving up on bluntness, declared officially, "You can't go; I won't allow it."

"Why not, exactly?"

"You have to stay here; take care of your sister; for God's sake, Naori, you have to go to collage!"

I blinked. "Oh, so I suppose all the collages in Japan spontaneously burned down?"

She threw me a deathglare. "Go to your room, young woman."

I sighed. "You can't stop me. Besides, I've got to go get my bags."

I stalked up the stairs, leaving my mother gapping.

I managed to fall asleep around 1:30 that morning. At precisely 5:00, I woke up to a muffled news broadcaster explaining the sudden power surge that left the entire city without lights or electricity. I groaned. And here mom thought buying a radio that was powered by batteries completely pointless.

I fumbled with the clock angrily; I hated getting up early, but my flight departed at 6:30. I finally managed to shut it off, and padded over to my dresser, searching for matches. A few minutes later, I had all 25 of my candles lit that were placed in strategic points in my room. Outside of my room, I pulled a towel out of the linen closet, and carried one of my candles into the bathroom, for the soul purpose of telling the shampoo and conditioner bottles apart.

I slipped into the shower, and watched, half-asleep, as bits of purple and red dye floated down the drain. Angrily, I continued to wash my hair.

I'll just patch up the faded spots when I get off the plane; there's no time now.

Upon getting out of the shower, I wrapped a tan bandanna around my hair, thankfully covering the spots where the color was weak. Dressing half-consciously in faded jeans and a peach-colored silk shirt with huge, billowing sleeves, I picked up my two bags(I really didn't have many things I felt necessary to take with me), and headed downstairs. I half-expected to see my mother standing in front of the door, hands on hips, smug expression on her face, but, fortunately, she was nowhere to be found. After all, I usually slept past noon; she wouldn't have expected me up this early. Scrawling a quick note to my sister regarding the remaining things in my room(Sell them, throw them out, I really don't care), I slipped out the door.

Pause. Blink Assimilate.

"MY FREAKING CAR!!!"

I would've killed her. Except for the fact that my flight left in 45 minutes. Not enough time to hide the body.

Angrily, I stalked past my car, deathglaring at the tires. All of which, were flat.

I pounded on the knocker at my neighbor's house. I knew for a fact that Laci would be just getting up for her job at Hunneedew's, the nearby bakery.

The door swung open. "Naori." She blinked.

"Allesse. Eheh. So, my mother let the air out of my tires."

The girl gapped at me.

"So, I was wondering if you would maybe take 20 minutes out of your ride to work to take me to the airport?"

She was still gapping at me.

"Laci!"

"Oh, eh, yeah, right. I was just leaving; pile in."

After a few minutes, the two of us had made room in the pounds of clutter in her car for me and various suitcases.

Halfway to the airport, Laci asked, "Why Japan?"

I shrugged. "You know, I'm not really sure. Actually, something weird happened when I was in the hospital."

She looked ready to throw her entire weight on the brakes. "You were in the hospital?!"

"Aheh. Yeah. Rock climbing accident."

"You're ok?"

"I'm out of the hospital."

"....Point. So what happened?"

I told her everything, from waking up in the hospital to this morning, finding my tires flat, which took roughly 10 minutes.

"Good God. I knew your mother was a bitch, but still." There you are folks, my best friend's grand statement of the day.

"So what do you think?"

She bit her lip thoughtfully. "I know there's a program running around that allows a user to erase any contact info from an email, but that really doesn't have anything to do with this does it? You had the contact, they just weren't there?"

I nodded.

"Well, I have no idea. Sorry."

I nodded again. "Thanks. I'll look into it once I get over there."

She blinked. "Waitaminute! You don't have your laptop!"

I chuckled. "I know." The bag was, actually in my suitcase, but not the actually computer. "Don't worry. I'd have to change the Language card and such; I just decided to get a new one. I wiped the hard drive from my last one; and I've got everything I want on a disk in my bag. I let Sel have the old one."

"Ah." The twenty year old stated grandly.

"Laci. There's the exit."

She blinked stupidly. "What?"

"The exit, woman!"

"Oh yeah!"

She dutifully turned of the main highway, and I watched her, puzzled. "Zoning?"

She nodded, laughing shakily. "Not something you should do on the road."

"You ok?"

"Yep. Just thinking about your story. That's really odd. I mean, if the person had an account to IM you with, they had to at least have an info page; filled out or not."

"I fully intend to check it out. Oh, here we are!"

"Hey, Naori?"

"Hmm?"

"Don't you... hate planes?"

"Passionately."

"Then why-"

"I don't want to take a boat, that's why."

"Okaaay."

"Hate them even more, eheh."

I got out of the car, and she enveloped me in a hug. "Don't forget to e-mail me. And come visit sometime, alright?"

I nodded. Laci, unlike my mother, was fully aware that I had no intention of moving back to the 'States.

"And when are you telling your mother that you won't be returning?"

"As late as freaking possible."

She laughed.

The flight was a disaster. I'll make a list for you.

The man sitting next to me smelled as if he had just eaten a pound of pure garlic and insisted on telling me his life story.

The five-year old behind me wouldn't stop kicking my chair.

No arm space.

No foot space.

I desperately wanted my laptop to keep me occupied.

I found out you can only listen to the new Enya CD 27 times before the first set of batteries run out.

You can only listen to the new Metalica CD 15 times before the garlic-man tells you it's blasphemy and calls the flight attendant on you for being rude.

You can only throw 7 blasphemous, rude comments at the garlic man before he calls the flight attendant. Again.

You only get a pack of peanuts and a can of soda in second-class. Thank God for Oreos. They fit nicely in your backpack.

So don't fly. Trust me. I know these things.

"Save me!"

"Ah, hello to you too, Naori.

"Just.... Get.... Me.... Out.... Of... Here."

"You need to get your luggage."

"Shit."

My first moments in Tokyo, ladies and gentlemen.

As soon as we had reached Ahrica's apartment, I nose-dived into the couch. The other girl poked me in the back awkwardly. "You have a bed, you know."

I blinked. "Really?" I lay there, pondering this, before letting my head thud back into the couch cushion.

"Just how long was your flight?"

"Uhm... A hundred hours?"

She chuckled. "Alright, lay there then, I'll make food and you can eat when you wake up."

I drooled subconsciously. "God, I've missed your cooking."

She laughed and let me sleep.

I tried to waft the smell of Rica's cooking towards my nose with my fork, but in vain. I was undoubtedly drooling; I couldn't help it.

"Naori, it might be better if you actually decided to eat it instead of smelling it."

I grinned childishly and speared a dumpling on my fork. I had down fifteen of these before Rica suggested I slow down or get sick.

"Ah, right." As soon as I had stopped throwing things at my stomach, it growled in warning. "Unng."

My friend giggled.

I ate the last dumpling on my plate, and stood. Heading into the kitchen, I cleaned off the plate in the sink and put it in the dishwasher.

Rica blinked.

"Habit. Now- unpacking!"

"Oh yes, because I know you're just dying to do so!" She said, sending us both into fits of giggles.

"Rica?"

"Hmm?"

"I missed you." And with that cheerful note, I squirmed into my new room.

The next day I finished unpacking. As soon as the last bag was unpacked, I started squirming, like smokers would do after they hadn't had a cigarette in days. I exited my room, and pulled on my coat. Rica was sitting on the couch, aimlessly flicking through television channels.

"Hey! Where're you going?"

I smiled restlessly. "I'm looking for a computer store."

She burst out laughing. "That's the Naori I know."

I stuck my tongue out at her childishly. "Be that way. Oh... um." I blinked. "You ah... wouldn't happen to let me borrow your car would you?"

She shook her head. "That thing's a lump of scraps anyway. I'm surprised we made it from the airport in tact. There's a subway entrance down the block."

"There's a subway in Japan?"

She laughed. "Yep. If you take the Green line to right inside of Tokyo, you should reach a pretty common shopping district. I'm sure they'll have a Gateway or Dell around there."

I blinked again. "They have Gateways and Dells in Japan?

She nodded. "They're international products."

"...Oh. Uh, ok."

She laughed.

"Relax, Usagi. I'm buying a soundcard. Not a new car."

I flipped idly through the computer's booklet that sat in front of me, ignoring the three girls next to me.

"But why did you drag us along? We could be out kicking demon ass or something instead!" The blond whined, and her companions both shot her sharp glares

"This will only take a minute. Can't you just be patient?"

The tallest girl, the one with black hair that fell down her back in sheets replied under her breath, "Not when there's candy stores to be gotten to."

I perked a bit at the sound of the newer girl's voice, and watched her intently. She turned suddenly, as if she knew I was watching her.

"Can I help you?"

I blinked, startled. "Oh, no. Gomen. You're just familiar, reminded me of someone."

She looked slightly concerned at this statement, but stretched out her hand as her two friends looked on curiously. "Hino Rei,"

"Oh. Lith Na-"I had reached out to clasp her hand, and the world went black.