Rising Emotions Chapter 6

By Karen Hart


Haven't been here in a while, Allen thought as he sat down in the middle of the walkway, face turned towards the grave marker. He effectively blocked any passers-by where he was, though the nearest person was some thirty yards away, and he doubted they were going to bump into each other anytime soon; there weren't many people there at 6:00. No flowers or notes rested on the grave, a fact that gave it a curiously neglected look, in spite of the obviously careful tending of the grounds.

He dropped his head slightly, eyes closed in a combination of fatigue and sorrow; he felt so tired just then. For a while he stayed that way, head bowed while he thought, until a phantom sound shook him out of his reverie and he glanced up in bewildered surprise. There was nothing there; the other person had left. He let go a breath.

"Been a while," he echoed his thoughts aloud, hands on knees while he looked up at the artificial sky, then back down at the grave. "Hope you didn't think I was avoiding you or anything. Just been busy with the Project, that's all." This was always awkward for him. "Anyway, I might as well get to why I came to visit. Been worried about the Chi— …Shion," he amended. "She still misses you, you know." God, this was always so awkward.

Allen looked down again, contemplating his next words. "She's been trying to pretend otherwise, though. It's almost funny. We can all see how much this—" he gestured at the marker "—has affected her, but she always tries to act like it doesn't bother her anymore. But it's been almost a year, and I think things are starting to—well, she's starting to get a little frayed around the edges. I know, I know. What do I expect you to do about it?" He gave a short, sharp laugh. "She still wears the ring you know. And your necklace. Guess it's no surprise. You two seemed great together.

"To be honest, I keep thinking maybe she should come down here once a while. I asked her about it a few days ago. She just got this look like—I don't know. But she got real quiet after that, and changed the subject. I think she wishes she could still talk to you, though. Call it a hunch," he suggested, a quick, sad smile lifting his features for a moment.

He grew quiet then, as he watched a leaf fall from the nearby maple. Guess the guys in Environment want autumn to come early this year. "She's doing pretty good, though, all things considered. You know—all right, you have to hear this. So we're all in the lab, right, 'cept for Karol 'cause she was out sick. Anyway, we're working on KOS-MOS's speech software, and Shion's got it set up so that her responses will come from the speaker just to the left of her console. She's issued the 'intro' command, and we're waiting for the usual 'Anti-Gnosis Humanoid Fighting System' and so on response. Then we hear it, but it isn't coming from the speakers. Instead, we hear it coming from Shion's UMN phone—you know, the bunny one? Somehow she got the signals crosses. So anyway, Togashi starts shouting 'Oh no! KOS-MOS has been eaten by the bunny phone!' and Shion starts asking if there were any priests nearby, and we all just start rolling. I swear I thought Basil was going to suffocate, he was gasping for air so much. God, it was great. You would've loved it.

"KOS-MOS has been doing pretty good too, I think. At least Shion says the dives have been promising. We don't wake her up. Don't really want to, truth be told. At least not yet. Though I'd kind of like to see her, you know. Just not—well, you probably get what I'm saying." He leaned forward a bit, make a gesture with his right hand. What can you do? it seemed to say.

For a moment he was silent, losing the threads of what he'd wanted to say. There was just so much. "I know there was something else I wanted to add. But hell, I think I got most of it already." He sighed, and closed his eyes, thinking of all that'd happened since his last visit some three months ago. "Oh, that's right. We've got a new girl in the Division. Her name's Miyuki. She was interning for a while, but now she's pretty much official." He grinned. "I think Shion wants to kill her."

He stood up then, brushing a bit of gravel from the seat of his pants. "I really wish I could talk to you face to face, instead of like this. But hell, what can you do? Damn, I say this every time, don't I? Bet it's getting kind of old. Ah hell. It's the truth." There was another moment of silence as he looked down at the marker, contemplating the words on its surface. He'd never really thought about what they'd meant, seeing them as just pretty bit of text. But now he could see a bit of truth to the words. "Just had to go off in your own direction, didn't you?"

There was quiet for a while, until it was interrupted by the sudden chirping of his watch. Visiting time was up, it seemed. "Looks like I'd better get going, or I'll be late for work. I'll probably stop by again some time soon. Well, see you later." With that he made his way down the pathway, towards the mostly empty parking lot.

See you later, friend.