Edens Zero:

Homesick

Edens Zero © Hiro Mashima

Summary- A lonesome Shiki finds company as he gazes at the Sakura Cosmos in the middle of the night. Takes place between chapters 1 and 2.

The stars twinkled in the great darkness of the Sakura Cosmos. Cherry blossoms of Ether danced upon the solar winds as the Aqua Wing floated along the starry depths, the vessel having set an automated course for Planet Bluegarden as its passengers bedded down for the night. Though it was hard to tell due to the darkness of space, it was actually quite late at night.

Rebecca Bluegarden breathed softly as she lied in her bed with Happy snuggled up in her arms, the little cat giggling in his sleep and twitching his tail as he dreamt of enjoying a large banquet of fish. As for Rebecca, she was smiling as she nuzzled her face into the coolness of her pillow, dreaming of the day she gained 1 million views on the Aoneko Channel. She saw herself standing with the holographic golden B-Cube plaque, dressed in her blue cat costume as she held the reward for all to see. With a giggle, Rebecca rolled over onto her back, a giddy smile forming on her lips... but as she did, she furrowed her brow at the empty space beside her.

She moaned softly as she opened her eyes, her vision blurry from sleepiness, but as her eyes adjusted to the dark, she saw that her guest was not sleeping in the same spot.

Shiki was gone.

At first, Rebecca was a bit relieved. The boy was sleeping in her bed along with her, insisting that he didn't mind (even though Rebecca told him that she had a guest room that he could stay in, instead). She couldn't exactly blame him for not knowing about things such as personal space, considering he was raised on a planet full of robots with him as the only human inhabitant there. However, a bit of worry began to form in the pit of her stomach, too. It had been a few hours ago since they left Planet Granbell after the robots suddenly revolted without warning.

She couldn't help but think that something wasn't right.

Carefully, Rebecca slipped out of bed, taking extra care not to wake up Happy, who snoozed on her pillow as she crept out into the corridor. The first place she checked was the guest room. She figured that maybe Shiki decided to sleep in there, after all... but when she opened the door, she found that he wasn't in there, either. The bed was clean and showed no signs of being slept in, and everything else was still in its place.

Now Rebecca was really worried. There was no way Shiki would just disappear. The Aqua Wing was a rather small ship and there weren't many places for someone like Shiki to go. He had to still be on board, somewhere... unless she imagined his presence, which she highly doubted.

As Rebecca made her way down the corridor to the ship's cockpit, she gasped silently in surprise. There was Shiki, sitting at the cockpit as he stared out the window. His back was turned to her, so he seemed to have not noticed her.

"Shiki?" Rebecca called as she approached him from behind, but she got no response from him, which prompted her to try again. "Shiki?"

"Huh?" Shiki muttered as he turned to face her... and that's when she saw this expression of forlornness on him, causing her eyes to go wide. Plus, she could just barely make out what looked like dried tear stains on his cheeks.

He had been crying.

"Shiki, are you okay?" Rebecca asked as she came closer. "You weren't in bed and I got worried, so I came to check on you."

Shiki blinked at her before he looked away, pausing for a moment before he heaved a sigh.

"I... I dunno," the boy muttered as Rebecca sat down beside him, her eyes looking him over in concern. She only just met him not that long ago, but she didn't like the idea of just leaving him alone to stew in his sadness. She felt like she had to help him open up, somehow. Do something to let him know that she was there.

"Shiki... what's wrong?" Rebecca asked as she reached over and put her hand on his shoulder, causing him to tense slightly before he glanced over at her. "You can talk to me. We're friends, remember?"

A pause... before Shiki's shoulders went lax and he heaved a quiet sigh.

"I... I just felt really sad, for some reason," he said. "I was asleep, but... at the same time I wasn't sleeping. It was more like... I was thinking about everybody on Granbell. Mithra... Annie... John... Michael..." His eyes softened as he kept speaking with a sorrowful tone. "Lord Castellan... and... and Grandpa, too..."

Rebecca's own eyes went glossy and she felt her heart sink, but she let the boy continue to talk.

"Then the next thing I knew," Shiki continued, "I... I felt like I wanted to go back home. I know I just left... and I know everyone wasn't acting like themselves... but I miss them. I miss Granbell and I miss having parties with everybody and getting along with them." He looked at Rebecca, his eyes misty and his lip trembling. "Is... is it bad that I feel this way?"

"Of course not," Rebecca said as she gently rubbed his back. "Shiki... you're homesick."

"Homesick?" Shiki repeated.

"It means you're sad because you miss your home," said Rebecca. "You were so used to being there, you feel sad that you left."

"Yeah... I-I guess I do," Shiki said. "Rebecca... am I gonna die?"

Rebecca had to keep herself from laughing, knowing it wouldn't be of any help to Shiki. After all, even after the robots on Granbell attacked him, Shiki still considered them his friends and family. Plus, due to being raised on a planet of robots, it was natural that he didn't really understand the term of being homesick.

Instead, she smiled warmly at him and said "You'll be okay. You might be this way for a while, but it won't last. I promise."

Shiki smiled at her, a feeling of reassurance beginning to well up inside of him before he looked out the window.

"Do you feel better, now?" asked Rebecca.

"Yeah... a little," Shiki replied. "Thanks, Rebecca."

"Sure," Rebecca nodded. "So... are you gonna go back to bed?"

"...No... not yet," Shiki answered as he stared fondly at the stars and the cherry blossoms that floated about in the endless void of space. "I wanna keep watching the stars and blossoms some more."

"I see," Rebecca said before she got up and walked away, and at first, Shiki thought that she was going to bed herself, but after a while, she returned, carrying a box of cookies, some chocolate pocky, some mochi cakes, and other snacks.

"What's all this for?" Shiki asked.

"Oh, just some snacks to eat while we watch," Rebecca answered as she opened up the box and offered Shiki a cookie. "Want one?"

Shiki blinked at her before he smiled as he reached into the box and began to munch on the cookie, prompting Rebecca to grab one for herself. At that moment, the two heard a yawn, causing them to turn to see a sleepy Happy, rubbing his eyes with a paw.

"What's going on?" the little blue cat asked.

"Hi, Happy," Rebecca said.

"We're watching the cherry blossoms," said Shiki. "Wanna join us?"

Happy smiled before he soon toddled over and climbed up into Rebecca's lap, the girl offering him a bar of chocolate, which he happily began to nibble on as they all looked out the window together, watching the stars and cherry blossoms. After a while, as the snacks were soon finished, they had nodded off... and while Happy snoozed on Rebecca's lap, Shiki snored softly as he leaned on her shoulder.

However... she didn't seem to mind all that much.

My first Edens Zero one-shot! Hope you like it!

Review, please!