Chapter 67: Deciding the Future

"And that's all I have for you today on the subject of doing taxes." Said a young, upstanding female teacher decked in a fuzzy vest and minimalist sunglasses.

Her group of students, which included a certain Kairi Aurora, let out a collective groan of relief as the bell rang to end off the school day. Many of them started to round up their books and backpack when the teacher sprung her hand out and shouted, "Ah ah AH!"

Freezing them all right there.

"I still need to give out your homework assignment for today."

Half the students grumbled their way back into their seats while Kairi attentively waited to write it down, twirling her pencil between a pair of fingers.

"Over the weekend I want you all to write a three-page essay answering one question: 'Where do you see yourself after graduation?'"

"Huh?" Uttered Kairi blankly.

"Now, have a good weekend everyone." Having pleasantly sent them on their merry way, the students scrambled to escape the class room before she changed her mind or added more to their load.

Kairi lagged behind the rest clutching the paper with her assignment written on it against her chest. All the while murmuring, "Where do I see myself after graduating?"

She knew the answer. That, as a matter of fact, she DIDN'T know where she would go, or what she'd do. The question had never crossed her mind until now, and now, she realized something dire.

"I'm less than a year and a half away from graduating..." She turned her head towards the digital clock outside the classroom and ever second it counted down made a sound that pressed against her heart and stressed her out.

Pouting her lower lip, she swung away from the oppression of time and hastened her way down the hall thinking, "Where does the time go?"

It felt like just yesterday that Gravitus' shadow loomed over the city. But even with him gone it didn't feel too different around here.

Now she's able to say "Hi" to her classmates and they say "Hi" back. There are even some who've wanted to be her friend, only for her to pass them up. Shamefully, she just didn't know how to handle making new friends, or understood why people liked her right now.

These thoughts were an attempt to distract her from her main concerns, but sadly, that was pressing right against her chest at the moment, refusing to let her escape.

She crumpled the paper up a bit against her fingertips and groaned, "W-What a stupid assignment...!"

After wandering down the hallway for a bit she noticed Maria running towards the entrance with her two new friends, all of them barely hiding their snickers.

"Mmm...What's that trio of troublemakers up to now?" She hurried to catch up with them while innocently hollering, "Maria!"

This made the trio flinch on the spot and huddle close to one another, staring at Kairi with perfectly doe-ish eyes. Maria in particular quickly tucked her hands behind her back.

"Where are you three going?" Kairi got in close and tried to peek over Maria's head, only for her to slowly lean back with a big, giggling smile.

"We're going to hang out at my place!" Shouted the young Nikolas.

"Really?" Just as Kairi was about to make a discovery Maria and the two bad influences make a break for the door.

"See you later, mama!" Maria waved her hand up, accidentally revealing a bottle of glue she was holding.

She pulled it right back down with a blush and made her escape out the door. Kairi groaned angrily and then shouted, "Don't forget your homework!"

Slumping into a pout, she heard some violent rattling behind her and glanced to see a few students with their hands stuck on the locker handles.

She slowly walked out the door and sighed, "Those kids, not having to think of their future...Ooooh how I envy them."

And speaking of children, Mew was standing outside the school in his usual spot turned sideways, obviously watching Maria's group run away.

And of course, he was grinning from cheek-to-cheek.

Kairi looked at him feeling about as tired as a middle-aged housewife and then tried to sneak on past him. Only for him to run up and stick to her side like glue.

"Hey hey, gonna just walk off without saying hello?"

Kairi arched her brows and moaned, "Not in the mood today, Mew."

Mew pulled back and laid his hands behind his head, "Somebody's grouchy. Tough quiz today?"

"No its...!" She caught herself about to let her guard down and quickly turned away with a blush in her cheeks, "Oh, you wouldn't understand!"

"Which means..." Mew cheekily replied, "You're going to tell me eventually."

Kairi slowly faced him feeling absolutely drained of energy and then her mouth drooped with a heavy sigh, "I hate when he's right..."

She pulled her paper out from against her chest and weakly handed it over to him. As he snagged it up she explained, "This is my homework assignment for the weekend."

"Write a three-page essay answering one question..." Mew paused and then perked up with a curious murmur, "Where do you see yourself after graduating?"

He turned towards her and shouted in his lackadaisical tone, "That sounds easy!"

She swiped the paper out of his hand and threw it into her bag.

"Oooookay?" Mew, thank god, went quiet after that.

The two of them made their way to Kairi's home and headed on inside. Kairi plopped her bag onto the floor behind the right couch and then pulled out a pen and notebook.

"Might as well get started now..." She bemoaned in her head.

She leaned her back against the couch and tapped the tip of her pen against the paper, unable to put her thoughts onto it.

She heard the couch creak and wearily glanced over her shoulder to find Mew laying down, stretching his arms and legs over both ends with a forced yawn.

"...Why are you laying on the couch?" She murmured.

"Cause its comfy?" Mew happily replied with a snicker before closing his eyes to fully relax.

Kairi pinched the space between her eyes and groaned, "Let me restate that. Why are you laying on our couch?"

"Cause I don't feel like going home and laying on mine." It was a simple answer, and totally a Mew one.

"...Haaaaa!" Kairi plopped her work tools by her hips and then rounded the couch saying "Scoot over" in a halfway forceful tone.

Mew pulled his back up against the arm of the couch so that she could sit right down at the edge of her feet. He peeked one eye open and wiggled his mouth into a mischievous smile.

"Sooooo, how's it going?"

"I haven't started yet..." She said, not paying him any heed.

"Its not that hard, just start writing and you'll be done in no time!"

"Mew, have you EVER written anything in your life?" She replied with a seething cold glare his way.

Mew leaned back and never gave a definitive answer on the subject. Kairi then resumed staring blankly at her paper, any words she could come up with appearing as a jumbled mess.

"Why is this so difficult...? What I want to do after I graduate is...? What I want to do after I graduate is...?!" Her hand started trembling and she suddenly threw her pen against the paper, causing it to bounce back onto her lap as she flopped back into the couch with a groan.

"AUGH! This is so annoying!" She started digging into her hair and ruffling it like mad.

"Do you need any help?" Mew offered.

"CLAM IT!" She shouted, gesturing firmly his way and giving him a rather fine spook.

After they stared at each other for a while Kairi's hand flopped to the cushion and she awkwardly drew it back up to the side of her blushing face.

"Ugh, fine..." She said, feeling it couldn't hurt to get his opinion, "Mew, where do you see yourself in a few years?"

Mew leaned back with a comfy smile and said, "I dunno, probably doing the same thing I'm doing now. Relaxing, playing video games, spending time with friends and family..."

"That's it?" Kairi groaned, almost like for once, she expected something a little more thought-provoking out of him, "That's REALLY it?"

Mew peeked one eye open and remarked, "Hey if it ain't broke!"

"Unbelievable..." She pinched the space between her eyes yet again and grumbled for a while.

"What's got your panties in a bunch?"

She swung her arm out and yelled, "A job?! Have you ever thought about a job?!"

"...Should I be?" Mew's comment was as sincere as it could get.

"Maria?!" Kairi lashed out a little further, "Did you forget about HER?!"

Mew paused with a wide-eyed stare, flinching when she slapped down on the couch between his legs, "Damn it, Mew! She's going to want to do more with her life someday! And how are you going to sustain her curiosity? With your powers?!"

"I mean...I got that endless debit card, sooo..."

"And what if its not endless? What are you going to do then?"

Mew started to close his eyes and shrug, "I'll worry about that when that happens."

She clapped the couch again to jolt his eyes open while yelling, "Worry about it NOW! This isn't just your future Mew, its ours!"

Mew's eyes thrust all the way open as he aped her words in confusion, "Ours?"

Kairi paused and slowly her pupils shrank, with what she said taking its dear sweet time getting to her brain. She pulled away quickly with a blush and yelled, "GAAAH! Why did I think you could help?! You're useless when it comes to stuff like this!"

Mew decided to sit up and scoot a little closer to her, "Why're you asking me this anyways?"

The pressure was building inside of her and felt set to burst. In one fit of rage she tossed her notebook onto the table so hard it slid over to the other side, upon which she then threw her arms in the air and shouted, "Cause I don't know what I want to do!"

She then grabbed the top of her head and grit her teeth in a painful scowl.

Mew calmly crossed his arms and sounded surprised when he said, "You've never thought about that?"

"No!" She screamed against her will, floundering in a wave of self-doubt and misery, "God, how could I let this creep up on me?!"

She covered her face entirely in her hands and her voice came out all muffled, "I'm not ready to be an adult!"

"What seems to be the problem here?" Came the luxurious sound of Auris' voice from around the corner, as she wandered up from out of the basement, a fluffy duster in hand.

"Oh you know, homework assignment." Mew said with a lofty air to his words.

Auris came up beside them and looked down at the fallen notebook, picking it up and examining it in thorough detail.

"Ah, I see..." She said as she laid the notebook on the table.

Auris then looked at her miserable daughter, followed by slowly moving to look at Mew, "Are you trying to help her, Mew?"

"Trying, yeah. She asked for it, but..."

"Hmmm..." Auris pressed a finger to her lips and then gave a slow, gentle nod, "Let me ask you something, Mew...What type of job do you think I'd be good at?"

"What job YOU'D be good at?" Mew's eyes sprang open in surprise.

"Just humor me for a moment." She playfully wagged her hand at him.

Mew tightly crossed his arms while Kairi pulled her hands off and slumped against the back of the couch.

"Well..." Mew gave it some thought and remarked rather suddenly, "I guess you'd make a great bartender. You've got a calm, mature air to you that drinkers would like. Plus you're knowledgeable when it comes to drinks, and you'd look pretty great in a suit."

Auris turned her body around to gaze at it while remarking proudly, "Hmmm, I would look good in a suit, wouldn't I?"

Mew suddenly sprung upright and snapped his fingers, turning to Kairi with an encouraging attitude, "I got it! Maybe you and Auris could run a mother-daughter bar!"

"Absolutely NOT!" Kairi grumbled, shoving her arms hard against her chest, "I hate alcohol!"

"Oh," Mew slowly pulled away and then returned to his thinking pose, "Well what do you like then...?"

He thought aloud with this, "You like books, studying, uhhh...You can be pretty strict at times."

As Kairi was about ready to unleash hell from her eyes upon his mortal soul with Auris backing her up, Mew snapped his fingers and shouted, "I got it!"

He then pointed right at Kairi and said, "You should be a teacher!"

"Denied!" Kairi threw her right hand at his face and looked away pouting, "I don't want to deal with a class of hyperactive kids. Maria's friends are enough trouble as is...!"

"...You're not making this easy, Kairi," Mew mumbled in a deflated tone, "Besides, you're good with kids!"

"Oh, so my role in society can only be defined by how motherly I am, is that it?!" She whipped right to misogyny hard enough to give Mew whiplash.

"W-What?" Mew recoiled.

"I'm just going to leave you alone in this minefield, Mew," Auris said, going from pity to warmth in a second, "Are you planning on staying for dinner?"

"Y-Yes?" Mew replied, fighting between staring at her and avoiding Kairi's red-hot glare.

And so Auris exited the room. But as she did, Shina entered from upstairs.

"Hey you two, what's happenin'?" She said, leaning her pregnant belly up against the back of the couch.

"Shina, punch Mew for me." Kairi murmured coldly.

Shina shrugged and pulled back, "I don't know the context for this but..."

She cracked her knuckles with a loud snap and smiled, "Ok!"

Mew pulled away swinging his hands up defensively, "Whoa hang on a second...!"

Shina dropped her hands and chuckled, "I'm just joshing."

She then unleashed a powerful glare upon Mew while remarking, "So what did you do, Mew?"

"Nothing! I swear!" Mew defended himself as quick and hard as he could, "I'm just trying to help Kairi with her homework."

"Oh! How sweet!" Shina became all smiles and soothingly swayed her head around with a hand resting upon her cheek.

Kairi laid an arm upon the back of the couch and asked, "Shina, maybe you could help me out?"

Shina popped upright and saluted, "Yes ma'am!"

Kairi sighed and wagged her hand around, "Where do you see yourself in the future?"

Shina fluttered her eyelashes and then pulled away, poking both sides of her belly. Kairi slowly tilted her head and murmured, "That doesn't answer my question..."

Shina then threw her fists down and shouted, "I'm gonna be having a baby sis! Gosh! Have some manners!"

She then quickly steadied herself upright and giggled, "Tee-hee! Sorry, dunno where that came from!"

Kairi blinked a few times.

Shina then started tapping her chin and thinking, "Dunno, haven't really given it any thought."

Kairi slumped over and groaned, "You too?"

"Well I mean, I dropped out, got knocked up, and now I'm gonna be a single mother raising a kid all by my lonesome. My future ain't lookin' too bright there, sis."

Kairi and Mew's eyes widened as Shina said all that with a sincere smile that was slowly getting dragged down by an encroaching sense of dread.

She then quickly clapped her hands up before her chest and exclaimed, "You're thinking about your future, sis? I got an idea! You, Mew and Maria should form a superhero team!"

"A...what?" Kairi's jaw slacked.

"Yeah just think about it! Slap some flashy leather over your bodies, put on a cool mask, and then go around fighting in the name of justice while striking cool poses!"

Shina slashed her right arm over the front of her face and proclaimed, "TERRIYA!"

Nearly giving both her watchers a heart attack.

Mew crossed his arms and started laughing, "I actually like the sound of that. Maria'd definitely get a kick out of it."

"What, so we'd be like Saturn and her friends?" Kairi slowly closed her eyes and nervously fiddled her fingertips atop the couch.

"I...was thinking more like Kamen Riders or Power Rangers," Shina dryly remarked, before springing up with excitement, "Wait, Saturn and her friends have cool battle suits?!"

"Forget I said anything," Kairi squeezed her fist and slid it down the couch, "And forget that idea. I ain't putting on some itchy leather and going around look like a fool!"

"...Well!" Shina turned and waved her hand up, "Good luck with your indecisiveness, sis!"

She then pleasantly hummed her way back up the stairs.

"Augh!" Kairi threw her head forward and buried her face in her hands, "Why is this so hard?!"

"I dunno, why IS it so hard for you?" Mew nonchalantly remarked.

"What?" She glared past her hand looking all irritated.

"You've always struck me as someone who planned ahead."

"Really..." She said in a deflated tone, drawing her head back towards the back of the couch while beginning to slide off.

After a few moments of silence she turned to Mew and asked, almost pleading with him, "You haven't thought about the future, at all?"

"I'm a day-to-day kind of guy. I take things as they come. You know that." Mew started relaxing back into the couch when suddenly, Kairi tugged on his shirt to pull him a little closer.

"Nothing. Nothing at all?" She said, losing the energy in her now shaky voice.

"Nope. Nadda." Mew replied just as he was expected to. All joking, not a hint of seriousness.

Suddenly Kairi's eyes flared open and she shoved him down against the couch yelling, "Well why not?!"

As he rebounded off the leather he propped himself off with one hand and remarked, "Easy now..."

She swung her fist at the back of the couch and nearly hit him in the process, "This is just like you! You never think unless its about fighting!"

She hung her hand and gasped in frustration, "E-Even though this is for our...!"

She forced her mouth shut with gritted teeth and then flared her stare towards him with a growl. He simply sat there looking soured in his expression.

"First Joe, now you..." He sat upright with a sigh and lazily left his hands atop his legs, "What is this, gang up on Mew week?"

"You...!" Before Kairi could unleash her frustrations upon him Mew firmly crossed his arms and told her, "I HAVE thought about my future, ok?"

She slowly raised her eyes as Mew closed his, creasing his forehead with a furrowed brow while letting out a sigh.

"Its just...hard to think of a job I'd enjoy," He cracked half a smile, "I mean c'mon look at me, do I scream 'office worker' to you?"

Kairi crumpled her lips into a pout and muttered, "N-No..."

"And if I'm going to have a job, I want to have one where I don't feel like my powers give me an advantage. Like, imagine if you worked your whole life to become a construction worker, but this guy with no experience but seemingly endless stamina comes along and outdoes you at every turn. Wouldn't you feel like shit?"

"...Yeah, probably." Kairi panned her gaze away from Mew in shame.

"My criteria for a job is one that I know I will enjoy, but not one that I can 'cheat' my way through. So as you can imagine, that's a pretty narrow field."

"But still..." Kairi was too tired to finish the thought, and hunched over feeling sad all over.

"What am I doing, begging Mew to get a job? Its like I'm practically resigning myself to be his housewife. B-But I don't know...I just don't know what I want to do with my life!" She grabbed the sides of her heads and felt trapped between invisible walls, wanting to scream, "And...and why am I calling myself HIS housewife? Do I even want to be with him, when he's so...so...!"

She poked her head up slightly and saw him sitting there, eyes softly arched in concern towards her. And, without saying a word, he comfortably rubbed her back.

For a moment she felt her tensions melt away, leaving her body trembling, and her biting her lower lip while a tense gulp went down her throat.

"Kind..." She slowly turned to look at him with pink flourishing in her cheeks, "And he bothers to put up with me, and listens to what I have to say. Whenever he does put his mind to something, he's usual successful too..."

Her cheeks slowly got redder, so she stroked her hair out to cover her face, "There's...there's nothing wrong with anyone falling in love with him. So why...why is it so difficult for me to admit I am?"

Mew eventually stopped when she sat upright with a heavy sigh, and plopped her hands atop her legs.

"I don't want to settle for being someone who relies on others. I want to be someone who can be relied on too," She tilted her head to face Mew with half a smile, "Even by you."

Mew fluttered his eyes a few times and then leaned back with his arms against his chest once more, "Look Kairi, you don't have to get so stressed out about this."

"You've got your whole life ahead of you. Don't be so quick to want to grow up. Someday you'll figure out what you want to be, I just know it."

"..." Kairi turned to her notebook and picked it right up with pen in hand, giving it a click "on" and putting it to the paper, "You're right."

As she started to write her thoughts down fluidly across the pages she smiled and said, "I know exactly what I need to say here..."

When the job was done the long weekend awaited her, with the even tenser day of submission following after. When this long stress-inducing day was over with everyone had their papers returned to them, save for hers.

Curious, she waited for every other student to leave before approaching their teacher at the front desk.

"Teacher, I uhhh, noticed you didn't give me my paper back." She said sheepishly.

"Yes I know. I wanted to talk to you about that." As the teacher reached into her shelves to pull the paper out, Kairi tensely gripped the sides of her arms and bit her lower lip.

The paper was slid out, stamped up top with an "A+".

"You passed, with flying colors."

Kairi gripped the paper and couldn't believe her eyes. She looked up at her teacher's smiling face and stuttered, "I-I didn't think it was THAT good..."

"In terms of writing no. I marked a few of your grammar errors," The teacher started a little harsh but then her voice became completely honeyed with joy, "But the rest of it, by god, it took my breath away it was so good! Very unique, and very much 'you', Kairi Aurora."

Kairi squeaked out a grin and chuckled, "R-Really?"

The teacher nodded in agreement, "Absolutely. Its because what you said was honest. So many of my students take this homework assignment as them having to give a definitive, final answer to what they want to be."

"I get some genuine answers out of them like students wanting to be doctors or scientists," She waved her hand around and chuckled, "But then I get some made-up stuff like intergalactic superheroes or...moon biologists."

She then gestured towards herself, luring Kairi in to whisper into her hear, "Keep this a secret between us but...I didn't want to be a teacher when I was in high school."

"You didn't?" Kairi reeled back in surprise.

"No, I originally wanted to be a librarian. But then a few babysitting and tutoring jobs later and I found I really liked teaching. So I changed career paths and well, here I am!"

"So, its good you're taking your time and thinking about this. But if you ever need help, we do have job counselors down the hall who'd love to hear you out."

"I'll keep that in mind," Kairi bowed her head, "Thank you teacher."

As she began to turn away from her teacher, they bridged their hands under their chin with a smirk and said, "Soooo...Whose the boy you're trying to impress?"

Kairi jerked upright and slowly swiveled her head back, laughing awkwardly a while before rushing towards the door shouting, "L-Later teacher!"

She hurried her way out the school feeling as light as a feather and a big old smile on her face.

She was so relieved in fact that she accidentally ran face-first into Mew and bounced off him.

"Look at you!" Mew chuckled while she embarrassingly took a couple steps back, "Must've been a good grade on that report!"

She held her paper out and lifted her head high and proud, "A+!"

Mew looked at the paper and then pulled back with a smile, "Right on! I knew you could do it!"

He held his hand up and just for the heck of it, she clapped it. He then tucked his hands into his pockets and remarked, "Why don't we go celebrate with some ice cream? My treat!"

"Ok fine but not too much, I don't want to ruin dinner," Kairi and him walked along together, with her barely making eye contact as she said in a regretful tone, "Mew I'm...sorry for the way I treated you a few days ago."

"Well you didn't hit me, so no harm done!" Mew had already gotten over it, go figure.

Kairi smiled fondly and shook her head, "Why am I not surprised?"

Suddenly the ground shook, as a powerful flash of white light came from the center of town, summoned by a divine looking pillar of light that came crashing down from high above.

As Kairi stumbled back in surprise she remarked, "W-What's going on now?!"

Mew widened his eyes and replied, "I don't know, I can't sense any presence coming from that pillar!"

"Oh great, is this another invasion?" She groaned.

"Well if it is, we might as well go check the invaders out!" Mew smirked with a fiery passion and then bolted for where the light ended.

Kairi huffed then pouted and ran after him.

They stopped a fair distance away from the light and worked their way to the front of the crowd.

"Excuse me, official Elemental Overlord business, coming through!" Mew said, leveraging his title in a joking manner.

But once they got a good look at the pillar, it was already starting to fade away, with two figures confidently striding out of it.

One was a purple-furred, boney feline with an Egyptian motif, an eyepatch over one eye, and a scarred up looking right arm.

Behind him was a taller, angelic figure with pale blue skin, a ice-cream like swirl of hair, and a orbed staff with a ring around it.

"Awwww," The cat yawned and tucked his hands behind his back as he began to look around, "So this is Sancturia? I was expecting something a little more divine..."

"Oh but just look at the huts Lord Beerus!" The angelic man turned his head towards the nearest, "So tidy and old-fashioned. Wouldn't you like to live in one?"

"What, like some domesticated feline?" The cat remarked sternly, "We don't have time for house hunting, Whis."

Mew's body began to tremble as he said excitedly with some degree of concern, "Beerus and Whis? W-What are they doing here...?"

"Is this trouble?" Kairi whispered.

"Aw nah, probably not." Mew reassured her.

Beerus stopped in the middle of the crowd's gaze and scanned them over, stopping in the center of them to raise his skinny finger towards them all.

"Alright lets make this quick..." He said with a halfway tired tone, his eyes beginning to narrow menacingly, "Have any of your mortals heard of the one they call the Elemental Overlord?"

Mew's teeth snapped together while Kairi turned to him and growled in an irritated fashion.

"Trouble. This...is in fact, trouble." Mew chuckled, dread creeping up on the back of his neck...

Next Time: A Lone Warrior's Anguish! Defeat the God of Destruction, Beerus!