Chapter LIX: Lunar Prophecies
(Wednesday, 3/3 7:30 AM)
"You won't beat me this time!"
"That's what you think! Prepare to meet your maker!"
"Not if I have anything to do about it!"
Such was the usual banter of Suu and Sarah as they played some fighting game, as per their usual morning routine. The look of intensity on both girls' faces made it easy to see that they took such things very seriously. They seemed almost entranced as their hands expertly manipulated their respective controllers until the final blow was struck.
"YEAH!" Suu cheered, pumping her fists in triumph. "That makes four in a row!"
"I bet I can keep you from making five," Sarah challenged.
"Bring it on!" The image on the screen quickly changed to the character selection menu. The two combatants were just about to begin the match anew when a sound came from the far end of the room, instantly drawing Suu's attention.
"Hey, what's up?" Sarah asked as she watched Suu get up. The younger blonde was somewhat agitated that something had interrupted her attempt at vengeance, but was still curious as to what it was.
Meanwhile, Suu recognized the noise in an instant: One of her printers had just kicked in. The system she had set up called for only those messages she deemed important to automatically print without letting her know beforehand. Therefore, the information that had just been delivered to her was well worth her time.
Walking over to where the printer was housed and snatched up the document and began reading its contents. As she did so, an emotionless expression appeared on her face. Knowing Suu, this was an extremely rare event; a fact that wasn't lost on Sarah. "What could do that to her?" she thought. "I mean, she looks almost like Motoko for crying out loud!"
Seeing her friend in such a state--not to mention that she was being effectively ignored at this point--forced Sarah to voice her feelings out loud. "Hey, Suu," she said. "What are you reading?" When she got no response, her anger began to rise, as did the volume of her voice. "Hey, you awake!"
Suu glanced in Sarah's direction. "Oh, sorry," she said, a grin returning to her face, but it had a bit less to it than usual. "I guess I just got caught up in the moment."
"Well, if you're done, I still have to end your winning streak."
Suu shook her head. "Nah, I think I done playing for now. Besides, breakfast should be starting pretty soon. You go on ahead; I'll be down in a minute."
Begrudgingly, Sarah left the room, leaving Suu alone. It was then that she became serious again and gazed at the paper she held in her hand. "So it happens tonight," she said with a sigh. "This never gets easier." Stashing the paper away in a file cabinet, she headed out to eat breakfast, but stopped short of reaching the dining room. "Time to put on my happy face," she thought. "Hey, guys!" she said cheerfully as she entered and took her seat at the table. "Sorry I was late. There was something I needed to take care of."
"Suu being late for a meal," Sean said. "Sounds like a sign of the apocalypse, doesn't it?"
"It does," Motoko responded.
"Seems appropriate," Keitaro added. "Suu bringing about the end of the world."
"Oh, come on," Suu said. "My inventions aren't that dangerous." That got her a bunch of blank stares. "Right, never mind." While on the outside, Suu was her usual self, the inside was anything but. "I hope I don't have to keep this up for too long," she thought.
Breakfast came and went in a typical fashion. Afterwards, along with Shinobu, Sean set about cleaning the dishes. While doing this, something would be brought to his attention.
"Sean, may I talk with you for a moment?"
The landlord turned to find the resident swordswoman standing in the doorway. "Of course, Motoko," he said. "What about?"
"If I can, I would like to speak with you alone," Motoko said.
Sean and Shinobu looked at each other for a moment. "You go ahead and get ready for school," Sean eventually said. "I can finish up here."
"Alright," Shinobu said, drying off her hands and skipping out of the room.
Motoko made sure there was nobody else around before approaching Sean. "I did not want to alert the others about this," she said. Sean nodded in understanding, signaling her to proceed. "Did you notice anything… different about Suu this morning?"
"Nothing besides being late for breakfast," Sean said. "But I done enough experiments to know they can be quite time consuming."
"Yes, well, as true as that may be, I believe there may be more to this. She may have acted the same as she always does, but I noticed a certain look in her eye. Something is troubling her, I just know it. You can understand why I am telling you this."
"Yeah, I do," Sean said. "Thank you for letting me know."
"What do you plan to do?" Motoko asked.
"For now, nothing. We all have our problems. If she wants to talk to someone about it, that's her decision to make. Until then, unless her behavior becomes self-destructive, I won't interfere. For all we know, she may just be having difficulties with one of her inventions of something; that has happened before."
"You are right," Motoko said. "One must never assume too much. I will be sure to notify you if anything further develops."
"I would expect nothing less," Sean said. "It can't be that simple," he thought after Motoko took her leave. "If it was an issue with an invention, Suu wouldn't be hiding it. Heck, last time, she let everyone know there was a problem. Of course, it was all too obvious, since we all heard the explosion beforehand, but that's beside the point. For Suu to actually keep something from us like this, provided Motoko is right about that, it must be something major. I can only imagine…"
The rest of the morning went by without any weird events--at least, no more so than usual. Despite this, Sean found himself wanting to read Suu's mind to find what, if anything, was causing her grief, but was somehow able to resist. The main force behind that decision was his abhorrence of invading someone's privacy in such a way. For him, the time for her, along with the other girls and Keitaro to head off for school could not come soon enough, giving him the opportunity to clear his mind; and there was always one sure-fire way to accomplish that.
Ever since his battle with Tsuruko, Sean took strides towards developing battle magic. Despite how much progress he thought he had made since then, his two encounters with the Darklord armies proved that improvements still needed to be made, as he didn't walk away from either battle. With this in mind, he made the transition from training in his own custom-made arena to the video game world to fight living (at least in a manner of speaking) opponents.
Being the fan of old school that he was, he always went into games from the old Nintendo and Super Nintendo systems. Series such as Final Fantasy, The Legend of Zelda and even Mega Man have all been employed as a training ground at one time or another. On this day, the latter of these was chosen. What with all the gaps to jump and ladders to climb, Mega Man games have proven to be more of an endurance exercise than anything else, especially when one tries to get through an entire game all at once.
(11:20 AM)
"Oh man," Sean said between breaths as he laid on the ground, exhausted. "No matter how many times I do this stage, it never gets easier." He had just defeated Tomahawk Man (MM6) moments before. For Sean, even from the outside, that particular boss had always had its difficulties. "It never ceases to amaze me," he said, looking around at the boss's lair. "Just how this place looks on the inside--especially when you add that third dimension."
When he was able to sit up, Sean looked towards where his watch should be, forgetting for that brief moment that he had converted his left arm into an arm cannon for the duration. "It's about time I had a break for lunch anyway," he thought. After conjuring up a meal, his thoughts turned towards the remaining stages and which order he should do them in. By the time he finished eating, he had settled on a plan of action, but just when he was about to head out, he head the sound of a ringing phone inside his head. "Wow, what timing," he thought. "Hello, Hinata-Sou Apartments, how may I help you?" Sean said, answering the call.
"Hello, this is Mr. Akashi," the man on the other line said.
"Oh, hey," Sean said, instantly recognizing the name of one of the instructors at the high school. This brought to mind the last time he called, not to mention the reason behind it. "Please don't tell me Suu blew up the science lab again."
"Thankfully, that is not why I am calling," Mr. Akashi said. "However, this does involve Suu."
"In what way?" Sean asked.
"Well, this morning, in class, her mind seemed to be elsewhere."
"That's no surprise," Sean said. "You must know as well as I do how hard it can be to maintain her attention."
"You are correct in your assumption. Most days, I find her writing down notes. Something tells me it is something I do not want to know about."
"Smart man," Sean thought, grinning.
"But today," the teacher continued. "She seemed more… how should I say this… calm. For most of class, she just sat there, staring out the window."
"That does seem odd," Sean said. "Thank you for telling me. I'll look into it when she gets home. Until then, I suggest you not bring it up."
"Agreed," Mr. Akashi said.
"Well," Sean said to himself after he hung up. "This just keeps getting more interesting. I guess I'll be investigating it sooner than I thought. It's just as well; the sooner it gets taken care of, the sooner Suu returns to her normal self." As he stood up, a thought occurred to him. "Is that really such a goods thing? Oh well, I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. Until then, there are other matters to attend to…" With that, he vanished, off to take down Yamato Man.
(---)
Ever since her brief chat, with Sean, Motoko became a silent observer of Suu's behavior, though she made sure to be covert, so as not to arouse suspicion. During her surveillance, she began coming up with any and all thing that might be plaguing the young inventor's mind. As far as she new, Sean was the only other person aware of what was going on. Perhaps Suu attained the ability to hide her feelings from being around Motoko for as long as she has, but that is a topic for another time.
Motoko's watchful eye was still trained on Suu even on the trip back to Hinata-Sou, where she intended to update Sean on her findings. However, she would not get the chance.
(3:35 PM)
"We're home!" Suu announced as she walked in the front door, followed shortly thereafter by Shinobu and Motoko.
"Hey," Kitsune called back from her seat on the living room couch. "How was school?"
"It was fine," Shinobu said.
"Yeah," Suu added. "You're lucky you don't have to go to school like we do."
"That's what you think," Kitsune shot back. "Not being in school means having to get a job. Enjoy this life while you can."
Motoko nodded in agreement to this. Being a senior in high school, she knew there were important decisions to make in the near future. She was just about to head upstairs when she noticed Suu looking off in a seemingly random direction. "Suu?" Motoko asked.
"The heavens are calling me," Suu said before bounding off towards the stairs, giggling the entire way.
"Sean must have used telepathy," Shinobu commented.
Motoko didn't respond, as she just stared at where Suu left the room, wondering how she didn't sense the blatant use of magic.
Meanwhile, Suu opened Sean's door to find the landlord sitting at his table. "You wanted to see me?" she asked.
"Yes," Sean responded. "Have a seat."
Suu closed the door behind her as she walked towards the table. "You don't communicate like that often," she said.
"I know," Sean said. "I probably would have been in the living room to meet you, but I doubt I'd be able to get down there on my own two feet. In fact, I'm not sure if I'd be able to stand right now."
Suu didn't have to ask to know what Sean was up to. "Which game were you in?" she asked.
"Mega Man 6."
"Nice," Suu said, nodding in approval. Despite it being a video game, she always held the creations of Dr. Wily in high regard--and understandably so. "So, what did you want to talk to me about?"
In the fifteen minutes since he emerged from the video game world, he found himself unable to figure out how to ease into his intended conversation. Therefore, he decided to just be blunt and to the point. "This morning, Motoko noticed something a bit… off."
"What do you mean?" Suu asked, a look of curiosity on her face.
"According to her, there looked to be something on your mind; we both know her track record as far as that's concerned."
Suu just shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe Motoko's having an off day or something."
"Maybe, but that doesn't explain your teacher calling me with a similar message." Suu found herself unable to look Sean in the eye at this point. "Listen, I'm not forcing you to do anything, but it may be in your best interest to tell me what's going on."
"Why did it have to come to this?" Suu thought. "Motoko's starting to catch on, even my teacher is taking notice and Sean knows by association. At this rate, it's only a matter of time before the others find me out. I guess it's about time I get this off my chest, and I'd rather face Sean in private than everyone at once."
"Alright," Suu said, having made her decision. "But not now. Meet me on the roof after dinner tonight. I'll tell you everything then." She then stood up and headed for the door, but stopped short. "Oh, and make sure you aren't followed," she said before left for her own room, sitting at the base of one of the trees as soon as she did so. "When it comes to technology, I can do almost anything I set my mind to," she thought with a sigh. "Why must things like this be so hard?"
Shortly after Suu left Sean's room, Motoko arrived, upon which time Sean let her know what had just transpired. He also told her point blank that she may have to be left in the dark about what will be said later that night. Motoko found this a bit difficult to accept at first, but later decided that it was probably for the best.
Dinner that evening went by like clockwork, which included Suu devouring her food in record time; something that was noted only by those who had a reason to pay attention to the inventor's actions. When Sean finished eating and put his dishes away, he went up to the roof platform, where he found Suu, staring off into space.
"I couldn't have planned this better if I tried," Suu thought as she gazed at the cloud-filled sky, completely unaware of Sean's presence until she saw him appear next to her.
"Are you ready?" Sean asked.
"Yeah," Suu answered. "But before I begin, I want you to clear that area of clouds over there."
"May I ask why?" Sean asked.
"You'll see."
Initially, Sean wondered why Suu was putting off her explanation, but figured that if it would get the ball rolling, then he should comply with her request. Focusing on where Suu had pointed moments before, the clouds began to part until he could see the moon in all its glory; full and glowing a pale red. "Well," he thought out loud. "You don't see that every day.
"Don't be so sure." Sean turned his gaze back to Suu and proceeded to do a double-take when he saw the transformation that had come over her. It looked as though she had gone from age 16 to 21 in an instant.
"Um, care to explain that?" Sean asked.
"Where I come from," Suu began. "The red moon appears on a regular basis--almost nightly, in fact. For most people, it would be just a cool effect and nothing more, but for me and those back home, it holds a much greater significance."
"I can see why," Sean commented.
"When someone from my country reaches puberty, then become subject to the transformation effect you now see before you. Unfortunately for me, my first time experiencing this was not on my native soil."
"You mean…?" Sean asked, knowing the answer.
"I had only lived here for three weeks when it happened," Suu said. "Even though I have seen it happen many times in my youth, I'm sure you can imagine my surprise. Naturally, I thought the others would freak if they saw me like that, so I locked myself in my room for the night. I quickly learned that here in Japan, the crimson moon appears only a couple times a year, so I set up a system that would notify me on such days, allowing me to plan accordingly."
"And today was one of those days," Sean said, putting the pieces together.
"Yes. After it happened couple times and, later on, being prepared for it ahead of time allowed me to grow accustomed to it all, but there's still one part of it that still gets to me."
"It reminds you of home," Sean deduced.
"Right. Every time, it makes me long to return; to see my family and friends again."
"Then why don't you?" Sean asked. "You can always go back for a visit. It's not like we don't have the means."
"That's just it," Suu responded. "If I go back, I may not want to return here. Either that or my parents may not want to see me leave again." Suu sighed heavily before continuing. "Back home, I always slept with either my parents, my brother or my sister, so when I arrived here, even subconsciously, I felt the need for nighttime companionship. I initially chose Kitsune for the role, but after sending to the hospital for cracked ribs, that didn't last long. Fortunately, Motoko came soon after and I latched onto her the first chance I got. Sure, she didn't seem to mind my company and she had the physical stamina to get through the night without serious injury, but I couldn't help but feel I was being a burden. Since then, I have spent every night alone in my room. Most of the time, I can keep my mind occupied with my inventions, in progress and otherwise, but there are those time where I can't stop myself from thinking of home and how I miss it dearly. Nights like this only make it worse. Out of everyone here, you're probably the only one who knows what I've had to go through."
"I know more than you realize," Sean said.
"What?" Suu asked, not expecting that last remark.
"Even though I have lived there longer than anywhere else, I do not originally hail from Myrtle Beach."
"You don't?"
"No," Sean said. "I'm originally from a city in the Midwest." He stared out at the city lights below as he continued, with Suu listening intently. "I was never one of the popular kids, but I did have a couple friends and I enjoyed the time I spent with them. When I was 8, my family moved to a different part of town, forcing me to go to a different school and leaving them behind, though we did contact each other a couple times. I bounced back quickly, making new friends in a relatively short time.
"Things seemed to be going pretty well from that point until my parents made the announcement that we'd be moving to Myrtle Beach when I was 11. As if that wasn't bad enough, I couldn't even finish out the school year, since we left in late March. Those two months I spent in a South Carolina elementary school would prove to be the worst time of my life."
"Worse than your first two weeks here?" Suu asked, surprised by Sean somewhat bold statement. She would be even more so by his response.
"Barely. The saying that kids can be so cruel fit my classmates to a T. Granted, they didn't hurt me physically, but what they did do was much worse. I don't know why, whether it was because I was the new guy, my accent was different or the fact that I was usually the first one to class and, therefore, the first to the computer, but whatever the reason, but they made no attempt to be friends whatsoever. In fact, it was the exact opposite. On more than one occasion, they even went so far as to bar the door to keep only me out. Not a soul at that school seemed to care about my well-being, teacher included; I couldn't say the same thing here."
"You're kidding," Suu said, shocked at the complete and utter disregard for human emotion.
"I wish I was. Over the next few years, I felt that if nobody else cared about what happened to me, then I shouldn't either. As a result, my grades took a nosedive. Aside from a few bright spots, I basically became the kind of guy who only put in enough effort not to fail. In the 8th grade everything came to a head as my thoughts and actions turned suicidal. To this day, I'm not sure if I was really trying to do myself in or just trying to get attention--though it didn't work either way."
"Wow," Suu thought. "He's been through so much. The things that have happened to him here is just icing on the cake."
"Thankfully," Sean continued. "I was able to pull myself out of it soon enough to get a high GPA in high school and get through college. If I hadn't, there's no telling where I'd be right now. Definitely not here, that's for sure." His eyes turned to Suu--and got a look of sympathy in return. "Sorry," he said, grinning a bit. "I got a little long-winded there. I guess the point I was trying to make was that while you only had to bear the loss once, I had to do it three times over--and gain some enemies along the way without even trying."
"No, I should be the one who's sorry," Suu said. "If only I had known what you had to go through before you met us, I might not have been so rough on you."
"Don't worry about it," Sean said. "What's done is done. Besides, I doubt I would have gotten much sympathy from Naru or Motoko."
"You're probably right," Suu said. "You know, listening to you made me fell a bit better about my own situation."
"Glad I could help," Sean said, getting the conversation back on its original track. "I know you miss your family, and if you want, I could sent you home to pay them a visit sometime. Heck, maybe we could all come along and make a vacation out of it like we did a couple years ago. Would you like that?"
"Yeah." Without warning, Suu caught Sean in an embrace. "Thank you," she said. "I feel so much better now that everything's out in the open."
"You're welcome," Sean said, returning the favor. While this was going on, the clouds regained complete supremacy of the skies, causing Suu to turn back to normal. Sean noticed this in an instant. "Too tight, too tight," he said.
"Oh," Suu said releasing him, only then realizing she was 16 again. "Sometimes I don't know my own strength."
"I think we all know that," Sean said. "Look, since you hate being alone at night, why don't you sleep in my room tonight?"
Suu's eyes lit up. "You mean it!"
"Sure." Sean wasn't used to having magic active while he slept, but he knew he'd have to have his shield up to prevent Suu from squeezing him to death. As she skipped off, a thought occurred to him. "Hey, Suu."
"Yeah?"
"Just where are you from, anyway?"
"A place you've never heard of," Suu said before she disappeared downstairs.
"…Alrighty then." Sean said as he followed in Suu's wake.
Motoko would stop Sean as he walked by her room. "So?" she asked.
"Homesick," Sean said simply.
"Is that all?" Motoko asked.
"That's enough, trust me."
"I wonder what he meant by that," Motoko thought as Sean walked off.
End of Chapter LIX
When I first came up with this chapter, it was going to be part 4 of the "I need sex, please help me" series, but I think this version turned out better. Just so you know, there was no exaggeration in what I said. Also, for those of you who HAVE to know, I used to live in Bismarck, North Dakota. This one was a break from the action, but trust me, business will pick up real soon. See you then! Please R&R!
Next chapter: Much Ado about Pussy