A/N: Apparently this anime is not very well known...Oh well, it's fun writing about it! XD Here's the next chapter~ The next chapter is 3/4 ready already, so I won't take too long to update again =D Thanks for those who reviewed! 3
Disclaimer: Uninhabited Planet Survive rightfully belongs to NHK. I only own my OCs which appear in this story.
°°TT°°TT°°Chapter 2: Evasion Is Impossible!°°TT°°TT°°
~*~Kimiko's POV~*~
A week has passed since I first met Luna and since the fire accident, which was originated thanks to the brawl Kaoru and I had against Howard's gang. Eventually, Howard's father put his hand in behind the scenes, and the accident was swept under the rug, so to speak.
BUT! I guess it was a good thing, fair or not, because thanks to that, the school trip I've been waiting for was not canceled. And talking about the school trip…
"Koinu-chan! Do you mind handing me my things from the bathroom?" I asked my loyal friend from over my bed, where I had displayed what I was going to pack for the trip.
"Here!" He chirped happily, handing me my shampoo, towel, comb and small mirror for me to pack in my purple backpack.
Just in that moment, a ringing sound made me lift my head in surprise, making me to forget my current actions.
"Are the cookies done already?" I asked Koinu, not actually believing I had spent so long in packing.
"Why don't you go and take them out of the oven while I finish packing up for you?" Koinu suggested kindly.
"Usu!" I sent him an exaggerated grin as I saluted him.
I jumped off the bed and rushed to the kitchen, humming happily to myself as I did so. I sighed in relief once I was certain that the cookies were not burnt, but blinked confused once I realized that there were more cookies than the ones we could eat.
"Koinu!" I called over to him loudly, receiving a faint 'coming' from the second floor.
I waited impatiently until the circular elevator landed on the floor I was in, Koinu stepping off in a very elegant manner right after.
"What's the matter?" he asked me innocently, ignoring the weak glare I was sending him quite efficiently.
I sighed and uncrossed my arms, leading him into the kitchen and pointing an accusing finger to the rather big tray of cookies.
"Can you explain why there are so many cookies?" I asked him suspiciously. "We can't eat that much alone," I added as an after thought, trying to prove my point.
"Of course not! They are for Luna and Chako too! We'll be taking them over," he exclaimed surprised, missing the fact that he had spilled information I didn't know.
"We're taking the cookies to their house?" I asked him owlishly, though I figured it out quite quickly. "You invited yourself again, huh?" I asked him darkly, sending him a scolding glare from under my bangs.
Recently, he had gotten used to visiting our neighbors using any excuses he could think of, no matter how lame they were. He wouldn't tell me why no matter what I did, so I just tried to stop him to prevent him from causing problems to Luna.
"Nope! Chako invited us this time," he answered while pouting, crossing his arms over his chest and turning his back to me.
"Well, then let's go before it's too late!" I exclaimed happily, completely changing my mood once I discovered that we were actually invited for supper. "We've finished packing, right?" I asked him again.
"Un, I've just finished!" Koinu told me while he proceeded to put the cookies into a nice box.
I waited for him by the door and followed him out before closing the door to our apartment. He walked ahead and rang the doorbell of the apartment right in front of ours, and we both waited until the door finally opened. I had to look down in order to see the one who had opened the door, and I was not at all surprised to see the small pink neko smiling widely at us in greeting.
"Come on in!" she told us excitedly as she stepped aside, allowing us to pass through the door. "Luna is upstairs, packing up her things," she informed us, pointing to an exact same elevator as the one in my apartment.
"Thanks, we brought some cookies," I said gratefully, taking the red box Koinu was handing me and giving it to Chako.
"My my~! You shouldn't have~!" she said quite forcefully, pressing her paw against her cheek and fanning her eyelashes at us.
It was quite obvious she was delighted to have home baked cookies, but she wanted to seem ladylike by feigning she didn't want them. Now I could see just how alike both pet-robots were.
"Just don't eat them all!" I laughed as I walked over to the circular elevator, quickly being followed by Koinu.
"I would never do such a thing!" Chako yelled at me in false indignation and she quickly placed the box of cookies on a counter and rushed to our side.
I giggled as we were pulled upwards alongside the elevator, and once we reached the second floor, which only consisted of the bedroom, we found Luna sitting on her bed while packing her extra change of clothes.
"Luna, we have visitors!" Chako announced as she ran to the bed and jumped on it, making Luna to turn towards us.
"Kimiko-chan! Koinu-kun! What are you doing here?" she asked us excitedly, as we waved timidly with one hand.
"I thought it would be nice if I helped you pack. Chako invited us to dinner anyway," I said sheepishly as I rubbed the back of my head, not really knowing what else to say. I had just learned we were coming a few minutes ago anyways!
"You're so kind! I'm actually having some problems, to be honest," she confessed, looking around at the mess she had made on her bed.
"You're taking too many things. We'll only be gone for two days!" I noticed, walking forward and taking a seat on the edge of the bed.
I proceeded to separate all the things that were unnecessary from the ones that Luna would actually use while on the trip, reducing quite noticeably the pile of stuff she was going to pack.
"I'm sorry for causing you this much trouble, Kimiko-chan. It's just that I've never been on a school trip before," Luna sent me an apologetic smile, watching while I ordered all her stuff in her brown backpack.
"It's no bother at all! I can't believe the day finally came!" I said excitedly, smiling widely.
"The thing is…is it okay that nobody heard about an incident like that where lives were on the line? It leaves me feeling unsatisfied," Luna asked grumpily, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring to the side.
"Huh? You talking about what happened with Howard's father?" I asked in confusion, not quite catching her change of subject.
"It's fine, ain't it? Thanks to that, you can go on the school trip you've both been lookin' forward to," Chako tried to reason with her, making me to share a confused glance with Koinu.
"That's one thing, and this is another!" Luna objected, puffing out her cheeks as a sign of irritation.
"Hai hai. But anyways, I'm jealous!" Chako said in a sweet voice, moving her paw up and down to emphasize.
"Huh? Of what?" I asked her, tilting my head to the right as I watched her in interest.
"Tomorrow's the long dreamt-on trip! A tasty trip from planet to planet. It'd be nice if they had a hot spring too!" she exclaimed cheerfully, standing up on one foot and spreading her arms to the sides.
"Now see here! We're not going there to play! It's personal experience with planetary settlement!" Luna yelled at her angrily, not actually believing her pet-robot was thinking we'd be going on vacation.
"And I'll be there too…" Chako said tentatively, holding her chin with her paws.
"Huh?" Luna and I asked in unison, blinking at each other as if silently telling us we didn't understand the small cat.
"See, I can tidy up and do laundry and if anythin' happened, me bein' there would calm everyone's heart," she explained, gaining a giant sweat drop from both Luna and me.
"Hey, that's not fair! If that's the case then I could go too!" Koinu was quick to defend his rights, a small tick mark popping on his forehead.
"No way," Luna and I deadpanned, making them a mocking face in the process.
Taking these two in the trip? Yeah right, and probably getting expelled from school as a result.
"It'd be nice if you didn't talk like that," Koinu told us with a weak glare, being the first one to grab a hold of himself after the shock.
"Chako, you're going to mind the house while I'm gone," Luna ordered her guardian, inching her face closer to hers as if daring her to object, but Chako just stuck her tongue out at her as a reply.
"Still, I'm not convinced of leaving you alone for two days," Koinu told me, eyeing me as if doubting my judgment.
"I'll be fine. I'm going with my friends after all, and it'll be just two days," I assured him as I waved my hand up and down, dismissing the subject.
"Well, now that I've finished packing, why don't we go down and eat supper?" Luna suggested happily, receiving nods from our part.
We went down and talked about many things while we ate Chako's cooking, attacking the cookies we made right after. Not to be bragging or anything, but Koinu's chocolate chip cookies are the best in this colony.
Just like any other time I had come to Luna's apartment, Koinu and I had to leave once we realized it was late at night. This day, however, was more important for us to get a good night's sleep, seeing as we had to wake up early in order to catch the early shuttle to arrive early to school. Yeah I know, too many earlys don't you think?
"I'll come to pick you up tomorrow morning then. That way, you won't be able to sleep in," I told Luna once we were on her doorway, saying our goodbyes.
"Usu! That will really help! Good night!" Luna said sleepily, waving goodbye to us until I closed the door to my apartment.
I was so tired that I didn't even bother to comb my hair, heading straight to my bed instead.
"You should sleep now *yawn* tomorrow is going to be a very agitated day…" Koinu told me quietly, and I was barely able to mumble an 'oyasumi' in response, falling into a deep sleep immediately.
°°TT°°TT°°
I woke up by the loud beeping sound my alarm clock was screaming by my ear, surprised once I didn't feel Koinu's weight somewhere around my legs. Guessing he was already making breakfast, I quickly got into the shower and changed into the clothes I had chosen for the trip. Instead of my usual kaki pants, I was wearing tight kaki shorts that reached about my mid-thigh and I was wearing another black tube top, only that this one had light purple linings.
"Koinu! Is breakfast rea-" I was calling out to my friendly pet, but stopped short once I stepped out of my elevator and noticed that he was nowhere in sight.
Not in the kitchen, or the living room, or the bathroom. I sighed and walked towards the table, finding my breakfast waiting for me on top. I ate alone as I waited for my pet-robot to make his appearance, thing that never happened. I turned to the clock and gasped once I realized I had to be knocking on Luna's front door right about now. I rushed to the bathroom to brush my teeth and pulled on my light purple jacket on as I did so. I then stumbled to my front door and pulled on my white tennis shoes that had two purple lines running down the sides and picked my already packed backpack up.
My door slid closed the moment I stepped out of my apartment, and I crossed the hallway in two long strides, banging on my neighbor's door right after. As I waited for her to open her front door, I curiously weighted my backpack, strangely feeling it a little bit heavier than yesterday.
"Morning! Sorry if I kept you waiting, but Chako was no where to be found!" A smiling Luna suddenly pulled the door open, snapping me out of my thoughts.
"I-Ie, don't worry about it!" I smiled sheepishly, waving my hands in front of me as I stepped back in order to give her space to come out. "I had just arrived!"
"Well then! We better get going if we don't want to get stuck in the morning traffic!" Luna cheered, grabbing my right arm and dragging me out of the building.
It was amazing how she was right about the morning traffic. As we sped through the electric bands, I could see the angry faces of the grown-ups popping out of their flying cars' windows, the loud beeping of their honks ringing in my ears. It was even difficult to find free spaces for us to run through in the bands, and those were hardly ever used!
However, we managed to get on time to the station to catch the shuttle that was going to take us to the space port. Because we were just a bit late, we missed the opportunity of getting comfy seats, so we had to stand in the middle of our compartment. To our grief, more people climbed onto it in each station until it got crowded enough for us to be smashed between all the elbows, backs and even stomachs.
I could hear Luna complaining behind me, but I was so immobilized that I couldn't even turn my head to see her. The shuttle eventually made a sharp turn, sending everyone sliding to the left. Luna and I screamed as we felt our lungs being squeezed until there was no more air inside of them, but just as it stopped, the train reached a new terminal and most of the passengers got off, leaving only about five people on the train compartment we were in.
"I thought I was gonna die…" Luna mumbled shakily, her knees buckling underneath her from the shock.
"I couldn't even think at all!" I whined from the floor, where I was kneeling after I had been pushed by the massive wave of people the shuttle had just dropped off in the last station.
We turned to look at each other and broke into a fit of laughter once we discovered that our hair was a real mess. Luna helped me up and we fixed each other's hair while giggling, finally managing an almost perfect result.
"Luna! Kimiko!" A voice suddenly called out to us, sounding throughout the shuttle.
When we turned to see who had called us we were greeted by Sharla, who was waving at us from the other side of the compartment.
"Sharla!" We exclaimed excited, running up to meet her at the middle of the shuttle.
"We got on the same shuttle. Did you get hurt?" She asked us smiling, also running to meet us. I bet she saw us in our shameful state after the compartment was emptied.
"It was packed pretty tight, wasn't it?" I said sheepishly while rubbing the back of my head, not answering her question.
"But Sharla weren't you going to have your papa see you off?" Luna asked her worriedly, taking her by the arm and guiding her to the seats displayed on the sides.
"The thing is, he said he had a meeting all morning. On top of that, he said the taxi wouldn't make it in time, and to take the shuttle," she explained to us, resting her hands on her knees and looking down.
"It's incredibly full down there too…" I mused, twisting my neck so that I could take a look at the packed street below us before it got out of sight.
"Yes, yes! The shuttle is the most reliable way!" Luna joked, pointing her index finger up as she winked at us.
We kept on staring at each other until we finally laughed, easily lightening the mood.
"That's a well-worn backpack isn't it?" Sharla suddenly noticed, pointing curiously at Luna's old brown backpack which was resting beside her.
"My dad used this. Isn't it cool!" Luna answered excitedly, lifting the backpack up and showing it to us.
"It must be really important to you! It sure is pretty!" I said with a close-eyed smile, knowing just how important anything was just by the fact that it once belonged to one of your parents first; even more in our situation.
However, I could easily guess Sharla didn't think the same by the face she was making from having the old bag so close to her face.
"But it seems somehow heavier than when I packed it yesterday…" She told us mysteriously, shaking the bag lightly.
"That's odd. I could swear I felt my bag heavier too…" I told her, exchanging confused stares with her.
Before she could even reply, everything in the room became dark as the shuttle passed through a tunnel, the tunnel that would take us out of the colony and to the plain planet ground outside of it.
"Sugoi! Look at that!" I exclaimed cheerfully as I kneeled on my seat and pressed my hands on the window like a little kid. It doesn't matter how many times I have seen the outer space already, I will always think it was beautiful.
My friends giggled at my antics but turned to see the view nonetheless. We could see the dark pitch of the universe, dotted with the brilliance of the stars; the REAL stars. We could even see real planets and their moons showing themselves over the horizon as if greeting us, just as excited as we were about the excursion. Everything outside that artificial dome was indeed enchanting.
The majestic space port didn't stay behind too. Our small colony seemed like nothing compared to it. On the outside, pathways formed out of light would appear each time a space ship was going to be launched into space, showing them which direction to take. All the buildings had huge beacons on the top, their powerful lights showing the other ships their way back home.
The inside was surely the biggest place I've ever been to as well. I gawked once we stepped out of our shuttle, spinning all over around just so that I could get a 360o view of where I was standing. The room was immense, neatly build up of shiny silver metal that gave off that feeling of cleanness housewives could only dream of, and there were yellow digital screens floating all over around, showing the time tables to all the travelers.
"Kimiko, you're staying behind!" I heard Luna yelling at me, making me to finally snap out of my daydreaming.
I searched for her desperately around the massive room, fearing I would never find her in time, and finally saw her red head, her right hand waving above her for me to see. Judging by the big amount of people standing near them, I guessed they had already found our classmates.
"S-Sorry!" I shouted over at her, breaking into a sprint in order to catch up with my friends.
"I'll announce the members of each group. From now on, stay with your group. So that nobody causes harm to our school's name, I'll have you all act with discretion," Menori was saying when I was finally close enough to my class to hear.
I quickly found Luna standing beside Sharla and went over to them, leaning on her shoulder to rest a bit. I was panting, though not because of my sprint, but the fear I had felt after thinking they had already left without me.
"Well then, first, group one: Bell; Shingo; Howard; Kaoru; Sharla; Kimiko; Luna; Menori." The blue haired girl listed in a monotone, not even looking up from her notes.
I quickly scanned the congregated students with my gaze, searching for my new teammates, and confirmed that all of them were already there.
"Continuing, group two: Jack; Michael; Tom; Maria; Kenji; Sarah; Stacy; Laura," Menori kept on reading the list, going on to group three right after.
"We're with Howard. This is terrible," I heard Sharla saying sadly from the other side of Luna, and I trained my blue orbs in her direction, finding her completely depressed.
"It's fine! If he says something, I'll whack him for you!" Luna reassured her, showing her how she closed her fist to prove her point.
"At least we're with people we know. Not to mention that we are together!" I giggled, winking confidently at them and showing them the peace sign with my fingers.
"True! There's no reason for feeling down!" Luna agreed with me, turning to look at Sharla with a big grin on her face.
Our shy friend smiled slightly and nodded her head at us, feeling a little bit more confident now after our encouragement.
"Alright everyone! Gather up with your teams!" Our teacher shouted through all the whispers after finally arriving, standing beside Menori before motioning her to do what he said.
"Yosh! Let's go!" Luna said eagerly, taking a hold of our hands and dragging us to where our group had started to meet.
Everyone stayed quiet as we waited for instructions though, mostly because we already knew each other.
"Each group, decide on a leader!" Our teacher instructed once more, before turning to resume his talk with the parents who had come to see their children off.
"Does anyone want to volunteer to be group one's leader?" Menori finally asked, scrutinizing us all in search of a sign that would tell her if someone wanted to take said role. "Howard, don't you want to do it?" She finally addressed him, having no other choice since no one appeared to want such a responsibility.
"Not particularly. Doing the roll-call and announcements seem like such a nuisance," he said lazily, leaning back on Bell as if screaming how bored he really was.
"Well, if we're talking about leadership, then Menori's definitely the one best suited," Shingo reasoned, pointing to the strict girl standing in front of us all.
It could have been a strange effect of the light, but I think I saw a sufficient smirk appearing on the girl's lips. However it was, I do think that having her as the leader is the best option.
"Agreed!" Luna chirped, raising her hand to show her content. Sharla and I nodded, giving the stoic girl encouraging smiles as we did so.
"Any objections?" Menori asked, turning to look at the boys once she was sure she had the girls' backup.
"Fine by me," Howard said coolly, running his pale hand over his blond locks.
Bell and Shingo nodded too, silently giving her their consent. The only one who didn't say anything was Kaoru, but Menori took it as a 'yes' since she was sure he would have complained if he didn't like the idea.
"Then I will serve as leader. We'll be boarding soon. Follow me," she commanded, bending down to pick a black sheath resting by her feet before starting to walk away.
Shrugging our shoulders, my friends and I started to follow her, the boys quickly doing the same. Menori guided us towards one of the many electric stairs which probably lead to a lower floor, a tunnel covering the upper part of them. From there, we stepped on a new band that transported us all the way to our ship, a tunnel made completely out of glass protecting us and giving us an incredible view of the space lurking outside. Shingo soon joined my friends and me in our talk until we finally walked into our ship, enjoying our company.
"Check your seat numbers printed in your tickets and head over to your seats. You can walk around as long as it's permitted by the staff," Menori informed us, walking over to her own seat.
"What seats did you get?" I asked my friends, turning around to look at them.
"We're sitting together!" Luna said excitedly, waving her ticket around childishly.
"I got to seat next to Menori," Shingo paled, sighing in disappointment as he started to walk away. "I better behave perfectly if I don't wanna go through hell…" He mumbled sadly, heading over to his seat beside Menori's.
"Where will you be sitting Kimiko?" Sharla asked me, gaining my attention as I shifted my gaze from Shingo to her.
I leaned over and read their seat numbers, looking down at mine to try and make the math.
"I'll be sitting in the seat behind the seat behind you, Sharla!" I giggled, their confused expressions being too much for me.
"Well, we'll be putting our bags away in the lockers by the entrance," Luna smiled at me, taking Sharla and walking back to the entrance of the ship.
I sighed once I was alone, brushing the passenger's room with my gaze. Seats were scattered all around, in groups of two, three and even four. There were a lot of people, mostly little kids running around excitedly while their parents chatted away on their seats, everyone waiting excitedly for the launching.
I walked over to my group, walking beside their seats in order to reach mine. Menori and Shingo were sitting at the front, but the next row was empty, the seats being those of Luna and Sharla. Behind them, Bell and Howard were sitting comfortably, waiting impatiently for the launch to begin. Already knowing what was awaiting me, I walked over to the last row of seats and was not at all surprised to see Kaoru sitting on the seat beside mine.
"At least the trip will be silent for me," I thought optimistically, actually relieved that I didn't get the seat beside Howard's.
"Hey!" I greeted the brunette kindly with a smile, dropping myself on the seat to his left.
Kaoru turned to look at me with no expression on his face, breaking eye contact after a few seconds without saying anything. I sweat dropped and smiled nervously, not knowing if that reaction meant that he accepted me being there or if he already felt annoyed by my presence. Sighing, I grabbed my bag and let it fall unceremoniously beside my seat, not at all expecting to hear a soft 'ittai' coming from it.
Widening my eyes, I bent down and picked my purple backpack, resting it on my lap. I fumbled with the zipper before yanking it open, only to be graced with the sight of Koinu's blue and green eyes. I blinked repeatedly, my brain apparently not being able to understand the data.
"K-Koinu!" I gasped, glaring at him as he waved his front paw shyly at me.
Kaoru turned to see me once he heard my voice again, reminding me that I was not alone. I sent him a nervous smile as I blushed, turning around next so that my back was facing him in order to have more privacy.
"T-This is a huge, funny, misunderstanding…" Koinu told me nervously, sending me a trembling smile as he played with his paws. "You see, I woke up at night and I accidentally and slept in here because I was too tired to reach the bed…" He giggled maniacally, telling me just how nervous he was for disobeying my orders.
"But you were up in time to make my breakfast," I glared at him, the information making him to stop short, realizing his mistake. "It's not as if I can leave you behind now…just stay here and don't make a sound!" I whispered with a sigh, carefully pushing his head down and zipping my purple backpack once more. I knew he was just worried about me…
"But it's too small and dark in here," he whined, pressing his front paws against the fabric of my bag.
"Don't ask for luxury!" I growled at my bag, holding it close to me in a hug.
I sat up-straight once more and stole a glance at Kaoru's direction, breathing out in relieve once I noticed he had been paying no mind to me. That was one of the benefits I received for sitting next to him: he lets you be and doesn't care in the least about your personal things.
"An announcement: The ship will momentarily takeoff from this shuttle station. Please take your seats and fasten your seatbelts," the voice of a woman officer resounded all around the ship at the same time that the icon of a seatbelt displayed at the roof turned green.
I watched as Luna and Sharla returned to their seats once I had buckled by seatbelt, wondering why Luna was still carrying her brown backpack. I thought they were going to leave them at the lockers…
Before we knew it, the long awaited launched began. The ship had already started to levitate without warning, aligning with the lighted paths the control tower had already provided. In an instant, we were soaring at the speed of sound through our current planet's atmosphere, the momentum pushing me against the back of my seat. I closed my eyes and hugged my bag tighter; getting a bit scared once I realized I had troubles for breathing, my breaths soon turned into a quick panting in a desperate attempt to get more oxygen into my lungs.
"K-Kimiko-chan! Y-You're c-crushing m-me!" I barely heard Koinu whimpering inside the backpack.
Fortunately, the speed decreased right after, allowing me to drop my arms to avoid damaging my best friend.
"The ship has left the gravity well. Artificial gravity will engage shortly. Please wait until then," the same feminine voice announced, the icon which was showing the fastened seatbelt changing into one of a loose seatbelt.
Not even a second later, the artificial gravity was turned on, letting my backpack fall back roughly on my lap since it had been levitating once I let it go. Finally being able to breathe again, the strong coughs I had been trying to refrain broke loose, making me to bend forward in a failed attempt to stop them.
"Take deep breaths," I heard Koinu whispering from inside my bag and I tried my best to follow his advice, soon being able to control my breathing again.
Sitting straight again, I leaned by head on the back of my seat as I sighed in relief, feeling my throat itching in complain.
"I didn't know you were sick," a monotone voice came from my side.
I turned to my right to see that Kaoru had watched my coughing fit, and he was still staring at me silently.
"I'm fine! It's not a cold," I managed to send him a small smile; not being able to believe that he had talked to me willingly.
"Hn," he mumbled, unfastening his seatbelt and standing up, leaving the room through a huge door.
"Hey, want to look around the ship with us!" Luna's smiling face suddenly popped up in front of me, breaking my trance.
"Sure," I mumbled, shaking my head to get rid of my shock.
I unbuckled my belt and stood up to follow them, hanging my backpack on my back. I followed my friends through the same door Kaoru had walked out through, all of us too busy with admiring the place to start a proper conversation.
"It's beautiful!" Luna commented as we stood beside a large window, watching how the innumerable stars moved with us. "Huh?" She mused, shifting her blue eyes to her right.
She started walking again, Sharla and me following without complains. Looking ahead again, I finally understood what had caught Luna's attention: Kaoru was standing in front of another window by himself, watching silently the moving stars as well. However, once we were near enough, I could detect some kind of sadness or melancholy pretty well hidden in his brown orbs. I would know about that…
"Hey, want to explore the ship with us?" Luna asked him with a smile, waiting patiently for his reply.
He turned his head to look at her, slowly shifting his gaze to Sharla and finally to me, as if analyzing us, before turning back to the window. Luna blinked at his actions and stared at him intently, almost as if expecting that the force of her gaze would make him stare at her once more.
"Well, maybe next time," I told him cheerfully, grabbing Luna and pushing her out of the scene before she pissed him off.
Sharla was right at our heels and I didn't let go of my red-headed friend until we were at a safe distance from the lonely boy.
"Hey, is Kaoru always like that?" Luna asked us in a quiet whisper, turning her head so that she could watch the brown haired boy over her shoulder.
"As far as I can remember, he almost never hangs out with people," Sharla confided her, sending him a cautious look over her shoulder as well.
"You sat beside him, right Kimiko? How is he like?" Luna asked me, finally fixing her eyes on me again.
"He likes to be alone," I answered simply, saying nothing but the truth.
Maybe he spoke to me because he thought I was weird or carried a horrible disease anyway. There was no need to make a bigger deal out of it.
"Let go of me!" A sudden yelled broke me out of my thoughts once more.
Looking down the railing of the stairs we were currently standing on, we caught sight of Shingo being lifted by his collar by a bigger man.
"What are you doing!" He screamed again as he squirmed in the air, trying his best to break free from the guard's strong grip.
"Can't you see? No entry beyond this point!" The guard said angrily, jabbing his thumb backwards to point at a sign hanging from the door behind him. It clearly read 'KEEP OUT, STAFF ONLY'. "Don't come 'round here again!" He finished, yelling directly at Shingo's ear.
"What's the problem! I just want to take a look!" Shingo yelled right back at his face after his quick recovery from almost ending up deaf.
"No way!" The guard mocked him, suddenly letting him go.
Shingo rubbed his sore behind after his hard landing on the floor, glaring at the back of the ship's worker until it disappeared through the door.
"Jerk! Nya~!" Shingo insulted him, sticking out his tongue towards the already closed door. He humped and crossed his arms, glaring daggers at the floor in his foul mood.
"Shingo, what happened?" I asked him with a light giggle gluing to my question, not being able to deny how cute the younger boy had looked a few moments ago.
"I just wanted to have a peek at the power plant. They don't know how to treat their costumers!" Shingo answered me with a pout, turning to glare at the door once more, not caring that his glasses had slid all the way down to the tip of his nose.
"So you say, but isn't this a little excessive?" Luna asked him with a wink, trying to reason with him. Wrong move.
"Of course not!" Shingo cried indignantly, glaring up now at Luna childishly. "But it seemed a little interesting," he admitted, a devious grin playing on his lips.
"There, there. We will sort this out," I assured him kindly, holding out my hand for him to take.
He smiled thankfully at me and accepted my offer, letting me pull him back to his feet.
"What, no entry?" A new voice broke into our conversation, making us to look around until we finally spotted Howard and his gang standing at the entrance to the arcade games, apparently being stopped by Menori.
"You must have been told during the pre-departure instructions. Entry into the amusement area is forbidden," Menori sentenced, standing her ground in front of the eight kids, not caring in the least that the multicolored flashing lights behind her took away a bit of her authority aura.
"But they said it would be a fun school trip. Don't contradict that now," Howard said nonchalantly, playing with his hair in a 'cool' way. What would his friends say about him if he got shooed off by a girl?
"Don't let me hear you say that again! Return to your cabin!" Menori ordered them menacingly, pointing at the right direction warningly.
Howard's brows twitched in anger as he held a glaring contest with his classmate, none of them willing to back off.
"Howard, let's go back," one of the boys finally surrendered, turning around to start his escape.
Howard's glare intensified before he finally looked away, defeated. "I don't care if your dad's in the space commonwealth parliament or whatever. Don't take that tone with me. You'll catch hell for this!" he threatened the purple-eyed girl as he walked away with dignity, being followed by his gang.
We watched silently as they paraded in front of us, taking the path we had just walked through. Menori then shifted her glare towards our small group, making a chill to run down everyone's spine.
"It seems like we won't be able to do anything for you, Shingo," I told him sheepishly as I stared cautiously at Menori, feeling a sweat drop sliding down the back of my head.
"Y-Yeah, don't worry about it," he stuttered, moving closer to me so that he could gain some confidence against the older girl.
"I heard they have a restaurant here. Why don't we go get something to drink?" Luna offered kindly, looking for any chance we could get in order to get out of our leader's vision.
We nodded rapidly, rushing out of that section of the ship and heading back to the tourist's area.
°°TT°°TT°°
Just like everything else in these times, the restaurant of the ship was magnificent. It was huge and had comfortable chairs and tables for everyone to sit at. The walls were covered by special screens that showed different natural sceneries, like beautiful waterfalls and shiny rivers and colorful flower gardens or forests. The air was filled with the delicious aroma of the food being served, and digital screens were showing the special combos every now and then.
"Our group is definitely the worst," Sharla complained from in front of me, across our table, taking a sip of her purple drink.
"That's it! They put all the problem children in one pack," Luna explained by her side, leaving her pink drink on the table to use her free hands to emphasize.
"Why would they do something like that?" Sharla asked, tilting her head to the side in confusion.
"If you put them in one group, and add in Menori, the school will have an easier time managing them," Shingo explained wisely by my left side, playing with his straw which was resting inside his green drink.
I looked down at my light blue drink, thinking over what my friends had just said. To my eyes, our group was not bad at all. There was the four of us, Menori and her awesome leadership, Kaoru and his quiet understanding, Bell and his shyness, and Howard and his ego. The only one I figured I could have trouble with was Howard, but it was not as if I was going to talk to him every minute of our trip…
"I see…Hold on! Does that mean I'm a problem child too!" Sharla suddenly understood, leaning over to Luna and pointing at herself incredulously.
"Naturally," Luna kidded her, holding out her palm like rich ladies would often do.
"Why?" Sharla whined as she went to tickle Luna, making her to squeal in laughter and slid sideways towards me.
I laughed too as I held her by the shoulders so that I wouldn't fall backwards out of my seat, but it was in that moment that the ship shook violently, making us jump off our seats a little bit. Shingo stumbled and held my back, keeping us three from sliding down.
"W-What was that!" I asked to no one in particular, gently pushing Luna to help her stand up.
"I don't know," Shingo told me as we all held onto the table to keep our balance, seeing as the ship was still shaking slightly.
"Everyone, gather around the teacher!" Menori came running towards us, right after the screens failed and showed nothing but static.
"Let's go!" Luna turned towards us, receiving determined nods as an answer.
I reached out and grabbed Shingo's hand before we followed Luna and Sharla, wanting to keep him close in order to protect him, my motherly nature showing without problems. We would tighten our grip in each other's hands every time the ship shook, trying to calm each other down.
"There they are!" Luna exclaimed as she pointed with her left hand towards our group, holding Sharla's hand with her right to not lose her in the crowd.
"Is everyone here?" Menori turned to ask us once we had reached their side, counting us mentally to make sure the group was complete.
"A large gravity storm is approaching. The ship will enter emergency wrap to avoid it. All passengers please move to the escape shuttles," the woman officer spoke through the speakers, keeping a calm tone to not alarm the passengers.
"E-Escape shuttles?" I mumbled in fright, unconsciously tightening my grip on Shingo's hand.
"Calm down!" A blond man standing in front of the crowd instructed over the high voices. "Do you have all your members? Groups which are confirmed, move to the escape shuttles."
"I'm Levinson, the ship's captain," A new voice sounded through the speakers, immediately calming everyone down. "If we perform warp navigation, we can definitely avoid the gravity storm. Take care during the evacuation to the escape shuttles. Everyone, please move calmly."
"This is also a time to calmly take the initiative. Let's go," Menori turned back to us, leading us over to the entrance that the blond official was pointing to.
Shingo and I followed behind Sharla and Luna again and Kaoru soon joined us silently. I felt myself getting more nervous with each step we gave closer to the shuttle, using all my willpower to refrain every painful memory trying to access my mind.
To my distress, Menori reached our escape shuttle and opened the metallic door, a small set of stairs appearing for us to step in. She entered gracefully, being careful of not hitting her black sheath against anything.
"Eh~ this is my first time in an escape shuttle!" Shingo said in excitement, letting go of my hand and rushing in to check it out.
I moved shyly to the side and allowed everyone to pass before me, my eyes not wanting to shift from the shuttle. Feeling a presence by mi side, I was able to distinguish a pair of black shoes with the corner of my eyes. Apparently, Kaoru was waiting for me to get in so that he could close the lid once we were all inside. He didn't say anything, but I could feel his harsh stare upon my frame.
Whimpering ever so lowly, I forced my legs to move and walk towards the door. Kaoru followed close behind me, almost as if herding me. I grabbed onto the bars of the stairs with shaking hands, slowly descending until my feet touched the floor of the shuttle. I stood up-straight and brushed the inside with my gaze, discovering that everything was made out of metal, apart from the seats which were made of a special fabric.
There were two lines of about seven seats by each side of the small hallway that led to the cockpit, where thousands of lights were flashing unceasingly; Howard and Shingo were already sitting on the pilot's and co-pilot's seats, admiring the controls. Well, it was most like Howard was playing with it.
"Howard! Don't press things recklessly!" Luna scolded him, leaning over the arch leading to the cockpit.
"Exactly," Menori contributed, leaning over to have a look as well.
I walked over to my seat and placed my backpack in the small net resting on the back of the seat in front of mine. Growing nervous with Howard's actions, I too walked over to Luna and unconsciously widened my eyes once I saw how many buttons Howard was pressing.
"Howard what are you-!" I tried to say, but the shuttle shook violently again, sending us stumbling to the side. Even the lights went off this time.
"Return to your seats quickly!" Menori told us, making Shingo to quickly get up and head over to the seat beside mine, quickly being followed by Luna who sat behind him.
"Shut up! Bell, get out my camera," Howard yelled over his shoulder.
"Camera?" Bell asked him confused, tilting his head to his left as he tried to understand what the arrogant boy was talking about.
"Yeah, I had you carry it around. Take one in commemoration," Howard replied nonchalantly, pointing to the brown bag Bell was indeed carrying around.
Getting what he was supposed to do, Bell searched the bag until he pulled out a silver camera, smiling in excitement after having done his job well. I gritted my teeth in anger and dug my fingernails on the metallic edge of the arch, canalizing my fear and nervousness through those actions.
"Don't fool around!" I screamed at them, turning back to the cockpit to glare at Howard.
"What? What are you getting out of shape for?" He teased me with a smug smirk.
I widened my eyes in shock, not expecting him to see over my disguise so quickly.
"An escape shuttle isn't a toy!" I snapped back at him, hardening my glare in a last attempt to hide my fear.
"Of course I know that," he told me tiredly, rolling his light green eyes at me.
"I don't think you do!" I retorted, but was stopped before saying anything else by another jolt.
I yelped in shock as my feet stumbled, sending me down to my knees as I held on to the arch for dear life. I closed my eyes and tried to breathe deeply, calming down just slightly.
"Howard! Come back here!" Menori called one last time, being unable to reach out and help me up to my feet.
"Stop ordering me around!" He yelled back at us in irritation, another toss silencing him before he said any rude remark.
"All passengers please remain in your seats and fasten your seatbelts," a feminine voice ranged throughout the shuttle, gaining our attention.
"Howard!" I barked his name in frustration.
"Everyone, fasten your seatbelts!" Menori commanded the rest of our group, who obeyed her without thinking it twice.
"I like it up here," Howard sentenced calmly, fastening his own seatbelt, telling me with his actions that he was not going to move from there.
I growled at him, getting ready to go and snatch him off of the seat if necessary.
"Kimiko, that's enough. Hurry up and take your seat," Menori told me seriously, giving up on Howard.
I looked down but did as I was told, managing to reach the seat in front of Kaoru before any more turbulence made me stumble and fall.
"Wrap will occur in ten seconds," the voice announced before starting the countdown.
I bent forward and picked up my backpack, feeling the need to have Koinu as close to me as possible. Hearing almost the end of the countdown, I hugged my bag tighter and closed my eyes, the sounds and movements reminding me greatly of the last time I was in an escape capsule. I whimpered as I shook uncontrollably, my stomach doing flips and turns making me feel sick.
"Is the warp over?" I heard Shingo ask beside me and I opened my eyes, only to lock them on the floor once I realized I was too scared to look.
"Wrong. Look!" Menori's voice raised in apprehension, making me to lift my blue orbs and follow her pointing finger towards the windows.
Our worst fears became true, and we all hasped in horror once we saw the black sky of the space and the red energy coming from the storm instead of the walls of our ship. Shingo quickly unbuckled his seatbelt to check up on things, but another jolt and gravity made him fly backwards. Quickly standing up, Luna stopped him with her arm and followed him over to the cockpit to have a better look.
"Nobody else leave your seats!" Menori warned Sharla, Bell, Kaoru and me.
Howard's, Luna's, Shingo's and Menori's voices were tuned out by the loud roaring of the storm, not allowing me to hear what was going on. Desperate to keep my mind busy to keep me from breaking down in fear, I decided to get over to my friends and help them anyway I could. I left my backpack back on the net in front of my seat and went to take off my seatbelt. The gravity soon lifted me out of it without problems so I had to press my hands against the roof to keep myself from floating aimlessly.
Without warning, the storm turned our shuttle to the side in that exact minute, sending me harshly against my seat's back. I let out a small scream in pain, soon being followed by one of the strongest coughing fits I had ever had. I closed my eyes as I gripped my seat's back, bending over in pain. I feared the fact that I couldn't breathe properly again...
It was just then that a hand suddenly shot out and clasped my wrist, pulling me down to Kaoru's lap. His strong arms wrapped themselves around me, keeping the gravity from sending me flying around. The movement of the shuttle became fiercer as we were pulled into the storm, being almost completely swallowed by it. Screams were heard when we were even left hanging upside down, but it all appeared to be distant to me as I entered some kind of daze.
I was holding on to Kaoru as if he was the only thing preventing me from going into the darkness, just like he was doing to me. My left hand was pressed tightly against my mouth as more coughs were coming out of it, my throat starting to burn painfully with each new cough. I curled myself closer to the brown haired boy and, as a small child, bawled. Tears started to drip off my eyelids as I finally succumbed to fear, flashes of my parents' dead filling my head.
This was all the same as last time. I was crying in fear, and Koinu was doing his best to make me feel better. The never ending darkness that filled the space was watching over us, the stars guiding us back home…
No. This time was different. I was not alone, and I was not going back home. This time, the space was not willing to help us…it had turned into a monster ready to devour us.
~*~Flashback~*~
"Mommy, how long is daddy going to be gone?" The six years old girl asked her mother curiously, standing on her toes in order to look out the window of her office.
"He'll be home soon. Why don't you ask him tonight when we contact him to his ship?" She told her daughter tenderly, stopping her work for a bit to look at the blonde.
"Yeah…I'm just worried about him," the small girl confessed, resting her chin on her hands as she kept her blue eyes glued to the space.
Smiling gently, the mother stood up from her seat and left her stethoscope on her desk. She walked over to her daughter and hugged her from behind.
"You know? If you choose a star and ask it for a wish, it will come true," she whispered in the girl's ear as if telling her a secret.
"Really!"
"Why don't you try?"
The girl nodded vigorously and joined her hands by her chest, closing her eyes before asking her star to bring her father safe back home.
~*~End Flashback~*~
"Okaa-san…Otou-san!" I called over to them in my mind, burying my head in Kaoru's chest to stay lost in my thoughts instead of living the frightening reality we were all experiencing.
"The space is a wonderful, mysterious place, Kimiko. It can never be judged, and it will never take sides. All you can do is admire its beauty and hope for the best," was what my dad used to tell me each time he went on a trip, and each time we stayed up until night after my mom passed away.
"I know dad, I know. Please, make this all stop!" I begged in my mind as I continued to cry, my coughing not stopping either.
Just as if the stars had heard my wish, the turbulence started to calm down until we were finally stable again. Our tense muscles finally seem to relax, but even so I stayed still against Kaoru, panting heavily once my coughs died down. My heart was beating at an incredible speed, desperately trying to bomb enough blood into my system after the shock I had. I could feel Kaoru's heart beating just as fast as mine underneath my right hand, and the way he kept on gritting his teeth told me that he had been as scared as I was.
Finally lowering my hand from my mouth, I shifted my gaze down to my palm once I felt something wet on it. I froze on my spot and widened my eyes once I saw the small amount of red liquid splattered over it, the burning sensation on my throat no longer being a mystery. I quickly closed my hand into a fist to cover up the evidence that showed I had coughed up blood before Kaoru saw it, not wanting to make a drama and worry everyone.
"Everyone, are you ok!" I heard Luna's voice call out to us, worry lacing with it.
We all turned to see her to show her we were alright, a relieved smile illuminating her face once she checked all of us quickly. Sensing I was abusing of Kaoru's personal space, I thanked him shyly before I held onto the seats' backs to keep my balance as I tried to stand up. My legs quivered like jelly, but I managed to follow my friends into the cockpit, all the while rubbing my left palm with my other one to erase any remaining blood stains.
"What's going up on there?" Sharla asked from in front of me, heading over to Luna who was staring out of the cockpit's window.
"Only our shuttle seems to have been left behind," Luna explained, turning to see us once we had all managed to squeeze into the not so small space.
"That can't be!" Sharla panicked, trembling in fear.
"But why just this shuttle?" Bell tried to understand, sinking us all into our own thoughts in an attempt to find a solution.
"Can't we use the instruments to know?" I asked in a low voice, still having my throat a bit sore.
"The instruments seem to all be broken," Shingo told me, shaking his head sadly.
I looked past him and discovered that indeed all the board was broken. Its bulbs, glasses and buttons were broken and some of them were even emitting a small line of smoke. I looked down to my white tennis shoes, trying to remember everything I had learned about navigating and ships from my dad.
"Shingo! After you came in here, you were touching all sorts of switches! It's definitely because of that!" Howard suddenly yelled, glaring daggers at the younger boy.
"If that's it, then how about you, Howard?" Shingo defended himself, closing his hands into fists to contain his anger.
"What's that!" Howard growled, leaning over and pressing his forehead against Shingo's as he growled, trying to intimidate him.
"Stop it!" I let out a husky yell, stepping up and pulling Howard away from Shingo.
"We'll look into that later," Menori told us severely, staring at us intently.
"Exactly! We still don't know if we're going to be rescued," Luna sided with the bluenett, placing a hand over my shoulder to calm me down.
"Shingo, can you figure out where the ship is?" Menori turned to the orange haired boy, knowing he was the one who knew more about technology.
"I don't think we should be that far from our colony yet, but…" the young boy started, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
"First off, we should turn on the rescue beacon," I told him softly, hating to know what someone needed to do if they somehow ended up lost in space, alone.
Shingo nodded at me enthusiastically and turned back to the board, bending down and pressing the right buttons. The screens in front of us suddenly flickered before completely turning on, displaying lots of green, blue, and orange symbols.
"I am the computer installed in this craft, M-17," a feminine voice suddenly spoke, apparently coming from the computer.
"M-17, where are we?" Luna was quick to ask, walking up to my side and staring up at the screen.
"That is impossible to determine," the mechanic voice announced, making me to raise an eyebrow. Weren't we supposed to be close to our colony?
"Can we send out the emergency beacon?" Menori asked, leaning forward in expectation.
"That is impossible," the voice answered again.
"This thing is useless!" Howard humped, slamming his fist on one side of his seat.
"Why is that?" Menori asked again, completely ignoring Howard. However, M-17 kept quiet.
"This craft will momentarily enter a planet's gravity well. Please, fasten your seatbelts," the computer suddenly announced, a red light turning on and off by its side.
"Gravity well?" Shingo asked me surprised, looking up at me in confusion.
"Did we get close to some planet?" Luna asked too, pushing herself up on the board to have a wider view through the window.
Her sudden gasp told us exactly what we needed, and we were all quick to follow her example. There, hiding in the darkness of the space, was a round-shaped, planet. Its surface looked blue from where we were standing, and it was covered with clouds. The dense shadows didn't allow me to check if it had any moons surrounding it, and no ring was floating around it either.
"Earth?" Menori asked by my side, leaning on my shoulder to have better support while she stood on her tiptoes.
"That's impossible," I shook my head, narrowing my eyes to try and see more of the unknown planet.
"Yeah, Earth already stopped being a blue planet," Shingo agreed with me from my other side, confusing Luna and Sharla who were sharing the same window as us.
"Then, what planet is that?" Luna asked us.
"The former Earth?" Shingo threw a guess, shrugging his shoulders as he did so.
"Are you saying we flew through time?" Sharla panicked, not imagining how we could have been able to do that.
"It might not be impossible in space," Shingo tried to defend his theory, knowing that nobody knew space in every detail.
"Have we come to the world of long ago?" Luna asked amazed, pressing further into the glass to have a closer look, trying to find some kind of clue that supported Shingo's guess.
"If so, what's going to happen to us?" Bell asked us worriedly, but none of us knew how to deal with the problem on hand.
"Stop being ridiculous!" Howard snapped; sweat already starting to drip from his forehead in preoccupation.
"I can't take it anymore! Will you give it a rest!" A new voice shouted from behind us, startling us all to death.
We all quickly turned around just to find a small pink cat staring angrily at us, shaking her fists furiously.
"Hurry up and do something!" She ordered.
I opened and closed my mouth repeatedly, no sound coming out from it whatsoever. Blinking repeatedly, to make sure it was not an illusion, I eventually managed to find my voice.
"C-Chako?" I gasped, turning to look at a really nervous Luna.
"That's not fair! How come I can't come out if she already has!" A new voice, this time a male's, broke into the conversation, the owner revealing himself as a white dog with black ears and eyes of different colors.
"K-Koinu!" Luna and I gasped at the same time, now staring at both pets standing on their hind legs, with eyes that threatened to fly out of their sockets. After all, we both thought that our corresponding pets were the only ones who had hid onboard.
"What are those things?" Howard asked, glaring down in disgust at our friends.
"Whaddaya mean, 'those things'? I have a proper name, you know? It's Chako!" The pink cat yelled at the rich boy, a tick mark appearing on the side of her head.
"It's not polite at all to call someone a 'thing', especially if it's a living being," Koinu sentenced with dignity, holding his chin up high and not even looking at Howard.
"I'm sorry! She's my pet-robot!" Luna quickly apologized, rushing over and picking up Chako, completely overhearing her complaints.
"If that one is yours…whose is the other one?" Sharla said in a shaky tone, pointing at Koinu in fear.
"It's rude to point at someone, you know?" My refined puppy scolded her lightly, crossing his front paws across his chest.
"I'm sorry, he's mine," I told my friends with a smile, walking up to my best friend and bending to his level, resting my hand on top of his head. "He sneaked into my backpack this morning without me noticing," I explained them, patting Koinu's head a bit too roughly as if scolding him.
"I would appreciate if you wouldn't make it sound as vulgar like that," he pouted at me, not at all angry at my petting.
"You thought it was okay to bring something like that along!" Howard told us harshly, glaring at us four intently.
"There he goes again," Koinu rolled his eyes. He had never liked to repeat his lessons twice.
"'Something'? I'm not a thing!" Chako yelled from Luna's arms, struggling to get free and charge at Howard in anger.
"I knew that, but there was a little mistake, and…" Luna tried to explain herself, placing her hands over Chako's mouth to shut her up.
"You knew! The shuttle getting left behind is that things' fault!" Howard concluded loudly, pointing an accusing finger at all of us.
"Now that's just silly," Koinu breathed out, looking up at Howard with bored eyes.
"It's obviously true!" Howard yelled in irritation to my friend.
"Howard, calm down! I won't allow you to talk that way to Koinu!" I quickly stood up, standing protectively in front of my puppy.
"You two are going to take responsibility for this!" Howard hollered at my face, having taken a few steps to plant himself in front of me.
"Don't be ridiculous! A shuttle wouldn't cut itself loose just because an extra animal got on!" I shot back at his own face, inching forwards as we glared knifes at each other.
"That's true!" Shingo helped me without thinking it twice.
"Then how come this happened!" Howard barked in frustration at him, motioning with his left hand to the shuttle.
"That's what we are trying to figure out!" I began to tell him, but a few coughs made me stop again. Fortunately, they stopped as quickly as they started so no one really noticed, or at least so I thought.
"Well, you're not doing much, are you!" Howard shifted his attention back to me, raising his fists unconsciously in anger.
"As usual, you're a barking dog," Kaoru suddenly told him coldly from over the farthest window, preventing me from having to scream at him again and hurt my throat even more.
"What !" Howard turned to him in anger, fixing his glare on him. However, Kaoru barely stared at him for a few seconds before turning to look out of the window again.
"More importantly, is it okay to be getting so close to the planet?" He asked us, reminding us of the closest problem we were facing.
Running back to stare out the windows, we discovered that the planet was indeed closer, seeing how it started to look bigger.
"This craft is beginning its approach to land on the planet. We will enter the atmosphere momentarily. All passengers please take your seats and fasten your seatbelts," M-17's voice suddenly resounded through the whole shuttle again, shifting our attention back to her.
"Landing?" Luna repeated in confusion, making sure she had heard right.
"Even though we don't know what planet that is?" Shingo turned back to me but all I could do was shrug, having no idea of what was going to happen.
"M-17, can we avoid it?" Menori asked the computer, knowing that our lives were at risk if that planet resulted to have poisonous gases or deathly things like that.
"It is impossible," the voice answered simply. "This craft will momentarily enter the atmosphere."
"M-17, are we equipped for that?" Shingo was the next one to ask, looking in concern at the destroyed board.
"Now landing under autopilot control," the feminine voice told us, calming Shingo slightly.
"Okay, everyone, let's take our seats," Menori turned back to us, starting to lead the way back towards the back part of the shuttle.
Our tranquility didn't last long though, a loud alarm and a small red light flickering on the screen crashing our hopes down once again. We all stared expectantly at the computer, wondering just what was going wrong now.
"State of emergency entered. Due to the damage to the ship, activation of autopilot is impossible," M-17 informed us, making me to grit my teeth. Was there anything possible for this computer!
"What did you say?" Luna asked in bewilderment, her dark blue eyes widening in horror.
"The gravity storm must have affected the computer," Shingo said, narrowing his eyes in concern.
"Computer system cannot return to normal operation. Reserve systems cannot be activated. Performing forced shut-down," the feminine voice kept on saying without a single stop.
"Wait! What do we do when we enter the atmosphere!" Menori let out in desperation, feeling responsible for whatever might happen to us since she was the group's leader.
"Computer system…down…" were the computer's last words before finally going death, all the screens turning off.
"What's going to happen?" Howard asked in fright, glancing outside the window towards the planet which was coming nearer and nearer each second.
I lifted my bright blue eyes to look at everyone, my heart stinging painfully once I did. Pairs of blue, green, and brown eyes were overflowed with emotions…fear, shock, and confusion. They were all my classmates, my friends, the only trace left of civilization I was sure we had left. There had to be a way of saving them, this just couldn't be the end of our story…of an adventure that had not yet even started…Or could it?