[ Chapter 6 ]
"Thanks Kris," I say before he takes the phone away from his ear.
"Mm, it's no problem. Je nai, Mia-chan." He says, now handing the phone over to Dakota.
"Moshi-moshi, Kota-desu here." He says, his mouth full of food.
I giggle. I could picture him now, crumbs surrounding his mouth. "What are you eating?"
"Blood sausages with cream of nute and grape juice." He continues to eat.
I listen to the sounds of him chewing. "Grape juice – ew, Normie drinks."
"Mm, I agree. Occasan said we'd have to start being more human on weekdays, but since it's a Wednesday she made an exaction and made some real food. It's SO good." He says, stuffing more food in his mouth. I imagine eating like the Werewolf he is, all sloppy and wild.
I can't help but smile as I recall memories of when I still wasn't use to the way he ate. It use to disgust and yet fascinate me how he ate. "Of course it is, your mom's a great cook since she's a Werewolf and whatnot. It must have been so long since you had real food."
I picture him nodding. "It has, sadly, but mom moved us to the Normie part of the world – and to Japan at that. I have to work hard not to look weird."
"So you do eat the lunch they have?" I ask, rolling over on my stomach so I can better read the Normie fashion magazine Cara gave me to look at.
"I try, but I don't always. Most days I just eat beard and drink milk."
"Ah, good boy." I smile softly, just thinking about him trying his best not to eat like he does and trying to eat like a Normie while eating Normie food.
"Why? Am I a dog?" he pretends to be mad.
I blink innocently and give a nod. "Hai, you actually are a dog."
"Wolf – not dog, get it right, goat-girl." He goes back to eating.
I stay silent, listening as he eats and flipping through thin pages. He continues to eat, his hungry still not satisfied even if he's full. It really has been a long time since he's truly eaten…
"Hey Kota-kun?" I say a whisper, acting as if I'm not paying attention as I fake-read an article. I try to ignore my quick-beating heart.
"Yeah?" he stops eating.
"…Eat well." I whisper, my heart beating faster.
He chuckles softly. "Are you worried about me again? Don't worry. I won't turn gay and I'll eat plenty of food during the weekends."
I gasp, choking on words as I sit up. My eyebrows lift, my face heats. "H-Hey, you! I never said that I was worried about you being gay – I wouldn't care, I don't have anything against gay people, but…I mean…"
"Ah, so I can kiss my husband?" he says, mocking me.
"N-n-no – and he's not your husband, don't call him that!"
"Eh? But we're married, we made it final." He says matter-of-factly.
"What?" I shout, now standing up.
"Mm, did I not tell you or is it you just haven't read my blog?"
"Y-y-you didn't p-post anything about this!" my eyes widen.
"Eh? I didn't?" he teases.
"Tell me what you were talking about and stop acting so casually about this whole thing!" I point to the wall, as if he's standing there.
"Okay, okay, I will, I will. We made it official today by-"
"No, no, no, no, I don't want to hear it! I change my mind!" I shake my head, picturing Kota kissing the Minami I've illustrated in my head.
"Ah, you don't? But Kawaii Mia-chan – I was going to tell you something so interesting!" he says, still teasing me.
"No, no, no! I refuse to hear it!"
"Ahhh, but all we did was hug and make up." He tells me anyway.
"Make up? You two were fighting?" my brow lifts.
"Sort of, I guess. Minami was avoiding me until lunch. Then he suddenly appeared before me and Miyako-chan. He was still blushing, but he didn't seem angry, more like embarrassed." I listen as he takes a quick sip of grape juice.
"Maybe he was, I'm pretty sure he thought of it as joke. I highly doubt he kisses other guys on a normal basis. He probably just wanted to impress Saki and uphold his popular title or something. It must really hard to be popular something…" I fall backwards to my bed. I feel my eyes narrow at the thought of Kota kissing anyone else. I bite my lip, chest and shoulders feeling heavy. Tiredness washes over me.
"I guess? It's kind of weird here, all the guys are shyer if anything, but that's OK. They make up for it by being pretty cool. Did you know that Mina-kun draws manga in his spare time?"
"Mina…kun?" I repeat, slightly giggling.
"Mm, it seems to be his nickname. Jun told me it today when he was teasing Minami earlier." He chuckles softly. I can tell he's replaying the scene in his head.
"I'm so bored here with no one to have fun with…" I sigh.
"Sorry we can't hang out like we use to." Dakota apologizes sincerely.
I shake my head, causing my hair to tickle my cheeks. "It's OK. I know you only moved because you had to."
"You know, we could still hang out." He points out.
"Video-chatting isn't as fun." I state.
He stays silent, temporarily thinking. "What if you just come here by teleporting through the dimensions? It doesn't take long."
"Teleport?" I ask. "You mean by…?"
He makes a humming sound. "Well, you could do it through ripping spaces in the threads of time, or just by meditating. Remember how we learned it in Monster Elementary? You remember, right? It's not too hard."
"Oh, I remember!" I sit up, legs kicking from excitement. "Oh my ghoul, I could so do that!"
"Yep, so hurry and do it. I've got to go, okay? I've still got homework to do."
"Kay – I'll see if my mom will let me teleport over." I say gleefully.
"Alright, call if they say anything."
"Will do. Talk to you soon." I promise.
"Sure, later." He clicks off the phone.
I press End and sit my iCoffin near my homework binder on my desk. In a sudden urge to hurry and get an answer so I can call Dakota again, I run from my room and stomp down the step. I jog for the kitchen like my life depended on it. Mom turns around at the sudden noise.
"What is it, Mia?" she asks worriedly.
I place a hand to my chest, breathing heavily. "Te…Tele."
"Tele…Television? Um…Telegraph?" she says, continuing to cut the fresh eel lying on the cutting board. I notice the wild mushrooms soaking in water in the sink.
"Teleport!" I say enthusiastically. "I want to Teleport to Japan."
She stops cutting the eel for a moment to clean her hands with an old rag near the sink. She looks at me, sighing. "Teleport…Mia, I don't know. I'm not sure about this…"
"But mo-o-om!" I complain, eyes pleading. "I have to – I'll die if I don't!"
"No you won't, Mia. Don't over-exaggerate the situation…And what's in Japan? Why do you feel the need to go way out there so suddenly?" she asks, as if she doesn't already know.
"Oh let her go, Rhae. It's just simple teleporting, and to Japan at that. I'm sure she'll be safe." Grandma says, defending me.
I rush over to her near the doorway of the dining room and squeeze a hug out of her. "She's right, mom! It's just teleporting."
"…Well, only if you're father approves." Mom says, still not sure.
"I don't see why not, as long as one of us goes along with her." dad says, entering the room with Cara on his shoulders.
"Really, dad? It's OK?" I go over to him, look up at him.
He nods, petting my head. "Yeah, it's OK. But you better pack light if we're teleporting.
"But Jin, don't you have some sort of business meeting at the gaming company?" mom says.
He looked up at her, his face in surprise. "Oh, you're right! But that's alright, we were only going to discuss the new gaming software – we decided to use 3D animation with a more complex detailing. Don't worry, if I take my laptop then Kyle can use Skype on his iPad and I won't miss a thing."
"You sure?" she looks away, her eyes hinting at me.
I look from her to dad, biting my lip. He chuckles, looking at my begging expression. "I'm sure, this trip seems important to her. Besides, it's a Friday, she might as well get out during the weekend – it's rare that she does."
"Well, I suppose so, but still – she has school. Teleporting takes at least a day, which means you'll get there on Saturday. And then she'll have to finish all her studies on Sunday, which doesn't leave a lot of time to hang out with Dakota, and then you'll have to teleport back on Monday, which will take all day. I don't want her missing school, Jin. The term just started!"
"It'll be alright, shouldn't it?" he grins. "It's just a day, and I'm sure she has friend she can contact to handle her load of work. It shouldn't be hard to just ask them to hold onto it for her, right?"
"I guess…" mom rolls her eyes, going back to cutting the eel for dinner. "But, it's her first time teleporting since kindergarten...be safe."
"Really, mom? I can go?" I beam, flashing a wide smile.
"Yes, yes, you can go."
I run over to her and hug myself to her waist. I hear her giggle. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! I promise to try extra hard on Tuesday."
"Fine, fine, but I'll be picking and choosing all your outfits for this trip. I want to final say and you can't change what I choose."
"That's fine with me." I pull away, still looking up at her.
She turns around and takes my cheeks between her hands, placing a soft kiss on my forehead. "Now go and pack all the things you need."
"Okay." I nod.
"No fair, I want to go to…you shouldn't be the only one who gets to see part of the Normie world." Cara says, puffing up her cheeks as she turns red.
"Well, mom, dad, is it possible for Cara to go too?" I look from mom to dad.
"Well, Rhae, think I should bring along another traveler?" dad asks.
"You'd have to worry about both of them…as if worrying about one of them was enough. And then there's expenses…you'll need extra money for sightseeing and such. Plus that and the ripples of time never stay open long enough. I don't want one of my girls getting lost." Mom answers, her gentle eyes apologetic.
"I thought we could just go by meditation." I blink.
"That's a great idea!" dad says, smiling at my clever thinking.
Mom sighs, turning around again. She leans against the counter. "Just what am I going to do with the pair of you? Fine, take them both."
Dad helps Cara down from his shoulders. She lunges for me, pulling me into a hug as she smiles that bright and prettiest smile I seen on her young face. "Yay, I get to actually see the Normie world! How cool is that? I can't wait to tell all my friends!"
"Yeah, me too." I giggle along with her as we spin in circles. "Come on, let's go pack."
"Okay!" she agrees and follows me as I make my way out of the kitchen.
"Those two…they're my ultimate weakness, why we have to have such cute daughters?" I hear mom say.
[ *{Special Thanks}* to the *{AWESOME and Smarticle}* Meemerdd who suggested Teleporting to me! It was a really cool idea! 3 ]