Chapter 17: 2 Dumb Kids
The Artemis Botanical Gardens was one of Shuggazoom City's many splendors, with its lush greenery and large trees that loomed overhead.
People walked in and out, passing by a large fountain in the center of it all.
Jinmay's eyes were wide as she looked around in wonder.
Chiro smiled, his gaze warm as he watched her, chuckling a bit at the look on her face.
It reminded him a lot of when he first went to this place as a kid.
"Whoooaaa! Lookit, lookit!"
"Ichi, slow down!"
Heh… Good times.
Today, the gardens were sparse as they ventured deeper within, walking under a large gazebo blooming with flowers in the shape of tiny stars, their sweet scent wafting around them.
"What do you think?" He asked.
"It's so pretty!" Jinmay squealed a little, bouncing on her heels. "I didn't even know we had something like this."
"It's one of our many wonders. You know, a lot of people on Earth think Shuggazoom is all tech and no greenery besides the jungle."
Jinmay blushed a little.
"Guilty." She smiled sheepishly.
"Nah. My sis thought the same thing until my folks brought her here."
She tilted her head.
"And you?"
He pointed to himself with a grin.
"I got the opposite problem. I've only heard about Earth. I was born here."
"Ohh…" She giggled. "Well, that explains a bit."
"What?"
"Your accent. It's really cute."
He flushed bright red, turning away a little, trying to hide it.
What does she mean? I talk like sis does…
"It's… different. It's not Hokkaido and it's not here either… It's you." She smiled.
"Eheh?"
He chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck.
"It's not a bother?"
"Nooo. Chiro, I'm just happy I finally get to hear your voice." She pouted a little, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "I was worried I'd never get to hear it. You're so busy."
"Trust me, I thought I was too." He laughed. "I mean, it's great, don't get me wrong. The monkeys are amazing… You'll really like 'em." He ran a hand through his hair.
He wasn't sure about how the team would feel about meeting her though.
He had his talk with Antauri but he wasn't sure if the others had noticed as much as he had…
Or how they'd feel if he even got into a proper relationship.
That part made his stomach twist in knots at the guilt.
Right around now he was supposed to be at his tactics lesson and his combat training.
Jinmay reached over, taking his free hand in hers.
"What's the matter?"
"I'll… tell you a different day." He smiled a little. "Enough about me, tell me about you. What's the mysterious Jinmay up to these days?"
"Mysterious? Now you're turning up the charm." She laughed.
"I can be charming!"
"When you wanna be."
Chiro chuckled, pulling her a little closer.
"C'mon, don't leave me hanging. How's that uh… sport of yours?"
"Did you really forget its name?"
"You never talk about it when we text!" Chiro laughed. "You can't get mad at me for that!"
"Well…" She smirked. "Lacrosse is going great. We're playing against another school in a few weeks… Maybe you could come cheer me on?"
"Of course! I'd love to!"
Jinmay giggled.
"Then it's a date."
He blushed.
"Well, watching you play isn't a date…" He mumbled.
Jinmay's smile grew as she leaned in, blushing a little.
"Oh?"
"Going out to eat after would be." He smiled sheepishly.
Jinmay's face burned bright red, matching the roses they were walking through currently.
She let out a small squeak.
"A-After?"
"Yeah… Unless you're busy after?"
She shook her head rapidly.
"N-No! No! The girls and I usually just go somewhere to eat or go back to my place. They wouldn't mind! Gah, Luna and Nebula haven't stopped harassing me about you."
"Oh? They ask about me?"
"A little." She smirked. "A girl has to have her secrets you know."
"Am I a good one?"
"Maybe." She winked.
Chiro chuckled.
"Glad to know…"
"What? Don't you tell your friends about me?"
He grimaced.
"I'm usually too busy… I'm lucky if I can hang out with Mila or what we're doing now. I haven't seen my one friend from school in almost a month."
I tell Cas about her and I'm never gonna hear the end of it and then he'll blab it to the entire city.
"You should."
"I'll try. That guy's a workaholic too."
And the biggest pain in the galaxy next to my sister.
Jinmay sighed dramatically, leaning on him a little.
"I have work to do here too, I see."
"Oh?"
'Ren's one too."
"So is Mila…"
Jinmay's face fell.
"You mean to tell me we left two workaholics alone?!"
"Uh… yeah?"
"... Oh dear."
"Yeeeaaah."
She sighed dramatically.
"They'll just have to endure."
Chiro nodded, blushing as she huddled closer to him.
They came to a stop at a bridge that overlooked a pond.
Chiro smiled, leading her over to the edge, pointing down.
Jinmay looked, letting out a small gasp.
Dozens if not hundreds of large, colorful koi fish were swimming about, their scales glinting in the light.
"Beautiful…" She smiled. "Reminds me of ours."
… Hah?
"You have koi?"
"Mm-hm. They were my aunt's but we inherited them." She smiled. "I love them though. They're all so cute. They have their own personalities too, more like wet dogs than anything else."
Chiro nodded.
"I getcha," he chuckled. "I have ranchu goldfish at my sister's place."
"Ohhh those are cute!" Jinmay squealed a little. "They're so pudgy!"
You're cute. He thought but kept it to himself.
"So, you mentioned you lived in an Inn when we were texting… Which one specifically?"
Jinmay gave him a confused look as she lifted her head up.
"Sakura Ryokan?"
"Oh…" Chiro nodded before he stopped short turning to her.
"I swear man, one d,ay we're gonna see the inside of that place." His friend, Castor, had remarked one summer day as they walked home from school. They had taken a detour to stop at an ice cream shop in this particular sector before moving on.
Chiro looked up at the massive gold and red building, letting out a low whistle.
"THAT ONE!? T-The big one?"
"Yeah, why?"
Chiro leaned back against the bench.
"No reason." He squeaked.
JUST THAT I'M ON A DATE WITH AN HEIRESS.
Oh gosh, she is way out of my league…
"You're not gonna get weird are you?"
Chiro looked up, his eyes widening at the worried look she was giving him.
He narrowed his eyes, shaking his head.
"Never." He huddled closer to her, reaching for her hand, hesitating a bit…
Before squeezing it gently.
Jinmay let out a small noise, her face turning red.
"Jinmay, if you'll have me… I'd like to see where this goes."
"Pretty bold to say during our first date…" She smiled, gazing at him with warmth in her eyes.
She leaned in, hesitating a bit, before nuzzling his cheek.
"I like it."
A huge grin bloomed on his face as he turned bright red, a bit of static sparking around him.
"W-Wow."
Jinmay giggled, her hair floating up a bit with the static.
"And what is this?"
"A-Ahaha… I…" He cleared his throat. "I like you too…"
Jinmay huddled up to him, resting her head on his shoulder.
"This okay?"
He smiled, resting his head against hers as they watched the koi swim down below.
"More than okay…"
Is this a dream?
C-Can I have this?
Am I allowed to?
He closed his eyes.
As long as he was there with her, that was all that mattered to him in that moment.
Nothing else existed.
He brought an arm around her, nuzzling the top of her head.
All that matters is right now.
"So… when do you wanna eat?"
His stomach growled as he let out a sheepish chuckle.
"Uh, would right now be okay?"
"Mm-hm!"
Chiro and Jinmay laughed, as they hurried off to find a spot to eat.
Man this is great…
What could go wrong?
oooooo
Antauri sighed as he walked through the base, looking around.
It was quiet.
Far too quiet.
He had to admit, in the time since they were woken up, the Hyper Force had grown used to Chiro's presence. His infectious laughter or how the room lit up when he walked in.
There was one problem…
He was late.
I can only assume, either something came up at the store or Mila isn't paying attention to the time.
Though…
A twinge of guilt bubbled up at the thought of immediately placing blame on the eldest Hanamura.
Mila hadn't once tried to outright stop Chiro's lessons…
Not since that first day.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
And maybe two weeks ago with the robot.
He hadn't found him in the upper level, so it was time to check in with the others - though, he had a feeling he wasn't going to like the answer.
As he descended in his elevator, his concern only rose.
The first thing he noticed was Sparx sitting in his chair, polishing his magnets, his entire body tense, his fur standing on hand.
Nova was sitting beside him, rubbing his arm, trying to comfort him.
"I swear, when I get my hands on that punk…"
"You're gonna make sure he never leaves your sight again? You sounded like Antauri and Gibson there." Nova murmured.
Antauri cleared his throat.
"Antauri can hear you."
They both yelped, looking up at him in shock.
Nova furrowed her brow.
"You haven't seen Chiro either?"
"No. I came down here to ask the same thing. He missed his tactics lesson." Antauri explained, crossing his arms.
Sparx scoffed.
"Kid blew off pilot training too. Which I didn't think he was capable of, given how excited he was before." He rolled his eyes.
"Oh, are we discussing our favorite AWOL teenager?" Gibson called as he came into the room from his lab, his fur bristling. "Because that boy missed his lessons with me as well!" He snarled.
"What did he miss this time?"
"EVERYTHING!" He seethed. "I had a full lesson plan!"
Nova sighed.
"And with how it's going, no combat training either…"
Otto looked up from tinkering with the control panel, his tail drooping.
"Is he okay? Think something happened again?"
"No!" Sparx shook his head. "It couldn't! It wouldn't! We'd know! … Right?" His voice shook a little. "We'd… We'd absolutely know…"
Not again.
"He was at Mila's, right? Why don't you call him? If his communicator doesn't pick up, use his phone." Sparx looked at Antauri. "You're the second in command."
Antauri growled a little.
"That sounds like avoidance."
Gibson smirked, elbowing Antauri a little, momentarily putting aside his anger.
"Why, Antauri, it sounds like you don't want to do it." He said, squeezing his shoulder. "Why ever could that be?"
"Stop it." Antauri muttered.
"Yeah, it's almost like Antauri values his life. Not like Mila's gonna murder us all if we lost her brother." Sparx grumbled. "Besides, Antauri, you're "Chief Dad" outta the lot of us..."
Antauri rolled his eyes, before closing them.
"Very mature." He sighed, extending his antennae, activating his comm lines.
Why is he only MY kid when things like this happen…?
"Monkey Team to Chiro, please respond."
Static crackled before the sounds of rustling followed.
"What's that?" A girl's voice asked in the background.
"Huh?" Chiro's voice picked up as well before there was a distinct click.
Antauri's eyes snapped open with alarm before he growled, his teeth baring.
"What? What's wrong?" Nova asked in alarm.
Antauri NEVER made that face.
"You haven't looked that mad in years!"
"He hung up on me." Antauri narrowed his eyes. "He… actually… HUNG UP ON ME."
Gibson squeezed his shoulder.
"Breathe, recenter yourself-Call his cellphone. He can't ignore that."
Antauri nodded, taking a few deep breaths to steady himself.
Chiro was a teenager. He supposed these types of things were bound to happen… Although, he suspected the reasons why…
"You can tell me anything. I hope you know that."
"You're not gonna get mad at me?"
"You could never do anything to do that."
Steady… You might find yourself breaking your word…
However, I have a bad feeling about this…
He thought back to that conversation and how Chiro had been acting that day in particular.
"Okay, awesome… SO um… That girl from last week? The one who caught me?"
"Yes?"
"She's been… calling me and texting me."
… He wouldn't.
He couldn't…
He didn't.
Antauri exhaled sharply before entering Chiro's phone number into his comm database.
It rang once…
Twice…
"Hello?" Chiro's confused voice came through. "Who's calling please?"
"You are in big trouble."
Chiro cringed.
"Uh… Uh… Wh-what do you mean?"
"You told us you were with your sister. Now, I heard a voice and that certainly was NOT Mila. Do you want to explain yourself now or in person later?" Antauri crossed his arms.
The others heaved a sigh of relief, realizing he had gotten a hold of him before irritation returned at what the boy had just done.
"Uh…" Chiro gulped. "You see, I have a perfectly logical explanation… I… I…"
Antauri narrowed his eyes, his fur bristling.
"Ichiro Hanamura."
Chiro shuddered. Now he knew he was in real trouble. No one on the Hyper Force used his full name.
"... I'm on a date." Chiro mumbled. "Antauri, please, it's that girl."
He did.
Antauri narrowed his eyes.
"I would love to meet her once you're ungrounded. I'll be calling your sister to alert her as well."
"W-What?!" Chiro yelped.
No, no, this couldn't be happening.
Mila was supposed to cover for him!
This was not part of the plan at all.
"I'm sorry, was I not clear enough? I am calling your sister because as of right now, you are in big trouble. Report back to base immediately."
Chiro groaned.
"Yes, Sir… Antauri, I'm sorry-"
"I mean it. Where are you right now?"
"The Botanical Gardens…"
"You have one hour to get home. If you're not home then, I'm going to come get you. Got it?"
"Yes, Sir…"
Chiro sighed.
Man… Why me!?
"Glad to see we agree. I look forward to hearing how it went."
"Chiro? What's wrong?" The girl's voice echoed in the background.
"Uh, Jinmay… We need to talk. Antauri, I'll see you soon."
"Very well…" He sighed. "... You can walk her home but I expect you back when I asked. Understand?"
"H-Huh?"
"I don't want your friend wandering the city alone. That's all."
"Y-Yes, sir! See you at home!"
Click!
Sparx raised an eyebrow.
"That was merciful."
Antauri exhaled slowly.
"Trust me… It won't be." He entered Mila's number. "Time for part two."
I need backup.
