Astro and Tobio

Chapter 3: School Day

Astro set himself, along with Tobio, down outside the front door of Dr O'Shay's house. He was clutching the cardboard box containing Tobio's devices. As they quietly entered the house, Tobio bent his knees and ducked down so he was mostly hidden behind Astro. During the flight back home, the two had decided on a surprise reveal to O'Shay and Zoran.

Astro carefully placed the cardboard box by the door and the clung made by the box along with the clattering of the devices inside caused Dr O'Shay and Zoran to get up from the sofa and turn to see the source of the noise. Astro looked passed them and noticed they were watching news coverage of the factory fire he and Tobio had come from. "Astro!" Zoran cried in delight, "Thank goodness you are alright."

"Yes, we thought something had happened to you when you didn't get back and then we saw the news of the factory blaze and thought you might have been caught in the explosion," said Dr O'Shay, a relieved expression on his face.

"I'm fine," Astro smiled. "As far as I am aware no one was hurt by the blast. Now I would like to introduce you to my new friend."

"I was wondering who that was," said Zoran, leaning to the side to try and get a better view of the boy crouching behind Astro. "Why is he so afraid?"

"Oh, he is not afraid. We just wanted to make this a surprise," said Astro as he stepped aside and Tobio straightened up with a smile.

"Hello Dr O'Shay. Long time no see," grinned Tobio.

"Tobio!" yelled Dr O'Shay and Zoran in disbelief, the former losing his balance and fell onto the sofa.

"But how? I thought he was dead," Zoran exclaimed.

"Yes, I seem to get that a lot recently," giggled Tobio. He and Astro proceeded to recount the events they had been through earlier that day.

"Sebastian tried to blow you both up even though it meant ending his own life?" Dr O'Shay gasped. He and Zoran had listened to the tale with astonishment.

"He didn't seem to think twice about it," said Tobio. "It destroyed all the droids."

"So, you've been working for him since the accident?" asked Dr O'Shay.

Tobio nodded. "Mostly designing and programming droids and viruses. Oh, and he also made me spy on Astro to collect information on his battle tactics." He looked at Zoran. "Although when you were around that was more difficult," he smiled.

Zoran blinked, confused. "Why would me being there have any effect on retrieving that data?" she asked curiously.

"Well, having a beautiful face like yours around was quite the distraction," Tobio grinned with a wink. The comment made Zoran blush and Astro frown.

"Hey, that is my sister you are talking to," said Astro in an annoyed tone. The irony of his statement was not lost on him.

"Astro sure is lucky to have such a cute sister," said Tobio, pretending not to hear Astro.

Zoran giggled. "Tell him that."

Tobio turned to Astro. "Astro. You sure are lucky to have such a…"

"I heard," interrupted Astro, rolling his eyes. He then turned to Dr O'Shay. "Dr O'Shay, since the place Tobio has been living for the last 18 months has gone up in flames I was wondering if it would be possible for him to move in here. Afterall, he is my… brother." Astro glanced at Tobio as he said the last part hesitantly.

Tobio looked at Astro in surprise and then smiled. "Thanks… bro."

"Of course he can stay here," smiled Dr O'Shay. "I would never turn away a family member of Astro's." Then added in his head, "Well, except one."

"Great," smiled Astro.

"Thank you Dr O'Shay," said Tobio bowing. "I am eternally grateful."

"Now then," Astro smirked competitively, "How about that chess game we agreed to?"

Later that evening, Dr O'Shay entered the living room to see how the chess game had gone. He immediately spotted the chess board on the table with only two pieces on it, the Kings. He wondered how long it had taken for the game to end without a winner. He noticed Zoran asleep on one of the sofas. It appeared as if she had fallen asleep watching Astro and Tobio, the top of their heads were visible over the back of the sofa currently facing away from Dr O'Shay. He walked around the sofa to get a proper view of the boys. Between the two was a game of noughts and crosses with the pieces showing a draw. Goodness knows how many times that had happened. But it was the sight of the boys that touched his heart. They had fallen asleep whilst gently leaning on each other, a smile on both their faces.

The following week Tobio joined Astro and Zoran at their school. Astro and Tobio decided to have some fun when Tobio first met Astro's friends. He wore an outfit identical to Astro's school attire, along with red boots to match Astro's feet. Tobio walked into the school grounds while a sniggering Astro and Zoran peered around the entrance.

As Tobio approached Astro's friends, Reno, Kenichi, Alejo and Abercrombie, they initially addressed him as Astro, not noticing any difference but when he stopped to greet them, they picked up that something was off. Astro and Zoran were spluttering with laughter while Tobio stood in front of the small group trying to keep a straight face.

"Is it just me or is there something odd about you today, Astro?" Alejo frowned.

"Yeah? Have you changed your hair colour?" added Reno, looking Tobio up and down.

Tobio smirked, "I'm not sure. You will need to speak to Astro about that." Astro and Zoran chose that moment to come jogging up. Zoran laughed as the group looked back and forth in astonishment from Astro and Tobio. The two stood side by side and tried to make even their facial expressions match. With them wearing the same outfit they really did look like twins, with their hair being the only immediately obvious difference, Astro's being perfectly neat.

"Alright everyone, I would like to introduce you to Tobio," smiled Astro.

"Tobio? I thought he died," said Abercrombie.

"Well until a few days ago, so did I," Astro replied.

"But I didn't and now I'm back," grinned Tobio. He scratched the back of his head. "And I'm currently a little short on people to hang out with."

"Well, if you're anything like Astro, then I'm sure we will have no problem letting you join our group," said Kenichi, looking at Tobio and then Astro. He wondered how much time and effort had gone into making Astro look almost exactly the same as Tobio.

"Oh, we are quite alike," smiled Astro.

"Yeah, quite alike. Which is why I intend to take Astro's place at top of the school," smirked Tobio. He then anime-style sweat dropped. "Except in games class of course."

Astro turned to him with a smirk of his own. "I don't intend on letting you take the top spot in any class but especially not games." He then effortlessly did a handstand to demonstrate.

Tobio blinked. "I may be unable to keep up with your physical strength and power, but I can do that no sweat." He turned his back on Astro and proceeded to do his own handstand. The two boys were now facing each other, along with being upside down.

"Well how about this?" laughed Astro, lifting his left hand off the ground. He could have lifted his right hand, but he decided to give Tobio the "easy" act to follow.

"No problem," replied Tobio. Unlike Astro, he first shifted his weight over his right hand, before, more slowly, lifting his left hand off the ground. Despite his statement, Tobio's face started to turn red and his arm was quivering under him.

"Don't over do it," Zoran sighed. "You'll hurt yourself."

Tobio lowered his feet to the ground and stood up straight. "Well, maybe not "no problem", but I still did it."

Astro laughed, still upside down. "You were right about one thing. You can't keep up with my strength. Check this out," he said and balanced himself on just his index finger.

Tobio rolled his eyes. "Wow, that would be impressive if you were human," he joked.

Astro put his feet back on the ground. "Well, what you did would be pathetic if you were a robot," he shot back. Everyone laughed, including Tobio.

"Point taken," he chuckled. He turned to Zoran and extended his hand. "Since we still have time before school starts, why don't you show me around?"

"Sure," smiled Zoran, taking his hand, resulting in them both blushing. "I'll give you the grand tour."

As the two walked off, the other four looked at Astro. "Are you feeling alright Astro?" asked Kenichi. Astro was fuming at the sight of Tobio holding Zoran's hand. You would think steam was about to start coming out of his ears.

Astro blinked, coming back to reality. "Oh yeah, sorry guys. I just got a little distracted," he said, scratching the back of his head.

Class was amusing. Astro and Tobio sat at desks next to each other. This caused confusion because if you weren't looking directly at either of them when one said something, you couldn't tell which of the two had spoken. It kept the class entertained but caused the teacher notable irritation. However, everyone soon got used to it and having someone who could keep up with Astro's brilliant mind was a nice change.

At lunch the group of seven sat at a table together. Astro, Tobio and Zoran on one side, Reno, Kenichi, Alejo and Abercrombie on the other. The four friends watched Tobio eat, baffled by the look of pure bliss on his face as he munched on his food. Astro and Zoran, who had witnessed this before, just giggled. When Tobio realised they were staring, he looked at them sheepishly. "I guess I look rather weird, huh?"

"The school foods not that bad," said Reno. "But there is no way it is as delicious as you seem to think it is."

"It is if you've been eating his diet," Zoran laughed.

Tobio nodded. "You see, for the past eighteen months I've only been able to eat porridge and raw fruit and vegetables. Healthy but very boring. It's a long story."

"Tobio? Is that you?" They all look to see a man holding a mop staring at Tobio in amazement. He had black hair and a beard.

"Oh hey. I remember you. Were you the janitor at my old school?" asked Tobio.

The man nodded. "Yes. I remember hearing you were in a terrible accident. I'm glad to see you're alright," he remarked.

"Sorry, but I don't recall seeing you here before," Astro commented curiously.

"I was only hired last week," the janitor explained. "I won't be here long anyway, just until I get the funding for my scientific research," he continued, as he went back to mopping the floor. "Then I will be able to say to people 'Welcome to my lab'."

Astro smiled for a moment, then his smile vanished and Tobio stopped with food halfway to his mouth. "Sorry, what did you just say?" the two called in unison.

"Oh nothing, nothing," replied the man as he moved away from their table.

"Is something wrong? You both look like you've seen a ghost," said Zoran, the concern evident in her voice.

Astro and Tobio looked at each other. "It can't be," said Astro, his voice a little shaky.

"It's a coincidence," Tobio laughed nervously.

"Are you two okay?" Zoran frowned. The other four looked at Astro and Tobio confused.

"It's nothing. We're fine," laughed Astro.

"We're just being paranoid," added Tobio. But they were both trying to convince themselves more than the others.

In the evening, Professor Sebastian sat in his luxurious apartment typing on his laptop, documenting everything he had learnt that day, while eating Gorgonzola cheese and drinking the world's finest fruit juice (he never consumed anything which might affect his mental abilities). No one knew he owned this place, not even his closest allies. He never stayed in one place for long and he always used a different identity. Whenever he arrived or left, he would look very different to how he normally looked. He would have black hair and a beard.

'Enjoy yourselves while you can you two, seeing as how you won't be having any fun when Japan is under my rule,' he thought as he ate. 'Because by then I will have seen to it that you are both sent permanently to a very unpleasant place.'

To Be Continued…