Doc
October 10, 2007. 6:54 a.m. My beautiful safe house. What a wonderful morning. The bath water was exceptionally warm and parasite free. Jimmy was kind enough to cook me some french toast and scrambled eggs. I got a hearty twelve hours of sleep. There’s only one issue. Sejong did not get the information I needed and there’s no sign of William anywhere. I am looking through the safe house for him at the moment. Jimmy’s still asleep. Oliver is scribbling more inane poetry in the corner. Faust is nowhere to be seen. I see Junko’s reflection in the bathroom mirror. She appears to be checking her tongue for some reason. I do not understand ghosts… why bother checking your reflection? She’s already so stunning… If she wasn’t dead, I would envy her. I eventually find Sejong passed out on a beanbag in the middle of the kitchen. I kneel down and gently poke his forehead. “Sejong? Sejong? Wakey wakey.”
“Nnnggh… No mom… Painting is lucrative… zzz…” Sejong stirs in his sleep.
I see his hair style, skin color, and nose shape vary drastically with each second he sleeps.
“Sejong, please awaken.” I pick up a nearby spoon and throw it into the sink from across the room.
clinkclinkclink
“Ngh?” Sejong flinches and opens his eyes. Well, at least I think they’re open? It’s always so hard to tell with orientals. “Oh, hey, Doc. What’s up?”
“Why are you asleep in the kitchen?”
“I dunno… it seemed like a good idea last night.” Sejong rubs his eye. “Why did you wake me up?”
“I just wanted to know how the mission went. Did you get what I asked you to?”
Sejong pauses and removes his fist from his eye. “About that… One of my clones got the information, but they died…”
“Oh… I’m so sorry. What about William? Did he perish as well?”
“I do not know.” Sejong shakes his head. “I have not heard from him.”
“And you didn’t bother to check on him?”
“Uh… I was going to do that today.”
“Good. You’re going to Aegis with me and getting Will back.”
Vivian
October 10, 2007. 9:21 a.m. Dorm room. I wake up with a really dry mouth for some reason… but that’s nothing that some water can’t fix. Let’s see what I gotta do today. Junko claims Suzy killed her, but maybe she’s lying. I’m going to have to do more ghost research before I make any further moves.
I sit on top of Yuko’s bed and flick her forehead. “Hey. Yukes. Yuko. Yuki-onna.”
She doesn’t wake up.
“Yuyu Hakusho. Yuuuuuuuuukoooooo.” I keep flicking her forehead.
“Nnggh… zzz…” Yuko makes some weird bear noise.
I must persist. “Y-U-K-O. What’s that spell? Wake up! Something something something makeup!” I kabedon Yuko to her own bed and slam my hands against the mattress.
“The hell?!” Yuko’s eyes shoot awake as she yells.
Her voice sends me shooting up against the ceiling. I hit the back of my head and my ass against the drywall before I come tumbling back down to Yuko. I land face-first onto her stomach. Both of us are suffering. This was a bad idea.
“Jesus Christ, Viv! What the hell were you thinking?!”
“I wasn’t…” I raise my finger without lifting my head. “That’s 100% my fault… I-I’ll give you that… Geez…”
“What the hell do you want?” Yuko groans.
“Okay… so… I think there’s a chance that Suzy could be up to some shenanigans, but I need to do some ghost research. Wanna-”
“Okay, Viv. Stop.” Yuko grabs my hair and pulls my head up.
“Eh?”
“I’m going to be honest with you.” She looks at me through weary eyes and stinky hair. “I don’t care. I don’t care about any supervillain league. I don’t even care about what happened to Sejong. This place is getting too goddamn weird for me. I’m just going to focus on not dying, having fun, and graduating. Capiche?”
“Oh…” I feel my heart sink into my stomach. “Yeah… I got you…”
“Anything else you want to throw at me while I’m up?” Yuko focuses her glare.
“Um… Do you want to see the new Resident Evil movie tonight? My treat.”
Yuko’s expression shifts from dry anger to… I’m not sure. Her eyes widen, her head bucks backward a little, and her grip loosens just a tad.
“Damnit...” Yuko grits her teeth and closes her eyes. It looks like she’s trying; but failing, to scowl at me. “Yeah… I’m down.” She sighs and somehow manages a smile. “What time?”
“6:15 sound good?” I tilt my head and smile. “I’ll meet you there.”
“Yeah… that sounds good.” she lets go of my hair. “Now leave me alone. I need to sleep off this hangover.”
“You got it.” I get off the bed and head for the door. “Need some avocado toast?”
Yuko rolls over in her bed and hesitates. “Yes, please.”
“Coming right up.” I quietly close the door, shower, and begin making myself and Yuko some breakfast when A.D. comes in through the dorm entrance.
He’s all sweaty and has his lips locked to his water bottle chugging down water like his life depends on it. For all I know, it probably does. He closes the door behind him and stretches his arms to the sky, revealing that little forbidden, delicious patch of tummy just above the boxer line.
“How was the run?” I ask.
A.D. pauses. He looks like I just asked him for his SSN. “Best run I’ve had in awhile.”
“That’s good to hear. Why do you think that is?”
“I got more than two hours of sleep.” A.D. passes behind me and starts chugging OJ from the carton.
“Heh. Yeah, that’ll do it.”
“Hey… sorry to ask, but did I miss anything big in any classes?”
“Hmm…” the toaster buzzes behind me. “You missed property damage paperwork, PR basics, six chapters of history of villainy in the U.S., and the first three chapters of hostage risk assessment.”
“Oh, that’s it?” A.D. grimaces.
“What? It can be reviewed in an evening.” I start buttering the toast. “I could help you if you want.”
“That… does not sound like it can be reviewed in an evening, but thank you for the offer.” A.D. stores the OJ back in the fridge. “Can we review tomorrow?”
“Midterms start tomorrow.”
“What do you mean midterms start tomorrow?” A.D.’s voice goes through three different octaves on the ‘tomorrow’. “What school starts midterms on a Thursday?”
“The kind that hates you.” I start heading back to my room with toast. “Good luck~”
A.D. sighs. “Hey, Vivian.”
“Yeah?” I nudge my dorm door open and look back.
“Thanks.”
I smile. “Don’t worry about it.” I deliver Yuko the toast, a glass of milk, a glass of water, and an orange slice and head off to class.
Janelle
October 10, 2007. 2:12 p.m. Justice Lord Memorial Library study room. I’ve been sitting here for about half an hour studying for midterms with Will. It’s going pretty well so far. I feel confident with villain history and villain psychology, but I’m still nowhere near the physical exam minimum requirement… I mean, I’m getting better, but it still sucks. Even Angela’s faster than me… I’m not doing too well in physics or advanced combat strategies either… I thought I could handle it, but I don’t even know how to respond to half of these prompts. “Explain in no less than 10 pages how you would stop an out of control train going 300 mph and save as many people as possible using your Tech. They are not hostages. There are no suspected acts of villainy. Write one scenario where only you are on site and write a scenario where you have your team’s Techs at your disposal.” I wrote the one with my team at my disposal with no issue. I just explained that Angela could stop the train while I put out any fires… Wait. Does Angela’s Tech even work like that? Is it all machinery? Or is it just electronics? Are the local trains digital or analog? Are those even the right words for trains? Damnit all! I have to rewrite this paper!
This is just one of the tamer examples. I’ve had some prompts that ask how to fight off villains with super weird and specific Techs or how to defuse a hostage situation when you’re the hostage. I just… Pyrokinesis is not a power that lends itself well to complex strategies or careful planning… You just kinda point and shoot until the problem dies.
knock knock
I look up and see Angela, A.D., and Vivian looking at me through the glass door. They enter, shut the door behind them and sit around the table.
“Hey, Janelle, Billiam.” Angela takes out her bulky, obnoxiously decorated laptop onto the table. “Mind if we join? This is the only study room we could find that isn’t packed like a can of grit-flavored sardines.”
“Not at all.” I shake my head. “Oh, wait, Angela. Could you help me with an essay midterm? I need to know the specifics of your Tech.”
“Ask away, my friendo.”
Angela starts to bombard me with long strings of words that I didn’t know existed.
A.D.
October 10, 2007. 2:27 p.m. Justice Lord Memorial Library study room. Angela’s bombarding Janelle with Tech jargon that I do not understand in the slightest. Will is comfortably doing physics problems in his notebook. I got my PR and history textbooks ready. Got my Vivian assist set and charged. I’m going to perfect these exams.
“So.” Vivian cracks every bone in her fingers and relaxes in the swivel chair. She didn’t bring a single book or writing utensil. “What can I do ya for?”
“You don’t have any notes with you?”
“Don’t need it.” She shrugs. “Did all my studying throughout the semester.”
“Fair enough… think we can start with some of these PR study prompts?”
“Hell yeah. Which one’s giving you trouble?”
“This one. ‘You are fighting a villain who has just killed three hostages and the encounter is televised. The villain has escaped prison three times and is infamous in the neighborhood you are fighting them in. How would you deal with this encounter and how should you deal with this encounter? What are some things that should be considered and avoided?’”
“Ohoho. This one? What about this is giving you trouble?”
“Don’t we just follow the 3 P’s as quickly as possible? Protect, Pacify, Prevent? Why would it being televised change anything?”
“You ever read Batman?” Vivian asks.
“I mean I read some silver age stuff when I visited my grandpa, but nothing recent. Why?”
“I want to emphasize that I am not murder happy and am totally not advocating murder, but this would be one of the rare cases where killing the villain on live TV wouldn’t necessarily give you negative PR points. Again, not my words, this is just how the world is.”
“Elaborate.”
“Well, first off, I assume you would want to go non-lethal, correct?”
“Absolutely.”
“Well… people can be quite vengeful. Imagine trying to justify your no-death run to families who just lost their second friend or family member to the same villain who keeps escaping. If the community wants a villain to die and they’ve shown no remorse or ability to reform, then murder might be the better option. Imagine if Batman had to justify not killing the Joker after the Joker escaped prison and massacred a bunch of people for the third time this month.”
“I… would disagree with that sentiment.”
“That’s fine.” Vivian throws up her hands. “You just better have a good explanation for why that’s a good PR move if you want a good grade. Again, I’m not grading. You don’t have to justify anything to me.”
“Dearly noted. Let’s move onto the next one.”
Seconds turn to minutes. Minutes turn to an hour and a half. My brain feels fried after going through two study guides, but I have to continue. I have to grow stronger.
knock knock
Yuko knocks on the door and glares in through the window. She’s in her pajamas, wearing her backpack over one shoulder, and looks like she just woke up from a 1,000 year slumber.
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Vivian’s eyes lit up like a puppy. “Yuko! Come on in! What’re you doing here?”
“Headmaster says I’m getting held back if I don’t pass so… yeah.” She enters, lets the door slam shut, and sits at the end of the table. “What midterms we got tomorrow?”
“Uhh…” I blink. “That depends on the student. Don’t you have your class schedule?”
“My what?”
I sigh through my nose and just focus on my notes. There’s no helping that.
That doesn’t stop Vivian though. She starts bombarding Yuko with questions about stuff she remembers from the few lectures she attended and somehow manages to craft a class schedule based on just that. If that schedule is correct, consider me impressed.
Some more time passes before Vivian stops tutoring Yuko and turns to everyone. “Hey, isn’t it kinda weird how we’re just doing normal college student stuff?”
Janelle furrows her brow. “Huh. Now that you mention it, it does seem… unusual.”
“It is.” Vivian smiles. “But it’s nice to not be in constant peril for two seconds.”
Angela cackles. “Someone’s gonna die super hard now that you’ve jinxed us.”
Janelle leans back in her seat. “I’ll enjoy the quiet while I can.”
“Good plan.” Vivian points to Janelle. “Speaking of quiet, anyone else notice how the protestors on campus just disappeared?”
“Huh…” Angela tilts her head. “Now that you mention it… I haven’t heard any yelling or seen any picket signs around here since Headmaster told them to scram.”
“Do you think she did something to them?” Janelle asks. “Protesters like that don’t just leave because someone asked them to.”
“Dunno. Maybe.” Angela shrugs. “I’m just glad they’re gone. They made it so hard to nap.”
Yuko
October 10, 2007. 4:58 p.m. Lying in bed. Okay… okay… brain feels like it's gonna pop… but at least I don’t think I’ll fail anymore. I’ll probably just cruise on by with a D and call it a day. Let’s see… I have an hour to kill before I gotta go. That should be just enough time to consider what to wear. What to wear? What to wear? What would Vivian like? She dresses like garbage all the time, so I can’t really pin down an aesthetic she likes.
I turn over and my eyes glaze over some of Viv’s anime garbage on her shelf. Wait a sec. Right. She likes tall… blonde… busty… that doesn’t help at all. All these girls have different outfits that are impossible without five pounds of double-sided tape. Maybe just my old school outfit? No. That’d be basic. I’m sure she’s tired of that. I can’t dress down either since she'll probably be dressed down. At least one of us has to look nice. What’s the weather going to be like? Does that matter? Probably not since we’ll be inside. Wait. Why am I thinking about this so much? We’re just watching a movie… Oh god we’re watching a movie. Is this just a friend viewing or a date? Why didn’t I ask her to elaborate on that? I should’ve asked her to elaborate on that.
Should I dress assuming it’s a date or a friendly viewing? Which do I want it to be? Yuko shut up. Just… shut up for a second. Assuming you do like Viv, what about her do you like? Think about that for two seconds… My mind’s blank, but I can feel something’s there. I don’t know the shape or how big it is, but it’s there. It pisses me off. I mean… if I didn’t like her at least a little, I wouldn’t be panicking like this, right? Damnit. After much swearing, occasional shots, and changing, I said screw it and settled on some sneakers, jeans, and a pink t-shirt with some nonsense on it. I know I said I wouldn’t dress down. Funny how that works. Only one question remains… How much tummy to show? Maybe… just a little would be nice. Don’t want to catch a cold. Let’s check the time. 5:57. Okay time to go.
A short ten minute jog out of campus later, I see Vivian in front of the theatre. She’s got an immaculate white sundress with sneakers. Looks like it’s never been worn. I can tell because I can see the price tag hanging off the bottom. It’s… cute. Beyond cute. It looks completely out of place on her, but damn it’s cute.
“Yuko! What’s up my dude?” Vivian runs up and nearly tackles me to the ground. “Aw man you are looking stylish tonight. Where’d you get this shirt?”
“My mom got it for me from Shibuya.” I catch her and resist the growing urge to suplex her.
“Oooh, nice. What’s it say on the chest?” she lets go and points at my titty.
“Oh… uh… the literal translation is ‘Water cheese warrior’.”
“Pffft.” Vivian laughs into a coughing fit. “Why… why is it like that?”
“I dunno, man. Bootlegs are wild. You ready to go? I don’t wanna miss the previews.”
“Right. Right.” Viv nods. “Right this way, m’lady.” Viv takes my hand and leads me over to the ticket booth. Her hand is wet and sticky. Half of it’s sweat. Half of it’s lotion that isn’t rubbed in the whole way. I think I smell apple, but I’m not sure. She pays for our tickets and opens the door for me on the way in.
“Sooo you want any snacks?” Viv’s eyes glaze over the snack menu.
“Probably just going to get something small.”
“Yuko. Don’t be polite. Seriously. Go ham.”
“Three chili dogs and a big soda.”
“Very good.” Vivian pays the cashier and we wait for the food.
“Aren’t you getting anything?”
“Nah.” she shakes her head. “I can’t have any movie theatre food.”
“Aw, why?”
“When I was seven, I had a big bowl of popcorn and a slushie at the movies then vommed super hard when I got home. There were corn kernels and slushie chunks stuck up in my nose too and then I got diarrhea at the same time. It was super gnarly. Never going back there again.”
“Uh… huh…” the cashier gives me my food and we head over to the theatre. “Charming.”
“But why do you get the hot dogs here? They can’t be good. Can they?”
“Oh man…” I take a bite and feel the cheap chili burn my tongue. I’m in heaven. “I don’t eat it because it’s good…” I swallow and quickly take another bite. “I like them cause they’re garbage.”
“I see.” Vivian glances up to my mouth. “Good to know your appetite’s healthy at least.”
We walk into the theatre and stand by the rows. There’s like… six people in here. Three teenagers who snuck in. An old couple who look genuinely happy to be here and an old dude up front who looks way too happy to be here.
“Where do you want to sit?” Vivian looks up at the screen.
“Anywhere’s good.” I take another bite of delicious, delicious garbage.
“Do you mean that or are you just being polite?”
“I mean that.” I accidentally spit some chili onto Viv’s cheek.
“Gotcha.” Without batting an eye or missing a beat, Viv wipes the chili off her cheek and licks it off her hand. “Into the back we go.”
The back. She has something planned for sure. Only people expecting a handy pick the back. This has to be a date. Then that means I just spit in my date’s face. Calm down. Calm down. Maybe she’s into that.
…
...
I’m going to stop thinking for a minute and just sit down, shut up, and eat.
I blow through the remaining two hot dogs before the second trailer even finishes. Nearly choked twice, but it's nothing that some cola can’t wash down.
“So…” I lick residue chili off my lip. “Which Resident Evils have yo-uuuurp.” I burp in Vivian’s face. I cover my face and freeze up. I want to die.
Vivian bursts out laughing. “Hey. Yuko. Yuko.”
I refuse to budge. I can’t look at her. Why am I embarrassed? I’ve burped in front of her before. Hell, I’ve done way worse.
“Hey. Yuko.” she pries my hand from my face. “Look at me.” She cups my cheek and stares me in the eye.
“Uuurp.” Vivian just burps right in my face and laughs.
I can’t help but laugh. “Goddamnit Viv. That’s not funny.”
“I know.” she laughs along until we both shut up for the next trailer.
I’m almost done with my soda and the movie’s not even started yet. I think this is a new record. Sure as hell is gonna hurt later… I can already feel the soda sloshing inside. It feels gross. I feel gross, but it was worth it for some good-ass chili.
Movie’s starting… Okay. Okay. Zombies. Don’t care. This acting is… kinda awful. I love it. Vivian slid the armrest up. She’s planning something. Nobody ever does that without planning something.
I feel her lean onto my shoulder and whisper into my ear. “Hey… Yuko.”
Don’t freak. Don’t freak. “Sup?”
“I’m kinda tired after taking those midterms. Is it cool if I rest my head on your lap?”
Don’t. Freak. “Yeah, that’s fine.” I pat my thigh. “Go ahead.”
“Thank you.” she rests her head on my shoulder for a sec before plopping her head onto my lap. The jeans were a good pick. If I didn’t wear these, her hair would be tickling my legs to hell and back.
I glance down at Viv before looking back up at the screen. Some zombie just got his head blown off. Wait… why is that zombie cg but that other zombie practical? The practical makeup is pretty damn cool… I could probably do that in a few hours. Welp. Now I know what I’m doing for halloween. Wait… would we even be allowed to dress up for that job? I mean, we’d be dressing up regardless, but it could help us blend in more. Why am I thinking about that? Just stop thinking and watch the mo-
Vivian takes my arm and lazily slaps it against her back.
“The hell do you want?”
“Could you scratch my back?”
“Excuse me?”
Vivian rolls her head over to face me like a goddamn owl. I don’t even want to think about how she did that. Her cheek is smushed up against my thigh. “Could you pwease scratch my back?”
I sigh. “Fine.”
“Hehe. Thank you.” Viv rolls her head around and stares back at the screen. I could hear her neck crack. I hope she never does that again.
I begin scratching her back. Feels like there’s no undershirt or bra. Why do I care about that? Anyway, her back is hard… Not muscular, not tense, just… hard and calloused as all hell. The hell happened to her? I start where her neck meets her shoulders and run down to the base of her spine just how my mom used to.
“Nngh!” Vivian squirms each time my finger grazes her side.
… Cute…
After ten minutes of scratching, Vivian rolls onto her back and holds my arm. She won’t let go. Viv looks up at me. “Psst. Hey. Hey, Yuko.”
“What?” I ask without looking away from the screen. This movie’s getting crazy.
“Can you play with my hair?”
“Excuse me?” I look down at her. “Why?”
“I… I just like it, okay?” Vivian hides her mouth behind my arm.
“Why?”
“It just feels good. Please?” she holds my hand and rubs my knuckle with her thumbs. “I’ll pay you back.”
“Fine.” I roll her head over with my hand and begin playing with her hair.
“Oh yeah…” Viv’s voice cracks. “That’s the stuff…”
I run my fingernails to her forehead then run them back to the back to the top of her neck. Her hair’s unkempt and I feel knots every other scratch.
“Yuko… Thank you…” Viv flinches and makes some weird noise.
I feel like I’m petting a puppy. A very adora- annoying puppy.
After about five minutes, I feel my leg start to fall asleep. “Aight, Viv. Get up. Your heavy-ass head’s hurting me.”
She doesn’t respond.
“Viv.” I lightly slap her cheek.
“Bwah!” Viv shoots awake and sits up straight. “Sorry.” She rubs her eye. “Just… god you’re comfy…”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.” my eyes focus back on the screen where they belong.
“Your turn.” Viv takes my head, gently places it onto her lap, and rolls it over to face the screen.
“Whatevs. As long as I get to keep watching.”
“Do you want your head or your back scratched?” Viv already starts rubbing my shoulder.
“Dunno. Surprise me.”
“Shoulders it is.” Viv cracks every knuckle she has and digs her fingertips into the back of my neck.
I don’t mean she nudged my neck. She dug her fingers in. Hard. Damn near thought she was going to break my skin for a sec.
I grit my teeth for a second before I feel my entire body relax… I don’t know what she’s doing… but it's working. She just jammed her thumbs into some secret corner between my collarbone and my neck. I guess this is what having your chakras opened feels like. She doesn’t stop either… Viv just keeps going to town on my shoulders. I’m feeling muscles I didn’t even know I had. This is bad. My eyes are starting to roll back… but… damn it's too good… hah… hah… Crap. I’m starting to pant a little.
“You okay, Yuyu?” Viv stops for a sec.
“I didn’t say stop.” I grit my teeth and keep my eyes focused on the gorefest.
“Dearly noted.” Viv chuckles. “Having fun?”
“Yeah, a little.” My back hasn’t felt this good in ten years. “Where’d you learn how to do this?”
“My dad’s a masseuse.” Viv runs her thumbs down my back, popping it like bubble wrap. “Plus I just like giving massages.”
“Why? Is it your fetish?”
“No.” Viv starts rubbing and scratching my back… dude… mom never scratched my back like this. “I just think it’s fun. Plus it makes me feel closer to the person I’m massaging.”
“I see…” I bite my lip and clench my fist. Goddamn… I need to ask her to do this more often. I feel like a goddamn plate of jello right about now.
“Something wrong with your hand?” Viv lets go of my back and grabs my hand. “Lemme see…” she begins running her thumbs along my palm and pressing down.
I… don’t know how to feel about this. I’ll just let her do her thing. I guess.
“Everything okay, Yuko?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“You just seem like you’re not enjoying the hand massage.”
“Sorry. I am. It just… feels kinda weird.”
“Is it hurting in a bad way? Is it uncomfortable?” Viv stops pressing, but still holds my hand.
“No. Not bad. Not uncomfy. Just… weird. Never felt something like that before.”
“Awwww, Yuko… has no one held your hand before?”
“No.” I lie. “Just shut up and keep massaging.”
“You got it.” Viv pets my head before continuing the massage.
Her hands are warm… very… very warm. When the movie’s quiet, I can feel her heartbeat through her fingertips. Her hands are rough. There’s a lot of calluses and some scars on them. Nails are all uneven too. I gotta get her a manicure…
The movie’s loud as all hell… but my eyelids are getting heavy. I can stay up. Viv paid good money for this… I’m staying-
Viv starts massaging my head… Fingernails through my scalp. Pressure on my neck. I’m out within two minutes. I don’t know how long I’m asleep for… but it’s the best damn sleep I’ve had in a hot minute. Her thighs are so smooth too… Don’t lick them. Don’t… lick… that’d be weird. Plus, she probably-
I feel hair graze up against my nose and I shoot awake. I see Vivian’s face a mere inch away from mine. She looks at me with wide eyes for a moment before smiling, cupping my cheeks, and kissing me on my forehead.
I feel my face curl into a smile and my chest grow light… It feels foreign, but nice.
Viv smiles at me before whispering in my ear. “You’re so cute like this…”
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Josh
October 10, 2007. 5:07 p.m. Been waiting for Headmaster in her office for almost ten minutes now.
Eventually, she comes trudging in through the elevator fixing her hair into her signature bun. She’s dressed rather nicely. Looks ready to meet up at some red carpet showing or something. Doesn’t stop her from looking like she’s one flick away from exploding.
“Alrighty, Josh. I gotta host this Doc chick so I’ll make this quick. I’m going to list off some options for you. Ready?”
“Ye-”
Before I can respond, Headmaster starts ranting off options. “Facial reconstruction so Faust can’t recognize you.”
“Hell no!”
“Pussy. Fighting Faust now and getting it over with?”
“Double hell no!”
“Fine fine.” Headmaster takes a sip of coffee. “Put in a Hero Protection program and transferred to Pavise Academy.”
“Yeeeeeeeeah. No.”
“I got one more option, but you owe me big time for it. You in?”
“Fine… anything to get her off my back.”
“Okay cool.” Headmaster pulls a phone out of her dress, turns around, and starts talking to someone on the phone. Two minutes, a few ‘I knows’, and a bunch of ‘okays’ later, she hangs up.
“Kay. I just paid Faust off. Just don’t start any crap and don’t interfere with her and she won’t lay a finger on you.”
“... What…”
“Yeah.” Headmaster shrugs and starts to head back to the elevator. “You work for me now until you cancel the protection or kill Faust. Enjoy.”
“Wait! Hold up!” I begin to follow Headmaster. “Really? It’s that easy?! H-how much did she need to get paid?!”
“Enough.” Headmaster presses the elevator button and waits for it to open. “Any more questions? Do you think she won’t hold up her end of the bargain?”
“No…” I sigh. “She’s a bitch and a half, but she always keeps her word when money’s involved… but how do you even know her? How did you get her number?”
“Do you need to know that?” Suzy’s glare pierces me.
“You know what? No. I don’t.”
“Then quit complaining and get studying. I managed to get your midterms rescheduled for tomorrow. Thank me later.” Headmaster gets in the elevator and zooms up and away.
“Thanks, Headmaster.” I wave and go back to sleep. Stupid Faust… Just how deep do Headmaster’s pockets go? And how did she have her on speed dial? You know what? I don’t care. I’m too tired.
Vivian
October 10, 2007. 6:55 p.m. After the kiss, Yuko and I just spent the rest of the movie watching it in silence. I hope I didn’t come on too strong… I mean, if I did, Yuko would say something, right? She lets me know immediately if anything’s even slightly bugging her. I spent the rest of the movie with my head on her shoulder, so I assume it went well? She didn’t push me away or push my hand off… but she also just wanted to watch the movie the rest of the time. Maybe she just enjoyed the movie that much? Wait… maybe she just got a stomach ache from all the chili. I know I get quiet and feel gross whenever I get a stomachache. Maybe she’s the same.
We’re walking back to the dorm right now. It’s weird, but not… awful? Yuko’s acting like nothing happened. I’m not sure if that’s better or worse than pushing me away.
“Soo… how’d you like the movie?”
“That was a dumb, dumb, stupid movie.” Yuko lets out a chuckle. “Freakin loved it. What about you?”
“Eh. Games are better and dumber. You should play them.”
“You got them?”
“Course I do.”
“Guess I know what I’m doing after midterms then.” Yuko stretches her arms over her head as we approach our dorm.
“Soo… about the… kiss.” I clench my teeth. “Was it o-”
Before I can continue, Yuko hugs me. Tight. Really tight. I can’t tell if she’s trying to hug me or kill me. I wouldn’t really mind either way. Death by titty’s not a bad death. She holds her palm against my back and pets my hair again… Yes…
She looks down at me and I look up at her. “Want to go out again soon? Just the two of us?”
“Yes please! When? Where? What do you want to do? I have like twenty-”
Yuko covers my mouth with her hand. “Before we plan any of that, could you help me study some more? I can’t go out if I fail.”
“Of course.” I smile and nod.
“Thank you, Viv…” Yuko hugs me again and rests her chin on my head. “You’re the best.”