Vin was back in his sparse dorm by 5pm. He released Miyo from their pen, then recapped the events that'd taken place.
"So, that's the situation," he said, spreading out on the hard, barren floor. "After everything, we only have 400 points to spend."
The feet of his little listener perched on his chest, and Miyo glanced at him idly.
"Guess a bed is out of the equation now," he sighed, shutting his eyes and tucking his arms behind his head. Miyo seemed to comprehend his anguish and nestled into his unkempt shirt.
"Yea, at least we have each other," interpreted Vin, patting Miyo's dark, flaming head. " I don't know where I'd be if dad never purchased you for me."
"Bought?" Questioned Vin. "Dad gave me the money to play the gacha game myself, didn't he?"
"Man. Lately my heads been..." He raised his phone to distract himself and began to budget his remaining balance. Seeking only the bare minimum. "This will have to do...."
"150 points for a new board, 50 for food, 20 for a sleeping bag, and 10 for bathroom supplies." Vin believed he had it sorted out, but Miyo pecked his crusty shirt and raised it. "Right, laundry; I'll also need a second pair of clothing."
"250 points should take care of our needs. The last 150 will be for emergencies," concluded Vin. He wanted to finish everything that night to focus on the following day's classes and how he'd defend his position. So, he equipped his shoes and vacated the empty room.
<>
Life seemingly fast-forwarded to the megamall, three blocks from the school campus. With his solidified budget, he'd docked in a massive, bright, brown, gold skate shop.
Not in the affordable section. But dead center of the bustling store, eying a wall of costly decks. One in particular. It was a solid black, 40-inch longboard with the captivating print of a black sun. Unlike his skateboard, the longboard was extended, which meant extra space for his summon to ride the front.
The only problem was that it ran a hundred points more than he had budgeted. An imaginary scale was affixed in his mind. On one side, he understood it was ludicrous to use his emergency points for a longboard. But, on the other. Well, it appealed to his sentimentality. The deck's design spoke to him on a spiritual level. The black, purple-outlined sun reminded him of Miyo and when they'd first met. Which was-
"Hmm?" Vin sounded. He glanced at his summon, who was enthralled with the board. "I guess you like it too," chuckled Vin.
"Anyway. I was just thinking. I don't really remember when or how we met."
"Like, whenever I think about it, my mind becomes foggy. I don't know if dad gave me the money to spin, or if he just bought you as a gift."
"I just know it was sometime after the accident." Slightly bothered by the lack of details, he combed the depths of his mind for answers pertaining to their first meeting.
[[
It felt like centuries had passed.
At the time, Vin was at the pinnacle of his growth as a skater. He was 12 years old and always eager to race other kids.
His mother supported him, even though he pulled dangerous stunts and chose challenging courses. Taking him to games and cheering on the side, just as she did for his pro father.
That year Vin maintained a perfect win ratio.
In, what could have been his last race, a player forced him off a six-story building.
He fell at the proper angle, but an outside A/C unit was extended enough that Vin slammed into the metal box.
His right shoulder dislocated on impact; then his undeveloped body twirled out of control. Instead of sticking the landing, he free-fell wildly and smashed against the concrete ground.
He didn't recall much from the incident except the excruciating pain and his mother's horrified voice.
An ambulance was on standby, but Vin flatlined on the journey to the hospital. By some miracle, he was brought back to the world of the living and immediately moved to intensive care.
The heavy medication made the hospital stay blurry. Vin faded in and out of consciousness for days. It wasn't the first time he was injured; it'd happened plenty before, and he recalled his mom's gentle care each time.
So, he wondered why he hadn't sensed or felt her during his bed rest.
He'd periodically heard his father, sister, and strangers but never his mother. This fact daunted him.
After he'd become stable enough, the doctors decreased the dosage of painkillers, and he became more cognizant.
The first time he'd fully awakened, it was to a frigid, dark, and wide box-shaped room. Far too large for a single person and so cold he felt like he was lying in a cryosleep chamber.
Vin was scared shitless when he awoke with a single unrestrained limb. His eyes unlatched, and his mouth outstretched to scream, but no words were freed.
He wanted to shout, but only exasperated breaths were liberated from his lips. Both of his legs were strung up, his neck was encased, and his right arm was fastened across his chest; Vin felt bound like an insect stuck in a spider's web.
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None of his limbs were ever taken for granted. He used his legs to steer a skateboard and his arms to balance and climb. He'd always eaten, exercised, and lived healthily, so he wondered. "What the hell happened to my body?"
When he tugged any of the secured limbs, he experienced harrowing pains, but that was alright. The aching was proof that they were still there, still functional.
After his episode, he calmed himself and rationalized his predicament. He recalled his fall and understood a few broken bones would heal, no problem.
With the newfound silence in the room came the ability to hear the passing footsteps and voices outside the enclosure.
One distinguishable voice arrived with a stormy set of steps. It halted directly outside of Vin's chamber of joy and fumed.
"I don't care!" yelled what he understood to be his father. "I'm pooling all my finances into this, so take my money and fix my damn son!" continued the man.
"Sir, please keep your voice down; you'll wake the patients," reasoned another. "We've done everything we could, and your son will be walking again after comprehensive physical therapy."
A disruptive thump tolled from the walls, and the quarrel continued. "I heard you the first time, but saying he'll never skate again? What's the point of all your fancy equipment if you can't fix his legs!"
"I'm sorry, there's nothing more we can do," articulated the individual. "Your son will have a severe limp even after his legs heal. He'll have to quit sports."
]]
"Huh? did that happen?" Muttered Vin, returning to his place in front of the skateboard. A sharp buzzing had begun in his head, so he raised his right arm and massaged his temple.
His right arm. Something about it had become strange, alien to him. Vin stared at it as if confused about its placement. "My right arm. My legs, too; they healed fine," observed Vin.
For some reason, the unfamiliar scene from his memory disturbed him, so to prove himself right, he leaned down and pulled up his pants sleeves. His calves were brawny and solid, just as he'd always known them to be.
Content, he began to unroll his pants, but just for the sake of it, he rolled them up even more.
...
Two shades lighter than his brown skin, half an inch wide, and three inches long, existed an uneven scar below the left side of his knee.
Floored, he gazed at, then caressed the foreign wound. He'd never seen it before in his life. Even eerier, when he looked at his opposite leg, there was a similar scar on the calve he'd just confirmed was perfect.
His heart sunk to his toes.
Wide and dry from staring, his eyes batted across his body. He was panicked and confused; it didn't matter that he was in the middle of a public store. Vin removed his shirt and located another injury around his right shoulder, then another above, and on the left of his ribcage. "What the hell is goi-"
Sound suddenly stopped. There were no more voices of the public; in fact, when Vin lifted his sights, no one was in the store. The shelves were empty, and every item was gone except one.
Miyo waited for him to notice. The black phoenix perched on the same skateboard that had induced Vin's waking nightmare.
Vin trembled in terror for the first time since- Actually, he didn't remember the last time he felt fear. Or the last time he suffered new injuries, cried, got sick, tasted food, felt warmth, or even dreamed...
"Miyo? What the hell is going on," he shook. "Please man, talk to me!" Yelled Vin.
He felt his eyes swell, but no tears trickled down. He cursed, then hastily turned around. "Anyone!" he screamed in plea.
The destructive buzzing in his head amplified; it stabbed at his nerves with sharp, rusty, psychic blades. Vin roughly clenched onto his dazed head and lost his equilibrium to the distress. He collapsed onto the store's marble floor, thrashing and screaming. It wasn't just the pain but the agonizing disarray within his mind, the melancholy words he'd never heard before.
[[
In an alien, wintery environment, on a soft platform in some place or time, he was bombarded by faceless voices.
"Hey bud, I know you're still sleeping, but-" the deep voice cracked, and his father's speech faltered. "I- I know you're resting, but I brought you a gift," the man said, choking back tears.
"It'll keep you company while we're out; that way, you're never alone," he added.
"Now, imagine this, okay? You're outside at your favorite skatepark, the golden sun is out, and it's warm, just how you like it. You lo-" The man paused and sniffled, collecting his demeanor before continuing.
"You look up, and flying down from the sun is a mythical creature unlike anything you've ever seen. It's a small, beautiful, yet fierce phoenix with black flaming wings and kind eyes."
Vin could hear the weepy smile on his father's face as he resumed. "It's powerful, strong enough to lift you from this bed and away from this hospital."
"Wake up, Gavin, please!" Outburst Macy, his sister. Just as faceless and spewing words from a conversation they'd never had.
]]
"Stop! it hurts!" Roared Vin, lifting and slamming his head against the hard floor of the store. Instead of recuperating, he only drifted further into the chasm of his scattered mind.
[[
"It will always be by your side..."
"I named it Miyu, short for 'me and you."
"Sorry, sir, we need to administer his medicine now," spoke an unfamiliar woman.
"Y-yea, we'll get going. Just let me turn on the sports center channel for him," replied Gavin, his dad.
**"Yep, Bob, like you said, there's no telling where we're heading in the SFX industry. Now we have crazies talking about building universities exclusively for entertainment? It's a joke."**
"See you in a few hours, Vin," his father murmured. Subsequently, Macy whined, and he could feel a light pressure on his forehead. "Love you, bro..."
]]
Back on the floor of the store, Vin had stopped moving. A threshold had fractured, and he cried. Real tears rolled from their brown eyes; it was the most surreal sensation he'd felt in an exceedingly long time.
The ceiling lights looked distorted with swelled eyelids, and everything around him grew blocky and vague. "Am I dead..." breathed Vin, long since depleted.
"Are you there, Miyo- or Miyu..."
"No, that doesn't sound right," whispered Vin.
His backside shuddered, and a rumbling shook the building; no, the entire world he lived in was quaking.
"Will you stay with me for a while longer? I don't want to go alone," requested Vin, patting the area next to his head. Another tremor was cast, and he clenched his fist, dreading what would become of him.
A much-welcomed arrival of Miyo relieved his nerve. The summon landed and curled up next to his cheek. If nothing else, Vin knew its warmth was genuine. He was overwhelmingly glad to face the end with his loyal companion.
His world crumbled like an assembled puzzle set being torn apart one piece at a time. He shifted from his rear to his left shoulder, observing Miyo one last time. "Guess I fell pretty hard, huh," wept Vin.
Every component of the world shook and rattled away. The roof, walls, and even the floor were slowly replaced with emptiness.
Vin gradually and finally shut his tear-soaked eyes. Then, he whispered, "It was fun while it lasted."