Heroes and Villains

29 - Friendzone sucks

Michelle

As loud electronic music fills the room, I try hard to avoid every attack Jack throws at me. I have to say, he is not going easy on me today. I guess he figured I wasn’t trying hard enough. I’m still scared he will go back to consuming h****n if he finds out how much I already improved.

We’ve been training daily at the dojo for 2 weeks now. In the meantime, I have also started performing at the bar again and going out to get supplies for the mutants. All of this hard work should be draining me but the fact that I don’t get to be Kitty Girl anymore somehow balances it out.

Besides, I love spending time with Jack. Even if he is beating me up right now. I fall back when one of his legs hits me square in the stomach.

“Oh my Gosh, Mia!” He shouts when he realizes he took it too far. “Are you ok?”

He offers me his hand to help me get up as he looks worriedly at me.

“I think you’re still mad at me” I comment jokingly as I take his hand and get back up, rubbing my stomach.

“Maybe we need a break” He comments with a slight smile and we both sit down on the floor. I proceed to lay down, my arms sprawled to my sides.

He looks down at me, his blue eyes peering into my very soul. Blushing, I roll over so I don’t have to look directly at him.

It is a blessing that we get to spend this much time together but I fear my feelings for him are starting to show a little too much and right now, I don’t want him to know. He is still hurt after ‘losing’ Kitty Girl. I can’t pressure him with my pent-up feelings. I don’t want to lose him.

One of my favorite songs ever starts sounding through the dojo and I quickly get up, pretending to be cheerful all of a sudden.

“I love this song!” I shout and immediately start to dance to ‘Don’t let this feeling fade’ by Lindsey Stirling.

“I thought you were tired” He says, looking up at me with an amused smile.

“The song brought me back to life!” I say, still dancing with a happy smile.

He chuckles and gets up, standing in front of me. “If you’re no longer tired, then we can continue”

“Now, you’re just being mean” I complain but he only smirks and attacks me, giving me more than enough time to react.

I grab him by the wrist and spin so I can trip him but he jumps to avoid my move. I try to hit his side as he lands but he quickly grabs my leg, forcing me to throw a punch, which he easily avoids too.

“Why are you so fast?!” I shout, a bit frustrated. He just smirks and continues attacking me.

I manage to avoid his moves and tackle him when I see an opening. We roll on the floor and he ends up on top of me, pinning my arms on both sides of my head.

“Hey, I didn’t teach you that!” He says.

“I know” I say, smirking. “I call it the super tackle omega”

“Yeah…” Jack says, not too convinced “That is not a ninja move”

“It’s a good thing I’m not a ninja, then” I reply.

But then the music fades away and the light joking atmosphere changes to something way different. You see, he is still on top of me. His face is mere inches away from mine…

I feel my cheeks start to flush as I look into his deep blue eyes staring back into my hazelnut orbs.

We are both stunned by this moment and my heart starts hammering against my chest as he closes in on me.

Abruptly, our moment gets interrupted when his smartwatch starts ringing. Immediately jumping from the startle, Jack gets up quickly and touches his smartwatch to answer the call.

“Yo, crackhead!” I hear Cain’s voice from the watch. “Get your ass to Ric’s office right now. We’re having a family meeting”

“I thought I was excluded from family meetings” Jack comments, frowning.

“This is important” Cain responds, more seriously.

“Important?” Jack asks but Cain hangs up before answering.

“Is everything alright?” I ask Jack, getting up.

“I have to go” He tells me. “We can continue our training tomorrow”

I feel disappointed as I watch him rush to leave the dojo, but he stops at the entrance and looks back at me.

“I almost forgot!” He starts. “There’s going to be a party in a few days. Something about the company’s anniversary. Do you wanna come with me?”

I feel like my heart has just stopped beating in my chest as I look in stunned silence at him. Did he just ask me to go to a party with him?

Before he can leave, I take a step forward and nearly gag on my own words.

“S-Sure!” I shout way too loud. “I’d love to go with you”

“Great!” He says, rewarding me with his beautiful smile. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Mia”

Then, he runs off.

My mouth hangs open as my mind processes what just happened. He asked me out! He really just asked me out!

I squeal like a 10-year-old girl as I jump around the dojo in glee.

Oh! I have to tell Jaden! He’s gonna be so thrilled! I have to tell Yumi!

Thinking of Yumi reminds me that we haven’t gotten to meet after our rushed encounter at the mansion’s corridors. I should go talk to her first and then Jaden.

Now, how am I going to find her in this huge mansion?

I know! She can see the future, right? I’ll just ‘let’ her see where I’m going. That should work.

Focusing, I think of going to the basement that leads back to the new lair and start walking my way there. The first time I got stuck here, I thought I was screwed and would have to head out through the main door and risk getting caught by the guards, but Jack told me there is a secret switch at the side of the door that opens it from this side.

Cain could have told me about it before sending me out here, but I guess he wanted to tease me.

I slowly walk through my memorized path to the basement while avoiding any contact with guards. Those new guys they hired are quite freaky. They remind me of those robots we fought while taking the mutants out of downtown.

Now that I think about it, maybe they are. Those robots belong to Hamato Industries, after all. I frown as this comes to mind. With all the training and performances and looking out for the mutants, I haven’t had much time to think about what has been happening.

I did hear from Jack that Lady Yuna and Itsuki have left for Japan temporarily to organize things for the celebrations, which doesn’t make much sense seen that the party is going to happen here. Or maybe the party here is just part of the celebrations? I don’t know.

I reach the basement and sit on a rice bag while I wait for Yumi to show up, my thoughts still running rampant.

Aside from the new robot threat, there’s also that strange dream I had while I was passed out and the weird way I saved Jack. I’m starting to wonder if there’s something wrong with me. Maybe the radiation I took in when I was a kid is still affecting me?

I need to ask Jaden about it. He is the one who found me at the beach and saved me. Maybe he will know something about this strange ability I have.

Also, the fact that I am the only mutant who can shift to human bothers me. I never gave much thought to it, but ever since Cain told me Itsuki is after me, I have started to wonder what makes me so special.

My thoughts are interrupted when the basement door opens and a slightly surprised Yumi enters the room. Smiling, I get up from the rice bag.

“Heya, it’s been a while” I greet her, getting utterly surprised when he crosses the way between us to hug me tightly.

Not wanting this moment to be awkward, I hug her back. I did miss her too. It’s good to have someone to talk to about the crazy things that have been happening other than Jaden.

“Sorry” She apologizes like the princess she is as she lets go. “I’m just really happy to see you again”

“Likewise” I say with a smile.

“I have so much to tell you” She spurts out as if she has been holding it in from the moment she walked through that door.

“What a coincidence” I say. “So do I”

“Not here, though” She tells me. “Let’s come to my base”

“Uh…” I mumble. “You are aware I’m not supposed to be here, right?”

She looks interrogatively at me.

“I literally sneaked in through the back door” I say, pointing at the door that leads to the lair.

“It will be alright” She says. “You are with me now”

“Oh, right” I say. “Sorry, princess. Lead the way”

We silently walk towards her hidden base and I notice she is no longer using her cane to walk around.

“What happened to your favorite cane?” I ask.

“Oh” She mumbles as if she hadn’t noticed it is gone. “I guess I forgot about it entirely”

“Aren’t you afraid someone is going to notice?” I ask her.

“I haven’t had any need for it because I usually walk around with Daniel-san” She admits, her cheeks burning up.

“Oh, hoh!” I tease, elbowing her as I smirk. “I see things have gotten quite interesting between you two”

“Yes, but you can’t tell anyone” She says. “Especially not to his brother”

“My lips are sealed” I say, still smirking.

“What is your relationship with Jack, anyway?” She casually asks.

“We’re friends” I say, a little too sadly. “I’ve known him since I started working at Cain’s bar five years ago”

“But you like him” She throws and I look offended at her.

“That is quite a serious accusation, young lady!” I accuse, pointing a finger at her chest, but she doesn’t look affected.

“So, I’m right” She simply says and I sigh in defeat.

“Yes…” I finally admit to her and myself. “But it’s never going to work”

“Why not?” She asks.

“Because he loves Kitty Girl” I say.

“But you are Kitty Girl” She says as she opens the secret door to her base.

“Yeah, but he doesn’t know that” I say.

“I see…” She says as we walk the dark corridor that leads into her metal contraption. “You’re in the friendzone, then”

“That is offensive!” I shout, making her smile in amusement.

“I’m afraid that is going to be the least of your problems after I tell you what has been going on” She tells me.

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“You might want to sit down” She tells me, pointing to a chair nearby.

Not questioning her reasons, I sit down on the comfy chair and look curiously at her as she continues standing. She starts talking and I remain quiet the whole time, which I have to say is not an easy thing to do.

What she tells me leaves me so shocked and surprised all I want to do is shout out bullshit, but I want to believe she is telling the truth. Why would she be lying about these things?

Why would she lie about her grandma being one of the robots that destroyed downtown or that Itsuki is her real grandfather and entirely inhuman. That makes her a sort of an alien too, doesn’t it?

Then, she tells me about the nanites she found on one of the robots, that have now replaced all the guard force in the facilities, and about Mara and her tragic accident.

She also tells me what she has been up to these past few weeks. She and Daniel have been tirelessly working on controlling the live nanites with other soundwaves to no avail.

It seems these particular nanites have a mind of their own which evoked the theory that they are creatures of their own accord.

“Wait, you mean those nanite thingies are also living organisms?” I ask. “Wouldn’t that mean those robots are aliens too?”

“We believe so, yes” She gravely admits. “Obaasan mentioned them as Mercurians, but there is no data on such species”

“That is messed up” I comment. “And you and Itsuki are one of these Mercurians too?”

“No” She quickly says. “We are something else. I don’t know what yet. I have been meaning to ask him when he returned from Japan, but…”

“But, what?” I ask.

“Itsuki hasn’t returned with Obaasan today” She reveals. “He’s gone”

I look shocked at her for a moment and then I realize what that important family meeting Jack was called for was all about.

Their dad has gone missing.