Of Love and Death.

The Present Chapter 10: Homeward Bound Pt. 2

Present

     I still can't believe you decided to stay, Spryzen remarked, causing Shu to let out a defeated chuckle. He couldn't believe it either. In the end, the only thing that had kept him from running back to Japan was the knowledge that that would be it. His home country didn't have any large teams that competed on an international level. If he had gone back there, he wouldn't have been able to have the blading career that he had now. Which was something that he couldn't stand the thought of to this day.

     So, Shu'd toughed it out. Staying at the Bulls and, for a while, avoiding Richard at all costs. Eventually, he'd realized that that was impossible, so he settled for never giving his teammate the chance to get close to him. Whether that was by being rude or a jerk, or by beating him in a battle and telling him to go away. All while ignoring the fact that Trad still wasn't the actual owner of the Raging Bulls, despite what it seemed like to many.

     "And, after a couple years of being strapped for cash, the Tokyo National Museum has announced that it will be forced to close its doors forever in three months, to the day," The drone of a small overhead TV that the Bulls had playing the news in the library declared, causing Shu to sit bolt upright, his eyes darting up to where the screen was. He'd switched it to a Japanese network so that he could just relax and listen to his native language for a bit, but he hadn't expected anything this jarring to come across. After all, if there had been anything really big, he probably would have heard about it. This couldn't be correct, could it? Sure it had been a minute since he'd gone to the National Museum, but they'd been well-off the last time he went.

     The last time you went you were ten, Spryzen informed Shu, much to the latter's surprise. He couldn't have been that young, could he? It felt like just a couple of months ago, not even that really. How had his perception of time gotten that screwed up? Why did it feel like less than a week ago? For that matter, why did history class, even all of Human History, feel so recent? Like all of it could have happened in less than half a year.

     Because you're weird Shu, Spryzen said simply, not sugar coating it in the least. Shu didn't put up a fight with his partner. The bey was right, he was a bit weird. He didn't mind. It had never caused him too much trouble, except for how he LIT ON FUDGING FIRE AND BURNED VALT'S HAND! Seriously! He still was not sure how that was possible and just argh! Shu could sense his partner settling to listen to his rant about this, something that had happened quite a few times, never really coming to a solution. As Shu was hesitant to go searching for answers, in part because he was afraid of finding something he'd regret, and in part because he didn't want to paint a target on his back.

     If people knew that Shu could spontaneously combust on command, what would they do? However, he was saved from having to think about that by the ringing of his phone. It buzzed off of the couch, landing with a thunk on the ground and making Shu wince. Thankfully, he had a clunky model from back in 2032 that could probably be dropped off the roof of the Raging Bulls and be fine.

     So, fairly certain that he hadn't just broken his main method of communication, Shu scrambled to pick up the buzzing rectangle. Once his hand wrapped around that and not any part of the multitude of dust bunnies on the floor, Shu lifted up his phone, turning it over to see who was calling him. His eyes lit up and he felt a shock of joy once he saw the identity of the caller. Valt.

     Without wasting any time, Shu clicked the green call button and then the speaker phone icon so that he could talk without having the phone right up on his ear. "Hey Valt," Shu said excitedly, smiling even though his crush couldn't see his face.

     "Hey!" Valt shot back, although he seemed a little less enthusiastic than Shu was. Which was concerning. Shu tilted his head, and spoke up again:

     "Is everything okay, Valt?" Shu asked. He pleaded that nothing too bad had happened. Like someone falling down the wrong path at BC Sol. Although, if that had happened, Valt probably wouldn't have tried to be happy at all, and just gotten to the point. So, thankfully, it wasn't that. Unfortunately, that still left the mystery of what had gotten his friend down.

     There was a moment of silence over the phone before Valt spoke up. "Yeah, I'm fine," he began, still sounding a bit down. "It's just, did you see the news?" He finished, downtrodden.

     Shu glanced up at the TV, which was still playing, he'd simply tuned it out after hearing about the museum. "About the National Museum?" He asked, unsure as to if that was what Valt was referring to.

     "Yeah," Valt confirmed. "It just sucks. I remember when we went for that school tour. It was so cool seeing everything. My favorite part was all of the trade ships, it was so cool. Remember how I said I wanted to be a pirate? And then we both agreed that you were much more pirate-like?"

     "Yeah, I do," Shu laughed, thinking back to the trip. He and Valt had even made fake swords out of some sticks and leaves they'd found in the courtyard and had a mock sea battle. Not that their teacher had taken to that too well. "I wish we could do something," He muttered. He didn't want all of the memories and history in that place to be lost for all time. Then, Valt spoke up, having somehow heard what he said. 

     "Maybe we can," Valt began. Shu could just imagine Valt's face, a little red from thinking so hard, but cute too. Personally, Shu had always found it very difficult to keep a straight face, especially back in school, whenever the blue-haired blader made his ears explode form too much thought. Now was no different, and Shu let out a small chuckle.

     "Tell me," Valt began, causing Shut to snap to attention. There was a bit of a devious tone to the mind-reader's voice. "Does Wakiya still owe you for that time you baked a truck-load of carbonara for that fancy banquet thing he held back in Japan?"