The next day, the U takeover was all anyone was talking about. U nostalgia was at a peak.
Suzu heard two women chatting. "I haven't logged on in years, but I want to go back before anything changes."
Joey came up to her. "It was a great job yesterday. All there is to do today is paperwork. Uh . . . hello, earth to Suzu?"
"Did you say something?"
"Lord help me. What's on your mind? Wait . . . don't tell me . . . oh my God, did he pop the question?"
"Not yet. But he's going to."
"Congrats, girl! Why don't you take the afternoon off? You got a wedding to plan. And I expect my invite." Joey scampered off.
She could go back now.
Log on now.
It would be a simple matter of putting on the headphones and recalibrating the link. Suzu opened her desk drawer and took out a drawstring pouch. Inside the pouch were her U headphones. Her fingers traced the familiar shape.
She told herself it was because she wanted to live in the real world. But the truth was, U was empty without the Dragon. Without . . . him.
She remembered floating up to the ceiling, spinning as she locked eyes with the beast that had been terrorizing U. His eyes were dark and full of pain. She bent forward to kiss him . . .
Suzu shook her head. Snap out of it, she told herself. She put her pouch back in the desk drawer, hesitated, and put it in her purse.
She did paperwork for the rest of the afternoon and did not think of U anymore that day.
On the way home, the car radio announced that an exclusive announcement would be made about pop star Angel – and it would only be announced in U. And if you were logged on, you had a chance for free tickets to his next concert.
At home, the news on TV showed a rush on U headphones. people pushing and shoving and crammed into stores. All of them were sold out. and Suzu was glad she kept hers.
Her phone buzzed. Following the success of his latest single Drowning, pop star Angel announces an eight-city tour. He will appear in Tokyo, Kyoto, Yokohama, Nagoya, Sapporo, Kobe, Fukuoka and Kōchi.
Kōchi? Their backwater town? Why?
"Suzu. Suzu. Suzu!"
"Oh! Ehh, sorry. What is it?"
"You are tossing so much you just elbowed me in the ribs."
TO BE CONTINUED
YOU ARE READING
Return Of The Dragon
FanfictionTen years after the events of the movie Belle, a strange series of murders is taking place in Tokyo. Former virtual singing sensation Suzu Naito is reluctantly pulled back into the massive virtual world of U to solve the crime - and to clear the nam...
