Sigma/Star

Chapter 67: The Lost Ones

Porter rolled out of the bed in his room, promptly flopping onto the ground and shocking himself out of his daze. Last he had been aware, he had been fighting against the Silver Hawk and Sigmeund. Now he was lying on the cold floor with blankets tangled between his legs.

There was a terrifying moment of attempting to remember (did I win or lose?) before Porter decided he must have won or been saved, otherwise he wouldn't be waking up at all. Most of the battle was a total blur though, melding into the time when he was in the cave, with his brother. That brought forth another flash of thought: where was Sigma? Surely his brother had come back with the rest of the group when they had returned to the academy. They wouldn't have just left him down there in the mountains to be hunted.

The teenager began rummaging for clothing, trying his best to straighten himself out so that he could look presentable as he wandered the halls searching for a big, purple android. He finally managed to change into some decent attire and headed out to fulfill his quest. It didn't take long before he ran into Mr. Shotuku, who seemed a little shocked to see young Porter out of bed so soon after the fight, but he didn't say anything otherwise.

Instead, the old man seemed kind of sad and melancholy, with a twinge of empathy in his eyes that appeared downright bizarre to Porter. He didn't think he had ever seen Shotuku show compassion towards a student before. On the other hand, why would the elderly teacher be giving such a look to Porter in the first place?

The two passed one another, each in their own rush for their reasons. This was a Friday, and apparently late in the afternoon, for classes were all clearing out into the hallways, filling them with human bodies that coursed along the path like a wave, shifting in their flow constantly. It was rapidly becoming very difficult for Porter to make his way around, though he was sure he could spot a massive cyborg regardless of any crowd.

Among the sea of moving people, Nami's cat-eyes picked out Porter in an instant, watching him wander with a cluster of people, caught up in their momentum and trapped along their confined pathway. He didn't see her, though his eyes were certainly darting back and forth in search of somebody. Obviously it wasn't for a little girl. Probably for his brother. But he should know his brother had let him go alone and disappeared again. Or did nobody tell him?

Nami gasped, realizing that none of them would have gotten a chance to relay Sigma's message while Porter was passed out. She tried to spin around and chase after her friend but it was too late; Porter had been swept along with the crowd and disappeared around a corner. The little girl felt a great pang of sadness and empathy for what Porter was about to go through when he discovered his brother had purposefully abandoned him.

Porter stumbled out of the bustling crowd into the doorway of a classroom. He looked up to see Chase sitting on one side of two desks that had been pushed together. On the other side was an athletic student, his opponent in an arm wrestling match. Chase threw down his enemy's hand, causing a roar to go up around him from his supporters, who immediately began to high-five the superstar. Eventually, Chase caught eyes with Porter standing in the entrance and strolled over to see him, a bit of shock crossing his face.

"Wow Porter, I can't believe you're out of bed already." Chase pounded the pilot on the back as he spoke to him, congratulating him for his achievement in waking up. "I would've thought you were going to mope around a lot more in your room after what you went through and all."

"What do you mean?" Porter tried to think back to that faded memory of a battle. Had he actually lost it and been rescued, thus he should feel depressed?

"You know, what with your brother running off again and leaving you all alone..." Chase trailed off, his brain process catching up with what he was saying as he realized this was probably a bad thing.