Boy Meets Ai

Chapter 46

Chapter 46

The next morning, Shinobu awoke to the blaring of her alarm. She slapped her phone repeatedly, trying to silence the electronic bell. She groaned, her body unwilling to leave the toastiness of her comforter. Unfortunately, the sun poured in through a gap in her drapes, making it impossible to fall back asleep. After some more grumblings and profanities, she reluctantly pulled her groggy self out of bed. Her room was large, about the size of the average apartment. Despite this, it was sparsely furnished. There was the bed (a California King), a desk, a treadmill and a motivational poster on the wall that read: "When a man is sufficiently motivated, discipline takes care of itself." The walls were painted a soft whispy blue with white trim that looked like the sky on a clear day. The vast room filled with bright sunshine as Shinobu threw open the blinds to begin her morning routine. Her parents had devised a workout plan to keep her in shape. She started off with her stretches. Then she moved on to cardio on the treadmill, bumping the speed up to high and running a couple of miles. Next, she did body work on the cold marble floor. 100 pushups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats, and 100 pullups on the bar that was fixed to her bathroom door frame. After that, she cooled down with some yoga. As she sat in child's pose, her thoughts wandered back to Seiko. She silently prayed that her friend would be ok and that he would be able to make amends with Oaklee. She had done her best to give him sound advice and cheer him up but even she wasn't sure if it had been enough. Her phone chimed, interrupting her thoughts and yoga. It was a message from mother that appeared to be a web article. Shinobu opened the link and immediately scowled. The title of the article read:

HAS THE PRINCESS LOST HER CROWN?

It was a report on how the popstar Carrie Flight had begun a steady nose dive on the billboard rankings and how her newest single was "an overproduced, lifeless turd". Shinobu didn't necessarily disagree with that assessment. On top of that though, the article also talked about how Carrie had recently been caught in an altercation with a fan. There was a picture of the performer that was less than flattering, dressed in sweats and sunglasses. The photographer happened to snap the perfect shot as Carrie's fist connected with a man's nose.

[This is not Flight's first instance of assault. The once rising star has a history of brutal attacks. One of which, left one of our photographers in a-]

There was a small knock on the door before her father entered.

"Mom wants to talk downstairs. Now."

Shinobu rolled her eyes at him.

"You have to admit, I clean hit. I should've been a boxer." She pantomimed a couple of jabs.

"Carrie." Her father's voice was stern, with no humor in it.

She looked grimly at the floor. "Yeah. I heard you. I'll be right down." She mumbled.

The long cascading staircase spilled down from the second floor like a waterfall of grayish white marble. Shinobu took each step carefully so as not to make any noise. She didn't want to alert her parents to her presence. She snuck down the long flight of stairs to the massive open foyer. To her left was the dining room where her parents waited across from each other. They sat at their big cherry table that was mainly just for show as the family hadn't eaten together since 3 Christmases ago. Though the door to the dining room was closed, she could clearly picture her mother, sipping her coffee, her well-manicured nails tapping against the spotless table impatiently. Shinobu peaked quickly to make sure the path was clear. It was. She made her way quietly to the back door. Her match was just in a couple of hours, and she knew the conversation her parents wanted to have ended with her losing any contact with the outside world for at least a month. Instead, the young girl decided on buying a hotel room with one of her aliases. It took a big chunk out of her "fly the coop" fund, but it was worth it. If Shinobu could just win the tournament, the prize would give her more than enough to start a life on her own. She could log in at the hotel in peace without worrying about her door getting kicked in. Looking back at what happened, the young woman felt so stupid for how easily that creep had provoked her into hitting him. It was likely that the whole incident had been staged to drag her through the mud. But her parents didn't care about that. All they cared about was success, records sold, fame. To them, Shinobu was worse than what article had called her. If their daughter wasn't perfect, she was nothing. Shinobu was sick and tired of feeling like a pawn on her parents' chess board. Tired of having to be and do what they wanted all the time and still not being good enough.

Smile more. I didn't raise a crybaby.

You're lucky to have us to push you. You'd be nothing without us.

You're looking pudgy, lets get you back on that diet huh?

This is why they think you peaked honey.

The truly sad part of it all was that Shinobu had spent so much of her life feeling guilty, unworthy, and like a failure. That was before she realized there was more to life than fame and status. The young girl got her first taste of freedom in the Ether, and once she found out there was a way to start earning money that her parents couldn't touch, her mind was made up. She wanted to be free. More than anything else, that desire drove her. So, she fought, and would keep fighting until she had enough money to live on her own.

Without another look back, she opened the back door and crept through. Shinobu knew that she would likely be locked in her room after this stunt, but she didn't care. The risk was worth it, if it meant she could cut her parents' strings.