[Short Stories: May 2020 Collection]

[wherethemiceare]

All The Wrong Choices (Ashley & Kitty)

"No, Mom. I don't recall either -- No! Hold on, Kat just came home from shopping, let me call you back later." Ashley said, hanging up on her portable house phone, sighing as Kitty minced in with bags of food and at least one bag of clothes. "Busy day?"

"Something like that." Kitty said, plopping the clothes bags onto a couch as she walked into the walk-in kitchen of Ashley's three-floor apartment to put the groceries away.

"Tell me, I'm all ears." Ashley said, tired.

"Did I interrupt a conversation with uh..." Kitty said, a bit anxiously.

"Yeah, but it's no big. Just. Nonsense." The pigtailed girl said.

"Anyways I had two weird encounters today." Kitty said putting the food away in the fridge and pantry.

"Oh?"

"One was this guy who thought I was your mom, except your mom was a teenager and looked just like me from where he was from." Kitty babbled.

"..."

"And the other was some cute girl who said she was sneaking into our club and got turned into a girl and woke up in her brother's closet or something, I dunno, I was kinda distracted." Kitty said, continuing her rambling, putting the eggs away as she bent over.

"Nnnngggh" Ashley groaned.

"... Both of these are probably you-know-who's fault, right?" Kitty aid standing up, briefly looking up at a cage hanging from the roof on the third floor of their mansion apartment.

"..." Ashley looked up as well, resting her face on her knuckles, tapping her foot. That damned cat was causing her so much grief even after she shoved him in a kitty cage. What other problems had he left for her... "So, Kat, what you got planned for dinner tonight."

"Oh I was figuring some steak, but I need you to help me with homework from that math class again..." Kitty said, twirling her finger.



Que Sera Sera (Noriko & Ashley)

"So why am I doing this again, Mom?" Ashley said, putting on sacred vestments of the Da Eiza religion.

"Well. I think you're very good with IT, honey, and you're an expert in biocomputing, and you need to do something with yourself after high school... and..." Noriko said, babbling on, straightening her daughter's collar.

"And the lady I'm facing is a very good IT specialist with expertise in biocomputing, Mom. I looked at her files before I agreed to his." Ashley said in retort.

"Okay. Total honesty? ... I don't trust [Meredith]." Noriko said bluntly, her expression turning bitter with a sense of regret and longing weighing on her face.

"Why? She's about as bad as I am on my worst days." Ashley said, smoothing out the vestments.

"Because you understand love. [Meredith] understands fanaticism." Noriko said. "I'd rather trust this kind of job to someone who isn't so. Blindly devoted to my name but not. My feelings? I guess."

"You realize that's going to be a problem forever, Mom. They think their fanaticism for you is love. Your followers, I mean." Ashley said, trying to put on gloves, before her mother helped her.

"Yes, but I rather not have my computer systems tied to a fanatic who does things she thinks I want done, rather"

"... This has nothing to do with the fact she's made of bugs, does it?" Ashley said, quirking an eyebrow, finally adjusting the gloves.

"Maybe just a little." Noriko said awkwardly, chuckling. "Now do you have anything else to ask before you go into the arena?" Noriko said, molding a smile.

"Why me? You know I'm a walking time bomb."

"... Because I trust you, Aisling Youko Lydia Eternia Gloryday." Noriko said crossing her arms, her smile a bit worn with the ages for a moment.

"Even now?"

"Especially now." Noriko said, undoing Ashley' pigtails before plopping sacred headgear on her daughter's head.

"Now, honey, breathe in, breathe out, and tell me what is the first innermost secret of my faith?" Noriko said, placing her hands on Ashley's shoulders.

"Those who truly understand the endless flame of chaos, have seen into the darkness of existence, and have seen and understand "The Dying Rose Garden". All that is is fated to fade once the Dom Dleifymt Tcypem gives up on the dreams it has painted into existence." Ashley recited from memory.

"And the second?" Noriko asked.

"... In the face of such truth, that is exactly when one must decided to live their life dedicated to that which they dream of and care about, and not give into the abyss of despair and lose all hope." Ashley said recounting.

"Good girl. Now, do your best out there." Noriko said, kissing her daughter's cheek.



ɹoɹɹıɯ, mirror 「 The Other Side 」 (Suburu & Awayoko)

The tension in the air of the waiting room was so thick you could cut a knife, as Awayoko and Suburu, in their work clothes, just sat on opposite sides of the table.

"... Yes?" Suburu said, making the first movie.

"Sabrina." Awayoko said.

"... Suburu. I prefer Suburu."

"Really? I thought you preferred your nickname." Awayoko said confused, wriggling her eyebrows.

"... Let's say I'd prefer it not be used at work." Suburu said, grimacing a bit at the fact her modeling name for Castle & Castle had somehow become an affectionate nickname her family liked to call her, without ever having heard it before. Why...

"Anyways. Are you alright?" Awayoko said, trying to start a conversation.

"Yes. Why?" Suburu said and asked in turn, a bit confused.

"... You are Suburu, right?" Awayoko said, leaning in, a nervous expression on her face.

"Yes. Why." Suburu said a bit creeped out.

"Please don't think I'm crazy, but..." Awayoko said.

"I already do, Awayoko." Suburu retorted.

"... You don't look like yourself?" Awayoko said.

"How."

"Your nose is different. Your eyes are different. Your voice sounds slightly different. You seem..." Awayoko pantomimed the shape of an hourglass. "And before you say it: I'd buy the idea of surgery, but this is a bit extreme, Sab-- Suburu." The redhead with the lollipop leaned back, cautious and ready to fight back.

"..." Suburu pondered. It wasn't that she was against telling her cousin what had happened. She mulled over the options before coming to a simple enough conclusion. "... Would it be enough to say I had a bad day when I tried something with Ashley and Katherine, and it backfired on me, and we could leave it at that, Awa-chan?"

"... That would explain it. But I get the feeling you're leaving out details." Awayoko said pointing her lollipop at her younger cousin.

"Mostly because they're too exhausting to go through." Suburu said with an exasperated look on her face.

Awayoko thought to herself for a moment. She really couldn't counter that as that was the explanation or lack-therefore of how she had realized she preferred to be a woman instead of the boy she was born as. And a lot of it was embarrassing nonsense she only wanted Sanshi to know the full extent of. "I'll accept it for now." Awayoko said. Even if this was some doppelganger, some 'fake', they were so into the role they might as well be Suburu.

"Thanks for trusting me." Suburu said, relaxing a little.

"... I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt." Awayoko said.

Suburu understood what she meant. Awayoko didn't entirely trust her, but she didn't think the girl in front of her was trying to fool her either. And that was good enough for now.



Abraxas (Rekka & Her Midnight Study Group)


"You're late." Suburu said, re-tying her hair back, as Rekka walked in, seeing Suburu and the Chinese(?) vagabond doing their warm-up stretches and exercises.

"I had some business with my friends, Mitsuhara." Rekka said a bit miffed, straightening out her workout pants, before getting into position.

"Okay, are you both ready?" Suburu asked.

"I think I'm good." Rekka said, popping her knuckles.

"Ready here, lady." Zoey said, finishing up her splits and stretches.

The three then took a training stance, as Suburu tried to recall the worn lessons from two different versions of her uncle. "Peerless among all that exists, the fist of the conqueror of creation: Tenchi Hado Ken" She repeated the mantra. She was unsure of herself, the very antithesis of her uncle's methodology. She was completely unsure of herself, of her ability to teach these two, least of all teach herself.

But Suburu yearned for something. A sense of freedom. To awaken from the stifling uncertainty of her own existence, of her own identity. Katherine and Aisling knew what they wanted to be, but she didn't. She looked to the future, and saw nothing, even if the part of her from another world took the lives of the two girls the her from this world loved, as a hunter of witches and monsters. It's why she applied to Castle & Castle, why she was working for her cousins as an intern, why she did this once a week training session. She was sure these two knew what they wanted, more than she did.

The only thing Suburu knew she did want was to talk to her sister again, but that wasn't a future, just a dream.

What was the future she desired, the future her girlfriends could seize so easily, but seemed so hopelessly out of reach for her? She wished she knew, and wished to break through the egg's shell, the egg of the world she found stifling and suffering. But she didn't know how to.

She was a fraud in her own mind.



Abraxas: Repeat (Suburu & Her Mother)

"Hi Mom." Suburu said.

"Sabrina." Her mother said back.

"Suburu." Suburu said, correcting her mother with frustration.

"Whichever name you want to go by." Her mother replied. "How are you."

"Fine. Same as usual."

"Still going through that phase?" Her mother said, disappointed.

"It's... you know what, whatever."

"I don't approve of it, Suburu. But if you can get rich off of it as you've told me hold well off those girls are, you should."

... "I'll keep it in mind."

"So what do you plan to do with yourself after you graduate?"

"... I don't know. I'm still thinking about it, mom."

"Think hard, dear. You're all I have."

Since Haruka disappeared... Suburu thought to herself.

"I know. Love you, Mom."

"Love you too. Take care of yourself."



Concerning Parenthood (Gwendolyn & Noriko)

"So, what's the pleasure or whatever shit." Gwendolyn crained her neck up at the ceiling looking at her 'cousin', as she was tightening a corset.

"... So, have you lost a kid I don't know about. You and Kaz." Noriko asked.

"Wut." Gwen responded, lacing her corset almost automatically.

"It's just. I think I found a kid you and Kaz misplaced. Somehow." Noriko said, confused herself by her own statement.

"Not that I know of." Gwendolyn said, adjusting the outfit to make sure it wouldn't pop off founny.

"... And yet she's there." Noriko said.

"So what's 'er name?" Gwen asked.

"Renat. Renat Briar."

"I think that's a son, Eden."

"Not anymore."

"Pretty sure he was from Russia." Gwen noted, rubbing her chin. "Is Russia even real?"

"In so far as I know." Noriko said shrugging.

"... This is Paradox bullshit, innit?" Gwen said exasperated.

"Probably." Noriko said.

"You know I hate that stuff." Gwen stated.

"Then why did you join a group literally called 'The Magical And Technological Order Of Witches For The Study Of The Illusive Paradoxes Of Reality'?" Noriko said, balking.

"Because you guys let me punch stuff, and get away from dying in the Gladiatorial Rings back home. What was home. Aggggh!" Gwen said getting frustrated, clawing at her own hair.

"..."

"She's probably a ... whatever you stupid Earth idjits call me."

"The closest term would be a Werefox to keep it simple. There's better terms..." Noriko said, adjusting her sunglasses.

"That. ... You're lucky you didn't call me your sister or your entire family might be infected with it." Gwen pointed it out.

"..." Noriko pondered the idea, as if intrigued by it.

Gwen grabbed a novel Kaz had given up on repeatedly and threw it at Noriko's head.

"Ow!"

"No stupid shit, Eden." Gwen said pointedly.

"And why do you keep calling me that."

"Because calling you you and Jezebel your Earth names feels weird."

"... Speaking of her, why haven't you and Kaz asked her to help with that damned ring that's driving him crazy."

"Eden. Think through this a moment, you damned airhead." Gwen smiled with razor sharp teeth, her hands looking a little sharper. "Jezebel cut off her own face 'cuz she was nuts. You can put her in a cute schoolgirl wrapper but that ain't negating the crazy."

"We're working on it!"

"Yes, and she might snap and take off my face like she did Mira, and slice off my name."

"... I hadn't thought of that."

"... What do you think of, even?"

"Mostly cheesecake and which pair of my leopard print clothes are in fashion."

"Ah."

"Anyways. Daughter. You."

"Ugggggggghhhh. I'll deal with it." Gwen said waving her arms annoyed, as her corset popped open.



Sighting (Franny & The Akabas)

"... Repeat that for me, Hartmann." Serena said drumming her hand on the chair's arm.

"I said it seemed like another universe is heading our way." Franny said, explaining.

"Not another dimension overlaying with ours, correct?" President Akaba queried.

"Correct, sir. It's the sheer closeness that's made our resources be able to notice it." Franny said, playing with her hands.

"And what does this mean." Serena asked.

"... It could just be how the multiverse works, like two galaxies flying towards each other, but on a bigger scale. Or..."

"Or?" Reiji said.

"The other option I really hope I'm wrong about, Mr. and Ms. Akaba, that another reality is coming towards ours, and usually when something comes towards you, it's more likely to be a bad thing rather than a good one. Like a wolf." Franny said. "I really really hope I'm wrong about this."

"... Does that have anything to do with that strange... something or other that showed up." Serena asked.

"I'm not sure, Ms. Vice President. I'm not even sure if that was real, it was a tremendous entity... and then it immediately vanished."

"... The fact something like that could just vanish is what has me most worried." Reiji said.

"Yes, the scariest thing in the world is a wolf that can make you think it's a sheep." Franny said, nervously. The implications of that statement weighed on all three in the room.



ɹoɹɹıɯ, mirror 「 The Other Side 」 : Alternative ("Suzie von Brandt")

"No, I haven't found him yet." 'Suzie von Brandt' said. "Needle in a Haystack principle"

"Pii Piiii Piip."

"I know. I'm trying. At least I have another triangulation point done."

"Pii Piii Pii Pi Piip" Cinnabar beeped.

"I know. I hope I can get home in time for that, I feel like dying again if I miss2ed that, dear."

"Pii Piii."

"Same to you." Suzie said, yawning. She flopped on the floor. She felt tired. She needed a coffee before she slept in her hotel room. She wondered if there was anything sweet.