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”AOI!”
A gruff voice called out from a few rooms ahead.
”Hai, otousan!” the young girl responded, lifting from her chair and sprinting to the meeting room where her father waited.
In one hand she carried a box of apple juice, while in the other a magazine talking about the latest shoujo anime, pure black strands of hair falling over her face as she tried increasing her pace, the spider lily almost flying off her head, mad dashing around the legs of every custodian that appeared in front of her like an obstacle course. Finally, she was there. Squeezing her way through the doors that appeared gargantuan to her, she swiftly stuck beside her father's legs, trying to avoid eye contact with all the other people in the room.
”Anything more you wish to add?” Aoi’s father said.
”No, Mr. Kazamino, sir.”
”Good. Today's Father's Day, and I wish to spend the rest of it with my family. If any further surprises appear, contact Momoko.” he spoke with a stern, almost commanding voice, no one daring to lift even a finger as his words filled the room and burrowed into their ears. And yet, the little girl next to him didn't feel intimidated in the least, for she knew the tough exterior her father wore and imposed onto others wasn't his true self.
”Yes, sir.”, everyone else in the room exclaimed at once.
With one last head nod, Mr. Kazamino and Aoi were gone, walking down the long hallway and towards the exit.
”Papa?”
”Hm?”
”What were you talking about with those people?”
”Business stuff. Papa has a lot of important things to do and he has to make sure everyone else understands what their part of the job is as well.”
”Can I help you too?”
Mr. Kazamino began patting Aoi’s head.
”Maybe when you're a bit older, but right now you don't have to worry about any of this. Papa’s got it all sorted out.”
”That man, the one with the orange tie. He seemed to respect you a lot.”
”They all do. I am their boss, after all.”
”Do they respect me too?”
”Of course they do! And if they don't, papa will have a word with them.”
Aoi began giggling.
The sun's rays could be seen invading the building as they were approaching the exit, more and more people now passing by them as they were preparing for another grueling day of work. The entire scene was suddenly halted, however, as static tore through everything, leaving just an empty void of monochrome dots. But just as quickly as it appeared, the static dissipated, revealing another scene.
”Masao!!! Wait for me!!”, Aoi cried out as she tried chasing after her older brother.
She was barely able to keep pace with him, while Masao seemed to put no effort in maintaining the distance between him and his sister. In the far back on a bench, Mr and Mrs Kazamino were laughing at each other, waving at their kids as Mrs Kazamino was recording them. But this sweet scene was but a fleeting image as static once again tore everything to shreds before reforming into a new one. In front of Aoi was a styrofoam food container with natto, the shaking chopsticks in her hand clearly showing hesitation, despite her father’s encouragement. The scene shifted once again, now showing a windy beach, a small creature resembling a cross between a crab and a mantis emerging from the sand, causing Aoi to scream as she ran for her parents. Several more scenes kept flashing by, from a pagoda in construction, to Aoi tossing a coin into a wishing well, to her posing with her brothers as her mother was taking pictures of them, to Aoi inspecting a Daruma doll.
It all suddenly stopped on one final scene, the sun barely visible on the horizon as the night sky was bristling with stars. Aoi was laying on her back, counting all the shining dots she could, fumbling a couple times once she reached the triple digit numbers. It seemed like she was on a field, the gentle breeze causing the grass blades to wave ever so slightly. As she was about to count a particularly large white dot in the sky, she could feel commotion next to her, turning around to see that her father was now sitting beside her.
”Did you have fun today, Aoi?”
”Mhm.” Aoi nodded ecstatically.
Mr. Kazamino laid down, back pains proving such action difficult at first, but eventually he was able to enjoy the same view that his daughter was.
”Papa?”
”Hm?”
”Is that Earth over there?” Aoi asked as she pointed her finger at one of the larger stars.
”No.” Mr Kazamino said as he gently redirected Aoi’s outstretched arm at a star on the far right.
”That's the Sun. And that's where Earth is.”
”But it's so small.”
”It's only small because it's far away.”
”How far away?”
”Very.”
Aoi’s eyes lit up with shock and curiosity.
”Have you ever been on Earth, papa?”
Mr Kazamino didn't respond immediately.
”No. Your great grandparents came from Earth, but my mother was born here, and then so was I. And now so do you.” he said as he grabbed and lightly shook Aoi’s nose, causing her to giggle a lot.
”But don't you wish to visit Earth?” she said as she raised herself up.
”I have thought of it.” the sudden pain coursing through his back as he too was trying to get up forced him to pause for a bit.
”This world is our home now, but I do wish to see the ancestral lands of our people at least one time.”
”An….central?” Aoi asked curiously.
”Ha ha, it means something that used to belong to people from the past, specifically those you, me and everyone else are related to.”
”Including mama?”
”Including mama.”
”Sounds important.”
”It is. Which is why, like I said, I do really want to visit it. And take you and your brothers there too!”
”Can we go now!?”
”Sadly no. Papa still has a lot of work left to do here. But I promise you, one day, we'll see Neo Tokyo and climb Mt. Fuji, together.”
”Together….” Aoi's voice trailed off as she focused her view on the tiny dot in the sky.
Static slowly clouded the scene until it was an unrecognizable monochrome mess. And then. It all cut to black, a faint voice fading into nothing being the last sensible presence in this new void.
”Together…..”
It was at this moment Haruka woke up, gasping for air. Her mind was a swirl of faint images and sounds, like bits and pieces of a movie trying to reassemble itself in a maelstrom of sensory overload. Looking around her to let her view focalize, she slowly felt the panic in her chassis diminish, core light reducing in intensity. Now aware of her surroundings and understanding that it was all a dream, she let herself fall back on her pillow, arms outstretched on each side of the bed, looking at the ceiling with worry in her eyes. She turned her head to her nightstand, a digital clock with a Hastune Miku nendo on top of it showing that it was 5 in the morning. A bit annoyed that she only had 3 hours of sleep, she puffed up her other pillow and cocooned herself back into her sheets. And yet she didn't choose to close her eyes and let herself fall back into dreamland.
”Hey, Aoi. Are you awake?” she whispered, trying to stay quiet from an absent audience.
No response.
”...Aoi?”
Still no response.
Not wanting to insist further, she sunk further into the sheets, ready to fall back asleep.
Until she noticed the colour of the light on her hand, her expression shifting to deep shock.
It was back to her natural orange instead of being cyan.
A sudden frantic set of knocks from downstairs then made her jump.
”HARUKA-CHAN!! HARUKA-CHAN!!!!!!!!!”
She let out a disgruntled sigh. Hopping out of bed, she headed for the window to see who this night visitor was, even though deep down she already knew exactly who it was. In front of the door was Megumi, pounding at the door with her fists, purple eyes as wide circles, the panic in her voice being absolutely palpable.
”Megumi…” she called out as she opened the window.
”HARUKA-CHAN! Hontou ni gomen nasai, but I'm in desperate need of your assistance!!”
”Is it another Yokai?”
”Y-Yes!”
Haruka slammed the window shut and pulled the curtains.
”W-WAIT, HARUKA-CHAN! IT'S IMPORTANT!!”
She tried muffling the voice of her friend with her pillow, but she could still hear her words loud and clear.
”I-I saw it walking down the town center, and it seemed like it was heading towards the tower! You have to believe me! It almost looked like Mr Hiroshige, but they were glowing and floating!!
Loud sounds could be heard coming from inside Haruka's house, descending from her room and quickly making their way towards the door, which was then opened wide.
”Was “it” glowing this cyan colour!?”
”Yes! How did you know?”
But Haruka didn't answer as she blitzed right past the drone, heading towards a location she knew all too well. Megumi followed suit, begging Haruka to slow her pace down.
Eventually, she arrived at Inoshima Tower, its imposing height being as awe inspiring as ever. Megumi did manage to catch up, the drone barely able to stand with her shaking legs.
”Haruka-chan……please don't run so fast” she said as she took in deep breaths.
Haruka was too busy, however, pointing three fingers at a loose sheet of metal, before looking down at her hand.
”Dammit. I forgot.”
Turning around, she grabbed Megumi by the shoulders.
”Stay here, ok?”
She simply nodded, the suddenness of her friend's act making her freeze for a bit. High up on the tower's roof stood a lonely figure, a drone dressed in a simple nightgown and slippers, a cyan aura surrounding them as they looked at the night sky. But where the drone's simple coloured eyes would be, two cyan X’s stood instead.
”I figured you'd be here.”
Haruka's voice caused the drone to swiftly turn around, panic initially taking over them until they saw who it was.
”H-Haruka!? I-I…”
”Don't need to say anything.” She said as she carefully made her way towards Aoi, sitting right next to her.
”How….did you know I was here?”
”A little frog told me.”
Aoi raised a curious eyebrow.
”So, I guess you couldn't sleep and wanted to go out for a walk?”
”A bit. Whenever I can't fall back to sleep, I just go for a walk. But I didn't want to potentially wake you up tonight, since you really needed to rest, so….I just borrowed our neighbor Mr. Hiroshige for a bit.”
”Huh…..wait, what do you mean by “I just go for a walk” and “didn't want to potentially wake you up”? You almost never leave my body except when you possess someone in combat…..HAVE YOU BEEN MAKING ME SLEEPWALK!?”
”I-I DIDN'T WANT TO TELL YOU SINCE I KNEW YOU'D FREAK OUT!!! But yes…..I have been using your body to walk around town while you were in deep sleep.
”How long have you been doing this?”
”For about a year. But very rarely. Since even though I love night walks, it still felt wrong to string you along without ever telling you or even being aware of it.”
Despite being a bit miffed, Haruka leaned closer to her friend, looking up at the star filled sky.
”You don't see nights this clear around this time of year, huh.”
”It's quite beautiful, isn't it?”
A sudden memory flashed in Haruka's mind as the placement of the stars looked oddly familiar, her eyes immediately drifting to the right. She then pointed at the fabled tiny dot in the sky. Aoi was a bit confused at first, but as she kept looking at the direction her friend was pointing, her eyes widened.
”That's Earth, isn't it?”
”Y…Yes! Yes it is!”
”Damn. I'm pretty good at this.”
”Yeah. But, how did you know?”
Haruka’s sudden confidence melted into confusion as images began flashing one by one before her, making her slowly remember her dream.
”Aoi….When did you leave my body? What hour was it?”
”I think it was 4 AM?”
Haruka remained silent, choosing instead to just lay on her back and watch the night sky in its full glory, much to Aoi’s confusion. She could've asked her if she knew if ghosts could leave residual essence behind, like some kind of energy fingerprint wherever they went, or in her case actual data, but she didn't care at that point. Despite not getting any answers, Aoi did the same, laying next to Haruka.
”Do you still want to visit Earth?” Haruka asked.
Aoi’s face once again was taken over by pure shock, swiftly turning her head at her friend, but in an almost knowing manner, she returned her gaze to the stars. From the way she pointed at the exact dot in the sky to that question, deep down, she felt like she knew, somehow, even if it seemed impossible. Just like how her friend did, she tossed all questions aside.
”More than ever.” she said, her characteristic soft tone now replaced by a firm and determined one.
”Even though I'm all that's left, I still want to fulfill that promise.”
Haruka immediately thought about the scene in the field between Aoi and her father, and couldn't help but feel a pit of sadness in her gut.
”Copper-9 is my birth place and Inoshima is my home, but I want to see our ancestral lands in person at least once, regardless of how short the time would be.”
”Do you think I could see it too?”
”Yes. It is as much of a birthright for you as it is for me.”
Haruka didn't know how to respond, being taken quite aback by Aoi’s words, before a smile creeped onto her face.
”I doubt we'll ever be able to go there, what with us needing a spaceship and all, but you know how they say: it's not impossible if you at least try.”
Aoi began smiling as well, the two fist bumping as the night sky kept on presenting its immense beauty before them.
”But really now, I think we should head home before the sun starts rising and we accidentally traumatize Mr Hiroshige.”, said Haruka.
”Haruka-chan! Are you ok?” Megumi’s voice echoed from below as it startled both of them.
”Yeah, I think we should.”