Taking Flight

Akira turned to Pako. "Did she say she will make me forget my last twenty-four hours?"

"Yes, she did," Pako replied, and for some reason, his body rose in the air and began to float. "Hey! I remembered how to use my powers."

Akira stared in disbelief. The black cat was slowly rotating around, casually playing with its tail. To Akira, it seemed as if someone had hung the cat by an invisible string.

"Okay, let's get going," Rin said, bringing Akira's attention back to her.

"No, wait," Akira said, jumping to his feet. "Why do you want to wipe my memory? I mean, I know why you want to wipe my memory, but there is no reason to do it. I'm not going to tell anyone what I saw today. Believe in me."

"Why should I believe in you?" Rin said.

"Because, uh, because." He can't tell her that he met the green lady who gave him the task of collecting nine stones. His memories from the last few hours are too important for him to forget. He will have to choose his words carefully. "Because I want to join your organization."

"Huh. What?"

"What?" Akira stepped back a bit. "Did I say something stupid?"

"Of course. Do you believe that you'll ask to join us, and we will take you in?" She turned and started heading towards the doorway.

Akira picked up the egg-shaped machine, dashed past her, and skidded to a stop at the doorway. "Please, don't wipe my memory."

"Beg as much as you want. There is nothing I can do about it. I'll have to follow the protocol."

"Protocol, huh?" Akira said, ignoring Pako, who was flying around the room. "Bringing me here to your house was also that part of your protocol? The fact that you brought me to your house instead of directly taking me to your headquarters feels a bit weird to me."

"What's weird about that?" Rin asked, snapping. "I brought you here to heal."

"Really? I feel like you could have healed me at the headquarters. I can bet that that place is far equipped and has something way better than this stupid egg."

"Seriously, what is your problem?" Rin asked, balling her fist.

Akira couldn't help smiling. He knew he had got her. "You are probably hiding something. Why did you bring me here to your house? Now that I think about it more, I feel like I've already figured out the answer. You didn't want your people to find out that somebody actually got injured."

Rin let out a frustrated scream. "Yes, it's true I brought you here to keep my perfect record clean."

"Hah!" Akira folded his arms. "Now, if you take me there, I'll tell them the truth that I was mortally injured and was practically on my death bed."

"Do it," Rin said.

"Huh? I'll really do it."

"Yeah, sure," Rin said. "Go ahead and give it a try. But I don't think you'll be able to do it." She raised her balled fist and shot him a purely evil smile. "Because I'm knocking you out right now."

"How unreasonable can you get!" Akira turned to the floating, black cat. "Hey, help me a bit. I saved your life."

Pako stopped flying around. "Uh, I'm pretty sure I died."

"I did save your dead body."

Pako glided back to the floor. "I'm sorry. Considering the conversation I heard between you two, I think she is the guardian of this planet. I don't think I will like to go against one."

Rin smirked. "You are right. I'm a guardian."

"See," Pako said. "It's hopeless, kid."

Akira's head bounced between the two. "Guess, I don't have any option left but to do the thing I'm good at doing."

Rin gave him a blank stare. "Don't tell me, you are thinking of fighting me. It's hopeless. I can easily kill you. You should... What are you doing?"

Akira was collecting the tubes coming out of his stomach, coiling them neatly. Once done, he heaved up the egg-shaped machine, turned, and bolted out of the doorway.

"Hey, stop!" Akira heard Rin shout behind him. Of course, there was no way he was going to stop. Soon, he was running as fast as he could across the long hallway.

"How big is this place," he muttered as doors blurred past him.

"Stop, you idiot," Rin screamed from behind him. Why did she sound so close?

Akira glanced back. Rin was right behind him, running way too fast for someone in blue pajamas. "Are you trying to run away from me?" she said. "I wonder how far you'll be able to run."

You got to be kidding me, Akira thought and leaned forward. He spotted a wooden handrail of a staircase at the end of the hallway. "Almost out of this damn hallway," he muttered.

Akira hadn't noticed that one of the tubes had slipped from his hands and was now dangling dangerously close to his feet. "Leave me alo--" His feet got caught in the tube, and he went flying forward over the handrail. And before he knew it, he was falling, rushing past the curving staircase. The marbled flooring at the end of the stairwell was getting bigger and bigger at an alarming rate. He had avoided death earlier, but this time, it seemed that nothing would stop him from getting his head slammed and then squished on the floor.

Akira closed his eyes and waited. But nothing happened for a while. He slowly opened his eyes and found himself floating just a few inches above the ground.

"Yo," Pako said, hovering next to him. "Guess, I'm going to help you."

"Huh?" Akira didn't know how to respond.

"Wait, you two." Rin's shout floated down from the top.

"We don't have much time. She is coming down," Pako said. "So, where is the exit?"

Akira looked around. They were in a huge hall. Like all the other rooms in the building, the hall was covered in old paintings. Akira spotted a window. "There," he said, pointing.

"Alright," Pako said, and Akira found himself flying towards the window. They broke through the glass and were soon zooming toward the night sky.

Akira had no control over the direction he was going, but he found he could twist and turn around freely. He looked down saw that they had indeed been in a big house. "So, this is where she lives," he muttered as the cold wind of the night rushed past him.

They rose for a while and then abruptly stopped moving.

"Now, this feels like a safe place-yo," Pako said.

"Safe?" Akira said and looked down at the tiny houses and square grids of lights. He didn't think he was afraid of heights, but being at least a thousand feet up in the air without anything under you was too much. He could feel his heart dancing in his ears. "I don't think we can call this safe."

"So, kid," Pako said, "where did you find me? Where is my ship-yo?"

"Uh?" Akira scanned the horizon. It was too dim, but he managed to spot the dark bulge of a familiar-looking hill. "There," he said, pointing. "But why are you helping me now? I thought you didn't want to go against the guardians--that's what you called her, right?"

"You did save my body," Pako said, "and by saving you, I'm saving myself. I need to get back to my ship and get the hell out of this planet."

"Why?"

"Because, in my past life, I just remembered that I used to be some kind of a criminal."

Akira was lost for words.

"FOUND YOU."

Akira looked in the direction of the voice. Something was gaining altitude and was flying in their direction. Akira strained his eyes and realized that it was Rin. He couldn't see her face clearly. But her blue pajamas gave her away. Was she riding a flying bike?

"I'm not letting you two get away from me," Rin said and pulled out what looked like a gun.