Pet Shop Of Horrors Fan Fiction ❯ How Long Love? ❯ Time ( Chapter 5 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Cousin D 
Tet-chan feels the weight of his guilt.
Anime/Manga: Pet Shop Of Horrors Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Supernatural / Romance / Drama / Angst | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 09.05.2004 | Pages: 4 | Words: 6.4K | Visits: 777 | Status: Completed
Tet-chan feels the weight of his guilt.
Anime/Manga: Pet Shop Of Horrors Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Supernatural / Romance / Drama / Angst | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 09.05.2004 | Pages: 4 | Words: 6.4K | Visits: 777 | Status: Completed
A/N: Mellow is from Petshop of Horrors #4, Digital
HOW LONG LOVE?
Chapter 5: Time
Leon-
Eight years later-
Of course, no one stayed at the HOME FOR EMOTIONALLY DISTURBED CHILDREN forever.
“Good luck in your career in Starfleet, Mr. Barns.”
“Thank you, sir.” Leon stood before Mr. Goti’s desk, keeping his face carefully blank. Leon was eighteen years old now and finally it was legal for him to leave Mr. Goti’s ‘HOME’. He’d never been fond of Mr. Goti and the passed eight years had only made his initial dislike turn into hate. Leon blamed Mr. Goti entirely for whatever had happened to Deirdre. Deirdre had probably died. Leon didn’t know what else to think and the whole situation had only shown Leon why everyone was so cowed by Mr. Goti and his staff. Mr. Goti obviously wasn’t above killing children and that made him dangerous. So, in all the time he was at Mr. Goti’s ‘HOME’ Leon caused no trouble. At least, no trouble that he could be blamed for.
Mr. Goti smiled benignly, as he usually did. “You’ll be a credit to us, as Reginald is.” Mr. Goti’s smile grew and he looked at his computer screen, which he’d obviously been looking at before Leon had come in. “He’s serving on starships, now. An engineer, he did so well in the academy. I‘m afraid we‘ve lost track of him since he‘s left us, though. All this,” Mr. Goti waved his pudgy hand at his computer screen. “It’s all nothing but official documents. He’s done everything he can to ignore my attempts to contact him. I’m quite hurt.”
“Of course, sir.” Deep inside himself, Leon knew that he shouldn’t be dumb about this. He should tell Mr. Goti exactly what he thought ‘Damned two-faced bastard. Acts like he cares! He’s the shit who nearly broke Reggie. He killed Deirdre, I’m sure of it. No one ever saw her after that ‘punishment’. Reggie tried to kill himself when he came back. Reggie was lucky to get away from here and he’d be an idiot to ever come back!’ Leon stayed silent and he didn’t say any of the things he was thinking. There was no point. Nothing he could say would make any difference.
“I hope you won’t be so distant as Reginald, after all we’ve done for you here. You see, Mr. Barns, it’s not only for my peace of mind, so I’ll know that you’re safe, but it’s for your health. I would hate to see you go back to the way you were before you came to us. Without your medications, I don’t think your body would react well.”
That was the truth. They’d done plenty of experiments seeing what would happen if Leon spent time off his meds. Leon couldn’t remember anything that had happened, but Reggie, when he’d still be Leon’s roommate, had told Leon that he acted very strangely. It was safer to keep taking the medication just because Leon hated it when things went on that he didn’t know about, especially when it involved him.
When Leon didn’t respond, Mr. Goti pulled out a hypospray and a bottle of small, white pills from one of his desk drawers. “Take some with you when you leave.” Mr. Goti said, pushing them forward on his desk. “If you want to make it through the Academy, you’ll have to keep a clear head and we both know you can’t do that without your medication. No need to thank me, Leon.” He stood up at that point and walked to the window that overlooked the playground outside.
When Leon looked out, he saw not only the children, but animals. He’d never forgotten his early, though foolish view of animals. Now that he saw them as they really were, though, the world didn’t seem nearly so beautiful. As usual, the crow was watching Leon from a nearby tree.
“I’ll contact you at the Academy in a week or so, when the medication runs out.”
“Yes, sir. Is that all?” Leon wanted to get away from Mr. Goti. He was just minutes away from escaping this place and it would be nice if he didn’t have to spend those minutes with Mr. Goti.
“Yes, yes. Of course, my boy. Just be thankful for what I’m doing for you, Leon. I’ll send you more medication whenever you need it, but in return, I’ll expect you to send me details of your health as often as possible. I need it for my research, you see. Oh, and one more thing, Mr. Barns.”
“Yes, sir?”
“If you happen to meet up with Reginald during your career in Starfleet, I hope you’ll urge him to contact me.”
“Yes, sir.” Leon lied. Reggie had been unspeakably happy to get away from Mr. Goti and Leon wasn’t about to do anything that might ruin that happiness.
***************************************
Less than a week after leaving the ‘HOME’ that had been more like a prison for years of his life, Leon learned that it had been closed down. Though it was quiet, the news spread that someone had called an investigation on Mr. Goti and found that some of his ways of dealing with the children in his care were a bit less than ethical. Questions were raised about the medicines he used, for one. Word came around that all children who had been in Mr. Goti’s care were being put into rehabilitation centers to rid themselves of the chemicals inside of them.
Without hesitation, Leon made a few quick changes to his history file with the Academy. Now, instead of an orphan from who-knows-where, Leon had a mother, father, and a grandmother who all lived in New Jersey. If he was lucky and kept from getting noticed, then no one would pry to deeply into his past. The last thing Leon wanted was to have his life interrupted and to be made a freak in front of the whole world. If they found out that he’d been one of Mr. Goti’s kids, Leon knew his life in Starfleet would be over.
‘Over? Hell, I don’t even know why I’m here.’ He entered Starfleet because it was the fastest way to get away from Mr. Goti and the easiest way to track down Reggie. Other than that, Leon had no interest in Starfleet. In fact, the idea of leaving Earth left him feeling cold and sick. ‘If they find me, they’ll do the same thing Mr. Goti did, won’t they? They’ll start experimenting to see what the drugs did to me. No one would trust me to be in Starfleet if they think Mr. Goti pumped me full of drugs.’
He worried about the medication. How would he be able to go through the Academy with his head filled with useless dreams? Leon’s worries didn’t last long, though. Not long after the news about Mr. Goti’s ‘HOME’ was let out, the rumor spread that Mr. Goti, himself, had been acquitted of all charges. A nurse working for him, Miss Forth, was blamed for giving the strange drugs to the children in her care. Leon couldn’t bring himself to feel badly for her.
Leon did receive a message from Mr. Goti, shortly before his medication ran out.
~I suppose you heard about my unfortunate circumstances, Mr. Barns. I assure you that no matter what the public at large is told, I will continue my work in the field of medicine. As promised, I have sent you another supply of medication and it should last you a month. Providing that you reply to this message with a report of your physical health, another supply will be sent to you in one month. If you should think about telling anyone that we are in contact or what you are receiving from me, let me tell you that it will only lead to no more medication for you. I think you are smart enough to understand the consequences. Sincerely, Mr. Sam Goti.~
Leon stared at the message and hated Mr. Goti. He wasn’t going to tell and he knew that it was just what Mr. Goti wanted. Apparently the Federation wasn’t all that upset about what Mr. Goti had been doing, if they’d let him off so easily. Miss Forth was just doing what she was told, Leon knew that. Nothing Leon could say or do would make any difference and he needed the medication if he was going to graduate from Starfleet Academy.
A wave of dizziness washed over Leon very suddenly and he heard a distant voice,
-Do not forget me, Leon. My lion. I am coming for you.-
Standing up from his desk in his dorm room, Leon groaned and put one hand to the side of his head. The world spun around him for a moment and Leon had to keep his eyes closed until his stomach stopped churning. When the sick feeling finally left him, Leon happened to glance in the mirror and he saw something strange. He saw himself, but older. Long, shaggy blonde hair tied into a loose pony-tail and a cigarette held loosely in his lips. How Leon knew that it was a cigarette, he didn’t know. He’d never seen one before.
-You’re pathetic, brat.- Leon’s other self told him, taking the cigarette out of his mouth to flick off the ashes. He breathed out a puff of smoke. -You’re addicted. I should know.- He looked meaningfully at the cigarette. -You just going to keep being a ‘good boy’? Damn, poppin’ pills like a fuckin’ junkie! I’m ashamed!- He spat this last and Leon felt the burst of anger inside of himself as if he were feeling the same at the same time. -Don’t you know anything? We’re stronger than this, we don’t need those!-
Leon swallowed hard. He’d just taken the pills, hadn’t he? How long ago had it been? A few hours? Surely the dreams wouldn’t start so soon. “You’re not real.”
-Then why are you talking to me, brat? Shit, you really are just a brat. I guess I should say WE really are a brat. Don’t you have any willpower? You think you aren’t gonna get found out the first time they give you a blood test?-
“The medications are undetectable to the normal tests.” Leon found himself replying again. Why was he arguing to a figment of his imagination? “No one’s ever going to know.”
If anything, that only made the Leon in the mirror more angry. -You disgusting little turd! You think that makes it all right?! That goddamned shit went and hook you and a hundred other kids on God know’s what and you’re going to let him get away with it!-
Leon’s hand inched for the pills on his desk. His breathing was too fast and he felt unpleasantly warm all over. “It’s not like that. The Federation approve of what Mr. Goti’s doing, no one would care if I told them the truth.” Color was starting to return to the world and Leon felt something inside of himself shift. He knew the medications were wearing off.
-Don’t feed me that crap! You know what that bastard did and you know you can stop him.-
“No one would believe me!” Leon protested. He loaded the pills into the bottom end of the hypospray, they were turn into a gas in there and get into his body faster than if he just swallowed the pills. “They raided his whole building, searched his files, and they STILL let him free.”
-Who cares what anyone else believes? We both know the truth. He’s doing bad things and no one’s going to stop him. He’s still experimenting on you, what makes you think he isn’t doing the same thing to the others? What kind of coward are you?-
“You don’t understand!”
“Understand what, Barns?”
Leon turned abruptly at the voice and found his roommate standing behind him. “Mark!” Leon had only known his new roommate for a very short while and it wasn’t safe to trust him. “What did...?”
“What did I hear?” Mark gave him a questioning, worried look. “Oh, nothing but you yelling at your reflection. Something bothering you, Barnes?”
-The name’s Orcot, not Barns!- Leon’s reflection growled, lifting his cigarette back to his lips again. He seemed irritation that their conversation had been interrupted.
“No. Nothing’s bothering me.” Leon hastily pressed the hypospray into the crux of his arm and heard the familiar hiss of the injection. “I’m fine. Just fine.” None of this was real. The reflection in the mirror cursed foully at Leon, halfway turning around. It was nothing but his own mind playing tricks on him.
“What’s that?” Mark looked pointedly at Leon’s hypospray.
“Vitamins.”
“Oh.”
The medicine began to take affect and the reflection began to fade right before Leon’s eyes. It didn’t go quietly, though. -He won’t wait forever, ya know. What are we gonna do when he gets here and we don’t know him?- Then the image faded and Leon was left looking at himself, pale and shaking, with his roommate still looking at him from the background.
With a sigh of relief, Leon left the desk and went to his bed. Beside his bed, in a large, ornate cage, was Leon’s near constant companion. Jill. Leon unlocked the large door of the gilded cage and let Jill fly out. The crow flapped around the room a couple of times before she came to rest on Leon’s chest, settling in comfortably. Leon was sure that Jill was the same crow that had been following him around since he was a child, even if he didn’t understand how she could still be alive. Her eyes were as deep and old as ever and Leon felt guarded under those eyes.
“I guess you need those vitamins, Barns.” Mark said, shaking his head. “You look like you’re going to be sick.”
Leon stifled the urge to snap at Mark that his name was Orcot, not Barns.
Tet-chan-
At the Petshop-
Time was passing and Ten-chan didn’t like it one bit.
“Come on, Pon.” Tet-chan shook Pon-chan’s shoulder, yet again, but she still didn’t wake and only cuddled closer to Chris. Her arms were wrapped around his and her cheek was pressed into his shoulder. “Wake up!” Pon-chan muttered something, but then fell back into a deep sleep. “It’s my watch, Pon, go get something to eat.” No response and Tet-chan decided to just let Pon-chan sleep where she was. There was no harm in it, after all. With a shake of his shaggy head, Tet-chan rearranged the blankets on Chris’ bed so he could cover up Pon-chan, too.
Getting soft in his old age, that’s what was happening. Tet-chan didn’t know, exactly, how much time had passed between now and when the Count’s human had been killed, but he knew that time had passed. It was quite the revelation. Animals do not think as humans do and time is a foreign concept to them. Yet Tet-chan couldn't stop counting the time. He wanted so badly for Chris to wake up and be the same gentle, loving child that Tet-chan cared so deeply about. There wasn’t much to do when guarding Chris, few real threats could enter this far into the Petshop, so there was plenty of time to think.
“You mustn't just sulk like that. You’ll ruin that pretty face of yours.” Ten-chan, the white kitsune, was in the doorway with an amused expression on his face. Ten-chan was very different from Tet-chan. He was small, narrow, and thin, but his eyes constantly danced with mischief. He was dressed in his casual clothes, today. Tall black boots and tight fitting, black shorts with a see-through shirt over a black, sleeveless shirt. He wore an earring in his left ear and had his long white hair tied into a braid that reached to his knees even when standing. The top of his hair couldn’t quite be captured by the braid and looked wild, yet strangely fashionable. Far be it from Ten-chan to be unfashionable. In the very center of his forehead, Ten-chan bore what looked like a cast mark. It was his ears, though, that proved he was far from human. His ears were very long and tapered, as no human‘s would have been. In a word, Ten-chan looked like an incubus. “What are you thinking about that makes you scowl, so?” Ten-chan began to stride around the room even as he spoke, not looking directly at Tet-chan, but stopping to look down at Chris and Pon-chan for a moment before he draped himself in one of the big, comfortable chairs the Count had give them, with his leg thrown over one arm. He slouched and somehow managed to make it look sexy.
“Time.”
Ten-chan tilted his head to one side, as if considering the word. “Time? I don’t understand.” He began to fiddle with one of the rings decorating his fingers, but looked at Tet-chan from his half-opened eyes.
“I didn’t think you would.” Ten-chan sat up on the bed and looked down at his charge. It was his turn to watch over Chris and Tet-chan took his responsibility seriously. “He’s been sleeping for nearly four hundred years.” In all that time, Chris hadn’t moved once unless he was being moved to have his clothes changed or to be bathed. “That’s a very long time.”
Ten-chan still didn’t understand and showed it with a raised eyebrow. “Time is an illusion.” It was said in all seriousness and Ten-chan truly believed it. Tet-chan used to believe it. “Unreal and nothing more than a concept imagined in the minds of humans. Why should time concern you, Tet?” Ten-chan was one of those kinds of people who could radiate sexuality just with a look or gesture and Tet-chan wondered if it was this way for all kitsune or if it was just one of Ten-chan’s quirks.
Tet-chan didn’t answer, he couldn’t think of one. Time. It had always been a meaningless word, but suddenly it meant so much. Seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years....and beyond. So much time. Instead of answering, Tet-chan sat on the edge of Chris’ bed and pulled up his legs so he could sit cross-legged. After all this time, Chris was still perfect, like a tiny, ageless angel locked in his endless sleep. Only the Count would be able to wake Chris, or that was how Tet-chan understood it.
The room was dimly lit, a single candelabra with glowing flames on the tall candles giving just enough light to see the blue painted airplanes on the walls. Tet-chan had gotten used to this over the years, just talking in this lonely room. There was so little else to do. “What are you doing here, anyway? Shouldn’t you be doing something?” As it was Tet-chan’s turn to watch over Chris for a while, Ten-chan should be sleeping or playing with his free time. Though no one left the petshop anymore, the petshop itself was immense in size and there were thousands on endless rooms to play in.
“Why? What do you think I should be doing?” Ten-chan looked puzzled and stood up. He took a step and looked down at Tet-chan, a wicked smile on his face. “Think I should be out spying on the world for the boss? Maybe you think my time would be better spent terrorizing humans.” He reached down to touch Tet-chan’s face. His hands felt very soft and Tet-chan allowed the intimate caress when he would allow it from no one else. “Where else should I be? The boss doesn’t need us as he used to.” It was a sad truth. As he was no longer ‘technically’ the Count, having given over his position to his younger brother, he no longer sold contracts to humans. “However, life isn’t over, my friend.” They sat together and Ten-chan pulled Tet-chan into a comforting embrace. “Chris would cry if he saw you wasting away at his side. Won’t you come hunt with me?”
It was tempting, but Tet-chan couldn’t get over his feelings of guilt. “Wouldn’t you rather go on your own?” Normally, he only left Chris for a few minutes at a time, whether it was his turn to be guarding the boy or not. Tet-chan hadn’t seen sunlight in a very long time.
“Not really.” He gave Tet-chan a secretive, seductive smile. “Hunting is so much more fun with a partner.” Ten-chan had a habit of sleeping with anyone who struck his fancy. It was no wonder he was so popular, really. Logically, a kitsune was the perfect lover. Ten-chan could be anything...anyone. With his ability to take the physical form of any creature, Ten-chan could be male or female, depending on his mood and the preference of his prospective partner. He could be tall or short, any color hair and eyes, any color skin, he could even determine what species he wished to be. Ten-chan brought his hand away from Tet-chan and rolled over so his head was resting on the pillows next to Chris’ head and his knees were over Tet-chan’s legs, crossed his legs at the ankles. “So, what’s all this nonsense about time?”
“I don’t know. Ever since the Count put Chris to sleep, I can feel time moving slowly by. I can’t help counting time, now.” Tet-chan didn’t like the gnawing feeling inside his stomach, like something were trying to eat him from the inside out. “I feel like I’ve been in this room forever but time keeps rolling on and on. I can’t stop it and I can’t forget.” Tet-chan felt suddenly angry at everything and he wrapped his arms around himself, his long claws digging into the flesh of his upper arms, to prevent himself from lashing out. “I can’t stop thinking about it!” It sometimes felt as if he might go mad.
“Have you spoken with the boss about this?”
Tet-chan didn’t meet Ten-chan’s eyes. Of course, it was the most logical action, to ask the Count for help. Tet-chan found that he couldn’t stand to be in the same room as the Count, anymore. The one person he had loved more than his own life and Tet-chan had made him so sad. Everyone in the petshop had blamed the thief who had shot poor Leon, but not Tet-chan. He knew the truth. It was his fault. He was the petshop’s protector and it was his responsibility to protect everyone in the petshop, including Leon. Because of Tet-chan’s incompetence, Count D had cried. Tet-chan just couldn’t forgive himself for that. How could he be so insolent as to ask the Count for help after all the pain he’d caused?
As if he knew what Tet-chan was thinking, Ten-chan nuzzled against Chris’ face gently and kept one hand on Tet-chan’s hand. “You’re sulking again. What will the Count say when he sees those wrinkles on your face?”
‘He’ll say I deserve them.’ Tet-chan thought, morosely. ‘If I’d been home, none of this would have happened. I’m supposed to be protecting the petshop, not the other pets and certainly not Leon. I should have made Chris stay home and do his homework, he had plenty to do. If I’d been here when I was supposed to be Leon wouldn’t have been killed and the Count would have been happy.’
“That sour faces does not suit you.” Ten-chan shifted himself until he was kneeling on the wide bed next to Tet-chan. As with all animals, Ten-chan was very tactile, he liked to touch. So he used both hands to pet Tet-chan’s face, running his thumbs over Tet-chan’s eyelids and temples, the palms of his hands busy smoothing his cheeks. He put both his hands on Tet-chan’s sensitive horns. “I know what you’re thinking.” Ten-chan muttered, moving close enough that Tet-chan could feel Ten-chan‘s breath against his ear. “Fool that you are.”
Tet-chan snarled at the mild insult, his lips parting to show off his fearsome jaws, but didn’t he strike out at Ten-chan. It was impossible to know the kitsune for so long without getting to know that this was just the way he often spoke to people. Tet-chan stood up, pulling away from Ten-chan. “I‘m going for a walk.”
“Tet.”
“What?” Tet-chan paused for just a moment on his way out the door.
“Time is a human thought and one that we should be concerned with. Your imagined guilt and self-pity will destroy you. You are NOT human. You must not think like one.” His voice was far more serious than Tet-chan had ever heard it before and that worried him. “Chris will wake and Leon will return to us. The boss has promised and he does not lie to us. You have nothing to feel guilty about.”
“Easy for you to say. You were there. You fought for Leon and you even took a bullet for him. I wasn’t.” Tet-chan left the room without even looking back at Ten-chan. “I didn’t just fail Chris. I failed the Count.”
Tet-chan passed many rooms on his way stroll through the Petshop, but he stopped at only one. He paused and just watched, peering around the corner of the door.
The Count sat at a computer screen, his delicate features marred by the light of the screen. He was entirely all, it seemed, and sat in the darkness . “Are you sure, Mellow?”
*Yes, Count. I am sorry to tell you. No word has been reported. No signs anywhere of any such creature resembling detective Orcot.* The soft voice came from the computer. Tet-chan had always been weary of Mellow, the computer-generated fish, ever since she‘d come to reside at the petshop. He didn’t know what to make of her. She had no scent, though she was definitely alive; she spoke and learned and even had emotions so Tet-chan knew she must be alive. But she had no scent and all creatures had a scent.
“I see. Thank you for looking again, Mellow.”
*There is no need to thank me, Count. I will continue the search.*
Count D’s head hung, his hair falling slightly to conceal his face and Tet-chan felt his master’s pain as acutely as if it had been his own. Count D had spent countless hours in that room, the only room in the petshop that contained a computer, the computer in which the digital fish lived.
Tet-chan hid when Count D stood and gracefully made his way out of the room to go off and do whatever it was that he needed to do. Though he no longer had dealings with humans or even left the petshop anymore, Count D was far from being free of his responsibilities. Many of his pets had chosen to stay with him, though the years and he cared for them all. There was no doubt someone, somewhere who needed his attention.
When Count D had left, Tet-chan snuck into the computer room. He’d never actually spoken with Mellow. “Hey. Hey, fishie. You there?” Tet-chan tapped on the glass screen with the tips of his long claws.
*Fishie?* Slowly, the blank screen revealed the image of Mellow. She was beautiful, in a strange way. Large, dark eyes and long hair that waved, as though she really was underwater, and a sweet expression that bespoke a creature who had never lived in the real world. In fact, Mellow’s only contact with what Tet-chan knew as reality was through the computer screen. It wasn‘t a completely empty world she lived in, from what Tet-chan had heard about her, though. She‘d even had her heart broken by some human, the man who had created her, when she saw him murdered. Something that wasn’t really alive and she had loved so deeply. *I don’t know you?* She seemed to float closer and peered out at Tet-chan. *Who are you? Where is the Count?*
“He just left and I‘m called Tet-chan, by the Count. What does the Count have you looking for?”
*He’s asked me to look for a man, detective Orcot.* The image of Mellow vanished and was replaced by a picture of Leon. It was a photo of Leon in his police uniform, an old picture from before he’d met Count D. Leon looked even younger than when Tet-chan had known him, his hair shorter and his eyes more carefree. *I saw him before, he was with the Count when the Count came to me, that first time. The detective who was looking for Jody.* She paused and the image of Leon faded, replaced by a somber looking Mellow. *That ugly man who brought the thunder that took Jody away from me. The thunder that killed Jody.*
It was gunshots, Tet-chan remembered. Jody had been shot to death.
“Did you find him, yet?”
*No. I don’t understand the Count’s urgency, though. The Count tells me that detective Orcot is to be reincarnated. The chances of him looking as he used to look are very slim, almost nonexistent. He is bound to appear different. His name will have changed, also, depending upon whose family he is born into. It is highly unlikely that he will remember any of his previous life. I doubt we will be able to find what body detective Orcot is born into and he will die, again, before he is known to us.*
Tet-chan felt his heart stop, just for a moment, at that. “You’re wrong, Fishie. The Count won’t let that stupid human get away so easily.” If he did...if the Count never got his Leon back...where would that leave Chris? Count D said he wouldn’t wake ChriLeon was returned to them, so the brothers could live together again. If Leon didn’t come back, would Chris ever wake? “How do you search? You can’t even leave your screen?” Tet-chan had never before been interested in human technology, but now it could help Chris.
*My system is linked with most other computer systems on Earth. Humans are ruled by computers, vulnerable without them. By traveling through these lines of communication, I am able to access much information. If, by some wild chance, there is news of detective Orcot, I will find it. But, I fear we will not find him.* Mellow put her hand up and pressed it against her side of the screen. It almost looked as if she were trying to reach him through a window. *I have been searching for detective Orcot for many, many years. Though I would hate to give the Count news that would upset him...*
“Then don’t!” Tet-chan barked, slamming the palms of his hands down onto the desk the computer sat on. “He wants you to keep looking, then you keep looking! You tell him anything else and it’ll just make him sad.” Tet-chan couldn’t stand that. He couldn’t bear the sight of Count D crying. “He’s our master so you just obey orders, just like the rest of us.”
Mellow cringed away, pulled her hand away from the screen and started to visibly tremble. She wasn’t the bravest of all creatures. *I meant no disrespect to the Count, truly. I would not think of disobedience, not after all he has done for me. Without him, I would have remained lost within my grief. My dear Jody...I will do as the Count asks for as long as he asks. I am his...as you are.* As she spoke, Mellow seemed to gather up her scattered courage. *You must accept reality, though.. We may never...*
“Enough!” Tet-chan half turned away from Mellow. “I don’t want to hear your warnings. Just find that human.”
Years slowly crawled by.
Tet-chan was asleep when the Count made his announcement. Again, Tet-chan found himself counting time. Days. He understood the concept of time. The ticking of a clock, which he’d once thought nothing more than a mere decoration, seemed to rule his life. Tet-chan grew to hate the clock in the petshop’s parlor and began to avoid the parlor altogether.
“Tet-chan, wake up.” He woke to Ten-chan and Pon-chan looking down at him. “Big news! Big, big news!” Pon-chan smiled sweetly, though there was a terrible nervousness in her eyes.
“What?!“ Tet-chan sat up pushed her back a bit, furious at himself that the child had managed to not only get in the room without him waking up, but climbed up and sat on his chest. ‘Disgraceful! And I thought I was suitable to guard Chris!’ “Get off me, gaki!”
Pon-chan ignored Tet-chan’s irritable grumbling and threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. “You’ll be so happy, Tet-chan! Leon’s been reborn! The Count’s very sure and we’re going after him!”
As always, Ten-chan just grinned . “Easy, Pon.” He lifted the raccoon girl off Tet-chan and set her on his own lap. “You know Tet’s always grumpy when he wakes up.” Ten-chan shifted his gaze back to Tet-chan, who had the uncomfortable feeling that he was being laughed at. Ten-chan used one elegant hand to pull his long braid over his shoulder and tickled Pon-chan under the chin with the end. “We don’t want to raise his hopes, do we?”
“Yes, we do!” Pon-chan exclaimed with a giggle. Unable to contain her excitement, Pon-chan launched herself out of Ten-chan’s arms and gave Tet-chan another, fleeting, hug before she crawled passed him to where Chris still lay in his endless slumber. She put her arms around Chris and kissed his cheek. “Chris is gonna wake up!”
Tet-chan just gaped, first at Pon-chan, happily snuggling into Chris’ side, and then at Ten-chan. “You’re...sure?”
Ten-chan, for a moment, looked as if he’d say nothing and just grin, teasingly, at Tet-chan. Then he relented. “The boss told us to wake you. He’s sorry to wake you up, but he thought you’d want to hear the news with everyone else. We’re to all meet in the parlor. Pon and I already know, so we’ll stay with Chris, you go.”
Tet-chan stood up, still not quite believing what he’d heard. “Parlor?” He felt like an idiot, but...after so long... “Chris is gonna....”
Ten-chan laughed. “Yeah, yeah. The kid’s gonna wake up. Just go, will ya?”
By the time Tet-chan made his way to the parlor, he was nearly the last one to appear in the crowded room.
"Everyone," Count D said in his mesmerizing voice. "I will be leaving Earth shortly. It would be unfair of me to ask you all to come with me, so if you wish to stay on Earth, my younger brother will take you all into his menagerie."
Tet-chan answered, “"We won't leave you, count. We won't ever leave you." He said it quickly, without thinking, really. He was rewarded by a smile for Count D and that was all Tet-chan needed.
“This is not going to be just a pleasant stroll, I must warn you.” Count D said. “I...believe our dear detective is no longer on this planet.”
Tet-chan barely listened to the rest of what Count D was saying. It didn’t matter. He meant what he’d said, he would follow the Count anywhere. How the Count knew where Leon was or why Leon should want to leave the Earth, Tet-chan had no idea. Maybe Mellow had finally found Leon. It didn’t really matter.
Leon was back...somewhere. Chris was going to wake up.
Tet-chan felt a smile tugging at his lips. For the first time in a long time, the parlor clock’s ticking didn’t make Tet-chan want to break down in tears.
to be continued...
HOW LONG LOVE?
Chapter 5: Time
Leon-
Eight years later-
Of course, no one stayed at the HOME FOR EMOTIONALLY DISTURBED CHILDREN forever.
“Good luck in your career in Starfleet, Mr. Barns.”
“Thank you, sir.” Leon stood before Mr. Goti’s desk, keeping his face carefully blank. Leon was eighteen years old now and finally it was legal for him to leave Mr. Goti’s ‘HOME’. He’d never been fond of Mr. Goti and the passed eight years had only made his initial dislike turn into hate. Leon blamed Mr. Goti entirely for whatever had happened to Deirdre. Deirdre had probably died. Leon didn’t know what else to think and the whole situation had only shown Leon why everyone was so cowed by Mr. Goti and his staff. Mr. Goti obviously wasn’t above killing children and that made him dangerous. So, in all the time he was at Mr. Goti’s ‘HOME’ Leon caused no trouble. At least, no trouble that he could be blamed for.
Mr. Goti smiled benignly, as he usually did. “You’ll be a credit to us, as Reginald is.” Mr. Goti’s smile grew and he looked at his computer screen, which he’d obviously been looking at before Leon had come in. “He’s serving on starships, now. An engineer, he did so well in the academy. I‘m afraid we‘ve lost track of him since he‘s left us, though. All this,” Mr. Goti waved his pudgy hand at his computer screen. “It’s all nothing but official documents. He’s done everything he can to ignore my attempts to contact him. I’m quite hurt.”
“Of course, sir.” Deep inside himself, Leon knew that he shouldn’t be dumb about this. He should tell Mr. Goti exactly what he thought ‘Damned two-faced bastard. Acts like he cares! He’s the shit who nearly broke Reggie. He killed Deirdre, I’m sure of it. No one ever saw her after that ‘punishment’. Reggie tried to kill himself when he came back. Reggie was lucky to get away from here and he’d be an idiot to ever come back!’ Leon stayed silent and he didn’t say any of the things he was thinking. There was no point. Nothing he could say would make any difference.
“I hope you won’t be so distant as Reginald, after all we’ve done for you here. You see, Mr. Barns, it’s not only for my peace of mind, so I’ll know that you’re safe, but it’s for your health. I would hate to see you go back to the way you were before you came to us. Without your medications, I don’t think your body would react well.”
That was the truth. They’d done plenty of experiments seeing what would happen if Leon spent time off his meds. Leon couldn’t remember anything that had happened, but Reggie, when he’d still be Leon’s roommate, had told Leon that he acted very strangely. It was safer to keep taking the medication just because Leon hated it when things went on that he didn’t know about, especially when it involved him.
When Leon didn’t respond, Mr. Goti pulled out a hypospray and a bottle of small, white pills from one of his desk drawers. “Take some with you when you leave.” Mr. Goti said, pushing them forward on his desk. “If you want to make it through the Academy, you’ll have to keep a clear head and we both know you can’t do that without your medication. No need to thank me, Leon.” He stood up at that point and walked to the window that overlooked the playground outside.
When Leon looked out, he saw not only the children, but animals. He’d never forgotten his early, though foolish view of animals. Now that he saw them as they really were, though, the world didn’t seem nearly so beautiful. As usual, the crow was watching Leon from a nearby tree.
“I’ll contact you at the Academy in a week or so, when the medication runs out.”
“Yes, sir. Is that all?” Leon wanted to get away from Mr. Goti. He was just minutes away from escaping this place and it would be nice if he didn’t have to spend those minutes with Mr. Goti.
“Yes, yes. Of course, my boy. Just be thankful for what I’m doing for you, Leon. I’ll send you more medication whenever you need it, but in return, I’ll expect you to send me details of your health as often as possible. I need it for my research, you see. Oh, and one more thing, Mr. Barns.”
“Yes, sir?”
“If you happen to meet up with Reginald during your career in Starfleet, I hope you’ll urge him to contact me.”
“Yes, sir.” Leon lied. Reggie had been unspeakably happy to get away from Mr. Goti and Leon wasn’t about to do anything that might ruin that happiness.
***************************************
Less than a week after leaving the ‘HOME’ that had been more like a prison for years of his life, Leon learned that it had been closed down. Though it was quiet, the news spread that someone had called an investigation on Mr. Goti and found that some of his ways of dealing with the children in his care were a bit less than ethical. Questions were raised about the medicines he used, for one. Word came around that all children who had been in Mr. Goti’s care were being put into rehabilitation centers to rid themselves of the chemicals inside of them.
Without hesitation, Leon made a few quick changes to his history file with the Academy. Now, instead of an orphan from who-knows-where, Leon had a mother, father, and a grandmother who all lived in New Jersey. If he was lucky and kept from getting noticed, then no one would pry to deeply into his past. The last thing Leon wanted was to have his life interrupted and to be made a freak in front of the whole world. If they found out that he’d been one of Mr. Goti’s kids, Leon knew his life in Starfleet would be over.
‘Over? Hell, I don’t even know why I’m here.’ He entered Starfleet because it was the fastest way to get away from Mr. Goti and the easiest way to track down Reggie. Other than that, Leon had no interest in Starfleet. In fact, the idea of leaving Earth left him feeling cold and sick. ‘If they find me, they’ll do the same thing Mr. Goti did, won’t they? They’ll start experimenting to see what the drugs did to me. No one would trust me to be in Starfleet if they think Mr. Goti pumped me full of drugs.’
He worried about the medication. How would he be able to go through the Academy with his head filled with useless dreams? Leon’s worries didn’t last long, though. Not long after the news about Mr. Goti’s ‘HOME’ was let out, the rumor spread that Mr. Goti, himself, had been acquitted of all charges. A nurse working for him, Miss Forth, was blamed for giving the strange drugs to the children in her care. Leon couldn’t bring himself to feel badly for her.
Leon did receive a message from Mr. Goti, shortly before his medication ran out.
~I suppose you heard about my unfortunate circumstances, Mr. Barns. I assure you that no matter what the public at large is told, I will continue my work in the field of medicine. As promised, I have sent you another supply of medication and it should last you a month. Providing that you reply to this message with a report of your physical health, another supply will be sent to you in one month. If you should think about telling anyone that we are in contact or what you are receiving from me, let me tell you that it will only lead to no more medication for you. I think you are smart enough to understand the consequences. Sincerely, Mr. Sam Goti.~
Leon stared at the message and hated Mr. Goti. He wasn’t going to tell and he knew that it was just what Mr. Goti wanted. Apparently the Federation wasn’t all that upset about what Mr. Goti had been doing, if they’d let him off so easily. Miss Forth was just doing what she was told, Leon knew that. Nothing Leon could say or do would make any difference and he needed the medication if he was going to graduate from Starfleet Academy.
A wave of dizziness washed over Leon very suddenly and he heard a distant voice,
-Do not forget me, Leon. My lion. I am coming for you.-
Standing up from his desk in his dorm room, Leon groaned and put one hand to the side of his head. The world spun around him for a moment and Leon had to keep his eyes closed until his stomach stopped churning. When the sick feeling finally left him, Leon happened to glance in the mirror and he saw something strange. He saw himself, but older. Long, shaggy blonde hair tied into a loose pony-tail and a cigarette held loosely in his lips. How Leon knew that it was a cigarette, he didn’t know. He’d never seen one before.
-You’re pathetic, brat.- Leon’s other self told him, taking the cigarette out of his mouth to flick off the ashes. He breathed out a puff of smoke. -You’re addicted. I should know.- He looked meaningfully at the cigarette. -You just going to keep being a ‘good boy’? Damn, poppin’ pills like a fuckin’ junkie! I’m ashamed!- He spat this last and Leon felt the burst of anger inside of himself as if he were feeling the same at the same time. -Don’t you know anything? We’re stronger than this, we don’t need those!-
Leon swallowed hard. He’d just taken the pills, hadn’t he? How long ago had it been? A few hours? Surely the dreams wouldn’t start so soon. “You’re not real.”
-Then why are you talking to me, brat? Shit, you really are just a brat. I guess I should say WE really are a brat. Don’t you have any willpower? You think you aren’t gonna get found out the first time they give you a blood test?-
“The medications are undetectable to the normal tests.” Leon found himself replying again. Why was he arguing to a figment of his imagination? “No one’s ever going to know.”
If anything, that only made the Leon in the mirror more angry. -You disgusting little turd! You think that makes it all right?! That goddamned shit went and hook you and a hundred other kids on God know’s what and you’re going to let him get away with it!-
Leon’s hand inched for the pills on his desk. His breathing was too fast and he felt unpleasantly warm all over. “It’s not like that. The Federation approve of what Mr. Goti’s doing, no one would care if I told them the truth.” Color was starting to return to the world and Leon felt something inside of himself shift. He knew the medications were wearing off.
-Don’t feed me that crap! You know what that bastard did and you know you can stop him.-
“No one would believe me!” Leon protested. He loaded the pills into the bottom end of the hypospray, they were turn into a gas in there and get into his body faster than if he just swallowed the pills. “They raided his whole building, searched his files, and they STILL let him free.”
-Who cares what anyone else believes? We both know the truth. He’s doing bad things and no one’s going to stop him. He’s still experimenting on you, what makes you think he isn’t doing the same thing to the others? What kind of coward are you?-
“You don’t understand!”
“Understand what, Barns?”
Leon turned abruptly at the voice and found his roommate standing behind him. “Mark!” Leon had only known his new roommate for a very short while and it wasn’t safe to trust him. “What did...?”
“What did I hear?” Mark gave him a questioning, worried look. “Oh, nothing but you yelling at your reflection. Something bothering you, Barnes?”
-The name’s Orcot, not Barns!- Leon’s reflection growled, lifting his cigarette back to his lips again. He seemed irritation that their conversation had been interrupted.
“No. Nothing’s bothering me.” Leon hastily pressed the hypospray into the crux of his arm and heard the familiar hiss of the injection. “I’m fine. Just fine.” None of this was real. The reflection in the mirror cursed foully at Leon, halfway turning around. It was nothing but his own mind playing tricks on him.
“What’s that?” Mark looked pointedly at Leon’s hypospray.
“Vitamins.”
“Oh.”
The medicine began to take affect and the reflection began to fade right before Leon’s eyes. It didn’t go quietly, though. -He won’t wait forever, ya know. What are we gonna do when he gets here and we don’t know him?- Then the image faded and Leon was left looking at himself, pale and shaking, with his roommate still looking at him from the background.
With a sigh of relief, Leon left the desk and went to his bed. Beside his bed, in a large, ornate cage, was Leon’s near constant companion. Jill. Leon unlocked the large door of the gilded cage and let Jill fly out. The crow flapped around the room a couple of times before she came to rest on Leon’s chest, settling in comfortably. Leon was sure that Jill was the same crow that had been following him around since he was a child, even if he didn’t understand how she could still be alive. Her eyes were as deep and old as ever and Leon felt guarded under those eyes.
“I guess you need those vitamins, Barns.” Mark said, shaking his head. “You look like you’re going to be sick.”
Leon stifled the urge to snap at Mark that his name was Orcot, not Barns.
Tet-chan-
At the Petshop-
Time was passing and Ten-chan didn’t like it one bit.
“Come on, Pon.” Tet-chan shook Pon-chan’s shoulder, yet again, but she still didn’t wake and only cuddled closer to Chris. Her arms were wrapped around his and her cheek was pressed into his shoulder. “Wake up!” Pon-chan muttered something, but then fell back into a deep sleep. “It’s my watch, Pon, go get something to eat.” No response and Tet-chan decided to just let Pon-chan sleep where she was. There was no harm in it, after all. With a shake of his shaggy head, Tet-chan rearranged the blankets on Chris’ bed so he could cover up Pon-chan, too.
Getting soft in his old age, that’s what was happening. Tet-chan didn’t know, exactly, how much time had passed between now and when the Count’s human had been killed, but he knew that time had passed. It was quite the revelation. Animals do not think as humans do and time is a foreign concept to them. Yet Tet-chan couldn't stop counting the time. He wanted so badly for Chris to wake up and be the same gentle, loving child that Tet-chan cared so deeply about. There wasn’t much to do when guarding Chris, few real threats could enter this far into the Petshop, so there was plenty of time to think.
“You mustn't just sulk like that. You’ll ruin that pretty face of yours.” Ten-chan, the white kitsune, was in the doorway with an amused expression on his face. Ten-chan was very different from Tet-chan. He was small, narrow, and thin, but his eyes constantly danced with mischief. He was dressed in his casual clothes, today. Tall black boots and tight fitting, black shorts with a see-through shirt over a black, sleeveless shirt. He wore an earring in his left ear and had his long white hair tied into a braid that reached to his knees even when standing. The top of his hair couldn’t quite be captured by the braid and looked wild, yet strangely fashionable. Far be it from Ten-chan to be unfashionable. In the very center of his forehead, Ten-chan bore what looked like a cast mark. It was his ears, though, that proved he was far from human. His ears were very long and tapered, as no human‘s would have been. In a word, Ten-chan looked like an incubus. “What are you thinking about that makes you scowl, so?” Ten-chan began to stride around the room even as he spoke, not looking directly at Tet-chan, but stopping to look down at Chris and Pon-chan for a moment before he draped himself in one of the big, comfortable chairs the Count had give them, with his leg thrown over one arm. He slouched and somehow managed to make it look sexy.
“Time.”
Ten-chan tilted his head to one side, as if considering the word. “Time? I don’t understand.” He began to fiddle with one of the rings decorating his fingers, but looked at Tet-chan from his half-opened eyes.
“I didn’t think you would.” Ten-chan sat up on the bed and looked down at his charge. It was his turn to watch over Chris and Tet-chan took his responsibility seriously. “He’s been sleeping for nearly four hundred years.” In all that time, Chris hadn’t moved once unless he was being moved to have his clothes changed or to be bathed. “That’s a very long time.”
Ten-chan still didn’t understand and showed it with a raised eyebrow. “Time is an illusion.” It was said in all seriousness and Ten-chan truly believed it. Tet-chan used to believe it. “Unreal and nothing more than a concept imagined in the minds of humans. Why should time concern you, Tet?” Ten-chan was one of those kinds of people who could radiate sexuality just with a look or gesture and Tet-chan wondered if it was this way for all kitsune or if it was just one of Ten-chan’s quirks.
Tet-chan didn’t answer, he couldn’t think of one. Time. It had always been a meaningless word, but suddenly it meant so much. Seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years....and beyond. So much time. Instead of answering, Tet-chan sat on the edge of Chris’ bed and pulled up his legs so he could sit cross-legged. After all this time, Chris was still perfect, like a tiny, ageless angel locked in his endless sleep. Only the Count would be able to wake Chris, or that was how Tet-chan understood it.
The room was dimly lit, a single candelabra with glowing flames on the tall candles giving just enough light to see the blue painted airplanes on the walls. Tet-chan had gotten used to this over the years, just talking in this lonely room. There was so little else to do. “What are you doing here, anyway? Shouldn’t you be doing something?” As it was Tet-chan’s turn to watch over Chris for a while, Ten-chan should be sleeping or playing with his free time. Though no one left the petshop anymore, the petshop itself was immense in size and there were thousands on endless rooms to play in.
“Why? What do you think I should be doing?” Ten-chan looked puzzled and stood up. He took a step and looked down at Tet-chan, a wicked smile on his face. “Think I should be out spying on the world for the boss? Maybe you think my time would be better spent terrorizing humans.” He reached down to touch Tet-chan’s face. His hands felt very soft and Tet-chan allowed the intimate caress when he would allow it from no one else. “Where else should I be? The boss doesn’t need us as he used to.” It was a sad truth. As he was no longer ‘technically’ the Count, having given over his position to his younger brother, he no longer sold contracts to humans. “However, life isn’t over, my friend.” They sat together and Ten-chan pulled Tet-chan into a comforting embrace. “Chris would cry if he saw you wasting away at his side. Won’t you come hunt with me?”
It was tempting, but Tet-chan couldn’t get over his feelings of guilt. “Wouldn’t you rather go on your own?” Normally, he only left Chris for a few minutes at a time, whether it was his turn to be guarding the boy or not. Tet-chan hadn’t seen sunlight in a very long time.
“Not really.” He gave Tet-chan a secretive, seductive smile. “Hunting is so much more fun with a partner.” Ten-chan had a habit of sleeping with anyone who struck his fancy. It was no wonder he was so popular, really. Logically, a kitsune was the perfect lover. Ten-chan could be anything...anyone. With his ability to take the physical form of any creature, Ten-chan could be male or female, depending on his mood and the preference of his prospective partner. He could be tall or short, any color hair and eyes, any color skin, he could even determine what species he wished to be. Ten-chan brought his hand away from Tet-chan and rolled over so his head was resting on the pillows next to Chris’ head and his knees were over Tet-chan’s legs, crossed his legs at the ankles. “So, what’s all this nonsense about time?”
“I don’t know. Ever since the Count put Chris to sleep, I can feel time moving slowly by. I can’t help counting time, now.” Tet-chan didn’t like the gnawing feeling inside his stomach, like something were trying to eat him from the inside out. “I feel like I’ve been in this room forever but time keeps rolling on and on. I can’t stop it and I can’t forget.” Tet-chan felt suddenly angry at everything and he wrapped his arms around himself, his long claws digging into the flesh of his upper arms, to prevent himself from lashing out. “I can’t stop thinking about it!” It sometimes felt as if he might go mad.
“Have you spoken with the boss about this?”
Tet-chan didn’t meet Ten-chan’s eyes. Of course, it was the most logical action, to ask the Count for help. Tet-chan found that he couldn’t stand to be in the same room as the Count, anymore. The one person he had loved more than his own life and Tet-chan had made him so sad. Everyone in the petshop had blamed the thief who had shot poor Leon, but not Tet-chan. He knew the truth. It was his fault. He was the petshop’s protector and it was his responsibility to protect everyone in the petshop, including Leon. Because of Tet-chan’s incompetence, Count D had cried. Tet-chan just couldn’t forgive himself for that. How could he be so insolent as to ask the Count for help after all the pain he’d caused?
As if he knew what Tet-chan was thinking, Ten-chan nuzzled against Chris’ face gently and kept one hand on Tet-chan’s hand. “You’re sulking again. What will the Count say when he sees those wrinkles on your face?”
‘He’ll say I deserve them.’ Tet-chan thought, morosely. ‘If I’d been home, none of this would have happened. I’m supposed to be protecting the petshop, not the other pets and certainly not Leon. I should have made Chris stay home and do his homework, he had plenty to do. If I’d been here when I was supposed to be Leon wouldn’t have been killed and the Count would have been happy.’
“That sour faces does not suit you.” Ten-chan shifted himself until he was kneeling on the wide bed next to Tet-chan. As with all animals, Ten-chan was very tactile, he liked to touch. So he used both hands to pet Tet-chan’s face, running his thumbs over Tet-chan’s eyelids and temples, the palms of his hands busy smoothing his cheeks. He put both his hands on Tet-chan’s sensitive horns. “I know what you’re thinking.” Ten-chan muttered, moving close enough that Tet-chan could feel Ten-chan‘s breath against his ear. “Fool that you are.”
Tet-chan snarled at the mild insult, his lips parting to show off his fearsome jaws, but didn’t he strike out at Ten-chan. It was impossible to know the kitsune for so long without getting to know that this was just the way he often spoke to people. Tet-chan stood up, pulling away from Ten-chan. “I‘m going for a walk.”
“Tet.”
“What?” Tet-chan paused for just a moment on his way out the door.
“Time is a human thought and one that we should be concerned with. Your imagined guilt and self-pity will destroy you. You are NOT human. You must not think like one.” His voice was far more serious than Tet-chan had ever heard it before and that worried him. “Chris will wake and Leon will return to us. The boss has promised and he does not lie to us. You have nothing to feel guilty about.”
“Easy for you to say. You were there. You fought for Leon and you even took a bullet for him. I wasn’t.” Tet-chan left the room without even looking back at Ten-chan. “I didn’t just fail Chris. I failed the Count.”
Tet-chan passed many rooms on his way stroll through the Petshop, but he stopped at only one. He paused and just watched, peering around the corner of the door.
The Count sat at a computer screen, his delicate features marred by the light of the screen. He was entirely all, it seemed, and sat in the darkness . “Are you sure, Mellow?”
*Yes, Count. I am sorry to tell you. No word has been reported. No signs anywhere of any such creature resembling detective Orcot.* The soft voice came from the computer. Tet-chan had always been weary of Mellow, the computer-generated fish, ever since she‘d come to reside at the petshop. He didn’t know what to make of her. She had no scent, though she was definitely alive; she spoke and learned and even had emotions so Tet-chan knew she must be alive. But she had no scent and all creatures had a scent.
“I see. Thank you for looking again, Mellow.”
*There is no need to thank me, Count. I will continue the search.*
Count D’s head hung, his hair falling slightly to conceal his face and Tet-chan felt his master’s pain as acutely as if it had been his own. Count D had spent countless hours in that room, the only room in the petshop that contained a computer, the computer in which the digital fish lived.
Tet-chan hid when Count D stood and gracefully made his way out of the room to go off and do whatever it was that he needed to do. Though he no longer had dealings with humans or even left the petshop anymore, Count D was far from being free of his responsibilities. Many of his pets had chosen to stay with him, though the years and he cared for them all. There was no doubt someone, somewhere who needed his attention.
When Count D had left, Tet-chan snuck into the computer room. He’d never actually spoken with Mellow. “Hey. Hey, fishie. You there?” Tet-chan tapped on the glass screen with the tips of his long claws.
*Fishie?* Slowly, the blank screen revealed the image of Mellow. She was beautiful, in a strange way. Large, dark eyes and long hair that waved, as though she really was underwater, and a sweet expression that bespoke a creature who had never lived in the real world. In fact, Mellow’s only contact with what Tet-chan knew as reality was through the computer screen. It wasn‘t a completely empty world she lived in, from what Tet-chan had heard about her, though. She‘d even had her heart broken by some human, the man who had created her, when she saw him murdered. Something that wasn’t really alive and she had loved so deeply. *I don’t know you?* She seemed to float closer and peered out at Tet-chan. *Who are you? Where is the Count?*
“He just left and I‘m called Tet-chan, by the Count. What does the Count have you looking for?”
*He’s asked me to look for a man, detective Orcot.* The image of Mellow vanished and was replaced by a picture of Leon. It was a photo of Leon in his police uniform, an old picture from before he’d met Count D. Leon looked even younger than when Tet-chan had known him, his hair shorter and his eyes more carefree. *I saw him before, he was with the Count when the Count came to me, that first time. The detective who was looking for Jody.* She paused and the image of Leon faded, replaced by a somber looking Mellow. *That ugly man who brought the thunder that took Jody away from me. The thunder that killed Jody.*
It was gunshots, Tet-chan remembered. Jody had been shot to death.
“Did you find him, yet?”
*No. I don’t understand the Count’s urgency, though. The Count tells me that detective Orcot is to be reincarnated. The chances of him looking as he used to look are very slim, almost nonexistent. He is bound to appear different. His name will have changed, also, depending upon whose family he is born into. It is highly unlikely that he will remember any of his previous life. I doubt we will be able to find what body detective Orcot is born into and he will die, again, before he is known to us.*
Tet-chan felt his heart stop, just for a moment, at that. “You’re wrong, Fishie. The Count won’t let that stupid human get away so easily.” If he did...if the Count never got his Leon back...where would that leave Chris? Count D said he wouldn’t wake ChriLeon was returned to them, so the brothers could live together again. If Leon didn’t come back, would Chris ever wake? “How do you search? You can’t even leave your screen?” Tet-chan had never before been interested in human technology, but now it could help Chris.
*My system is linked with most other computer systems on Earth. Humans are ruled by computers, vulnerable without them. By traveling through these lines of communication, I am able to access much information. If, by some wild chance, there is news of detective Orcot, I will find it. But, I fear we will not find him.* Mellow put her hand up and pressed it against her side of the screen. It almost looked as if she were trying to reach him through a window. *I have been searching for detective Orcot for many, many years. Though I would hate to give the Count news that would upset him...*
“Then don’t!” Tet-chan barked, slamming the palms of his hands down onto the desk the computer sat on. “He wants you to keep looking, then you keep looking! You tell him anything else and it’ll just make him sad.” Tet-chan couldn’t stand that. He couldn’t bear the sight of Count D crying. “He’s our master so you just obey orders, just like the rest of us.”
Mellow cringed away, pulled her hand away from the screen and started to visibly tremble. She wasn’t the bravest of all creatures. *I meant no disrespect to the Count, truly. I would not think of disobedience, not after all he has done for me. Without him, I would have remained lost within my grief. My dear Jody...I will do as the Count asks for as long as he asks. I am his...as you are.* As she spoke, Mellow seemed to gather up her scattered courage. *You must accept reality, though.. We may never...*
“Enough!” Tet-chan half turned away from Mellow. “I don’t want to hear your warnings. Just find that human.”
Years slowly crawled by.
Tet-chan was asleep when the Count made his announcement. Again, Tet-chan found himself counting time. Days. He understood the concept of time. The ticking of a clock, which he’d once thought nothing more than a mere decoration, seemed to rule his life. Tet-chan grew to hate the clock in the petshop’s parlor and began to avoid the parlor altogether.
“Tet-chan, wake up.” He woke to Ten-chan and Pon-chan looking down at him. “Big news! Big, big news!” Pon-chan smiled sweetly, though there was a terrible nervousness in her eyes.
“What?!“ Tet-chan sat up pushed her back a bit, furious at himself that the child had managed to not only get in the room without him waking up, but climbed up and sat on his chest. ‘Disgraceful! And I thought I was suitable to guard Chris!’ “Get off me, gaki!”
Pon-chan ignored Tet-chan’s irritable grumbling and threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. “You’ll be so happy, Tet-chan! Leon’s been reborn! The Count’s very sure and we’re going after him!”
As always, Ten-chan just grinned . “Easy, Pon.” He lifted the raccoon girl off Tet-chan and set her on his own lap. “You know Tet’s always grumpy when he wakes up.” Ten-chan shifted his gaze back to Tet-chan, who had the uncomfortable feeling that he was being laughed at. Ten-chan used one elegant hand to pull his long braid over his shoulder and tickled Pon-chan under the chin with the end. “We don’t want to raise his hopes, do we?”
“Yes, we do!” Pon-chan exclaimed with a giggle. Unable to contain her excitement, Pon-chan launched herself out of Ten-chan’s arms and gave Tet-chan another, fleeting, hug before she crawled passed him to where Chris still lay in his endless slumber. She put her arms around Chris and kissed his cheek. “Chris is gonna wake up!”
Tet-chan just gaped, first at Pon-chan, happily snuggling into Chris’ side, and then at Ten-chan. “You’re...sure?”
Ten-chan, for a moment, looked as if he’d say nothing and just grin, teasingly, at Tet-chan. Then he relented. “The boss told us to wake you. He’s sorry to wake you up, but he thought you’d want to hear the news with everyone else. We’re to all meet in the parlor. Pon and I already know, so we’ll stay with Chris, you go.”
Tet-chan stood up, still not quite believing what he’d heard. “Parlor?” He felt like an idiot, but...after so long... “Chris is gonna....”
Ten-chan laughed. “Yeah, yeah. The kid’s gonna wake up. Just go, will ya?”
By the time Tet-chan made his way to the parlor, he was nearly the last one to appear in the crowded room.
"Everyone," Count D said in his mesmerizing voice. "I will be leaving Earth shortly. It would be unfair of me to ask you all to come with me, so if you wish to stay on Earth, my younger brother will take you all into his menagerie."
Tet-chan answered, “"We won't leave you, count. We won't ever leave you." He said it quickly, without thinking, really. He was rewarded by a smile for Count D and that was all Tet-chan needed.
“This is not going to be just a pleasant stroll, I must warn you.” Count D said. “I...believe our dear detective is no longer on this planet.”
Tet-chan barely listened to the rest of what Count D was saying. It didn’t matter. He meant what he’d said, he would follow the Count anywhere. How the Count knew where Leon was or why Leon should want to leave the Earth, Tet-chan had no idea. Maybe Mellow had finally found Leon. It didn’t really matter.
Leon was back...somewhere. Chris was going to wake up.
Tet-chan felt a smile tugging at his lips. For the first time in a long time, the parlor clock’s ticking didn’t make Tet-chan want to break down in tears.
to be continued...