“Mokate Yatunus-mal Kiro. Logbi. Moe Divina,” he
indicated Divina, who smiled. Mordon bowed slightly to her before returning his
attention to Edward. “Haso go English chonasu o sago dakanai,” he said gravely
to Mordon.
“What did he say?” I asked Mordon- not Edward or
Divina, who both knew English. I glanced at Divina, who was trying to contain
her mirth.
“I speak no English near… sago. You go now?” He
pointed to the sky and said, “Sonmada tetsuji.”
“Mowa. We have to go early before everyone else gets
up and I make a mistake. I do that,” I said, signing it out. Edward translated
what I said. “Maybe I’ll see you around.” I gave up signing and Edward
translated for me.
“Mowa. Tatoe mise.”
“He said he hopes so,” Edward said. “You said nothing
happened last night.”
“I said there was no trouble last night. No one said
anything about making friends being off limits,” I argued. Edward didn’t look
angry, only patient, which made it impossible for me to be angry with him. I
sighed. “Sorry. I know it was stupid and risky. We ran into each other and I
let my mouth open and he didn’t freak out. We got to talking and…”
“So you had conversations with this guy by moving
your arms around?”
“Uh… yes. And I used the words you taught me,” I
said.
He looked at Divina and for a few seconds, I saw that
she was waiting for his reaction just as cautiously as I was. And then, to our
surprise, he laughed. It occurred to me that, unlike every man I knew, he could
not be pushed to anger.
“You really are something else. You nearly get your
foot cut off by the rarest plant on Duran, and then get a virus that is
long-since extinct. Then, a few hours later, you meet the one stranger on the
entire ship who wouldn’t react with suspicion to your obviously alien
language.”
“Edward speak what?” Mordon asked me.
“Jadaka,” Edward said shortly, then picked up his bag
and started for the ramp.
“We have to go now,” Divina said.
“Bedo,” I said regretfully.
“Bye,” he answered. I turned and left.
* * *
As we walked down an empty dirt road, Edward was in a
suspiciously good mood. Divina, who seemed to have gotten over the
embarrassment of almost kissing me, was the one brave enough to ask him why.
“Kiro? Why are you happy?”
“I’m sorry; I forgot I’m not allowed to be,” Edward
snipped. Divina sighed. “I was only thinking that if we stay at a place to
sleep close to here…” He pointed to a house far down the road. “That’s Akia’s
house.”
Divina smiled enthusiastically. “Do you think Hiroku
might be there?”
Edward thought for a second. “I think he’s away at
school. He was accepted to a tutoring thing.”
“Oh. He would be thrilled to see you,” she said,
disappointed.
I was burning to know who they were talking about,
but I didn’t want to interrupt; I was just glad they were speaking English.
“More like thrilled to see you. I think he’s still
mad at me for not taking him to that celebration thing.”
“You were well justified. Besides, he knows Akia told
you not to.”
“Yes, well, I should have gotten the whole story
before I agreed; I would have told him no if I knew where they were going.”
“You should have expected something when you found
out that no girls were going and you had to have a permit.”
“Okay, who are you two talking about?” I asked.
Divina’s grin grew, as Edward frowned, which I found very interesting.
Divina stepped back and wrapped her arm around mine
while Edward huffed and picked up speed. “Kiro met a woman named Akia many
years back. He was teaching a class as a favor to a sick friend. Kiro made a
fool of himself to the whole class because all he could do was watch Akia.
Right after class, he asked Akia her name, and then asked her on a date. Of
course, dating isn’t allowed for people in school, but she couldn’t help herself.”
Edward looked slightly embarrassed.
“So they had their secret date and after a few weeks
of secret passion and parental deception, they ran off to get married.”
“Her parents… how old was she?”
“Twenty-one. People aren’t considered adults until
they are twenty-two.”
“She told me she was twenty-two,” Edward groaned.
“Because of it, Akia had to quit school and her
father told her he would disown her. So, after the passion died down- as it was
no longer secret- Kiro and Akia talked over their options. Akia got a schooling
license, but when her father told the school that Kiro and her dated before she
quit school, that became void. However, it did give them another option; Kiro
told the school board it was for magical purposes. They got their marriage terminated,
Akia was given back her schooling license, and Kiro was sentenced to prison for
ten years. His title was revoked. But then he ended up saving three people and
was released with his title reinstated.”
“Ten years for just dating a girl in school?”
“Well, they could have sent him to Canjii, which is a
life sentence. They showed mercy because of his status.”
“They don’t know you’re the Guardian, though?” I
asked.
“I would never have peace if they knew I had anything
to do with the gods.”
“So who is Hiroku?”
Divina smiled even brighter. “He’s Akia and Kiro’s
son.”
We arrived at a small house and Edward considered the
low sun. The house looked like all the others; white paint, brown roof,
ordinary, and not very sturdy. On the upside, it had a nice wooden porch. The
door, like the doors on most of the other houses, opened regularly instead of
sliding open.
“Do you think she’ll be awake?” Divina asked.
Edward seemed unsure. “Probably not. And if she is,
she may not want to be bothered first thing in the morning.” His voice was
filled with doubt.
“Think of how mad she’ll be if she finds out you’re
in town and you didn’t drop by. At least knock. If she doesn’t answer, nothing
lost.”
He started slowly for the porch, but then stopped and
frowned from me to Divina. “What about him?” Edward asked.
“What
about
him? We’ll just do what we planned
to. I’ll tell him what to say.”
“What if Hiroku is there? He may be all friendly and
want to show him around.”
Divina sighed. “You’re making this too complicated.
I’ll tell them that he and I have to go deal with legal stuff before everyone
gets there first and we’ll leave you to talk to them for as long as you want.
But we really do need to leave soon for that reason. Don’t forget we have to
get him a schooling form. Which one?”
“Konix-ten, I think. It shouldn’t be hard.”
“I can forge a private school record. I can probably
even get him a better title.”
“No. That’s too risky.” He gave me a solemn look.
“Don’t let Divina talk you into too many illegal things. They may sound fun,
but you don’t have the luck to pull it off.”
“I’ll try, but I’m not sure what all is illegal.”
“Good point. Remind me to pick up a listing of new
laws when I get your form. If you end up in jail, they might discover that
right now, you have no legal identity.”
In other words, I don’t exist.
“He’s a guy,” Divina said, “he’ll get into enough
trouble without my help. What were you like when you were his age and still
discovering how powerful your magic was?”
“You’re right,” he said, then gave me his gravest
stare. “If anything makes you laugh for more than fifteen seconds, you’re not
allowed to do it.” Edward went to the door and knocked lightly while Divina and
I stood a ways behind him.
Several minutes passed. Then, very slowly, the
curtain over the window moved enough to see a sliver of a woman’s face. The
curtain fell back into place, I heard the lock turn, and the door opened to
reveal a young woman about five-four, fit, with smooth features. Elbow-length,
light orange hair accentuated light aquamarine eyes and fair skin. She wore a
bright blue, short-sleeved blouse with fitted, dark blue, short shorts. I
wouldn’t have guessed she was more than twenty five, but that would mean Hiroku
was four at the oldest.
Apparently my eyes were wide.
“She’s much older
than she looks. Abuse of magic can destroy the body, but if you use it right,
it can keep the body healthy and young. Especially in women. Also, the life
span is much longer for sago,”
Divina said in my head.
The joy on the woman’s face at seeing Edward was
blatantly obvious before she practically jumped into his arms. He held her just
as tightly. Their hug went on for several minutes before he let her go. Then
they kissed and I looked away awkwardly.
Divina did, too.
“Not all of their passion died
out.”
“Hasoke on oto koahiga?” Akia asked.
Divina and I risked turning back around. I felt like
an intruder just being there. Edward had done nothing since his brother died
but help me and Earth, so if he even hinted at wanting to go inside, I was
going to devise a plan to get Divina and myself out of his way.
“Mowa,” he answered her question as his fingers
brushed her cheek affectionately.
They were very close. When her eyes left his and
found Divina, she smiled openly and moved passed him. Divina met her halfway,
matching her enthusiasm, and they hugged like best friends. They chatted
animatedly in Sudo until Edward came to stand next to me, which drew Akia’s
attention. She smiled politely at me.
Edward put his hand on my back and pushed me forward.
“Introduce yourself, and remember that you’re of lower rank than her,”
Edward said in my head.
“Loge. Mokate Yatunus-tai Dylan,” I said. She beamed
at me, but it didn’t make me feel warm like Divina’s smile did.
“Logbi. Mokate Iuve-jo Akia. Bohide ie Akia.”
“Say, ‘mordate bohide,’”
Divina said.
I quickly said what I was told and Akia’s smile went
up another notch.
“Are wa chado anano ni miemar,” she said to Edward.
Divina smirked as Edward looked torn.
“
She thinks you’re Kiro’s son and he doesn’t know
whether to say you are or not. This is going to be funny.”
By the expectant stare that Divina gave Edward, I
assumed she was speaking to him in his mind. Evidently, whatever she said
helped, because he nodded resolutely.
“Sha ano,” he said to Akiko.
I couldn’t be sure, but it didn’t sound like he was
correcting her.
The door opened again and a man came out, who
appeared about my age and was definitely Edward’s son. He had the same dark
brown hair, almost black eyes, and dark Caucasian-ish skin. He also seemed to
have the same intensity I’d seen when I first met Edward, but he wasn’t any
bigger than myself, so it didn’t have the same effect. His smile looked a
little odd, though sincere.
Edward and he chatted with an artificial ease for a
couple of minutes before he turned his attention on me. His voice was similar
to Edward’s, but he spoke faster. His smile was gone.
“Mokate Yatunus-ke Hiroku.”
Yeah, Akia was a lot older than twenty-five. “Mokate
Yatunus-tai Dylan.”
He sneered. “Nise go benjoki hiso? Hyako hiso datoa
saiso yow nonodo se.”
“Hiroku!” Edward yelled. Akai’s eyes went huge.
I knew when I was being insulted, for it had been a
common occurrence on Earth, but he was the first sago who openly insulted me…
and I didn’t even know what he was saying. It actually shocked me more to hear
Edward yell.
“Match his smile and say, ‘Tatake moe iso nonodo
sudodaku. Buromi uku so?’”
I did and Hiroku’s expression became menacing. After
being exposed to Edward’s fierce glare, Hiroku’s was hardly frightening. Hiroku
had a similar face, but Edward had lived many more years to practice his glare.
“Jodumade miko shipe.”
Edward rubbed his hand over his eyes and Akai looked
too ashamed to speak. I really didn’t like how things were escalating.
“Say,
‘jodumade miko asano.’
” I did and Divina
laughed quietly.
That attracted Hiroku’s attention instantly. His
anger morphed into pure joy and he passed me, nearly shoving me aside. He
hugged her with much more force than necessary. I was instantly angry and
wanted Divina to tell me something else to say. More importantly, I wanted her
to push him away and
then
tell me something else to say. I hadn’t
realized I was snarling until my breath became audible and I was very close to
growling.
Divina kept her smile pleasant and small and politely
hugged him back, but then gently pushed him away much sooner than he liked.
That went a long way in improving my day. He still stood far too close and he
spoke with too much pride. I wanted to interrupt and before I realized I was
doing it, I took a step towards them.
Edward grabbed me by the shirt and pulled me back a
few steps.
“Divina likes your politeness and self-control much more than his
compulsiveness and arrogance,”
Edward said in my head.
“Hiroku has had a
hopeless crush on Divina since he was four; he will never win her heart. She
has literally referred to him as her nephew.”
Most of my anger evaporated. I lived much closer to
Divina than Hiroku anyway; let him have his fun.
God, I’m a teenager again
.
“Are wa gyoijo ira,” Akia said to Edward, which
caused him to brighten considerably.
“She said that you’re very well behaved.”
Divina said something, too long and fast to follow,
and from the way Hiroku’s expression grew increasingly gloomy, I figured she
was explaining that we had to leave. Edward agreed, turned me roughly toward
Hiroku, and said, “Ayamaru.”
“Say, ‘ite’ to Hiroku,”
Divina said with an
annoyed tone.
I couldn’t get it out; I just stared at Hiroku’s smug
face.