Undei n' Xabet (Worlds Apart)

Ka-chak.

“Well, the staff told me they hadn’t seen it… I’m really starting to worry n—”

Merry’s eyes were struck by a miniature scene of chaos playing out in Sachiko’s room. Her phone, screen cracked in several places, had been left on the floor on the side opposite the bed, closer to the door. Meanwhile, Sachiko herself was up, just beside the bed, with her fist buried in a pillow. Her eyes, staring daggers at Merry, seemed to completely overshadow the rest of her face.

“S—Sachiko-chan!” exclaimed Merry. “You shouldn’t be up and about so soon! Come on, let’s get you back into bed…”

As Merry came to Sachiko’s side and tried to guide her back onto her bed, she muttered something under her breath.

“Hm?” asked Merry. “Sorry, Sachiko-chan, are you trying to say something to me?”

“Why…?” Sachiko said, a little louder now.

“Sachiko-chan, what do you—”

“WHY?!” Sachiko exploded, staring Merry dead in the eyes. “Why am I waking up to see my manager telling me the group’s going on hiatus, and all our shows are canceled indefinitely?!”

“Wait, I can—”

“I don’t wanna hear it! You’re telling me you couldn’t do anything to get me healed sooner? Or that you couldn’t even B.S. your way around my manager?! I thought that’s all this organization did, was feed people lies!!”

Merry let out a sigh, and gently placed her hands on Sachiko’s shoulders.

“Listen, Sachiko-chan. I know it’s unfortunate, having this happen to you, but being in the way of harm is just a fact of this line of work.”

“You think I wanted to do this?!” Sachiko was now so riled that she parted her lips and bared her teeth at Merry. “All I wanted was to be able to please my family. To keep my mother happy so she’d support what I really wanted to do. …Maybe you don’t get it, ‘cause you’re just holed up in this hospital all the time, but some of us are basically living double lives out in public.”

Merry could take Sachiko’s abuse no longer. She tightened her grip on Sachiko’s shoulders and pleaded with her, her voice firm but almost breaking, amber eyes betraying inner anguish.

“Do you think I wanted this life, Sachiko-chan?! If I had my way, I’d have gone to pre-med and studied with everyone else my age, making friends, having fun… I—I like to be around people. I like to get along with people. I like having things in common with people. What I don’t like is having everyone at my job avoid me and give me stares because they don’t think I’m normal! Face it, Sachiko-chan—our lives aren’t normal! They’ll never be normal! I know you don’t share the beliefs I have, but every belief out there teaches us we need to look beyond ourselves to find happiness!”

“Oh, yeah?” Sachiko snapped. “Well, at least you can be happy with your job—mine just gets me accused of MURDER!”

Merry’s eyes darted away.

“O—Oh…”

“Yeah!” shouted Sachiko. “What, were you just gonna not tell me the Internet’s accusing me of killing that random blogger?! That some creep’s been stalking me and knows I’m an onmyoji, and now he’s gone and told everybody?!”

“Sachiko-chan, nobody knows what happened yet! Just be patient, and—”

“I’ve been patient for seventeen friggin’ years! I’ve put up with all this family business—all the training, all the travel, all the time to myself I’ve lost—so I could be up on stage. But if I can’t have that, then I don’t want this, either!”

“AT LEAST YOU HAVE THAT CHOICE!”

Even Sachiko, bitter as she was, felt the knot in her chest tighten when Merry’s shrillness reached her ears. The alchemist cast her eyes down, took a moment to heave in and catch her breath.

“At least you’re lucky enough, and talented enough, to have tens of thousands of people who adore you. At least your family’s wealthy enough to support your career. At—AT LEAST YOU DIDN’T LOSE YOUR MOTHER AND YOUR HEARING BEFORE YOU COULD EVEN REMEMBER!”

Merry turned away, staring at the foot of the bed. Even with her hair hiding most of her side-profile, Sachiko could see a single tear roll down Merry’s quivering jaw. She chose to stay quiet. Whatever she said would only hurt her, she knew; the organization had practically become Merry’s lifeblood, even though she herself was only a second-generation Knight.

Satsuma and Japan. Alchemists and onmyoji. Merry Anjos and Sachiko Godoh.

Worlds apart, and perhaps never meant to stand together in the first place.

TRRRRRRRRR!

A cacophony of buzzing and brrr-inging suddenly went off in the pocket of Merry’s coat. She pulled her phone out and checked the notification while wiping her face dry.

“Leonor…?” she whispered. She gave her left earbud another long tap and took the call.

“Alô? Leonor?”

“Oh, no. I was just checking in on Sachiko-chan. She’s awake, by the way.”

“O—Oh, yeah! I’m alright! Thanks for asking. No, it’s nothing. Ahem! Just a little hay fever, I think.”

Sachiko rolled her eyes and scoffed. Now she would rather get back in bed, hold a pillow around her ears, and try to sleep, hoping Merry would take the hint. But she did not.

“Anyways, what’s up with you? Where are you?”

“Oh, with Noe?”

“Karaoke? That’s not like you, Leonor! Is something wrong…? Ha-ha-ha, no, I’m just kidding! That’s great, though; hope you two are having fun.”

“…Oh. You were at karaoke. What else happened?”

“A WHAT?! Oh, my God! Are you two okay?! Was anyone else there to help you? Have you told the Bureau?”

“…Oh, thank goodness. Wait, she what?!”

“The SWORD?! It’s there right now?!”

“No, I—I was just looking for that! I thought someone had stolen it! How did she get it there? …You don’t know, either. Okay. S—So, uh, what do you need from me?”

“An hour?! Well, you could just be tired from…all that, but sure, I can give you a check-up.”

“She did what to you?! O—Okay, yeah, definitely. But what about Noe? Is she…?”

“Going home? Okay. Well, as long as she didn’t get hurt or anything… Alright, yeah. I’ll see you then.”

Merry hung up the call and switched back to hearing-aid mode.

“Sorry, Sachiko-chan. Leonor and Noe just—”

“Yeah, whatever,” Sachiko interrupted. “I don’t believe in ghosts anymore. Take this stupid IV outta me and let me leave.”

Merry sighed yet again, and gave a slight groan of guilt. “I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you like that. I—”

“I know,” Sachiko cut her off again. “It’s not you, Anjos-san, it’s…everybody. I’m tired.” She had let the pillow lie flat on the bed, but kept herself flat as well, her eyes not moving away from the ceiling.

“Well, you probably are still tired. You should get more rest once you get home,” said Merry, as she moved over to Sachiko’s IV. “Just so you know, though, this is gonna hurt a little.”