An Old Neighborhood

Nitya looked out at the midday skyline of Neo-Athens. Clouds drifted by as a warm breeze rattled the windchimes she’d hung above her balcony. With a squinted eye, she leaned against the railing and reached out towards the sliver of the sea in the distance, far, far away from the city sprawl. A song she vaguely remembered played on the radio.

The balcony door slid open and she stood straight. “‘Morning. How’d you sleep?”

“It’s afternoon, but I slept better than I thought I would, especially on a couch, to answer your question.” Kanami yawned. She joined Nitya against the railing, a small smile on her lips.

“Now that you’re awake, I’m going to get ready. I don’t feel like holding onto a dead woman’s belongings.” Nitya stepped halfway through the sliding door. “Coffee’s on the counter, if you need it.”

“Thanks, but I’m going to stay out here for a bit. I’ve never seen the city from this high up. It’s pretty like this.”

*

“Hey, those PJs were super comfy, but I’m surprised you had something like them. Didn’t seem quite your style.” Yawned Kanami.

Nitya held onto her as they pulled into a pretty street shaded by flowering trees. It seemed plucked out of an entirely different city entirely, full of quaint, brightly covered houses, with a gate and a cracked road separating it from Naranja. She forced her mouth to open when Kanami pulled into a driveway. “They aren’t. They belonged to my older brother before he died.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.”

She stretched as she stepped off the bike. This house was one of the smaller ones on the street. It was a lovely shade of eggshell yellow with white trim and a few toys strewn across the yard. The grass hadn’t been cut for a long time. Kanami knocked on the door. “Hellooooo!”

The door jingle-jangled open. “I already told you to go-oh my god, Kanami?”

She stepped through the door and wrapped her arms around a tall, broad-shouldered man, the one in Nina Watanabe’s photo. Kanami buried her face in his neck, crying. “I’m-I’m so sorry, Toton, I couldn’t save Nina.”

So this was “Toton.”

“It’s okay. It’s okay. I figured…she didn’t call, didn’t come home. I saw the news: Neo-Athens was attacked. They’re still trying to figure out who did it. I’m just glad to see you’re okay. I know Minato will be, too.”

“Hemera attacked Fresa.” Nitya said.

“Huh?” Toton let go of Kanami. With his eyebrows furrowed, he looked like a confused puppy. “Who are you?”

Kanami held her jacket. “Toton, meet Nitya. Nitya, meet Toton.”

“My name is Stephan. She's the only one who still calls me that."

“Hehe, you'll always be Toton in my eyes~”

Rolling his eyes, Toton waved them to follow as he returned indoors. Kanami sat, pulled off her shoes, and laughed as a flurry of hair and limbs crashed into her. Cradling it, she stood. “Nice to see you too, Minato.”

The child wiggled out of Kanami’s hold. His unkempt hair flopped around as he began pulling her along and darted in front of her when he saw Nitya, staring at her ears from behind Kanami. She waved as they disappeared behind a door covered in drawings, decals, and crayon.

“Here,” Nitya said, pulling out a hefty, zipped pouch and handing it to Toton as he sat on an olive green loveseat. “You should have these.”

“Come sit.”

She sat on a plush stool on the other side of a glass, circular coffee table that divided the living room. A few magazines sat beneath it and a small box projected a shimmering holoscreen across its underside. Next to a traditional entertainment set missing its TV was an empty aquarium tank. A few suitcases and bags were stacked on top of each other by the door.

Toton weighed the pouch in one hand before spreading its contents out on the coffee table. He picked up the ring. “Nina’s things.”

“Yes.”

“All of Nina’s things?”

“What?”

“I’ve never met you before, and you’re holding onto my sister’s belongings. Why wasn’t her friend, my friend, holding them?” He set the ring beside the quartz pendant. “You were going to steal what belonged to Nina, weren't you?”

Nitya’s throat felt dry. Toton sighed. “I got it right, didn’t I?”

“I was going to. Stealing from the dead, it’s nothing new to me, but…your sister had a photograph of yourself, her, and her son, and when I saw that, I couldn’t bring myself to do it.”

“I see.”

“Kanami introduced me to Nina. The ramen she made was sublime. I didn’t even know her name and she’s gone because of me,” Nitya stared at her hands. Her chest felt tight and her throat was hoarse from vomiting up the words. She wasn’t like this. She wasn’t the kind of person to cry over the dead, not anymore. Her fingers trembled. She didn’t know what to do. “I’m so, so sorry.”

Toton wistfully looked at the coffee table. “Running that ramen truck full time was her goal, you know, because she believed if her truck was successful, a shop would be, too. I don’t know how she did it, but she’d go to work everyday, eight to four, come home just to shower and grab her school stuff, then drive all the way through Fresa just to set up at exactly five P.M. She worked non-stop, all the time, for us. I don’t know how she did it...Speaking of ramen, what kind did Nina give you?

Nitya blinked.“Ah, it had fried tofu in it.”

“I should’ve guessed.” Toton laughed. He stood, stretching, and walked away.

Nitya played a bad game on her phone as oil sizzled and the smell of sesame oil wafted in from the kitchen. She thanked an utility-bot when it wheeled next to her, carrying a cluster of small cocktails on a tray that sat on its head. The bot’s screen flashed a smiling emoticon. Its loose parts went cling-cling-cling as it wheeled away and towards Cameron’s bedroom. A small, stubby limb extended from its side, knocking on the door, and a compartment on its side opened to allow another limb out. This one had a hand.

The door opened and Kanami patted the utili-bot’s head, winking at Nitya as she took both cocktails from its silicon-tipped fingers. The bot wheeled itself into its charging dock.

“Here,” Toton carried two bowls, sliding one across the table with a pair of lacquered chopsticks balanced across its rim. The lovely smell of sesame oil made her stomach growl. “For you: fried tofu ramen.”

“Thank you, but-”

“-Eat. It’s not nearly as good as hers, but…feeding you is the least I can do to honor her memory. Nina would hate it if her materials went unused.”

Nitya stared at the ramen and the chopsticks obscuring it. She picked up the chopsticks, smooth to the touch, and began eating. Her tail wagged.

Toton finished his own bowl first, summoning the utili-bot and placing the bowl atop its tray. He picked up the photograph and thumbed its softened corners. “Since Nina was the oldest, she inherited this house. I moved out as soon as I turned eighteen. I wanted to explore the city, all on my own.”

“I moved away when I was nineteen.” Laughed Nitya.

“I was struggling. I could barely afford instant meals and rent. Neo-Athens isn’t really made for people who don’t have money to burn. I did that for a year and Nina knew. She called me the day after she took Minato home. Turns out, her boyfriend vanished as soon as Minatowas born. I told her she’d have enough to worry about with the baby, but you know what she told me?”

“What did she say?”

“‘I need you, Steph. Minato needs you here, and I know you need to come home.’” Though he laughed, he shook a little bit, words breathy as he began talking again.“I wish I said thank you more often. I should’ve said thank you more.”

“I think she knew you were thankful.”

“Nina had a plan: we’d escape Hemera-controlled territory with Minato when we had enough cash backing us up. I planned to leave them, so she’d have less to worry about, but now that she’s dead and his father’s still AWOL, I can’t afford to think like that. This city isn’t good for me. It’s so much worse for him. We have to leave.”

Cameron’s door flung open. He zipped across the empty floor and slid into Toton’s side, clambering up to rest his head against his uncle’s chest. Toton rubbed his head. “Hey, little buddy.”

“How are you going to leave?”

“The Northern Route. We’ve been looking into it for years. I know what I need to do and where to go.”

Nitya sighed. “Hemera knows about the Northern Route. If you take it, you’ll be caught as soon as you get near the first checkpoint.”

“But how?”

“People take that route too often. Eventually, it becomes obvious. Hemera’s been keeping track of it for years. That’s what happens when everyone takes the same way out.”

Kanami crouched next to Nitya’s stool and looked up at her, resting her chin on her knuckles. “So what do they do?”

“They take the Southern Route, to Mexico.”

“Southern Route..? I didn’t even know there was a Southern Route.”

“Most people don’t, and I hope it stays that way,” Nitya crossed her arms. “It’s only been able to stay relatively unknown because most people refuse to take it for a stupid reason, but it’s your best bet.”

Toton frowned as everyone placed their drinks on the utili-bot’s tray. It wheeled off to the kitchen with happy chirping. “We have friends and family in Canada, both of which have been waiting for our arrival, and you expect me to take my nephew to a place he knows nothing about, and people neither of us can understand on top of that?”

“You can learn, can’t you? They probably have people who can help despite the language gap: you won’t be the first to escape to Mexico, and you won’t be the last. I can help you, but you have to be willing to accept going there.”

“You can?”

She flicked open a holoscreen and opened a generic template. “Yes, but when I tell you it's time, you leave. No arguments. Let me have some basics and get your things packed. I need to make arrangements. I have business where we’re going, too.”

“You don’t-”

“-Don’t think it’s a favor to you. Think of it as atonement.” Nitya stood and walked towards the door. Its knob chilled her fingers, and she tilted her head back. “Thank you for the food.”

The late summer breeze tousled her tail. She buttoned her jacket tighter and stood at the edge of the driveway, shoving her hands in her pockets and watching the sunlight through the leaves. Someone was cooking barbecue.

“Whatcha looking at, Ni-ni?”

She turned around. “Just the sunlight through the trees.”

“It’s a pretty neighborhood, huh? Come walk with me.” Whispered Kanami, her fingers grazing the hem of Nitya’s jacket. Their shoes crunched against the leaves on the pavement and she stopped at the edge of the street, in front of a home slightly larger than Nina’s. Kanami looked at it with a sad smile. Her red-orange ponytail glowed in the light. “This is where I grew up.”

“Did your family sell it?”

“I tried to, but ah-nobody really wants a house that two people died in within ten years. No-one wanted it, but I couldn’t stay in this big, empty house alone. At the same time, though, I couldn’t let it fall into disarray.” Kanami walked past through the gate, fished out a key, and opened the door.

Their footsteps echoed as she led them into a hot pink bedroom. “This one was my bedroom. Pretty obvious, huh?”

“Really? I couldn't tell.” Nitya laughed. Kanami rolled her eyes.

“The summer after my mom was diagnosed with cancer, my present for getting all A’s was repainting my bedroom. I chose this ugly color and my dad told me I would regret it when I was older. I regretted it halfway through painting. Even then, he still helped me finish it. I wish he was still here.” She sighed and dragged her hand across pink walls as she exited the room.

“You both say ‘I wish’ a lot, you and Toton.”

“Maybe I got it from him, or him from me? We've been friends for years; we even dated in high school. I like him much more as a friend though.”

Kanami stood in the center of the home. The shadows played on the walls. She gave her a sad smile and Nitya stayed by the walls. Her heart ached.

*

“This is your last chance if you want to leave, Kanami.” Nitya yawned. Her hands were numb from how hard she gripped the motorcycle’s handlebar.

“Leave? Why would I do that?”

“Yeah, leave. Why? So you can go back to the city, not be involved in this mess, and rebuild your life.”

Kanami laughed. “This mess is far too interesting to not be involved in. Besides, I don't want either of us to be alone.”

Nitya didn’t say anything.

She yawned and steered left. The lights of Neo-Athens twinkled in the distance, obscured by a slight drizzle, the highway, and drifting, smokey clouds. What she could see of Fresa still steamed. Nitya let her thoughts drift for a moment before they dipped into a service tunnel. Ah, a new character she wanted was coming out soon…

“You never answered my question, Nitya.” Said Kanami, her hair draping over Nitya’s clothes as she looked around.

“Yeah? What was that?”

“Why do you want the ‘Hyperion Core,’ as you called it?”

“Wouldn’t you want something said to be the most powerful artifact on the planet, capable of anything you could dream of?”

Kanami rested her chin on Nitya’s shoulder. “I guess so, but I wouldn’t have a use for it. It seems like you don’t have one either.”

“Its use to me is what I stand to gain from owning it and…being honest, I want to beat Hemera in this game of ours. I want to take just one thing from them. Even that would be enough of a satisfactory revenge for now.”

“Revenge?”

“I’m not like everyone else around us, Kanami. I’m not willing to just accept what Hemera wants the world to be.”

“Nitya, have you ever thought that maybe most people don’t have a choice?”

She sighed. “No.”

Nitya sucked in air and pushed it out with exaggerated force. She looked at the drab and grayish-brown walls of the tunnel, light drawn to the large indents where each panel had been slotted against the others. There were neither ads nor holoscreens. There was only the soft echo their bike left behind.

She rolled the throttle towards her with her thumb. The end of the tunnel was drawing near and several bikes sped in from the sides. The frontmost three circled around them as the exit filled in with a row of at least three more. Nitya cursed and spun the throttle away. The motorcycle shrieked as she pressed on the brake. When it finally stopped, only an inch separated it from another, the glowing emblem of the Gang of Thanatos blinking between them.

“Move out of the way.” Growled Nitya.

Its rider laughed. “So you’re the little pipsqueak who’s been causing our benevolent overlords so much trouble? My, when they said you were short I didn’t believe you’d be this short.”

A straight, blue ponytail more akin to a rope than hair lay over the rider’s shoulder. She stepped off the bike and two thick whips split emerged from behind her, curling in her palms. She turned her head slightly as she smirked. The whips stemmed from the metal hair tie at the ponytail’s base.

“I said, move out of the way. Don’t make this difficult.”

“I don't think you know your place here, child.”

“My place?”

“That's right. You're the one on the run from the most powerful company in our pathetic country, so I’d keep my mouth shut with the demands if I were you.”

“I don't think someone who sold their gang into being Hemera’s bitch should be making suggestions.” Nitya said, stepping off the bike.

Metal jingled around the two women and the leader threw out a hand. The whips rested on her wrists. “You don’t know everything.”

“I know enough to know-”

“-You don’t know everything and you especially don’t know anything about me, but I’d be happy to explain while we’re on our way to drop you off.” The tip of a gun pushed into Nitya’s forehead.

She stared up into the leader’s unwavering glower and flicked her wrist up. A holoscreen popped up, laying flat against her open palm. Nitya continued to stare. Her thumb ached as she dragged it across the holoscreen and tapped a preloaded data cube.

Her fingers curled over it as it formed in her hand. “I hope you don’t mind a rain check on that.”

“What?”

Nitya ducked and jammed the cube in the exposed circuitry running across the gang leader’s skin. The leader gasped, firing the gun as sparks danced across her skin. The bullet lodged itself into the ground. She fell and wobbled to her feet before falling again. One of her eyes was now a dim, reflective husk.

“What are you doing? You know why we’re here!” Barked the leader. No-one made a move.

“Anyone else feel like getting in the way? No? Good.” Another data cube glowed in Nitya’s hand as she straddled the motorcycle. Kanami held onto her. The other bikes parted and she looked back, throwing the data cube into the air. “Thanks for nothing.”

Kanami rested her head on Nitya’s shoulder. “I don't know if you should've done that.”

“Doesn't matter.”

“It does; you already have enough enemies in Neo-Athens. Was that really necessary?”

“It was. We’ve already fallen behind Toton,” Nitya looked up at the streetlights whose orange glow blocked out the sky. “Hold on tight, will you? We’ve got a long drive ahead.”