Written in Stone, Unfortunately

The next few days that went by are some of those that you would never believe had passed. The world became a frenzy. Across the world, the press, media, news outlets, conversations in bars and in the street became enamored and centered around this cutting-edge information and Rin hadn't said a word, only hysterically laughing.

To me, this hadn't proved anything, but it certainly made things interesting. To think, all that time ago when I just came here to discover more fruit, who knew? Maybe my research subconsciously led me to Japan just to see if it was really real. That sensation that I keep getting in my stomach is becoming louder and louder. Almost so that I can't stand it. I have to know.

"Are you okay?" I turn to her, lying in bed. We hadn't left the house since all of this started a few days ago and you must wonder how I know everything is so crazy if I haven't left the house. Well, Ridge has. With Ritsika. That was awkward. The two of them haven't spoken since they've been here and I'm sure Rin knows that she's here. Just simply avoiding her.

"What did you come here for?"

"Fruit. I assume you're talking about Japan. You are talking about Japan, no?" I want an apple or something. All this talk about fruit is making me hungry. No robots that bring you food, personal chef?

"Yes. Exactly that. This is it. Your proof. Exactly what you came to look for."

"No, I just came to look for a Yuzu. A perfect one. And then I'll leave."

"Such a liar."

"You think I'll stay because of you?"

She smiled. "That's totally up to you. I can't force you to do anything. If you're a scientist like you say, then I know you won't stay. I wouldn't let you. But you won't leave under these circumstances. Being so close to what you've always wanted to find. Do you believe in fate?"

This question again. "Yes. And no. All those years, excavating caves, searching the globe for fruit, expecting that I could really find every single fruit that ever existed felt like a part of something bigger. But then again, it sounds equally as unbelievable to say it out loud."

"Why is that? Dreams come true."

"How lame."

"What? That people dream? Have goals, want things, seek to discover more and look beyond what's in front of them. Don't say that when you too, have dreams. The only difference is you deny them."

"And what does this have to do with fate?"

"From the beginning, I knew you were someone I wanted to know. I may have lied just a tiny bit-"

I raised my eyebrow. A tiny bit? What bullshit, ha! "What bullshit, you were a fan. Admit it. Even your grandma, no she's still my number 1. You're two. Maybe three now."

"What?! Who replaced me?"

"Oh no, you've always been 3 or at least since I met you because I'm my biggest fan. Your grandma happened to be a bigger fan than me. Blame her, not me."

"Get over yourself." she pushed me. Ugh...why do I like when she tells me what to do. No, not the time to think about that! "The point is you were amazing. You had wrote this book about gut health and fruitarianism and then above all, you were looking for a yuzu. It caught me off guard."

"Oh? I don't remember you telling me this. You seemed all cool and dark and 'what's your name'. I just don't get why you had to pretend."

"I wanted to see if the image I had of you in my mind lived up to reality."

"And?"

"And what?"

"Has it?"

"I'd say so, a little bit more of an asshole than expected. But so are all writers."

"Tch, aw, don't say that. Maybe I'm the only writer like that. But an asshole? I try not to be, but it can be perceived that way."

"No, it's just true. But then there's the real you. The one who's an adventurer like me. Do you ever think about why you wanted to research yuzus in the first place? Your role in all of this?"

"You keep saying that like it's written in stone or something."

"Fate is written in stone, unfortunately. That's the whole point. I had saw you, and there's a point to all the gushing, it's not an ego boost. I'm only telling you the story."

"Mhm, sure." I can't say I don't like it. I've never heard her speak about me like this. It makes me wonder if I had the wrong idea about her all along. Even that being said, the way I've felt and still do hasn't changed regardless. How interesting. You don't need to know a person to know how you feel about them.

"My dad had showed me to you, said that you would be coming to Japan. I had done this before. Meet clients, investors, business partners, etcetera but never a scientist. Or at least one like you. Not because you were so different, but because he gave so little information. Usually, he always gave me specific detail on what would happen, their tendencies, strategies, plans for the future-"

"Isn't that insider trading?"

"Not exactly what insider trading is, but maybe it's more of corporate espionage. Every major company does it."

Doesn't make it exactly right, but hey.

"The point is he said this was important, but I'm going to have him no matter what. It made me stop. One, because he isn't the type to need something so desperately and two, what was so important that he needed to happen and throughout this whole time it was all there."

"What was?"

"The signs. You're familiar with the Seven Trees. You know how it goes. The character who plants the seed name is Shin."

"Coincidence. It's not an uncommon name."

"Ok. But how many of them are scientists with a specific focus in fruit?"

"Probably plenty." 

"But one that came looking for a Yuzu? One of the fruits that happen to be a part of the Six Trees that were planted by this man. Each tree being planted by him, sealing one power of the demi-god away in a single seed of each one that bore nothing but barren seeds? It's almost there for us to figure out. What if he's leading us right there so he can use it when the time becomes right? It's said that the cure to blindness is linked to the Yuzu, the other five belonging to the others. Think about it. It makes sense."

"Not really. Because why would he need me to do that?"

"Because only one person could extract them. Just like only one person could plant them. With all this information being released now, why? Why go public and release something so fresh and ground-breaking when there's only been, no, actually, not even clinical trials. That's like feeding people false hope. What if it doesn't work? Do you think a team a boarded electees of a nationally, no, internationally syndicated company would run the risk of fraud or libel-"

Libel isn't, that isn't what it means. I understand what she's getting at.

"or I don't know. It just seems risky. And we happened to meet that day. At the loading dock of an Osaka Industries Port."

"That was weird. I won't lie."

"Why won't you believe? It's all there."

Wait, how did he know I was even coming to Japan? Even too, how we met yesterday. All of these events keep leading me to believe something that I don't want to believe is true although I do. Or maybe I want to believe her. It runs deep, you know. My passion for fruit. Although, I got a little sidetracked, it still is true. I will find every fruit to ever exist. No matter how many lives I have to live to find it. Maybe that means something and if it does, fate my life is tied to fruit. Still, so many things just don't make-

"Do you hear that?" she asked, turning towards me. Immediately, she got up and looked out the window. From our view, you could see the hills above Sendai and the skyline of the city and outside were three black SUV trucks, unloading 3 bodyguards per car. They were lined in a single file down below on the street and in the very last one looked like Rin's father. What was he doing here? Well, I bet he owns the apartment, but still. There's way bigger things to be doing.

BZZ

"Rin-Rin. Buzz me in. I'm asking because I care, but I also have a key to the building."

Why even ask if it's going to be like that? This was all too creepy now. I know things like timed-events and coincidental happenings are weird and cliche, but I can't really explain this.

Almost like a robot, automatically, she started to leave the room and go towards the front door downstairs-

"Let go of me." and I did. What was I doing? I had grabbed her arm before I even realized. 

"What are doing? He's dangerous. Why are you going to open the door for him?"

"And let him stay outside my house for hours on end until I come out? I tried to tell you what this was. And you didn't listen. You didn't believe me. This is way bigger than you at this point."

And now I'm involved. Is this what it's like to be kidnapped? Is it really kidnapping if you know you're about to get kidnapped? Maybe that's more like voluntar-before I say something regrettable, eh-ha, let's return to the story.

And by the way, what buzzer has surround sound so that you can hear it from a room in the corner of the apartment. How rich, the opulence, I chose the right girl, eh? Or maybe she chose me? Before I knew it, I was left standing in the room and simply heard a door close when I made it out to the landing. There he was.

***