Markus' days continued full of fear and anxiety towards ORION and any other denominations of this company. He seldom went outside their house and if he does, he would stay at his ol' man Ned's house for company.
Graduation came but he did not attend the ceremony. He locked himself inside his darkened room and spent the day lying under his blanket, completely shutting himself from the outside world.
Every time that a fragment of what happened in Orion flashed in his mind, his heart skipped a beat.
Night came and Charlotte arrived from her work. She came from the front door and reached the switch on the wall. The living room is what she left before work, tidy and nice, and that made her heart felt heavy. She knew her son never used that place.
"I'm home!... Markus?" She greeted. She put her things on the couch and looked up the stairs, waiting for her son to come.
Markus heard his mom's voice and he crawled out from his bed. He slowly opened his door and looked around.
"Markus, are you there?" Charlotte called again.
The kid walked towards the staircase and saw his mom leaning on the wall, waiting for him.
"Where's my kiss?" Charlotte asked.
Markus went down and wrapped his arms around his mom's chest.
"Welcome home, Mom," he said in a soft voice.
Charlotte felt a chill.
"How are doing? How's your day?" she brushed his bed hair, leaned down to see her son's face, and kissed his cheeks.
"Nothing in particular..." he said in a coarse voice. His eyes looked tired and his skin looked pale. All this time he's inside his darkened room afraid to be seen by anyone.
"Soo... Let's have some dinner, I'll cook your favorite dish." Charlie said, trying to cheer him up.
"Uhm." Markus nodded.
They went to the kitchen to prepare their dinner when the doorbell suddenly rang.
"Hai..." she exclaimed. She went to the door to open it and she saw Cassandra and Dave smiling with excitement. "Ohh... you two.. what are you doing here? It's already dark and we're having dinner. Why don't you just join us? C'mon ..." she turned around and shouted, "Marky, Cassy, and Dave are here... come see them."
They followed Charlie inside and saw Marky in his pajamas and a bad bed hair sitting in front of the dinner table.
"Sup, Marky..." Cassandra greeted him with a cheerful smile. She sat beside her friend.
"Oss..." Dave placed his arms on his shoulders.
"Ahh... you two, what are you doing here?..." Markus looked at both of them.
"Hehe... look what we brought for you.." Dave said
"Hai... hold this.." Cassandra gave him a rolled paper
"What's this?" Markus asked, unrolling the paper.
"Happy Graduation!" The two exclaimed.
"We managed to get it from Mrs. Milton." Dave explained "We have it hard convincing her to release it, you know.." he added.
"That is why you should be thanking us, idiot." Cassandra said pushing Dave aside "Smile a little, you know. We've graduated elementary now." Cassandra gave a wonderful smile. "Cheer up Sweetcake," she said looking away.
Markus looked at them with a blank look. Cassandra thought it will not change but then, he gave a simple smile holding the diploma in his hand. It made her got teary-eyed.
"Uhhmmm." He nodded. He tried his hardest to convince his friends and himself to be happy.
Charlotte saw his smile and tears formed in her eyes, too. It was the first smile she saw on Markus' face ever since the recent incident in ORION.
She was standing on the kitchen entrance and said to the kids "Good thing I bought a cake on the way from work."
"Actually, that's what we came here, too..hehe" Dave smiled and jumped to get their plates and forks.
"Haha,, Dave is pretty hyped-up with the cake thing, eh, Cassy?" Charlie said laughing under her breath.
"Hai,, he's always like that when it comes to food and the likes, I wonder why Marky befriended that jerk..."
"Haha,, don't say that, Cassy. Dave is a nice kid. You two have been a great help for Markus. Thank you so much."
"You're always welcome, Aunt Charlie. Markus is not a stranger to us. He is more like a brother than a best friend."
"Thanks really for taking care of him."
They stayed for dinner. The two know how well Charlotte's cooking is so they did not hesitate to give a big yes when she invited them to stay. They shared many things to Markus hoping to cheer the evening up and keep his smile on his wary face.
...
Summer vacation is on their hands. After a few days, Markus seems to have moved on and coping up with what happened in the ORION, twice. He is having his attacks less often and he can now control his anxiety. He is going out with Cassandra and Dave quite often than before now. He was able to smile and laugh a little since then.
One day, he went to the convenience store alone to buy a cupped-ramen for his lunch. He went outside and saw a man standing in front of the vending machine, picking what to buy for a drink. He was having a hard time because he has no coins and he has a big bill not accepted by the machine.
"Eh,, what the..." the man scratched his head. "I just want some orange juice..."
Markus dropped a coin on the slot and pushed the button for the orange juice. The man looked at him and his heart skipped a beat when he saw who it was.
"Take it, ol' man... you want some juice, right?" said Markus as he offered the can of juice.
"Oh... Thanks..." Reiko replied. He tried to face the other way 'cause he thought he might scare Markus again for seeing him. But nothing happened.
"What's wrong, Sir?" the kid innocently asked.
"Sir?" Reiko whispered to himself. "he called me Sir?"
"Ahh.. nothing, I just..." he gave a slight sigh of relief "...ahh... have we met before?, you seemed familiar," Reiko asked
"Ahh.. I guess we haven't met before, Sir. It's the first time I saw you here, why?" Markus replied taking a sip on his juice.
"Ahh.. don't worry about it, I just thought you're an acquaintance... Would you like some cookies?" he handed a box of Chocolate cookies which he bought from the convi-store.
"Is it okay? I mean do you intend to give it to another person. I guess it's too much for the coin." Markus hesitated.
"Ahh.. of course, just accept it as payment for the juice." Reiko insisted. "I still have more in my car."
"You don't have to pay for it. I just dropped a coin in it. It's not a big deal."
"It's chocolate chipped. You might like it." He said as if he is selling the product.
As a chocolate lover, Markus can't resist any chocolate stuff offered to him. Though the man looks suspicious, he turned to the box and said,
"Okay, you don't look too suspicious anyway, so I guess I'll just have some... you're so persistent that's it. And my mom said that I should never turn off an offer." He took a piece with sparkling eyes and took a bite. "..this is great..." he said silently.
"It's delicious, right?" he heard what Markus said and smiled. "I am Nakamura Kouichi...and you are?"
"I am, Markus Lockwood. But you can call me Marky!" he said with a smile and a cookie crumb on his cheek.
"Then, it's fine if you call me, Kou. You want more?" he offered the rest of the box "You can have a seat and let's eat it together." He pointed on the bench beside the vending machine.
"Hai.. if it's fine with you... I'll gladly accept the offer!" the kid replied with a smile.
It was the first time he talked to his son that he's having goosebumps. He was overwhelmed with that feeling that he ignored all the calls from office and even from Louige to have the very moment he had been waiting for a longest time. He spent the whole hour telling his kid stories he just made and jokes he got from Louige. When he ran out of jokes and can't think of anything at the moment, he phoned Louige.
"Ne... Louige... give me a joke now."
"What? What joke? What are you talking about, Reiko-san? And, where are you now, Sir? We need you in this meeting right away."
"You can handle that; besides, my wife is there. Now, think of a joke, I can't think of any this time."
"But, Sir..."
"Hurry up!! Or else, he will go home..."
"He? Who's he? Are you with him?"
"Hai... that's why give me a damn joke...please.." Reiko insisted
"Hai... ehh...What is a verb?" Louige asked
"What?" Reiko asked again since a car passed by he didn't get what louige had said.
"What is a verb, Sir..." Louige repeated.
"Verb? Then what?"
"An animal that flies, Reiko-sama.."
"..." he gave it a thought and the line became silent for a few second.
"Verb, Reiko-sama. An animal that has feathers and wings. The one you have on your chin as well... I guess I'll try growing one, too."
"Ahh... so..." he still has a gloomy feel.
"That is why... ano, Reiko-sama---"
"---Ja, I will give it a try. See ya!" he hanged up and turned into Markus to give the joke.
"Ne, ne.. Marky... I have another one."
"Jaa... what was it? It should be better than what I throw a while ago, okay?"
"Ahh...What is a verb?"
"What?"
"An animal that has feathers and has wings."
"Ver..b?" he tried to keep his laughter but it shows anyway "Hahahahahaha... Verb! Haha...that's a bird, isn't it? Hahaha."
"I can't believe it made him laugh..." he said to himself. "Ahh... haha..." he laughed sarcastically "so,... and I have it in my chin as well!" he then laughed for real.
They laughed their hearts out and the noon bell sounded from the convenience store.
"I guess I should be going... my mom's gonna phone me anytime soon...."
"You're leaving?"
"Hai. I can't stay out for long. I was--"
"Okay... I guess I have to leave now too..."
"Ahh...til we meet again, Mr. Kou.."
"Ahh... see ya, Marky..."
Markus stood from the bench and took his way home.
A car also arrived at the convenience store and Louige came out from it.
"There you are, Reiko-sama. You've missed the meeting this morning..."
"Ahh, I know... but it was worth my time, Louige-kun."
"You spend the morning with him?"
"Ahh... he did not recognize it was me." He bragged. His eyes were sparkling, remembering the moment he had with his son.
"Who would recognize you on that attire anyway? Plus, you have that verb."
"Thanks for earlier, he did laugh so hard with that "verb" thing."
"I'm glad he laughed at that. That joke was pretty lame, same as your attire, don't get me wrong."
"I don't know... But, it was worth my time with this attire, I guess I'll try to have another set of these, what do you think?" he laughed at his own attire.
"And,,, what's with the joke all about?" Louige asked
"We were having a joke battle there." He grinned and got inside his car. "The jokes I gave were the jokes you said to me before."
"I'm sorry for what I have given back there,,, I couldn't think of anything else..."
"I told you, it's okay... he laughed in the end." Reiko burst into laughter. "I didnt know that lame joke would make my son laugh.. though that was really lame.. how did you get that Louige?"
"I'm so sorry about that.." Louige entered the car and took the wheels.
"Hahaha," Reiko said, wiping tears from his eyes "but that was not lame for him, thanks to you."
"My pleasure to help, sir."
"Ja,,, make a list of your joke from now on... I'm gonna tell him those on the next day off."
"What???"
"Ja... let's go back to work..."
"But before that, Sir. You should change your clothes."
"I guess so.. but buy me some of these clothes, huh, Louige-kun. If we'll meet again maybe I should wear a more common attire so that he will not be scared."
"That's true. To think of it, he was not afraid of you back there. Maybe because you didn't wear a suit and you took off your glasses."
"Ahh... I didn't plan it anyway. I spilled my coffee on my suit when I drove to their house, so I have to drop by the convenience store and I took this shirt together with the shorts and change in the car."
"That explains your clothes..."
"Ma...na..." he looked outside the car window "but that made a huge step forward... we'll gonna share another box of cookies, Marky..." he said.
He took off his Hawaiian printed polo with a white undershirt, black tattered shorts, and brown sandals with black socks on his feet inside his car. He combed his messy hair where his curls fly. He also took his eyeglasses off and changed them into contact lenses, thus showing his eyes better. A different appearance than what Markus saw slightly at the Bureau headquarters and at the ORION's clinic.
"What's with that get-up, Reiko-sama? We don't have that image in the new era." Louige asked.
"Mom collected pictures from the old earth and put them in one whole database. Apparently, the stores away from the central liked the fashion back then so they made copies of these from time to time. They sell it in common prices and somehow, it's more convenient to wear especially in a sunny day. "Reiko explained.
" I haven't known that. It's not in Orion's database. "
" It was because I haven't included those data in our company's memory. It was in a different file source, just like the History of the old earth. " Reiko explained.
" Oh.. I see."
Their Father-Son meeting happened quite often. They've shared a few more boxes of cookies and mocha cups and became friendly with each other that created a bond of friendship.
But one day,
"Ne, Mr. Kou, don't you have anything else to do?" Markus asked
"Why did you ask?" Reiko replied
"I mean, I always found you here whenever I pass by. Are you stalking me or something?" the kid reluctantly said.
"Of course not," Reiko replied, half guilty. "Why would I do that? I live nearby and I work at a computer shop near my apartment. This is the only convenience store near my workplace so this is where I'm chillin' during my break. Why did you suspect me?"
"You see, I've been a bad kid," Markus said.
"I-" Markus heard a siren wailing coming to their direction, he started to stiffen and cold sweat ran down his nape.
"Kid, are you alright?" Reiko asked
When the police car ran past them, Markus hid under the bench, crouching his knees, covering his face, shivering in fear.
"Mar--kus..." Reiko whispered.
He didn't know what he should do. He was left frozen, standing in front of his poor son. Then, he realized one thing, MARKUS NEEDS SOMEONE.
He crawled under to get his son out from the bench and hugged him. They sat on and he tried to talk to him.
"It's alright, they won't hurt you.." He felt his son's fear.
Markus' heart beats fast, his hands are cold, tears fell from his eyes, and he tried so hard to cover his face. He's trembling.
Reiko was lost at the moment and whispered "This is my fault."