Chapter 372: End Run (1/2)

As Shade, in his plane form, continued winging towards Japan, Jason was laying on the bed in a small sleeping cabin. Fresh from the land of the dead that Makassar had become, his mind was troubled. He looked at the door; there was no knock but he felt Asya’s presence on the other side.

“Come in,” he said.

She entered hesitantly, unconsciously touching a hand to the aura-suppression bracelet that kept her from broadcasting her emotions. She had aura control training but Jason’s senses were strong enough that he would passively pick up on them anyway until she was stronger.

“I’m sorry to disturb you,” Asya said. “Erika thought that maybe you need someone to talk to instead of brooding it out. She said that was your go-to move but you don’t have another six years to learn it isn’t very effective.”

Jason chuckled, despite himself, and sat up on the bed. He patted the spot next to him, even though there was a free chair.

“I’m trying to be healthier,” he said and she sat down.

“I don’t want to complain,” he continued. “Not when I’ve just been to a place where not only did so many die horribly but they weren’t even allowed to rest in peace.”

“You’re entitled to your feelings,” Asya said. “Just because someone else is miserable doesn’t mean you aren’t allowed to be unhappy for yourself. You just have to keep it in perspective.”

He gave her a sad smile, bumping his shoulder genially into hers.

“Thanks,” he said. “I learned back in debate club that you were smarter than me. And better organised. It’s why I always tried to throw you off with weirdness.”

“You try and throw everyone off with weirdness.”

“Yeah, but I eventually spotted the little streak of weird in you too. You hide it under all this well-groomed competence but I remember when I was using the difference between vehicle Voltron and Lion Voltron as an analogy for the positive aspects of authoritarianism and you completely turned it around on me, without missing beat.”

“I remember that,” she chuckled.

“I almost asked you out after that.”

“Seriously?”

“Princess Asya was not meant to have even heard of Voltron, let alone know that much about vehicle Voltron, even though it’s the crap one. Be still my heart.”

“But you didn’t ask me out.”

“No,” he said, shoulders slumping. “You know how it was.”

“I do,” she said sadly. “Can I be honest?”

“Always.”

“I’ve always hated Amy’s guts.”

Jason burst out laughing.

“I think we can add character judgement to the list of things you’re better at than I am. Although I'm pretty sure, at this point, the list is just most of the things.”

“Don’t sell yourself short, Jason. Do you have any idea how intimidating you are?”

“Of course I am. I have spooky magic powers.”

“Not like that,” she said. “Not to strangers. I’m talking about to people who know you. I was born with every advantage. My family had money and influence. My education was the best, not just the academy but private tutors, international study trips just for me and my brothers. I had so much going for me and I worked so hard to make the most of it. I had this life plan. Federal police. Federal bureaucrat. Federal office. I was going to be Prime Minister one day.”

“I believe you,” Jason said sincerely. “If that still happens, please do something about media monopolisation.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” she laughed, “but don’t get your hopes up. When the Network recruited me, I discovered a whole new world where I could not just do but become things I never imagined.”

“When I discovered magic I found out I could get hit with a shovel a lot and then sacrificed.”

“My introduction was more measured,” she said, “but it was also more shackled. You were thrown in a world full of wildness and danger and you didn’t just survive, but thrive.”

“Technically I didn’t survive,” he said.

“Life threw you in the fire and you came out reforged. You came back, striding across the world like you owned it. You were always confident, Jason, but there was a hollowness to it. After getting to know you, I realised that a lot of it was façade. Not anymore.”

“I was a teenager. Of course it was empty confidence.”

“When the Network recruited me, I was so impressed with myself for becoming a person worthy of being drawn into a world of magic. But you were literally drawn into a world of magic, facing dangers and having experiences I can’t imagine, even now. Being a functionary for the Network seemed so amazing until you let me see your recordings. The things you saw. The things you did.”

Jason bowed his head.

“There’s so much those recording don’t show,” he said. “I was so scared. And when I thought about coming home, I was thinking of Erika cooking barbecue by the beach while I played with Emi. Not wading through an army of the dead that I failed to save in the first place.”

He bowed his head.

“I don’t think I’m built for this,” he whispered. “I’m not the guy who saves the world. I’m the comic relief sidekick.”

“No one is asking you to save the world.”

“We haven’t told you the real reason we’re so adamant about getting to Japan, have we? I’m sure you’ve realised it’s more than just visiting the Asano clan.”

“I assumed you’d tell me when you are ready. My being part of the Network complicates things, I know.”

He turned to look directly at her.

“I’ve always found that trusting in people, rather than the groups they belong to, has always steered me right. I don’t trust the Network to do what’s right or best, but I trust you to at least try.”

She smiled.

“You’re not a comic relief sidekick, Jason. You’re a bunny-ears lawyer.”

“You think so?”

“No one is ambivalent to you Jason. I hate to break it to you, but as long as I’ve known you, everyone has either really liked you or really didn’t but put up with you for one reason or another. Anna would put you in a rocket and fire you into the sun if not for the loot hose you’ve been spraying into her branch.”

“I got that impression.”

“I’ve been on both sides of that coin. When you first swaggered into debate club, spewing nonsense at a hundred kilometres an hour, I wanted you gone so badly. Your actual debate skills were never great, but you always had that way of pulling people into your pace. So I tolerated you until I realised I wasn’t just tolerating you anymore. You’d dug under my skin, like a tick.”

“Like a tick? Any chance of getting a better simile?”

“Nope,” she said with a grin. “You are everything I should hate. I prepare, you improvise. I’m professional; you’re casual to the point of self-destructiveness. I always take the best path while you blow up the path, use it to make a new path that’s all wonky and doesn’t go the right way, yet somehow you get where you’re going. Mostly.”

“The trick is to not worry about the destination.”

“I always worry about the destination. You take the risks I never would, with the courage to accept the consequences I never could.”

“You make me sound kind of awesome.”

“This would be the part where you tell me the things you like about me.”

“Oh, I hated you too. So stuck up, as if meeting people’s expectations was some kind of higher calling. Obviously, I was attracted anyway. I was sixteen and you were so smart and sharp, like an evil lady torturer. Plus, you already looked like the winning entry in a design an absurdly gorgeous woman contest.”

“I’m not sure you understand how compliments work.”

“I told you that I hated you at the start. I thought you were just another rich-prick automaton, built from your parents' money. Then I started catching glimpses behind the curtain. Why did a rich girl in 2010 know anything about Tom Selleck’s moustache? Then there was the way you throw yourself so hard into everything. You put on this reserved face but you show your passion with how much you invest in everything you do. That was kind of annoying in debate club but watching you kite surf was one of the sexiest things I have ever seen. How were you that good?”

“I took lessons.”

“Of course you did. It makes total sense that you tried to join the Federal Police, overshot and wound up in the magic police. I bet you overdid it there, too.”