Recently in Chapter 6 Category

The next morning, I was rudely awakened by the sound of someone opening my bedroom door. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and attempted to see through the haziness. Once my eyes cleared I saw it was Jonathan.

"Hey sleepy, it's about time you woke up. I've been up for three hours now!"

"Ugh, what time is it?"

"A little after eleven. I let you sleep as long as I could."

I slid out of the bed, and wobbled over to the bathroom to take a shower. I continued to talk (loudly) through the door and over the noise of the running water.

"Anyway, I bought you this kimono to wear today. There's an Asian culture festival on the 30^th floor this afternoon, figured you might want to go," Jonathan said.

"A kimono? I've never worn one," I said.

"I'm sure you'll figure it out. Now, are you going or not?"

"Well since you went out of the way to buy a kimono, I guess I have to. I wanted to spend some time touring the camp though."

"We'll have time to do that, don't worry. Sienna said she might come too after work."

"Okay. Hey, Jonathan?" I asked.

"Yeah, Yuki?"

"What do you really think about that mission?"

"I'm scared, too. But I think we'll have to face our fears at some point anyway. The genetic farm may have hurt us, but they didn't kill us. We can't let them rule over us in fear."

I took a moment to think about what he said. Was I alright with just hiding here in the camp? Could I really live my whole life just hiding?

"Think of the others still trapped in the genetic farm," Jonathan added. "Not all of them are going to be as lucky as we were."

All of this weighed heavily on me, and under any other circumstances I'm sure this would have been an easy decision for me. But even Jonathan did not understand the true consequences of their experiments on me. I still held a deep dark secret, one I had no intention of making public anytime soon.

I stood there in the shower just scrubbing furiously for a few minutes, thinking back to the genetic farm and that first horrible experiment.

"Yukari, you alright? You just kinda went silent." He asked.

"I'm alright." I called back to him.

I finished up my shower and wrapped the towel around me. I stepped out of the bathroom.

"Well, are you going to leave or what? I'm not putting on a show for you." I said.

"Eh, it was worth a shot," Jonathan said, as he left my bedroom.

I picked up the kimono off the bed, and attempted to put it on. I fumbled with the obi, the bow portion, but I managed to get it to stay on. I then attended to my hair, and walked out into the living room. Jonathan was standing there, wearing an interesting samurai outfit. He looked at me, and attempted to stifle his laughter.

"What?!" I crowed, wondering what was so funny.

Suddenly, I saw Anna jump off the couch to look at me. She was also wearing a kimono, and I saw that her obi was tied quite differently than my haphazard attempt. She started laughing uncontrollably.

"Haha! You really don't know how to put on a kimono!" Jonathan said.

"Here, Yuki, let me fix that for you!" Anna offered, as she scurried over behind me.

"You didn't tell me Anna was coming, Jon."

"It was a little sudden. She just arrived. Apparently Sienna thought it was a good idea." Jonathan said.

"Great," I thought to myself. "We're going to look like a family now."

"Don't worry, Yuki, I'm well behaved!" Anna said from behind me.

She suddenly pulled tight on the obi, nearly leaving me breathless.

"It's not you I'm worried about," I said, looking intently at Jonathan.

"Hey! You act like I'm going to pretend we're a couple or something!" he said.

"I wouldn't put it past you," I replied.

"Alright, you're all fixed up, Yuki!" Anna said.

"Thanks."

"So, are we ready to go? I want to hit the food district before we head up." Jonathan proposed.

Anna and I nodded.

We headed down to the public elevator, and there was quite a bit of people there. We jumped in line, and I found myself trying to find a conversation starter.

"So, Jonathan, what did you do this morning? Besides buy this kimono, that is."

"Well, I grabbed breakfast, and read up a little on the daily events going on here at the camp. That's where I discovered the Asian culture festival. I then went and browsed some stores on the upper floors, and went to get a boat license," he described.

"A boat license?"

"Yeah. Apparently since boat transportation on the surface is limited, and also dangerous, they require a license in order to buy and sail a boat," Jonathan explained.

"So you're going to buy a boat, then?" I asked.

"Actually, I was going to build my own, or maybe restore a damaged one. I love doing restorations, it was a favorite hobby of mine."

I thought for a moment, about hobbies. I didn't really have a hobby of my own, as a child. I always enjoyed sword fighting, but I never considered it a hobby. It was more of a sport, to me. Thinking back to those times when I participated in Iaido and fencing made me feel excited and free again. I knew then I wished to pick up that sport again, if I could.

I snapped back to attention at the sound of the elevator arriving at our floor. Jonathan hopped in and held the door, while Anna and I followed (along with numerous others waiting. Anna jumped and hit the 46^th floor button, and in a few moments we were on our way. And then we stopped. And started again. And stopped again. And started once more.

"Oh come on! How many stops do we have till the elevator hits our floor?" I asked.

"What are you complaining about, lady? I have to ride this damn thing four times a day!" some guy in the back of the elevator replied.

"Four times? Well aren't you special? I ride it from the 20^th to the 240^th at least 12 times a day!" another guy claimed.

"Whatever, I have to ride the damn main service elevator twice a day!" a third guy cried.

"Would you all just grow up and shut up?" A lady at the front scolded.

I put my head in my hand, wishing I had never said anything. They continued to argue all the way until we got off. Once we stepped off, however, things became far quieter. Eerily quieter, actually. Instead of a hallway, there was a wide open area. It looked like it was outside! There were trees, plants, stone walkways, and a starry sky.

"How is this possible? This looks like the pictures of old Earth!" I said bewildered.

"It's fake," Anna informed us. "They use some kind of greenhouse stuff stolen from the dome. It's the same system we use to grow our food, I think."

I stood there for a moment, taking everything in. Anna started walking forward, and finally Jonathan and I joined her. Anna moved forward at a good pace, as if she had a destination in mind.

"So where are we going to first, Anna?" I asked.

"We're going to see Mr. Fisher first," she said. "I promised Sienna that I'd take you to see him first."

"Who's Mr. Fisher?" Jonathan asked, taking the words right out of my mouth.

"Mr. Fisher is an old man that Sienna knows. He's kind of strange, but he's really really smart, supposedly."

I admit I was intrigued, and a bit curious, but kind of thrown off. I expected this time to be all rest and relaxation, not more drama. It had to be important, if Sienna wished for me to see her, but I still had my reservations.

We walked into the middle of what I would call a town. It was only a single street, and between each small building were stands, with various things like food and games. A few sakura trees poked out from behind the stands. A large number of people were already at the festival, completing last-minute preparations. Anna took us to a two-story building not far from the elevator. Despite being only two floors, it was one of the tallest at the festival. The sign on the building said "Gaia's Monjayaki".

"So he works at this restaurant?" Jonathan asked surprised.

"He owns it, actually," Anna said.

"Monjayaki is an odd choice for a restaurant," I pointed out.

"Like I said, he's kind of strange."

I nodded, willing to accept that explanation for the moment. Jonathan pulled back the curtain and we entered.