Chương 95: [He's Set Me Up]

"So, Mike was surprisingly chill about it," Phil said, tossing his keys onto the kitchen counter as they filed back into the flat.

"He gave the PlayStation the green light pretty quick."

"Yeah, I mean I get it," agreed Sam.

"With what Diane said about the solar panels, it makes sense. Probably helped Lauren had let him have a few pints, like."

"Sounds like a plan for tomorrow," Leo said, stretching as he headed for the sofa.

"We can hunt for it after training. For now, let's just get Return of the King on." The group settled in, but the usual rush to get the snacks ready didn't happen. Instead, Parmo stood up.

"Actually," Parmo said, looking over at Rika.

"I was thinking, Rika—you know you wanted your own phone right? For the camera? I know a shop where we can grab you one. If we go now, we can pick one out and I'll show you how to use it." Rika's wings gave a sudden, sharp flutter, her eyes lighting up.

"Really? Right now?"

"Why not? We'll be back in a bit. Don't start the movie without us."

"We won't," Phil promised, his voice smooth and steady. Rika was out the door before Parmo had even grabbed his jacket. Leo watched them go, a small frown forming.

"That was... quick. Since when is Parmo volunteering to go anywhere?"

"People change, mate," Luka said, already standing up and nodding toward Torren.

"Speaking of which—Torren, Theres this amazing place that has all sorts of cooking stuff, I mean't to mention it earlier. It's not far, wanna go see it before those two get back?" Torren stood up, looking a bit confused but eager.

"That sounds great. Lead the way."

"Okay, cool. Come on, we'll be back before you know it." Leo sat back, his frown deepening.

"Wait, Phil? Are we not watching the film?"

"Ten minutes, Leo," Phil said, not looking at him as he and Sam started toward the door as well.

"Me and Sam are just going to go see if we can ask around for a console. If we want one with Elden Ring, we'll need to find one with it already installed. Fucking companies and everything having to be downloaded. What's the point in disk's anymore? Anyway, If we can grab it tonight, we can play it tomorrow and don't need to hunt for it after training. Back in a bit!" The door clicked shut. Silence settled over the flat. It was just Leo and Shai, sitting on the couch.

Leo stared at the closed door for a long ten seconds. He let out a long, slow breath and rubbed his face with his hands.

"For fuck's sake, Phil." Shai let out a soft snort of a laugh from the other end of the cushions.

"What?"

"He's set me up," Leo muttered, dropping his hands.

"If I know Phil as well as I think I do—which is unfortunately very well—then he's set this whole thing up over the UI. Look around. It's just us." Shai paused, looking at the empty kitchen and the quiet hallway. She sighed, a small smirk tugging at her lips.

"Yeah, that sounds like something that idiot would pull. Why, though?"

"Because he saw me stroking your tail last night," Leo said, feeling the heat rise in his neck.

"And he saw us talking this morning. He probably thinks he's being 'the ultimate wingman' or something stupid."

"Ultimate wingman? What's that mean?"

"He thinks leaving us two alone is him doing me a favour. I've heard about the sort of thing Mars gets up to back at the village. Phil's expecting that..." Leo looked away, his face beet red. Shai laughed, the sound light and genuine.

"Well, good luck to the rest of them explaining to Rika why they aren't coming back to watch the movie. She's going to be furious." Leo grinned, finally relaxing into the sofa.

"Yeah, I'm just glad it's not me who has to tell her. I'll happily drop Phil in it at this point." He looked over at her.

"Since the movie is clearly dead in the water for tonight... do you want to go grab some anime from the charity shop down the road? They've usually got a decent shelf of old DVDs."

"Sure," Shai said, standing up and stretching, her tail flicking with interest.

"That sounds fun."

They'd barely been walking for a minute when they hit the town's unofficial news network. Agnes was tucked into the narrow sliver of shade provided by a shop doorway, her back pressed against the glass. As soon as she spotted Leo and Shai together, she stopped fanning herself. She gave them a hello, her eyebrows rising knowingly, a grin forming that sent a prickle of heat up Leo's neck that had nothing to do with the sun.

As they passed, she didn't even wait for them to be five paces away before leaning in toward her friend, her voice dropping into a frantic, excited whisper. Leo kept his eyes fixed on the pavement ahead until they were safely past the next block of shuttered storefronts.

"Well, that's that," Leo muttered, rubbing the back of his head.

"We can look forward to the rumors starting in about five minutes. I swear, Agnes is like a human radio tower. The whole town is going to have an 'opinion' on this before we even get the first disc out of the box." Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. Shai's ears flicked back toward the doorway they'd just passed, and she let out a soft snort of a laugh.

"We have people exactly like that in Stonehall. If you're seen walking with someone for more than five minutes, you can expect weird questions from everyone you pass later. Rika and Torren are just as bad, honestly. And Ronan? He's the worst of the lot, even if he tries to look like he doesn't care."

"Ronan?" Leo grinned, despite the awkwardness.

"I guess some things are universal. But seriously, you should hear some of the questions people ask Parmo about him and Rika. It's pretty funny actually." They ducked into the charity shop, the bell over the door giving a tired, tinny chime. The air inside was still and heavy with the scent of old clothes and furniture, a welcome break from the stifling heat of the high street. Leo led her straight to the media section, scanning the wall of DVDs.

"Okay, so the anime will be in here somewhere, the covers are usually pretty bright. They're easy to spot if you know what you're looking for," Leo said, pulling a few cases from the shelf to show her.

"Here we go. See the art style?" Shai leaned in, her slitted pupils narrowing as she scanned the covers.

"Yeah, you can really tell the difference. It's clearly drawn and not of a real person or place, like in these ones." She pointed to a copy of Pineapple Express. Leo's hand drifted toward a box set of Attack on Titan. He lingered on the dark, gritty cover for a second, but then he saw the look of pure terror on the characters' faces and the giants looming in the background. Nah, not the right pick. We can watch that another time.

Maybe I can finally get Parmo and Phil to watch it if I pitch it right, while the three of them are there. Parmo will fold if Rika wants to watch it. Phil won't want to be the only one saying no. He moved further down until his eyes landed on a thick, slightly battered box set with a vibrant orange cover. Before he could even pull it out, Shai reached for it. She studied the man on the cover.

"What's this one about?" she asked.

"He looks like a warrior, His hair is unusual thought."

"Dragon Ball Z," Leo said with a grin.

"Good choice. It's a classic. It's basically the grandfather of modern action anime. It's a lot of screaming, a lot of glowing, and people punching each other through mountains." Shai's tail flicked with a sudden, sharp interest.

"Punching through mountains? Really? Ok, I think I've found my pick."

"Good choice. It's long though. We won't get through much of it today."

"That's fine. We can make this our thing." She said with a smile.

"That sounds awesome." He said, smiling back.

Comfortable, cinematic dimness filled the room as the DVD player hummed to life. Leo sat down, leaning forward with the remote. He realized he couldn't just hit play; the Frieza saga wasn't exactly the starting point of the series, and Shai actually looked curious.

"Okay, quick catch-up," Leo said, gesturing toward the screen as the menu music kicked in.

"So, the main guy, Goku—he's actually an alien called a Saiyan. That's a person from another planet. I suppose I'm kind of an alien to this world. Anyway, he was sent to earth as a baby to conquer it, but he hit his head when he landed, forgot his mission, and grew up to be its greatest protector. He even used to have a tail, like a monkey, but that's not important for this." Shai's ears perked up at the mention of the tail, her own flicking behind her.

"Recently, his brother showed up. He was raised the Saiyan way, so he wants to find his brother to bring him back as their population is running low. Goku refused to go; he has a family here, this is his home. Raditz kidnaps Goku's son, then they both fight and die in the process. Goku then goes on to train with a literal god in the afterlife. He got brought back to life with these magical items called Dragon Balls that grant wishes, but they have a limit—they can't bring the same person back twice.

So Goku comes back, fights these other two, stronger Saiyans, one of which is Vegeta. He becomes Goku's most fierce rival. Goku wins, Nappa dies when Vegeta gets annoyed, and then Vegeta flees in his ship. They realize they can't bring back their friends who died fighting Nappa and Vegeta while Goku was gone, as they've died once before. That's why they're on this planet, Namek. It's the home of a different set of Dragon Balls that can bypass that rule." He glanced at her to make sure she was following.

"The problem is, the guy who destroyed the Saiyan home world—a tyrant named Frieza—is already there. He's basically a galactic dictator, and he's got his army and Goku's rival, Prince Vegeta, all hunting for the same items. He wants to use them to become immortal. They grant wishes, so it seems like something that could work." Shai sat back, her eyes fixed on the frozen image of Namek's green skies on the TV.

"So, in this story your world's magic has a 'once per person' limit," she mused, picking at a loose thread on a cushion.

"And this King Frieza... he killed everyone else like Goku?" She looked over at Leo, her brow furrowing.

"It sounds like one of the great epics the bards tell back home, just... with more aliens." Leo laughed.

"Yeah, that's actually a pretty perfect summary. Ready?"

"Ready," she said, shifting an inch closer to get a better view. Leo hit play. The screen filled with colour, the opening theme hitting loud in the quiet flat. As the first episode began, Shai leaned forward, her pupils dilating as she watched the screen.

"What's that?"

"That's Vegeta's space pod. He's just landed on the same planet. Gohan and Krillin stand no chance against him and he's no where near the strongest enemy on the planet. Bulma's a genius, but she's pretty much useless in combat."

"Then why are they there and not Goku?"

"They were in a rush to get the dragon balls so they could bring their friends and the rest of the people killed back to life. He's still recuperating on Earth, but he sets off soon, you'll see in a bit."

Shai's ears swivelled toward the door a few seconds before the key hit the lock. She shifted slightly, her tail moving back to her own side of the cushions, and Leo's hand settled on the fabric without him quite registering the change. The door swung open.

"Is everyone decent?!" Phil's voice filled the hallway. Leo didn't look up.

"Fuck off, Phil." The group filed in. Leo glanced over expecting the worst and found Rika near the front, peering past Luka's shoulder into the room. She took it in — the drawn curtains, the TV glow, the two of them on the sofa not moving — and let out a slow breath through her nose. He wasn't sure what he'd expected her to do. Whatever it was, that wasn't it. Sam bypassed everyone and dropped onto the other sofa, already looking at the screen.

"How long til he lands on Namek?"

"Shush," Leo said.

"Spoilers. She's actually into it." Phil stopped in the middle of the room, looking between the curtains and the TV and the two of them.

"Really? All that time and you put on Dragon Ball Z?" Shai's ears swivelled toward him. She didn't move her head.

"It's surprisingly educational, Phil. I've learned that if I scream loud enough I'll get stronger." The corner of her mouth pulled up.

"I might try it on you later if you don't shut up and let us finish the episode." Phil opened his mouth, looked at her expression, and closed it again. He headed for the kitchen.

"Right. Tea. I'll make tea." Rika hadn't moved from just inside the doorway. She was looking at the TV now, head tilting slightly as a powered-up Vegeta blasted someone through a cliff face. Then she looked at Shai, who was still watching the screen, completely unbothered by the room filling up around her. She looked at the TV again. She crossed the room and sat down next to Sam.

Five minutes later she was leaning forward with her elbows on her knees, wings pulled in tight, jaw set, watching Vegeta advance on Krillin.