My Lost Soul

Chapter 29 - Operation Ghostbusters?

"It gives us enough time to have to involve the Omega and Uyama. There are pros and cons to that." Machida sighed.
Kitt nodded again, then furrowed his brow, "Wait, hell no! This doesn't make any damn—" sneeze, "—any damn sense!  What is this thing we're talking about?! And listen, even if it's something top secret, why the hell does she—" sneeze, " —know about it, but not me?! I'm second-in-command, me!"

"You sneeze pretty hard when you're worked up." Iseri snickered.
"Not a laughing matter." Machida groaned, "I'll explain what happened later, Kitt. Just...calm down for now."
Kitt shook his index finger in his face, "Just calm down, huh?! Okay—" sneeze, "—I don't have the energy for this."

As Kitt fell to the floor, Machida rubbed his eyes, "Then let's prepare, shall we?"

———

Knock, knock, knock.

Enjō lightly knocked on Spade Mask's door, whistling as he waited. The doorknob turned and the door opened. For some reason, Enjō was expecting to see Spade's face, just for it to be covered in another mask. This time it was a gas mask that seemed suspiciously realistic.

"Just what do you do in your free time?" He chuckled as he was invited in.
"Whaddya mean? Is it my mask again?" He felt his mask again and groaned, "Gosh, I'm slow."

He left to what Enjō assumed was his bedroom to change his mask. When he came back, he was wearing a slightly more normal bicycle helmet.
"So it ain't hot in that thing?" Enjō sat down on the beige couch.
"Oh, it is. But I gotta be careful, ya know." He sat down next to him, guitar already in his hands, "You ready for lesson two?"

The two of them had another guitar session and talked for a while. Enjō was starting to get a feel for the guitar and was able to play by himself.

"Hey, so, you saw the news right? They're giving Artificials their rights," Spade Mask randomly brought up during their break.
"Oh, uh yeah. Why're you asking?"
"You looked a lil too young to be some boring hummus. You're an Artificial, aren't you?"
Enjō's eyes widened as he sat back up on the couch, "Uh...I guess I am. I'm a—"

"Lambda?"

Enjō's entire being went silent as he thought of what Uyama said in JanuEri, and uneasiness crept into his chest. "You—How'd you know that?"

"Oh damn! I got that right? Lucky guess..."

Nah, he doesn't seem to care much that I'm an Artificial. Damn man, I'm paranoid for no reason...

"So what do you wanna do? You gonna run for pres'?" He laughed as he tuned his bass guitar again.
"Uh, nah. I'm going back to my hometown for a while, even though I really don't want to. A friend of mine said it was a good idea so..." Enjō shrugged.
"Yeah, I get it. He can be quite a bother."
Enjō's eyebrows furrowed, He?, he thought.

"He?" Enjō unconsciously asked, looking at the back of his helmet.

"Huh? What'd you say?" He whipped his neck to him, audibly cracking some bones. "Ooh, man I need to do more stretches." Enjō faked a laugh with him as his suspicions grew.
Could he know Uyama himself? Or did I just hear things? But Uyama did talk about him before like he isn't a star... Maybe he does know.

"You happen to know...my friend?" Enjō asked, fiddling with one of his dreads.

" 'Yama, right? Yeah, I know him. We used to be in the same band back in 2036. I wish I could've released our songs from back then—for fun, of course." He continued to spiel.

Meanwhile, Enjō shook in place, veins popping from his arms. Why the hell does he know so many famous people?! What's wrong with him?!

He quickly put his hands on his lap and put on a smile, "That's awesome! I am sure you made great music back then too. Although, I am curious as to how you figured out I was talking about Uyama."

"Well it's not like he never told me about you," Spade responded, "I've known since the concert."

Enjō groaned, "How come he never told me he knows a whole celebrity?" Spade looked up at him and chuckled. "He never really liked me all that much, honestly. But I sure do know what he's up to."

Nah, there's no way he's leaking our plan to celebrities right now. Unbelievable.

"But... I also don't really wanna get caught up in it. There's a reason he didn't ask for my help himself." Spade's tone shift was apparent enough past the mask, and his neck stooped down.

"There's—there's a reason?" Enjō giggled in his mind and rubbed his hands together, Oh-ho-ho! Please, tell me more...