*Celosia "Robin" Douglas's POV:
I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw who opened the door. I was expecting someone else, I wasn't expecting to see Shimizu just yet. He was surprised just as much as we were, and yet, he expected us.
"Shimizu!", Hikari screamed, tears streamed down her face as she ran towards him with open arms. Shimizu crouched down and prepared himself for the embrace as he smiled. His deep ocean blue eyes became teary as he hugged his little sister tightly.
"I miss you so much! I thought you were dead!", she wailed in between gasps for air.
"Oh my god", Gaia whimpered, covering her mouth with her hands. She began to cry as well.
"All these years, I thought...I can't believe it", Beval stuttered as he moved closer to Shimizu. "I can't believe it! Shimizu you're alive! It's true!", Beval shouted like a small child, running to hug Shimizu as well.
Eventually, it ended with a big group hug involving Gaia, Beval, Hikari, Kimberly and Danny. Only me, Tyler and Alex stayed back and watched.
I was too busy staring at him in awe. He looked so different, and yet still the same.
His hair was long, thick and in a low ponytail. He still wore glasses, but they were a different black pair. He was slightly muscular, and yet still thin. He was a little taller than Beval, reaching 6'5.
I'm not going to lie, I was checking him out...well, until I looked down his legs. I froze when I saw it.
His left leg was prosthetic. I wasn't sure why or how at first, but then it hit me: he must've been injured when he bombed W.E.A. That was the only explanation I could come up with.
"I really miss you guys", Shimizu chuckled tearfully. Those beautiful eyes suddenly hit my direction and stayed there.
I stood there like a stupid statue, not knowing what to do or say. I was too scared.
"This isn't you Celosia. Just go up and hug him. Stop being a little bitch," I thought to myself, trying to break myself out of this physical pause. The eye contact between me and Shimizu lasted what felt like a lifetime, and I damn sure wasn't planning on looking away.
His eyes were pierced onto me, staring at me. His eyes went from my dirty hiking boots to the top of my messy ponytail. A small, yet genuine smile formed on his face as he began to walk towards me, holding his arms outward.
"Hey Robin, long time no see. Come here."
At that moment, I could finally move. I went up to him and hugged him tightly. I never thought I would experience a moment like that ever again. Hugging the man of my dreams that I've longed for so long was pure eustasy. He smelled plain, but his body was warm and inviting nonetheless. I let out a deep sigh as my vision blurred with tears. I couldn't believe my friend was really alive. There was always a part of me that felt like maybe Danny was mistaken and that it was just a look-a-like, but at that moment I was glad I didn't stay at the shelter in doubt.
Our hug broke as Shimizu looked into my eyes. We were staring at each other, sinking in the reality that we were together again. They say eyes are the windows to the soul, but I couldn't tell what Shimizu was feeling through his eyes. They were mysterious, and yet, filled with wonder.
"Robin, I-"
"Shimizu, you are needed in the head office", a man interrupted Shimizu urgently, peaking from behind the half-open steel door.
"Coming", Shimizu responded with a sense of urgently that matched the man's. It was as if he completely forgot the fact that his long lost friends were here. Hikari's attempt to follow Shimizu was cut short by Alex blocking her path.
"He is taking care of business right now. After all, I did say he was the leader of this place. Come on, let me show you to your bedrooms", Alex insisted. As he pushed the steel door open more all the way, I could finally get a real good glimpse of that place. It was massive.
The closest thing I could compare it to was an underground city in a cave.
(I got my inspiration from the pic above, the place looks similar to it but not identical).
The walls and ceiling was made of wood, rock, and concrete. There were many people, some young, some older, walking up and down the place. They smiled at us when we walked pass. I have to say, the energy was very inviting.
On large carts, I could see some men moving weapons to different locations. Several large, yet plain black chandelier lamps were near the walls of the cave. Each one was about seventy feet away from the other. They reached twenty feet in height. They were in a line that was similar to streetlights on the sidewalk on each sides of a street.
To my right I saw a young teen creating what seemed to be electricity with their hands. It grew more and more powerful, but came to an end as the teen was redirected by their parent to stop. I saw another girl lift a huge rock and place it towards a corner, high-fiving another girl afterwards. That's when it came to me....most of the people there were experi-babies.
"Welcome to the E.I.H", Alex said with a smile, opening up his arms.
"What does that stand for?" Tyler asked him.
"Experi-babies in hiding. It used to be E.A.G, which means: experimented against government, but once Shimizu was rescued from Vulcan Island and we saw his potential, one of the first things he did as leader of this place was change the name. Here we prepare our experi-babies and experi-supporters for the upcoming, yet secretive assassination against our world leader."
"Wait a second, for five years Shimizu and you all have been planning to kill world leader Victran? I'm surprised you don't think he's the savior like everyone else", Danny explained, grabbing onto Alex's shoulder, causing him to halt.
"Thanks to you telling Shimizu the events that is to come, he made us aware of everything to watch out for...especially World War 3. We are in the world peace period, but soon that will come to an end as more and more countries refuse to join or leave the one world government," he smirked as he nodded at Danny. He continued onward.
My mind was too cluttered to hear Alex go on and on as we followed him. The only thing I could think of was Shimizu and his embrace. I could go on and on about the feeling I got when our eyes met. I felt my stomach jump every time I replayed that memory, and it was only ten minutes ago. Am I crazy in love? Maybe. Does it bother me if people think so? Nope. I wondered if those feelings he had for me were still there. I was oblivious to it when we were younger.
In my pocket was the piece of cloth that was given to me from Shimizu. He wrote a letter to me on it in case he died. In the letter, he told me how much fun he had when he was friends with us. He even revealed his true feelings for me. I made sure to bring it with me, I wanted to thank Shimizu in person for it and to let him know that the feelings were mutu-
"Oh hey! You must be the friends Shimizu was talking about," a random girl our age walked up to us, placing her hand out for us to shake. She was a Southeast Asian girl, most likely Thai. She had long, straight hair reaching down to waist. She was pretty in looks and was a bit on the chubbier side.
"Yes we are. Um, who are you if you mind me asking?" Danny asked her politely, shaking her hand.
"Oh sorry, where are my manners? I'm his girlfriend, Ashley. It's really nice to meet all of you."
Beval and Kimberly gave me an "oh shit" glance. Danny and Gaia tried their best to not make things even more awkward and kept a poker-face.
"Nice to meet you too. I'm Celosia, but you probably know me by my middle name: Robin. We were great friends", I forced a smile, trying to hide my true heartbroken feelings.
"Oh, Shimizu told me a whole lot about you. You don't seem as aggressive as he said you were. He claims you used to hit him a lot, ahaha."
"Oh trust me, I can get aggressive when I need to", I replied passive-aggressively. That's when I realized what I said. It came off wrong.
Silence surrounded us. It became extremely awkward that I couldn't take it anymore. But before I could correct myself and explain how my aggressive days were over, Kimberly chimed in.
"Well it is very nice to meet you Ashley, but we must be on our way to our bedrooms. It's been hours since we slept," Kimberly said swiftly with a fake smile, pulling me by my arm and pushing Alex's back forwards. "Lead the way Alex."
"Oh okay, catch up with you guys later", she smiled and waved before walking away.
I kept my mouth closed on the way to the bedrooms. I wasn't trying to start shit. It was a literal unconscious response. Was I happy that Shimizu moved on and found himself a girlfriend? No. Did Ashley deserve that response? No.
"Hey look-"
"Celosia. This isn't the time for drama." Kimberly bluntly interrupted, looking back at me. I could tell she sympathized with me, but she also knew how quickly I would smack someone. "I had to nip that in the bud before it got out of hand. We just got here. I'm not criticizing you, but I'm telling you this as your best friend: unless she starts something with you, don't start anything with her. What's important is that we found Shimizu, please focus on that."
That was literally the kindest thing Kimberly had told me in a while.