Chapter 90. Goodbye…

“Hmmm… How bout… I'll save that question for later. I’ll tell you the answer as soon as you answer it later.” I looked at her goofy, happy-go-lucky self, and smiled. “Sure… That sounds fair.” We just stared at each other again, but this time it felt more natural. I didn’t feel like I was about to get pounced. Her black and yellow eyes didn’t seem dangerous anymore. It felt warm and comforting like the rest of her body. It was very strange, but I didn’t hate it. I actually liked it a little bit more than I should have. It caused me to feel guilt and turn away. I tightened my hug on both Momo and Kyoka.

This caused Ashido to giggle a little bit before lying down next to me again. This time though she had our heads almost touching cheek to cheek. She then whispered to me in my ear. “Thank you Kaminari.” Hearing this just sent shivers down my spine. Ashido noticed this and giggled while she was still right next to my ear, causing a loop to happen for almost a minute. She ended the loop with a subtle blow of air into my ear causing me to yelp a little bit. “P-Please stop… I …” She just shushed me back to quietness.

“Don’t think too much about it. It is just rare to see that expression on your face. I just wanted to see a bit more.” She giggled a little bit before returning to her resting position. I was trying to calm myself down from what just happened, but her lying down right next to me didn’t help. I kept glancing at her direction, while she was just smiling and staring at me. Every time she caught me glimpsing at her, her smile would widen. After enough time I just closed my eyes with a frown just trying to focus on Momo and Kyoka by petting their heads again. This seemed to calm me down a little, and I could feel them hug me tighter in response.

I smiled lovingly at their hugging. I yawned a little bit before drifting away again. I woke up in a world of darkness. I checked my body and saw it was Denki’s. ‘Maybe my spiritual body is what I seem to think it is. I felt my old self was my real self, but now I feel that I am Denki, and he is me. But I have been living as him for long enough to feel comfortable with this being my body.’ While I was thinking, my attention was brought back to what seemed like the void changing.

I looked around to see my old home. I was standing on my front porch. My home was a simple one story 3 bedroom home. We lived a little off the beaten path in the neighborhood. No other homes were visible, only a long dirt path as our driveway with trees surrounding the whole house. I looked at the door handle just scared of it. I finally gathered my courage, and placed my hand on the doorknob. I put in the door code and heard a click. I slowly turned the handle down, and pushed the door inwards.

Looking around I saw it was just as I remembered it. There were photos placed on the walls of my parents and me growing up. There was a small table by the door with keys in a small bowl. I took off my shoes, and entered the living room. There I saw my mom. She long black straight hair that reached down passed her shoulders. She was wearing a simple sundress of yellow, her favorite color. I started to tear up just at the sight. I rushed over to my mom and gave her a hug, while I was saying an incoherent mess of ‘Hi mom’ ‘I love you’ ‘I miss you’ 'I'm home' I had a lot to say but only one mouth to say it all. She gave a smooth laugh while looking at me lovingly. “Welcome home Calvin.” Hearing my original name by my mother just made me break down while holding her dress.

I just cried in my mothers arms until I could control myself enough to stop if only for a moment. She just smiled while giving me a kiss on the cheek. Normally I would have said I was too old for it, but this was more than welcomed. I started to cry again while she giggled. “It seems my cry baby still hasn’t grown up yet.” I just laughed a little bit. Just hearing her soothing voice was nice enough, I didn’t care she was poking fun at me. I then looked behind me to see my dad getting up from his chair and patting me on my shoulder. I looked at him with a smile with tears still running down my face. “I think even a man is allowed to cry in this situation, honey.” He had a caring smile as he gave me a hug and a pat on my back.

I then spoke with a shaky tone as my dad was letting me go from his hug. “Is… Is this real? Are you real?” They both stopped, then looked at each other. My mother then put her hand on my shoulder. “Define real Calvin. I can be as real in your eyes as you want me to be.” My mom just gave me the same loving smile as when I came into the house. I just smiled back and cried at both of them. “Then please… Tell me… What should I do? I don’t know what to do with the future, or with the girls I love. Mom, you always know what to do, but I don't know without your help.” My dad perked up. “You love more than one?”

My mom just hugged me. “Yes it seems he got that from you mister.” I felt a small shiver as I looked up at her smile, that was the ‘mad’ smile. “Well I feel if I start thinking more than one is ok, then I will have no stopping point.” My mom just sighed as she placed her hands on my shoulders. She stared at me with a calming and reassuring smile. Almost like everything would be ok in her arms. “Well you are an adult, I can’t tell you to do things anymore. Just listen to your heart, and whatever you feel is right then do that. Just be yourself.” I just started to laugh and chuckle a little at that. “I just told somebody else that same advice.” My mom just smiled at me. “Then I did my job as a mother.” I started to cry again while hugging her again. “Yes… You were the best mother I could’ve ever asked for. I’m sorry for leaving both of you early.” My dad patted me on the head with a reassuring laugh.

“That’s ok Calvin, just know that we can be around as much as you want us to. Just always think of what we might say, and we’ll be with you always.” He finished by rubbing my head and giving me another hug. My mom gave me another kiss, except this one was on my forehead. “This is goodbye Calvin. Just listen to yourself, and think of us. Everything else will fall into place.” We hugged each other until I felt the void coming back. After it was done I woke up. I felt tears in my eyes as I had a big smile while laughing and chuckling a bit from time to time.