This World

by Lee, TD

  There's a pretty nice breeze today, it’s not too warm yet not too cold. The park is newly reconstructed since it got destroyed in some sort of fight between some monster hunters and monsters that attacked a couple weeks back. Honestly, this place looks way better than it did before anyway. There's a new playground, a really nice looking fountain, and some nice lush trees. As I'm looking around I notice a woman in a long dress and bow in her hair. She's standing right under a blossoming cherry blossom tree, its pink and white petals gently fall and blow away with the wind.

  What a beautiful sight.

  A man cheerfully yells from afar. I couldn't really understand what he yelled out loud, but he's running towards the woman with a cheerful expression on his face. When she notices him she smiles and runs towards him with the same cheerful expression. The two stop in their tracks for a brief second, just gazing at each other with wide smiles. They finally run into each other's arms and embrace.

  D-did I just witness some sort of romantic reunion?

  A minute goes by.

  Then another.

  And another.

  They're still hugging.

  I look away and sigh. I honestly don't know if I should be happy for them or just feel generally awkward for how long they're hugging each other. I’ve never seen anything like this outside of movies or TV shows. Like who does this in real life? Are they just reenacting a romantic reunion? Or is this for real? I don’t see any cameras around. Holy shit, it’s all real.

  Hiro's taking a while, maybe he hasn't woken up yet? The guy does love his sleep. I whip out my phone and as soon as I begin to compose the text, I hear the ever so familiar voice, "Hey Ridley! Sorry I'm late!" Looking up, I find the guy running towards me with a string backpack in his hands. As soon as he arrives, he’s panting hard from running. Even though I saw the guy yesterday, he kinda looks more like a hero now. His hair is a little shorter and way better styled than it normally is. His shirt looks like it’s exactly form-fitted to his body to accentuate his muscles. There’s even a fancy watch on his wrist. How much can a guy change his look in one day?

  I stand up, shrugging my shoulders. “If we don’t get a good table or have to wait for a couple of hours, it’s all on you,” I say with a smile.

  “I know, I know, sorry!” he says, wiping away the sweat on his forehead. He puts the string backpack on properly. “I’m still getting used to getting to places from the Mobile Knights facility.”

  We start walking. “Wait, the Mobile Knights facility? What did you do there?” I question.

  “Oh, uh. I live there, I moved in a couple days ago,” he answers, rubbing the back of his neck, “They want to make sure that all of the pilots are available at all times, even during the night so they have us all living there. There’s a lot of us, but we all have our own rooms and it’s pretty spacious too, so it’s comfy.”

  “Sounds nice man, look at you moving up in the world,” I remark happily. Huh, so he’s living in the facility now. I wonder if it’s an upgrade compared to where he used to live, I’ve never been over to his place now that I think about it.

  “Yeah!” he says with a triumphant smile on his face. “It’s awesome too since there’s a pool and that whole rec room. There’s even an unlimited supply of snacks I can just munch on! Well, most of them are healthy stuff, but they’re still free.”

  “Sounds great, I would love to just have snacks all the time,” I remark, “sounds like you’re living the life my dude.”

  He chuckles quietly to himself, “Yeah, it’s pretty great.”

  I wonder if I should mention Sadie. She acted really weird yesterday. She’s normally a quiet person, but she was really talkative and confrontational. If what Hiro said is true, then he should be actually living with Sadie too if all of the pilots live in the facility. Maybe he knows why she was being so weirdly defensive for his sake. Then again, the two of them were acting really weird on our way to school yesterday.

  “So Hiro-”

  I’m interrupted by Hiro commenting about something on a TV, “Another one huh?” I look up and see another news story about a superhero murder. The image this time around is a blurred out beach where a large trident sticks out. “That’s Hydroman’s trident,” Hiro murmurs, his brows creasing in question.

  “There’s sure a lot of these stories happening, but it’s nothing big is it?” I ask. If anyone knows anything about anything superhero related, it’s definitely Hiro. Maybe he might know something.

  “Yeah, it’s weird. It’s not like any heroes to die so quickly, let alone get murdered. There was even a news story yesterday about civilians being killed too. I wonder what’s happening,” Hiro says. He looks really concerned. Surely, the person who has been committing these murders will get caught soon. In this world, it shouldn’t be too hard. I’m surprised the Adjudicators haven’t found them yet since they have all of that personal data on everyone. Or maybe Hiro’s looking concerned because he’s a hero now, could he really be a target?

  I wrap my arms around Hiro’s shoulders—did the guy get bigger from yesterday, I feel like my arms hardly reach around him now—and I speak in the most reassuring tone I can, “Hey man, it’s okay. I’m sure the culprit will be found soon. We live in a world filled with super people of all sorts, shouldn’t take too long.”

  He nods, replying, “Yeah, we can leave it to the Adjudicators or even some of the super detectives to figure this one out, I hope.”

  Before I could say anything else, a young kid and his mom stops us. The kid looks up to Hiro to say, “Hey! You’re the new Mobile Knight pilot right?”

  Hiro replies, startled, “Um, uh, yeah. Hi there.” He smiles and waves. He lowers his height a bit just to get a little closer to the kid.

  “Cool! I never got to meet a pilot before! I want to be a pilot for the Mobile Knights when I get older!” the kid exclaims, raising his arms up in excitement.

  “That’s a great goal, I hope you can achieve it bud. It’s gonna be a lot of hard work and dedication, but if you learn and start all of that now, you’ll get there. Just remember to work hard, it’ll all pay off. Keep that fire in your heart burning,” Hiro’s advising words were so mature that I almost can’t believe he’s the one that says it. Hiro puts out a fist and the kid bumps it with his own.

  “Yeah! Thank you mister!” the kid smiles and waves goodbye to Hiro as he moves along with his mom as they walk by us. Even the mom gave Hiro a gentle smile.

  I pat Hiro on the back as we get back to walking, complimenting, “Well, well, look at you. Giving advice to kids already.”

  Hiro looks at me with a coy smile. He chuckles, “Yeah, guess it comes with the job.” With a quick look around, I can see a couple of the other people wandering the streets look at Hiro. They all seem really intrigued, some even look honored, to see Hiro. How weird.

  “Seems like word about you being a pilot is really getting around. Even strangers are recognizing you already. I wonder how though considering you haven’t exactly been featured on anything yet,” I say. Looking through the magazine yesterday, all it was is a small blurb about Hiro and nothing major. So, I wonder how exactly people know Hiro and his status of being a pilot became public knowledge already.

  “It could be the broadcast that’s been going on about me entering Lancelot for the first time coming up tomorrow,” Hiro explains quietly, “oh right! You can come to see it Ridley! I’ve been meaning to tell you, but I keep forgetting.”

  “See you enter the mech for the first time?” I question. Is it really that big of an event that there would even be broadcasts about it? This is what really trips me up about superhero stuff. It almost seems like anything is a major event for them. Hiro is my best friend though so I should go as a supporter.

  “Yeah! I know you’re not into this kinda stuff so you don’t have to go, but I can reserve a seat just for you so you don’t have to wait or anything. Honestly, it might just be really boring to you,” Hiro answers. There’s this look in his ey
es, a twinkle, that is really inspiring to see. I can definitely tell he’s dedicated to this pilot thing.

  I reply quickly, “Yeah, I’ll definitely go. Gotta support you don’t I?”

  “Awesome!” he cheers, pulling out his phone, “I’ll let Hisako know now so I don’t forget. You’ll get a really close look compared to other people.” He sends a quick text.

  “Cool, can’t wait to witness your first superhero thing man,” I answer with a smile. Honestly, it’s really cool to see Hiro get excited about this stuff. He’s happy and just seems so dedicated that you can definitely tell it’s a dream come true for him. He never specified what kind of hero he wants to be, but just that he wants to be one.

  We finally make it to the Gourmet Duel. There’s already a bit of a line forming out of the door. The restaurant is pretty big compared to the shops surrounding it. From what I can see through the large windows are just more people lining up. The sign proudly stands tall above the door and I can definitely tell that when nighttime hits, there’s a bunch of lights that’ll shoot from the establishment. There’s a really sweet smell that’s floating in the air. I’m started to take longer breaths just so I can take a longer whiff of the scent, it smells like a bakery that just made all of their stuff fresh and put them out for sell. It’s so pleasant, I wonder if there’s some sort of smelling spray or candle that smells like this, I need it in my life.

  “Oh man, I’m excited!” Hiro says.

  “Same here,” I say.

  Hiro looks at me, nodding. “Oh right, you really like cook-offs.”

  “Yeah, there’s just something about people passionately making food that really gets to me. It’s amazing. Just something about it man,” I say. I normally don’t talk about anything this way, but food is a whole different creature on its own.

  Hiro laughs quietly, “It’s nice to hear you talk about something with such enthusiasm for once.”

  “Hey man, I’m plenty enthusiastic about other stuff,” I remark, reflecting a similar laugh. “But seriously, this is pretty interesting. I’ve never seen such a big line for a restaurant before. This place really is as popular as everything else makes it seem.”

  “It’s eternally a five-star restaurant, since the food here is always good, apparently,” Hiro remarks, “and thank you by the way.”

  “For what?”

  “For taking me to this place. I know it’s not the cheapest place to eat nor is it easy to get in, but you were okay with it. You’re awesome,” he explains. He presents his fist towards me, which I then bump because I’m not rude.

  “Don’t even mention it. My best friend is a hero now! This calls for a great celebration and what a better place than a place that does intense cook-offs apparently,” I say. I also got really lucky to be able to reserve this spot when I did now that I see the actual lines this place has.

  “I’ve read and walked by this place a lot, but I never really thought that I would get to eat here anytime soon. I’m wondering if our clothes will really be blown away, I even brought spare clothes just in case,” he says with the most genuinely straight face I have ever seen.

  I give him a look of disbelief. “I-I don’t think you have that literally,” I laugh quietly.

  “It’s always good to be prepared just in case. Who knows, it might actually happen,” Hiro remarks.

  “I guess, but the only thing you have to be prepared for when it comes to food is your stomach. Don’t think too much about it and just enjoy the food,” I reply, “but this line is taking a while. I really hope we get a good table.”

  The line slowly moves forward, but I notice that some people who were through the door a moment ago are escorted out. The look on their faces just spell out angry. Maybe they didn’t make a reservation and thought they could just get a table? Gotta do your research people.

  It takes Hiro and I a couple of minutes before we actually get through the doors and inside, but we’re still behind a pretty long line. The line behind us has grown even increasingly longer since we’ve been waiting. The inside of the establishment is different than what I would consider a restaurant. There’s a long hallway that the line winds itself in guided by several stanchions. No tables in sight, but there are a several cushioned seats here and there. Lining up all along the walls are pictures upon pictures of pretty young looking people. There are several TVs hanging from the ceiling that’s pretty much just showing some profiles of some chefs, some of the amazing looking food, and even some recipes. They’re all dressed in chef attire so I’m assuming they’re all chefs that have or are working here. The sweet smell has intensified greatly, it’s strong yet not overwhelming. There are two large desks next to a large door, both of which have employees behind.

  Hiro and I finally approach one of the desks and we’re greeted by a woman dressed in a nice black and white uniform, “Hello, welcome to Gourmet Duel. What is the reservation name?” She presents her best customer service smile as she awaits my answer.

  “Ridley Law,” I answer.

  She looks down at the computer in front of her. She retains her smile confirming, “Ridley Law for two, correct?” I nod. “Perfect, if you two would briefly go over this waiver and sign at the bottom.”

  “Waiver huh? Is there something dangerous that’s going to happen to us?” I ask. Never thought I would need to sign a waiver for eating.

  The face on the staff member in front of me screams customer service as I can see a slight twitch of her brow to show off her annoyed response to my statement. “Nothing is dangerous, however if you have any allergies we would like to know as a way to help the chefs to prepare a certain amount of dishes to not include certain items.”

  “Wow, so the chefs might even make specific dishes just to accommodate for allergies? That’s really impressive,” Hiro says. That is pretty gnarly, and it also sounds horrible, considering that so many people have so many different allergies in the world.

  As soon as Hiro and I finish signing the waiver, the staff member says, “If you would follow me.” She moves out of the desk and opens the large door.

  As soon as we’re led through the door, I murmur, “What the.” This isn’t a restaurant, it’s a Goddamn arena! We’re in a giant dome where we have to descend through several stairs to get to our designated spot. Sitting in the middle is a circular kitchen that’s divided in half and color coordinated in blue and red. An armory of ingredients and cooking equipment are placed throughout the kitchen. Now that I’m looking a little more closely, there’s two kitchens, one for blue and the other for red. There’s a large hole in the wall that divides the kitchen from everyone else. Lining up all along the circular arena walls are ingredients of all sorts. I can’t even name the amount of things I see, but there’s just so much cooking ingredients and equipment that I’m getting pumped for the cook-off that should be happening soon.

  The woman guides us to our individual tables and says, “These will be your seats. On your table are utensils, napkin, and water as well as the information for the two chefs for this Gourmet Duel. On the side of the table is a button that you may press if you need anything from the staff. Do you two have any questions?”

  “Nope, I think we’re okay, thank you!” Hiro says.

  “No problem, I hope you enjoy the duel,” she smiles and walks back up the stairs. Oh man, you must get a killer workout here as a staff member having to go up and down the stairs.

  Hiro and I take our seats which is a nice cushioned seat that’s absolutely relaxing to sit in. The table in front of us is pretty large and covered by a nice black cloth. A wide assortment of utensils sit in a nice formation along the edge. There are several different sizes of forks, spoons, and knives as well as some other lesser used utensils. A newly, I hope, filled glass of water sits at a corner next to a large pamphlet. At the opposite side of the table are two buttons, one blue and the other red. On the side is indeed a button, which is actually pretty cool to have especially in a place like this. To be honest though, I don�
�t feel like I’m here to eat. I feel like I’m here to witness a battle.

  I take a gander around this arena. This place could easily fit over 200 people at the least. Hanging from the middle of the ceiling are three large televisions that are currently focusing on the empty kitchen. Rippling out from the circular kitchen are the audience. From what it seems, the first circle is reserved for judges, the second is for special guests, and from then on are standard audience members. Hiro and I are seated at a pretty good level where we don’t necessarily need to watch the TV for the action, but we could. We’re sitting more on the red side of the kitchen so we may have to watch the TV if they focus on the blue side.

  More and more people get piled into this arena. I can definitely see why this is a reservation only place as well as why it’s so popular. I don’t think it’s just food that we’re going to enjoy here, but an entire showdown. I can feel my blood rising, I’m getting pumped! Thank you Hiro for knowing about places like this.

  “Whoa, have you read about the chefs today Ridley?” Hiro pokes me to get my attention. I shake my head. “You should read up on them, they’re pretty interesting. There’s even some backstory for them.”

  “I’m already going to assume that one of them has a tragic story that somehow turned them to a life of cooking,” I answer, picking up the pamphlet.

  The first page of the pamphlet is solely dedicated to the history of this restaurant and how the first Gourmet Duel happened; the first Gourmet Duel was pretty much a dispute between two chefs at a culinary school about who was better, so it’s pretty standard. The first chef I see goes by the name of Marcelle Durand who is still a student at the prestigious culinary school and he’s—he’s fifteen!? He’s a popular student who comes from a pretty high class family. The other chef is Yukina Togo she’s pretty well-known among the students as she’s usually making food in the most unexpected ways, but still dominates somehow. She’s also still a student, same age as Marcelle, and is from a small village. We kinda got polar opposites going on. We got the rich kid going against the village girl, what a dynamic.