Chapter 20: Best of Friends

"What's going on, Vincent?" Princess couldn't believe this. She'd already pinched herself a few times, but she couldn't wake up.

"I'd assume it's rather obvious," Vincent said. "Ein and I are playing catch."

"Why?"

"I'd rather Ein answered that question." Vincent motioned for Ein to come over. "Ein, tell Princess why we're playing catch."

Ein looked at the ground. "Because that's what best buddies do."

"Best buddies?" Princess said.

"That's right." Vincent smiled.

"When did this happen?"

"Recently." Vincent pounded his glove with the ball. "But our newfound bond is so strong, it's almost as if it wouldn't break even if we wanted it to. Isn't that right, Ein?"

"That's right." Ein ran back to his place, and they continued their game of catch.

Princess entered the restaurant, and wondered what else in the Universe was possible. The moment she entered the kitchen, she heard the words she knew she'd hear.

"How was your date with Zimmer?"

"It was fine."

"Fine?" Mrs. Kyoto kept her eyes on the food. "Just fine? From what I hear, Zimmer had a wonderful time."

"That's not surprising. He spent a quality hour listening to himself speak."

Mrs. Kyoto sighed. "So he's one of them, is he? Lucky for you I'm friends with a lot of mothers who have a lot of sons."

That was it? Her mother wasn't going to complain at her for being so picky? She wasn't going to tell Princess that Zimmer was a keeper worth…keeping?

"By the way," her mother said. "I signed you up for a college summer class next semester."

"What?"

"Don't worry, it's not a pre-med class. I accept the fact that you don't want to be a doctor. The class is about advertising, and I thought you might apply such knowledge to your restaurant. And who knows? If you like the class, perhaps you'll be inspired to take a few more during the fall. After all, there's nothing wrong with pursuing your dreams and pursuing a stable backup at the same time. But, I'd understand if you don't want to take the class. I just thought that you'd enjoy it. I'll give you the information, if you're interested. Oh, and I noticed that your friend Einstein was on the class roster. If that means anything to you."

***

Sunflower passed by the window and spotted Vincent and Ein…playing catch together? She rubbed her eyes and looked again. Sure enough. "Princess, is it just me, or are they playing together?"

"If you're hallucinating, then I'm hallucinating with you." Princess cleaned the table nearest Sunflower.

"I never thought those two would get along, let alone be friends."

"I know. They're such opposing forces. But I guess it just shows how strong friendship can be. I mean, me and Ein are really different people, but we've been friends for a long time, and we always will be."

Always was a word that hurt Sunflower, because she knew it wasn't true. She'd had friends before. Back when her parents used to move around a lot, she made lots of friends. She usually had a best friend at every town she'd lived at, and then she had to move again. When she left, she usually wrote to those best friends for a few months, but then she stopped writing, and they faded from each other's lives. Sometimes friends faded away. But sometimes…sometimes…

Sunflower shook away the thoughts.

She wanted to go outside and play with Ein and Vincent. She really wanted to. But it was too late anyway. Ein threw up in his glove, all over the ball. She guessed their game was over.

***

Grandma hopped onto Ein's bed with a bowl balanced on her head. "HERE YOU ARE, EINNY-POO! I'VE WHIPPED YOU UP A NICE BATCH OF ALL-PURPOSE HEALTH POTION!" She dropped the bowl on his belly.

He peeked inside. He saw squirmy black things moving through some sort of purple mold--and he didn't want to see anymore. "I'd rather stick with normal flu medicine, Grandma."

"THAT STUFF DOESN'T WORK! TRUST ME! I'VE BEEN AROUND THE WORLD MORE TIMES THAN THE MOON! THIS STUFF IS THE BEST AROUND!"

"Where exactly did you learn about this remedy?"

"HOW SHOULD I KNOW?!? I'M AN OLD WOMAN! YOU EXPECT ME TO REMEMBER EVERY DETAIL OF MY LIFE? JUST BE A GOOD, BRAVE BOY AND OPEN WIDE!"

"I don't want--"

"THAT'S A GOOD BOY! CHEW IT UP! THERE YOU GO! NOW DON'T YOU FEEL SO MUCH BETTER?!?"

***

Vincent tucked Old Hobo Joe into the bubble-wrap bed. "I apologize for getting you sick, peon."

Old Hobo Joe looked at Vincent with eyes that said that he wasn't upset about being sick, and that he was happy Vincent was able to make the Mean Boy sick.

"You just stay her and rest, comrade. I'm going to go, and hopefully make the Mean Boy even sorrier he ever crossed us."

Old Hobo Joe nodded.

Vincent took the soup, and headed out of the alley.

He imaged himself doing what he really wanted to do. He wanted to be going to Sunflower's room. He wanted her to be the one with the flu, so he could take care of her. Before now, he'd never taken care of anyone before.

He'd always been the one who was taken care of.

And he'd always thought that it was a bad thing to take care of someone. The way all his babysitters and nurses and even his father acted made him think that it was a curse to care for someone. But all he wanted to do was make Sunflower feel better. The real problem was that she didn't have the flu. She was still hurting, somehow, but he didn't know how to help her. He didn't even know how to help himself.

***

"Vincent, what are you doing here? I told you already, I'm sick. I need to recuperate for my final exam."

"And when a good friend is ill, is it abnormal for someone to bring over some homemade chicken soup to make said friend feel better? Well, it tastes like chicken anyway."

"Ok, thanks for the soup. Now please leave me alone."

"You won't let your best buddy visit for a few minutes?"

"Fine, a few minutes. I don't have the willpower for anything longer."

Vincent sad beside his bed and placed the flask of soup on his nightstand. "So, this is your room? Baby ducks, clowns. It's a bit brighter than I expected."

"Maybe you shouldn't be so quick to judge then." Well, Vincent did have a point, since this was Grandma's creation, but Ein didn't have to tell him that.

"So, how is the situation with you and Waitress Girl?"

"Vincent, please just leave."

"A true friend wouldn't withhold such information."

"I'm not your true friend."

"Tut tut. The rules clearly stipulate that you aren't to hinder the charade at any time."

"Fine, you want to know how it's going with me and Waitress Girl? There is no me and Waitress Girl. She's going out with a guy she met during the grand opening. And maybe if a good buddy of mine had passed on a message to Princess like I asked him to, Waitress Girl wouldn't have thought that I was standing her up. Maybe if that friend cared more about other people's feelings than his own thirst for revenge, I wouldn't be so miserable right now, which has nothing to do with the flu."

"Ein…I should have passed on the message. And I would have, if you hadn't blackmailed me with those childhood photos!"

"You're the one who stole my bike!"

"If you had simply attempted to understand my situation, rather than judging me--"

"Judging you?!? I…I don't have the energy for this right now. Thanks for sucking the life out of me when I'm sick. I appreciate it."

"I merely asked how you were doing in regard to Waitress Girl. You blew up."

"Oh, and you think this friendship of ours entitles you to ask that?"

"Yes."

"Ok then. How's it going with you and Sunflower?"

"That's not--"

"Have you two gone out on a date yet? An official date? Because it's clear to me that you like her. I don't see why you would avoid asking her out at least. You have asked her, haven't you?"

"I have nothing to say regarding that situation."

"Oh, so my great bud Vincent is holding back? That's not a very strong friendship we have, and it's not my fault. So don't blame me when you can't even follow your own rules."

Vincent frowned for a while, then his eyes lit up with a smile. "You're right, Ein. I have been a bad friend. Would you please accept my apology?"

Ein felt sick to his stomach, and he knew it had nothing to do with the flu. "Yes, Vincent, I do."

"Aren't you going to apologize to me as well?"

"I'm sorry, Vincent. Please forgive me."

"Very well. You're forgiven. Now how about we complete our make-up with a friendly hug?"

Ein hugged him.

Ok, Vincent won this round, and Ein feared that the war was far from over.

***

"You have another date tonight, Princess. He's a biology major. His mother says he's very quiet, but I assured her that you're not too fond of the talkative type. She's very excited about this date. Very excited."

Princess felt the air-conditioning breathing on her face. "That's nice, mom."

Her mother kept talking about her plans, and she kept saying, "That's nice, mom," but Princess was really thinking about how she wanted to be in her treehouse again, instead of this fancy car. Even if it meant being outside in the heat. She missed the smell of the treehouse. She missed being above the world.

But she couldn't leave her mom now. Her mom was trying to help her, and she was helping her. Her mom was cooking at the restaurant when no one else could.

She wanted to say no to her mom though. No to the dates. But she knew that she'd always say yes. Her mom was the core to everything. If Princess got her mom upset and made her mom quit cooking at the restaurant, then it wouldn't only be Princess's life that would be affected, but all of her friends' lives as well. Their dreams could be destroyed if Princess said no, and she couldn't allow that to happen.

So, "That's nice, mom."

***

When Ein heard somebody coming up the stairs, he braced himself for another Vincent Battle. But, to his great relief, the footsteps belonged to Princess.

"Don't get too close. I'm sick."

"I know," she said, and sat beside him. "We saw you throw up. How are you feeling?"

"Not too good. My Grandma's remedies are making me more sick than my actual sickness."

Usually Princess would laugh at a statement like that, despite the fact that Ein wasn't really funny, but she didn't. "I hope you feel better soon."

Ein studied her. "How are you lately?"

"Fine. There's just these dates my mom keep making me go on. They're not very fun."

"There's more than one?"

"I think my mom has a whole address book filled with them. She won't be happy until I marry one of them, I think."

"But you wouldn't marry someone just for the sake of marrying them, would you?" If there was one thing he believed in, it was true love.

"Of course not. By the way, I'm going to be in your advertising class next semester."

"I thought you weren't going to take any more classes."

"It'll help with the restaurant. Plus we'll get to spend more time together."

"Did you mom sign you up for the class?"

"Yes. But it's a good idea. She says I don't have to do it if I don't want to."

Ein searched the room for something else to say. "Hey, Vincent left me some soup. Do you want it?"

"I'm not really hungry right now, Ein. Maybe later."

"You not hungry? That doesn't seem possible."

"Maybe I'm starting to get the flu too."

But Ein knew that Princess didn't have flue. That wasn't it at all. She was losing her hunger. Her hunger for eating. Her hunger for a tree-house home. Her hunger for her dreams. It made him even sicker to see her like this. She seemed so tired. So weak.

When they said their goodbyes and she left, Ein could almost see the puppet strings pulling her away.

Her mother was controlling her, but Princess wasn't meant to be like this. Princess was a free spirit with a hunger for life. She was supposed to be happy.

What was different? Why was Princess giving up?

Then it hit him.

It was all his fault.

He realized that for all these years, Princess had been able to break away from her mother's control because of Ein. It was the strength she had in Ein. He always supported her, and she was always so happy when he did. She always ate so much. But now that Ein wasn't on her side anymore, Princess would crumble and become someone she wasn't. He couldn't allow that to happen. He couldn't sacrifice her happiness for his.

He had to save her.

But how?