Chapter Text
"What is taking him so long?"
17 minutes have already passed since Echo left. He said we had to wait here, that he had a new creation.
The real reason why I've been capable to stay here is just to see his face when the 'new creation' explodes, and the he'll say just like always: 'When I'm finished repairing it, it won't explode, I swear'. But it always exploded, even if it did what it was supposed to do, there was an explosion in the process.
"I don't know, girl. Maybe he is finishing some details"
I only give a sigh as a response.
And I was gonna explode if I had to wait one more second.
"I'm going to find him!"
I got on my feet in a jump and quickly started walking to Echo's apartment.
I always thought that that building was gorgeous, despite it obviously wasn't. There were traces of vandalism in the walls, and the pipes were rusted. But compared to the place where Vi and I lived, it was really nice.
How can I explain it? Echo's family was from the 'low class', but us were the low class of the low class.
I arrived to the front door and I rang the doorbell for the 'B-4'. It was in a metal panel, with all the buttons for each apartment, labeled in 'A, B, C, and D' for each floors, from the 1st to 6th. I noticed for the first time that the building was actually a bit high.
I waited for 2 minutes before recalling that Echo said that the doorbells wasn't working almost since he ever moved.
'Jeez, I'm an idiot' I complained about myself.
Then, naturally, I started yelling to the 4th floor's window:
"Echo!"
Vi startled with the noise.
"Hey! Isn't there a doorbell or something?!"
"It doesn't work." Was I even yelling at the right window? "ECHO!"
Vi, nicely (well, not that nicely) punched me in the shoulder.
"Not so loud!" She whispered "You're gonna wake up the whole neighborhood!"
I was going to return her the aggression, but a 'bump' came from the window I was yelling at. Then someone opened it to look out. It was Ekko.
"Ouch... Hey, girls. Didn't told you to wait for me? I haven't quite finished yet..."
"Actually" Vi spoke "You said exactly the same thing about 20 minutes ago, but the one with blue hair here was impatient."
"Just a second!"
In that second I realized that: the moon was going to hit midnight, we were yelling, and I was hungry, and bored.
'Not a single extra second!'
"Hey! Genius boy! Forget about the details and bring your butt down here!"
"I really haven't finished it, please wai-"
"If you don't come with whatever thing you're working on right now, I'm leaving."
That was his click.
The sounds of his clumsiness confirmed that he was making his way to the stairs. Then several metallic steps made echo in the walls.
"Why you do that?" Vi asked with rather seriousness.
"Do what?" I answered without taking my sight off of the frontal door.
"That nasty trick of 'If you don't'. You perfectly know that he'll do whatever you say. Then, why you simply use him?"
No matter that she was roughly 6 years older than Echo, she seemed really concerned about my intentions towards him.
"Oh, come on. It's just that... It is not all the time, OK? I'm just playing with him a little...
I have to admit that I felt a little guilty. But what she was implying was no secret. Almost everybody knew that Echo-
"I'm...!" He was trying to open the door "Here!"
"Just in time" I heard Vi after a final 'I'm watching you' look "So, what's the big deal?"
He put his hand on his bag, that I didn't notice he was carrying, before answering:
"This."
He gave me a kind of bluish cylindrical gun, with something inside that seemed a spiral shaped neon tube, also blue. And two tiny antennas (or that I thought) in both sides of the upper base.
Vi giggled a little before commenting:
"You're gifting her a dildo?" After that she only laughed harder.
I hit her with my elbow right in the stomach, paying off my debt.
I realized that Echo started to blush. Gosh, he's really 13. Wait... What am I talking about? I'm only 14! Well, I mean that he is too much innocent sometimes.
"Don't mind her, just tell what i really is."
It took him a couple of minutes to process the question.
"Oh, y-yeah. It's a... a directed electric ray generator."
"...Echo, we've already talked about this... In English, please."
"Ah? Oh, yes." He finally cut it off with the blushing "It's a ray gun."
'IT'S A-WHAT?!'
"Seriously?! A true ray gun?!"
"He, yeah, I knew you'd like it."
"Can I use it?!"
"It's what it was made for! There's a couple of bottles over there."
Excited, I tried to aimed to one of them and pulled the trigger. Surprisingly, I hit he bottle with the nearly too-fast-to-be-seen jolt of, well, electricity, and broke the glass. Even more excited than before, I repeated the same action with the others objectives, with success.
"This is awesome, Echo! Thank you!" Carried by the joy, I kissed him on the cheek to embrace him.
For 15 seconds I almost regret doing that, seeing the arrogant smirk of Vi over Echo's shoulder. She was pressing on my 'feelings' for Echo almost since we met him, and it was getting very old. Now I get why she is also concerned about when I 'use him'.
I carefully broke the hug to prevent future 'I told you's.
"And... It has a name?"
He was still shocked by the hug, same as Vi was still smirking on me.
'Ugh... This is going to cost me several jokes for, minimal, one week.'
"Echo!"
"Uh?! What? Oh! Its name. Well, unless you don't mind the bunch of numbers and technical stuff... Hehe." He finished with a way too awkward giggle and an intense, reddish, blush on his cheeks.
"Well" I needed to change the mood really quick "What do you think?"
"I don't think it really matters." Vi interfered.
"I meant you" I pointed to Echo "Not you."
She just rolled her eyes almost insulted.
"I was thinking... What about: ZAP!"
I expected that from Vi, but even Echo put a 'seriously?' look.
"Noooo comment."
'Yeah, whatever, I didn't even want your opinion'.
"Well, it sounds good. It's logical, in a twisted way..." He almost whispered the last part.
Echo never had the heart to criticize me, that frequently upset me, not having the will to confront me, but sometimes, like now, that was cute.
Involuntarily I smiled at him, and he returned the gesture almost in sync.
'Great. Now I think he's cute' I thought at the end.
I turned to see Vi, who was 'getting sick of us' like she says.
"Oh, my-my, look at the time!" Sarcasm "We have to go." Bother.
"Eh, yeah. It is..." He stopped to turn to the clock tower of our neighborhood "Exactly midnight? That's a coincidence."
I turned too, to check by myself. It was 12:00 A.M.
"Coincidences doesn't exist, boy. Again, we have to go." She said intensely staring at me.
Vi today was definitely hurried to do absolutely nothing in home, since we usually go to bed later.
"Yes..." I hate when she starts to get this annoying "Thanks again for the ray gu-I mean, Zap! Haha!"
"Don't worry, I was working on that since we met."
Since we met... It looked like it was so long ago that I couldn't remember at that moment...
"I built it the past week, just kidding, Jeanny."
"Hey! Not Jeanny, Jinx!"
"Okay, okay, 'troublemaker'. Vi, Jinx, and... 'Ekko', with two 'K's.
"Well, that isn't a very original one, but you finally picked one, Ekko.
"We have to GO." Vi almost shouted.
"Then, see ya' later."
"Yeah, ehm..."
It's hard to admit it, even after the week with Vi joking on me, but I give him a goodbye kiss on the cheek..., again. And a hug, again. Not pretty sure in which order.
Just to thank for the gift. Kinda...
"...Bye."
Vi finally took me by the shoulder to drag me into the way to the house.
"So..."
'Oh, no. Here it comes.'
"How's your little Romeo?"
'For goodness' sake.'
"Shut up! I was just thanking him for the gift."
"Suuuure."
---
She woke up with the need to scream, to stop the memory from disappearing, begging to let it stay in this reality, and in this time, but instead she widened her eyes even more, letting one tiny tear fall from her eyes.