42nd Moon: The Woe of Soulmates

by Thea Chin

  “Chan is turning this frat house into a regular house once you and Jaiden graduate since most of the frat’s members will no longer be in college, and he invited me to stay with you all. The scholarship that is paying for my dorm room runs out when I graduate too, so I accepted. It’ll be convenient enough.”

  “But why? Shouldn’t you hate her? She’s the reason why you’re dying!”

  “This isn’t her fault.”

  “Well, you must hate me, right? You shouldn’t be helping me.”

  “I think I can decide whom I help. And besides, I can’t hate you, Darren. Maybe it’s just the soul thing talking, but I can’t.” Tsukiko laughs dryly. “Sure, I can’t admit to loving you anymore, and yeah, I should run as far away from you as I can, so I guess I’m the stupid one now for being here, talking to you. I suppose my own stupidity is why I kind of understand why you did that for Terena. You were naive, thoughtless, and selfish, but the reasoning behind your actions isn’t completely illogical. I understand, but I’m not validating it.”

  “Then why still be here? Why help raise her?”

  “Children need a mother figure for proper development; she didn’t ask to be a wolf or for her mother to leave, and I’m trying to make an impact with whatever time I have left, I guess.”

  “W-well, th-thank you.” Darren continues staring at her, eyes wide in surprise. The universe gave him the most pure-hearted soulmate, didn’t it?

  Tsukiko shakes her head. “It’s for her.” She turns to the baby. “Isn’t that right?” she coos.

  The child stares at Tsukiko for a moment before reaching to grab her cheeks.

  “Maa-aa!”

  * * *

  Being a single father means a few changes for Darren. For one, bath time. Darren thought it was a good idea to take one with Angela so he can get clean himself at the same time and also because he read about it in some parenting magazine and thought it would be cute.

  “Ready for bathy with Daddy?” he gushes.

  He feels the temperature of the water and gets in first before lowering Angela in too.

  “Good. Just sit right here,” he says, setting her down on his belly.

  He scoops up some water and runs it through her hair.

  “Now where’s the shampoo?” he wonders aloud. “Ah, there it is.”

  He reaches forward to the other end of the tub. Just as he is about to grab it, he feels something painful shooting up his left chest. He looks down and nearly faints.

  “T-Tsukiko!” he cries in panic. “Tsukiko! Tsukiko!”

  She bursts into the bathroom, her eyes darting around frantically to see what is wrong. Within the second Tsukiko spots Darren crouched over himself with his face twisted in pain.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “She’s— She’s—”

  He leans back for her to look. Unfortunately, he is unaware of what else he is letting her see.

  “Ooh!” Tsukiko exclaims, quickly throwing her arm over her eyes.

  “What’s— Oh my moon, I’m so sorry!”

  She hands him a towel, and he tucks it around and under himself. When he gives her clearance, she rotates back around to see why he has called her.

  On him is his daughter latched to his chest. However, she isn’t doing so by her hands or arms; she’s using her teeth. To make it worse, she has turned wolf.

  “When did she last eat?” she inquires incredulously.

  “Breakfast? I was going to give her lunch after we cleaned up.”

  “Okay, maybe feed her before being this”—Tsukiko waves her hands in circular motions at him—“vulnerable in front of her.”

  “She’s not even a year old! I didn’t think it would be a problem!”

  Tsukiko leans over to see her bite. “Can she stay like this for five more minutes?”

  “Yeah,” he nods. “I think I’ve gone numb.”

  She nods back. “I’ll be quick.”

  After five minutes, the girl returns with a bottle of warm formula.

  “Here, here, li’l pup,” she sings, holding the nipple to her mouth and scooping her arm around her waist.

  The baby releases her father and chomps down on what Tsukiko is offering. Darren gives a sigh of relief when his soulmate lifts her off of him.

  “Thanks, Tsukiko,” he breaths.

  “No worries. Finish your bath first. You can give her hers when she’s eaten.”

  “Yeah, but.” He points towards Tsukiko.

  She looks down to where he’s pointing and sees that Angela is eminently dripping water, soaking through her shirt and dripping onto the floor.

  She is wearing a white t-shirt.

  It’s Tsukiko’s turn to yelp now. She pivots the other way and holds the pup a little higher to protect herself.

  Darren faces the tiled shower wall bashfully. “Guess we’re even,” he coughs.

  “T-this also means I can’t go outside right now,” she stammers. “Mark just cleaned the halls and will throw a fit if she drips all over it. We have to wash her first in order to dry her up.”

  “Okay. I, um, I’ll be quick. Just keep facing that way.”

  She swallows awkwardly. “Please hurry.”

  Darren throws himself under then scrubs on shampoo in record time. After soap, he turns on the faucet for a rinse. He feels his muscles relax as the hot water hits him, and he lets out a small sigh of delight. Out of the corner of his eyes, he sees Tsukiko’s back rocking side to side so that at one moment he sees furry ears appear on her left, and at another, he sees the tip of a tail poking from the right. He rotates his head fully toward her, a smile forming on his lips. He could get used to this—this perfect family picture.

  Wait, what? No. That’s not right.

  Darren shakes his head to clear it of the thought. He goes back to rinsing; he’s wasted enough time and he is supposed to be quick.

  “I’m ready,” he tells her after two minutes.

  “Are you covered?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Close your eyes.”

  He does as told, and she turns back around to put a happily fed pup in his arms.

  “Thanks again, Tsukiko.”

  “Of course.”

  As she straightens up to leave, he calls for her once more. “Tsukiko?”

  “Yes?”

  “Han’s in the TV lounge you’d have to pass to get to your room. Take my hoodie; it’s next to the sink.”

  She finds the said garment and smiles at the man even though his eyes are still squeezed shut.

  “Thanks, Darren.”

  T-26 Moons

  “Again, congratulations, futures of Lynford and futures of the world.”

  Tsukiko bounces over to her friends with her cap in her hands.

  “I’m free!” she says, and they all laugh, showering her in flowers and gifts.

  “Forgets half her memories and still graduates a semester early. Unbelievable,” Mark tsks as he pulls her into a hug/chokehold hybrid.

  “All thanks to you,” she sings teasingly to the other chemistry graduate.

  “Congratulations,” both Darren and Jaiden say at the same time while handing her their gifts.

  They turn towards each other, surprised by their synchronization. Still together, they look at their choice of presents: a stuffed quokka in a graduation cap holding a flower and a stuffed squirrel in a graduation cap holding a stick balloon.

  “Thanks, guys,” she smiles appreciatively. “You really are close friends, aren’t you?”

  Darren and Jaiden snap their heads away from each other as quickly as possible, but neither moves to step away from the girl. She laughs softly and reaches for Jaiden’s sleeve to pull his ear closer.

  “Is Chan alright?” she asks discreetly. “He seems kind of off today.”

  “Oh him?” he sniffles a laughter. “Irene is graduating too. Her ceremony is in the evening, so I don’t think he slept a wink last night.”

  “They’ve been in contact? I thought Irene turned h
im down?”

  “Well, soulmates are soulmates, and our dear alpha there has been trying very hard. It’s weird since he was so against meeting her at first, but now he is o-b-s-e-s-s-e-d.”

  “Aahhh,” Tsukiko vocalizes with a teenage-ish giggle.

  It is a happy day, and everyone is in a ceremonious mood. After freshening up at home, Tsukiko again prepares to walk to campus with Chan to celebrate Irene’s accomplishments. To his chest, the alpha clutches a bouquet of Hong Kong roses of a suspicious choice of color.

  “Thanks for coming along,” says Chan, his voice shaking.

  Tsukiko eyes the flowers. “Are you sure you don’t want one of the guys to accompany you? I’m another girl, after all.”

  He doesn’t even hear her as he locks and unlocks himself in his house, his brain short circuiting. Tsukiko is impressed at how the usually collected leader can be rendered to a mindless tomato by a mere college girl.

  “Darren!” she calls out as the man passes by with his nose in his phone.

  He looks up at the sound of his name and walks over.

  “You’re still dressed. Do you want to go to Irene’s ceremony with Chan and me?” she invites.

  Darren looks between her and his leader. “Will he mind?”

  Tsukiko shakes her head. “He won’t even notice.”

  “Will you mind?”

  “No, why would I?”

  He scratches the back of his head. “Never mind. Let’s go then.”

  Once in the auditorium, Tsukiko finds three empty seats beside a middle-aged woman and sits beside her with Chan sandwiched in between herself and Darren for maximum support. When she sees Irene walking on stage, they cheer their hardest, making the girl blush and send over a small wave. After they sit back down, the woman beside Tsukiko leans over.

  “You know Irene?” she whispers.

  “We’re friends,” she replies, ashamed that she cannot say that more concretely.

  The woman places a hand on her chest. “Oh, thank you for being friends with my Irene. She works so hard at the cafe all the time, I was afraid I was wasting away her youth and college life!”

  “You’re Ms. Silva?” Tsukiko gasps.

  Ms. Silva nods in confirmation. “And you are…?”

  “Tsukiko. Tsukiko Tsujii. And this is Chan—”

  Chan would have knelt on the floor if he could. Instead, he settles for a handshake. “Hello, Ms. Silva. It’s so great to finally meet you,” he stutters, supporting his right hand with his left as he shakes hers while fervently bowing.

  “Ah, Chan… is it? Irene doesn’t talk much about school and friends, but I have heard of your name.”

  “Y-you have?” he blushes and panics simultaneously.

  She eyes his flowers with a knowing smirk. “Yes, I have,” she says vaguely.

  “—and this is Darren,” Tsukiko interrupts before Chan wets his seat.

  The person in question leans forward to greet her.

  “Hello, Ms. Silva.”

  Her pupils dilate to fill her entire iris when they make eye contact. Her lips part and quiver at the sight of him.

  “D-Darren?” Ms. Silva breathes shakily.

  A tear slips down the woman’s cheek as she extends her fingers towards the male. However, just before she reaches him, she draws her hand away, and Darren stares at the place she used to occupy even after she sinks deep into her seat.

  “It… it is nice to meet you,” she says and turns back to the stage.

  The gears in Tsukiko’s head immediately start turning in a familiar pattern. A slight headache emerges, but she did not bring any pills nor can she stop herself from thinking. Discreetly, she switches seats with Chan, much to his dismay and gratitude.

  “You alright?” Darren whispers when she slides into the seat beside him, brows furrowed.

  She nods. “I just forgot my pills. How are you? You seemed a little shocked when you saw Ms. Silva.”

  “She just… looked familiar, that’s all,” he mumbles.

  Finally, something fits again, and Tsukiko lights up. “The thing Irene told us back at the hotel!” she exclaims quietly. “And the thing the midwife told me! Are you— Is she— Can it be?” she finally gasps out.

  Darren shakes his head and bites his lip, not looking at her. “No, she’s not. My mother died when I was almost three years old. My father told me so.”

  “Are you sure? If she is, she might have something that can help me find the research that was done on the 42nd moon curse. It could save me from… from that.”

  Darren grips at his chair and sinks a little further into it. “My father told me so,” he repeats.

  * * *

  “Hey Ki. Looking through cases again? I thought you already went through the ‘S’ files,” Jaiden says, loosening his tie as he walks by the study upon returning home.

  “At Irene’s ceremony yesterday, something… let’s just say, odd happened. I’m just seeing if I can find something useful based on that,” she answers.

  Jaiden sets down his bag and takes half her pile and begins shuffling through it himself. “What are we looking for?”

  “‘Silva,’” she responds. “And you don’t have to help me if you don’t want to. I know you just came back from your hotel thing and must be tired.”

  Jaiden freezes at her words and looks up in disbelief. “Ki, Angela is a wolf. You know what that means for you, right? Of course I’ll help find anything that might even remotely improve your chances, alright? Don’t you dare expect me to sit back and do nothing again while you… you… you…”

  Tsukiko looks down ashamedly. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

  Jaiden frowns as a little piece of his heart breaks off every time he thinks about what might happen. “Anyway,” he clears his throat, “why the sudden interest in Irene Silva?”

  “Not Irene, but Irene’s mom. When I was at her graduation ceremony yesterday, Ms. Silva was there too and she saw Darren and stared at him for a long while. I am sure I even saw her cry a little, but then she acted like she had no interest in him afterwards, so I thought, what if Darren is the one the midwife talked about? What if he is her twin with whom her father left?”

  “That’s what you told me last time,” Jaiden agrees.

  “I-I did? When?”

  He looks up startled again. “What do you mean? Did you forget again?”

  Tsukiko meets his eyes. Alarmed now too.

  “That afternoon before you went to St. Valentine’s at night, remember? I thought they said everything was alright! Why is this happening again?”

  Her head begins aching again, but it isn’t unbearable. “W-what else did we discuss?”

  “Some numbers you wrote down. My soulmate.” He is gripping both armrests of her chair now, looking down at her face.

  “Your soulmate… Leiah?”

  “Yes. Do you remember her last name? You said it that day.”

  Slowly, she shakes her head. “All I remember was waking up and you taking me to St. Valentine’s.”

  Now it is Jaiden’s turn to look lost. “I took you?”

  “It was at night, and I could not have gotten there without a car.”

  Jaiden massages the bridge of his nose with a grunt.

  “Jaiden?” She stands with him, rubbing his back as he experiences a pain that is all too familiar to her.

  “No, no; you’re right. I did take you there, and Mark gave me the soulmark sensor pendant. But all I remember after that is a lot of blue lights.”

  “Dr. Lawrence. Does that sound familiar?” Tsukiko offers.

  After a few moments, Jaiden nods. “Yeah. It must have slipped my mind earlier. She scanned your head, brought out a few images, and said everything was all fixed.”

  “Exactly,” Tsukiko confirms.

  Jaiden lets out a sigh of relief as the pain subsides once he finishes recounting the day. “She said you were alright. Do we need to go back again?”

  “No, I can’t. My school insurance isn’t
valid anymore,” she reminds him.

  “I can—”

  “No,” she cuts him off. “An MRI scan is not cheap. I can’t possibly ask that of you every time I forget something.”

  “But I—”

  “We’ll just have to trust that the previous scans were accurate. Some forgetting is natural in humans. This though,” she says, looking over the case files, “this is important.”

  Jaiden looks down back at his work unwillingly, but she has made it pretty clear that the conversation is over. Tsukiko, on the other hand, is not thinking about the files anymore. Her mind races, trying desperately to recall what she lost. She does not want to worry him, but Jaiden is right about this. How can she just forget? This isn’t like remembering a small talk with a stranger; this is significant. She could be forgetting clues that could literally save her life! She could remember her first visit to Yellow Brick and she can imagine hallucinating what Mark calls the Killer Doctor, but this time, there is nothing there at all. She keeps forgetting things, and each time they seem to get hazier and hazier, yet the doctor found no change in her mental activity.

  And Jaiden… How could he have forgotten something this substantial too? He mentioned blue lights which also sound familiar to her. She quickly jots it down under her series of numbers before she can forget again.

  “Have you asked Ms. Silva about this yet?” Jaiden inquires.

  “She disappeared as soon as the ceremony was over.”

  “Want to go over to Yellow Brick to ask if she knows anything? It might be more efficient than shuffling through these files.”

  “I’m not sure she’ll appreciate that. Irene said she is not a fan of wolves, and she seemed to confirm that at the ceremony last night.”

  “Well, we don’t know until we try, right?” Jaiden suggests.

  Tsukiko nods once. “I guess you’re right.”

  “Tomorrow then? I can also drive you to Destiny to pick up your stuff.”

  “Don’t you have another meeting though? You said your father is stretching you rather thin this week now that school is on vacation.”

  “Bloody howl, you’re right,” Jaiden curses, pulling up his schedule to see if there is anything he can move around.

  Tsukiko places a hand over his phone. “It’s alright; I can take the bus. I don’t have too many things on my desk anyway since it was just an eighteen-month internship.”