[ Luna ]

The first part of their trip wasn't very long, since they stopped by Japan for the tourists to take a look at some attractions.

"You've got to be kidding me," Hina griped. She looked out over the sea bitterly, and back to where everyone was getting off the cruise ship to go sightseeing.

"Good news," Chanyeol said breathlessly. He had run to ask the staff about their trip schedule. "This is the only stop for the rest of the cruise. After this, it's straight to America, and then they go back around. Bad news - they're stopping at Japan for about five days."

"What?! Is there another place where we can leave now?" Hina demanded. Luna sighed and put a hand on her sister's arm.

"Hina. This ship is very nice, and we're already set on here. I'm sure the others want a break, too. Let's just find somewhere inconspicious to stay and have some fun while we have the time. I don't think we're in a rush to get there, as long as we're not caught." Luna could tell the others were grateful; they looked tired and eager to have some actual vacation time of their own.

They waited tensely for the single human to give the other Specials permission to go free. The small girl glared at each of them before crossing her arms. "Fine," she said gruffly. Cheers sounded, and Chanyeol and Jonghyun hugged Hina gratefully. "Put me down or I will end you." They obeyed.

"I'll head out and get us a hotel. You guys, when you're ready to head back, go to the library or something and check the city's data system. The second hotel on the list will be where we stay," Onew announced.

"Can't we just stay on the ship?" Taemin muttered. Onew shuddered.

"Okay, whoever wants to stay in the hotel, raise your hands. There is no way I'm sleeping on that rocking boat." A little less than half the group raised their hands, some muttering about a normal bed and minor motion sickness.

"Nah. Japanese chicks," Jonghyun snickered, sticking his tongue out with an open-mouthed grin.

Victoria grimaced. "Disgusting."

"I think two rooms are enough; we should save some money." Krystal pressed a wad of bills into Onew's hand. "I don't know how much yen this is, but I think it's enough." Onew glanced at the younger and blinked several times. The silent question passed through everyone's mind: Where did she get this? "Don't ask." They didn't.

"Luna, we don't want you walking around too much and attracting attention," Sulli said slyly, nudging the shorter girl towards Onew. "Go with Onew and score us some nice rooms, okay?"

Luna mentally cursed their mischevious expressions as Onew waved calmly to them. Then he started walking towards a cafe that offered public data access. As he typed into the search, Luna carefully surveyed their surroundings. There were Normals stationed here and there, as expected, but they didn't seem to be too close. She could even sense quite a few Specials, most likely those who haven't yet been discovered.

"This one seems good," Onew declared, pointing at the screen. He quickly logged out of the session and closed the screen, letting it disappear before he walked outside again. Luna followed behind him tensely, looking back and forth as they walked. "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing," she huffed. "There's just so many people - I'm not used to this. The little town we were in before was much better. Or the abandoned city. Or the underground shelter."

"Don't worry about it. We might not be as easily recognized in Japan," Onew said, although it obviously sounded like a lie.

"No," said Luna, "it's not just that. I'm not used to having so many . . . ugh." She turned away from a passerby who had nearly run into her. "So many people. I could barely control my energy around Specials. If I'm around so many people, I might just explode. There's a reason I kept my powers quiet for so long." Onew glanced down at Luna's hands, and she realized she was rubbing her palm aggressively. She quickly hid her hands behind her back, continuing to walk. "It's just - humans. And whatnot. They're so vulnerable, and I get nervous, and there's so many of them that I see energy everywhere."

It felt as if the air around Luna had gotten colder, although inside, she was heating up with anxiety.

"The hotel's not far," Onew stated calmly, and Luna was grateful.

He didn't assure her that there was nothing to worry about again, or that she just needed to control herself. He didn't take her hand again, which would probably just make her even more unstable (although she wouldn't complain). Soon, they were checking into a relatively cozy hotel. The receptionist greeted them with the usual bright smile. Her eyebrows raised as soon as the words "two rooms" slipped from Onew's lips, although she didn't question it.

Luna felt her ears turn red as she realized what the lady had been assuming. Her eyes darted over to Onew, whose ever-so-perfect smile was still in place, although it seemed as if one corner was curled up a bit higher into a smirk. She wanted to smack it off his face.

"Here are the room keys." The receptionist handed them two identical cards that had the hotel's glossy logo on one side.

"This place seems . . . fairly expensive," Luna worried as they were walking towards the elevators. "How much money, exactly, did Krystal steal?"

"Enough," Onew answered almost gravely. "She stole enough."

They fell silent as the elevator doors opened and a few people spilled out of the small compartment. They took their places, Luna's fingers pressing against the 3rd floor button. Generic music sounded through cheap speakers as the elevator moved them up. None of them spoke until they had looked around the rooms and made sure everything was safe.

"So," Onew began awkwardly, "what are you going to do in Japan?"

"I don't know," Luna replied earnestly. "I've never been outside of Korea."

Onew frowned. "That should only want to make you explore Japan even more."

"Should it?"

There was no reply. The silence was much shorter this time, thankfully.

"How about we go eat? There should be some really good ramyun places in Japan. No matter when, noodles are always a good and convenient meal," Onew babbled in his effort to make conversation. For the sake of his pride, and because her stomach rumbled a bit at his suggestion, Luna smiled in agreement. Onew grinned back, seemingly satisfied.

The walk from their hotel was much more relaxed, for whatever reason, Luna didn't know. It could have been the light brush of the back of their hands as they walked, the nice weather, Onew's carefree smile . . . it could have been anything, honestly. Luna's eyes swept over the tall buildings before landing on the small park hidden below the height of the towers, families and their pets trickling in and out of the public play area. She was smiling softly at them when Onew suddenly tugged them to a stop.

Luna blinked at the small stall Onew had brought her to. An aged man worked behind it, preparing the brew and noodles and all.

"Here?" she clarified. Onew nodded, looking indignant.

"What? It's cheap! We can't exactly afford to live luxuriously, even with all that Krystal stole," he grunted. Luna quickly snapped a hand over his mouth, wondering if laser eyes were a sort of power as she glared at him. At least one Special had to have that sort of ability.

"Mmf m-mm oom." The mumbles came from her palm, still cupped over Onew's lips as Luna contemplated the possibility of a Special somewhere having a literal deadly glare. She quickly withdrew her hand, raising an eyebrow at him so that he would repeat his words. "It's really good."

"How do you know?"

"These places usually have authentic Japanese noodles. It comes from the heart since it's made in a classic stall, and the flavor is more touching."

"What does that even mean?"

"It means we can't afford two bowls of 800 yen ramen, Luna."


It turned out that the ramyun was actually enjoyable. The old man smiled kindly as the two sat at his stall, setting down two steaming bowls before them.Or maybe it was her grumbling stomach. She slurped the noodles, ignoring the fact that two men were in front of and beside her. Onew's low chuckling could be heard, but other than that, he seemed unaffected by her ravenous eating.

"Eunsook-ah . . ."

Luna looked up from her bowl, swallowing. "Your cousin, right? The one that's just like you?"

Onew wrinkled his nose, but his lips quirked upwards nonetheless. "Yeah, that one. She would like you. She's an enthusiastic eater, too." After a pause, he added, "Just like me."

Luna wanted to ask him if he meant that Eunsook was just like him in being an enthusiastic eater or liking her. But she didn't.

"Food exists to be eaten," Luna mumbled, stuffing a slice of cucumber in . Onew glanced down at his bowl and then at her.

"Do you like these?" Onew asked, holding up his chopsticks that held cucumbers and cilantro. Luna nodded slowly, watching as he calmly placed the toppings in her bowl. "I'm allergic to cucumbers. And I hate cilantro." He grinned cheekily as Luna pouted at the added greens. She wished she could toss some sort of disgusting vegetable back at him, but she was too hungry to give up any of her food.

"Do you think Eunsook would help us? All of us?"

"Of course! She might be working with . . . them, but she loved me, even if I was a Special. We were close cousins back then," Onew sighed.

"Yes, but - how can she help all of us? There's so many Specials, and she could get in trouble! And her position - that makes it worse. I don't want to cause too much trouble for her . . ." Luna bit her lip anxiously. Onew stared at her for a while before taking her chopsticks and stuffing more noodles into .

"Eat. Work your stomach instead of your brain," he chided. "You haven't even met my cousin yet, and here you are worrying about her." Luna chewed with her bottom lip jutting out, disgruntled. Was it her fault for being a good human being? No. It wasn't. "So what is this?" Luna let her eyes slide over to Onew, who was resting his chin on his palm and almost smirking at her. "A date?"

Luna gulped and made sure there was no food in her teeth. "No. It was my dinner."
 

The rooms were easily assigned: Onew, Jonghyun, T.O.P., and Key in one room while Luna, Bom, Victoria, and Sulli stayed in the other. In the morning, Luna opened the door to a yawning Jonghyun who was pointing down the hall towards their room.

"What?" she mumbled blearily, rubbing her eyes.

"Ungh. Onew's not waking up. Can you work some energy into him or something?"

Luna squinted at the white-haired male. "What? No! Can't you use your electricity and zap some sense into him?"

"Noooo," Jonghyun whined, stomping his foot. Luna scowled, leaning back as Jonghyun collapsed against the wall dramatically. "Last time I tried that, I . . ." He trailed off, slipping into a half sleep. Luna nudged him when he began to snore. "Last time I - I burnt Minho's hair off. Was not fun for both of us." He smacked his lips together. "Hina wanted us to meet at . . . s-seven. I don't know what the hell's wrong with her."

"That's my sister you're talking about," Luna snapped as she thought, What the hell's wrong with her? Luna stumbled down the hall and opened the unlocked door, blinking at Onew's slumped over figure on the bed. His hair was sticking up in different directions and his mouth was open slightly, blankets wrapped tightly around him. The sight was almost endearing - almost, she told herself.

Key was already up and checking himself out in the mirror, and Luna could hear T.O.P. talking to himself in the shower. Or maybe he was singing - rapping. Luna decided not to question it.

"Yah. Hey, punk," Luna said into Onew's ear. She nudged him with her foot.

"Like we haven't tried that," Key sang. Jonghyun came into the room and started giggling about something with Key. He was shoved by the latter, but soon, they were both snickering evilly. Luna did not like the sound of that.

"YAHHH!" Luna shrieked. Onew fell out of bed with a scream. Luna kicked his groaning body, lost in the mass of blankets on the carpet. "Ugh." As she stomped out of the hotel room, she heard Onew ask Key and Jonghyun.

"Why did you guys ask her to come here?"

"Trying to help you, hyung!" Jonghyun answered in a bright, completely-wide-awake voice. Luna reminded herself to burn some of Jonghyun's hair off in the future. Maybe she could use Minho's help . . .

"Luna?" Victoria looked confused and slightly relieved as Luna stepped into their shared room. She was drying her hair out with a towel. It seemed like the rest of the girls had finished getting ready while Luna was gone. Sulli was drying her hair with a towel and Bom was looking through the breakfast menu on the T.V. "Where did you go? I thought something happened . . ."

"Boys are idiots," Luna mumbled tiredly as she stumbled into the shower.


At seven sharp (okay, maybe a little bit later - it's impossible to get up that early and be ready in time), the fifteen of them met up at the dock by the cruise ship. Chanyeol, Taeyeon, and Hina looked perfectly fine, so they were probably used to getting up so early in order to maintain an underground city.

"So. Why are we up so early?" Taemin demanded as he rubbed a hand down his face. Hina glanced around the group almost expectantly - nervously? Luna was a bit thrown off by her sister's hesitation.

"I - Chanyeol suggested to me - he said that you guys - that we - might appreciate a tour, perhaps? Some sightseeing and shopping. Since we all haven't been out much . . ." Hina trailed off as twelve pairs of eyes trained on her.

"You made us meet at seven in the morning to go vacationing?" T.O.P. deadpanned. Bom patted his back comfortingly.

"I'm going back to the ship," Amber announced, turning around.

"This is not the reality I wanted," whispered Jonghyun.

Chanyeol glared at everyone before flashing an unsettling smile, and it was an odd transition. "Come on. Do you usually not get up this early?" They all eyed him judgementally. "Oh. Anyways, just be grateful, okay? We could be training, or Hina could just force you all to stay hidden somewhere." For some reason, the image of the tiny human controlling all the Specials into one hideout wasn't that hard to conjure.

"Fine, fine, fine. Breakfast first, though," Luna declared. No one protested.

It was when they were sitting on the floor of a quiet restaurant ("This is a must in Japan. Sitting on the floor while you're eating your meal," Jonghyun insisted, to which Amber replied, "I think you're just being racist.") They were cramped in a table on the lower floor of the shop, gathered eagerly around the plates of seafood.

"Anyone notice anything suspicious?" Minho asked as he on a crab leg. Krystal grimaced at him from across the table, and he stuck out his crab-covered tongue in response. The others gagged in disgust.

"No . . . Did you?" Onew inquired cautiously. Minho frowned and stared at the table.

"Not really, but I find that suspicious. With things going well - don't you think something's bound to happen?"

"Knock on wood!" Victoria snapped, throwing a crab shell at his face. "You're going to jinx us!" Without looking once at the large-eyed girl, Minho rapped his knuckles against the table and continued to eat.

Luna joined the others in their laughter, but at the same time, she kept Minho's words in mind. He was right; with their luck, there vacation wouldn't be peaceful for long, and knocking on wood wasn't going to change that. A few minutes later, the door to the restaurant opened and a several Normals stepped inside. Hoping that it was just a coincidence, the officers going for a meal, Luna calmly slid her eyes over to Onew, who had glanced at her at the same time.

They held each other's gazes before smoothly catching the attention of everyone else, first Hina, and then the rest. A tense silence settled over their table, and a couple of them tried to laugh off the unshakable feeling. Luna sighed when, from the corner of her ever so watchful eyes, the Normals began to make their way to their table instead of letting a waitress them to their own. Then Krystal's hands flew up, and their table came crashing into the Normals.
 

[ Onew ]

"Go, go, go!" Onew roared, ignoring the shrieks of the few others in the restaurant as they scrambled to leave. He grabbed the potted plant in the corner of the room, praying it wasn't a fake, and kicked his foot upwards. The branches shot out and entangled themselves between a couple of the Normals limbs, but he could still hear them calling for backup. He caught Luna standing by the emergency door where the others were escaping out of, her fingers twitching. He grabbed her wrist sternly. "We can't have you going around using your energy powers randomly. You can barely control yourself as it is . . ."

"I know," she whispered. "I'm getting too used to using them. I keep seeing-"

"It'll be okay," Onew insisted frantically, checking over his shoulder at the struggling Normals. "Right now, we need to find a place to hide." He flinched when Key's voice rang in his head, and Luna jerked back in shock, too.

We're getting split up! There's Normals coming towards Onew and Taeyeon. It's going to be difficult for me to - ! Minho, you fu - sorry. As soon as you guys are safe, get to the market by the docks. I'm with - oof!

Onew's head throbbed, and no other messages came from Key. He closed his eyes, hoping his friend was okay, before grabbing Luna's hand and sprinting. He noticed her falter when they were about to exit the alleyway, towards the crowd of people. Some were panicking due to the restaurant customers spreading the gossip. He glanced at her horrified expression and could only imagine what sort of energy waves were emitting from the chaos.

"This way, this way," he panted, dragging the other towards the left and away from the humans. He ran into T.O.P. and Bom.

"Normals coming from behind! Keep going!" T.O.P. bellowed. Onew saw a brief glimpse of those hauntingly familiar white uniforms, and then he was making a mad dash, deeper into the buildings.

"Weapons - they have something like freeze rays," Luna shouted as they ran.

"I wish Dara were here," Bom groaned.

"No!" Luna whirled around two seconds before Onew did, and he saw that she had sensed the shots before they were fired. A blast of ice was coming at them with alarming power and speed. Almost as if it were a routine, T.O.P. and Bom set themselves in defensive stances. Time slowed against the blast for a few seconds and a force field materialized before them. Bom flew back with the force of the shot, but it didn't hit them directly. The Normals fell backwards from the shock of the backfire.

"Bom!" T.O.P. yelled, skidding to his knees beside her. She struggled up onto her elbows, shivering slightly.

"Did it work?"

"Yeah, yeah, it worked," he mumbled, tucking her head under his chin as he waited for the shaking to subside. He glanced at Onew and Luna with an almost stoic expression. "Can you hold them off? You'll have to leave us behind. Don't worry, we'll take care of each other."

Onew admired the taller male for speaking like he and Bom were equal - not that he would take care of them both, but that they would both support each other. He wondered if he could do that with Luna, although sometimes he felt as if Luna could take care of herself and him better than he could. He quickly shook the thoughts from his head as he nodded at T.O.P. There were no plants in the alleyway of a technologically advanced city. Instead, he pressed his palms to the ground and smirked with satisfaction as tremors ran through the pathway.

The pavement cracked under the Normals before the debris flew in the air along with their bodies. They collapsed back to where the cement had opened up to reveal dirt and rocks.

"Take care," Onew told T.O.P., who was carefully lifting Bom on his back. The two nodded at each other briefly before separating again, one pair to find someplace to wait out the danger and the other pair determined to get to the market. It was their roles as the "leaders" to be there as soon as possible.

Onew stayed quiet and tried to hide his panic as they waded their way through the streets. They quickly stole a hoodie and cap from a random store display to hide their faces, knowing that their faces would be displayed on the city sky holograms for everyone to see at any moment. Head ducked, his hand never left Luna's tight grasp as they weaved through the bustling crowd. Murmurs of the Specials' arrival and the Normals scavenging the city littered the streets, but all Onew could really focus on at the moment was getting to the market before Luna might literally explode.

It was when he could see the market sign - so close - when two Normals stepped in front of their pathways. At the sight of the white-clothed officers, the people automatically parted to make way for them, all except for Onew and Luna. Slowly, Onew raised his head, seeing Luna do the same beside him. They tensed at the guns held to their heads. Tazers. Remembering what it had done to him before, Onew wonered what it would be like to have an electric shock directly to his brain. He mentally shuddered.

Watching as the Normals pulled their triggers, Onew grabbed Luna and spun around so that his back was facing the Normals and he was covering Luna. He was pretty sure she was screaming "YOU ABSOLUTE IDIOT!" in the next few seconds, but all he could hear was the ringing in his head.

It was sad that this wasn't exactly the stupidest decision he'd ever made.





 

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Bless. It has been almost a month



AUUUUGH! I have no excuse except for school
Which is lame.
So I tried to make this chapter a bit long



I'm watching some old vids of these babies
Hello Baby
Krystal being ft. in Juliette
Sigh . . . they've grown so



Neomu areum DAUN DAUN DAUN DAUN VIEW



I actually love Love Sick. Onew's starting line is heaven
And the Replay/Noona Neomu Yeppeo references in the choreo/story

It's beautiful.

It's officially summer for me!!!
I want to try to update more often.
Please be patient with me?



If you guys are still here after all this time,
Bless your souls.
Note: lightly inspired by Jonghyun's trip to Japan in SHINee's One Fine Day



Thank you! Bye!