Chapter 35 – Yuka’s Back

Time skip to December 1988

[3rd POV]

As the 12th month began, Yuka Yamauchi stepped out of a car in Apollonia.

The first thing she felt was the heat.

It was December. She had just gotten off a plane in the DFW area (Dallas-Fort Worth). There, it was around 4°C, or as the Americans said, 40°F.

However, it certainly did not feel like 4°C in Apollonia. In Apollonia, it was 30°C in the day, and 20°C in the night. Each day, every day.

Due to the immense heat, she immediately took off her jacket, revealing her Alphonse Elric (the suit of armor, not the half-starved kid) shirt, which went well with her Pokémon shoes.

After paying her cab, she looked at the town before her. A couple months ago, Apollo slid into her DMs and asked her to come to Apollonia, a small town he founded.

What stood before her was not a normal town. It was a European style town in the middle of the desert. Cobblestone streets lined the thin roads – some too narrow for cars, not that someone would need one when everything appeared to be within walking distance. Each building – no more than 4 stories tall – had flower boxes adorning their windowsills, bursting with vibrant blooms that added a splash of color to the already picturesque scene. The faint scent of cinnamon rolls could be smelled in the air.

Then there was the tower. The Sunscraper, living up to its name, soared as if to touch the sun itself. From the 50th story, a waterfall cascaded down the structure, forming a small river below. Downriver, the water flowed into a beautiful golden fountain of a dragon. The dragon had its back arched and mouth open, as if it were about to breathe fire into the sky. However, instead of fire, streams of water sprouted out of its mouth.

Yuka spent minutes simply staring at the tower. She didn't even notice someone approaching her.

"Ahem," a throat-clearing sound pierced the air, commanding attention and bringing Yuka's thoughts to a halt. Yuka shook herself out of her stupor and looked at the blonde to her left.

"So, you're Yuka!" the blonde exclaimed. "I'm Emily, Chief Human Resources Officer of Apollo Enterprises! I've heard sooo much about you!"

Yuka felt a chill run down her spine. Something felt off to her.

"Let's get you settled down first. Apollo has a room prepared for you!" she said before grabbing one of Yuka's bags and marching towards the Sunscraper.

Yuka, having said nothing, simply helplessly followed.

Neither of them said a word as they went to her room. It was actually the entire 230th floor of the Sunscraper.

As the elevator doors opened, Yuka gasped in astonishment. The apartment – if it could be called that, was extraordinary. Floor-to-ceiling windows offered panoramic views of the town. The windows provided natural light to bathe the rooms in a golden lens.

Room after room was furnished with the finest furniture plated in platinum and gold. Crystal vases were filled with flowers, and Persian carpets lined the floor.

Emily, who had been observing Yuka's reaction, broke the silence. "Impressive, isn't it? Apollo spares no expenses."

Yuka turned to face Emily, her expression serious. "Emily, can I ask you something?"

"Of course," Emily replied with a smile, as if expecting this.

"What exactly does Apollo want from me? Why did he invite me here?" Yuka's voice was tinged with concern.

Emily's smile grew. "Apollo believes that you have unique skills, and a great," she paused as she leveled her eyes at Yuka's chest, "personality. He thinks you'll benefit the organization greatly with your talents."

Yuka took a step back. English wasn't her first language, but she was fluent enough to understand what Emily was saying. And while the words were very nice, Emily's body language was suggesting something entirely different.

Not missing a beat, Emily advanced upon her and leaned in, whispering in her ear. "You're going to accept, right? You wouldn't have come all this way to just go back to Japan, right? You must really like Apollo…"

With each word, Yuka's face turned more and more red. "It was just one kiss!" she exclaimed.

Stunned, Emily took a few steps back. "Wh – wha – what?"

After a beat of silence, Yuka dashed for the nearest bedroom and locked the door behind her.

Emily sighed. "I never got a kiss," she mumbled.

Suddenly seeing drops of red, she put her hand to her nose to find that she had a nosebleed.

"Huh, wonder what caused this?"

.

An hour later, Yuka was eventually coaxed out of her room by Emily and brought to Site 002. Yuka didn't even realize where they were going, until she was inches away from the camouflaged door.

Inside, she saw bustling factory lines, producing a constant stream of products before being packaged and put on trucks. These trucks would then travel through an underground tunnel, before surfacing just inside the borders of Apollonia, completely obscuring their source.

Yuka marveled at the entire process. Other than a handful of girls with clipboards observing the process, there were no other humans in sight. Not even the trucks contained people. They were all driverless.

In an upper platform was Apollo, observing the factory while talking with a few of his assistants. As his eyes wandered across the floor, he stopped when he saw Yuka.

Waving his assistants away, he walked towards Yuka, who was in a mild state of shock. The previously 5-year-old boy who looked 15, had transformed into the body of a 17-year-old Greek god.

"Yuka! It's been too long, how's it been!" Apollo greeted her.

"Oh, um, hi Artemis! I mean Apollo! I love it here in Applonia! I mean Apollonia!" Yuka said quickly.

Apollo simply raised an eyebrow.

"Sorry," Yuka apologized, "I'm just really nervous. It's my first time being out of the country. You have no idea how hard it was to convince my parents to let me do this."

Apollo did know. He spied on Yuka by tapping her phone. Finding that her parents were unreasonably stubborn, he appeared in Yuka's grandfather's dream, disguised as his father, and told him to help her out.

"It's alright Yuka. Listen, I like you a lot, so I'll get straight to the point." Yuka's face immediately returned to a beet red complexion. And she felt her heart throb as Apollo placed his arm around her.

"I want you to join Apollo Enterprises as its Chief Technology Officer."

"What?!" Yuka asked in shock. She believed she was immensely underqualified for such a role. She also felt slightly disappointed, but she didn't quite know why.

"Obviously not immediately," Apollo reassured her. "You'll start off learning the finer points of Helios – you do know Helios, right?"

Yuka nodded. She had been fascinated with Pokémon and was two years into learning Helios, coding a few small games here and there. Of course, Apollo knew this from aggregated user data. Yuka's account caught his attention by being the most frequent visitor on the website he published Helios's documentation. Remembering the black-haired Japanese girl from 4 years ago, he found her phone number and slid into her DMs.

"Brilliant. I'll catch you up on some of the more complex concepts, and you'll have to learn some Assembly. You'll also be helping me test and fix any bugs in the next Pokemon game we're releasing."

"There's a new Pokémon game?!" Yuka half screamed.

"Yep, Pokémon Gold and Silver! You'll love it! 100 new Pokémon for everyone to collect!"

"Is the anime getting new seasons as well!"

"Totally!"

"Is Ash going to win the Championship this time?"

"Haha, very funny," Apollo teased.

Yuka just pouted in response.

"Now don't be like that, we have other anime coming out too, ya know."

"Full Metal Alchemist is getting a third season?"

Apollo paused. How to approach this. Apollo decided to just skip it.

"Classroom of the Elite's getting a second season, and we're going to have two new anime! Naruto and Neon Genesis Evangelion! I just know you'll love them both!"

"Is Full Metal Alchemist is getting a third season?" she asked in a small voice.

Apollo sighed. Turning towards her and with a solemn look on his face, he simply said, "I'm sorry."

"What? No! You just started Ed and Winry's relationship! And they're going to explore the world outside of Amestris, how could you do this to me – no, to us, the fans!"

Apollo sighed again. "I'm sorry Yuka, but the story's done. There's not much else to tell in Ed and Al's journey in terms of character development. The only interesting thing that would happen in following seasons would the constant references the past."

It was now Yuka's turn to sigh. After a few moments, she nodded and said, "I'll do it."

"You'll make a third season?"

"No, I'll join Apollo Enterprises," she clarified.

.

[Main POV]

After Yuka agreed to join, she left to get settled into her apartment. A multi-billion-dollar apartment, with a bunch of tech and precious metals incorporated into it, but an apartment none the less.

Olivia questioned why I decided to hire Yuka. It was quite simple. I needed someone who I could trust. Skills were secondary. Skills could be taught. Especially with someone so young.

And skills weren't necessarily necessary for the Chief Technology Officer position. Despite the name, in ten years time, Yuka wouldn't be writing code. Her time would be spent attending meetings, and probably some congressional hearings for all the questionable decisions I was making now.

I needed someone who would be enthusiastic, which I knew she was. Yuka wanted to be on the forefront of technology and culture, both of which were necessary for managing a company that produced games and social media.

She had learned Helios on her own, a testament to her initiative and that she wasn't totally stupid. Yuka also had connections to Nintendo, a company that currently owned the rights to Mario.

But most of all, I knew I could trust her. I had looked into her mind. I knew she would never quit her job. I knew she wouldn't ever stab me in the back. And I knew I could trust her to fulfill my will to the best of her ability.

As I finished reminiscing about her, I saw Emily approach me.

"My lord," she said.

"Emily," I replied back, "thank you for showing Yuka around."

"My lord," she repeated before smiling like a fox. She leaned over forward giving me a good view of her chest. Perhaps if this was 5 years ago, I would have been flustered. But I did not. I didn't react to her provocation.

"I know you kissed Yuka…"

!!!

"I didn't kiss her! She kissed me!" I defended.

"It wasn't longer than 3 seconds, so it doesn't count!" I added. "Neither of us used any tongue!"

It was after a brief pause when I realized her expression didn't change.

"Please don't tell Artemis."

Emily laughed. "My lord, I would never dream it!"

She paused then looked down, "I just wonder why you would kiss her, but never do anything with me…"

"Did you not listen to me you hag! I didn't kiss her! She kissed me!"

"Relax, relax, I'm just teasing you. Wow, Olivia makes this a lot easier than it looks," she said with a chuckle. "And don't worry, I'd never tell Artemis –"

"Tell me what?"

We both turned to see my girlfriend standing near the entrance of Site 002. Despite being over two hundred meters away, her voice rang out throughout the entire factory. All employees in Site 002 decided now was a good time for a lunch break.

"Tell me what?" she repeated after teleporting beside us.

"Uh, nothing my lady," Emily quickly said, "I simply –"

"Artemis," I interrupted. "I didn't tell you this because it was absolutely meaningless and we weren't dating at the time, but, when we were in Tokyo for the 1985 Chess Championship, Yuka and I shared a quick kiss."

"Oh," Artemis said, "I already knew that."

"Wait, what?"

"Yeah, the two of you did so under a full moon, did you think I wouldn't notice?"

Huh. Thinking back, I did remember the moonlight reflecting off Yuka's eyes. I suppose she could see through it as I did the sun.

"Oh, and Emily?" Artemis added.

"Yes, my lady?"

Artemis summoned a newspaper before swatting Emily with it as if she were chasing away a stray cat. She then grabbed my arm and held it possessively, her gaze fixed on Emily.

"Mine."

.

.

.

AN: Drop some Power Stones please.

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