Chapter Four, Act One: "Actually, I think I love you."
START:
Part One: "Presumptions"
The next day, Kei woke up from his old bed located at his uncle's house. Waking up from a standstill he had last night, he woke up in slight pain "Uhh..." he rubbed his head "Another standstill."
"Kei!" Konoha's voice rang from the first floor "Wake up. Eat now!"
"Right..." he said weakly dragging his feet onto his slippers. He slowly walked to the door and went downstairs.
"Morning Kei." Minoru said over the newspaper "Slept well?"
"No." Kei threw himself to the sofa "Just woke up from a standstill again."
Minoru looked at him worriedly "Want me to check on that?" he settled down his newspaper as
"Nah, I'm fine." Kei looked at him "But thanks."
Konoha brought the food in the table. "Time to eat." she said
"Yeah." Kei replied "Coming." he stood from the couch and sat down on his usual chair at the left-hand side of the table.
Saying his grace to Kami-sama, he began to eat his breakfast.
Meanwhile, Mizuho woke up from her futon. Looking at her right-hand side lay Kei's empty futon. Sighing, she pulled herself of the futon and rubbed her eyes. She then stepped to the kitchen and grabbed some meal to eat. Bringing her food on a bowl, she walked to the window and stared at Lake Kizaki.
"Kei!" a voice rang one floor below her "Come on, let's go!"
Mizuho looked in curiosity, it was Koishi. A minute later, Kei emerged from his uncle's home wearing his civilian clothing. "You're early." he said, as he pulled on his boots.
Koishi looked at him "Sorry about that, Ichigo said that I should pick you up because I forgot to mention of a change in plan."
"And what would that be?"
"Meet-up is 12:30."
Kei nodded "Ah..." he said as he looked at the balcony of their shared apartment "I see." He saw no one.
Behind the curtains, Mizuho was hiding from Kei's sight. "I thought you were going with your friends," she wondered, as if talking to Kei "But only Cadet Herikawa is with him." she looked through the window and saw Kei and Koishi walking off. "What is going on?"
Fifteen minutes later, Kei and Koishi stood at an empty train station. "Hm... that's odd." Koishi wondered, looking at the empty platform. "They're supposed to be here." she then walked to the telephone booth "I'll be right back."
"Right." Kei replied as he sat on a bench.
The silent train station was soon filled with Koishi's voice of disbelief. "Ehhh?" she said "But why are you still home, Kaede?"
"Well, Ichigo told me to so I..." Kaede's response was soon interrupted when Ichigo grabbed the phone.
"I grew tired of waiting for you guys." she said flatly over the phone.
"What?" Koishi said over the phone in disbelief "What are you talking about?"
"You know what I am talking about." Ichigo replied "I'm going."
"HEY! WAI-" before Koishi could even unleash her counter-argument, Ichigo placed the phone on its cradle, ending the call
"Are you sure that we did the right thing?" Kaede asked.
"I am just tired of seeing those two." Ichigo replied. An idea crossed her mind as she pushed her down and pinned Kaede below her. "Now, where were we?" Kaede giggled in response as Ichigo playfully toyed with her.
At the other side of the phone, Koishi placed the phone on its dock. "What's gotten into her?" confused, she left the phone booth and approached Kei. "Well, it seems that our friends are not coming with us."
"Hmm?" Kei looked at her then sighed "Oh well, I guess we just have to go their ourselves then."
"What?" Koishi blushed "Without the others?"
Part Two: "Midday observations"
Sitting behind the brushes at the opposite side of the tracks, Mizuho pulled out a futuristic binoculars. "Those two are just sitting there, waiting for a train perhaps?" she wondered as she shifted left. Zooming at the east, she noticed a passenger train heading to the station. "Marie." she called out.
Marie waddled towards her. Picking her up, Mizuho looked at him "Alright, Observation DDZ-230 is now in effect. Place a tracking beacon on Kei."
"Noh!" Marie shrieked in objection "Noh noh noooh!"
"I said DO IT!" Mizuho squeezed him tightly. Grabbing for dear life, Marie then fired a tracking beacon which later hit Kei's glasses.
Arriving at the city minutes later, Kei and Koishi stood outside the station. "So Kei?" Koishi looked at her "Where do you want to go?"
"You wanna see a movie?" Kei asked.
"Sure!" she grabbed her hand as they ran to the theatre. Behind them materialized Mizuho, keeping her distance from them. Unknown to her, a young girl eating her vanilla ice cream catches a glimpse of her as she materialized beside her.
"LET'S... VOLT... IN!" five pilots simultaneously pressed the "combine" buttons, assembling their massive combat machine.
Kei and Koishi sat together as they watched a mecha movie. They slowly drawn themselves together, only to be interrupted by a cough, from Mizuho. Sighing to herself, Mizuho looked at them then resumed watching the movie.
Meanwhile outside the theatre, Kaede and Ichigo stood behind a pillar. "Do you think they went in that movie?" Kaede asked.
"Of course." Ichigo replied "This is one of the two movie theatres here in Matsumoto." she then looked towards the theatre as the doors opened "Look, here they come." she said as a crowd of people exit the theatre.
Mizuho exited the theatre first. Her black suit and glasses gave her away to the two girls standing behind a pillar. "Oh, is that Ms. Kazami?" Kaede wondered.
"Oh Ms. Kazami!" Ichigo called out, causing Mizuho to jump.
"What are you doing Ichigo?" Kaede snapped
"Oh Ms. Kazami, the command staff wants to see you." Ichigo ignored Kaede's question.
Mizuho, nearly paranoid, looked around cautiously to find the source of the voice. Thinking it was just her, she walked off. "Hm... so that's not her then?" Kaede asked. "I dunno." Ichigo replied as Kei and Koishi emerged from the movie theatre. "Come on." Koishi, grabbing Kei's hand "Let's go."
Part Three: "And the rest of the day..."
Mizuho spent the rest of the day stalking the two. The entire "date" was recorded into a meticulous schedule that covered their date.
1215hrs: Time of arrival to City Centre
1215-1300hrs: Subjects "Kei" and "Koishi" went to see the movie "Chōdenji Machine Voltes V : The Return of the Boazanians ." The proximity between the two are getting too close. To intervene, I coughed in which the two reacted. No further activity is noticed up to the rest of the movie.
1302hrs: After watching the movie, they went to grab some meal to eat on a restaurant next to the theatre.
1330hrs: Nine minutes after, they went to the arcade centre to play video games. Subject "Koishi" appears to be on a winning streak against Subject "Kei". (Personal Note: I do hope Subject "Kei" at least wins one game.)
1427hrs: Currently following the two walk towards Hachikuji and Senjougahara avenue intersection. No further activity update as of current time.
"Why am I doing this?" Mizuho asked herself "More importantly why do I feel this way?" shaking her head in resistance, she continued. "I am Observer First Class Mizuho Kazami, I have a-" she was interrupted when she bumped into the ones she was stalking!
"Ah, Lieutenant!" Koishi saluted "How do you do ma'am?" Kei saluted and looked at her suspiciously. "Oh hello you two." Mizuho replied, "Wha... what are you two up to?" she stammered as she thought out her replies.
"It seems your suspicious clothing might have something to do with this." Kei remained suspicious. "I have a feeling you might be following someone."
The revelation felt like daggers stabbing her in multiple positions. Realizing that her cover is blown, she looked down "Yes, I have been following you both." she said, sighing in resignation "Your uncle and aunt are extremely worried about you that they wanted me to follow you around, to see if you are going alright."
Kei remained unconvinced. Behind them hid Ichigo and Kaede, hiding behind a tree. "So it was Ms. Kaxami all along." Kaede said as Ichigo nodded in agreement.
"I am still unconvinced." Kei looked at Mizuho then to Koishi "Koishi, I had fun with you today." he said softly but sternly as started to walk away, leaving the two behind.
"Well, so what now?" Kaede looked to Ichigo who in turn was looking at her.
"I suggest we run." with that, they ran for their lives.
Sighing, Koishi spoke, "Well, Miss..." she looked at Mizuho's direction but for some odd reason, she disappeared. "People are getting weirder everyday." Koishi wondered as she walked away.
Part Four: "Let's go..."
A frustrated Kei skipped rocks at Lake Kizaki. The serene surroundings have profound no effect to Kei's frustrations of today. Picking up one of the flat rocks he would find, he aimed to the water. With a throw of an arm, the rock flew in a flat trajectory. The rock skipped three times before losing momentum, disappearing on the depths of the lake. Tired, he fell on his rear, sighing in frustration. Soon, he began to hear a distinct noise. "Noh, noh, noh, noooh," the sound repeated many times. Looking to his left, he sees Marie, marching along the coast of the lake. Marie stopped, turning his tear-drop-shape head towards Kei, he pointed, to the flickering materialization beam.
Kei looked at the materialization beam, there he sees Mizuho re-materializing. Standing up, he unknowingly kicks a stone. A second later, a sharp pain crushed his toes. "Damn, damn, damn..." he hissed in pain, rubbing his leather boots.
As Kei began to walk away, Mizuho called out "Kei!" she cried, halting Kei's retreat. "Kei, let me talk to you."
"No," Kei replied, slowly facing her "There's..." then it hit him something in the heart, clutching his chest, he knelt on the ground. Looking towards her, he could see her running towards him, moving as if slow-motion.
"No... it's happening again."
Losing consciousness, he collapsed to the grass.
It was almost midnight when Kei emerged from his standstill. Realizing his head was resting on Mizuho's lap, he got up quickly and inadvertently stole a kiss from her. It was first kiss for the couple. Both were stunned throughout the first contact. Breaking softly from the kiss, Mizuho tearfully whispered "I'm sorry." she said, rubbing her forehead lovingly against his own "I am so sorry." she wept, closing eyes.
Kei embraced her, attempting calming her down. However instead of a calmed down Mizuho, she cried even more, returning the embrace. "I'm sorry too." he whispered "I'm sorry I got mad at you without telling you why."
Minutes seemed hours for the both, as they have been embracing for sometime. Kei broke away from the embrace once Mizuho calmed down. "Can I... can I tell you about my past?"
Mizuho sniffled then looked at him "Do you want to?"
"I think I owed you a lot of explanation." Kei replied softly and continued with newly-found determination "Yes, I will tell you."
Kei sat closer, holding both of her hands. Sighing to himself, he began:
END OF ACT ONE, TO BE CONTINUED ON ACT TWO
A/N: I am so cruel... er... ahem, hello again fellas! I have returned with an instalment of my current ongoing fanfic. Sorry for being away for a while, as I find myself busy this summer. Don't worry, though I will add the back story on the next chapter.
References:
Chōdenji Machine Voltes V and "Let's... Volt... In!": a classic mecha anime from the 1970's.
Street names Senjougahara and Hachikuji: both are characters from the anime Bakemonogatari.
Credits:
Original Media:
Original Concept by: Yasunori Ide, Shizuru Hayashiya, and Yousuke Kuroda
Produced by: Bandai Visual (Anime), MediaWorks (Manga and Light Novel)
Animation Studio: Daume
North American Distributor: Bandai Entertainment
Fan Fiction:
Original Concept and Story: Durante Alighieri
Disclaimer: Please Teacher: Air Force Academy! is a fan fiction written by the author Durante Alighieri and is based upon the anime of the same name. The Author does not receive profit from making this fan fiction.
