Utsumi stepped back, holding awkwardly his hands full of soap away from his splashed shirt.
- "You needed it, indeed!" He exclaimed, his smile so wide it almost hid his eyes. " Wah, that was dirty!"
Samejima passed his arms under Kuramochi's armpits and lifted him in the improvised bathtub, when Inuzuka had finished rinsing his hair.
- "The boss doesn't need to make expenses to get women" he said cheerfully.
- "There're some limits to savagery, all the same!" Utsumi complained, laughing. "Your pretty sister-in-law wouldn't recognize you!"
- "He needs to shave. He"ll soon be hairier than Kuma" added Tani-sensei from his desk, where he was keeping himself in careful distance of spatters.
- "Guys…" protested Kuramochi, his eyes sparkling.
The infirmary was filled with noise and animation. Samejima had put on a white apron borrowed from the cook, far too big for him, and used a thread to secure it at this waist. Utsumi wore a raincoat which belonged to Arashiyama and Inuzuka wore rubber boots, drenched as if it was to him they were giving a bath.
Kuramochi thin and naked shoulders were leaning against the tank they had filled with boiling water – still smoking – and bubbling soap.
He was not yet strong enough on his legs to move, but the doctor had finally authorized him to leave the infirmary for a short period. In this honor, he had asked if it was possible they helped him wash and dress.
Twenty days had gone since the return from Mount Botnnuten.
Inuzuka squatted next to the tank and rubbed Kuramochi's back with the big orange sponge. His tucked up sleeves plunged a bit in the bath, but he cared little about it.
- "Watch out his…" began Tani-sensei with a movement of anxiety.
Kuramochi gripped his chest, suddenly bent, eyes wrinkled.
- "Sorry!" exclaimed immediately the boy.
- "Ala" scolded Samejima. "Be careful, kiddo!"
- "It's nothing, all fine" coughed Kuramochi, raising a palm. He cleared his throat. " It's okay. It's gone. It's over."
The doctor sat back slowly, observing him with attention.
- "Samejima-san, please", said Utsumi. "Help him get up, he's about clean. No need to risk catching a cold!"
Inuzuka rushed in the direction of the towels they had stored as close as possible to the heat. They had added different sources of heating in the infirmary and the temperature was almost too high for the men used to the icing climate.
But Kuramochi was too weak to bear even just the passage in the corridor of the warehouse where the outside cold sneaked in.
- "And now, a glass of milk!" Declared Samejima who had helped the young man up to a chair, once dried. He rubbed his hair enthusiastically. "I always tell Kenta, that's what makes a man!"
Utsumi brought a pile of clothes to Kuramochi.
- "Funaki-san washed them and folded them just like a good housewife!" He joked. "I'll also give him my laundry next time!"
Everybody laughed with him, except Inuzuka who knelt down to help Kuramochi to put on his socks and shoes.
He wanted to bury himself in the ground, to prostrate himself to apologize, to disappear.
The young man got a hand out of the sleeve of his pullover and put it on the boy's head.
- "Thank you, Inuzuka" he said firmly.
Utsumi half smiled, seeing the face of the youngest member getting clearer. Kuramochi always knew how to encourage and uplift the too sensitive student.
Somebody discreetly knocked at the door and the cook sneaked inside with a tray.
- "Kuramochi-chan, I prepared this for you. It's made with spices my senpai gave me for special occasions. A secret ingredient!"
- "Lucky!" Samejima exclaimed, coming to sniff the dish. "Huum! That smells really good, indeed! Leave me some, boss! "
Kuramochi smiled.
- "Manpei… thank you very much."
He started to get up. Utsumi and Inuzuka were at the second on each side, with good inspiration, because he vacillated on his legs.
- "Not so fast" repeated Tani-sensei for the thousandest time. "The bath was probably very tiring for you. Go back to bed a little, eat what Yamazato-kun brought you and we'll see then to go to the dining room. "
He suppressed a roar of laughter and frowned with as much severity he was able to gather when all the present men, with one accord, turned pleading eyes to him.
- "Please, doc" implored Kuramochi in an almost funny tone. "I'd like to go see the dogs and…"
- "The dogs! Never. You're not ready to put one foot outside."
Utsumi straightened a little Kuramochi's arm on his shoulder.
- "But can the dogs come in – for a short time only, please?"
Tani-sensei crossed a hand on his wide forehead, then considered the flooded infirmary and his patient who waited for his answer, hopeful.
- "All right" he sighed. "About ten minutes. But before that, I want Kuramochi to sit down and eat quietly, while you help me clean the place."
Samejima poked Inuzuka.
- "Did you hear that, kiddo? Get to work already!"
The boy rolled frightened eyes.
- "I thought that he meant us all …"
Everybody laughed. Yamazato was finally the one who gave Kuramochi a piggy back ride to his room, to take him away from the excitement that had seized the infirmary.
- "Thank you, Manpei" said the young man, resting his head against the wall, once settled on his bed.
He let out a sigh of satisfaction, finding back the usual mess on the opposite bed - he shared his room with Inuzuka - his samples of pebbles, his diary about the dogs, the notes taken during the expedition to Mount Botnnuten somebody had deposited on his tiny desk.
The cook sat down with precaution next to him, making the bed base creak. He spread a blanket on Kuramochi's legs, then gave him the dish.
- "This looks delicious" assured Kuramochi. He blew on the rice pudding delicately spiced, then swallowed the first spoonful. " Muhum it'ch very good, Manpei! "
Yamazato's face split like a slice of watermelon and his eyes misted.
- "Kuramochi-chan… thank you" he stammered, tilting his head. " And to be back among us… thank you so much! "
The young man squeezed his shoulder, smiling, giving him time to get back to himself.
- "I so wanted to be able to do something for Kuramochi-chan, too…"
- "Thank you, Manpei" repeated Kuramochi.
He started eating again, savoring the perfumed sweetness of the dish.
Yes, friendship was something one could actually taste…
He did not make it to the end of the dish, feeling his eyes closing in the happy torpor that had won him over after the bath.
He felt relaxed, relieved, freed from the sweatiness and the smell of disease that seemed so stifling since he had gotten better.
Very little things were enough to make you feel good, even at the very end of the world. Feeling your cheeks shaved, clean and smooth hair, joyful glances that wrapped you with affection, warm clothes that smelled of washing powder, delicious food coming down peacefully to your stomach and filling you with satisfaction.
With that, the constant pinch under his ribs could almost be forgotten …
Gently, Yamazato took back the mess tin which threatened to overturn and put it on the desk. He got up and wrapped Kuramochi in his chubby arms, lengthening him with precaution on the narrow bed. He tidied up the long legs of the young man, covered him carefully with Inuzuka's blanket, then stood up again.
Kuramochi breathed peacefully, without this whistling sound that had worried them so much during the terrifying hours when he did not wake up any more, and colors on his face had nothing to do with fever.
- "I knew he was going to fall asleep" said Tani-sensei at the door step. "This was too much stuff for a single day... Really. Nobody listens to me, on this base."
Yamazato bowed respectfully, as much as his stoutness allowded him.
- "Tani-sensei…from the bottom of my heart, thank you."
The old doctor raised his shoulders with a smile.
- "I only did what's expected from me, just like you, Manpei-kun. That's why we're here. Everybody fullfilling his own task."
- "But… Kuramochi-chan is…" The man twisted the edge of his apron. "Kuramochi-chan is a hero, compared to us all."
- "Kuramochi is no more hero than you" said Tani-sensei, looking at him in the eyes. "Every man present in this station is a commoner who chose to be a hero. Kuramochi-kun, you, me, Samejima-san, Hoshino-san, Inuzuka… Any of us can aspire as such title, and none will do it. We are not here so that honors go to us, but to serve our country. To build the dream of the children of the future."
In the corridor, the men who had followed him, still wet from the cleaning, stopped to nod, confused.
Definition of a hero: a common person whom, at extraordinary times, stays faithful to his promises.
From time to time, the thought crossed their brain. How would the return be like? What would people tell them? What would change?
Then, they shook their chins, amused. Them, heroes? No, simple Japanese citizens, just like everybody else.
That was the example Kuramochi had given them.
They did not know yet the world does not thank heroes, that it often forgets them, and that, sometimes, it turns against them.