Summary: Valentine's Day - a day of love, pink and chocolates. In the spirit of the coming holiday, Hiratsuka-sensei gives her Modern Japanese periods an assignment: write a love letter. So naturally, Hikigaya writes a love letter to the person he loves the most.
Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Come wa Machigatteiru
Chapter 10
Finally, Hayama Hayato disrupts the Equilibrium
oO oOoOo Oo
Once upon a time, I, Hikigaya Hachiman, dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. In my happiness as a butterfly, I was unaware I was Hikigaya. I fluttered from petal to petal flapping my wings in the breeze, not conscious of my true self. Soon I awoke, and there I was, as Hikigaya once again. [1]
Now I do not know whether I was then a monster dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly dreaming I am a monster.
How do I know that life is not a delusion? How do I know that this life I despise is true and all other realms of possibilities are false?
When I first wake up is two pretty cartoon boys making out over Ebina Hina's squealing. Two gigantic mech-loid phallus-substitutes were beating on each other like human hands on a flower stem simulating manual pollination. Their eyes were too far apart as Ebina Hina repeatedly brought her figures, identical copies to the characters on the screen, closer together and in a soft pervy voice said, "Engage SEED mode! Now kiss~!" [2]
Oh yes.
This is how I know all other realms of possibilities are false.
The room was dark and poorly lit. The only source of light was from a television screen that lit it's sole viewer. It was a hunched over Ebina, completely absorbed in the anime playing. She herself was covered in a blanket surrounded by discarded instant noodle cups, looking like the closest thing to a real hikikomori that I've ever seen. [3]
"Where am I?" My mouth was dry and my voice came out hoarse. But it didn't startle Ebina. In fact, it seemed to make her turn slowly, as if she was anticipating me waking up at the moment of her figurines' sensual climax.
"In my room. Keep it down. My parents don't know you're here," she said with a smile before turning back to the screen and shouting all manners of things that made me eerily uncomfortable of my manhood. As a force of habit, I kicked my legs out, forgetting that I was not in my own bed and I accidently struck the wall with my toe.
"Ow!"
A flowery-scented throwpower met my face.
"Keep it down!" Ebina hissed before returning to her anime. I slid off the bed. It was only then that I realized that I was shirtless and my bare chest was touched by the light from mech pilots expressing their love for one another in inappropriate ways in an empty spaceship hangar. She pointed to a chair where my shirt and jacket were along with my shoes. Reaching over, they felt soft, as if they had just come out of a dryer. A quick sniff confirmed a flowery scent that doubled as laundry detergent.
I sighed. This girl would go to the trouble of sneaking me into her room, undressing me and washing my clothes but I can't say a peep while she spews off some nonsense about her cartoons.
Spreading out my shirt, I felt the soft cotton fabric. It was warm, but cool to the touch. So much so it felt like a bit of skin…
… it felt like Isshiki's skin.
I quickly put on my shirt and my jacket. I grabbed my shoes.
"I need to go," I said in a hushed whisper beside Ebina. Ebina turns to her, her eyes open as if I was the most curious thing in the world and I said the stupidest thing imaginable.
"Obviously you can't. My parents are downstairs."
"So I'm stuck here?"
"You were the one who decided to pass out while I was trying to cheer you up! You know how hard it was to drag you up the stairs without being heard or spotted? My parents have ears like rabbits and they watch everything like hawks. Hawks with binoculars! Not even the neighbors or the newly weds down the street are spared from their spying!"
Great. Ebina Hina's parents are voyeurs. Wait, that actually makes too much sense.
"Is there anything I can do?
"Well it's morning…" Ebina said checking the clock. There was a dim ray of light from the closed curtains. "They're up and at it right now. They don't come into my room unless they hear something suspicious so it's fine as long as you're quiet."
Nothing suspicious while I'm the one being quiet? What kind of bizarro household is this? I've seen Uchiha family reunions more normal than this. [4]
Okay, Hikigaya Hachiman. Think… think… what do I have?
Cellphone. With seventy-one missed calls from Komachi… oh goodness. She must be worried sick about where I am. There were also several messages as well. Opening the first message, I instantly closed it.
'Bro! Since you're most likely dead or running off to Hokkaido, can I have your fried chicken for dinner tonight?'
Stupid little sister. You're going to have my share of fried chicken for the rest of your life if I'm caught in a girl's room by her parents.
I opened another message.
"Oi, Hikigaya. Want to get some ramen later? I just got a coupon for this place to 'buy one get one free' Tonkatsu. I'm more of a miso or shoyu ramen person myself because of the low sodium but I felt the deal was too good to pass up. Then again, the fatty pork belly in the Tonkatsu might ruin my figure. Hm. Maybe shoyu is the way to go. Either way, want to get some ramen? We can get low sodium if you'd like or splurge for some extra bamboo shoots. Heck, we can even get some korean barbeque if you want. Hey. How come you aren't responding? Please respond. OI! HIKIGAYA. REPLY PLEAS-"
Hiratsuka-sensei, if I don't get out of this alive, you'll be eating ramen as a spinster until the day the flesh rots from your bones. I flipped into another message.
"Senp-"
I closed it immediately.
I sighed. My phone was useless. There was no one that could help me… except…
I chose not to contact her.
As I was contemplating, Ebina's fingers were tapping a few keys. Soon, a message was sent. A text came back. She replied back. Was Ebina working on an exit strategy? Would Miura even be willing to assist? Maybe it could be Tobe or some unknown contact she had nearby.
"Who ya textin' there?"
"What's it to you?"
"I'm curious?"
Ebina pushed her glasses up and covered an eye. "Well this is my Domain, Hikigaya vi Hachiman! And I, Ebina von Hina of the Geass compel you to listen up and wait for further instructions!" [5]
"I'll think of a backup plan then..."
"Back up plan? Don't you trust me?"
"No."
"Okay, okay. How about we build a catapult-"
"We don't have the materials for build a catapult."
"We could salvage the bed for the main body and my underwear for elastics."
"No."
"Okay what about an invisibility potion. I've got this book about a British wizard who-"
"No."
"Giant Takoyaki costume? Roller skate parkour? 'Mom, Dad, meet my future husband?'"
"No. No. And No."
Ebina paused. "Okay I got it! How about I put you in a wig and tell my parents 'Mom, Dad! Look! It's that long-lost sister of mine you've always wished you had! Oh you'd look fantastic in a dress actually…"
I don't think my mouth could have gaped any harder than it just did.
"Absolutely not-"
Bnnnnnnnnnng.
It was the doorbell, a loud one at that, that interrupted my refusal.
"EBINA! YOU GOT A FRIEND!" A booming voice interrupted us.
"Coming mom! Jeez… oh I wonder just whoooo could it be…" Ebina's voice dripped with sarcasm.
"That was your mom? She sounded like a thunder god… with a bushy beard." Ebina gave me a swift kick before exiting the door, closing it behind her. A moment later she reappeared…...
With Hayama Hayato.
I restrained myself from wanting to leap out of the window.
"I didn't imagine you'd contact me." He was suave and collected. His face betrayed no sign of emotion.
"I didn't think you'd get in through the front door." Ebina giggled before turning to me. "My parents have been trying to get me and Hayato-kun hitched for years. Never worked."
"Doesn't hurt to tease them once in a while to get through the door." Hayama said it with a smile that would make a thousand ships full of girls set sail for Japan. [6] Ebina giggled again.
"So, how is Hayama going to get me out of this room?"
"Silly children." Ebina crossed her arms as if she could already see the ending. [7] "It's common knowledge that parents do not see their kids and their friends off when they leave the house. If us three rush out of the door, they'd never realize I was amongst the two of you. Parents are off doing their own thing to mind the details like that."
"Hm… that could definitely work…" Hayama said with a hand on his chin.
"Are you sure it'll work?"
"Whaaa? You're doubting me? Hey, I'm the one making sacrifices here. I have to get changed and leave the house. What do I get out of this? You're making me break homeostasis [8]. I'm perfectly comfortable how I am. Actually, I demand payment!" Ebina held out her hand expectantly.
"Er… I guess… I can take Yumiko shopping one of these days so you can go to your conventions?"
Ebina didn't even need a moment to consider it.
"Deal!"
They shook hands. Great. I was finally leaving Ebina Hina's house.
Ebina Hina went and got changed and before long she made a 'hi mom! going out! bye mom!' routine and we had set off out of the door.
A solid four blocks later, we were still walking away from her house, not daring to look back. Why, one may wonder? It was because apparently Ebina's parents might be watching them and we had to keep walking until we were a safe distance away. The most terrifying thing was that Hayama agreed with her.
It made little sense, but in the end, we were in the clear.
"So, what now, you two? Are you guys going to go on a date? Oh! Maybe you guys will go to an aquarium! Did you guys know that penguins, once they pick a mate, choose the one they'll spend the rest of their life with? [9]"
"I don't think I was planning anything that grand…." Hayama said nervously. "I have soccer practice."
"Well what about you, Hikigaya-kun?"
"I should go home. I imagine my parents miss me." They didn't but they might file a missing person's report just for the heck of it. I wouldn't be surprised if I had a bounty on my head and Spike Speigel lept out of the sky to take me out to the bounty office. [10]
"Is that so? Well it seems like you got nothing important to do!" Seeing my parents isn't important? "How about you come with me? I wanted to go try some things."
"Hn. I think I'd rather-"
"I think you should, Hikigaya-kun," Hayama interrupted. "I did bail you out and Ebina did give you shelter. You should repay her." Ebina Hina had a huge smile on her face. It's the same kind kids have when they realize it's Christmas morning and Santa didn't leave them a lump of coal.
"I… I guess-"
And with that, Ebina grabbed my arm and we set off once again.
First we went bowling for some reason. It turns out Ebina's really good at bowling. I managed to knock a few pins over. She rolled several strikes. I learned a strike is when you know out all the pins with a single roll. At least, I think you call it a 'roll'? Maybe it's more like you're throwing the bowling ball. Either way, the most interesting thing about my bowling run was that the number of pins I knocked down was equivalent to how many times my ball went into the gutter.
I learned gutter only because Ebina kept shouting 'gutterball! gutterball!' each time I made one.
Then we went to sing karaoke. Ebina kept choosing anime songs. As one would reasonably expect of her, these songs ended up being about young men and their intense infatuations with other young men. Often, this was accompanied with glistening eyes and chiselled bodies unobtainable by mortal souls and the real.
It also turns out, Ebina is really good at singing.
And lastly, we ended up at the Chiba mall where they were having an exhibit to try on feudal-era costumes. I got dressed up as a samurai dandy and Ebina was a geisha.
I refused to allow any pictures be taken although I am certain several were achieved without my consent.
Before long, night had come again.
We were dressed in our normal clothes once again, strolling the cool air. It felt strangely similar to the day before. In fact, it felt eerily similar to the day before.
It was as if the world was in some sort of repetition. Like a deja vous that never ends. Maybe my body had achieved equilibrium. Once again a girl was pulling me around. Once again I was caught up in the current, unable to break free until the very last moment.
This felt all too familiar and strange.
"Say Ebina."
"Hm?"
"I learned a lot about you today." Ebina turned to face me. We stood in the middle of the sidewalk, the people flowed past us. Only we were stopped in motion. "You're a good singer. You're really good at bowling. And you have a lot of interesting hobbies."
Ebina gave me a smile that said 'go on, praise me more!'
"I thought we would be going off to some shops and buy figurines or wall scrolls or some limited edition Otome game or something. Instead, I learned a lot about you and you're a fun person to be around."
Ebina's smile grew bigger.
"So why… why are you doing this?"
Ebina stepped closer. Her hands hidden behind her.
"This isn't like you. It's too strange."
Ebina stepped closer.
"You're out of character."
Ebina's lips parted.
"The line between love and lust is so thin… is the former really so necessary for the latter?" Ebina's breath mingled with my mine. She stood there, in a thin coat with glasses and a petite form. Miura's words came back to me. Ebina really wasn't so hard on the eyes and if she was a bit more normal… then perhaps no man would resist her. "Because really… what's love got to do with anything?"
Her hand slipped into mine.
"Come?"
I could feel her tiny strength squeeze into my hand, like a hook digging into a fish's gaping mouth. And stupidly so, I followed. Maybe I wanted acceptance. Maybe I wanted acknowledgement. Maybe I desired destruction of everything nice.
I followed Ebina.
I followed her.
Maybe I was like a puppy, that wasn't housebroken. Wherever I am coddled and invited I wanted to mark my territory. I wanted my owners to hate and detest me.
So I followed her to the school. Though the locked gates that magically opened and through the halls, I followed her. Step by step. I followed.
It was all so eerily similar I felt like this was a dream. Perhaps again today I am Hikigaya the Monster and no longer the butterfly.
Ebina pulled my hands passed the Service Club room. Past the room where I shared tea with Yuigahama and Yukinoshita. We passed the room where I spent most of my days. We passed the room where I rejected Isshiki Iroha.
Ebina pulled my hands and we ascended the staircase. She pushed open the door. I walked into the cold air.
"Yo, Hikigaya-kun," Hayama Hayato said with a smile.
"Hayama Hayato," I breathed as the roof-access door slammed shut. There was a click as the door locked behind us.
"Ebina's brought you here."
"So it was you." It began to make sense, in a way. Ebina was distracting me. She wanted to make sure I was available until now while Hayama had soccer practice. It explained how Ebina got through the gates. The soccer captain keeps a key to open the school grounds.
Only the ever trusted and unsuspecting Hayama Hayato would hold such a privilege.
"This is the part where you ask 'why?' Hikigaya-kun." Hayama said. He was prompting me, like some teacher encouraging me to act. He was caught in a facade of righteous arrogance. He was trying to lead me on.
"I don't care why. Shouldn't you be elsewhere?"
Somewhere like in the arms of Yukinoshita? Somewhere away from here and this desolate place of painful memories. This stupid concrete buildings and all the stupid people who come here to learn and experience the idiocy of youth.
The thought of Hayama and Yukinoshita in an embrace irritated me no to end. Just no end.
"She's waiting." Hayama shrugged.
"So go to her."
"Not sure if I'm the one she's waiting for," he replied cooly. It was a frustratingly simple reply. I gritted my teeth. Locked up here with Hayama Hayato. I won't get to leave until I made some concessions. The door was locked and the only other way to leave the roof was through a three story drop.
"What do you want?"
"If I recall correctly, you owe me. I did help you get out of Ebina's house earlier today."
"Thank you for that. But all of this… leading me onto the rooftop and such… what's it all for? Are you here to tell me that it's all going according to keikaku?" [11]
He chuckled.
"No. I'm just here to enlighten you, little Frog-itani."
Frog-itani? Is he trying to pick a fight?
"What." It was a statement. Like a 'get-to-point' kind of statement.
"Tomorrow, there will be a gathering of the most prominent families in Chiba. My family will be there. Naturally, Yukinoshita's family as well. Not to mention important dignitaries from Tokyo, Nagato, Sendai… all of them are there ostentatiously as a fundraiser get together for the next election."
"So what's the real reason?"
Hayama shrugged. "It's to announce Yuki-chan's engagement to me."
I drew my blood when my teeth clenched into my gums.
"Is. That. All?"
Hayama shook his head.
"I'm here to tell you I love her."
My heartbeat stopped.
"And as luck would have it, she loves me too." Hayama's smile widened across his face. "Our parents were right afterall. We were made for each other."
My firsts were clenching without my realising it. What? What?
"Yuki-chan's mother's very pushy," Hayama continued. "She insisted we share a same room and bed. We're not allowed to do anything inappropriate though," he clarified with a blush. "But it's enough for the both of us."
I see snow. I see light. I see an apartment. 'Maybe I'll show you around some time.' I heard. I had to have heard it. It can't have been nothing. I can't have been-
"Since we're living together, we share the same bathroom. Yuki-chan's hair smells so nice. It must be her shampoo. It's so… delicious smelling."
'Because it's my fault.' That night. That morning. I was sick. She stayed. She looked after me. Cared for me. Cooked for me. Her family came. They were angry. They all have the same smile. Sweat. I was sweating. She was scared. 'I want to stay here.' I should have done something. Anything. If I had, then maybe-
"So Yuki-chan and I are going to get married." Hayama's voice sounded like it was underwater. My heart had begun to race faster and faster. "Every morning, I'll be able to wake up and turn over and see her sleeping smile." He sighed happily. "Isn't this the life, Hikigaya-kun?"
'Why should I return?' Her room. Yukinoshita Yukino's room. Alone. She was alone. I had a chance to make her not feel alone again and I didn't do anything. They all have the same smile. But only Yukinoshita has the stare. 'Sorry.' She was sorry. I had failed her and she was sorry. And now… and now…
"It's going to be so much fun, Hikigaya-kun." Hayama walked towards me in a nonchalant manner. "This life is going to treat us so well. I can make Yuki-chan happy, you know? Actually. I can make Yuigahama happy as well. Not to mention Isshiki. They're both as lovely as Yuki-chan."
All these things that I've done… [12]
"Yuki-chan exists soley for my happiness. As does Yui-chan. As does Iroha-chan. Yumiko and Ebina too. And everyone else in this backwater town. Even Haruno… all of them… All of Chiba is my domain. My world." He leaned in next to my ear. "And you don't belong in it, Hikitani-kun."
BAM!
I don't know what happened. One moment he was taunting me and the next I was holding him by his neck against the wall. My heart was beating faster. Angry. I felt so angry.
"Don't screw with me." My voice felt foreign. It was like someone else was talking entirely, like a demon had stirred within that I never knew existed. "Don't you screw with me!"
The fabric of his shirt was ripped where my hands gripped. Pinned, all he could do was smirk. The world was in his palm and there was nothing I can do about it. Nothing I could do but…
BAM!
My right arm swung. It was the first time I've ever thrown an actual punch. That's the thing they never tell you about fighting with your fist, it's how much it hurts when your knuckles meet flesh and bone.
"Don't you dare screw-"
Ugh!
Hayama knocked me out with a punch of his own. I couldn't even see it coming.
Dazed and out of my mind, I was breathless on the floor looking at the stars in the night sky. I wondered if this was the end, as my vision began to grow red. Was this the end of my railroad? Is this my final stop? Where all souls are sent to wander and forever exist no more?
"Don't bother getting up, Frog-itani. This is what I wanted. You realize you're stuck in a well. You'll never understand what's the ocean is like down there." [13]
Maybe he's right. Maybe I'm just a frog. Maybe I'm just a stupid rebellious teenager. Maybe this entire thing is stupid. Maybe I should just lay right here and forget this whole thing. Maybe I deserve all this punishment and suffering. Maybe it's because I hate myself. Maybe it's because the world and heavens hate me. Or maybe… or maybe…
Well, there is the alternative.
My bones ached. My blood vessels felt like they were ruptured at every angle and my skin was still rattling. It didn't matter. I still got up. My face felt puffy. My knuckles hurt and felt wet. It was probably blood. It was the same blood I tasted - that iron and sour taste - from where I bite my cheek.
I got up.
I threw another punch.
Hayama caught it handily.
My knees gave out. My world was still spinning. I tried to count the stars and tasted my vomit moving up in the attempt. I couldn't calculate a damn thing. If you had asked me what was two plus two then I'd have told you it was fish tacos. Nothing made sense. Nothing mattered.
Nothing except… that raven-haired girl…
I threw another punch with my other hand. He caught it easily in his.
My right wrist was caught in his grip. My left first was trapped in his hands. Situation excellent. I attack. [14]
"What can you possibly do now Frog-itan-"
Headbutt.
I moved my legs like I was Atlas hurdling the very skies. This must be what Benkei and Yoshitsune felt on Gojo Bridge. Maybe for a moment, this little frog became a God. [15]
Alas, as they say - the higher you climb, the greater the fall.
My brain was rattling inside my skull as I stumbled back. My arms were still at Hayama's mercy and I began falling backwards. I was out for the count collapsing to the floor. I've given everything to whip Hayama and all I've managed to do is beat myself up. Maybe I'll die here? Perhaps that's why the past few weeks have been flashing before my very eyes.
Right before my body would slam into the rooftop concrete, I felt something defy gravity and the natural order of things.
Hayama Hayato caught me.
I looked at me with all my spite and rage and disdain. I hated him for so many things. I hated him for his perfect smug face and his damnable grin and his idiotic charisma that so many flock to. I hated how he took pity on me even now to stop me from falling.
But most of all, I hated how what I want most was his.
"You've got a good look in your eyes, Hikigaya-kun."
Huh?
"That's the look of someone who can win."
What are you talking about?
"You know, the one she's waiting for at the mansion isn't me."
I coughed up a bit. The taste of blood still thick. I wiped my mouth with my sleeve as Hayama released me to spit out my lungs on the floor.
"It's not Yuigahama-san. It's not her mother or father. And she's not waiting for her sister to save her."
He turned to me. His eyes had softened, like he had told the greatest joke in the world.
"She's definitely not waiting for me. I'm not the prince in shining armor she wants to ride out to save her. She's waiting for someone else."
Dread filled my heart as the words from his lips reached my ears.
"She's waiting for you, stupid."
I felt like I was crying, maybe I was. No, I definitely not.
"I'm not crying,"I said with tears streaming down my cheeks.
"I know. Crying means you're sad. You're happy. But Yukinoshita-san's isn't in a good place. Neither am I." Hayama took a deep breath and cracked his jaw. "You sure know how to a throw a decent left…"
"What's going on?" The words were painful to spit out because my cheeks were swollen. I'll get some ice for them later.
"She and I are in an arranged marriage. I can't dishonor my family by refusing the Yukinoshita offer. And Yukinoshita-san isn't the sort to reject her family's wishes." He paused, looking at me. "That's a good look in your eyes," he repeated.
"What do you mean?"
"You look like the sort that'll play the hero."
"Well you make for a crappy villain."
Hayama laughed. "I guess we both don't fit our roles right now."
"No one in this entire damned story does. But screw that noise." I wiped the sweat and mucus and blood from my mouth. My teeth were shaking, but none felt loosened. "Your families are announcing the engagement tomorrow?"
Hayama nodded silently.
"Mission accepted." [16]
I began making my way to the rooftop door. I pushed it aside, realizing it had become unlocked. Ebina stood there, as well as Miura looking at us both concerned. They both had donned nurse cap and came prepared with a first aid kit and several ice packs.
Hayama Hayato had set this all up from the beginning. And step by step, I was baited into his scheme. He had convinced he was narcissistic and a disgusting. He guided me every step of the way. He played the Demon Lord so I could be the Hero. Because I'm the Hero that Yukinoshita deserves… a pang of guilt splashed through my spine at the realization...
… I'm the one she wants right now.
"Hayato!" Miura cried running towards him with an ice pack and several moist cloths to dab him with.
"Hikigaya-kun, here let me clean you up," Ebina said softly as she prepared the hydrogen peroxide and cotton swabs. "Be still…"
"Before that," Hayama said brushing aside Miura. I waved off Ebina. "Hikigaya-kun, do you have a plan?"
I took in a deep breath.
"Not a damn clue."
oO oOoOo Oo
Finally, Hayama Hayato disrupts the Equilibrium
Next Chapter: _?_ _?_ _?_
Next Chapter Title Hint: We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. Genesis 2:2-3
Footnotes:
[1] Once upon a time, I, Hikigaya Hachiman, dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. - Zhuangzi's tale of a butterfly.
[2] SEED mode - KIRA 'JESUS' YAMATO x ATHRUN 'ALEX DINO' ZALA 4everrr!
[3] hikikomori - Unproductive shut-ins who typically do not clean up after themselves, get obsessed with anime or manga, and are considered a drain on society.
[4] Uchiha family reunion - 'So Sasuke… about the whole killing our parents thing…' 'It's cool Itachi. Don't do it again and we coo'' 'Yeah… about Sakura and your daughter, Salad… well, let's just say there's going to be a Cherry Blossom Vegan special at the funeral home tomorrow….'
[5] Geass - CODE GEASS YOU UNCULTURED SAVAGE.
[6] a thousand ships full of girls - Helen of Troy but Hayama of Chiba
[7] see the ending - The World God Only Knows
[8] homeostasis - living things do not like to change their comfortable conditions and do things to make sure they stay comfortable. Imagine getting out of bed in the morning where you're warm and snug under a blanket into the cold frickin' air.
[9] Did you guys know that penguins, once they pick a mate, choose the one they'll spend the rest of their life with? - ?
[10] Spike Spiegel - Cowboy Bebop. Bounty hunter.
[11] all according to keikaku - keikaku means plan.
[12] all these things that I've done - The Killers
[13] Don't bother getting up, Frogi-tani. This is what I wanted. You realize you're stuck in a well. You'll never understand what's the ocean is like down there. - a frog in a well cannot conceive of the ocean.
[14] Situation excellent. I attack - Ferdinand Foch
[15] Benkei and Yoshitsune felt on Gojo Bridge - legend of two warriors who dueled each other. Benkei, a famed sword collector, became a loyal servant to Yoshitsune after their epic fight.
[16] Mission accepted - Gundam Wing, Heero Yuy