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Blue Drop: The Kaiho Krew
Chapter 10
Graduation Remix
Looking through her gunsight Mari was lining up a shot on a bogey chasing Hiroko as Hiroko bobbed and weaved back and forth yelling "Get this guy off me Mari!"
Mari tapped the trigger firing a single burst that hit the bogey dead center and blew it out of the sky and then yelled "You're clear!" when flashes of green light whizzed past her cockpit canopy.
Looking back she hollered "Oh crap! We just picked up four more! Akane! Yuko! Are you two busy? We could use a hand over here!"
Yuko was lining up a shot on her own bogey when she heard Mari's request for assistance. Yuko Squeezed her trigger blowing her bogey to bits and then said "Not any more. We're on our way."
"Hiroko start weaving. Let's scissor until they get here." said Mari.
Hiroko then started weaving and laughing at the same time.
"What's so funny?" asked Mari.
"'Let's scissor until they get here.' That almost sounded like a sexual proposition." said Hiroko.
"Oh my god Hiroko. When did you become such a pervert." said Mari weaving back in forth scissoring with Hiroko's fighter.
"Sorry, I just thought it was funny." said Hiroko.
"We can keep two of them busy but the other two are gonna be all yours Mari and Hiroko." said Akane as she and Yuko engaged the rear two bogies.
"Works for me." said Mari who then pulled a tight loop to come around behind the one bogey that stayed on Hiroko's six instead of breaking off to follow Mari through the loop.
Seeing her chance Mari tapped the trigger squeezing off a single burst hitting the left engine sending the bogey spinning out of control. "Okay you're clear. Now get this other one off my ass!" she said.
"Already on it." said Hiroko looping over the top of Mari to come up behind her pursuer.
"Nice shot Hiroko." said Koloriel as she and Michiko arrived just in time to see Hiroko clearing Mari's six.
"Okay, That was the last of them so this simulation is over." said Koloriel as she shut down the simulation causing all the canopies to go dark and open up.
After climbing out of their simulators and gathering around the flight chief to find out what's next Koloriel said "Congratulations everyone you've all graduated Advanced Combat Training. And with flying colors I might add. You all performed flawlessly and far exceeded my expectations. Very well done. Now normally there would be a little gold pin for your collars but since you're not actually in the arume military, no pins. Sorry."
"We need to go celebrate." said Akane.
"Yeah, Party! Party!" chanted Mari.
"Party! Party! Party!" They all chanted on their way out of the training room.
~66~
The sun was shinning on the observation tower at lunch time and the Kaiho Krew had just finished eating more of Akane's bentos when Hagino said "Well Tsubael, since you called this meeting why don't you kick things off."
"Well, I've got the plans worked out and what I've come up with will only have enough power for one Leminov Shift and even at that it will still be so big that we'll have to cut up a cargo ships hull a bit to make it fit. The good news is it'll really only need to make one shift. We don't have to sneak Ekaril to Arume. We just have to sneak her back so Blue will take us and the cargo ship to Arume to drop them both off. We can land in the ocean and submerge and I'll take the cargo ship out of the hangar bay while we're submerged and lie in wait until Ekaril is ready to be picked up." said Tsubael.
"Why does it have to be you piloting the cargo ship? Why can't it be Azanael?" asked Hagino.
"The drive will only have enough power for one shift. That means zero margin of error. I'm the drive's designer. If something goes wrong it really should be me there. I might have to think fast and make adjustments. Azanael, You'll be in command of Blue until Ekaril and I return."
"I see. So how soon can we do this?" asked Hagino.
"Well I've only got the design worked out so far. We still have to actually build it and that's going to take some time I'm afraid. I can't even give you a good estimate. Maybe a few weeks. Maybe more."
"Understood." said Hagino.
"I do have a much simpler idea though. If you want to hear it." said Tsubael.
"Of course."
"Why not just not retire? Think about it. Even when you were the ships commander that didn't stop you from have your student life at the academy. There's no reason you have to live on board Blue just because your the Admiral. You and Mari can feel free to go find a home and raise a family and you can leave all that back pay piling up on Arume and they don't need to know anything about it. Worst case scenario if a situation comes up needing the admirals attention I'll give you a call and you have to take a little business trip for a few days." said Tsubael.
"I don't know. It sounds risky." said Hagino.
"Risky how?" asked Tsubael.
"I'f I'm still an Admiral new orders could come at any time. They could even recall me. What if at some critical moment... I mean one day Mari could be in the middle of child birth when I get orders to return. No. I can't allow even the potential for that situation to exist. It was a good idea and thank you for trying but I need to retire." said Hagino.
"I understand. I'll get the engineering crew to work on the drive right away." said Tsubael.
"Thank you. Again I can't thank you enough Tsubael. You've always done so much for me. Thank you so much."
"Hey Tsubael we're all going out to celebrate graduating combat training tonight. Why don't you take a break and come with us." said Akane.
"Yes , That's a wonderful idea." said Hagino.
"Yeah you need a break Tsubael. Don't bother answering. You don't have a choice. We'll drag you kicking and screaming if we have to." said Mari.
"You know, I believe you would. Alright then. Sounds like fun and thank you everybody." said Tsubael.
"Would it be alright if I tag along as well." asked Hagino.
"Of course. It wouldn't be the same without you." said Mari while thinking "Oh crap. this is bad."
~67~
After the meeting Hagino and Mari returned to their quarters. The whole way back Mari was racking her brain trying to figure out how to ask Hagino to sit this one out.
"Hagino... "
"Yes dear?"
"Uhm... would you mind not coming with us tonight?" asked Mari.
"What? You... You don't want me there?" asked a hurt Hagino.
"Oh no no no it's not like that. It's just Akane and I were just trying to get Tsubael off the ship more often in the hopes that she might meet someone. See I've really come to like Tsubael and I just want her to have the same kind of happiness we have and I know she'd never consider any of the arume women on this ship because they're all her subordinates." said Mari being careful not to say too much.
"Okay, I understand that and it's very nice of you but I don't understand how my presence would be a hindrance at all." said Hagino.
Mari took a deep breath and sighed realizing she no longer had a choice. She had to tell Hagino the truth about Tsubael.
"Alright look. The truth is Tsubael has been in love with you for even longer than I've known you." said Mari.
"What? Don't be silly. What would make you say that?" said Hagino.
"She told me."
"She told you? When?"
"When we we're in her escape pod towing yours back to land. I was rather distraught at the thought of losing you and I guess I was kind of yelling through the canopy that I love you when Tsubael said she knew how I felt. When I asked her to explain how she said that she's been in love with you for longer than I have and that your happiness is all that mattered to her and since she knew she could never have anything with you since you were her commanding officer when she saw how happy you were when you were with me she gave us her blessing."
"Oh my god. So all this time... This is why she's done so much for me?"
"Exactly." said Mari.
"Oh my. I had no idea."
"I know. I was trying to keep it that way. I didn't want to make things awkward between you two but the two of you in a social situation just seems like it would be torturous for her to be so close yet so far you know?"
"Yes, Of course I understand. Please just tell them I had a headache or something. Tsubael is a dear friend and I certainly don't want to put her through any discomfort." said Hagino.
"Thanks for understanding." said Mari hugging her wife. "Hey you know what?"
"What?"
"Tsubael said it was going to take some time to actually build the drive but if you want there's no reason we can't start planning right away. Why don't we go to my grandma's house tomorrow and walk through it and try to decide if we want to live there or sell it and look for another house somewhere."
"Has that been sitting empty all this time?" asked Hagino.
"Not really Mr. Hasegawa has been taking care of it for me. I didn't have the heart to just let him go when Grandma died. He's been with us so long he's like part of the family. Actually he's like a grandpa to me. In fact if we do decide to live there I think I'd like to keep him on. He is getting older of course so I'm not even sure he'd be willing. He might be looking forward to retiring himself soon I don't know. I'm not even really sure how old he is exactly. But if he's willing he could even do baby sitting for us."
"Babysitting ? Are you sure about that?" asked Hagino.
"Yeah. He's fine. He babysat me a bunch of times. And do you know how hard it is to find a trustworthy babysitter these days. We'd be crazy not to use him. If he's willing that is."
"Okay then we'll go look at your house tomorrow. This could even be fun." said Hagino.
~68~
"Honey! I'm home!", said a tipsy Mari stumbling back into her quarters at 3 am. Seeing Hagino in bed she whispered to herself "Oh crap. She's already sleeping." Mari then tip-toed across the room and crawled into bed next to Hagino with out even changing out of her close first.
Feeling Mari's presence the light sleeping arume woman opened her eyes. "Mari?" she said "What time is it?"
"Uhm.. I think it's late O'clock" said Mari chuckling.
"Have you been drinking?" asked Hagino.
"Of course."
"How did you get back? Who flew the fighters?"
"AUTO PILOT!" shouted an overly gleeful Mari. "You guys really do have the coolest technology. All we had to do was push 'Return To Base' and the computers did the rest."
"Did you have any luck finding some one for Tsubael?"
"Neh. I didn't expect we'd hit the jackpot first time out. But I think we might have to do something about that airplane wing hair of hers. I mean she's pretty cute but if she's going to attract an earth woman that hair has got to go."
"I see... Are you going to be okay for visiting your house tomorrow?"
"Yeah sure. I'll probably just want to sleep in a little late is all."
"Okay. If you say so." said Hagino.
"I really wish you could have come with us. I know it would have been uncomfortable for Tsubael but as much fun as I had it would have been so much more fun if you were there. I love you Hagino." said Mari before passing out completely.
Hagino giggled and said "I love you too sweet Mari." before kissing Mari on the forehead and returning to sleep herself.
~69~
The serene sounds of birds singing that surrounded the house Mari inherited from her grandmother on that sunny afternoon were suddenly drowned out by the sound of an arume fighter circling over head.
"Here we are." said Hagino.
"I'm surprised you remember the way. You've only been here once." said Mari.
"Yes but I'll never forget that day. I was so worried about you. I felt so helpless not knowing where you were and I was desperate to find you. It was a good thing you brought the tern with you that day." said Hagino.
"Wow so this is what it looks like from up here." said Mari.
"I'll land in the back like I did last time." said Hagino as she began gently descending into the spacious back yard.
Approaching the house they find Mr. Hasegawa on a ladder cleaning out the cutters. "Mr. Hasegawa!" said Mari quickening her pace.
"Mari. It's so good to see you. It's been so long." said Mr. Hasegawa climbing down the ladder to greet Mari and her companion.
"Are you okay to be climbing ladders? We could get some one else to do that." said a concerned Mari.
"Well, it's true I'm a bit older but I've still got a few good years left in me. I'm fine." said Mr. Hasegawa. "uhm, you said 'we'?"
"Oh right uhm... This is..." stumbled Mari wondering how his old heart would take this introduction. "...a bit awkward... uhm. Actually this is my wife. Hagino."
"Your wife?" said a somewhat stunned Mr. Hasegawa.
"Well, obviously we're not married under any earth law but we are officially married under arume law." explained Mari.
"arume... OH! Now I recognize you. I've seen you on tv. You're that arume admiral uhm.. Admiral Eka... Eki.. Ek something" said Mr. Hasegawa struggling with his failing memory.
"Please just call me Miss Senkoji. It's just an earth alias but I actually prefer it to my arume name." said Hagino.
"Okay. Well It's nice to meet you Miss Senkoji. Well, Mari. Hooked yourself an admiral. Nice." said Mr. Hasegawa with an approving smile. "So did you come for a trip down memory lane?" he added.
"Actually we're going to walk through the place and try to decide if we want to live in it or sell it." said Mari.
"Okay then. The doors open so you can go right on in. I better get back to these gutters. They don't clean themselves." said Mr. Hasegawa proceeding to climb back up the ladder.
~70~
Walking through the large living room Mari pointed out various things giving Hagino the fifty cent tour. "This is the living room. That's the dinning room. There's a bathroom at the end of that hall. We'll look at that in a minute and the kitchen is through here."
The simple homey decor that Mari's grandma preferred had an exotic quality in Hagino's eyes and she liked it but more than that she liked how happy and comfortable Mari seemed to be strolling through a house she knew like the back of her hand.
"It certainly seems big enough to raise a family in." said Hagino.
"Oh yeah this place is huge. Grandma only ever used a couple of rooms. I always wondered why she kept such a large house all those years. Maybe she intended to pass it down all along in the hopes that someday another family would be raised here." said Mari. "There's three bathrooms. The one down the hall and two more upstairs and of course we can redecorate it how ever we want." she added.
"Only if you want. I kind of like it the way it is actually." said Hagino.
"Really?"
"Yes. It's very different from anything on Arume but at the same time it seems to feel veryyyy... kind of ... well family-ish somehow." said Hagino.
"Yeah your right about that."
"So this is the kitchen? Who's going to do the cooking?" asked Hagino.
"Wow, yeah, I guess one of us is going to have to learn how to cook. Unless we can talk Akane into moving in with us." said Mari jokingly. "I suppose I can do the cooking." she added returning to reality.
"You? But... I heard about your pasta." said a concerned Hagino.
"Hey, That was my first time in a kitchen. I've been working in the Kitchen with Akane for a long time now. Do you really think I haven't learned anything in all that time?" said Mari defensively.
"You're right. I'm sorry. I'm sue your cooking will be fine." said Hagino. "So where will our bedroom be?" she added.
"Oh right this way." said Mari leading Hagino back through the living room.
The bedroom's two large doors swung open revealing the large master bedroom and the queen size bed complete with elegantly carved canopy frame and lacy white mosquito netting.
"Wow, This is as big as our quarters on Blue. And will this be our bed?" asked Hagino.
"I've been meaning to ask you about that. Do you think there's any way we could get an arume bed from Blue? I've kind of gotten use to all that space to sprawl out on." asked Mari.
"Actually there are two still in storage on blue from when I had the maintenance crew combine three regular crew quarters to make my..I mean our quarters. I'm sure I could talk Tsubael into letting us take one." said Hagino. "Do you think we could spend maybe just a weekend on this one. I'd like to try it out. Even though it's not as big as an arume bed it looks so lovely. It looks like a lot of effort went into making such a bed and it would seem a shame for something so beautiful to sit in storage somewhere."
"Yeah, sure. Actually that sounds like a really good idea. But I have to admit I'm kinda surprised you like it that much." said Mari.
"Well, you've seen our arume beds. Sure they're big but they're also very plain. All function no form. Your people seem to have elevated furniture making into an art form. This is really beautiful." said Hagino.
"I guess you're right. I never really thought of it that way." said Mari.
"Okay, Let's go look at the bathroom." said Mari.
"Right behind you." said Hagino.
"Oh... Okay now here's a room I wouldn't mind redecorating." said Hagino.
"Yeah, I agree. All this gold trim is kind of tacky." said Mari.
"Let's go back to the kitchen this bathroom is creepy." said Hagino.
"Yeah, I wonder if Mr. hasegawa has anything in the fridge." said Mari.
Walking back into the kitchen Hagino went right over to the sink which was right under the window. She leaned over pushed the lacy white curtains aside to see the view of the backyard from the kitchen window.
"No looks like just some left over miso soup and a rice ball." said Mari as she closed the refrigerator door and walked up behind her wife and wrapped Hagino up on her arms. "So does this seem like the kind of place you might like to live in and raise a family in?" she said kissing Hagino on the neck.
"Oh yes. Most definitely yes. Even now I'm looking out the window and replacing the view of our fighter with the view of children playing while I'm standing here washing dishes after a meal you cooked and it feels like heaven. Oh yes please let's live here." said Hagino.
"Yes! God I'm so happy. I love you so much Hagino." said Mari tightening her embrace.
Placing her hands over Mari's and leaning her head back brushing Mari's cheek with her own Hagino said "I love you too Mari."