Chapter 28 - Alone in Dover

After a while, Toshiro finally arrived at Dover. It was a busy port town, alive at day, and dead at night.

He didn't know where to start, so he pulled over to an old man sitting on a bench before his home.

"Excuse me sir, is there a candy shop in this town?"

"Why yes, young lad. Just take a right at the second intersection from here, and you'll surely find it."

"Thank you sir."

"A pleasure to help the army boys."

Toshiro started driving forward. The conversation with the old man brought him into high spirits. He turned right at said intersection, and saw a street full of stores, the first one being the candy store.

He pulled over, and got out.

The display of the candy store was enough to make ones mouth water. He saw that two girls, approximately twelve years old, in dirty clothes, were eyeing the candy inside, as if they could taste it by sheer willpower.

Orphans?

Toshiro went into the store. A bell rang when he opened and closed the door. Inside, there was a small square floor, and an L-shaped counter. The shelves behind it were bending from the sheer amount of candy jars. There were also a few jars on the counter itself, full of hardboiled candy or big lollipops.

Behind the counter, there was a lady in her late fifties, with lush brown hair, and a wide smile on her face.

"How can I help you, officer?" She asked.

"Good morning ma'am." Toshiro said kindly and pointed out the hardboiled candy on the counter, the ones with decals inside "Do you make those with custom decals?"

"Why yes of course, officer. Six pence for a pound."

"Splendid! I would like ten pounds of various ones, four pounds of orange flavored ones, with a black cat decal and four pounds of peach flavored one with a shiba inu decal."

"A shibarwhatcha?" She asked confused.

"Oh… Wait… Do you have a piece of paper and a pencil?"

The lady pulled out the items from under the counter.

Toshiro took the pencil, but couldn't actually picture a shiba inu right now. However, suddenly, his hand started moving by itself. It freaked Toshiro out, but he didn't show it to the lady.

A sudden image flashed before his eyes, the white snake familiar of his.

Wait… Was it… Smiling?

After his hand stopped moving, a sly looking small shiba inu was looking at him from the sheet of paper.

"Oh! A dog! You could've told me that in the first place sweetie…"

"I wanted a particular race, ma'am. When will my order be ready?"

"Tomorrow at noon, young lad."

"Good." Toshiro pulled out the authorization from Minna. "Bill it on the 501st JFW, and deliver it to the base by tomorrow evening."

The woman took the piece of paper, skimmed through it, and gave it back to Toshiro.

"Very well. Is that everything?"

"Hmmm… How much for the lollipops?"

"Three pence each."

Toshiro pulled out a sixpence, laid it down on the counter and said:

"Two please."

The woman picked out two lollipops from the jar, and handed them over to Toshiro.

"Thank you, ma'am. Have a good day."

"You too."

Toshiro got out of the store. The girls were still trying to bore out a hole in the glass with their eyes. He approached them slowly and said:

"Hey girls."

The girls got startled, but turned their heads to Toshiro. Their faces were even dirtier than their clothes. What struck him is that they were twins, both with the same cute faces, blue eyes and long brown hair.

He pulled out his hand with the two lollipops to them.

"Here, a gift from the army." He said with a soft voice.

The girls were first hesitant, but they snagged the lollipops after a few seconds. Toshiro patted them on their heads.

"If you ever show any magical powers, go to a military recruiter. You can help improve your own lives and the lives of many…"

The next store he visited was a clothing shop.

It was almost the same size as the candy shop, but had only a small counter in the rear. There were a few mannequins standing around, dressed in elegant clothes for men and women. As he was looking around, suddenly, he heard a familiar voice:

"Good morning young master, what can I do for you today?"

Toshiro looked around, and saw Mr. Smith, the tailor that made his uniforms.

"Mr. Smith! What a coincidence!"

"By Jove! The young wizard master! What will you fancy today?"

"Well Mr. Smith… I'm looking for a dress…"

"My my… Has the young master taken effort to conquer the heart of a young lady?"

"Verily… The problem is I don't know her exact measurements…"

"Now now, I will make something up if you give the approximate measurements."

"Well… She is about four feet eleven… Rather slender, including the upper regions…"

"Yes… Yes… Blimey! I might have one dress like that in the back, if the young master wishes to see it."

"I would be glad!"

The tailor slowly went to the back, and after a minute, he returned with a dress. It was a simple blue dress with short sleeves, laced at the bottom and at the collar. From what Toshiro could judge, it would cover just about half of Yoshika's thighs.

"Mr. Smith, you got a sale!" Toshiro shouted.

"Splendid, young master! Should I wrap it up?"

"Yes. And if you could, first wrap it in gift wrap, and then in plain paper."

"Why of course young master!"

"Oh, and please bill it to the 501st JFW."

"I will have to see some authorization first, young master."

"Sure…" Toshiro showed the paper to the tailor, just as he finished wrapping.

"So be it, young master. Is there anything more you need?"

"No, thank you, Mr. Smith, it has been a pleasure."

"Indeed, young master."

Toshiro went out of the store. He decided to drop off the dress in the car, and drive up a bit down the street, because the next items on his list would be a bit heavier and voluminous.

His next target was a store with hunting goods.

It was full of vests, fishing rods, hunting rifles and other goods. Behind the counter was a portly man with a thick beard.

"Hello sir, what can I help you with today?"

"Hello. Do you by chance sell vacuum flasks?"

"Why yes we do! What size would you be interested in?"

"A quart would be probably enough…"

"One moment sir."

The shop owner went to the back room and came back with the item Toshiro wanted. It was a bullet shaped, Thermos brand vacuum flask, made from brushed aluminum.

"Do you have holsters for those in store?"

The man rummaged the underneath of his counter, and pulled out a holster for the flask.

"Excellent… Please bill it to the 501st JFW."

"Any paper to prove it?"

Toshiro did the same thing for the third time today.

"Good. Have a nice day."

"Likewise, officer."

A thought crossed Toshiro's mind.

"Um… Do you know if there's an engraver in town?"

The man pondered a bit, and finally replied:

"Yes. Go left from my store, and take a left on the corner. It's the second house to the left."

"Thank you."

Toshiro left the store, placed the flask and holster in the car, and went to the bakery.

The smell of fresh bread struck him from the entrance. People in white aprons were cruising around the bakery, carrying either finished products or dough. There were a few cakes on the display, all equally beautiful.

"Good morning." Said the man from behind the counter.

"Morning. I would like to have a cake made."

The man raised a brow.

"Oh? What's the occasion?"

"A double birthday."

"Oh! How big should it be?"

"Big enough to feed twelve hungry mouths, heh…"

"Splendid. Any design in mind?"

"Are you familiar with the emblem of the 501st JFW?"

"I remember it by heart! The girls have done many good for this country!"

"Good… That will be the design of the cake. And twenty nine candles."

"Magnificent idea! And I guess it will go on their bill?"

"Yes… Should I show the paper…"

"Ye… NO! NO! I recognize you now!" The man pulled out a newspaper from under the counter and showed a photograph to him.

It depicted him and the rest from the meeting at Downing Street. Adolfine was standing before him, with her hands on Yoshika's shoulders, who was standing before Galland. On his right was Churchill, and on his left – Eisenhower. Toshiro was shaking Churchill's right and Ike's left hand. Everyone had a more or less bright smile.

"Would it be okay if I liberated you from this newspaper? I didn't get a copy myself…"

"Why of course! Is there anything else you want?"

"An ETA on the cake?"

"Tomorrow, around noon."

"Good. Have it delivered to the base by tomorrow evening."

"Of course, sir."

"I'll make my leave now, good bye."

"Have a good day sir."

He stuffed the paper under the dress in the car and went on. After making a quick stop at the pub to order two cases of root beer, and in another store to get party decorations, he took the vacuum flask and went to the engraver.

There was a plate on the door:

NIKOLAI GLUKHIN

ENGRAVER

Toshiro knocked on the door. After half a minute and old man opened the door.

"Да (Yes)? What do you want?"

"Hello. I have something to engrave."

"хорошо (Good)… Come in…"

Toshiro went in and closed the door behind him. The house interior had a modest feeling to it. The man led Toshiro to a small work place, with various engraving tools.

"Sit down, сынок (sonny)…" The man showed him a chair.

Toshiro sat down on his chair, the man on his chair.

"Show me, what I should engrave."

Toshiro presented the flask to him.

"красне (Beautiful)… What should I engrave?"

"A cat… A big, slim cat."

"Is this a present?" The man asked.

"Yes, for a girl…"

"Я понимаю (I understand)... Good... Should i dye the outlines?"

"If you can do it, yes, I would like them black. And maybe… A dedication on the bottom of the flask…"

"Tell me."

"From Toshiro to Sanya, Stay Strong!"

"Sanya? That's and Orussian name. Its full version is Александра (Aleksandra)."

"Then let it be the full one, if it fits. And yes, Sanya Litvyak is from Orussia."

"Litvyak… I heard the name… Не могу вспомнить, где (I can't remember where)…

"Um… Mr. Gluhkin, when will it be done?"

"I can make it in two hours, if you can wait. You can sit on my couch and listen to the radio if you want."

A clock was hanging above Nikolai. According to it, Toshiro had much time to spend.

"Thank you; I will do the exact thing."

"Good. But you have to pay me in advance, no checks and no billing."

"How much?"

"I'm a modest man, only two shillings."

Toshiro took out the coins he had, and put up the required sum together.

"Thank you. Now go, I don't want to be disturbed now."

"Okay."

Toshiro went to the couch, and turned on the radio, it was tuned on to BBC.

After a while of listening, Toshiro drifted away.

"Hey, Младший Лейтенант (Junior Lieutenant), wake up."

The man was poking him with a chisel.

"Oh, did I sleep?"

"Yes, for the whole time I worked. I'm finished now." The man said and showed him the flask.

It was a little work of art. A big, slim cat was engraved it and highlighted with black paint. On the bottom, the dedication was also in black, and written in Cyrillic.

"Thank you, sir. Sanya will be enjoyed."

"I hope, young man."

Toshiro stood up and went to the exit.

"Good bye!"

"Будьте здоровы (Cheers)!"

Toshiro could finally return to the base. There was still some time, so he decided to drive slowly.

After getting to the base, he parked the car before the entrance. He picked up everything he got with him, and darted to his room.

Luckily, nobody was around. He hid the dress and flask in his chest, and the serpentines and other miscellanea in his closet.

Afterwards, he carefully ripped off the photograph from the newspaper, folded it, and stuffed into his wallet.

It will be a nice memento to show mother. Well, maybe the others didn't see it either…

Toshiro then decided to scour the kitchen for lunch leftovers. He was pleasantly surprised, that someone left a plate covered with a napkin, and with a small piece of paper on top with his name on it.

He took the piece of paper, and saw that there was writing on the other side.

Eat up, Toshiro!

Lynette

Awww… That Lynne…

Under the cloth was, which was not all that surprising, black pudding, not fried this time.

Beggars cannot be choosers…

As he wanted to eat his meal, a voice from behind told him:

"Hey, bro, we are having tea time on the terrace now, come join us!"

Standing in the doorway was Erica.

"Sure, why not."

Toshiro took the plate with the black pudding, and followed Erica.

Along the way, Erica asked:

"Hey, are you going to eat that during tea?"

"Yeah, I'm hungry. I'm having patrol duty in an hour or so, so I won't bother with conventionalities…"

"Heehee." Erica giggled.

At the terrace, besides them were Shirley, Francesca, Perrine, Mio and Minna.

When Perrine saw what Toshiro carried with himself, she threw him a disgruntled look. Toshiro only raised an eyebrow.

"Toshiro, come to us!" Minna said invitingly.

"Kay."

Toshiro sat before them. Before they could talk, Erica brought him a cup of tea.

"Thanks, sis."

He started eating his meal now, and Minna started whispering:

"So, how are your preparations going?"

Toshiro swallowed the contents of his mouth and whispered:

"Everything A-Okay. I have gifts for the girls locked in my chest. There are some party supplies in my closet, and the cake and some other stuff will be delivered at a steady rate tomorrow."

Minna nodded in admiration:

"Well… You surely have some skill with organizing things… I just hope you didn't blow our budget too much?"

"No… I think I barely reached three pounds…"

"Ausgezeichnet (Excellent)…"

"Oh… Minna…"

"Yes?"

"You think I can leave the base for a while tomorrow, between lunch and my patrol?"

"What's the matter?"

"Well… Tomorrow is also another date coincidence… This time concerning Yoshika and me…"

Minna looked surprised, but Mio already knew what was on his mind:

"You want to visit your father's grave?"

"Yes..."

"Sure, Toshiro, you can go…" Minna said silently.

"Thanks…" Toshiro responded.

After about half an hour, Shirley approached him and said:

"Hey, Toshiro, we should prepare for patrol now."

Toshiro looked at Minna and Mio, and they both nodded.

"Sure, Shirley. Lead the way."

Lucchini joined them, and they went to the hangar.

Before flying off, they were checking their equipment, especially the weapons.

"Hey, Shirley, you think I should bring the cannon with me today?"

Shirley looked at Toshiro, squinted her eyes and said:

"To be honest, you shouldn't… Today will probably be only a boring routine patrol, at least that's what I heard from Minna.'

"Okay. I'm a bit tired after everything I've done today, so lugging around that piece of Karlslandian metal would be too much…"

Toshiro took his ammo backpack, and loaded it with cases full of 20x101RB one hundred round ammo belts. He also preloaded his MG with one belt, took the FFG and stood upon his Launch Unit.

"Hey girls, I'm ready."

"I'm ready too!" Shirley shouted.

She was wearing a vest-like sling, with a few ammo pouches.

"Me too!" Lucchini also shouted

She had a backpack-like sling for two ammo cases for her Browning MG.

"Board Strikers, and off we go!" Shirley commanded.

"Roger!" Francesca and Toshiro replied

They all revved their engines. The volume levels would make a work safety inspector faint.

"GO! GO! GO!" Shirley shouted through comms.

The trio blitzed out of the hangar, and started their patrol

Two hours into the patrol

"Boooooooored….." Shirley moaned.

"Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah…" Lucchini opened her mouth during the yawn that one could see her tonsil.

"What can I say…? Still better than dwindling thumbs down there…" Toshiro said with resignation.

"Say, Toshiro, can I see you're MG?" Shirley asked

"Huh? Why?"

"I was always curious about those sights you have there."

"Sure. Throw me your BAR first, I want to check something myself."

"Kay. Catch!"

Shirley had thrown her light MG to Toshiro, who caught it with ease.

"Okay, now you catch!"

And Toshiro did the same with his weapon.

Shirley weighed the MG in her hands and said:

"A tad heavy to be honest… But let's see the sights…"

Shirley pulled up the sights to her eye, and after a few seconds, she shouted:

"Woah! Cool stuff!"

"I've read in the manual that the crosshair was treated with tritium, so it will glow in the dark."

"Even cooler!"

Toshiro took a glance at Shirley's BAR that he was holding. It looked normal, but the magazine had something odd in it. He detached it, and by thoroughly looking at it estimated that it held non-standard amount of bullets, forty to be exact.

"Hey Shirley, are these extended mags?"

"Yeah, the Liberion army issues me them instead of the normal ones. I would rather not get a belt fed MG like yours, because it would impact my speed too much."

"Good argument."

They exchanged their weapons, and went back patrolling.

Over an hour later

"Hey, guys, we started the patrol a bit earlier, so why don't we end it earlier? We are near the base already!" Shirley proposed

"Weeee! Let's go!" Lucchini cheered.

"Fine by me." Said Toshiro.

Thus, they started their descent to the base. On the way down, Toshiro saw a secluded body of water with some big rocks inside, roughly the size of the bath inside the base.

I will check that place after patrol tomorrow; maybe it will be a nice replacement bath…

After they landed, they were approached by Minna.

"I see you returned already, how was it?"

"Boring, boring and… well, boring." Shirley replied truthfully.

"Anything else?"

"Nope." Said Toshiro.

"Okay. Toshiro and Shirley, you go to the dining room. Lucchini, you run to Sanya's room and wake up the girls."

"Understood." The trio responded.

They all stowed away their equipment, and went their ways.

Shirley and Toshiro arrived at the dining room. Everyone except the night patrol was there. Perrine was bustling around in the kitchen, making tea.

Toshiro sat down and asked:

"Hey, Perrine, we already had tea today. What gives?"

She looked around and said:

"This is not normal tea, but I'll reveal the details after everyone is present."

"Okay…" Toshiro sighed.

Soon, Eila, Sanya, Yoshika and Lucchini came into the room and took their seats.

Yoshika sat between Lynne and Toshiro.

"Hi, Toshiro." Yoshika greeted him with a slight blush.

"Hi, Yoshika. Slept well?"

"Yeah… But I feel like I'm tired instead of being refreshed…"

"Sleeping too much or interrupting your normal sleep cycle can have adverse effects; you should already know it from school."

"I must have slept that lesson over…" She blushed and giggled.

Toshiro also let of a small chuckle.

"Oh and why was that room so dark?"

"Darkness adaptation, the human eye can adapt to low lighting conditions if given enough time and stimuli."

"Oh… Must have slept through that one too…"

"Heh…" Toshiro sighed.

Perrine started handing out the tea in elegant porcelain cups. It looked normal, despite having a faint flowery smell.

"Huh? What's this?" Yoshika asked.

Perrine struck a glamorous pose and started explaining:

"Marigold herbal tea! It should be good for your eyesight."

"Oh? I thought it was just folklore…" Said Lynne.

Perrine immediately flipped.

"How rude! This was passed down from my great-great-great-great-grandmother!" Perrine was spewing words with the speed of a machine gun.

Lynne was truly terrified, and quickly apologized:

"I-I'm sorry!"

After they drank a few sips, Yoshika took a whiff of the tea.

"It smells kind of like sansho…"

Toshiro could only confirm in his mind.

"Huh? Sansho?" Lynne asked.

"It's a spice common it the Asian region. I believe here it's called Sichuan pepper. Its taste resembles lemons." Toshiro explained.

Lucchini suddenly appeared near Yoshika and said:

"Hey, guys, stick out your tongues again!"

They did it without hesitating.

Toshiro could see that Francesca's tongue was not colored in any unusual way.

Her eyebrow twitched a few times and she exploded in a childish fit:

"Boooooooooooring! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Dull! Boooooooooriiiing!""

She went on like that for a minute, and then she stopped.

Afterwards everyone ate some sandwiches.

Minna soon said:

"The night team should be ready for take-off at 2200. Is that clear?"

"Roger." The night team responded.

"Good, now everyone dismissed."

They all went their ways. Toshiro went to his room for a towel, so he could take a bath, but upon arriving at its entrance, it was already taken.

Serves me right for dawdling…

Therefore, he sat by the entrance, waiting until it is free. The last one to exit was Yoshika.

"Hey, Toshiro, you can go in now."

"Thanks."

He turned the sign to its proper side, went in, took a quick bath, and went out, turning the sign back to neutral.

Toshiro decided that he would greet off Yoshika for her first ever night mission, so he took a seat in the common room and waited, watching the clock. Fifteen minutes before ten, he went to the hangar.

The girls were already preparing for take-off. The lights on the runway lit up. They slowly taxied to the runway.

On a whim, Toshiro fetched his prototype night vision device and ran after them. They stopped halfway, and Toshiro could catch them.

They looked back at him.

"Oh, Toshiro, what's up?" Eila asked.

"Just wanted to greet you guys off, nothing special…"

"So noble…" Sanya said silently.

Toshiro saw that Yoshika's hands were trembling.

"Yoshika, are you afraid?" He asked.

She immediately clutched her right hand with the left to stop them from shaking, but it was too late to deny the obvious.

"Yes… I didn't think the night sky would be so dark…" She said with a frightened voice.

"Wait, is this your first time then?" Eila suddenly asked.

"Y-yes…"

"Want to pass?" Sanya asked.

"No… B-but… Can we hold hands?"

"What?" Eila asked surprised.

"Well… If Sanya would hold my hand, maybe I wouldn't be afraid so much…"

For a brief moment, Sanya's magic antenna turned purple.

She took her right hand. Seeing that, Eila jumped to Yoshika's left side and grabbed her other hand.

"Let's go already!" Eila hurried them up.

"Wait a second girls, I wanted to give Yoshika something." Toshiro said while pointing out the goggles.

"Huh? What's what?" Yoshika asked.

"Prototype night vision goggles. I took the whole electronics and optics from my cannon, and fitted them onto makeshift goggles. I want you to field test them for me."

"Wow… What does it do?" She asked.

"It's better seen then explained." Said Toshiro and took a step forward.

He put on the goggles on Yoshika's head and adjusted the straps. Then he put on the neck strap and adjusted it too.

"Now, if you ever feel that the darkness if overwhelming you, just flip the switch on the left side. You can test it now, but don't look on the runway lights."

"Okay."

Yoshika looked at the horizon, and flipped the switch.

"Woooooow… I can see in the dark with one eye…"

"Nifty tool, huh? As far as I know, the IR emitter has a range of only about a kilometer, so you are restricted to that distance. But still better that gawking your eyes out in the darkness, heh…"

Yoshika turned the goggles off and with a smile said:

"Thank you."

"No problem. Now go, the girls are looking impatient now. Take care of Yoshika for me up there."

"Sure…" Eila said.

Sanya nodded affirmatively.

They held hands together, and flew off into the night sky. After a while, only the red and green lights on their wings were visible.

Toshiro went back into the castle. He decided to sleep, because tomorrow, he would need all the energy he could gather.


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