Chapter 36 - Memento Mori
Toshiro woke up at his usual time, and did his usual daily thing – jogging and lifting.
At breakfast, Shirley came up with an idea:
"Hey, Toshiro! Why don't we measure your actual top speed? Now we only have a rough estimate by you…"
Toshiro looked surprised at Shirley and said:
"Do you need it for some reason?" Toshiro asked.
"Yeah! I have to know your top speed, so I have a goal to achieve!"
"You won't stop at nothing to be the fastest, do you?"
"Nope! Hey, Minna, can we?"
"Sure. I have nothing planned for today, and HQ says it will be peaceful today. Just be careful." Minna responded while eating her sandwich.
"Yay! Okay Toshiro, what do you say to… high noon?"
"I'm fine with that." Toshiro answered.
He looked at Yoshika that was sitting near him. She was munching her sandwich, not caring about the world surrounding her.
Tomorrow… Tomorrow I will announce it… It's to awkward for me to sit like a moron besides my beloved, and not being able to caress here casually, like a lover would do. Or at least I think would do, dunno… But I can tell everyone something else right now.
"Hey, everyone. Yesterday I learned about something important to me."
Everyone looked at him curiously.
"Wuf if it, Tofiwo?" Yoshika mumbled with her mouth full.
"That you shouldn't speak with your mouth full."
Yoshika swallowed her meal with an embarrassed face.
"Okay, jokes aside, it appears that besides my mother, I have another relative."
"Woah! Who is it? Who is it?" Lucchini unexpectedly chimed in.
"Yes, tell us already, Toshiro!" Mio joined in.
"Apparently my grandmother, Mary Edelweiss, is living in Buenos Aires."
A collective 'ooooh' sounded around the table.
"Congratulations, Toshiro, but… We can't let you go now, you understand…" Minna killed the mood swiftly.
"No, no, Minna. If the situation around Gallia and Britannia stabilizes itself, then I will go. I can't let Perrine and Lynne down just like that… And hey, I've waited seventeen years; I can wait a few months!"
And I don't want to leave Yoshika yet, not now, when our relationship just stabilized itself and new possibilities have arisen… Grandma and maybe uncle, by some extent, will have to wait…
"I would probably ditch everything and go…" Shirley mumbled.
"Hey, be at least somewhat sensitive!" Perrine erupted suddenly. "Toshiro is sacrificing his own happiness for the good of my country!"
Unexpected…
Everyone looked at Perrine, who realized her sudden outburst, and who now tried to vanish under the table.
"Oh, calm down girls… This is my decision, my grandmother and my life. No need to get worked over it… And I see your indecisiveness, Lynne. You don't need to say anything, really…"
Lynne nodded affirmatively.
They all finished their meals in silence. Afterwards, the usual daily ordeal commenced: Lynne and Yoshika went training with Mio, Minna went to her office, Trude to her 'sauna' and the rest in directions unknown to Toshiro, as he never asked.
Toshiro decided do something different today. He found Eila, just before she entered her room.
"Hey, Eila… Do you know how to operate a sauna?"
"Of course I know! I'm from Suomus!"
"And how does one connect to each other?"
"Well… In Suomus, almost everyone has a sauna. They're used for everything: chilling out, socializing even making business. Don't tell me you never used the bases sauna?"
"Nope… I only know where it is…"
"You don't even have a towel… Unless you want to go commando, fetch one… I'll wait here."
"Okay."
Toshiro blitzed back to his room, picked up a towel and rushed back to Eila. She also had a towel.
Why is she also carrying a towel?
"Now that you are prepared, let's go."
After a short walk, they arrived before a wooden door. Eila opened it, and they both went in.
The first room was an antechamber with showers.
"Now, Toshiro. Strip and shower. It's important to be squeaky clean before entering the sauna."
"Can I get a bit of privacy?"
"No. You saw me, I saw you. Besides, in a sauna, everyone is equal. It's a Suomus custom."
"If it's a custom, then whatever…"
Toshiro, now in his birthday suit, stood before Eila.
"Now I can finally look at you in detail… Hnnnnnnnnggg… If I wasn't so much into Sanya, I would rape you on the spot!"
"Woah!"
"Hah! Just joking! You really have a nice and athletic body though… Cherish it, and it will serve you and your beloved one well…"
"I don't have a girlfriend yet…"
"You sure?"
"Yeah."
"Hmmm… Okay, I won't dwell on it… Time to get undressed as well…"
"Wait, what?"
"The best way to explain something is to explain it through action."
"Ugh… Right…"
Eila was standing now naked besides Toshiro.
"Let's take that shower…"
They both showered thoroughly. Afterwards Eila lead him to the next room. It was a spacious room furnished with wooden planks, with three levels of wooden benches. In the middle, there was a strange stove with stones on top. A bucket with water and a dipper were standing beside it.
"Now, Toshiro… Look to the wall besides you, to your right. There should be a cache with firewood inside. Pick it up, and place it under the kiuas."
"Kiu-what?"
"The kiuas. Oh right, I mean the stove."
Toshiro opened the cache. It opened with some resistance, and by the looks of it, it was protected against humidity.
"Now light it up. There should be matches in the cache."
Toshiro picked up the matches, and lit a fire.
"Good. Now we wait until the kiuas heats up the stones."
They waited a good while, with Toshiro throwing wood in the fire. After some time, the stones got red hot.
"It's ready. Watch and learn, Toshiro."
Eila filled the dipper with water, and poured it over the stones. A violent steam cloud arose.
Toshiro coughed a few times because of the sudden increase of moisture in the air.
"We have to repeat the procedure a few times, until that thermometer…" Eila pointed to a thermometer in on the wall, now showing thirty degrees. "…shows about ninety."
After a few repetitions, the sauna was finally heated up to the required temperature.
"Wheeew… The löyly is good today… Löyly means 'steam' by the way, but in the context of a sauna. Toshiro, now lean back, and relax…"
Toshiro sat on one of the benches and closed his eyes.
This heat is pleasant… I usually melt away in the summer sun, but this is different…
"Hey, Toshiro… Toshiro…"
"Huh… Waah…"
Toshiro opened his eyes slowly. The naked and sweaty Eila was standing before him shamelessly.
"Don't space out in a sauna, Toshiro. It can be dangerous."
"Thanks… What now?"
"Since the fire burned out by itself, now, we go to the showers, and shower with ice cold water to temper our bodies."
"Do I look like a blade to you?"
"No, but your humor is as sharp as always. It's tradition, don't argue."
They went under the shower, and stood under a cold stream of water.
"Uuuuuuuughhhhh…" Toshiro shuddered from the cold.
"Y-y-you'll get used to it"
After the shower, they dried up and put on their clothes.
"Now, that was Sauna 101 by Eila Ilmatar Juutilainen. I originally planned for us to run to the little lake, in which you saw me naked the first time by the way, but I don't think the rest would approve. And it's customary to slap oneself with vihta, birch branches with leaves. It loosens up muscles and improves blood circulation, but since we don't have them around…"
"Thank you for the lecture, professor, heh… But Eila, I have a question for you…"
"Is it… about Sanya and me?"
"Yeah… How are you two going on?"
"Yesterday… Sanya approached me and said 'Eila, be straight about your feelings towards me, or our friendship will end this instant'. I was shocked… My little Sanya saying such big and harsh words… But I told her… I told her, how much I love her… Her eyes opened wide, and tears started flowing down her sweet little face. I also started crying, and we hugged together. From that moment on, I think our relationship improved substantially… But I wonder how she came to such a confession…"
Eila looked at Toshiro suspiciously. He tried to put on his best poker face, but it was beyond his power.
"Okay, okay… I told her to do so…" Toshiro said with a resigned voice.
"I knew it! Who else would come up with this! Did you tell her my secret?"
"Nope. Ask her yourself. But knowing your secret, it was easier for me to formulate a solution."
"Well…"
Eila suddenly grabbed Toshiro's head with both her hands, and landed a smooch on his forehead.
"Thank you, Toshiro… I hope you will have more luck in your own love life, than in repairing those of others, heehee…"
"I hope so, heh… Anything I should drink after boiling myself in a sauna?"
"Vodka?"
"Don't have it, and I have to be sober in some time so…"
"Pulling your leg right now. You would drop after a glass in this state…"
"Then… We can go now?"
"Yeah."
They exited the sauna.
"Have a nice day, Toshiro. I'll tell the good news about your grandma to Sanya."
"Sure. A nice day to you to, Eila."
Toshiro dropped of the towel in his room, and went to the hangar.
"Hey, Toshiro! Aren't you a bit early? We still have some time…"
"I want to take a look at my Striker before the flight, just to be sure."
"Good idea! I'll help you."
The both of them searched through the engine compartment thoroughly for a while.
"Looks like everything is all right, huh, Toshiro?"
"Yeah… No engine leaks, nothing shaking, all the screws are in place… I think we are good to go."
"We can actually start earlier. The temperature will be lower, so there will be a wee little less chance of your engine overheating."
Toshiro prepared himself, and jumped into his Striker. Shirley was standing beside him with the telemetry device.
"Okay, start your engines!"
Toshiro awoke the twelve cylinder beasts in his Striker. Shirley turned the dial on the device, and gave him a thumb up.
"Okay, can you hear me on comms?" Her voice flowed through the transponder.
"Loud and clear"
"Okay! Wait a moment while I run forward, okay?"
"Sure."
Shirley sprinted outside and after a while said:
"Okay, you can start!"
"Roger!"
He revved up the engines, and darted forward down the runway past Shirley. Up in the air, he heard Shirley's voice again:
"The wind is blowing towards the north, so you should head there."
"Understood."
After a few seconds, the voice of the red headed Liberion was heard again.
"Okay, Toshiro… Let 'er rip!"
He didn't need more encouragement. The dials on the FFG started moving fast, and Toshiro crossed the sound barrier with ease. A moment later, he felt that he stopped accelerating.
"Toshiro, you probably should use the boosters now."
"Roger."
He flipped the switch. Like the two times before, he felt that his magic was being drained rapidly. The light informing about the readiness of the booster lit up. Toshiro waited a few seconds, and flipped the switch.
The sudden thrust from the rocket booster almost threw him of balance, and then, all hell went loose.
BOOM!
Toshiro felt an explosion by his right leg. He didn't even have time to look back, because the sudden force made him tumble in the air.
"MAYDAY… MAYDAY!"
"Toshiro, what is it?!"
"The booster in my right leg exploded… I can't… I'm loosing…"
Toshiro's vision started to narrow as the result of the G-force from his spinning. He was flying to the ground at a speed of over Mach 1. The last thing he registered was an enormous rock.
Pain… Excruciating pain… I can't hear anything… My ears are ringing… I have to open my eyes…
The world is blurry… I can move my right hand… Grass… Tree bark? A tree is supporting my back… Why can't I move my left arm… OW! My vision sharpens a bit… Is that… Did I rip all that ground upon impact? And what is this protruding from my chest? AAAARGH! SHIT! It's a rock shard the size of a big club… When I nudged it, it felt like molten lead was poured into my chest… My shirt… A blood stain… It's expanding…
What is that in the sky… Somebody is flying here…
Somebody has landed and is rushing to me…
Those are two somebodies…
Shirley…
Yoshika…
"TOSHIRO!"
They are both shouting my name…
"Toshiro! What happened?!" Shirley shouted and covered her mouth in panic when she saw the shard. "My God, Toshiro…."
"Toshiro… No… This can't be…" Yoshika was muttering. She was on the brink of insanity. Her eyes were empty.
Shirley grabbed Yoshika and started shaking her:
"Yoshika! Pull your shit together! You have to save him!"
"But that rock shard… I can't heal him like that… And if we pull it out…"
"Do…it…"
I managed to speak… It was difficult… The shard probably destroyed my right lung…
"But… Toshiro… You'll bleed out in an instant…"
"Worth… a… try… better… then… nothing… HURGH…"
I coughed… It hurts like hell… Blood is coming from my mouth…
"Shirley… do… it…"
"O-Okay… Yoshika, prepare yourself."
I braced myself… Shirley started to pull… I screamed…
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"
I shouted from the top of my undamaged lung.
"No… Please… Shirley… Stop… I can't take it…" Yoshika cried.
"PULL!"
Shirley got out the shard with a final tug, and dropped it on the ground. Blood gushed out of the wound with like water from a fountain. Shirley looked at Toshiro and her breakfast landed on the ground.
"Is… Is it… That bad…"
Yoshika started to heal him and said:
"Y…You have a shot-through open wound the size of a fist… Your ribs are visible… Parts of your lung are hanging… Your heart is visible…"
After a few seconds, Yoshika started looking tired. Her healing magic flickered and stopped.
"I…I can't… Shirley snatched me mid-training… I'm tired…"
Tears were flowing from her eyes like two waterfalls.
So this is the end? My life ends here? Damn it… If so… I still have something to say…
"Shirley… Tell Yoshika… About 'that' night…"
"What are you talking about?!" The pale Shirley responded.
"Do it… Hear the wish… Of a dying man… Yoshika…"
"Y-yes?"
"Yoshika… I wanted to… kiss you under a blooming cherry blossom tree… back in Fuso… I wanted… to propose to you after… after all this ends… Yoshika… you don't know… how much… I… loved… you…"
My voice starts failing me… I can only hear tinnitus… Now I can't hear anything… Yoshika is probably shouting… I know it… The colors are fading… My vision is darkening… My eyelids are getting heavy…
Forgive me… Forgive me, Yoshika… Forgive me, and live on…
I'm sorry…