Chapter 53 – Love abloom
The spring was released, pushing the firing pin forward. It struck the primer in the bottom of the cartridge, igniting the propellant inside and sending the nine-millimeter bullet down the rifled barrel, straight into the skull of Toshiro, killing him on the spot in front of his beloved Yoshika and Mio.
That would happen in an ideal situation, but somehow, it didn't. The gathered only heard a mildly loud pop coming from the gun. Toshiro released the gun and covering his face with his hands he said, "I'm such a failure… I can't even shoot myself properly…"
Mio came up to the gun, and picked it up. With a trained hand move, she disassembled the whole upper part of the gun. A whole bullet came fell to the floor, rolling down to her feet. She picked it up, examining it thoroughly.
"Oh Toshiro… To be saved by a dud… What are the odds…?" She said in wonder.
Yoshika ran up to Toshiro and hugged him with all the strength she could muster.
"Moron! Why did you try to kill yourself!?" She shouted with tears in her eyes, with a voice nobody would suspect her of.
"Mother… I wanted to go to mother…" Toshiro mumbled to himself.
Yoshika's attitude changed at a flip of a coin. She started stroking his head and said, "Poor Toshiro… Don't worry, I'm with you…"
Yoshika stayed with Toshiro for another hour, caressing and lulling him like a little child until he fell asleep.
He woke up in the middle of the night with a hangover from hell.
"Glad you woke up, Toshiro. It's short past midnight by the way."
"Yuki the Timekeeper on duty as always…"
"I literally saved you from the bullet, you know?"
"What bullet?"
"You don't remember? You wanted to shoot yourself you fucking idiot!"
"I did? Gods damn it… What was I talking about?"
"You said you wanted to 'go to mother'…"
"Hmmm… I must have had some sort of guilt trip while drunk… How did you save me by the way?"
"I put a magic film between the propellant and the primer of the bullet."
"Clever… Very clever… How did you even pull it off?"
"On a whim I tapped into the power of the Sacred Flame. Toshiro, you know what kind of potential it holds?"
"You tell me…"
"I was able to do what I did not even lifting a proverbial finger!"
"Nice… And Mio thought it was a dud?"
"Samurai lady didn't notice a thing. By the way, she is sleeping just beside you, by the wall. She wanted to watch out for you, so you don't do anything stupid."
"I guess I have to thank her or something… Oh shit, what about Yoshika?"
"She was also there. She called you a moron, but then she took care of you."
"That Yoshika… I should take a walk or something, to the mountains preferably, maybe that will help me a bit…"
"Good idea, Toshiro."
Toshiro slowly rose from the bedroll.
"So you woke up?" Mio said, vigilant as always.
"Yeah… Want to go for a walk with me? The fresh cold mountain air will probably liven me up a bit."
"Yeah, why not… Come on."
They walked through the moonlit streets of Yokosuka, and out into the fields. They came up to Toshiro's old house.
"I think we don't have to get in here…" Toshiro said silently. "I remember seeing mom's chest in the apartment… Or maybe… Okay, remind me on the way back, okay?"
"Sure."
They walked through the fields up to one point where Toshiro stopped.
"On the day I met Yuki, I stopped in this place to look at the fields, and I saw a faint blue orb in the distance… Does it ring a bell?"
"Let me think… You witnessed how Miyafuji healed her cousin?"
"Somewhat… I asked Yoshika about it when we were on the Akagi, and she confirmed… It's like walking through memory lane right now… Why don't we jog?"
"I was just about to propose that."
They started jogging, and after a while, they reached the fated mountain summit.
"I met Yuki here… I met you here…" Toshiro said while walking around. "Look, the cracks I made during that battle are still well visible…"
"Why wouldn't they be? You threw me around like a bag of cement… Are you better now?"
"Yeah… The mountain air and the stroll gave me the boost I needed. Let's go back."
On the way back, Toshiro went inside his house, and returned outside with a stack of books and newspapers.
"What's that, Toshiro? Feeling an urge to learn?" Mio asked sarcastically.
"Nah, I already know the contents of these books and papers by heart anyway. I want you to donate these to whatever educational facility you deem fit."
"Huh? Why me?"
"Because I have work to do tomorrow… well, today actually, heh…"
"Do tell."
"I want to finish that plane engine I forcefully abandoned…" Toshiro said with irony.
"Okay, okay… Will the municipal library be good?"
"Fine by me. Here, take half of it and let's go."
They walked together until they came by Toshiro's old-new apartment.
"Okay, Toshiro. Give me the rest and you can go home."
Toshiro placed his share of books on the stuff Mio carried.
"Thanks, Mio. I'll be in the base come morning."
"Hah, I hope so!"
Mio went her way into the darkness of the night, while Toshiro entered the apartment. He saw something he didn't notice before – his disassembled pistol. As he went closer, he also saw a single bullet.
Toshiro looked closer at the bullet, and saw the primer was set off. Using a bit of force, he pulled out the bullet, and flipped the casing over. The propellant came out on the table in whole.
"Wow… So I was basically one micrometer away from death?"
"Something like that… You are really reckless at times…"
"I think I'll take a nap… How much time do I have?"
"If you want to be at the base at 0500, then you have about… Three hours…"
"Good enough."
Toshiro dropped on the bedroll and fell asleep.
In the morning, he rummaged mother's chest and found his old overalls.
It would be a shame to stain my uniform…
He put it on, surprised how it still fits perfectly, and went out to the base.
At the gate, the guard said, "Ah, Private Akayama, long time no see!"
"Yeah, yeah, hello Satoshi. And it's 1st Lieutenant now, heh…"
"I suppose I should salute you, huh?"
"Oh cut the crap! You were the guard here since I enlisted, so let's keep it as it was."
"Well, one problem solved. But since you are a 1st Lieutenant now, why the crap overall? Shouldn't you be pushing papers now or something?"
"Nah… I want to finish my little project."
"The Zero engine? Good for us I suppose… Okay, go already; I don't want to look at your mug all day long!"
"You ain't Adonis yourself!"
Toshiro went to the hangar in which he left the engine. He found it standing near a wall under a cloth, just as he left it. He gathered all the tools and parts he needed, and started work.
While at it, other mechanics visited him, both greeting him and firing him up. And then, shortly before 1200, he finished. One of the mechanics was already standing behind him with a jerry can full of fuel. Toshiro first attached a temporary fuel tank, and then poured the fuel in. After that, he pressed the starter.
The engine cranked up slowly, and suddenly roared across the hangar. The mechanics cheered and started patting Toshiro on the back.
I can't believe I was THIS short of completing the work on the engine… Damn Mio…
"Okay guys, stop it. I have to write up the paperwork…"
It took him two hours, but he finally finished. He put all the papers in an envelope, and placed it on the engine.
Toshiro decided to call it a day, so was walking towards the gate, when somebody ran to him.
"Lieutenant, a call for you… In the comms room…" The young man said between breaths.
"Okay, thanks."
Toshiro ran to the phone, and after picking it up, he said, "Akayama here, who is it?"
"Hi, Toshiro."
"Adolfine? What a surprise! What makes you phone me here?"
"Well… I heard what happened to your mother… You have my condolences, Toshiro… You-know-who also sends his regards…"
"Thanks, Adolfine… But somehow I doubt you are only calling me because of that, right?"
"It's tied with this matter. You see, being a child of a Karlslandian citizen, under eighteen and an orphan, you are entitled to orphan money for exactly… seven months starting from yesterday. It's not much, but it should help you a bit…"
"Thanks again… Send my greeting to you-know-who, he is probably missing me already, heh…"
"I will, Toshiro. Aufwiedersehen."
"Bye."
He went out of the room in silence, in the direction of the entrance gate. This time nobody bothered him while he was exiting the base.
When he approached his apartment, he saw a girl in a blue dress and with brown hair coming his way.
"Yoshika?"
"Hi… Toshiro…" She said while blushing. "I have something to show to you… so come with me…"
"Okay, as you wish… But let me change, okay? I don't want to make that nice dress of yours dirty."
"Okay…"
Toshiro went to his apartment, and changed into the khaki uniform in an instant. When he returned to Yoshika, she grabbed his hand and started pulling him. He was being pulled through the whole town and into the fields. They arrived under a big cherry blossom tree.
"Toshiro… The tree may not be blossoming… but… I want to give you something… so you will remember what life is worth living for…"
"Yoshika, wha…"
She jumped up, wrapped her arms and legs around him and placed her lips on his lips. At first Toshiro was totally surprised, but then he acted. He hugged Yoshika tightly and started kissing her vividly, so that she gave off a grunt of pleasure. The faint scent of chrysanthemum mixed with cherry blossoms was felt from her as their hearts were beating in unison.
They stopped after a while, and Toshiro asked, "What was that, Yoshika…?"
"A kiss to build a dream on…"
"I hope it wasn't my imagination…"
Toshiro then looked behind Yoshika, and saw something spectacular.
"Yoshika… You might want to turn around…"
She crawled of off Toshiro and turned around.
"Wooooow…"
As if by miracle, the cherry blossom tree was now decorated with pink petals, just as if it was spring. Some of them were swirling, carried by the wind, others were falling to the ground, at a fabled speed of five centimeters per second.
"It's a miracle…" Toshiro said out of breath.
"Not the only miracle, Toshiro" He heard a voice from behind.
They both looked around, and saw something even more mind boggling that the sudden blooming of the tree. Before them stood two translucent animals – a white snake and a dog.
"Yuki?" Toshiro asked.
"K-Kuji, is that you?" Yoshika stuttered.
"Yes we are." Their familiars said in unison.
"How is this even possible?" Toshiro asked.
"Your love made it possible for us to appear in this world. Maybe only in spirit form, but still." Kuji explained with a deep voice.
"Our love?" Yoshika asked dumbfounded.
"Ah yes, little Yoshika. I'll explain it to you but first let me introduce myself." Yuki said. "I'm Yuki, Toshiro's familiar and voice in his head, and… heehee… the girlfriend of this hound here…"
"GIRLFRIEND?!" Yoshika shouted surprised.
"Yes, Yoshika, Yuki and Kuji were lovers before even our grandparents were born." Toshiro said calmly. "But please, explain it to Yoshika in detail, Yuki."
"With pleasure. So…"
Yuki explained how her backstory, how she met with Kuji and with Toshiro.
"So that's why Toshiro can boost my healing powers?" Yoshika asked.
"Yes. You can also boost his, but Toshiro would probably forbid it, right?"
"Yup, with full prejudice." He answered and went up to Kuji. "So, you are the guy governing Yoshika's magic?"
"That I am."
"Are you talking with Yoshika?"
"Nope."
"Odd… Please talk to Yoshika sometimes."
"Good. While I have the occasion, I want to ask my mistress one thing."
"Sure, Kuji…" Yoshika said.
"Will you show me your panties?"
Yoshika was immediately red on the face like after drinking a bottle of wine. Toshiro's jaw simply dropped open and he couldn't say a thing. Fortunately, Yuki smacked Kuji on the head with her tail.
"Damn pervert! I see that living here has spoiled you too much!" She shouted.
"It's true, Yuki… I took liking in panties… Forgive me!"
"Whatever… Well, our time nears to an end, so this is the end of the show. I will go back to Toshiro and bicker on as usually, and that pervert… Ugh…"
Yoshika shuddered, and Toshiro knew why.
"Take care of Yoshika, Toshiro." Kuji said.
"And you take care of Toshiro, Yoshika." Yuki said.
Yoshika and Toshiro looked at each other and said, "We will."
The two familiars disappeared into the thin air, leaving the two lovers alone.
"So, Yoshika… What are we doing now?"
"I have to go home and do my homework… I have to catch up with the curriculum…"
"I understand. Bye then."
"Bye."
Toshiro went in the direction of his apartment, but suddenly Yuki spoke up.
"Toshiro, I have something important to tell you."
"Get on with it."
"I want you to go to the mountain summit we first met."
"But I was there just last night!"
"This time it's different."
"What sort of different?"
"I can't tell."
"I have a bad feeling about this, but I'll go…"
Toshiro set his destination for the mountain summit, quite uneasy about what could happen.
Next chapter is the finale! Stay tuned!
Google both 'A kiss to build a dream on' and '5 centimeters per second'. Enjoy!
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