Well, this chapter ended up being particularly hard to write. In the end, it kind of ended up seeming like a bunch of interconnected drabbles which...isn't bad, per se, but it isn't great. Still, I did my very best, so I hope you enjoy the chapter anyway.
Tyson
I only vaguely remembered the plotline of Kiki's Delivery Service, and I couldn't remember the last time I'd actually watched it. Or if I had actually specifically watched it-I remembered for some reason deciding Ghibli movies were the way to go in understanding the Japanese language, and watching a bunch prior to leaving the country for the first time, whenever I wasn't busy making other preparations, but I wasn't sure which ones those had been. I remembered Hibiki quizzing me about what anime series I'd heard of or watched on the second or third day of Hope's Peak, her going far too fast for me to actually be able to keep up with all of the questions, and Akira scolding her for doing that. The specific movie itself though-not even a glimmer. I had obviously heard of it and things like that, but nothing specific.
Perhaps it was one of the memories taken from me.
I reached over and took a piece of Shizuka's cake from one of the plates it was arranged on and bit into it absently. I watched the titular character soar across the sky on her broomstick with her cat clinging onto the end, and thought of all the plane flights I'd taken.
I heard the speakers crackle, and then an announcement came on, spoken in clear Japanese. I could make out some of it, mainly the basic flight announcements about landing and putting on seatbelts, but there was more after that I couldn't quite make out. What if I miss vital information and that causes me to-
Stop it, Tyson De Guerre. I told myself swiftly. You know that they'll repeat the announcement in English and that you will listen closely when they do. Pull yourself together-you're approaching your destination, and you have to show these people what Britain is made of. With those admonishments, I pulled myself together, and just at that moment, the announcements did indeed repeat themselves in English. I listened to them closely, mentally committed all the vital information to memory, and sat up straight, waiting for the plane to land.
Slowly, gradually, and much more smoothly than I expected, the plane came to a halt. The seatbelt light switched off, and so I pulled off my seatbelt. I got up and went to pull my bags from overhead luggage. My intention had been to do it as quickly and efficiently as possible, and then proceed to move swiftly to exit so as to not be in the way of other fliers who needed to grab luggage, but I paused to look out of the window.
The sky was lightening to indicate the start of a new day, the swathes of grey concrete were the same you'd presumably see in any other runway, with various markings painted and a couple of other planes sitting idle on the ground. It was nothing remarkable, not really. And yet, in so many ways, I knew that really, it was.
I shook myself out of it. Strange, that a kids movie is having so much of an effect on me. But at the same time, not so strange. Even after seven years, there was no way to predict what could trigger memories and feelings, let alone in what way. And this way, this particular memory, it was not so bad.
I wonder what memories it's bringing up for everyone else. If they're good or bad ones. And then, more specifically, I wondered: what memories is this bringing up for Wakana? I snuck a look at her. She had a glass of juice in her hands, and seemed fully absorbed in the movie. Calm, but clearly enjoying herself. Satisfied, I returned my attention to the movie. Whatever this was bringing up for anyone, I hoped that it wouldn't affect the positive experience that this night was meant to be.
…
Chieko
"That kind of made me want to jack everything and retrain as a witch." Noriko joked as Akira changed over the DVD to the next movie.
"Yeah, I sort of get what you mean. " Wakana agreed.
"Mhm." I said, non-commitally.
I wasn't even sure if I agreed or not. There was a certain appeal to be able to fly around like that, yet on the other hand…Kiki had managed to get her ability to fly again by the time the movie had ended, a matter of days in that timeline. Seven years later in the real world, I still could not garden. If magic was as vulnerable as Talent, then was there any point?
"I want to be a witch!" Shizuka exclaimed, distracting me. "Then I can have a cat!"
"That's the only thing you take from that?" Masashi asked her, mock-shocked. "What about getting to fly on a broomstick? And do magic spells? And help people?"
"Yeah, that too." Shizuka nodded, very serious. "But a cat is the best part of being a witch."
"Well, can't argue with that." Masashi said, apparently also serious. "Cats are pretty awesome."
At that moment, he caught my eye and grinned, winking quickly. I smiled back, feeling lighter. Yeah, focusing on cats is probably the way to go.
"On the other hand, I'm so clumsy I think I'd be falling off my broom every three seconds if I even tried, so maybe I should just stick to genetics." Noriko said, continuing her musing.
"I know, right?" Hokuto laughed.
"Okay, is everyone ready?" Akira asked, holding up the remote as he came to sit back down.
"Yup!" Noriko answered for all of us.
"Good."
Akira pressed play, and the opening credits started, and I settled down to enjoy the next movie, putting all thoughts of what things I'd lost out of my mind. After all, right now, what mattered was what I still had. What mattered, was everything that I had right here.
So I would make the most of it.
…
Hokuto
Though I had put all of that behind me, I did find myself thinking of Rei for a moment as Sleeping Beauty progressed. In my journals, there had been a mention of Disney movies, particularly the princess movies. I had been all for the magic and the songs and the happily-ever-afters, even while wishing there were fairy tales in which princesses could live happily ever after with other princesses, rather than other princes as always seemed to be the case. Rei had been more sceptical. I certainly didn't know if Rei still held those views, but I knew I was still all about the happily-ever-afters. It was kind of comforting, to know that at least one thing about me hadn't changed. Still, it didn't really matter either way, so it didn't take long for the memory to drift away and for me to just become focused on watching the plot of the movie unfold.
After some time, I realised I'd been holding the crisp bowl that I'd picked up for quite some time without really noticing, so I went to grab another crisp, only to discover that there weren't that many left. Apparently, I'd also managed to eat most of the crisps in this bowl without realising. Oops. Oh well, too late now. I shrugged to myself and picked up the bowl and held it out to the others.
"Hey, does anyone want the last of the crisps?" I asked. "Wakana-Chan? Chieko-Chan?"
"No, no." they both refused.
"I'll nab one, thanks." Masashi said, leaning over to do just that.
"Shizuka-Chan...oh, she's asleep." I observed. Chieko gave me a surprised look, and then looked down at Shizuka.
"Yes, so she is."
Chieko proceeded to scoop Shizuka carefully in her arms, so as to not wake her, and then get up.
"Do you want us to pause the movie?" Akira asked, pointing to where the fairies were arguing over Aurora's ball gown colour. Chieko shook her head and smiled.
"No, that's fine. I won't be long."
"Got it."
Chieko left the room with Shizuka, and I returned my attention to the movie, mindlessly eating the rest of the crisps.
…
Chieko
As I climbed up the stairs, I felt Shizuka stir in my arms.
"Hey," I murmured. "Do you think you're awake enough to brush your teeth by yourself?"
"Mhm." Shizuka murmured back sleepily.
"Okay then."
We went to the bathroom, and I set her down. I wet her toothbrush under the tap, and squeezed toothpaste on it before handing it to her, then did the same with my own toothbrush.
"Mummy, you're gonna sleep too?" Shizuka asked as she started brushing.
"No, but I'll brush with you anyway. I've had my fill for tonight." I told her.
"Oh. Okay."
We finished brushing in silence, and then we went back to our room. I knelt by it while she wriggled in and curled up.
"Goodnight…" Shizuka closed her eyes, and pretty much fell asleep straight away.
"Goodnight." I said back, quietly.
Softly, I patted her hair, and waited for a moment, just watching her. There was a part of me that also wanted to curl up in bed and fall asleep. But the other part wanted to go back to join my friends, and that was the side that was winning. So I got up, and left the room quietly, leaving Shizuka to the dreams that I hoped were as happy as always.
…
Masashi
It had never occurred to me until now, but why had the movie never shown how the princess had felt upon discovering that 100 years had passed? It was an entire fucking century, so the world would have changed a lot in that time in leaps and bounds. And sure, magic meant the inhabitants of the castle were also asleep so they wouldn't have died in the meantime, but anyone else who'd been around in her lifetime would have been long gone by then, too. How would she have adjusted to the world. Okay, so I'd never been a Disney Princess person, but I knew enough about them just from being a person in the world. But perhaps if Sleeping Beauty had shown how the princess adjusted to life in a world that was a hundred years older than she'd left it, I would have been able to know how to respond to coming out to a world that was just under a year older than I'd remembered it being.
Or maybe I'm just overthinking this. It's frigging Disney, for god's sake.
At that moment, Chieko came back down, sitting back down in between me and Wakana.
"She's asleep?" I asked.
"Yeah." Chieko nodded. "Still on the same thing?"
"Mhm."
I swallowed down my silly disappointment. Of course she's fucking asleep, that's why she was taken upstairs in the first place. Besides, Akamine-tan came back down, so that's alright, isn't it? And of course that was alright, but I'd also enjoyed pretending to myself that we were a family, that we'd met up with friends and we'd be going home together at the end of all this. Sitting in front of the sofa watching something, whether a movie at night or some random box set while scoffing a ready meal-it was a very family thing to do. And damn, had I enjoyed the momentary fantasy while it'd lasted.
I'm really falling for her, aren't I? I mused, though it was a redundant musing, because I'd fallen long ago and it was fairly obvious. But spending all this time with Chieko along with Shizuka that had just somehow taken things to a different level. I would have always accepted Shizuka-how could I not accept her, knowing she and Chieko would always be a package deal?-but I hadn't expected that the whole family life thing would become a part of the feelings themselves. I sneaked a glance at Chieko, absently eating another slice of Shizuka's cake, and I looked to the table to see if there were any more. Thankfully, there were, and I quickly reached out and grabbed one. The icing made my fingers sticky, and when I bit into it, I basically had an overload of sugar. But even so, it tasted good.
…
Akira
When Suspect X had finished, I ejected the DVD and then looked over at the others. Chieko was visibly drooping, most of the others were yawning, and Wakana had fallen asleep.
"I think this would be a good time to stop." I told them, going over to take the DVD out and put it back in its' case.
"Yeah," Noriko yawned. "I'm beat. But that was fun!"
"It sure was, but yeah, bed for me. See ya in the morning…or possibly the afternoon." Hokuto said, using that as the opportunity to leave.
"You need help, Akira-tan?" Masashi muttered, rubbing his eyes tiredly.
"No, no, you go onto bed."
Once I'd sorted out the DVDs and the television, I started to take the leftover food to the kitchen. Tyson joined me, and between us, we managed to sort out all the leftovers and wash everything up and put it away. Not that there were that many leftovers in the first place, but even so.
When we left the kitchen, Chieko was leaving the living room.
"I couldn't get Wakana-Chan to wake up-she's really fast asleep. I put some cushions behind her and stuff, but…"
"It's okay, I'll watch over her."
Tyson said this almost immediately, before I even had the time to think of an answer. I just stared at him, and Chieko seemed just as startled.
"I…I don't think that's necessarily, um, necessary. But okay." I shrugged. "That does seem better than leaving her alone anyway. Goodnight, then."
"Goodnight."
Tyson smiled and saluted us, then turned and disappeared back into the living room without a word. I exchanged a look with Chieko, then decided to not think of it too much, and climbed up the stairs. Once at the top, we exchanged our goodnights, and then went to our separate rooms.
Masashi was clearly already asleep, so I made sure to be extra quiet as I climbed into bed, and then almost as soon as my head settled against the pillow, I feel asleep, peacefully.
Random-ish sidenote: Disney's Sleeping Beauty and Suspect X were both my selections. Suspect X is an adaptation of the Keigo Higashino novel The Devotion of Suspect X. I was considering choosing A Midsummer's Equation instead, as that's my favourite of the Higashino novels I've read, and it has a movie, but Suspect X was more popular in Japan when it came out, hence why I chose that one instead.
