Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, the Japanese Archipelago.
Chiyoda Ward may be well known for being the home of the famous Diet Building, but it is also the location of the highest court in all of the Sunrise Kingdom:
The Supreme Court.
The air was tense as the audience and the press anxiously waited for the verdict of a case, a case that would decide the fate of the defendants. But they weren't just any ordinary defendants.
They were four girls from the elusive and isolated Jatkosota High School.
Anticipation mounted inside the courtroom as the onlookers (some of whom were students of Jatkosota) wondered how things might go down for the four, who were all wearing orange jumpsuits and handcuffed.
Today was a sunny and joyful day, a total contrast with the dreary and desolate feeling inside the courtroom. The slight buzz of the AC only added to the tense air, as did the occasional ticking of a clock somewhere in the room. The cicadas outside hummed their tunes as everyone continued to sit still.
One of the more notable defendants was Jatkosota's overall tankery leader and commander of the school's BT-42, Mika. Despite her beauty on the outside, it had been frequently rumoured by Gloriana's intelligence organization (the GI6) and some tabloid newspapers that under this guise, she was a cunning thief with no remorse for her actions. The same could be believed about the three other defendants, who were also her fellow friends: Aki (the gunner and loader of the BT-42), Mikko (the driver of the BT-42), and Youko (The White Witch; an extremely skilled sniper.)
Rumours about thievery amongst the Jatkosota crew ramped up throughout the months. But today, all that chatter would be proven true.
The four waited with stoic faces. Yet, under their guises, all of them were feeling the same thing. It was… unexplainable. It was as if feelings of regret and anger were put into a blender and sprinkled with a dash of pessimism.
The judge at the front cleared his throat and began to read out from a sheet of paper.
"The verdict has been decided," he announced with a firm voice. "The four girls of Ishikawa Prefecture's Jatkosota High School will be charged with the attempted robbery of the Diet and the Shimada Family. As punishment, they will immediately be exiled from Japan to an unspecified location. Court adjourned!"
Audible gasps were heard from the audience as no one could believe the court's decision. Teenagers getting exiled?! It was unheard of!
Security ordered the four girls to get up and they walked out through the double doors. The clamouring from the crowd grew louder and louder as the press outside the courtroom attempted to ask them questions. They were promptly denied the chance by security, who pushed back anyone who got close.
They were all feeling something as they got out of the building and began to get escorted to a police car: Youko remained unfazed, Mikko tried to cover her face from the cameras, and Aki tried her best to hold back tears.
As for Mika, she remained unfazed like Youko throughout most of the escort. Leaving a blank expression, it looked as if she showed no remorse for what she and her comrades did. But, as she was about to enter the car, she looked up and saw a harrowing sight.
Amid the sea of camera flashes, across the street…
Mika saw a woman in a crimson dress with a black veil over her face. The woman looked familiar to the commander, but the veil that draped over her face made her almost unrecognizable.
Until she began to slowly unfurl it.
A feeling of anger instantly came down upon Mika, as she began to exhale furiously. Her eyes widened and sweat started to accumulate on her face.
"No… why did you show up…"
"Mika… Mika… MIKA!"
Suddenly, shooting up as fast as a rocket, Mika sat upright and began to hyperventilate.
"Mika, you alright? You need some medicine?"
The commander glanced to her right and saw Aki, looking rather concerned for her well-being. Clearing her throat, she answered in a soft tone, "I'm fine, Aki. But next time, let the wind wake me up."
"Yeah, like I'll ever do that," Aki replied.
"Now that you're awake though, could you please help us with breakfast?"
Mika simply nodded as Aki went back outside. The commander slowly reached out her arm and grabbed a blue and white hat that was barely hanging over the edge of the bed. As she gripped the soft felt, she put it on and stood up.
Looking around, she began to inspect the place she now called home.
A Mitsubishi Delica, one from the early 2000s.
Modified into a camper van, this was provided by the Japanese Government as both their mode of transportation and their home. It had a built-in tracker, just in case they ever thought about escaping the city, they could be hunted down with ease by the government.
The usual carpet floor was replaced with one of hard oak. What Mika was sleeping on wasn't just a bed, for if it was pushed up, it transformed into two more car seats. To the left of the bed/car seat was a cabinet with four compartments; this was their closet for clothes and other little things as well. To the right of that was a small kitchen counter that extended to the passenger seat out front. It housed more drawers and more cabinets. One of the drawers can be pulled out and become a makeshift table for two. The cabinets themselves were filled to the brim with tins of sausages, spaghetti, salmon, soup… any type of canned food that wasn't vegetables, all from, undeniably, the most respected and famous brand in history…
no name brand, in all of its black and yellow and bolded Helvetica font glory.
Towards the end of the counter was a large cabinet underneath. When you opened its door, it revealed a portable toilet that can slide in and out. Right above it was a ceiling vent to remove hot air and "certain smells" from inside the van.
Overall, the van was like a home away from home… without the complimentary sauna.
Before she went outside, Mika looked for a pair of slippers. After a bit of searching, the only ones she could find were ones styled after the famous Boko teddy bear.
To Mika, Boko was something she was always uninterested in. She never got the appeal, especially since there were better bears out there like Paddington, Kumamon, Corduroy…
Nonetheless, she slotted them on and headed out.
As she stepped from the parking lot's concrete and onto the grass, the salty ocean air tickled her nose and the sun's warmth soaked her skin, a very familiar feeling. The leaves of the oak trees rustled in the wind and the sound of waves crashing onto the beach were heard from a distance.
It was revealed after the trial that the four girls would be exiled to the Great White North, commonly known as…
CANADA.
More specifically, they were sent to the nation's Pacific coast. Never did the girls, especially Mika, expect western Canada to have beaches and sun. However, this subversion of expectations was a welcome addition to their exile.
Mika saw Aki slicing some bread and Mikko prepping a portable induction stove on a picnic table under an alder tree.
"Good morning," the commander greeted as she went up to the two girls. "The wind is great, is it not?"
"Sure, let's go with that," Aki replied with a rather sarcastic tone. "Anyway, please help me prepare the sandwiches."
Mika looked around for a bit and noticed something was off.
"By the way, where did Youko run off to?"
"Oh, her? She's down by the beach." Mikko pointed towards the general direction of the sniper.
Mika once again nodded and went off towards the horizon, much to the objection of Aki. As she exclaimed for her senpai to come back, she was stopped by Mikko, who simply put her hand on the blonde's shoulder.
"Just leave her be," the speed demon told her. "At least it's not like she's going to steal anything!"
Realizing that Mika won't listen to her, Aki gave up and sighed.
"Fine. However, Mika just concerns me, especially considering our not-so-great conditions right now. She might screw things up, you know?"
"…Yeah, I totally get that," Mikko replied. "But, she's only going to get Youko, that's all, I think?"
Meanwhile, a few meters away, Mika stood on a concrete wall and began to look towards the ocean, with the winds beginning to pick up. Almost like a waving flag, her hair fluttered westward as she began to hold down her hat firmly.
After scanning the area for Youko, she managed to find her, sitting on top of a washed-up cedar tree with a can of Pepsi in her hand. Removing her Boko slippers and the short grey socks she had been wearing, the commander walked onto the sand barefoot and approached the sniper.
"The White Witch on the beach," Mika politely greeted, much to the sniper's surprise. She then sat down beside her. "It's very interesting to see you here! Has the wind been treating you well?"
Not knowing what to say, Youko quietly nodded.
"Ah, I see," Mika answered. "But your leg? Is it doing alright, especially after a few nights ago?"
Youko looked down to inspect her leg. The bruise was still there and the contracting feeling persisted, but not as much as before. It was going to get better, but not for a while.
Not knowing what to say again, Youko simply shrugged in response and Mika began to chuckle.
"Silence can speak a thousand words. To some, it's a burden. That's what the wind told me. You don't see it as a burden, don't you?"
The sniper began to think about what her commander said. After a few seconds, she shook her head.
"As I thought," Mika said.
Suddenly, the silence broke.
Grumble, grumble, grumble.
Sheer embarrassment came down upon Youko as a stomach grumble was heard from her. Her face turned red as she looked away from Mika. The commander chuckled once again.
A few minutes later, the two heard a voice call from a distance. Turning around, they saw Aki waving to them.
"Mika, Youko! Food's ready!"
Today's breakfast consisted of a tuna salad sandwich on sprouted grain bread.
Spoiler alert: it wasn't enjoyable.
The sprouted grain bread was definitely not on par with white bread in terms of taste and texture. The tuna was from no name, which was questionable, to say the least. The mayo… also no name.
"It tastes a bit funny," Aki remarked. She continued to chew on her food with a skeptical look. "I don't know if it's the tuna or the mayo or both, but something just feels off about this…"
"Food is food nonetheless," Mika spoke up as she swallowed the last bite of her sandwich. "By the way, do you have seconds?"
"Sorry, Mika," Aki replied, continuing to munch on her sandwich. "We only had enough bread to make four sandwiches. I'll get some more when we go shopping."
As the loader swallowed, Mikko suddenly chimed into the conversation.
"Speaking of that… how's our money situation lookin'? It's been 7 days since we left and we were only given 250,000. How much do we have, Aki?"
"I haven't checked," Aki cleared her throat. "But, taking account for gas, food, waste disposal at the landfill… we are at-"
"3000."
Hearing Youko's voice (for once) made the BT-42 crew jump, so much so that Mikko fell back and choked on her food.
"Mika, help me out," Aki requested with a deadpan tone.
The two stood up and walked towards Mikko, who was rolling on the ground like a dog. After wrapping her arms around the speed demon's armpits, Mika lifted the red-haired girl off the ground and signalled towards Aki to initiate the plan.
(Disclaimer: Do not attempt to do the following. Your buddy will die if you do it. Trust me. I'm not responsible for any kind of accidents or deaths caused by the following scene.)
As if Mikko was a boxing dummy, Aki began to punch her chest, not holding back with every strike. A bit of food came out of her mouth, but it wasn't enough to get her to breathe normally. The loader continued to pummel her gullet until after a few more blows, the sandwich came flying out of Mikko.
Or rather, it was now a rolled-up ball of grub covered in saliva… a ball of grub that was HURTLING TOWARDS YOUKO AT SUPERSONIC SPEED-
Without hesitation, the sniper stood up and without even glancing, stopped the grub ball dead in its tracks with only her right hand.
'Eyes set on the target. Feet firmly planted. Horseshoe fastball grip. Right arm winding up for the kill… it's time to play ball.'
Reality left Youko as she began to imagine herself in the middle of Yokohama Stadium, under the sweltering sun and surrounded by a 35,000-strong audience. The cheers grew louder as the pressure mounted on her.
'This is it. The Olympic gold medal is on the line and it's all or nothing from here on out. Don't screw it up…'
Youko, closing her eyes and slowly exhaling, moved her body forwards. Ignoring the crowd, the heat, and everything around her...
She threw the ball.
A loud thud was heard soon after, but Youko couldn't tell if it was from the impact of the catcher's glove or the batter hitting the ball successfully. However, as soon as she opened her eyes, the announcer's voice boomed and exclaimed,
'STRIKE! TEAM JAPAN WIN!'
Almost immediately, the stadium erupted into celebration. The crowd chanted 'Japan for the win!' as the flags waved proudly from the bleachers. Youko relished in the crowd's cheers as she took off her cap and waved it to everyone.
Although, that feeling would soon leave her because she heard a familiar voice as she looked back around.
"Youko? You there? I mean, you did throw it in the trash successfully, but was it worth the celebration?"
It was Mika who spoke up and not only that, in the background, there was snickering from Aki and Mikko. Youko was utterly embarrassed and began covering her face with her hat.
'How can things get worse- ah shoot, my leg hurts again…'
Noon had finally dawned as the temperature grew warmer and the sun moved due south. As the gang packed up, Aki wondered about something.
"Hey, where are we heading now?" she asked as she looked over Mikko.
The speed demon cleared her throat and spoke up.
"Well, we have two different options: a recreational centre by the highway that's like 5 minutes away and a community centre that's 20 minutes from here."
"The one five minutes away obviously," Aki answered, though she was confused on why Mikko would want to go to a community centre a good while away, especially since they were conserving fuel.
The red-haired girl replied, "Well, about that one… the one five minutes away probably doesn't offer free showers. The one 20 minutes from here offers free showers, but it's in a shady part of town apparently."
"Oh, then…"
As the two continued to discuss, Mika suddenly chimed into their conversation and suggested something to the two girls.
"Why not a public pool? Those offer what you're looking for, right?"
Upon hearing Mika's suggestion, Mikko slowly looked down to the ground with a red face. "Yeah, about that... I don't like chlorine. It really ruins my sense of smell."
Mika strummed a note and replied, "Ah, fair enough…"
The girls sat down and began to discuss where to wash up. Just then, Youko came into the van and put a piece of paper down. It had a lot of English on it, which disgusted Mikko.
"…I don't wanna read that," Mikko said as she glanced at the paper. She then handed the paper to Aki, who luckily could read the foreign language very well.
"Well, it looks like our shower problem is solved," Aki announced to the girls. The rest were all wondering what she meant by this.
"The paper says that the field house east from here is doing a program for those without access to showers! That means we can shower and stay here-"
The crew interrupted Aki by starting to cheer at this revelation. However, as they high-fived each other, the blonde loudly cleared her throat.
"…As I was saying," she continued. "We can shower and stay here BUT there's a catch: it starts at 2:30 and ends at 4:00. It's only noon, so that leaves us with a good amount of time to resupply."
As Aki finished reading, she folded the flyer up and put it in her pocket. She looked up one more time to the girls and asked, "So, what's the plan?"
Deep in thought, the four wondered what to do to pass two hours.
"Let's play a game," Mikko suggested, to which everyone nodded.
"But which one?" asked Aki. "We should go through everything we have and figure it out ourselves."
After a few minutes, they managed to find a couple of games to play by doing some cabinet digging. Putting all of them on a floor, they began to single some out.
Blackjack was off the table because Mika steals too many cards, Monopoly was a no-go because Mika steals too many bills, UNO…
"I don't like UNO," Youko affirmed. "It's based on luck and not skill, which is not my cup of tea."
"But that's all the games we have," Aki exclaimed. "If we can't choose, then we can't play anything!"
Mika, who just stayed quiet and strummed on her kantele, finally spoke up, proposing the idea of going shopping.
"I think there's a shopping centre nearby. Why don't we check it out?"
Aki instantly rejected her idea. "No, we can't go shopping. As per Youko's words, we only have 28."
Mika tilted her head, for she didn't know how to convert Canadian Dollars into Japanese Yen.
"That's around 3000," Aki replied. "You're supposed to know this! We've been here for a week already! But anyway, we are not going shopping."
A few minutes later, however…
"I can't believe I got coaxed into going shopping. I feel ashamed…" Aki thought as she walked through a set of glass doors.
The four girls were now inside a pristine and white shopping centre by the water. As they stepped into the atrium, they immediately noticed how open and spacious it was, with a lot of natural light flooding in from the gigantic glass roof.
"North American malls are already exceeding my expectations," Mikko exclaimed. She then yelled a hearty YES to the ceiling, much to the confusion of the other shoppers.
"Mikko, CHILL," Aki whispered furiously to her friend, as she began to elbow the side of the speed demon's stomach somewhat aggressively.
Going up the escalators and resisting the alluring temptations of the food court, they managed to find a supermarket, but it wasn't just any old supermarket.
Mikko suddenly exclaimed, "An Asian supermarket?! A supermarket for Asians?! That's a thing?!"
"Back home, there are Indian, Filipino, and Chinese markets. This isn't too far-fetched," Mika remarked.
Mikko turned towards Aki and whispered, "This implies that there are white people markets!"
The blonde then turned around to the red-haired girl, blank face and all. Mikko immediately zipped her mouth shut and looked away from Aki.
Clearing her throat, Aki answered, "Mikko, white people markets are just regular supermarkets. This isn't weird at all."
Walking into the small yet dense market, the four decided to go their separate ways and take a look at the numerous yet diverse aisles. Mikko and Youko set their sights on the bakery, which was filled with fresh bread and pastries. The golden sheen on all of the baked goods coaxed the speed demon to press her face on the glass protecting it.
"Pourtegese egg tarts, wiener buns, milk buns…" Mikko began to drool at the sight of these delicious pastries. "LET'S BUY ALL OF THEM!"
Youko then pointed at the price.
"Yeah, no," Mikko grumbled as she removed her face from the glass and walked away from the bakery. Youko followed suit.
Meanwhile, Aki and Mika were checking out the produce section. A lot of fresh veggies were on display, from bright red Roma tomatoes to the bok choy to the long eggplants. Aki's eyes immediately focused on a huge sign painted on one of the columns.
Aki immediately lit up and exclaimed, "100 grams of bananas for 80 cents?! Now THAT'S a steal!"
Just as she said this, she suddenly heard a bit of chuckling from Mika.
"I thought you were so adamant about shopping considering our budget," Mika grinned to her friend.
"It's- it's food and it's cheap," Aki replied, stuttering after every word. "Besides, we probably need to buy groceries as I said earlier, right?"
"With only 28?"
"…Yeah, you got me there."
Meanwhile, just a distance away from the produce
section, Mikko and Youko were in aisle 7. However, this aisle was special, for it has an alternate nickname:
Japanese Snack Time.
The explosion of colours and the wealth of nostalgic favourites on the shelves allured the two as they entered, and they soon were overwhelmed.
"AW, HELL YEAH," Mikko exclaimed as she pumped her fist in the air. "THIS IS WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!"
Youko stayed distant from the overly bombastic Mikko, but she was feeling the same, especially when she saw a familiar product on the shelf in front of her.
'Meiji Matcha Biscuits!'
Youko then looked up to see the price tag and-
'Yeah, no. Maybe another time.'
As she was about to put it back on the shelf, Mika made a surprise appearance and took the box from her hands.
"What are you doing with that?" The sniper asked, startled by the sudden gesture.
"Keep this between you and me," Mika replied as she snuck the box of biscuits inside her sweater. "We wouldn't want Aki to find out about this-"
Just then, a male employee came up to them with a rather suspicious face. Youko immediately faced away from him.
"Excuse me," the employee spoke up to the two. "You need to pay for that. Please go to the cashier if you want it, we don't want shoplifters here."
That was when Mika realized something: she couldn't speak English to strangers pretty well, unlike Aki. She froze and went into a trance to think of what to say.
"No good," Mika replied a few seconds later in her usual calm tone. Youko immediately began to inch away from this situation ever so slowly as Mika continued to "talk" to the employee.
"Huh," he replied. He was quite confused with the commander's response. "What was that? Anyways, if you can't comply, I'll have to inform management."
As Mika tried to figure out what to say next, Aki showed up and grabbed the box out of her hands in the nick of time. She promptly threw it back to Youko.
"I am sorry," Aki bowed to the employee. "Will not happen again, yes?"
The employee simply nodded and walked away. Aki breathed a sigh of relief and turned back to Mika, furious.
"What the hell was that," Aki said to her senpai. "Please, stop attempting to steal stuff! It's unhealthy!"
"I wasn't attempting to steal it," Mika countered. "The winds told me these cookies wanted to be eaten, and they want that to happen now-"
Aki had enough of the commander's crap and promptly exclaimed, "Mika, please!"
Everyone in the vicinity was startled by the yell and looked towards the blonde with a confused look. Slightly embarrassed, she immediately grabbed Mika's arm. As she did, she told the sniper to put the box back on the shelf.
Aki then turned back to Mika. "As for you, help me get some bread and bananas and don't steal anything in my sight!"
As they left, Youko put the box back on the shelf and looked over at Mikko, who completely ignored the events that unfolded and were still in pure nirvana.
'I'm surprised she didn't even talk during that whole thing…' Youko thought to herself as she gestured to Mikko to follow her.
The red-haired girl complied and the two left the aisle, unfortunately with no snacks on hand.
By the time the four girls got back to their van, the showers down at the field house were now open for use. Luckily, when they got there after grabbing towels and other amenities, there was no line-up. Aki and Mikko decided to go inside first while Youko and Mika waited outside.
For a public place, it was surprisingly sanitary and well-maintained. The stone-tiled floor didn't seem to have any cracks in them, no sort of rust was present on the steel showers, no mould on the orange tiles on the walls, nothing that made them puke.
The showers themselves were nothing special. It was just your regular old showers you'd see in any locker room. There were two showers, one for each of them and separated by a board.
The two girls undressed, put their clothes to the side, and took one of the showers. As Mikko pressed the button, a torrent of cold water hit her body.
"AH SHIT," she yelled as she felt the coldness trickle down her body.
"Mikko, don't yell too loudly," Aki said to her friend with a blank face. However, as she pushed the button, cold water struck her. "AH COME ON," she yelled out.
After a few seconds, the cold was no more and the water reached a perfectly suitable temperature for a relaxing shower. As Aki felt the warm water ran down her body, she peered over to Mikko and spoke up.
"It's great to just relax for a while. I can't believe it's nearly been a week since we last had a shower! It's almost crazy just thinking about it…"
Mikko peered past the board and looked over at the blonde.
"Yeah, I know," she said as she scrubbed her head with shampoo. "I find it crazy how we haven't considered finding a place to shower. But, lo and behold, here we are! Mika would say the wind brought us here and I would agree with her for once!"
"I mean, I would too…"
All of a sudden, Aki turned away from Mikko and her smiling face began to fade away.
"Hey, where's the smile?" the speed demon asked as she took notice of her friend's sudden change in mood.
Aki did not answer and continued to stare into the void that was the stainless steel shower in front of her.
"Is there something wrong?" Mikko continued to ask. She then walked on over to her friend's shower, all drenched and soapy, and tapped her finger on her friend's shoulder. "Hello? Earth to Aki? Where have you gone?"
Aki sighed heavily and replied, "What if Mika does it again?"
Mikko tilted her head. "What? What do you mean about Mika doing it again?"
The blonde then turned around to face the red-haired girl. "…Listen, Mikko. Keep this a secret, but I don't trust Mika anymore."
"Heavy words there, buddy."
"Listen, it's not like I hate her, but she just dared to attempt something like that again! We were brought here because we robbed people! And why? Just so we could prove a point? For the people closest to us? So, why in the hell would she rob again even though that is what brought us here?! I just don't get it! Why JUST WHY!"
Silence permeated the washroom as she yelled the last of her rant. The water continued to splash on their skin and the floor. It wasn't the good kind of silence, however.
Mikko had sensed the sullen look on Aki's face and realized there was only one thing she could do. She went up to Aki and wrapped her arms around her, tightly hugging her.
The blonde, overwhelmed with distraught, embraced Mikko and began to sob quietly, with her tears blending in with the warm water trickling from the shower.
"Only time will tell," Mikko said to Aki. "Just chill out for a second, okay?"
Meanwhile, Mika was outside the door when she heard her friend's rant. As she removed her ear from the door, she just stared at the oak with a blank expression.
Youko was carving a piece of wood with a hunting knife she had on hand as a way to entertain herself. When she heard Aki's breaking voice through the wall, she looked up and faced Mika.
"So, why did we do it exactly," Youko asked as she continued to carve away at the wood.
"We stole from the ones who robbed us, that's why we did it," Mika replied with a stern voice. "We aren't robbers. We simply took action for our friends and, most importantly, our school."
Youko looked away at Mika and asked, "Do you regret everything that went down that night?"
"No, I do not," the commander did not hesitate to answer that question and did so in a prompt manner, causing Youko to shrug her shoulders and continue her carving.
As Mikko opened the door, Aki swiftly walked out.
No words, not even a glance. She just walked away as if everyone there were just non-existent.
"Yeah… don't talk to Aki," Mikko informed the two. She then glanced over to Mika with worried eyes. "Except you. You probably- no, DEFINITELY need to fix some stuff with her." The speed demon then hastily left them and headed towards Aki's direction.
Mika looked onwards with no expression on her face. However, in her mind, she had decided on something.
"…I'll sort things out tomorrow."
And then, after an extremely quiet dinner, nightfall happened.
Mikko, Aki, and Youko were setting up the bed inside their van, as they were now ready to hit the hay and call it a day. Although as they threw the pillows onto the car seat-turned-bed, there was a noticeable absence of a certain commander.
"Where's Mika? They're just letters! What's taking her so long?!" Aki asked furiously.
"Dunno," Mikko replied as she grabbed a blanket from one of the cabinets. "Also, remember that she left 5 minutes before the post office closes, so she could probably be… persuading them? I don't know?"
Just then, the van door slid open.
"The wind gifted me with these letters from our friends. Shall we read them now?" Mika announced. She had returned successfully from her little trip, holding a bunch of envelopes.
"Finally, you showed up," Aki scoffed and continued to set the bed up.
Mika sighed as she gave the letters to Mikko.
"Take care of these while I sort some things out. But, don't open those letters without me!"
"Uh, I wasn't going to open them tonight," Mikko replied. "I just need to catch some z's right now. I'll just leave them by the side."
Mika nodded and grabbed a Coleman camping lantern from the shelf.
"Where do you think you're going," Aki asked with suspicion. Mika hesitated for a second, causing the blonde to squint her eyes.
"Uhm," the commander began to think hard on what to say. After a few seconds, a lightbulb went off in her mind. "I'm going to the washroom! Yes, th-that's right! Washroom time with me, myself, and I!"
At first, Aki doubted her senpai's response, but she decided to let it slide for once.
"Fine, the washroom is okay. Don't stray too far and don't pull any tricks, got that?"
Mika sighed and headed out towards the direction of the washroom, sliding the door behind her shut. After walking a few steps away from the van, she looked around and immediately bolted to the beach.
The beach at night had a wholly different vibe from when it was in daylight. It was much eerier as it was so dark that you could barely see the waves crashing, yet you could still hear it. The only sources of light were the moon itself and the colourful brightly-lit skyline to the west; the latter being not a great source of illumination as it was a bit too distant from the beach.
Another source of light would join the party, that being Mika's handheld lantern. As she set it down on a washed-up log, she pulled out an envelope that she had been hiding in her pocket. It was white and plain but had a unique stamp on it.
'Boko…' Mika thought as she opened the envelope and sat down on the log.
She then read the piece of paper that was included inside.
"Hello, Mika…."
As she continued to read, she began to shiver after every word she read. Her eyes began to water and, as Mika read the closing statements, a tear ran down her face and onto the writer's name on the paper, covering it up.
Soon enough, that single tear became a flowing stream of sadness as the commander gripped the paper tightly and began to cry uncontrollably, something she hadn't done in for what seemed like years.
Letting it all out, she loudly cried, 'I'm such a horrible sister!'
Meanwhile, back at the van, Aki was still anxiously waiting for Mika's return. Twiddling her fingers, she became increasingly worried.
"Aki, chill," Mikko said as she placed her hand on Aki, which startled her. "Just go to sleep. She'll come back later, no worries!"
Patting her friend on the back, Mikko continued to assure Aki that everything will be okay and requested for her to just go to bed.
"Fine," Aki answered, accepting the request hesitantly. "I'll trust you, but I'm going outside anyway, just in case."
"Alright then," Mikko replied as she wrapped a blanket around herself. "But don't dawdle. We don't want you to get lost in the dark."
"I'm already lost in the dark."
"Oooh, self-burn!"
Aki shook her head and left with a flashlight in her hand. Walking around the vicinity of the van, she began to shine a light towards a path that led to the field just a distance away. There was nothing.
Aki then turned around and walked towards the beach, hoping to find some sort of semblance of Mika. Stepping onto the grass, she began walking around quietly, shining her flashlight anytime she heard a noise.
"Where could you be," Aki whispered to herself as she continued to walk towards the beach.
That's when she heard something off. From what she can deduce, it wasn't the sound of an animal nor the wind. It sounded like…
Someone was crying.
With a growing sense of curiosity, Aki continued to walk forwards, trying her best to not scare off whoever was making this noise. Finally, when she got to the beach, she immediately saw something she would never expect to see in her lifetime.
Aki saw her commander in shambles, in a state not expected from her, and with an emotion she never expected her to express so blatantly on a dark beach under the bright lights of the moon, a lantern, and a skyline in the distance. And, as the blonde hid behind a tree, she saw that her commander was…
Sobbing.
The looming silence was drowned out by the continued weeping from Mika. Aki didn't know what to do or how to react to this. She wondered if she should approach Mika and comfort her or give her something to drink to calm her.
'There has to be a way to help her…' she thought, only coming up with blank results. But soon enough, she decided to go back to the van. With a heavy heart, she walked back and as she looked at the beach once more, she saw Mika continuing to burst into tears; seemingly, her shaking grew more erratic.
Aki reached the van and slid the door shut. Frozen in place, she attempted to process seeing her commander in a state of pure unfiltered sadness.
'There's a lot more I don't know about you, is there? Does that mean I can't not trust you… No, that can't be the case. I don't trust you. Yet, why did I feel sad for you? I don't even know why you're sad! God, why are you so hard to figure out, Mika!'
All of a sudden, Mikko sat upright and looked around, noticing Aki after a few seconds.
"Hey, Aki," she greeted with a groggy voice."Wait, why isn't Mika around?"
Taking a huge breath, Aki instantly responded with a calm voice, "Mika… she told me she's going to stay outside for a while longer. She doesn't feel like sleeping right now…"
"Huh? Really?"
"Yeah, no worries Mikko. She'll be back… I hope."
-
-
-
Hi, Mika.
I don't know how to start this but… I know Mother keeps insisting on how you and your friends deserve the fate you got, and I don't personally agree, but does that mean I forgive you for leaving me once again that night?
No, I don't.
I'm sorry, I just can't.
Why do you always avoid me?! I know Mother had to disown you, but couldn't you at least secretly mail me like what I am doing at this moment or even give me a call? Every day, I hoped that you would call me or send something back from Jatkosota as a way to tell me that you're still there. But no, you just had to stay silent. And what about during that Ooarai match? You joined them and for once, I actually had hope. I even gave those rations to you! And what do I get in the end? Well, you left without even saying thanks and got stuck on an island for 4 weeks! So much for being a good sister! We could've talked! We could've greeted each other! And now, you're over on the other side of the Pacific with no way home. Why couldn't you have just not pulled off that little heist of yours… why couldn't you just let things slide…
WHY COULDN'T YOU JUST NOT BE YOURSELF FOR ONCE?!
Look, I'm sorry if all that came out too harsh. I just felt frustrated this past week over this. Yet, even after all of this… I do… still love you.
Actually, scratch that. I don't even know at this point.
On a… happier side note, I decided to attach 35,000 to this letter (no worries, it's not Mother's money.) It's not much, but it's the best I can scrape up. Vancouver is pretty expensive after all.
In the likely chance you'll actually read this letter and not just take the money, please reply back to me. I just want to know if you are still there and…
If you still care about me.
Please, big sister. Just… reply back.
Sincerely, Alice.