Friday, October 16th, 2020
"You don't love her? But… but she confessed to you!" Taiho yelled, flabbergasted. Her aircraft dissolved in midair at the revelation.
"I never loved her." Naka stared at the ground in shame, glancing back at his injured comrade. "We've been best friends for a long time, but never more than that." He turned to Emily and helped her to her feet. "No offense, Emily, but I never really thought too much about love until a few weeks ago. Sure, we told each other stories all the time and shared a lot of jokes, but besides that we never really had too much in common." Emily was crushed by this news, but she tried not to show it, however, as the pain from the blast kept her more occupied. Naka helped shift his arm to support Emily's weight, and he waved over to some paramedics that were doing a sweep of the Political Science building.
"Taiho, Emily, I promise I will explain everything at the hospital. Trust me." Naka pleaded with the two.
Taiho sighed in admission, taking a few deep breaths to calm herself. "Okay, Shikikan. If she means that much to you… I guess I'll trust you. But do try your best to remember your priorities." She warned before disappearing into a spiral of orange light as an ambulance rolled up to the two students. Two paramedics jumped out, one rushing Emily inside the vehicle while the other one questioned Naka.
"What happened here? Are you hurt as well?" The paramedic asked.
"No, just my friend here." He pointed over to the treeline next to the smoking building in the distance. "She was blown back by an explosion there, and I helped her over here to get away from the smoke." He lied. Thankfully for Naka, the ambulance's path had mostly rolled over the bullet holes in the grass, covering them from too much suspicion. After a few more questions, Naka rushed around and called out to Emily, who was now restrained in a gurney in the back of the vehicle.
"I'll meet you at the hospital as soon as I can! Stay strong!" He yelled above various sirens. The paramedic closed the back door and Emily watched as the vehicle rumbled away from her old friend. Many thoughts were racing through her mind, but for now all she could do was rest her eyes and fight off the pain.
…
"... no concrete motive or cause has been confirmed as of yet, but early reports suggest that faulty wiring in a janitor's closet would be a more likely cause of the blaze that engulfed the lobby of Northeast Florida University's political science building this afternoon. Luckily, no one was killed in the fire, but 3 cases of injury have been reported and are currently held in the East Regional Medical Center." A headline reporter read from the local news station. In the background, helicopter footage of the fire was inserted behind the reporter. "This is the second incident at the school this week, following a violent fight yesterday that caused damage to the University's Student Union building. More developments on the story at 10." Emily reached for the remote, muting the small TV in the corner. She gazed out the window of her hospital room, talking in the warm glow of sunset. She leaned back in her angled hospital bed and groaned.
I never asked for any of this. Was her only thought. The doorknob to her room turned as a nurse entered, picking up the now empty med tray. "There's a visitor here to see you." She told Emily. "Would you like me to bring him in?" She nodded, and the nurse went back into the hall. The door opened once again as Naka entered the room. "You have an hour." The nurse warned before closing the door on the two students.
"I am so fucking sorry." Naka admitted immediately.
"Am I safe with you in this room?" Emily said sternly.
"Yes. I promise I'll be the negotiator here."
"Negotiator? You really don't have control of your stand, do you?"
There was a flash of orange light as Taiho appeared by Naka's side once again. Emily flinched in her bed and prepared for the worst, but her eyes opened tentatively again as she saw the two of them staring back at her. Naka bit his lip and avoided her eyes while Taiho cocked her head in confusion.
"Why did you call me a 'stand'?" The aircraft carrier asked, her hand-fan-like rigging retracted to save space in the hospital room.
"My crossbow and medi-gun were my stand. They represent your 'fighting spirit' or some sheisse. I don't fully understand it either." Emily groaned. "Why did I even allow you two here in the first place?"
"Hey, be grateful I didn't tear you-" Naka raised a finger to shush Taiho.
"Let me set some things straight." Naka said sternly. "A few weeks ago, after I was stabbed, the metal necklace I wore began to glow."
"What did the man stab you with?" Emily intejected.
"I didn't get a good look at it, or my attacker. I was next to a street lamp that night, but it was broken. He was just wearing a hood." He reacted.
"That was likely an arrowhead you were stabbed with. My friends got their stands that way." She suggested.
"There are more of you?" Naka asked.
"Look, we'll get back to that. What were you saying before?"
"Oh, right." Naka recalled. He was about to speak again when Taiho interrupted him.
"Now, after that was when I appeared for my poor Shikikan-sama." She gloated, raising her chin.
"Shikikan?" Emily raised an eyebrow.
"It means 'commander.'" Naka added with mixed enthusiasm.
"I nursed my dear Naka back into health, and got to learn ~all about him." Taiho continued, her voice increasing in pitch in concurrence with some more provocative affection to Naka. Emily rolled her eyes. "We tested my powers together, and found out that no one... well, almost no one else could see me. That was fine with me of course, since I could dedicate more time to Naka instead of explaining myself."
"She got mad at me if I tried to text other people, even for schoolwork." Naka added.
"Okay, maybe I went a tad overboard on that, but all I wanted was to not have you distracted." Taiho backpedaled.
"I still need to get good grades and have a social life, Taiho." He challenged.
"So, are you two… a thing?" Emily asked, raising an eyebrow while weakly pointing her finger back and forth between the two.
Without hesitation, Naka nodded, much to the delight of the black-haired aircraft carrier next to him. "I know it seems strange, but I do love her."
Emily's mind nearly short circuited. "But… but why? Naka, this girl is insane! ... No offense." She offered, despite Taiho's glare. "She flashed me for fun and then tried to kill me, only because I said I liked you. Is that not raising any red flags for you?"
Naka exhaled deeply and nodded slowly. "Yea, I'll admit that Taiho can be… clingy at times, but she really does care."
"And I don't?" Emily adjusted her injured leg, causing the bed to creak.
"I never said I didn't, but you branched out over the years. We began to have less and less in common as we grew. You'd always want to talk about biology and medicine, and I'd rant about history or finance." Naka admitted. "I still enjoyed the company, but I always felt like we wouldn't be too much more than friends."
Emily just stared at him. "I was one of your only friends, Naka. I always noticed you seemed too closed off, and I thought you were still nice enough to give you a chance."
"Truth is, Emily, I never really wanted romance that much. I just found ways to enjoy what interactions I had online, and never sought a relationship."
"That's kinda sad." Emily scoffed at him. "Then why'd you fall for the boat?"
Taiho forced herself to ignore that comment by taking a deep breath. "Well, it seems I wore down his defenses." She placed her finger on his chest and dragged it down seductively. "All walls fall with enough time, even ones around the heart." Naka looked embarrassed, but some gut feeling told Emily that he was enjoying it. She ignored it.
"So a few weeks with an aircraft carrier meant more than all the years we were friends?" She accused, more annoyed at him than anything.
"Well, she is my 'stand' as you call it." Naka put his arm around Taiho's shoulder, avoiding the folded flight deck fan amalgamation on her back to rest it on her intricately designed kimono. "I can't avoid her if I tried. Plus, we share some interests. For one, she wants me to help acquaint her with modern technology like computers and games. Moreover, she's literally a World War II era aircraft carrier, reading up about that stuff is my main hobby. She actually has the memories of the ship from the war. Every single sailor's story, her sea trials, and everything. Even her own loss."
Emily tried not to look impressed, yet Taiho interrupted her anyway. "Everything? Everything except combat." She drooped her head in frustration. "I swear, if I ever see that sneaky bitch Albacore again, I'll…I'll…" Naka rushed to comfort her as a few tears began to flow down her face.
"It's all in the past, Taiho. The war is over. You're here now, and that's all that matters." He whispered in her ear, embarrassed that Emily had to watch the display of affection. He turned to Emily.
"Another reason is that Taiho has her flaws. I wanted to fix them, and in doing so I formed a bond I didn't expect to, even if she has a long way to go. She may be a borderline psychopath, but she's my psychopath, damnit."
"Well if you can restrain your guard dog enough to not attack me, that'd be nice. Just keep your carrier on a leash." Emily scolded.
Taiho wiped some tears from her eyes, still sobbing quietly. "Shikikan-sama, if you wish for me to wear a leash, I can."
Naka was taken aback. "Taiho, she didn't mean it literally. Although, I would appreciate it if you didn't forcefully carry me over your shoulder and hogtie me mid-combat."
Emily smirked at that statement. "Okay, Mr. Grey. Save it for the bedroom." Naka froze as she realized what she said, and felt some shame only he could feel.
Taiho nodded and fell into his arms. "I'll always be there for you, so there's no need to attack people that aren't threatening us." He pointed to the television screen, still showing footage of the firefighters and smoke, and she followed his gaze. "This all could've been avoided. Can you try to restrain yourself for me?" She saw the ticker at the bottom of the screen with its reports on the wounded. She stared at the smoke, and something flashed in Taiho's eyes, an echo to another time. She flinched and clenched her eyes shut.
"I promise." Taiho cried in his arms, hugging him tightly.
This display of comradery was almost touching to Emily. Almost. "If you two are done, how am I going to pay for these hospital fees?" She asked.
Naka looked up from nursing his carrier and bit his lip in thought. "Wait, wasn't your dad rich? Can't he help?"
"You don't remember what I told you about him?" Emily sounded hurt.
"Oh shit." Naka said unceremoniously, remembering her father's abandonment of her. "Sorry again. In that case, my guess is that the school will pay for it, if they rule it was an accident. It seems these stands are invisible to those who don't have one." He backtracked.
"What if they find something weird at the crime scene?" Emily countered, yet again adjusting her legs. Naka waited for the creaking bed to quiet before responding.
"We'll see what happens, but I'm not sure to be honest." He added, as he broke his embrace with Taiho. Emily once again looked up at the TV to see that someone had submitted the recorded phone footage of the two stand users' argument in the lobby, and her eyes widened in dread.
"Oh, this isn't good. Mr. Sandman's going to have my ass." She nearly gasped.
"Sandman? You mean the Metallica song?" Naka asked.
"More the Chordettes one" Emily gulped in reply.