May 24, 2019

Ruby, Yoshiko, and Hanamaru hung out together at the Kunikida family temple after school. Due to some prior commitments, Yoshiko also had to bring her younger brother Yousuke with them. He was going to turn 14 in early June, and was now a third year in middle school. Yoshiko had introduced him to Aqours along with the rest of her family a while back, and he had gotten along well with Hanamaru and Ruby.

"Zuramaru," Yoshiko called out as she cleaned a small statue in a hallway and held an empty spray bottle. "I ran out of cleaning spray."

"I'm on it," she quickly replied as she turned to Yousuke. "Yousuke-kun, get me the purple stuff in the cabinet underneath the sink, zura."

"Got it," he replied as he walked over to the kitchen area. As he rummaged through the sink cabinet, he found what he was looking for. He then called out, "I found it, Kunikida-san!"

He then ran back out and handed the bottle to Hanamaru. She told him, "Thank you, Yousuke-kun." She then smiled, making the boy blush.

Later, Yousuke relaxed in the temple's small onsen by himself. As he adjusted himself in the water, he said to himself, "Ahhh, this feels nice..."

Suddenly, he saw a shape open the door and appear in the mist. Thinking maybe it was Hanamaru's father, he waved the visitor on.

"C'mon in, Mr. Kunikida! The water's nice an-" He then stopped himself in horror when he realized that it was actually three shapes in the mist, and none of them were her father. "Oh shit..."

Hanamaru's voice then called out, "Yousuke-kun?! Is that..." As she, Ruby, and Yoshiko appeared from the mist, Ruby and Yousuke screamed in fright. Ruby also accidentally dropped her towel, exposing herself before she quickly picked it up and put it back on.

Hanamaru laughed hysterically, nonchalantly dropping her towel and going in to the water, shocking the other 3. Yoshiko called out to her brother, "You pervert! What... Why?!"

"C'mon," Hanamaru replied. "It's not his fault. I forgot to tell him about the hour rotation thing we do here, zura. Besides, the three of us are almost adults here, Yoshiko-chan, and I'm pretty sure you and your brother have seen each other naked before."

Yousuke said to them, immensely guilty, "I am so sorry! I didn't mean any of this!"

"It's fine," Hanamaru replied as she walked over to him. "Listen, it's just the 4 of us here, zura. Nobody's gonna be doing anything bad, okay?" She then waves over Yoshiko and Ruby. "C'mon in!"

Ruby stammered out as she shivered in fright, "I... I can't get married... He saw me naked..."

"What the hell?" Hanamaru was confused immensely by Ruby. "Can't get married? Ruby-chan, this has nothing to do with that kind of stuff, zura! You're fine!"

Yoshiko finally decided to go in. "I guess I'll go in." She then shot a death glare at her younger brother. "Don't do anything stupid, okay, Yousuke-kun? This doesn't mean anything."

"I know, I know," he replied as Ruby reluctantly got in. "Again, I'm sorry for the mix up."

"It's fine, zura." the brunette replied. "So, Ruby-chan, any word back from the fire department?"

"Oh yeah," Ruby replied. "I got a call saying they had checked it over. Chika-chan turned one in too."

"Chika?!" Both Yoshiko and Hanamaru were surprised that Chika wanted to join. Hanamaru replied, "I never thought of her as the type to do that kind of stuff, zura. Why now, and why so suddenly?"

"She wants to work together with You-chan and Kanan-chan," the still somewhat afraid redhead replied. "I can't blame her."

Hanamaru then noticed that Yousuke was still quiet and turned away. "Hey, c'mon. Don't hide."

"It's just...," he replied. "It's so weird." He still covered himself and was blushing in embarrassment.

"Why don't we break the ice, zura?" She then laughed. "So, Yousuke-kun, how are you enjoying your last year of middle school so far?"

"It's good," he replied quietly. "So far, it's easier than I thought it would be, I guess. The teachers are all nice, and my class isn't awful like last year."

Ruby asked him, "How bad could it be?"

"You don't wanna know," Yoshiko quickly replied as she shook her head. "From the stories he's told me, you really don't wanna know."


May 25, 2019

At 3 in the morning, You was awoken by the loud beeping of her pager. As she quickly shuffled out of bed, her pager rang again as the firehouse siren kicked on. She quickly grabbed her phone, her pager, and her keys to get into the firehouse before slipping on her sneakers and running out the bedroom door. On the street, she quickly ran down the sidewalk as the siren continued to roar. "Numazu City Fire Alarm for Station 151, Station 152, Station 156, and the District 15 Fire Chief, respond to a possible structure fire at [ADDRESS REMOVED]. Caller is a passerby reporting heavy smoke from the first floor, says nobody is home at this time. Repeating, Numazu City Fire Alarm for Station 151, Station 152, Station 156, and the District 15 Fire Chief, respond to a possible structure fire at [ADDRESS REMOVED]. Caller is a passerby reporting heavy smoke from the first floor, says nobody is home at this time. Time is 0301 hours, Dispatcher 36."

Within 3 minutes of the call, she arrived at the firehouse as Engine 151 started up. She also saw Kanan run into the firehouse. As they quickly put their gear on, they heard a police car speed past the fire station on a perpendicular road, followed by the District 15 Fire Chief. After they finished, they both ran to Pumper 151 and jumped in the back with another volunteer as an older auxiliary volunteer took the driver's seat and a paid lieutenant took the front seat. After they, minus the driver, grabbed their air packs and put them on outside, they quickly stepped back on. Then, at the 4 and a half minute mark, the engine sped out of the fire station.

The paid lieutenant radioed, "Pumper 151 is out with 5, 4 interior." After he did, he turned to the back and said, "Alright, based on the initial dispatch, I think it's a working fire, so get your masks on and get ready."

Kanan quickly took her helmet off to put her mask on as You said to her, "Looks like we'll take the first line in."

The other volunteer with them said to them, "I'll grab the second line with the lieutenant."

At the 7 minute mark, Pumper 151 pulled up to flames coming from the first floor of a small house. You and Kanan quickly jumped off the truck and grabbed two rolls of hose from the engine before rolling them out to the front steps of the house. As You turned her air pack on, Kanan quickly connected one end of her hose to the pump panel before turning her air pack on and putting her gloves on. "You-chan!" She then grabbed a nozzle and threw it to You, who then connected it to one end of her hose before putting her gloves on. Then, Kanan connected both lengths of hose together and ran up to You as they both hooked their masks into their packs and proceeded to the fire. As they did all that, the paid lieutenant and the other volunteer had hit the hydrant and had begun to lay out the second line.

You radioed, "Pumper 151 Interior to Operator Fujima, charge the first line!" As their hose filled with water, Kanan stepped in front of You with a sledgehammer and a crowbar. She then whacked the door several times with the sledgehammer before forcing it open with a crowbar. As she did, she gave a hand signal to You to open up on the nozzle and knock the fire down. As she did and advanced inside, Kanan dropped the off at the front and took the sledgehammer in with her behind You.

Kanan said to her as they crawled on their knees through the thick grey smoke, "Hit the ceiling! Hit the ceiling!" As You knocked the fire down above and in front of her, the smoke became thicker in response, completely obscuring their vision.

As they continued to crawl through what seemed to be a front living room, You continued to hit the fire hard. As they came up on a door to the kitchen, You told Kanan, "Get that door!"

As Kanan hit the door, the other two firefighters entered the building behind them. After about 6 smacks of the sledgehammer, Kanan pushed up against the door and forced it open. "The seat of the fire is in there!"

You then moved in as she opened up with the nozzle, knocking down the fire. As she did, the paid lieutenant radioed to incident command, "Interior to Command, we got the seat of the fire knocked down at this time. We'll keep pushing in and checking for extensions."


At 5:40 in the morning, Pumper 151 returned to the station. As Kanan and You got off the engine, the bluenette patted You on the back, telling her, "Good job with that initial attack."

"Thanks," You replied. As they walked to their lockers and began to take their gear off, she said to her, "Heard anything back from the city on Ruby-chan or Chika-chan's applications?"

"Not as of yet," she replied. "Ruby-chan should be approved soon, since her parents are okay with it." She then turned to Toshiki, who was next to her. "Hey, handsome. How's your morning?"

"I'm pretty tired," he replied as he yawned. "But other than that, I'm good." He then handed Kanan and You bottles of water. "Drink up. You two deserve it after that interior attack."