July 1, 2019

"The official dates for the boot camp are July 22 through August 7," Kanan told Chika and Ruby as she showed them the schedule. "You need to be at every class to pass. This isn't going to interfere, right?"

"Not at all," Ruby assured her. "I'll be fine in that regard."

"Same here," Chika replied.

"Now, Ruby-chan," Kanan explained to her. "Even though you'll take this class, you still won't be allowed to go interior until you graduate high school. However, you will have no restrictions on SCBA usage in outside or training activities."

"That's fine," Ruby assured her. "I can wait." She then signed a training agreement that Kanan had handed out to her.

Then, they both heard a familiar male voice behind them. "Hello? Me and my wife would like to turn in applications?" Immediately, all three recognized the voice as belonging to Kanan's father.

Kanan herself was shocked to hear them not only come around, but reapply to the fire department after many years away from it. "Mom? Dad?"

"Kanan, is that you?" Her mom walked to the gear locker area behind the trucks and saw the three of them at a table. "Well, well, it is you!" She then handed her her application. "I filled everything out."

As her dad came along and handed his application to a shocked Kanan, the paid lieutenant on duty came downstairs from the fire pole upstairs. He immediately recognized both of Kanan's parents. "Matsuura-san! It's been a long time since you've came around here."

"It has," he replied as he shook his hand. "Me and the wife figured we get back in."

"Perfect timing," he replied. "Word from the grapevine says that the city wants to promote senior volunteer officers or ex-officers to two new positions in each district: Assistant District Commanders. They say they want to have volunteers be commanders to fill in gaps when the regular District Commanders are out on other calls. Since you and your wife used to be Lieutenants, you guys should put in for it."

Kanan's father laughed. "Yeah, sure, and I'll be the next prime minister!"

His wife, however, seemed more interested in the offer. "Assistant DC, huh? Would they accept us if we apply for it soon after we come back?" She thought to herself, "It would be hilarious if we both got it, but I don't know if my husband would want it."

As they continued their conversation, Kanan cringed at the thought of her parents being district commanders. "That's gonna be weird as hell. It's just... Odd." She then turned to You, "How would you feel about either of them becoming DCs?"

"I'd like it," You replied to Kanan's dismay. "They seem like they both know what they're doing. What? Are you weirded out by it?"

Kanan nodded. "Yeeeeep."

...

In Lissone, Italy, Mari had just begun her first day as a volunteer firefighter in the town with a drill that night. She would go to a summer boot camp similar to the one in Numazu, but longer, lasting from July 15 to August 16 and being 150 hours.

A fire technical officer of the brigade showed her her gear in her newly-assigned locker as he explained to her, "You'll be allowed to ride, but you won't be able to serve in anything more than a support role until you complete your training. Even so, you'll still be expected to pull your weight."

"I completely understand," Mari replied as she looked over her gear. "Want me to try it on?"

"Sure thing," he replied, crossing his arms as Mari kicked her shoes off and began to put her gear on. Once she was all done, he told her, "Don't worry about how fast it took. We'll get you to speed it up for the boot camp."

Mari then reached into her locker and pulled her phone out, handing it to her FTO. "Do you mind taking a picture of me?"

"Absolutely," he replied as he pulled up the camera app on her phone and snapped a picture of the blonde in her turnout gear. "Facebook or something?"

"Maybe," she replied with a chuckle. "Just maybe."

...

July 2, 2019

Ambulance 151A pulled up to a call with a paid firefighter, Ruby, and Kanan as a driver. She had just been cleared to drive the ambulances that day. The call was at a house with a wood shop in the back, and the call was for a 42-year-old male who had been injured by a table saw. As the three of them stepped out and carried in a stretcher with equipment, the man's wife directed them, clearly worried about her husband. "His... His whole fucking hand is gone!" She had clearly been crying before they had arrived, given how reddened her eyes were. She then clung to Kanan. "Please, help him! I'm begging you!"

"Ma'am," Kanan assured her as she gently pushed her away. "Calm down. I understand you're very concerned. I would be, too. We'll take care of him, okay? Just let us do our job." The four of them then made their way to the wood shop in the back. Inside, a man sat in a chair, looking at what was now his right arm stump as it bled profusely onto the floor below. On the table where the table saw was attached was his fully-amputated right arm. He clearly was in shock, both physically and in terms of how he felt, and the fact that his right arm had been fully amputated had still not completely set in to him. Kanan quietly whispered to herself, "Holy shit."

As the paid firefighter began his primary assessment of the still-conscious patient, Ruby was clearly disturbed by the sight of the amputated arm. "Kanan-chan, uh..."

"You'll be fine," Kanan assured her as she pulled out two bags and two ice packs. "Grab his arm and put in this bag." She then handed her a bag and motioned for her to do it.

Uneasily, Ruby walked over to the arm, which was bleeding from the stump, and picked it up with her left hand, carefully placing it in the bag Kanan had given her as she looked away, closing her eyes as well. She then zipped it up and rushed it over to Kanan, clearly not wanting to hold it any longer and very uneasy at the sight of the arm. "It's still bleeding."

"I know," Kanan replied as she put the arm bag in a second bag with two ice packs. "I'll hold the arm bag until we get to the hospital. Go see if Lieutenant Inami needs help."

They both heard the patient tell the two of them, "My daughter loved you guys, by the way. Aqours, right?"

"Yeah," Kanan replied, flattered. "Glad to hear that, sir."

...

Later that night, around 10PM, Hanamaru laughed as she and Yousuke entered the Tsushima apartment, having left the party a little early. "That's funny! I can't believe your sister Yoshiko-chan would actually do that!"

"Yeah," he replied as he began to blush. He thought to himself, "It's just me and her in the apartment right now..." He then said to her, "Hey, Kunikida-san, do you want anything?"

"I'm good," the brunette replied as she began to look over Yousuke. "Say, why do you seem so tense?"

"Tense?" He quickly realized that she could see that he was blushing. "Why do you think I'm tense?"

"Your face is pretty red, and you are a bit less talkative than before, zura." She then stopped herself. "Ugh, I was on a roll today until I said zura right now. I've been trying to cut down on it, but it still slips out."

Yousuke quickly stammered out, "No don't do that it's cute- aaaand I just said that out loud didn't I?" His face reddened even more. "Oh no..."

Hanamaru just giggled and replied, "You think it's cute?" She then laughed. "That's the first time someone has called it that, actually. That's actually pretty nice of you." She thought to herself, "It's so cute seeing him get flustered like that, in fact. You know, he is pretty good looking for someone that's 3 years younger than me."

"The thing is," Yousuke replied. "Well... Uhhh... I do think... You see, when Yoshiko-oneesan first introduced me to you guys back when Aqours was still together, my first thought was basically 'wow my big sister has a bunch of friends that are cute high school girls.'"

Hanamaru laughed and replied to him, "So, who do you think is the cutest?"

"Uhh," Yousuke stammered out. "It's actually Kunikida-san that is," he thought to himself. "But I can't tell her that." "Well," he said to her. "Are you sure you wanna hear? I don't want you to feel bad."

"It's fine," Hanamaru told him. "Trust me, zura."

"Eheheh," Yousuke nervously laughed. "Well, uhh, I guess..." He then closed his eyes as he gathered the courage to confess. "I can't hide it! It's you! Kunikida-san, you've always been the cutest to me!"

Hanamaru stepped back in surprise. "Me? I... Huh... You know, I thought you would say like Kanan-chan or Ruby-chan, zura, but I guess not." She then smiled. "Awwwwww... I guess that's why he said he liked it when I said "zura." I'm glad he's honest."

"You're not embarrassed?"

"Of course not," Hanamaru told him. "You're a young man. You're feeling things that make you attracted to other people, you know? I'm still going through it, though I am almost at the end." She then smiled. "This is my chance."

Yousuke then said to her, "I mean, yeah, I know about that. I'm not stupid." He then blushed. "Say, Kunikida-san, have you ever had a boyfriend?"

She then laughed again. "Ah, no. I was always busy with Aqours or reading to focus on that. Say, why do you ask? By the way, just call me Hanamaru, okay, zura?" In her head, she thought, "That will change tonight..."

"Uh, okay..." Yousuke then took a step back as he began to think to himself about what to do next. "Well, have you ever had feelings for someone else?"

"Of course," Hanamaru replied as she moved in closer to him. "He's a bit younger than me, but is pretty good-looking, and he's always been very nice to me ever since we met, zura." She then leaned in to his face and whispered quietly to him. "And he's sooo cute when he's flustered."

"Would that happen to be me by any chance?" The young teenager was then interrupted when Hanamaru suddenly closed her eyes and pressed her lips against his for a kiss. As he attempted to return it, he messed up, causing Hanamaru to giggle as he stood embarrassed.

"It's fine, Yousuke-kun. I'm glad I didn't mess up my first kiss, zura. After all, this was my first too." She then wrapped her arms around him. "Now, If you wanna stop at any time, just tell me and I will, okay? I don't wanna do anything that makes you feel uncomfortable." She thought to herself, "Should I be doing this? I mean... He is a third year in junior high while I'm a third year in senior high... No, it's fine. If he says no, I'll stop now. If he says yes, we're gonna keep going. We are still both teenagers, after all. We can do this."

"Yeah," he replied as he wrapped his arms around her. "I know. Hanamaru-chan, I want this, too." He then pressed his lips against hers as they embraced. As the two continued to kiss, they opened their mouths and began to French kiss. They continued to kiss for another couple seconds of bliss before they split.

"So," she told him as she smiled. "Why don't we take things up a notch, zura?" She then took both of his hands. "C'mon, you've wanted to feel up a girl for a while now, right? Why not feel up an older one like me?" She then placed both of his hands on her chest. As her face reddened, she thought to herself, "Aaah... His hands are so soft... I want him so badly."

As he felt her chest, he blushed even more as his heart raced. "Uhh... Are you sure you want me to do this?"

"Oh, I want you to do more than that, if you want to, of course." She then reached a hand down toward him and felt his crotch area. "A looooot more, zura."

...

Ruby, still feeling uneasy after the previous medical call, decided to text Hanamaru around 11 that night, wanting someone to talk to and vent. She texted her, "Maru-chan, I was bothered by a call. Can I talk to you?"

She got a text back with, "I need to say something, too, but go ahead first."

Ruby, confused, asked herself, "Huh?" She then texted back, "This guy got his arm chopped off by a table saw, and I had to get his arm. It didn't feel right. Kanan-chan talked to me afterwards about it, but it's still not sitting with me well."

"You-chan and Kanan-chan would be glad to help you out," she texted back. "Glad to hear Kanan already did. Anyway, there's something you need to know about Yousuke."

"What's up?" The text Ruby received back made her gasp in shock and drop the phone onto her bed.

"I had sex with him," was Hanamaru's text. "Do not tell Yoshiko-chan at all. She cannot know."

Ruby said to himself in shock as she blushed, "Hanamaru-chan had... She had sex with..."