July 16, 2019

Pumper 151 pulled up to a burning dumpster alongside Pumper 154 around 6:27 P.M. Off the rig were the two paid firefighters plus You, Toshiki, and Captain Yoshihisa Honda, all but the driver on air and wearing their packs. Pumped 154's crew rolled out a line and began to hook it up together as You and a paid lieutenant pulled Pumper 151's two pike poles off as Toshiki and Yoshihisa rolled a second line out and began to put it together. The smoke was acrid, and the dumpster was full to the brim with burning trash of all kinds as several townsfolk watched.

"Charge my line," Toshiki yelled to his engine's pump operator as he waved to him. "We're all set to go!" As his line filled up, Yoshihisa backed him up as the line from Pumper 154 began attacking the fire as well. Soon, both lines were throwing water onto the fire, and it was quickly knocked down.

"You," Yoshihisa shouted to her. "Get a K-12 and start cutting into the dumpster on the side!"

"Got it," You replied before she ran back to the engine and grabbed a rotary saw from the engine, quickly starting it up and then revving it up to test it. Once she approached the dumpster, she began cutting into it, sending sparks flying everywhere, including into the shield of her mask. "How big do you want this hole?!"

"Make a nice big square," Yoshihisa instructed her. "Once you're done, start ripping up the trash with the pike poles!"

As she continued to cut into the dumpster, Ambulance 151A pulled up with three firefighters on board, including Chika. As she got out from the back and adjusted her gloves, she looked over to the fire and said to herself as she sniffed the air, "Ugh, it smells fucking disgusting..." She then stood by the engine and watched, awaiting an assignment as she was still not yet interior-certified. The smoke had by now given away to steam as You was seen putting the saw down and turning it off, carrying it back to the engine once the blade stopped spinning. "Need me to fill it up?"

"Sure," You replied through her mask. "I don't know if we'll need it again, but if we do, start it up and run it for me."

...

Meanwhile, in Italy, Mari had just completed medical training and was now training with the fire brigade. She had also joined the Green Cross as a volunteer EMT, since their Lissone station was located in the same building as the Lissone Fire Brigade, and she wanted to do both. She would be undergoing training to become a full-fledged firefighter and an EMT from the beginning of July until the end of December, at which point she would be cleared. It was a hot night out, and as she practiced on forcible entry, she thought to herself, "Man, it's blazing out here. I just gotta focus and keep at it."

As the door she was forcing gave way, her partner told her, "Alright, good job, Ohara. We're gonna add more wood blocks to make it tougher. You ready?"

"Of course," she nodded, flipping up her shield on her helmet and grabbing a quick drink from a bottle of water. "This is three wood blocks now, right?"

"Yeah," said another firefighter from the other side of the door. "The final one. If you can force this, you can basically force any door, and again, most doors will not be this hard, especially in poorer neighborhoods."

Mari then forced the adz end of the halligan into the door jamb, followed by her pushing up with the tool towards the door, breaking two of the wood blocks. She then pulled the tool out and forced the fork end in. "I'm ready for the axe!"

Another firefighter behind her then readied a flat-headed axe. "Give me a signal when you're ready."

"Hit," Mari commanded, followed by the other firefighter striking the adz end with his axe. "Hit! Hit! Hit! Hit! Hit! Hit! Stop!" Mari was now able to force more of the fork in before pulling it back out and using the adz end again to pry the door open by pushing upwards with the tool. This time, the third and final wooden block broke, and the door opened with ease before Mari controlled it by grabbing onto it. "And just like that," she concluded. "The door is open!"

"Good job," the other firefighter replied to her. "Mari, you're gonna be a pro at this."

"Why thank you," she gracefully replied before pausing as she felt her cellphone in her coat pocket vibrate. As she pulled it out, she realized it was from her mother and sighed. "Hang on a sec, guys," she said to them before walking away and answering the phone in English. "Hello, mom?"

"Mari," she asked her. "Where are you?"

"I'm hanging out with some friends at school," she lied to her. "What's going on?"

"I don't think you are," she replied. "I saw something on Facebook from a page run by that fire station in the town you're in. They tagged you, and I saw someone that looked a lot like you in those pictures."

Mari's jaw dropped as she walked further away from the group. "Are you kidding me?"

"Why are you going around pretending to be some big shot hero when you're in college?" Mari's mother was clearly not happy with her daughter. "Does your father know about this?"

"No," she adamantly replied. "And shut up about pretending! Volunteers aren't pretending to be anything. We take this shit seriously just like the professionals."

"You're doing all this for free," her mother replied. "And what if you got hurt? You'd put your whole future in jeopardy for nothing!"

"For nothing? For nothing?!" Mari was angry, and her tone of voice completely changed as her eyes lit up with rage. "This isn't for nothing, ma! I'm doing this because I want to do something more with my life! Like it or not, these guys are my second family in Italy, and how dare you insult them and call them a bunch of amateurs!" She then hung the phone up and muttered to herself, "Fucking Christ, the nerve of her..."

Mario Desarbo, one of VVF Lissone's Team Leaders and a career paramedic and Field Training Officer in the Green Cross, approached her and asked in Italian, "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah," Mari replied. "Just a little back-and-forth with my mother. Nothing crazy."

...

July 17, 2019

As Ruby, Hanamaru, and Yoshiko all sat together for lunch, Hanamaru asked the former, "What was the deal with that dumpster fire yesterday, zura?"

"I didn't make a fire engine or an ambulance," Ruby replied to her. "But I heard from You-chan that they think someone threw a Molotov cocktail in it, so the police are involved now."

"That doesn't sound good," Yoshiko replied. "I wonder why they did it." She then pulled out her phone and opened Google Docs, pulling up a file called FALLEN ANGEL BOOK 1. "Anyway, the book is almost finished. Zuramaru, did you find any errors or anything?"

"None," she replied with a nod. "Looks all good to me. We only got the one last chapter, right, zura?"

"Exactly," she affirmed. "Book 2 is already started, too, since we had already discussed what the plot would be. That's two chapters in."

"I'll take the third chapter off your hands," Hanamaru eagerly told her. "At this rate, we'll have all three books done by the end of the school year in March, zura."

"You guys are really into this writing thing," Ruby noted with interest. "I'm impressed you two are so dedicated to it. I think this Yohane idea is gonna really take off one day."

...

Later that day, You stopped by the firehouse after college to put her fire gear back together after she had washed it from the dumpster fire the day before. As she laid out her gear and began to inspect it, she heard a radio in the apparatus bay playing music. "Must be an oldies station," she mused to herself as the song Revolution by the Beatles came to an end. Then, after a short bumper, a second song by the same group came on: Hey Jude. "Niiice," she said to herself as she hummed along to the classic tune.

Just as she finished putting her gear back together, the song ended its final chorus and transitioned to its famous ending section. As she pushed in one last button, she heard a familiar voice in the background sing along. "Na, na na, na na na na, na na na na, hey Jude..."

Then, Hachirou suddenly joined in from behind her, startling her. He laughed as she jumped up and blushed, embarrassed at being so frightened. "Hey, there! Sorry I scared you, You-chan."

"Don't startle me like that," she replied as she playfully pushed him. "Come on..."

"I got some important news," Hachirou then told her as he rested against the wall near her. "So... I finalized everything, and I've transferred to a university in Numazu. I'll be staying here with you for the next two years at least."

You was taken aback by the realization that her boyfriend was coming back to live with her. "You... You're serious..." Her heart was beating rapidly as she was overwhelmed by a feeling of intense joy. "After so long, we can..." She then wrapped her arms around him as tears of happiness fell from her eyes. "I'm so glad, Hachirou... You have no idea how long I've dreamt of this day."

"I know, I know," he replied as he rested a hand on top of her head and returned the hug. "I missed you so much for the past two years I wasn't here. I don't want to leave you again, You-chan. The reason I was visiting was to finalize the transfer process and see if you were still interested in me, in fact."

"Of course I was," You replied to him as she wiped her eyes. "On the outside, I pretended nothing was out of the ordinary, like we never happened, but on the inside, I was hurting. It hurt so much to not be with you for two whole years." The two then kissed, their relationship fully restored. "I love you so much, Furukawa Hachirou."

Then, suddenly, one of the paid firefighters walked past, and awkwardly turned around and headed back to where he came from, quietly mouthing to himself, "Oh... Sorry..."

"I know you're there," You replied with a laugh. "You really aren't too good at being quiet, are you?"

"I guess not," the paid firefighter replied. "Anyway, I'm going to get fuel for the Dive Rescue. Wanna come with me?"

"Sure," You replied as she grabbed her bunker gear from her locker and put her bunker pants on. As she turned to go to the Ambulance/Dive Rescue garage on the side of the station, she gave Hachirou a quick kiss on the lips and told him, "Go to my apartment. When I get back, we'll celebrate."

"Sounds like a plan," he replied as You walked away. Their relationship was back, and neither of them could be any happier that it was.