Chapter 4: Either way….that woman….has to go…
PRESENT DAY
~o~
For the first time in my life, I've never seen her acting this way. The person that I am watching today is being reckless, freed from the shackles of fear and uncertainty.
One thing for certain, although I am just observing her, I knew deep inside her something corrosive is brewing.
And the more we let her do this on her own, the more that corrosive entity will consume her.
However—
"The apartment room is clear! Retrieve the target now!" A small destroyer yelled from my back.
—My job today is not about telling her to stop, but to kidnap this innocent man who is currently sleeping soundly on the bathtub drench on what appears to be Akashi and Asahi's repair fluid.
"Amagi, Akagi, get inside the bathtub and prepare the guy for extraction. Choukai and Tone get into the balcony and keep a close eye on Tenryuu. Tatsuta get ready to support your sister whenever she needs it! You two, watch the corridor!"
A small destroyer of the Fubuki-class named Shinonome barked her orders on us in quick succession. Nobody questioned her, we just fluidly follow them. She is our flagship after all, and when it comes to leadership this small destroyer will get the job done.
"Dammit, Tenryuu is getting pushed back by that Abyssal!" Tone yelled from the balcony.
Shinonome instantly poked her head inside the bathroom and yelled, "Hurry the fuck up! We need to support Tenryuu soon!"
Hastily I wrapped around a small expanding cushion inside the body bag that we are planning to transport the guy on. Despite our rude actions, actions that would instantly wake a sleeping person, he appears to be not bothered by it.
"Akagi! I can take care of this!" My older sister Amagi yelled as she hoisted the body bag on her left shoulder.
In a quick succession I turn around and ran out of the bathroom and headed towards the balcony. Tone and Tatsuta were already on the other building, helping Tenryuu on buying us some time to extract the guy out of this area.
I stood there and summoned my battle riggings, immediately crushing the concrete floor underneath me due to my immense weight as a battlecruiser-type shipgirl.
Slowly I trailed my guns on the Abyssal, she was giving me a hard time since she was jumping around dodging attacks from both Tenryuu and Tatsuta's melee attacks as well as Tone' supporting fire.
I waited for the abyssal to seize moving, just at the right moment—and then the opportunity showed itself—ready….F—
"What do you think you are doing on my balcony, missy?!"
~o~
April 6, 2049
The last wave of enemy abyssal planes came with a devastating result on the lone IJN base on Amami Island just 325 kilometers from Mainland Japan. It is located south of Japan and is the third island that is near the main IJN Pacific Base on Okinawa.
Amami Airport, located at the northern part of the island is heavily damaged rending flight operations on hold for a couple of months until the runway is fixed.
However, that does not mean that the fighters that are already airborne are not allowed to do their job. Although the airfield is heavily damaged they are still tasked on chasing after the Abyssal Raider Planes that had the same size of an old Gen 6 American Fighter Plane named the F-22. They have a circular body and two wings could be seen at each side of the circular body. Two jet engines could be seen underneath the said wings and a large prominent mouth could be seen as well, intimidating those who tried taking them out head-on.
Other than its intimidating look Abyssal Raider Planes dubbed Shinyuusha in the Abyssal Plane Identification Poster are armed with ten abyssal missiles classified as 'AR-01' signal tracking missiles and a single 30mm autocannon located inside its mouth.
The AR-01 can be easily countered by basic countermeasures like flares, chaffs, or probes. The 30mm autocannon however is a different story. Each round of the 30mm autocannon is basically magnetically armed, basically even if the round misses the plane it will still detonate like flak if it is fired within near proximity of the plane.
Safe estimates that the rounds won't detonate are around 50 meters to 70 meters, anything nearer than 50 meters is a guaranteed within the danger zone.
"Asus 0-4! Maneuver! Maneuver to my left now!" A pilot fighting the extreme G-forces of 10G's managed to make a sharp turn and performs a steep rolling scissors with his plane.
"It's behind me! I say again, the bloody thing is still behind me!" The pilot dubbed as Asus 0-4 made a vertical climb.
Hastily the pilot that was behind the Shinyuusha that was chasing Asus 0-4 pushed the thrust lever at the maximum to chase after the Shinyuusha.
"I got him! I got him locked!" The pilot yelled at the radio.
He let the ringing sound; which indicates that his air-to-air missile is locked on the Shinyuusha; for a couple of seconds before pressing the fire button.
"Fox 1! Fox 4!" The pilot announced.
The two missiles roared on the sky as it chase behind the Shinyuusha that suddenly made a quick right turn but the Mk.72 mod.33 air-to-air missiles of the F-66 Shinden is already focused locked on the Shinyuusha meaning that sudden quick rolls or sudden quick plane maneuvers won't work unless flares or chaff are used.
Before long the two Mk.72 missiles found their target and penetrated the circular shaped body of the Shinyuusha. A large orange smoke engulfed the abyssal plane as its parts fell into the earth below.
"What took you so long, Rio?!" Asus 0-4 yelled at the proximity radio channel.
"Hey cut me some slack! I had two of my expensive missiles used to defend you, also I had to make sure that they are focused locked because we can't grow 22 million yen on the rice patties!" The pilot named Rio rebuked.
Glancing to the side Rio saw Asus 0-4 aligning his plane on his port. The pilot inside the dark soot plane that was littered with holes gave a thumbs up at his savior who also had multiple holes on his wings as well.
"Hotel niner this is Asus Actual, stragglers has been neutralized, requesting permission to land, over." Rio uttered on friendly frequency.
"Affirmative Asus Actual. Permission to land is granted—wait belay that, Asus Actual I am unpleased to inform you that you are ordered to fly to coordinates 28.798245, 128.994869." The radio operator announced.
Asus Actual also known as Rio furrowed his eyebrows when he heard his new orders. He took a glance at his wings and instruments, deep inside him he knew that he is incapable of doing another risky job than chasing stragglers again.
"Interrogative, what are we expecting to see on that grid?" Rio asked.
"Just a basic recon mission, Rio. We picked up something on the long range radar. Command wants the two of you to check it out since you and your wingman are closer to the grid." The radio operator answered.
"Understood, changing course to coordinates 28.798245, 128.994869, over."
"Acknowledge. Good hunting."
Out of habit, Rio leaned closer to his instruments particularly his gas meter and tapped on the glass. Immediately the arrow increased in depression indicating that the meter was busted.
"Damn" Rio cursed.
"What? What is it, Rio?" His wingman asked on the proximity radio.
Shaking his head twice, Rio then turned his head to his port and says, "Gas meter busted again. Hayama-san is going to kill me this time for sure."
A faint chucker came to the radio after Rio uttered his words. The only thing Rio could do was sigh, as he tried conserving his remaining fuel to reach the new grid as well as reaching the heavily damaged airfield.
It didn't take long for the two pilots to reach the location.
"Well would you look at that…." Asus 0-4 unknowingly whistled as he saw the island.
"I can't believe they are this close to the mainland…I'm going to tell Command about this…"
"Well you can do that later! We have multiple Shiji-sha coming our way!" Asus 0-4 yelled as he and his partner immediately dived down.
"Command, this is Asus Actual! We have found an Abyssal Hive! I repeat, we found an Abyssal H—"
The frequency was suddenly engulfed in static.
~o~
April 5, 2049
[My dear Marianna, I believe you already know what to do.]
A woman wearing a white blouse and a black thigh high skirt lowered her head as she places her hand on her right temple.
"Understood...it will be done" She answered.
[Good. The eggs will arrive at the specified location by tomorrow morning. For now, have fun playing with your meal...]
And just like that her connection to the holy being that she serves was severed. A sudden headache came to the abyssal named Marianna indicating that her telepathic connection with her queen was hastily severed.
After letting out a sigh, Marianna stood up from the couch and stretched her limbs.
"Hngg~"
She then lowered her upper body and stretched her hands toward her feet, touching them.
"He's not my meal..." Marianna muttered as she eyeballed the sleeping idiot who got drunk yesterday after losing a bet on who's the strongest woman in the world.
Marianna didn't know that Gintoki had a low tolerance on alcohol. With just six bottles of beer he suddenly assaulted her and stripped her clothes like a sex animal but she managed to peel him off and gave him good lesson. After that, Gintoki went on a deep slumber.
Marianna took the brown blanket that covered her body before she was abruptly awaken. She didn't know who covered her with it but knowing that there are only two people living in this apartment room, she knew it was Gintoki.
Making sure that she won't stumble upon the empty beer bottles on the ground, Marianna placed the blanket over Gintoki's body.
"Two a.m." Marianna muttered as she glanced at the wall clock above the fridge.
Slowly, Marianna approached the fridge and opened it only to realize that the fridge was practically empty.
Marianna let out a disappointed sigh, as the sound of her stomach rumbling came again. As a last ditch effort, she extended her hand towards the special cabinet where most of Gintoki's snacks are hidden.
It was empty as well.
Marianna let out a loud yell inside her head whilst raising her hand into the air.
Knowing that there aren't any perishables in the fridge nor in the cabinets, she had one last solution up underneath her sleeves.
"Hunting thugs on the dark streets in this hour wouldn't be a problem right? Yes-yes, I should do that one. Four should be enough—"
Marianna cuts off her own sentence as she glanced back to the sleeping Gintoki on the floor, making sure that he hasn't heard any of the words that she has uttered. After all, it would be bad if he finds out that Marianna has been murdering thugs on the dark alleyways in Hiroshima for a quick and easy meal for the past four weeks.
After making sure that Gintoki was deep asleep she approached the front door and placed her hand on the door knob. She could feel her head still throbbing in pain after her telepathic conversation with her queen ended.
This happens frequently since her queen's telepathic waves are stronger when focused on a single receiver. The headache is less noticeable when there are ten people involve in the conversation.
"Now, let's not waste time." Marianna says as she opens the door and leave.
~o~
"Yoshida-san~! You're on shift today at 12th street~" Yelled a woman wearing a blue domestic uniform. She had a white cap on her head and a small radio on her right shoulder, it was a typical attire for a civilian enlisted police officer.
"Alright~" A seasoned officer named Yoshida Ippo waved his hand to the woman behind the large reception area just opposite of the two opened double doors of the Hiroshima Police Department.
Yoshida rotated both of his shoulders clockwise as he approached the front coffee station near the entrance. He then ordered a cup of hot black coffee before exiting the building. His attention was then directed to a man sitting on the concrete pathways.
"Muzachi-san." The young police officer called.
Officer Uzachiki Muzachi, a 25 year old officer from Kanagawa is the most seasoned officer in the Hiroshima Police Department. He has a muffled black hair and a sleepy face, but he had a maintained body figure that would give the thugs a shuddering experience just by looking at him.
"Yoh, so you're my partner for today's patrol?" Officer Uzachiki asked.
Officer Yoshida nodded. He then sat beside the seasoned officer and sipped his own cup of coffee.
"Well I did not expect you to be working on graveyard shift since you usually do morning patrols." Officer Yoshida says.
Shaking his head, Officer Uzachiki denied. With a distant look, he then stared somewhere and spoke with a tired tone.
"Yoshida-san, the people don't need us anymore. The JSDF has basically replaced us ever since the Abyssals arrived. A lot of us police officers were stripped out of our jobs because of that. With so little of us left in the formerly famed Department of Investigation Bureau, one can't just shrug off the feeling of doing our jobs earnestly for those who were stripped off their position in this country of ours."
Officer Yoshida listened in silence. He gave deep thoughts about the words that he has heard from the seasoned police officer in the Hiroshima Police Department.
He gave thought to those men who were stripped by their uniforms and were thrown back to the society, jobless. If it weren't for those men in the JSDF none of these would've happen, he said to himself.
Not only that, there have been rumors emerging out saying that the JSDF have been doing inhumane things to keep the peace in this country's society. Things like: falsifying information, homicide, torture, forceful interventions, and many more.
The Hiroshima Miracle came to his head. How 80 civilians were miraculously saved by the JSDF and around 56 'unitologist' were killed in the ensuing gunfight. However, he knew it was just a ruse...He knew what really happened on that night and thinking about it again, he could feel his anger against the ways of the JSDF resurfacing.
"Yoshida-san."
Like a person that was shaken off from a hallucination, Officer Yoshida shook his head towards Officer Uzachiki.
"W-what is it?"
"It's time to go. The night alleys of this city are awaiting us."
With a sigh, Officer Yoshida placed the cup near his lips and sipped at the coffee cup one last time before placing it on the stone pathway.
"Alright, let's go."
~o~
There are many beautiful things in this world. Be it a painting, a sculpture, a building, trees, nature's natural beauty, and many more
For her however, she only likes one thing. And that is music.
Not those romanticized music or a solo piano piece that was composed in the old era, or the sound of her queen's heartwarming lullaby that could melt away the fatigue out of her body.
No, she only liked one thing. And you couldn't even say that it is music in the first place.
No, what she liked the most is the sound of flesh being stretched thin to the point that it's about to snap.
"Yuck, it's sour." A deep female's voice echoed on a dark alleyway.
Sitting on a crouched position is a woman that had a long white hair that was tied into a pony tail using a black scrunchie. Crimson red blood could be seen staining her white blouse and disemboweled corpses were placed at the sides of dark alleyway, painting the walls with gore and violence.
"Nah, I'm not finishing this one, I guess." She says with utter disgust.
With her right hand the woman dropped the corpse's liver that had a darkish brown color to the ground surrounded with a pool of blood.
With a spat the liver fell into the ground. Then she felt someone walking near her. Using her telepathic ability she saw a man wearing a blue uniform top and a black trouser, "Freeze! Stay where you are!" The armed man yelled at her, pointing his sidearm at the woman's head.
She waited and waited until the man was already so close that he was within her arm's range. Swiftly, she rotated her body counterclockwise from a crouching position and pushed her right arm upward just below his sidearm, raising his hand upward and his aim away from her head.
In quick succession she then extended her left hand into his neck and raised him into the air.
The man grunted in pain as he thrashes his body to break away from her grip. He tried firing his weapon at her face but before he could pull the trigger she grabbed the man's armed hand using her free hand, ripping the whole arm away from the man's torso. The man screamed in pain as a pool of blood was slowly formed underneath his boots. She slowly lowered her head toward the man's twitching feet before raising them again to the man's face, and at that moment she slowly increased the pressure around his neck closing his windpipe ever so slowly.
Drool was starting to come out of his mouth and his skin turning pale as the seconds go by. It's only a matter of time before this man would die from oxygen deprivation.
"Yoshida!" She heard another voice.
It was then followed by a sudden jerk on her head to the side. It was a strong kinetic force, not strong enough to throw her off balance that is.
Out of anger she crushed the man's neck, it was like crushing a small orange. The contents flowed out, the blood, tissues and muscles were painted on her hand. Some of them even fell underneath the man's shinny boots.
With nothing to keep the man's body up in the air because of his crushed neck, the corpse fell into the ground with a wet sound. All that's left of her hand was the man's head that had blood and tissues seeping out of his nose and mouth.
"Yoshidaaaa!" The other person rushed towards her and threw a right hook.
With her right hand she grabbed his hand before it could reach its target. After that, she rotated his hand clockwise to the point that the joint on his elbow and shoulders were dislocated.
"Ahhhhhhrrhhhh!" The man screamed in agony as he knelt on the ground.
Then it came to her...the man is physically fit. His muscles were on the right thickness, right mass, and his skin looks maintained despite it looking a bit tanned that the others that she already ate. The temptation was too much to bare.
"Huuuuu?" Slowly she leaned closer to the point that her nose was placed beside his ear. "You look tasty...Mr. Stranger...You wouldn't mind if I please myself would you..?" She asked as innocently as she could.
"Y-you monster...no, you are a fiend!" The man yelled back.
"That is incorrect, Mr. Stranger..." She said with a fleeting tone, "I'm no monster, Mr. Stranger" With a crooked smile on her face she whispered, "I am just a normal abyssal~"
The man saw the abyssal's golden eyes, the eyes of a thing that will kill him. The eyes that knew nothing about the word humane or mercy…
The eyes of a thing that was born to kill him—
~o~
[Now we proceed to the latest report for this morning. Around 03:20 in the morning a horrifying call came to the Hiroshima Police Department calling for help, saying that a person has been chasing them. It was also said that this person was female in gender wearing a white blouse and a black high waist skirt. She had a pure white hair and a pale skin, lastly this female had gold eyes—this was before the call was ended and not a single additional information was given. The Hiroshima Police Department immediately rose into full alert, managing to locate the caller's location via the phone's GPS. Reporter Iyanama Shiki will take it from here.
[Thanks, Hanabi. I am currently at the 12th Chome-7 Hikarimachi Street where the caller's address was located. The first responders at that time were Officer Yoshida Ippo and Officer Uzachiki Muzachi who were at that time were performing night patrols along the said street when the emergency call came to them. Now the two police officers lay dead together with the five other still unidentified civilians that were killed this morning. Beside me is Investigator Ritsuo Mazahama of the Hiroshima Police Department. Tell me investigator, how do you think the men here die in this alleyway?]
[Well, Iyanama-san. Further investigations proved that the men were killed not by common firearms and weapons but rather there are bite marks located at so—]
Before I could find out how the men were killed the flat screen T.V suddenly died in front of me. Bluish smoke came out at the sides, out of fear that the whole apartment room would be engulfed in flames I rushed towards the fridge were a small fire extinguisher was placed.
"Would you keep it down? I'm trying to sleep here~!" Yelled the freeloader sleeping on the couch.
"Can't you see that I am in a very dangerous position here?!" I yelled as I pulled the pin of the fire extinguisher and pointed the hose at the flat screen T.V that had flames already coming out at the gaps.
"Can't you see that I am very tired~? Please be considerate. Even though I am an abyssal I still need to rest to you know?" She replied before snoring off.
White foam shrouded the flat screen T.V. I couldn't believe my eyes, the old flat screen T.V that grandfather gave me suddenly died out after I kept it in great shape all this time….I didn't even abuse it you know?!
After letting out a sigh I walked towards the back of the foamy T.V and removed the power cord from the burnt outlet. Good thing it didn't short circuited the whole apartment room.
"Where the hell did you even went last night? You were drenched in water and you smelled funny." I asked as I walked towards the bathroom to get a wet mop and a bucket full of clean water to clean up the foam that was dripping on the floor.
"I told you I was hungry so I had to find some fishes in the sea. Would you please stop talking? My eyes are hurting…."
Slowly I opened the sliding door of the balcony and pushed the foam out. It took me a couple of strokes to eventually remove the foam from the floor and the T.V.
Now all that's left is to stow away the old flat screen T.V, man this is depressing.
"Hnggg~" I stretched out my arms after placing the T.V on the cemented floor of the balcony.
I slowly raised my head and faced the sunlight, blocking its ray with my right hand.
It's already 9:30 A.M already, and I have been living with an abyssal for almost four weeks now.
To tell you honestly, I've had a lot of questions while I am living with her. Firstly, is there a black hole inside her stomach? Second, how the bloody hell did she just consume my disastrous recipe? Thirdly, how the hell can she understand me while not being able to understand Kanji? Fourth, why does she have to bloody sleep talk in the night?
I could go on but I'd rather not want to finish this chapter with 30,000 words.
Anyways, since breakfast has been served and Hatsu has already entered deep sleep, I guess I should start—
My phone vibrated on my thigh, using my right hand I inserted it inside my pockets and retrieved it. I then checked who the caller was before pressing the answer button.
"Tae? What's up?"
With a quick gasp the caller named Wagatsuma Tae immediately threw a "Where have you been? You've been MIA from Hiro-Uni for a long time now!"
My ear rang as I dragged the phone away from my right ear. Damn this woman, can't she be careful for at least once in her life?
Right….I forgot to tell the others that I have already dropped out of Hiroshima University...
"Yeah, about that—"
"I swear to god…if you don't show up on French Literature right now—I'm going to blow your apartment to the ground." She said.
~o~
"Now turn to page 158 and we'll start our discussion about the French Paintings that were lost during the Second World War."
And so I found myself staring at the nostalgic green board. The professor was now scribbling something on the board, I did not bother reading it since it was written in English and not in Kanji.
"Oi, are you listening!? You already have a failing grade in his class so would you stop daydreaming and start listening?!" Beside me is the annoying woman that called me this morning named Wagatsuma Tae, whispered on my right ear.
"Stop bothering me. I am listening to his lecture." I unknowingly threw a lie at her.
I then lowered my head from the board and into the book that I somehow have. I can still see my old scribbles on it. The rude drawing of profession Nakijima Tanaka's face and a proper drawing of a beautiful girl that used to belong in this class.
I couldn't see her anymore, word has it that she was drafted in the military because her father forcibly urged her to join.
And that's about it. I really don't care about her to be honest. She was just a beautiful woman that caught my attention and nothing more. True we did have some interactions together like that time where the two of us were selected as substitute teachers for Professor Nakijima who at that time was hospitalized.
As the lecture goes on I flipped the current page and found myself staring at one of pictures of the said missing paintings.
It was just a simple painting all in all. Based on the words in this book, the painting was painted using oil paint and had a naturalistic theme. A column of orange colored maple trees were placed at the left side of the painting. The sun could be seen at the upper right corner, illuminating the whole painting in bright colors and lastly, a beautiful drawing of a woman leaning on one of the maple trees.
The woman had a brown hair and was dressed with a see though attire. She was holding a book with her right hand and a maple leaf on the other. Her gaze was intense yet warm and it was pointed towards the reader, it was as if she was looking straight at me.
"Priestess Marianna…." I whispered the name of the woman in the painting.
Marianna huh….? Her name was also Marianna as well though, there is another name placed before that as well.
A woman on her late twenties, she was known as Marianna the healer among the common folk of Toulon, France. She was said to have healing powers that were capable enough to heal deep wounds and cure blindness.
However she met a tragic end when one of the High Priest from Italy arrived on Toulon Harbor. One day he and his guards saw how Marianna healed a sailor's wound. She was then immediately accused of witchcraft and was taken custody by the High Priest's guards and was thrown into the High Priest' ship.
She was tortured, raped, and was put into the stake after she was impregnated by multiple men and suffered a week long abuse. The men that she has healed and saved tried saving her but this only escalated the issue even further as the guards started rallying up the sympathizers and beheaded them in front of her.
Dishearten, depressed, pained, she let out a river of tears as she pleaded for her people' safety. However, she was not given mercy.
On her last day before her eventual death by fire at the stake, she cursed the High Priest and men and women in this world to oblivion. Her famous last words were: One day, in this very hour, 1500 or more years after my death this world will be engulfed by the abyss and nothing will ever stop it!
Thinking about it now, a few centuries later the abyssals attacked and threatened humanity into extinction.
We are literally jinxed by a woman that was raped, humiliated, and killed in public.
I guess we deserve it? I guess this is what borne fruit of our hideous nature?
I guess so….
The lecture ended when the bell's chime reached the professors ear. It was like a signal for us students to start packing up and pass our attendance sheet to mark that on this day we were present during the lecture.
Tae arrived at the professor's table first and passed her attendance sheet. I on the other hand only grabbed my book and slowly headed out of the room.
As a group of men and women exited the room a strong force suddenly grabbed me by the shoulder.
I slowly turned around expecting Tae to remind me to pass my attendance sheet but it was actually Professor Nakijima-san instead.
"Nakijima-san—?"
"Toshki-kun, are you free after this period?" He asked with a soft tone.
I actually wanted to go home as fast as I could since its already 12:00 and Hatsu's probably already awake and already thrashing about since lunch has not been served yet.
Still—
"Yes, why'd you ask Nakijima-san?"
Nakijima-san nodded twice before raising his hand away from my shoulder. He then approached the table and retrieve his belongs.
"Follow me to my office. I have something to ask you in private." He said as he walked pass me and exited the room.
Tae who was standing in front of the table gave me a worried look. She then approached me and asked "What's wrong? Don't tell me you did something bad... is this why you were absent this whole time?"
I shook my head. I then let out a sigh and said "Nah, he must've wanted to talk with me since I've been missing from his class for a long time now. I've even skipped both the Mid-term exam and the Semi-final Exam."
"Well that's also true. The possibility of him scolding you is also there though." She says with her arms crossed in front of her.
I could only shrug at her statement. With that said I turn around and walked toward the exit while Tae was following me from behind.
The corridor in the main building is pact full of students who are chatting with their friends or lovers. Some are arguing, some are laughing, and some are just basically watching something on their phones or listening to music.
"Say, Toshiki-kun." Tae walks beside me, "What were you doing this whole time?" She asked with a curious look on her face.
Oh nothing in particular. I've been doing stuff like doing part-time jobs and watching anime or stuff. I am also living together with an abyssal so my life has been hectic ever since.
But I highly doubt that I can say that to her with a straight face. Though, the words are real and they are the truth, I guess answering her with the truth would be a bad idea, especially the living with an abyssal part.
"Not much. All that I've been doing this whole time was doing part-time jobs to sustain myself and watching anime and dramas at the same time."
In the end I just told her half of the truth.
"You sure are turning into a shut-in, huh? Do people from Okinawa act like this once they reach 19?"
"Hey do you have some kind of grudge against us islanders?!" I rebutted.
Tae only let out chucker as we trekked along the crowded corridor leading to Professor Nakijima's office on the Literature Department Wing.
By the time we reached the last hallway leading to the facilitator's office, Tae stops and turns sideway towards the staircase leading to the second floor.
"This will be my stop. I still have classes on room 255. Good luck on whatever the two of you guys are gonna talk about." She says and gave me a wave.
As her back disappeared from my view, I too slowly turned towards the door where Professor Nakijima's office is located.
A simple door that's around six feet high could be seen. There's a blurry window on the said door bearing the professor's name written on a name plate.
Slowly I moved closer to the door and knocked on the glass twice. I could hear his voice saying "Come in" with his usual soft tone.
With my dominant hand, I turned the doorknob clockwise and pushed it inward. Standing in front of a large window still, is Professor Nakijima leisurely drinking tea.
"Have a seat. I have a lot of things to ask you." He says.
I followed suit, heading towards the chair that was placed in front of his table and sat on it. Professor Nakijima turns around and places his tea cup on the table before sitting down on his own chair.
He then opens his drawer on his table and took a sheet of paper and placed it in front of me.
"These are the days that you've been absent in my class...do you realize that if you didn't show up now you would've been dropped from my class?" He says.
I could only scratch the back of my head as I read the days marked in red highlighter.
"I guess following Tae's advice of coming here was a good idea then?" I said to him.
"Of course it is a good idea. It was me after all who asked her to force you to attend today's class. I can't just let my class's literature prodigy to drop out of school." He explained as he took another sip of his tea.
I guess the University President really did keep her word, huh? Well this is to be expected. After all it was me who pleaded her not to tell my teachers about dropping out of the university. But now, I am currently sitting inside Professor Nakijima's office like nothing happened at all.
"So? Mind telling me why you suddenly went AWOL? Financial problems? Family problems? Damned that Mutsu, I thought she raised you properly." He says with a scoff.
"M-my mother had nothing to do with this really. Also, it's not about financial problems or anything….it's just that…."
"It's just what?"
How should I say this to him? Should I lie once more? But really what's the point of lying now? If I could just say it bluntly to him I wouldn't have to show my face in front of him again.
"It's just that I have other things in mind." I answered.
"Other things in mind…? Are you perhaps doing part-time jobs and has now realized that your schedules are now conflicting with your working schedule?" He asked.
Shaking my head twice I tried formulating a way to say it to him bluntly. But how should I say it? I thought mother already taken care of this….I thought she has said the reason why I dropped out to her best friend.
"Oi, aren't you gonna say anything?" He urged me as he took another sip.
I guess…..saying it directly would do….
"I'm dropping out cause I'm about to join the military."
Somehow…somehow…the atmosphere became heavy. As I sat there and stared at my hands and waited for him to say anything, I could feel something deep inside of me saying that I shouldn't have said it that way.
"I see….it seems that your mother's idealistic DNA was transferred into your brain as well." He says with a sigh, "Why are you even bothering to waste time in this stupidity?"
"It is a bad thing?" I asked.
"Of course it's a bad thing! Look, forget about joining the military and just finish what you've started here. I highly doubt that you'll even pass basic training with that skinny body of yours!" He yelled back.
I lowered my head towards my arms and stared at them for a while whilst listening to Nakijima's crap. Indeed they are skinny, if I remember correctly I am as skinny as my sister back when she was still alive. But that didn't stop her from joining the military—
"Surely, if your sister was still alive I knew she would say the same thing!"
"….."
"What?"
"What do you know about her…?" I unknowingly said with utter disgust towards him, "You are just a good for nothing literature teacher who's good points are teaching literature and spouting crap during lectures. How could you possibly say that my sister would agree to your words, huh?!"
Nakijima sat there unable to say something back as he leaned his back against to the back rest of his chair.
"I—I mus—"
"Spare me with the crap that you are about to say, Nakijima-san." I say as I stood up from the chair and turn my back against him, "This will be the last time I will be talking to you. I thank you for guiding me all this time while my mother was absent due to her job as a soldier…" I added as I headed towards the exit.
I held the door knob with my left hand and rotated it clockwise. I soon as it reached its maximum angle to be rotated I hastily pushed it inward opening it.
How fucking dare he use my sister to mark a point?!
Raising my head upwards I then saw Tae standing on the stairs that leads into the second floor where her class is located. I could clearly see her shocked expression from my current position.
Why is she—? Are they dismissed early? Do they have no class for today because the teacher is absent? I asked those questions inside my head as I slowly closed the door behind me and walked towards her.
"Oh, um…It appears that Professor Youji didn't arrive in time so the checker had to dismiss us early…So, um, how did your conversation with Nakijima-san go?"
I stared at her face as she scratched the side of her cheek. Unfortunately for her, I actually know when she lies or not…
"Nothing really…" I said to her as I hastily walked pass her.
Then a strong tug held me from moving forward. Slowly I turned around and saw her holding the sleeves of my jacket with her right hand. Tae had her head lowered so I couldn't see her face.
"Tae—"
"Don't do this!"
"Tae, listen to me—"
"I don't want you to go! Can't you at least stay here?! Why must the three of you guys join the military and not come back?! Why must the three of you hurt me this way?! Can't you see—?!" Tae bit the lower part of her lip and raised her head. Tears were flowing out of her eyes, "The three of you are my only family! I've already lost Takashi and Ooi. I can't lose you too!" She screamed.
Takashi…..Ooi…..It's been so long since I've heard those names.
Wagatsuma Tae, Iwai Takahasi, Aoshima Ooi, and lastly Toshiki Gin—the four delinquents of Hiroshima High is what they used to call us.
Iwai Takashi—a tall guy from Wakayama. He was the most cheerful person among the four of us. He was part of the basketball team because of his tall stature. He was smart, the smartest among the four of us but easily gets worried when one of us in danger.
Aoshima Ooi—the small and terrible guy, he's from Shimane. A tough son of a farmer and also the most violent among the four of us…He used to be part of the table tennis club but quitted after he was framed to be the one who stole one of the swimsuits that belonged to the swimming club. Despite the most violent one among us he is the kindest among us as well.
Wagatsuma Tae—the airhead in the group. She's an energetic person and also the most annoying one as well.
Back then, Tae didn't have a family. Back then, we helped her blend in with the noisy batch of Hiroshima High. Back then, we were like a family to her. We were always there when she needed us. If she feels down, we are there to cheer her up. If she had no money to feed herself, Ooi would immediately go to her apartment and cook for her.
But—
"Don't—please, don't bring up their names now… Takashi and Ooi have already died on Iwo Jima." I said to her.
—The two of them died after they were immediately drafted into the military.
I could still remember Tae's pained expression when she received the letter from the mail man.
Both Ooi and Takashi died after Tae and I passed the University Entrance exam of Hiroshima University. The two of us were celebrating on her apartment for passing the entrance exam, amidst of the laughers and swearing a simple letter was slipped underneath her front door.
It was me who urged her to get the letter and read it out loud. I didn't know back then that the letter was about Ooi and Takashi's death. If only—if only it was me to read the letter back then—
"But you won't listen to me! You never listen to me! Why must you be this stubborn, Gintoki!?" She yelled pulling me closer into an embrace.
"Tae!"
"Please don't do this….Don't leave me…Don't leave me like Ooi and Takashi, I beg of you Gintoki! Please!" She yelled as she buried her face into my chest.
I clenched my hand as strong as I could that I could feel my fingernails penetrating my skin. They were hanging on my side. I couldn't stop myself from clenching my hand.
I listened to Tae's sobs silently. No matter how many students pass by us on this hallway, no matter how they see our situation now. I just couldn't bear the strength to push her away.
"I—I…." My hands trembled wondering what the words that I must utter in this situation. I raised my head into the concrete ceiling. I stared at the black dot that was left out of the white painted ceiling.
That dot…It came to me, it came to me in realization.
What would happen if I too die in the military?
What would happen to Tae if I die as well?
With Ooi and Takashi gone, I was left alone to sustain Tae's living expenses. That includes the food she buys, the college funds, as well as the pocket money that she uses to buy things like reference books, and other things.
Tae has no remaining family left after the abyssals raided the city of Muroto on Tokushima.
If I am gone—
What would Takashi do if he was in my current position? What would Ooi say to her when she is this down?
She won't last long….
"Fine…" I softly say to her.
Tae immediately raised her head upward after hearing my words. Her beet red eyes due to her sobs were very visible. It pained me, it made me realize how selfish I was.
"I'll do what you want. However—" I paused and let out a sigh, "I will still drop out of this university. That I cannot revoke." I added.
Tae lowered her head again once more and tightened her grip around me, "That will do. That'll do…." She softly says.
I soften my clenched hands and placed then on top of Tae's head. Slowly I caress it like I used to do whenever she was feeling down.
Dammit…..Why must I...Tae, I am so sorry...
~o~
I've known hate, despair, and dread. I was taught what those feelings are when I was still a small abyssal scrub. The queen taught us to use our hate towards the humans as a driving force.
I've been taught a lot of things….a lot of unpleasant things….
Now—
His hands were wrapped around a stranger that had the same gender was mine. She had a long black hair that was tied into a ponytail. She was wearing a long sleeve top that had its sleeves folded neatly around the elbow.
I couldn't see her face since she had it buried on Gintoki's chest. I could feel my arm twitching uncontrollably. A corrosive thing inside of me boiling like there is no tomorrow.
I was watching the two of them argue for a while, until the woman sudden gave Gintoki an embrace.
I wonder—I wonder what this feeling is called.
I wonder what this corrosive feeling is called.
Should I ask the woman kindly?
Or should I ask Gintoki bluntly?
Either way….that woman….has to go…
Chapter End