"Eight months without Keitaro. Looking back now, I don't know how I managed to survive."
-Naru Narusegawa; 'Spreading My Wings'
Chapter XIII:
The Gift of A Moment
May 4, 2007
Tokyo International Airport, Tokyo, Japan
1322 hours, local time
The entire crew had turned out to see Keitaro off. Kaolla and Nealla were holding onto either end of a congratulatory/good luck banner, with Kaolla the more excited of the two. "Bring me back a console!" she exclaimed.
"Su, that doesn't make any sense," Seno told her. "We get consoles here before they come out in America. Games too."
"Oh, yeah, you're right," Kaolla said with a giggle.
"I sense something ominous at work here," Motoko said from beside Seno, scanning the surrounding area with her arms crossed. A humanoid shadow caught her attention from the corner of her eye, but when she looked toward it, it was gone.
"Take it down a notch, guys," Kitsune said, grinning at her friends' antics. "I'm as shocked as you that Keitaro actually landed that study abroad position."
"Keitaro's really not as dumb as you think," Mutsumi told the fox lady with a smile.
"Like someone else we know," Sabashii commented off-hand.
"While I did offer him my support, I didn't expect him to pass," Motoko said.
"Yeah, he shocked us all, there," Seno replied.
"Does that mean you're in love with him?" Kaolla asked Motoko, grinning.
The swordswoman shot the foreign girl a glare. "What was that?"
"Kidding!"
"Look!" Shinobu called out, drawing everyone's attention as she pointed to the nearby escalator. "Here he comes!"
The crew all readied themselves as Keitaro appeared at the top of the escalator, side-by-side with Naru, and followed by Seta and Haruka. "Sorry about taking so long-" he began.
"Get him!" Kitsune called out, thus precipitating a mass of party poppers being fired in the couple's direction, as well as an overhead party ball popping open, showering the entire group with confetti.
"Hey, get him, not me!" Naru protested, laughing as she used her hands to ward off the paper streamers.
"I knew I should've kept my camera out," Keitaro said with a grin, holding up his right hand to shield his face. "I'm gonna miss you guys."
"Believe me, we'll be the ones missing you," Kitsune answered.
As the wave of death by celebratory paper passed, Naru turned toward Keitaro. "Oh, your collar's bent," she said, reaching up to straighten the offending piece of clothing. "Let me get that for you."
"Thanks," the former ronin replied.
"Do you have everything you need?" she asked nervously. "Passport? Gum? Clean underwear?"
A chuckle ran through the assembled crew as Naru acted like a Jewish mother, but nobody commented. They all knew and understood how nervous she was, just minutes away from being separated from the man she loved for almost an entire year. They could all sympathize.
Once Naru was done, Keitaro turned to face his assembled friends. "I just want to say thank you for all you've done for me," he told them. "Whatever happens, I promise I'll make you guys proud."
"I'll miss you, sempai," Shinobu stammered, teary-eyed.
Seno reached over and patted his surrogate younger sister on the head. "Don't worry about it, Shinobu," he said. "Just think of it like a really long vacation."
"Yeah," Kitsune agreed. "You know he's gonna come back, since he's got Naru here waitin' on him."
"Check it out!" Kaolla exclaimed, picking up a bag that was sitting on the ground behind her. "We've got gifts for you!" From within, she pulled out a smaller bag and an IMI Desert Eagle chambered for .50-caliber Action Express. "The guy outside said this powder stuff will pep you up, and I got you this nifty piece!"
"Princess, put those away!" Nealla protested, sweating. "He can't take those to America!"
Motoko produced a number of warding talismans from her coat pocket and held them out to Keitaro. "I want you to be careful and use these to protect yourself," she said.
Beside her, Seno produced a cell phone similar in make to his own and handed it to Keitaro. "Here ya go, bub," he said. "Don't forget that you gotta dial one, then Japan's nation code, then our phone number. It's complicated as all hell, so we'll probably end up calling you more often than the other way around."
"Thanks guys," Keitaro said, accepting the phone and the talismans.
Next down the line, Shinobu handed him a folded length of fabric. "I made you this scarf, sempai!" she said. "Please don't catch a cold!"
"Thanks, Shinobu," he said, graciously accepting it. "You didn't have to go to all that trouble for me."
"Here," Kitsune said, handing Keitaro a small bottle. "Try not to drink it all at once."
"Kitsune!" Naru shouted. "Weren't you listening to what Nealla said about things he can't take on the plane!?"
Mutsumi handed him a large watermelon. "Here, I picked this one especially for you."
Sabashii stepped up with a grin, and handed Keitaro an ordinary-looking brown burlap bag.
"What's this?" Keitaro asked.
"Bag of holding."
After picking himself up off the floor, Keitaro looked into the bag. "Are you serious?"
Sabashii nodded. "Absolutely," he said. "It was mine, and I'm not sure I got everything I kept in it out, though, so be careful. I figure with all this big stuff you're getting, it'd be easier to lug around this way."
Giving the white-haired man a skeptical look, Keitaro put the watermelon into the bag, which neither grew heavier nor larger as the fruit disappeared inside. "Wow, it really works!" he said.
"Of course a bag of holding works," Seno called over. "Hell, Tsuruko managed to fit an entire Shinto shrine in hers, remember?"
"Looks like our bag of holding gag just got a whole lot worse," Motoko commented.
Meanwhile, a few feet away from the festivities, Haruka stood next to Seta with her arms crossed. "You take care of Keitaro for me, you hear?" she said.
"How about I take care of you instead?" Seta replied, nonchalantly taking a drag from his cigarette. "You could come along and we'd have our honeymo-"
A textbook one-inch punch from Haruka neatly and efficiently shut the archaeologist up, sending him flying back to rebound from a palm tree, to a bulletin board, and then into a wall. "Jackass," she said, then turned to Keitaro. "Keep him in line for me."
"Yes, ma'am," Keitaro replied, sweating. Then he turned to the rest of the tenants as Tama landed on his shoulder and patted his cheek, as if to say 'Good luck, old chap.' "I'm really going to miss you guys a lot. What's it been? Two years? We've been through so much it's hard to keep track."
Tama took off from Keitaro's shoulder and flew over to hover near Kitsune and Shinobu.
"Look, I consider us a family now and I want you all to stay safe," Keitaro continued. "When I get back, I'm sure I'll have tons of stories to dish out. So, don't forget me now."
Shinobu's eyes welled with tears as she uttered, "But I'll miss you..."
Kitsune patted the younger girl on the head as Tama likewise patted her shoulder. "There, there," the fox woman consoled. "Just let it out, Shinobu. We're all gonna miss him."
Looking around at the others, Naru sensed a golden opportunity. Or, as a certain pirate would've put it, the 'opportune moment.' Pulling a slip of paper out of her pocket, she took a step toward her boyfriend. "Keitaro, got a min-"
"Attention, the check-in gate for Flight 521 to Los Angeles is now boarding."
"That's our cue, Keitaro," Seta said.
"Guess so," the former ronin replied with a chuckle.
Seta turned around to look at his former student. "Something wrong, Naru?" he asked.
"Nope!" she lied, quickly hiding the paper behind her back. "Uh, you two just take care of yourselves!"
As Seta began to walk away, Keitaro followed, looking back to say, "I'll try and email you, Naru!"
"Yeah, sounds good!" she replied, projecting a cheer into her voice that she didn't feel.
Back with the others, Kaolla stood in front of the group, and said, "Ready? Go!"
As one, all of the tenants waved goodbye and shouted, "Bye! Good luck! Stay safe and bring us back something!"
Laughing as he stepped onto the escalator and waved back, Keitaro called, "Don't worry, I will! Thanks again!"
As the escalator carried him and Seta out of sight, Naru made one last step toward them, holding out her hand. W-wait!
But it was too late. They were already gone, and silence filled the wake of their departure.
"I guess that's it, then," Sabashii said.
"Yep," Seno agreed, nodding solemnly. "Wow. Eight months, huh?"
"Crazy, isn't it?" Motoko asked, reflecting the rest of the crew's sudden lack of enthusiasm.
"He's really gone," Kaolla remarked sullenly.
"I hardly had time to get to know him," Nealla said, resting a comforting hand on her twin's shoulder, "but I can already tell that things won't be the same with him gone."
Looking around at the down expressions on her friends' faces, Kitsune coughed loudly to draw their attention, then projected a cheer she didn't feel into her voice and said, "Well, let's go get wasted! Show's over!"
"Pool's closed, niggra," Sabashii said with a half-chuckle.
Kitsune looked over to Naru, who was still staring at the empty escalator. "Naru?" she asked quietly. "You comin'?"
Silence answered her.
Nodding in understanding, Kitsune turned away and began to usher the rest of the crew away. "Let's go on ahead," she told them. "She'll catch up to us later."
As her friends' voices trailed off behind her, Naru finally ceased her efforts to hold back her tears. Burying her face in her hands, she dropped down into a crouch, clenching the slip of paper in her hand. Dammit, why couldn't I work up the nerve? she berated herself in her head. It was the last time I was going to see him for eight months, and I blew my chance...
"Oh, well," she said bleakly, standing up and turning away. "There's always email."
"Please be advised, Flight 521 bound for Los Angeles has been delayed for inspection. It will now depart at 5:30 PM."
"This is depressing," she muttered.
"Guess we've got four hours to kill," a familiar voice said from behind her.
"No kidding," another, equally-familiar voice said. There was a pause, and then the same voice exclaimed, "Crap, they're still here!"
"Let's go this way!"
Naru spun around just in time to catch a glimpse of Seta and Keitaro trying to disappear back down the escalator. Jumping over the tape barrier, she ran after them and snagged both of them by their shirt collars. "Just what are you two still doing here!?" she exclaimed.
"Wasting time, what else?" Keitaro replied, pointing to the nearest speaker as it repeated the flight delay announcement.
"Can't very well do much of anything else," Seta laughed, rubbing his head. "Not with all those drug-sniffing dogs combing the plane."
Drug-sniffing dogs? Naru thought. So those were drugs that guy sold to Kaolla... I'll have to give her a talking-to about that once we get home.
"Though, we didn't want to ruin the moment by showing up again," Seta continued. "That'd be such an anti-climax."
"Yep, I was about to start crying, too," Keitaro agreed.
Looking between the two men, Naru broke into a smile, and then before she knew it, she was roaring gales of laughter, having to double over and hold onto her stomach in order to attempt to contain the pain from laughing so hard.
"Come on, it's not like we planned it intentionally!" Keitaro exclaimed, though he couldn't help but laugh as well.
Naru reached up and grabbed Keitaro's shoulders, breathing heavily as she rested her head against his in an attempt to calm down. Behind them, Seta just smiled at the affectionate display, then turned to one side. "Well, I'm going to go spend some quality time with you-know-who," he said, then wandered off.
"So..." Keitaro trailed off. "Any idea how to kill four hours?"
I've got one idea, Naru thought, before realizing how dirty that idea was and then proceeding to attempt to smack it out of her head.
Keitaro, apparently oblivious to this, continued, "It's too much trouble to go home and come back, but I can't just sit and watch people lug their noisy suitcases around. I'll end up with a migraine."
Having finally exorcised that mutinous idea, Naru stepped forward and slipped her arm through Keitaro's. "I've got an idea," she told him. "Since we're not going to see each other again for a long time, let's make these last few hours a date, hm?"
"Hey, that's a great idea!" he replied. "Where do we go first?"
"Just follow my lead!" she told him, pulling him deeper into the airport. As she did so, she spared a glance out a window and up toward the vast sky. Thank you, God, she thought sincerely. In these four magical hours that we've been given, we'll be able to do and say all of the things we couldn't before.
As the happy couple wandered away, a teenaged girl stepped out from behind a pillar, wielding a camera with a ranged lens attached to it. She was wearing a standard school uniform, and had her red hair pinned up in a number of spikey extensions behind her head, and her bangs parted off to the right side.
"Finally found you," she said, snapping a picture of the departing Naru and Keitaro. Lowering the camera, she produced a cell phone and pressed the speed dial button, then raised the phone to her left ear. "Yeah, it's me. Listen, I found them, just like you said. I almost got caught by their Shinmei girl, but you know I'm too good for that. What? No, I haven't seen any signs of the other mahou-senseis around, but it's not like I'd be able to notice them anyway."
She paused, listening to something spoken by the person on the other end of the line. "Yeah, seems like two of them are taking a trip to America. I've got some contacts over there that I can call on to keep an eye on them. Yeah, I'll trail these guys back to where they live and call you back."
May 4, 2007
Emergency Landing Field, Tokyo International Airport, Tokyo, Japan
1636 hours, local time
"Are you sure it's okay for us to be out here?" Keitaro asked, chuckling nervously as he followed Naru out onto the grassy field used in the event of an emergency landing. He held a bag of miscellaneous food items that they had picked up inside to eat in his left hand.
"Don't sweat the small stuff," she answered, brushing her flowing hair back with her right hand.
Just then, a departing plane passed over them, the resultant backwash from the engines sending a strong wind blasting through the field that threatened to blow Naru's skirt up over her head. "This wind is making me a bit flappable!" Keitaro exclaimed.
"I know what you'd like to see flapping!" she shouted at him, holding her skirt down with one hand while shaking her other fist at him. Once the wind had calmed down, she walked over and took the bag from him, then used a bit of her angelic strength to push him down onto the grass with one finger.
She then plopped down herself and reached into the bag, pulling out two prepared lunches, and handing one over to him. "And a tea for you," she said, handing him a steaming cup.
"Ah, thank you," he said, then turned his attention to his lunch. Even as he did so, he glanced over to his girlfriend, who was humming happily to herself as she ate her own food. It'll be hard not being able to see Naru each day, he thought to himself. It feels as if we're leaving things hanging just when they're getting interesting.
He's too gentlemanly, she mused. If anything's going to happen, I'm going to have to initiate. Should I just up and give him this?
At the same time, both of them turned toward each other and began to speak. They stopped suddenly, laughed nervously, and Keitaro asked, "What were you saying?"
"No, you go ahead!" Naru replied.
Just then, naturally, Keitaro's hand that had been holding his cup of tea slipped, and he spilled the scalding beverage into his lap. "Ow, that's hot!" he exclaimed.
"Stop! Don't make it worse!" Reaching into the bag, she produced a handkerchief that she wrapped around her hand. "You can't do anything right without me, can you?"
"You really don't have to," Keitaro said, reaching for her hand. "I can-"
And like clockwork, Keitaro's clumsiness came into play, and he inadvertantly ended up pushing the handkerchief, and her own hand, back against her breasts. Her right eye twitching was the only sign of a negative reaction to this, and she pushed her hand back against his, moving them both away from her.
"Jeeze, you take any chance to cop a feel, don't you?" she asked playfully, reaching out her free hand to flick his forehead. "You don't have touching privileges yet."
"Ow," he muttered, rubbing that spot on his forehead.
"Oh, come on, I barely tapped you!"
"You're using your angel strength!" he argued. "I can tell!"
She blinked. "Oh, I am. I forgot to limit it again after I pushed you down." Smiling nervously, she bonked herself on the head. "Silly me. Say, maybe you should work out while you're gone." She grinned and winked at him. "Maybe then you'll be able to take me at my full strength, huh?"
"EH?" was his only response.
She laughed. "Just kidding!" she said. "But seriously, it could also help with this heroes thing we're supposed to be doing. I mean, aren't blue mages supposed to be semi-frontline? You'd be better at it if you train a little."
He chuckled as well. "Yeah, maybe I can get another tan while I'm at it," he said, knowing how favorably she had reacted in the past to him when he was fairly tanned back on Pararakelse Island. He glanced down at his watch. "Wow, time's really flown by. Way too quick..."
"Yeah," she replied sadly. "Just an hour more to go." That feeling is back again, she thought.
"What's on your mind?" he asked softly, recognizing the melancholy expression on her face.
She was silent for a moment, and then she stood up, a determined look on her face. "Okay, I'm going to America with you!" she exclaimed.
"Do what!?"
"You heard me!" she continued. "Somebody's gotta keep you out of trouble! B-Besides, I could train with you." She tapped her index fingers together. "We could help each other out..."
"Come on, be reasonable," he said, gently squeezing her shoulder. "What about school? And your job? You can't just quit."
"Yes, I can!" Wrenching her shoulder away from him, she took a step forward, her head leaned down, shoulders hunched up, hands clenched into fists. "Besides, it's almost a whole freakin' year! How do you know that my feelings won't have changed by then? Dammit, I love you!"
Keitaro smiled, finally understanding her actions. She was afraid that being separated from him for so long would cause the love they had for each other to weaken, and possibly fade away. She had willingly given him her heart almost a year ago, and she didn't want to risk it being broken.
"Naru," he said gently, "I understand. What we have together now, is a precious thing to you. You don't want it to go away, you don't want our love to fade. So, I'll make you a promise, right now."
He took a step toward her, gently laying his hands on her shoulders. When she made no move to resist, he slipped them down her sides, and pulled her back against him, wrapping his arms around her waist. "While I'm gone, I'll do my absolute best, just for you. And in eight months, when January rolls around, I'll come home, and I'll bring you a ring."
Her eyes widened at this, and she could feel tears welling up in them. She quickly brought up her right hand to press over her mouth and stifle any forthcoming sobs. Is he...proposing to me?
"And then we can finally go to Tokyo U together," he continued, leaning his head against hers. "We may or may not live happily ever after, but I will not love you any less. So please, stay strong for me, and for everyone else's sake."
Airport Terminal, Twenty Minutes Later
Twenty minutes had passed and Naru was pretty sure that the handkerchief she held was more parts liquid than cloth at this point; she hadn't been able to stop crying ever since Keitaro had made that sort of half-assed proposal. I can't believe this, she thought, but he actually turned the tables on me. Now I'm the one who can't bear to be away from him. And to tell me he's going to bring me back a ring, to boot. Christ, he's more of a romantic than I gave him credit for.
Beside her, Keitaro looked up from the magazine he was reading and looked concernedly at her tear-streaked face. "Naru, are you sure you're okay? You're still-"
"You've only got thirty minutes left and you'll miss your flight if you get sidetracked now," she said, finally managing to pull herself together. "Why don't you get a little rest? I'll wake you up when it's time to go."
"I can sleep on the plane, but okay," he said, sliding into a more comfortable position in his seat and closing his eyes.
For her part, Naru watched him closely for a few minutes, and then began to close her own eyes. I suppose I have to learn to live without him for a while... she thought. And yet, I couldn't even work up the nerve to give him my request. Oh...well...
As she slept, she dreamed of the day that Keitaro would return from America, bringing with him an engagement ring and a more proper proposal. And during the course of that dream, in that fleeting sense of being between sleep and full wakefulness, she felt warm, familiar lips pressed lovingly against hers, and a murmured 'I love you' along with it.
The next thing she knew, she snapped awake, mentally beating herself for having fallen asleep. Shaking herself back into a productive state of mind, she turned to her left and called out, "Keitaro, you're going to be-"
And then she realized that he was already gone, a written-upon scrap of paper occupying his seat. She recognized it immediately; it was the gift certificate he'd issued her, along with her request for a kiss. But as she looked at it, she noticed that it was signed by Keitaro, complete with a hastily-scribbled chibi drawing of herself in angel form giving a chibi Keitaro a big hug.
"We are pleased to inform you that Flight 521 bound for Los Angeles has now departed. We apologize again for the inconvenience."
Ignoring the announcement, she picked up the certificate and traced her fingers over Keitaro's quick sketch, smiling warmly down at it. She didn't wager she would be throwing this away anytime soon, if ever.
Lifting her eyes, she looked out toward the east, spotting a distant black speck sailing into the sky, and allowed herself to pretend that it was the plane Keitaro was traveling on, allowing her to get one last view before being separated for eight months.
"Keitaro...I'll be waiting."