"The Maiden and Her Memories"

by Furor Scribendi

2008 Scribendi Productions

December 31st

Mahoro arose early. She looked over to the clock to confirm it was as early as she thought it was. She got up and went to the window to look out. Dawn was still a bit off but she could see a light dusting of snow and more was falling gently. However, it was not enough to stop anything from occurring for the day.

There was a kind of serenity, as the snowfall hid a lot from sight. Everything looked so pure, a blanket of whiteness that covered all. She saw the doghouse, snow coating the roof. Slash had no problems sleeping in the doghouse and he said he would keep Guri-chan warm, so they did not need to be in the house for the season. Still, she would check up to make certain that things were all right.

She tip-toed over to the door to gently shut and lock it, but the latching sounded like a girder falling down an elevator shaft to her. When she opened up the closet door, the squeaking could have raised the dead…on Hokkaido. She held her breath, but the house was quiet and still. Not a creature was stirring.

She retrieved a large box on the floor and brought it over to the bed. Removing the lid, she pulled out a thickish scrapbook, a shadow box and some random clippings, bulging out of a too-small folder. On the cover of the scrapbook, it said "For Suguru: One Magical Year".

Opening the book, the first page was a newspaper want ad clipping, with one ad in particular circled. It was the ad, placed by Suguru, asking for a maid. The next page was the article on the bus hijacking and subsequent crash. There was a photo of Suguru, looking most dazed.

Following that was the contract that Suguru had signed, giving the custody of the house to Mahoro. It had been on the refrigerator for a couple of months, but she was afraid that it would get grimy from all the cooking, so it was moved to this safer location. Next to that were both the letter of recommendation from Toteke-sensei and the diploma from Vesper Housekeeping Services.

She felt badly that she did not take pictures of the house from the very first day, but she did have some "before" and "after" shots of the rest of the rooms. She sighed. Looking back, it would have been nice to have a photo of the mountain of clothes that had exploded from the closet and nearly buried the both of them. At the time, however, she was of a different opinion on it.

Still, there were plenty of other photos, some of them very dramatic in how things changed. She even managed to get a few of the yard. That area was a real workout, as weeds had taken over almost everything and some proved quite stubborn in their removal.

Flipping the pages, the past six months came back to life.

There was the invoice for the water heater, which had exploded that night in July and she and Suguru were forced to the bath house. She snickered to herself, remembering how Shikijo tried to out-sauna her and lost badly.

There were the bus tickets they used to get to the gravesite the following day. She still felt terrible about the entire Commander Misato incident. If only she didn't have to do what she did on that awful day. But it was required to save Suguru and others. She sensed herself tearing up, but she quickly wiped it away.

She had Hamadi's picture from the beach with the Crab Robot in the background and the massive articles about the attack and invasion. That was a particularly terrifying time, as she knew she was going to be destroyed there. She was impressed with Suguru's bravery. She had seen it once before on the bus, then again with the Crab. What was it about him that causes him to doubt himself, she wondered.

The next page had all the materials and articles from the Cooking Shogun show: the original ad that Chizo had shown her and the two write-ups about the entire event. Amid all of that was a letter from Hattori Hanzo himself, again offering the possibility of a job at the Blade. Another page had the actual tuna recipe she had employed that day, plus some special photos that were also taken.

She rustled through the overflow pile, items that had not yet found their way into the book. There were numerous articles about what Hanzo had done for that particular episode, with a rather nice photo of Mahoro doing the knife pull. It showed her garter and a lot of thigh and was a rather popular shot, she was led to believe. She just didn't know where to put it in with everything else and she was seriously considering a second scrapbook for these related items.

Flipping to the back of the book, there was a DVD sleeve, which held a full copy of that show. Something this special was duplicated onto a gold-colored disk. Even in the subdued light, it looked magnificent.

Returning to the pages, there was the listing in the paper for that particular show, some of the ads promoting it and the ratings for the week. Her episode came in fifth for ratings, losing out to Ninja Warrior, but it was the top show for that particular night and it also buried its competition.

Looking over to the shadow box, there was the medallion that Hanzo had given to her. It was a big, heavy piece of work and she was still working on the display approach to the box. There were other items in the box for consideration: the three bullets that had been shot at her by the thief that day on the bus when she first met Suguru; a reproduction of her Wish Paper she hung up in July, as the original had blown away; a tiny fragment from the Crab Robot and some shreds of clothing.

Flipping back through the book, just past the photo Rin took of them all on the roof of the school during the Ghost Hunt in August, there was the article on the Ninja Panty Bandit. The articles of clothing were part of her shredded uniform and part of his shredded outfit. More articles included the mysterious rain of panties on downtown Hiryu and the ad about the four panties for 500 yen sale.

Then came the Dance of the Dead Festival materials. In the overflow pile was one of the posters for the event. She would have preferred to include the one that she first saw, but that was a bit weather beaten by the time she got back to it. This example she had was a stunningly crisp one for her archives, however. There were also a couple of additional articles and some pictures.

One photo was taken by the Councilman, of her posing in front of the stand and the other was her and the greengrocer, who beat on the drum for the performance. These photos were reprints and would be the ones that were placed in the Master Book that covered the history of the Dance of the Dead for the city. She also had a copy of the results of the voting that nominated her to lead the dance. She was still surprised how much she really out-pointed her nearest competitor.

Something that was snagged by one of her friends was the warning poster from the Festival, telling the booth operators to be on the lookout for both Shikijo AND her. She reddened at that one. The comments were not all that positive. What was it about Shikijo that made her get so angry and flustered? No one else had that effect on her.

Mahoro held for a moment. She knew what the next pages held. She didn't want to read them, but she had to take the good with the bad. She flipped the page.

It started with a pair of articles. The first was the capture of a pair of escaping thieves and how they almost ran over Chizo in the process. The second was about the unexplained fire at the Green Star Refined Sake building. There was a smaller article from the school newspaper about the arrival of Ryuga-sensei with a rather odd photo of him. Why did it always appear as though something he ate was disagreeing with him, she thought.

The series ended with a triad of articles. The first covered the massive blackout in the area and how the power plant was partially damaged. The second talked about extensive vandalism at the abandoned Hiryu Hospital and an investigation into the matter. The third talked about strange lights seen in the nighttime skies and could it be UFOs.

Mahoro shook her head. If only they knew half of what went on that fateful night.

Amid all that bad news were the bits from their day previous at the Yokohama amusement park: the tickets in, the receipt for that marvelous red dress she bought and numerous photos. The one she liked the best was the shot of Shikijo crawling on the ground to stop them from doing whatever illicit things she had imagined them doing. Mahoro laughed out loud, and then clasped her hands over her mouth, trying to stifle herself. She didn't want to wake anyone, but it was just such a funny scene, especially since one could see her Teddy Bear underpants. A woman her age, wearing that!

The next page had an item that caused her a great deal of emotional consternation, as it was the receipt for the Pi Deal Alpha machine. Thank goodness there were no photos of THAT! She rubbed her forehead in pained recollection. The humiliation was almost too much to bear, but no one ever spoke of it again. That was a relief. She shuddered as she recalled her dream and the….booby missiles. Where did that dream come from?

Turning the page quickly, she was greeted with the photo of her at the Aoshima Flats, where she had eaten the Speciality Royal King and beat Shikijo for the top slot by doing it in the fastest time. There was also a receipt from the pachinko parlor where she and Shikijo had a kind of girl's night out the next evening, as well as a tiny slip of paper she didn't fully understand, labeled as "recyclable materials".

It ended up in her clothing and it had to have come from that night at Shikijo's, but what it really meant and how it got there was of a real concern. She just did not know. She made a mental note to herself. No more drinking, especially with Shikijo about.

Halloween was next on the schedule and the articles about that festival and the mysterious performance between a female warrior and a battle robot were there. At least the photos that were taken of it were a bit on the blurry side, so no one really realized it was her, not did they understand that what she destroyed was a real robot, sent, probably, by Management, as a test of her abilities.

There were the copies of the paperwork to get Minawa into the school and an article from the school paper about how there was an incident of the PE fields that ended with Shikijo getting conked in the head with a falling light standard. That was an odd evening, as EVERYONE at the dinner table had a bandage on their head. She decided that it would have to be an extreme circumstance to get her into camouflage again.

After that tale came the receipt for the enhancements. She sighed. It would have been wonderful if they could have been real. She found that the 91C example gave her the best feel, but the Moose certainly had it advantages and disadvantages. It did come in useful with that fight against another Management robot. It never knew what hit him, although the personal mortification still gnawed at her.

Mahoro looked about cautiously. Even though she knew no one was in the room, she wanted to be certain of it. Going into the overflow pile, she found an oversized envelope. Opening it, she pulled out a series of pictures of her wearing each of the six augmentation devices. The Moose was absolutely ridiculous, but she felt she looked more like a real woman. She certainly felt more like a real woman with the devices on. If only, if only…

She recalled what Professor Hokaze had said to her back in September, but she was thinking of sending another request for the enhancement. Perhaps after the New Year celebrations would be a good time for it, as everyone would be in a better frame of mind.

There were the two absolutely delicious items that she had gotten from Shikijo herself. It revolved around the bomb scare at the school, which turned out to be not a bomb but a time capsule that Shikijo had buried years ago and was desperately looking for it, as there were to be school renovations. In all the confusion, when the capsule spilled its contents, she managed to snag a picture and one of Shikijo's love poems.

The picture was of her being very flirty in her school uniform. Mahoro shook her head. Shikijo had not changed all that much in a decade. Then she really looked at the picture. Shikijo was blossoming, even then: blouse slightly too tight, skirt slightly too high. The poem was a bit on the corny side, but she certainly recognized a lot of the comments, as Shikijo had spoken them to Suguru.

Mahoro knew she should really return the two items, but she had no real evidence of that particular time and digging for the bomb. Wait! Scrabbling through the overflow pile, she came up with a picture of herself in disguise at the cultural festival. She thought it was a great one, but Suguru told her that EVERYONE knew it was her. The picture was placed with the other two items. She reminded herself that there were more photos taken of them and she would have to speak to Hamadi to get them.

The next page only had the article about the exploding mailbox at the market, but there were so many other papers in the overflow pile. They were still in the process of being gathered and collated, but it was the arrival of Minawa and with just so much occurring in December, she did not have the time to put it all together properly.

There were two additional articles: one discussed the explosions on top of an office block and the other spoke about "airplane parts" falling from the sky. No one was injured, but an official complaint was filed with the National Flight Board about carelessness over an urban center by the airlines.

That was a surprising day, as she did not expect things to get so out of hand with all that combat and the arrival of Minawa. She recalled lying with her in the boat in the middle of the lake. She had never seen a person so emotionally damaged, so spiritually fragile. She always felt that both she and Suguru made the right decision to take her in and help her recover, even though both Slash and Ryuga felt otherwise.

In the shadow box was her damaged shoe from that day. It had taken a great deal of abuse, but it was a reminder for her about giving back. That was the whole reason she had taken this position: to give back. And the walk from the lake gave her time to reflect upon that. And it led into the holiday season as well.

Looking through the overflow pile, she found the photos and receipts from Christmas: her trips to both the US to the Henderson Farm in Kentucky and the Tree Farm in the Karlnar Region of Finland. There were photos taken of her with Mr. Henderson and his family, and one with tree expert Hanna Kekkonen. Both were very helpful in understanding what to look for in selecting the perfect turkey or the perfect tree. The Sylpheed certainly got a workout that day.

Then, there were the rest of the photos, including the dinner and the house decorations. The wreath Minawa made was enormous and it would be taken down later today, but she had a picture of it. She could have easily driven her motorcycle through it.

She snickered to herself. That would be a holiday treat: leaping over the neighborhood and passing right through the wreath, like some festive daredevil in her reindeer outfit.

She started to organize those shots and the overflow pile was greatly reduced. She looked at one picture, of her in the scarf that Suguru had knitted especially for her. The scarf would eventually have to go into the shadow box, as….

Another tear fell from her. She did not want to think about that, but it was inevitable. She did not have that much time remaining and there was still so much that needed to be done.

At the bottom of the overflow pile was a manila envelope. She withdrew the contents, which was a multi-page letter, plus numerous drafts, as she attempted to come up with the best wording. She began to read it.

"My dearest Suguru,

"If you are reading this letter, it is under one of two circumstances: you are looking for your ecchi, which is safely away from you or, I have ceased to function.

"If it is the former, there is nothing you can do about that; if it is the latter, there is something you can do about that.

"This scrapbook is a reminder of that wonderful time we had together. All the ups and downs, the trials and tribulations and the happy times we spent with your friends.

I do not want you to be sad that I am no longer here with you………"

Mahoro held. This was always the hardest part of the letter to write. She had a difficult time finding the right words to say. She riffled through previous attempts, but nothing seemed to really click. Many ideas had been attempted, a lot of them destroyed. She kept only those that offered the correct direction.

How could she comfort Suguru when she was not there? These words would have to carry him, not only through the time immediately afterwards, but for many years to come, especially in those moments of his deepest despair.

The other hard part was her confession, explaining all that she knew about Commander Misato Would Suguru decide that she was really a horrible person and not want to have anything to do with her? How could she explain that it was on his direct orders to do that and it was done with great reluctance? Despite her being an android, she sustained damage as well. She had kept the peace and won the battle, but at what real cost?

She looked over to the clock. Not that much time had passed. Stuffing the paperwork back into the manila envelope, she stood up and went back over to the window to gaze out. The snow was still falling, just as light as before, but there was slightly more on the ground. It would be a nice day for playing about and preparing for the New Year. A new year filled with hope and opportunity, the promise of…

Mahoro looked away as a thought came to her. She could feel the words welling up inside of her, the proper words that needed to be said. Heading back to the envelope, she pulled out the pad of paper and began to write anew. Filled with fervor as the words poured through her, she quickly scribbled down everything.

She was crying, but more out of finding what was needed to be said in the way it needed to be said, and not out of unhappiness or despair. A half-hour later, she stopped writing and looked at what she had done.

"My dearest Suguru,

"Do not be unhappy. Although my passing has created a void in your life, and for this I am deeply sorry, you hold in your hands something just as precious: memories. Memories of us.

"The time I spent with you was the happiest that I had experienced. My hope is that it was just as happy for you, and with all your wonderful friends, even Shikijo-sensei.

"All of these items are for you. Do not look upon them and see sorrow; view them for the elation that they bring, for that what they brought to me.

"As long as you remember me and talk about me, I'm never really gone, just temporarily away.

"Love, Mahoro.

"P.S., You will find your ecchi stash in the hidden area beneath the closet in the Master Bedroom. I never could bring myself to discard it all."

Her eyes brimming with tears, she placed the pad and the paperwork back into the manila envelope, organized the paperwork and the shadow box, placed it all back into the larger box and settled it back into the closet. She would do a more formal write up of the letter later on, but she said what she wanted to say. Perhaps it would be better to keep the information regarding Commander Misato for another letter. THIS one would be the first Suguru would read, to help him feel better about things.

Looking over to the clock, it was almost time to get up and get the house going for the day. She went back to the window and looked out one last time. The snow was falling a bit heavier, but not a full snowstorm and the sun was starting to rise, casting everything is a pleasing glow.

She took in a deep breath, held it for a moment and let it out slowly. This was going to be a good day and she was going to live for today. There was still time, so she would make the best of it.

MAHORO'S SYSTEMS WILL CEASE TO FUNCTION IN 200 DAYS

End Notes

When the anime first ran on TV, they had a kind of clip/recap show. It is sometimes referred to as show "Season One, Episode 10.5". Keeping this in mind, I decided to have a "recap" episode of my own, especially at this most poignant of time junctions.

Now, I have decided to stick (more or less) with the anime over the manga, so the Shirakiku Academy tale has been suppressed. Although I did consider writing some fanfic about it, it would be just too confusing to comment about her looking for bombs in both schools.

I have also decided to stay within the nexus of my "reality" for Mahoro. I did have a thought to incorporate other fanfic stories, but decided against it, as this is really my take on things.

It would be different if we had a kind of committee to examine Mahoro's last 10 months to create a Day of Days calendar where practically EVERYTHING she did was accounted for. Then we could pick and choose what "happened" to her, establishing a canon or accountability from which things could be referenced.

Well, that is far more trouble than it is worth and, knowing writers, no one ever wants to sacrifice what they have done.

Now, I have added elements from both the anime and the manga (which explains the Ninja Panty Bandit reference), but I have decided to keep with the manga timeline, where the Pi Deal Alpha comes first (October 18th), long before the arrival of Minawa (December 8th).

But, as you can see, I chose the anime arrival of Minawa over the manga arrival. A lot of people may still not have read the manga and if you go to some of those manga on line sites, they do not take you particularly far into the series (petering out at Book Three or Four, depending on which site you reference.)

Now, here's the fun thing for me: I could potentially turn this into a "Further Day" for me, as I have stopped early enough for it. But that is for another time.

The reference to the motorcycle. There is a model of her astride a rather powerful looking motorcycle and I have seen pictures of her with it, but I have never seen her using it in the series. I have been figuring out how to work that in, but nothing substantial has come of it to date.