After nearly an hour of walking, Keitaro found himself somewhere on the outskirts of town. Where he was headed was irrelevant to the sad soldier. The memories of his parents and his friends still haunted his mind. Perhaps no one in Japan took this day harder than him.
He could still remember that time Avianna spoke to him as he waited in the military infirmary. The younger man had just had his wounds tended to, and he waited for what the medics would say about the remaining ERT. The red-haired general entered the room before slowly closing the door behind her.
"Urashima", She addressed him.
"Yes Ma'am", Keitaro formally said as he stood up in a salute.
"Sit down soldier, we need to talk."
Keitaro did as he was ordered, and took a seat. He was rather slow because of his injuries, but managed to rest on the medic table.
"You're a very luck Urashima today. Out of fifty guys in your unit, only nine survived including you."
"Ma'am, if I may. I want to ask, what happened out there?"
Avianna tightly gripped the bridge of her nose as she took a seat next to Keitaro.
"You already saw what happened to Draconian. It wasn't just him, four other projects were stolen. Project Venom, Project Neon, Project Cyber, and Project Plasma. We managed to seal off the remaining projects, but Draconian was in cahoots with Viperous and Neon. We're trying to track them, but we have very little units left."
"Ma'am, I know I wasn't qualified for any of the projects, but I want to go look for them."
"You will Keitaro", Avianna said as she stood up.
"I'll be on the base by tomorrow morning Ma'am."
"No, you won't", Avianna said without looking to him. "You're going to be taking a lave of absences."
"What", Keitaro asked. "But General, these wounds aren't significant to me. I'm a pretty sturdy guy, I'll be back on my feet by tomorrow."
"I have no doubt that you'll recover swiftly soldier...But that's not why you'll be gone."
Keitaro was now totally confused. What was she saying to him. The most important thing to her would most likely be trying to retrieve the stolen projects, and catching the traitors responsible. Yet why would she tell one of her last soldiers to leave in a critical time?
"Ma'am, I-I don't understand."
"It's your parents Urashima", Avianna blurted out.
"What", Now Keitaro was worried.
"I just received the report about an hour ago...Your parents...", Avianna tried to find the words in her cottony throat. "There...There was an accident...In their car."
"An accident? Are they badly hurt, are they okay", Keitaro said as he slowly stood up.
Avainna still had her back turned to him. The woman shook her head no, making her short hair dance around her face. All of Keitaro's world blackened as he drank in what she was telling him. Despite the strength and speed he had in his legs, the muscles gave way, landing him on his hands and knees. Keitaro was at that denial stage as he fought back the sickening feeling of the truth.
"No, no it's a lie! Why would you lie to me like this Avianna!"
"You're right soldier. Why WOULD I lie to you? When have I ever lied to you", Avianna pointed out.
She made a harsh point. Never once since he arrived at the military base had she lied to him once. There would be no point in making up a story for him, especially when it involved death or family. Keitaro shakily stared at the tile on the floor. His body began to vibrate, and water began to form in his eyes. He felt as if there was something trying to crawl its way into his heart through his head. Keitaro brought his hands to his ears, squeezing his skull to dangerous level. Avianna didn't need to look at him to know what was going to happen next.
The woman left the room. She gave him no comforting words, because they would not help. She chose not to stay, because she just couldn't bear to see the sadness in his eyes. As quietly as she could, Avianna walked out the room, and closed the door behind her. Being left-handed, Avianna let it linger on the door handle, while her right palm was placed on the wall. No more than three seconds had passed when she heard it.
Keitaro screamed like he never had before in his life. It wasn't from physical pain, it was something words could not comprehend. Inside the room, Keitaro was curled up in a ball, his hands still straining his head, and his face against the tile on the floor. His screams subsided, and were transformed into a full on cry. He cried like a child who was taken away from his world. In a short meaning, a lot of his world had been taken away from him already. His promise girl was taken away from him. His home at Hinata Sou was taken away from him. His dream of Tokyo University was taken away from him. His military units had been taken out. Metaru was taken from him. Simon was taken away. Yangu was taken away before his eyes. Masuka was taken away from his life, and now his parents had been forever taken away. What did he have left? Was there anything left to be taken away from him?
Reality flashed back to him. The flashing sensation came from an oversized lit sign. Keitaro focused his vision on what the bright words read.
"This can't be a coincidence", Keitaro muttered to himself.
The red bold words read, "Urashima Sweets". It was the bakery/pastry shop that belonged to his parents. It was the same place he kept running away from to pursue Tokyo U. Why his feet wandered back her, he would never understand. He had half of a mind to just turn around and leave. However, he did promise his dad's headstone that he would at least check up on the place. With a deep breath for preparation, Keitaro entered the shop.
The jingling of the bell let all others know that he had entered. No one was at the counter, and only a few people sat in the booths. Keitaro looked over the place as he waited at the counter. It was all so familiar to him. The different assorted goodies in the display case, the white paint on the walls, the smell of freshly baked treats, it all stimulated Keitaro's familiarity. Thankfully the place was in good shape. The floors were clean, the tables and chairs were in good shape, and there were no signs of damage anywhere. Indeed, his relatives had taken good care of this place.
"Hello, what can I get you", a female voice said to him
Keitaro looked back to the counter. On the other side was a girl somewhere around his age. She had short brown hair, up to her shoulders. The outfit and adorable cap let him know that she worked here, but Keitaro already knew that. In fact, he already knew who this person was.
"Sugi, it's been a while", Keitaro said to his distant cousin from his father's side.
"Huh, I'm sorry what", the girl asked confused.
Keitaro was now the one confused. He was taken back by her reaction as his smile died off into a frown.
"Sugi it's me", Keitaro said to her. "Don't you remember, I used to come in here a lot. You don't remember me?"
Sugi shook her head back and forth before answering, "Sorry, I don't recognize you. Farauxei, Sunadokei, does this guy seem familiar to you!?"
Sugi yelled to the back room where an older man and a teenage girl worked. Both the man and girl looked to Keitaro.
"Nope, I don't recognize him", said Farauxei.
The girl known as Sunadokei shook her head no before continuing with her work. They didn't know of him, but Keitaro knew who they were. Sugi was his cousin, and Sunadokei was her sister. Their father was Farauxei, who was also his dad's brother.
"I'm sorry, how do we know each other", Sugi asked politely.
Keitaro held his mouth open, but the words struggled to break free. These people, who here family to him, had completely forgotten Keitaro. He closed his jaw into a frown, as his head lowered. He could try to make them remember who he was, but what was the point. He was only a distant memory to them, there was no point in bringing up the past.
"Nothing", Keitaro said sadly. "I umm, I used to visit here a lot. That's all."
Technically it wasn't a lie on Keitaro's part. However, he just could be honest with the person right in front of him. It was a defense mechanism that he could never fix till this day. He felt sadness, but he didn't know why he was feeling it. Afterall, it wasn't like he came to visit very often. Still, it did leave a sting in his chest.
"I'll just have two Caramel Koko Turtle", Keitaro said pointing to the chocolate piece behind the glass.
"Alrighty", Sugi cheerfully replied sa she scooped a piece into the bag.
Keitaro exchanged the money and chocolate with her saying", Keep the change."
"Thank you, have a nice day", Sugi replied as he walked towards the door.
"I'll try", Keitaro said as he bit into the chocolate treat.
He turned around waved by before leaving the store.
"What a nice guy", Keitaro's cousin said to herself.
As she watched him leave, Sugi tried to think where she could have seen this guy before. At that moment, Farauxei called her over to assist him in the back. If only Sugi's father didn't need her help at that moment, things could have been different. Sugi would have looked to the corner of the shop where there was a picture on the wall. In the small frame was a five-year old Keitaro, eating his first Caramel Koko Turtle. Sugi would have remembered who he was, and went after Keitaro. But, this is life, and life can sometimes twist the world's event into many different directions. Farauxei needed Sugi's help. Sugi assisted both him and Sunadokei. She didn't look back to the picture, so she didn't remember who Keitaro was. Because Keitaro wasn't remembered by his own family, Keitaro left the shop.
Less than a block away, Keitaro sat down on a bench. He held the last Caramel Chocolate Turtle in his hands. It was odd that the piece hadn't melted in his hands yet. Keitaro looked at the small candy in the eyes. It kinda reminded him of Tama-chan, which made Keitaro chuckle to himself. It didn't last long, since Keitaro was only trying to cheer himself up. He had a half mind to toss the candy away, but he was never one to let food go to waste. Before he could make a decision, someone else made an appearance.
"Well howdy do Keitaro!"
Keitaro jumped from his seat. Leaning on the back rest of the bench was Kitsune Konno. She had that same mischievous fox expression on her face, which was also thankfully sober.
"Kitsune, what are you doing here?"
"Well with Angel bein at the apartments, I thought it'd be kinda awkward ta be around him."
"Oh, I see", Keitaro said.
He had completely forgotten that her and Angel used to date. Keitaro took a seat once again. When he did so, Kitsune couldn't help but see how depressed he was.
"Hey, what's wrong Keitaro", Kitsune said as she jumped over the bench to sit besides him.
"Nothing", Keitaro said as he looked at only the chocolate in his hands.
"Well it can't be nothin, ya haven't even taken a bite out of that there chocolate in your hands."
Keitaro was rather surprised by her small observation. She deducted that he was depressed, even though he wasn't really trying to hide it. The turtle began to melt on his fingers. He was second guessing that maybe he should have gotten a cinnamon roll or something.
"Here, you can have it", Keitaro said as he handed her the Urashima Sweets candy.
Kitsune held the turtle in her hands as she bit her bottom lip. In her mind she was trying to think of what was making her friend so depressed. Keitaro was a soldier, he probably had a lot of psychological problems. Naru hadn't been speaking to him lately, that was another theory. There was always Tokyo University, that was always a major issue in his life. With no clear guess of what the problem was, she took the chance of speaking instead of thinking.
"Listen Keitaro", The Urashima turned to her while she talked to him. "I don't know what's botherin ya, and I don't think I can make it all better for ya. But I wantcha ta know, that I'm here if ya ever wanna talk. It makes me kinda sad ta see ya like this. I don't like see ya sad. I don't think there's much I can relate ta, or that I can know what your feelin. But I can understand, and I can listen...I guess that's all I can do."
Keitaro smiled at her. She was glad to see that it wasn't one of those "Fake Masked" smiles, but a genuine "Thank You" smile.
"Thanks Kitsune. I'm sorry if I'm making you depressed too. It's just a really depressing day for me, that's all."
Kitsune could understand, people had those sometimes. However, Kitsune was never one to be sad, or dull for that matter. She was someone who enjoyed the excitement of life, and Keitaro looked like he could use some of that.
"Then let's change that", Kitsune told him.
"Huh", Was all Keitaro could say before she took his hand. "Where are we going?"
"Some place where you won't be depressed", Kitsune sad as she took a bite out of the chocolate turtle Keitaro gave her.
Kitsune led Keitaro from the park bench to somewhere only her and his life's narrator knew. Wherever they were going, Keitaro was nervous to be lead. He was especially nervous when Kitsune was dragging him along for one of her wild rides.
It's been a while since I posted something. I apologize, it's just that school has been keeping me busy. Whenever I write a chapter of one of my fanfic stories, I usually focus on one chapter for one of my stories. This time around, I tried working on multiple chapters for all of my stories. Progress was going slow, so I decided to post something else here. Next time, you'll hear about the rest of the ERT, and the other girls of Hinata Sou talk to them. What does Kitsune have planned for Keitaro, and how will soldiers and girls get along at Hinata Sou. Just hang in there and you'll find out.