Saturday morning, March 12th – Shinkansen tunnel
It had been a rough night for everyone on the bullet train. Fortunately, the seats in the Super-Green Car reclined almost to a full horizontal position, so the passengers in that car were more comfortable. Unfortunately, the crew of the Super-Green Car were not provided such seats and had to make do with taking turns to get some sleep on the floor. Around midnight they had been visited by an inspection team and a supply truck that dropped off food and water for everyone still on the train, but there was no word of when the trains would be running again. So they waited.
Ten hours later, it was still dark inside the tunnel where the train sat... where it would remain immobile for quite a bit longer. But the wait was over for the passengers. Workers arrived with an evacuation plan. Umeko and her juniors offered to help, but from the perspective of the emergency teams – everyone on the train was an evacuee. Whether passenger or employee, they were all given the same instructions.
"But, we can help." Umeko insisted to a man wearing one of the reflective vests. He glanced at her name badge before replying.
"No Minami-san. Your work is done now. According to what we've been told, you and your crew have been at work for more than twenty-four hours. You've all done a splendid job of maintaining order and keeping your passengers safe. It's time for you to let us take over." the workman told her.
"Besides that, it's against the safety rules. As soon as you step off that train and into this tunnel, your responsibilities are over." another man added.
"Yeah, I guess so." Umeko gave up then. There were a lot of guidelines and rules that could be bent, but not when it came to safety.
"Can you tell me if our cell phones will work when we get outside?" the younger of her juniors asked the man in the reflective vest.
"It's spotty, but you should have a signal when you emerge from the tunnel. Try to make your calls before the bus pulls away though. Once you get on the road, you might not have any signal for a while." he warned them.
Cell phone… Umeko realized that she hadn't talked to her sister since this ordeal had begun and wondered how she was doing. Ha… of course she's okay. She's a whole ocean and continent away from all of this madness. Still, I should call and check on her when I get out of this tunnel.
.
Saturday morning, March 12th – Hotel Suite, Melbourne
Suzume bounded across the suite's lounge area and grabbed the phone from Ryuuji's hand. Hearing that her sister was on the phone made her forget about everything else.
"Where are you? Are you okay? What happened? Why didn't you call me?" Suzume blurted out in a rapid fire blitz of questions.
"Our train stopped in a tunnel. We only just got out of there. I couldn't make any calls inside the tunnel." the elder sister said slowly and calmly, then asked, "How are you doing?"
"How am I doing? HOW AM I DOING! I'm not doing real good. You scared me. You scared me real bad!" Suzume's emotions seemed to be sliding toward anger rather than relief. She was about to start screaming into the phone again when she felt a powerful stinging blow to her bare bottom. Spinning around she saw an upset Ryuuji and, even more frighteningly, a furious Hisako. Before she could utter a word, Ryuuji snatched his phone back and walked away while Hisako grabbed the teenager by her long red hair. Pulling the teen's hair, she forced Suzume to come within centimeters of her roiling fury.
"Ryuuji said he doesn't want any bruises, so I won't hit you in the face. But if you don't calm your silly ass down RIGHT NOW, I will put you over my knee and spank you until my hands are swollen." Hisako fumed.
"W...why?" Suzume was still rubbing her bottom where the first blow had landed and certainly didn't want any more of those. But she was also pissed off that Hisako was interfering in something that wasn't her concern.
"You are blaming your sister for something that she had no control of. Think about how exhausted she probably is now. Think about how her precious little sister's tirade made her feel. Stop being a selfish little bitch and think of your sister instead of yourself for once!" Hisako hissed through her own anger.
"You should also finish your bath and put some clothes on." Nanako added in a much calmer tone that betrayed her amusement at Suzume's situation, "I mean… I'm okay with it, but I think you gave Ryuuji-sama a bit of a shock."
"Huh?" Suzume glanced down and realized that she hadn't even grabbed a towel when she came running from the bathroom to talk to her sister. Her mouth dropped open and her face colored bright red as she backed out of the room with her small hands trying futily to hide her private parts.
.
"Umeko, this is Ryuuji. Hisako is… talking to your sister." Ryuuji told the elder Minami.
"Yeah, I heard some of it. You know… she gave me quite an earful the other day too." Umeko remembered the stern words clearly.
"Suzume?" Ryuuji asked. He hadn't heard of this.
"No… Hisako-san. She didn't like the way I was always telling Suzume that foreign places were unsafe." Umeko said.
"Do you want me to talk to her about it?" Ryuuji hadn't been aware that Hisako had been involving herself in the lives of the Minami siblings so much.
"No… she was right. I was being stupid." Umeko admitted.
"It sounds like your sister is getting chewed out now for… a similar transgression." Ryuuji had left the room and couldn't hear what was being said, but he could definitely pick up the menacing tone of Hisako's voice.
"I guess Hisako sees herself as the strict older sister." Umeko mused. "I know how much she wanted to get out from underneath my… supervision. So, sometimes I feel sorry for her."
"What do you mean?" Ryuuji asked.
"It seems to me that every time she goes somewhere with you guys, she suddenly has four or five older sisters watching out for her." Umeko laughed.
"Yeah. Hisako may be the most vocal, but Yasuko… well, you know how she is. But Ami, Yuri, and even Nanako are all watching out for her too." Ryuuji explained.
"I know it might be bugging her, but I have to admit that it makes me feel better knowing that." Umeko confided.
"Hey, enough about us. You're okay though, aren't you?" Ryuuji could hear the weariness in Umeko's voice and wondered what she had been through in the last twenty-four hours.
"I'm fine. I'm on a bus for Tokyo now. They're saying it will take us six or seven hours to get back, so I'm going to get some sleep now. Would you tell Suzume that I'm sorry I didn't call her?" Umeko said sleepily.
"No prob…" Ryuuji realized that the conversation had been lost. But the important part was done. All of their friends were now accounted for.
All of our friends?
Ryuuji realized then just how many friends he had, when he thought about the ones he hadn't heard from. Some of them, he hadn't heard from in quite a while. Kitamura was still with Sumire in California, so both of them should be safe. The Yamada sisters should all be in Tokyo, so they should be safe… though he hadn't heard from any of them in a while either. And finally, Haruta Koji should be… come to think of it, Ryuuji had no idea where Haruta planned to go after their High School graduation. He recalled him saying something about learning the family trade from his father or uncle, but Ryuuji couldn't remember what that trade was or where Haruta would be learning it. Haruta's family had always been close friends with the Hisamitsu family, so Ryuuji thought about sending Noto a quick query. But he refrained. From what he had heard from the Major and a few others, Noto was busy doing some very important things.
Then again…
Ryuuji looked at his phone and reconsidered. As busy as he was, he would want to know if a friend was in trouble. And, he figured Noto was the same kind of person. Pulling up the messaging application, he sent a quick message to let his friend know that most everyone was accounted for but…
Have you heard from Haruta recently?
.
Monday late morning, March 13th – Yamagata, Japan
Noto and Shinako stood in front of the bathhouse where they had been staying and faced the other guests. Arrangements had been made for the Hisamitsu representatives to stay in Sendai so that they could be closer to the center of the disaster relief efforts. Finding transportation was still difficult, but one of the Hisamitsu carry-all trucks had arrived to pick them up.
"I want to thank all of you for the support you have given me over the last several days. In truth, I wish I could take all of you with me. But, I've been told that there are only limited accommodations in Sendai now. So, I'm afraid this must be goodbye. However, I would like to give you something for all you've done for me."
Shinako stepped forward and gave each one of them an envelope.
"It is my hope that all of you will go to the airport and use these tickets to go to Okinawa and get away from this madness for a while." Noto told them.
"Thank you Hisamitsu-sama!" all of the bathhouse occupants bowed to show their gratitude.
.
"How much did that cost us?" Noto asked his cousin after they were safely inside the carry-all.
"Nothing." Shinako smiled.
"Nothing?" Noto asked in surprise.
"The airlines gave us a gift package for getting the Sendai airport cleaned up so quickly. I simply re-gifted some of that to our helpers." Shinako looked like she was waiting to be praised.
"Nicely done, Shinako-san!" Noto gave her the praise as expected, then turned his thoughts to the next issue. Or rather, the big issue that was facing him. Looking at the timetables and what would need to be done, agreements that needed to be reached, and contracts that needed to be finished – he was coming to the realization that he might have to skip the next year of college. He hadn't approached his cousin on this yet, mostly because he knew what she would say. But his was the voice and the face that had been meeting with the local government and disaster recovery management teams from Tokyo. For him to suddenly leave those efforts in two weeks when the new school year started, would be foolish and could seriously jeopardize everything he had worked for so far. Worse than that, it could introduce delay into the ongoing rescue and recovery work.
Compared to the troubles that others were having now, he considered his own inconvenience to be of no consequence. Noto was quiet as the big truck made it's way through Yamagata and into the residential areas outside the town. Yamagata was having a few power outages but otherwise showed no damage from the earthquake and tsunami that had ravaged the coastal areas. He tried to burn these peaceful views into his mind while he could. From the scenes that had been in the news coverage, he knew that Sendai was going to have an entirely different look.
.
Monday late afternoon, March 14th – Melbourne, Australia
"I don't know how long we're going to be able to keep up this pace." Hisako warned Ryuuji as she came off the stage, practically carrying Suzume.
He looked around and saw that his mother didn't look very happy either. She was holding a worn out little Aiko-chan in her arms with Yuri passed out on the same couch. With several performances and fashion shows every day since the day after the news broke about the tidal wave, they were all feeling worn out even before today's performance started.
The girls had just finished an afternoon performance for Australia's school aged children. Kids from the local schools in Melbourne had attended the concert, but it had been broadcast all over the country. The show hadn't been an easy gig though. Since the audience included boys and girls from grade school ages all the way to their late teens, the range of songs had to be vast to appeal to everyone. And, along with the singing, there had to be a lot of movement and physical entertainment as well. Fortunately, they had Yasuko and Yuri to help with a lot of the on-stage physical comedy.
Ryuuji's performance role had been to mix into the audience in one Avant Garde outfit after another. All of his brooding and mysterious outfits were designed by Hellivin and seemed to have been selected by the designer to accentuate Ryuuji's sinister looks, rather than tone them down. Umeki and Nanako would be performing with Ryuuji and had also learned to change clothes quickly, since they would wear one design after another as well. Unlike Ryuuji's industrial-goth look, the outfits worn by the girls were selected to appeal to teens and younger women.
But it would be no walk in the park for any of them. After Ryuuji had a few minutes head start to mix into they audience, Umeki and Nanako would come running out from the shadows as if to catch him. Ryuuji would lead them on a merry chase through the audience while the performers on stage continued to sing. All of the school children loved the game they were playing and were fascinated by Ryuuji's industrial goth look. Most of the younger children in the audience would squeal and point out the direction Ryuuji had gone, to the two girls chasing him. The older kids had fun trying to help him hide or giving the girl's conflicting directions on which way he had run.
By the time the show was over, they were all tired. Only Deena seemed to have any energy left, but she had been given the task of translating the instructions between the Japanese singers, and the Australian performance band that was working the show with them.
"Um… how would you guys like to relax and go see a movie?" Deena suggested after she got off the phone with her DFAT director.
"I appreciate the offer, but I'm wiped out." Ami said.
"Me too." Nanako added while rubbing her sore feet.
"I think we'd all just like to go back to the hotel and sleep for a week." Ryuuji told Deena but grew concerned when he saw her troubled expression. "Deena, what is it?"
"It's not good… there are a bunch of reporters at the hotel waiting for us to get back. And… they're not fashion or entertainment reporters." Deena told them.
"Why? What happened?" Ami asked.
"There's been another explosion at the nuclear power plant and… things are looking pretty bad there." Deena told her friends as gently as she could.
"So what? Isn't that more reason we should get the word out that there are struggling people that need help?" Suzume countered.
"No… Deena-chan is right. The reporters that show up after a natural disaster are mostly there to get the facts and show the humanitarian crisis." Yuri frowned and then told them, "But reporters that show up after a man-made accident are only there for fear and blame. There is already a lot of fear around nuclear power, so those kinds of reporters will be swarming like flies."
"But… that has nothing to do with us?" Suzume protested.
"I don't get it either." Umeki added. "Surely they're not going to expect us to answer questions about a nuclear power plant?"
"It's not that they will ask you about the power plants directly…" Yuri looked over at the couch where Yasuko held a sleeping Aiko-chan in her lap and decided to give the teen girls a more graphic lesson in what to expect from the press at a time like this. She took her shoe off and held it like a microphone.
"What… are you doing?" Suzume asked her sensei why she was holding her shoe in her hand. On entertainment programs, that was what a person did, right before they hit someone with the shoe.
"Just a little acting. I want you to pretend that I'm a reporter." Yuri told the teen. Before she started, she looked over at Ryuuji and Ami, but both of them grimly nodded their heads.
"Um okay." Suzume stood up a little straighter as if she were being interviewed by a reporter and his cameraman.
"Suzume-chan, you and your friends have been getting a lot of publicity since the earthquake and tidal wave hit your country. I mean, with your concerts bringing attention to the humanitarian efforts, of course." Yuri said in a reporter style.
"Yes! Lots of people are watching us and I hope they all will do something to help." Suzume replied.
"Of course you do. But whether they do or don't, you still get that boost to your popularity, right?" Yuri winked at her as if the two of them were in on a little secret. "And with this new nuclear power crisis, you'll be getting even more publicity, won't you?"
"I… I don't know what you mean." Suzume didn't like the way that had sounded at all.
"How does it feel to know that your popularity will go up because of the radioactive waste spewing out of the blown up reactor?" Yuri asked.
"What?" Suzume gasped.
"Does it make you happy to know that your rankings are going up while people in the affected areas are loosing their homes to the deadly radiation?" Yuri badgered the young student.
"Yuri-sensei, you know that isn't true!" Suzume shouted.
"How do you sleep at night…" but Yuri stopped when Hisako put her hand over the raised shoe.
"It won't be like that, will it? I mean… there may be some hard questions but they won't really be mean like that, will they?" Suzume asked.
"Yuri-sensei actually sugar coated it for you." Hisako told them. She took her hand away from Yuri's shoe and looked down as she added, "They will ask questions deliberately fashioned to make you scream or cry… or both."
How would you know? Suzume almost started to argue with Hisako, but she remembered the elder model's difficult past. Among the entertainers present, Hisako alone had a history of dealing with an antagonistic press. It was a history that had no victories… and a lot of pain.
"Do they show movies that we would understand?" Yasuko asked for herself and Aiko-chan mostly. The two of them had the least English comprehension of the whole group.
"There is an international theater that has lots of foreign films as well as movies that have been translated." Deena suggested.
"Oooh, I want to see a comedy… or a romance!" Yasuko brightened.
"That sounds like fun." Umeki replied with enthusiasm intended to better Suzume's mood.
"Oh no! That should be fine for Yasuko and Aiko-chan, but the rest of you need to hone your English skills and I'm not letting you off the hook!" Yuri insisted.
"I still don't see why it has to be a movie." Suzume sulked.
"What does Ryuuji-sama think?" Umeki asked.
"I…" Ryuuji was going to throw his support behind Deena's suggestion anyway, but his thoughts were momentarily interrupted when he felt Ami's hand slide into his. He looked at her and almost laughed from her shy girl wants something act. "I don't mind seeing a movie, if it's with the people that I like."
Even Suzume's defenses crumbled with that argument .
.
An hour later they were all comfortably seated in the international theater that Deena had told them about. Perhaps, they were a little too comfortably seated. More than half of them were asleep before the end of the show.
.
[Day-Date-Time Redacted] – [Location Redacted]
Deep in the mountains of the [Redacted] Prefecture, Ami and Ryuuji walked in step through a long corridor of metal doors and no windows.
It was clean.
Too clean.
The place had an antiseptic smell as if too much chlorine and bleach had been used to remove the blood from the floor and walls. Her escorts were all dressed in black business suits, wore dark sunglasses, and never smiled. That didn't bother Ami though. Being married to Ryuuji meant she was used to being around someone with fearsome looks and sunglasses. Today, she was wearing a matching pair of the mirror-shades he always wore these days.
"This way." one of the faceless escorts showed her to a nondescript door. It took him a few minutes to get it open as he dialed the combination code, turned a key simultaneously with another of the escorts, placed his palm on the reader, and looked into the lens for the retina scan. Then, they were all about to go in when Ami stopped Ryuuji at the entrance.
"Be a prince and wait for me here." she said as she caressed his face and let her fingers trail down his neck and chest.
"Yeah, whatever you want." Ryuuji stood next to the door and assumed his usual I'll just be waiting for your return pose. For some reason, the pose looked a lot more arousing than usual.
A hunger leapt inside her and she wished she had enough time to jump his sexy body before going into the room, but time was of the essence. All she could do for now was lick her lips at his handsome visage, then turn away and walk into the room.
Just inside the door, Ami walked down some steps into a control room with two large screens on the wall in front of her and several banks of technicians arranged at consoles also facing those big monitors.
"Satellite [Redacted] will be coming into range in two minutes. After that, you'll have six minutes for conversation before the fireworks start. Try to keep her on the phone at all times." an older man, also in a black suit, told her.
"Okay." Ami squared her shoulders and readied herself.
"Any problems? Regrets?" the older man asked as the screen came to life with the acquired satellite feed. Initially, it had most of the Pacific Ocean, Japan, and parts of Asia on the screen, but the view zoomed in and resolved until it was only Japan. Then it zoomed in again… and again…
"None." Ami said with intense assurance. She steeled herself that this was not the time for self doubts.
"Make the call." the older man said to one of the technicians as he handed Ami a headset.
Ring… Ring…
"Hello?" Taiga's voice answered sleepily.
"Hey Taiga, it's Ami." Ami said as casually as she could. The satellite feed had finished zooming in now and she could see a small house at the base of a mountain on the left screen and a wire-frame computer model of the same view on the right screen. The angle of the view was constantly changing as the satellite swept through the heavens, far overhead. In the wire-frame view, the roof and walls of the house were made transparent so she could see a single heat glow of a person in the kitchen of the remote place. Other than that heat glow, it seemed that there was no-one else there.
"Dumb-chi? Do you know what time it is?" Taiga asked groggily.
"No, I don't. Time and date were redacted and this place has no windows." Ami replied.
"What do you want?" Taiga now sounded more annoyed than sleepy.
"Taiga, we… haven't really talked." Ami said to the phone in her hand. A moment of sadness came to Ami and she wondered how it had come to this.
"And what… you want to talk now?" Taiga already sounded bored with the conversation, "What happened? You suddenly got a guilty conscience for stealing what was rightfully mine?"
"I didn't steal anything!" Ami insisted.
"Poached, stole, pilfered, plundered… whatever you want to call it – you did it. You took something that belonged to me!" Taiga snapped.
"No I did not! You walked away and didn't return his calls…" Ami tried to explain what had really happened.
"Blah blah blah. You're just going to say the same thing everybody else says. Well, I don't care any more." Taiga challenged.
"What? What do you mean?" Ami demanded.
"Ryuuji is my dog and I'm coming to take him back. You've had your fun, but it will be over soon, and I'll have my mongrel back where he belongs." Taiga sneered.
"Where he belongs? But, he's better off with me!" Ami said.
"That's true." Taiga agreed in an uncaring voice.
"The only way you know how to show affection is with abuse. Living with someone like that would be hell for him. It would be hell for anybody!" Ami said.
"Yeah, I guess that's true too." Taiga agreed again, but was sounding even more bored.
"With you, he'll have no future, no hope at all. His whole life will become a big dismal failure!" Ami begged Taiga to see reason.
"That's all true, but you're overlooking something." Taiga sneered.
"What?"
"That mongrel is my dog! He'll do what he's told and he'll like it. And all that other stuff… I don't care about anything else! He's mine and I'm taking him back. You got that through your thick Dumb-chi head?" Taiga yelled into the phone.
Ami turned and gave the signal to the old man and he in turn gave a signal to two of the technicians at the consoles. On the screen, the heat signature was walking across the kitchen toward the refrigerator.
"Ku ku ku! Dumb-chi, you should know that there's nothing you can do to stop me! I can…" Taiga's lunatic rant was washed out with static as several dotted lines converged on the house. There was a fireball that lit the landscape for kilometers as the house was reduced to glowing embers. But that wasn't all. Ami had seen enough movies to know that the villain didn't die quite so easily. Moments after the house was destroyed, blasting charges exploded near the top of the mountain and sent boulders and debris crashing down. The place where the house had been was now buried under a hundred meters of rock. It would take a while before the dust would clear, but the satellite scans showed that there was nothing to indicate that a house had ever been there.
Ami had a sad but satisfied smile as she watched the final moments on the monitors. It's over. It's finally over. She thought to herself, but for some reason, the triumph didn't give her the victorious feeling she had been anticipating. Accepting this as a bittersweet ending to an old problem, she was turning to leave when she noticed that the door to the room was standing open.
"You! How did you get that door opened?" one of the black suited men demanded.
"It wasn't locked." Ryuuji replied to the man, then turned to face Ami with a pained look on his face.
"Ryuuji?" Ami's voice called out in a sorrowful, pleading way.
"Ami, what have you done?" Ryuuji asked as he stood in the doorway and looked at her with disbelief, disappointment, and… disgust.
"Ryuuji, wait!" she called out, but there was something wrong with her legs and she couldn't move toward him. She screamed, "Forgive me!"
"How could I ever forgive you, when you [Redacted]?" Ryuuji said as he turned away. He put his mirror-shades back on and held their son close in his arms as he walked off – into the sunset.
.
Tuesday morning, March 15th – Melbourne, Australia
"NOOOO!" Ami sat up in bed with a scream.
"Ami, what's wrong?" Ryuuji sat up and held her tight. She was gasping for air and her heart was pumping like she was running for her life. "Did you have a bad dream?"
"What… what does redacted mean?" Ami demanded to know.
"Huh?" Ryuuji was surprised by the strange question and looked at her as if she might be losing her mind.
"Nevermind… I have got to lay off the spy movies for a while." Ami panted as she pulled her wits together a little more. The contents of the nightmare were fading away but, for some reason, she had a huge urge to check up on her son Tatsuya.
Ryuuji was still worried about her. The last several days – ever since the news of the earthquake and tsunami, had been hard on all of them. In an effort to raise awareness and support the relief efforts back home, everyone had been going all out. Now, Ryuuji was concerned that he might have been driving them too hard.
"So, what's on the schedule for today?" Ami asked as she threw off the blanket and started to get out of bed.
"We have a couple of modeling gigs at the Melbourne fashion festival this afternoon and evening, but no performances today." Ryuuji told her.
"Seriously? How did you manage that?" Ami called out from the bathroom while turning on the shower.
"Deena's suggestion. She said we needed to take a break for Aiko-chan's sake. She's looking pretty run down." Ryuuji replied as he followed Ami into the shower.
"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" Ami asked as he stepped into the shower behind her.
"I was just planning on washing your back. But we don't have a gig until the afternoon, so if you were thinking of something else, I suppose we have time." Ryuuji said suggestively.
"Sorry big boy, but I'm mostly thinking about breakfast right now. For some reason, I'm starving." Ami said apologetically.
"Did that dream make you hungry?" Ryuuji asked as he gently caressed the soapy loofah across Ami's shoulders.
"No." Ami answered simply. The details of the dream were fading, but the disquieting feeling was still fresh in her mind.
"What was it about? You seem a little spooked." Ryuuji said quietly while bringing the loofah down the curve of her back.
"Nothing." Ami insisted while moving away from his touch.
"Don't give me that." Ryuuji wrapped his arms around her and surrounded her with his body heat. He put his head into her neck and said, "Something's got you seriously bothered and I want to know what it is. So, tell me what that dream was about."
"T… Taiga. It was about Taiga." Ami admitted.
"Oh… okay then." Ryuuji was suddenly a lot less worried and let go of her to continue washing her with the loofah.
"What? You're going to let it go at that? You aren't going to demand to know any more?" Ami asked.
"Nah. Considering the nightmares she's given me, that's all you had to say." Ryuuji handed Ami the loofah and turned around so she could wash his back.
"Hmmm…" Ami started washing her husband's back and had to ask, "So, you're saying you still dream about Taiga?"
"Dream? Did I say dream? No, I don't think so!" Ryuuji was being a little harsh with his response, but he wanted to squash that line of questioning before it got any further.
"Whatever." Ami sounded bored as she desperately tried to conceal her relief and excitement at Ryuuji's response.
.
Tuesday morning, March 15th – Hisamitsu Estate
Achoo!
"Taiga, are you okay?" Minori asked with concern as she mounted her horse.
"Yeah… I don't know what that was about." Taiga had an allergy to dust but she had never had a problem with horses before.
"Should we put off this ride?" Maya asked, also concerned about Taiga.
"No no no! You're all overreacting. Probably, someone was just talking about me." Taiga had been looking forward to this ride for a while. Now that Maya's health had improved, she could join them on one of the trail rides up into the hills above the estate. And, the weather today seemed to be perfect for it. Not waiting for a consensus, Taiga got her horse moving out of the pasture and up one of the more scenic hill trails.
"I'm so glad. I've really been looking forward to this." Kawashima Anna laughed as she and the other girls spurred their horses to follow Taiga.
"Are you going to be okay with this, Kawashima-san?" Maya asked the oldest member of the group.
"Please girls, you're all friends of my Ami. Don't you think you could call me Anna?" the star implored the younger girls.
"Um… It doesn't really seem right." Maya said carefully.
"Oh poo! Just because I'm the only one out of her twenties?" Anna asked. Of course, she wouldn't mention just how far out of her twenties she was.
"No, it's not that… I mean… you're a star, a celebrity!" Maya explained her unease.
"I'm not even in my twenties." Taiga said.
"Me either." Minori agreed with her friend.
"What? You two are still teenagers?" Anna balked.
"Um… I'm not yet twenty either." Maya admitted.
Thinking they were joking with her, Anna was about to challenge them and demand to know why they were picking on her age, when she realized that Ami – her own daughter wouldn't be turning twenty for another eight months. "Oh… well, how about Anna-san then?" she countered.
"I… I guess I could do that." Maya said.
"Maya, my dear. You are the one that's going to have to get used to it the most." Anna cautioned the young woman.
"Why me?" Maya asked with a little shock.
"If your darling Noto pulls off what he is trying to accomplish for his family business, you are going to be a celebrity too." Anna told her.
"What?" Maya gaped as her degree of shock deepened. Reading about celebrities was one thing. The idea of being a celebrity was… frightening.
"Certainly! Black and White balls. Elegant diners for charities or awards. Magazine interviews and speaking engagements." Anna said breathlessly, "Even if you're only there to be Noto's arm candy, you should always be prepared to answer the occasional question with panache. My dear, you have a lot to look forward to."
"Look… forward… to?" Maya's shock was worsening even more.
"Oh my," Anna just realized how scared the girl was looking and offered, "Don't worry too much about it now. It's not like this kind of thing will happen to you tomorrow. All of this will probably start happening a few years down the road. After all, Noto-kun has to be recognized for his business accomplishments first, and he's not even out of college yet, right?"
"Yeah… yeah, that's right. But, something like that will really happen to me someday… won't it?" Maya asked with lingering concern.
"Maya, my dear… I am sorry for worrying you, but isn't it better to know what lies ahead than to be suddenly surprised by it when it comes? At least now you know that you should start preparing for this eventuality. You're a smart girl. I don't think it will take long for you to learn how to be a woman of charm and grace. And always remember that, when the time comes, you have friends that you can call upon for help."
Riding slightly ahead and side by side, Taiga and Minori glanced at each other – wondering if they would be called upon for this kind of help.
"I do?" Maya brightened.
"Of course. There's Yamada Yukiko, Noto's Obāsama, and me." Anna gave Maya her most disarming smile then added, "Also, my Ami could help you."
Thunk!
Taiga grunted when Anna mentioned Ami. It was as if an arrow of words had just pierced her in the back.
"I'm sure you have other friends that are eloquent and acquainted with the forms of etiquette?" Anna looked up at the two girls riding ahead of them. The tomboyish athlete and of course… Taiga. Deciding not to use them as examples, she instead asked, "Surely you can think of someone you know that has those qualities?"
Thunk! Thunk!
Taiga and Minori both felt the sting of additional word arrows when Anna skipped over them in the list of women with charm and grace.
"No, not really. Well… maybe Nanako." Maya said after some careful consideration.
Thunk! Thunk!
"Are you sure there's no-one else?" Anna pressed. She could see the effects this conversation was having on the jock and the tiger, and an idea came to her.
"No. No-one that I know. I guess everyone else that I know isn't very ladylike." ...like me. Maya finished the sentence in her mind – not wanting to expose how un-ladylike an image she had of her own self. She also wasn't intentionally trying to be mean to her friends, but she believed the bar that Anna was setting was pretty high. And even people like Ryuuji's mother, who was able to charm other women into calling her Onee-chan, didn't fit the kind of ladylike image that Anna seemed to be painting. But her unintentionally harsh words had found their marks nevertheless.
Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!
"HEY!" Taiga cried out initially but calmed down a little and pouted, "I can be ladylike."
"You can?" Maya asked in genuine surprise.
Thunk!
Taiga reeled from the blow to the extent that Anna worried she might fall from her horse.
"Taiga, we're not talking about looking ladylike and just knowing which utensils to eat with at a fancy dinner. This is more than that. It involves answering direct questions or addressing a room full of people…" Anna was explaining.
"I can do that!" Taiga insisted.
"… without offending anyone." Anna finished.
THUNK!
Taiga looked to Minori for support but she was also looking fairly deflated.
"I don't know which utensils to use at a fancy dinner." Minori admitted dejectedly.
"Girls, I have a wonderful idea!" Anna seemed suddenly excited as she announced, "Why don't you all take some etiquette and speech classes together?"
"Well… we go to different universities." Minori mentioned, but she was wondering just how much time away from academics and baseball something like that would take.
"I don't know, that seems…" kinda girly. Taiga was about to say. Suddenly, it occurred to her why she wasn't seen as being very ladylike. "I'll think about it."
"You know, there are competitions for this sort of thing." Anna mentioned.
"Competitions?" both Taiga and Minori asked.
"Absolutely! Aside from the intercollegiate speech competitions, I'm sure both of your colleges have Tea Ceremony clubs. A proper tea ceremony involves calligraphy, flower arrangement, proper wear of a Kimono, and of course – the tea ceremony. All of those things have levels of mastery." Anna could see that this hook was working. Just one more little push… "You know, since you're in different colleges, you could end up competing against each other from time to time."
"Hmm… if I could get Nanako to join with me then it would be the two of us competing against Taiga and Minori." Maya speculated.
"Don't forget my Ami! Wouldn't you like to compete with her as well?" Anna asked. A look at Taiga told her that there was indeed a competitive feeling between her daughter and Taiga… at least on Taiga's side.
"Yeah… something we could have in common, and compete against each other as well! I'm in! Well… as long as it doesn't interfere with my baseball too much." Minori said.
"I'm in too." Taiga suddenly seemed very determined.
Oh yes! This does look like it's shaping up to be some wonderful fun. Anna thought as she smiled at the three girls.
.
Later that afternoon, the girls had all come back from their ride. They really hadn't ridden very far since Anna wasn't able to take a long ride without frequent breaks. But, it had been fun. Taiga announced that she would like to do it again the next day, if the weather looked good for it. Maya and Minori agreed, but Anna begged off – at least for a few days.
On her way back to her room from the bath, Taiga almost jumped out of her skin when an old-timey telephone on a little table started ringing. She had seen the phone several times before, but thought it was some kind of art piece. It looked so old, she couldn't imagine the thing still being in use. Looking around to see if someone was playing a joke on her, she cautiously picked up the hand-piece and put it to her ear.
"Hello?" Taiga's voice answered warily.
"Hey Taiga, it's Ami." Ami said – and suddenly had a strong deja vu feeling about this conversation.
"Dum… Ami? What do you want?" Taiga remembered the conversation with Anna when they were on the trail and her mood became a little haughty.
"I was just calling to ask about Tatsuya. I… really miss him." Ami confided.
"Yeah, I guess you would." Taiga's tone completely changed then. She could feel the motherly desire in Ami's voice. It was the need of a mother to hold her child, and Taiga wondered if it was something that would ever be in her grasp. Taiga admitted to Ami, "He's a sweet kid."
"Yeah… huh? Waitaminit, what have you done with him?" Ami asked in surprise.
"Whadayamean – what have I done with him? I've done everything with him! I fed him. I burped him. I washed him. Hell, I've even changed his poopy diapers! Are you saying I'm not good enough to be around your son?" Taiga demanded.
"No! Nothing like that." Ami realized how her comment could have been taken wrong and regretted not thinking things through before speaking. She took a deep breath and explained, "Taiga, I thought you said you didn't like to be around kids, so I was just surprised. That's all."
"Oh… yeah. I guess I did say something like that once." Taiga also regretted flying off the handle now. In a much calmer voice, she told Ami, "Babies will grow up to be… bigger than me. And that's… annoying. But when they are little babies like this, I guess they're okay."
There was silence on the phone for a little while each of them was trying to find the courage to speak again.
"Taiga, we… haven't really talked." Ami said to the phone in her hand. Another moment of deja vu hit Ami and she was suddenly filled with a dread that something disastrous would happen if this conversation wasn't handled just right.
"I know… but if it's about Ryuuji, I'm not ready to talk to you about that." Taiga forced the words out.
"Then, let's just talk about us." Ami suggested.
"Yeah. We can do that." Taiga agreed.
The suggestion and agreement had been easy, but the silence that followed showed just how hard it was to talk about anything that didn't somehow involve Ryuuji.
"I… heard you've been riding horses a lot. And, you're really impressive too." Ami blurted out when she finally thought of something that seemed safe to talk about with Taiga.
"Yeah! They have a horse here that was trained to ride English style. He's too old to jump fences now, but he still remembers all his trots. So, who told you about that?" Taiga brightened up since she got to brag about her equestrian skills. But her prideful mood was doomed with her last question.
"Ryuuji told me about it. Oh… sorry." Ami bit her lip and, and once again - wished she had thought before she spoke.
"Heh… yeah. I guess it's going to be impossible for us." Taiga said sadly.
"Do you dislike me that much?" Ami asked.
"Huh? What are you on about now?" Taiga chided.
"Well, you're the one that said it would be impossible for us." Ami explained.
"I meant it would be impossible for us to have a conversation without bringing up Ryuuji." Taiga said in a monotone.
"Oh." Ami was glad that she hadn't been right about the conclusion she had jumped to.
"I suppose you want us to try and be friends like we were before." Taiga sighed as if the idea was boring to her.
"No, not really." Ami replied.
"You don't?" Taiga was stunned that Ami would come right out and say something like that.
"Taiga, the relationship we had before sucked." Ami told her the way she remembered it, "Sure we cooperated with each other once or twice, but there were always insults and barbs between us. I don't really want to go back to that."
"So… you don't want me around?" Taiga hadn't honestly considered Ami a 'friend' either. But to be told something like this was just so cold.
"No, that's not what I mean at all!" Ami was getting frustrated that everything she was saying was being taken the wrong way. But there was one thing that she had been wanting to tell Taiga that would be hard even for the little shrimp to get confused about. "Taiga, I want Tatsuya to grow up, knowing that he has a wonderful Aunt Taiga that he can always depend on."
"Ami!" Taiga was stunned and flooded from the happy emotions that sprang from hearing such an endearing wish.
"I want him to know that he can look up to you, even when he's twice your height." Ami told her diminutive friend.
"Gee… thanks." Taiga said dryly.
"I'm serious, Taiga. If you get married and have kids of your own, I still want you to be Tatsuya's favorite Obachan." Ami insisted, then asked, "But… only if it's something you want. I'm not going to force you into that role. It's not like I could force you to do anything, right? But, please… even if you can never consider me a friend, I still want you to be there for Tatsuya."
"I don't have to… think about it." Taiga had an uneven smile as the tears formed in her eyes. Do you have any idea what you are asking of me? Taiga wanted to ask, but instead found herself promising, "I'll be his Obachan. Even if you didn't ask me, I would do that."
"Thanks Taiga. I really appreciate this." Ami heard the others calling and hurried to finish up, "I have to go now, but I want to talk again. Okay?"
"Yeah, we can talk. Later." Taiga hung up the phone first. The tears were coming fast now and she couldn't bare to let Ami hear a sniffle or a sob. Instead, she wondered if this pain would ever go away – and she wondered if she was becoming a masochist. And, it was all Tatsuya's fault. He was always so happy to see her when she appeared above his crib. When he was crying, it was only Taiga or Obāsama that seemed to be able to calm him. And he made the most wonderful laughing sounds when she held him in her lap and played with him. And in turn, she couldn't wait to see the little boy.
But deep inside Taiga's heart, there was a battle going on. When she saw the child, he was a living and breathing reminder of what she had lost. His very existence represented what could have been hers, but was now gone forever. It would be far easier if she had never seen this child… but no. When she closed her eyes, she could see his cherub like, smiling face. His short arms and tiny hands reaching out to her warmed her heart as nothing before ever had. His delighted squeals and happy cooing sounds he made when she held him were like beautiful music to her ears. She thought about what this would mean for them. She imagined little Tatsuya's first day of school, joining him on outings, holding his hand in busy places, and watching him play at the beach. Some day he would be taller than her, but she still imagined holding his hand in busy places – even when it was time for him to go off to high school. Someday he would be jumping up and down with that graduation tube in his hands and screaming I did it Obachan! Look! Look! I did it! The tears came now like a flood running down her face.
Dammit Ami! You really do know how to hurt me, don't you?
.
Wednesday morning, March 16th – Sendai
Noto was out of his depth and he knew it. Coming up with a plan to build a resort and recreation area was one thing, but reacting to the constantly changing environment of disaster recovery was not something he had ever anticipated. Everyone was looking to him now and he knew that a failure could mean people dying. He had considered turning the operations over to his most senior crewmen, but they had let him know early on that, skilled as they were with construction, they had no experience in disaster recovery work. A few of them even resented being thrust into this kind of situation. It was a bad feeling, having so much useful equipment and crewmen at his disposal, but not knowing how best to use them.
"Noto-sama." Shinako called to him.
I need help! But who can I turn to? Noto flipped through the notes he had made from countless conversations over the past few days. He had acquired several pages of contacts – people who would know what to do at a time like this. Unfortunately, everyone he had reached out to was already involved or… was unreachable.
"Noto-sama." Shinako called his name again and also brushed the hair out of his weary face.
"Shinako?" he finally reacted to her. He dreaded her telling him that another group of people had arrived to put even more demands on him. He didn't really mind the demands. He wanted to help more than anything in the world. But he wanted to tell them what he was screaming in his own mind, I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!
"Noto-sama, I have good news for you this time." Shinako smiled warmly at her younger cousin.
"Oh?" Good news was certainly welcome, but recently the only good news he had heard had been in the vein of a minor logistics miracle. They had found enough fuel to keep the trucks working for another day, or a fresh water supply had arrived. These were good things to be sure, but what he really needed was something more… Something that could make a bigger difference. Something that could give people hope… something that can give me hope.
"The Italians are here, Noto-sama." Shinako told him.
"The Italian is here?" Noto looked at her through dazed eyes and wondered, Did we order pizza?
"The Major is with them." Shinako added.
"The Major… with the Italians! You mean… THOSE Italians!" Noto shouted in excitement. Standing up from his desk and spinning around, he found himself facing three men and two women in red jumpsuits with the green, white, and red Italian flags on their shoulders. And among them, in his camouflage uniform was…
"Major Locke!" Noto knew that he was showing more relief at seeing the older man than he should as a representative of his family business. But he was nearing exhaustion and his emotions were raw.
"Hisamitsu-sama, allow me to introduce a few of the senior members of the Italian recovery team." The Major seemed a little stiff in his response. But that wasn't the only thing Noto picked up on.
"Hisamitsu-sama… not Noto-kun. So… are you here to ask something of me?" Noto asked with the happiness ebbing out of his words. Noto regarded The Major and saw that his question had hurt the older man that had become his friend. He regretted that, but he felt betrayed that even this was turning into another request that he would have to figure out how to address.
"I'll understand if this is asking too much… Noto-kun. You see… these Italians have a lot of experience working relief efforts for areas hit by natural disasters. We were lucky to get them here as quickly as we did. But their equipment… will take some time to get here." The Major explained.
"I know of their record, you don't have to tell me about that." Noto said tersely. Compared to them, I'm just an idiot that has some interesting toys that he doesn't deserve. Noto realized he was having some unnecessary thoughts; he took a breath and calmed himself a bit. He knew that deep down this had to be as difficult for The Major as it was for him. Possibly more-so since The Major felt that he was asking a huge favor so soon after Noto had told him that he considered The Major, Yuri, and their son to be part of his family. "Just… tell me what you need."
"Everything." The Major decided not to mince words and tell Noto the truth of it.
"Everything?" Noto blinked as he repeated The Major's request.
"Two of your heavy equipment units are here, right?" The Major asked.
"Three, actually." Noto was proud of himself that he could surprise The Major, at least a little.
"Three? Impressive, Noto-kun. Well, the truth of it is that I am here to ask for you to place all of the local Hisamitsu heavy assets in the hands of the Italian Rescue and Recovery team." The Major expounded on what he had meant by everything. He was about to tell Noto that he regretted having to ask for something like this, and he would never have made this request if the need wasn't so dire. But Shinako spoke first.
"So, Major Lock… please correct me if I am wrong. You have brought with you the leadership of one of the world's most renown disaster recovery teams. The Italian Team, known even in Japan as being a world leader at what they do… Those very same Italians would like to make use of Hisamitsu Heavy Industry assets to save lives and restore vital services to the disaster stricken areas around Sendai. Is that what I am hearing?" Shinako squeezed her cousin's hand as she made her parley.
"That… is… correct." The Major seemed confused. He had expected to have to negotiate or even beg for this favor, but Shinako made it sound like he was giving them a gift – rather than a request.
Noto looked at Shinako and knew what it was she was saying. Her eloquent words had been spoken to The Major, but he knew that he was the real target. She was handing him a golden opportunity. There was certainly no loss of face in handing over the company assets to one of the best recovery teams on the planet. He could go home now. He could go back to school when the next semester started up. But more importantly, he could return to Tokushima knowing that he had made the best decision for himself, his family, and for Japan. Or – he could let his ego take over and… No, I am not that kind of fool. Shinako is right. This is what Yamada-san would call a win-win scenario.
"Do they speak Japanese?" Noto asked The Major.
"No, but they speak pretty good English." The Major replied.
Noto stepped forward and was about to bow but remembered what he had learned about western style greetings and stopped. Reaching out his arm, he shook hands with all five of the red suited Italians and said, #Thank you. All of you. The Major tells me that you need everything. Then that is what I will do. I am giving you everything. Please, with your knowledge and skills, use Hisamitsu Heavy Industries to save my people… and my country.#
#Your English is very good.# the elder woman of the group complimented Noto, then told him, #I appreciate the trust you are showing us. We will do our best to make sure you never regret this.#
#This didn't take as long as I thought it would.# The Major said in amazement as he watched Noto shake the hands of the people that he was handing his company's important assets over to. But the last man wasn't satisfied with just a handshake.
#That is because this young man is a fine example of a famous Italian saying: Quando l'amico chiede, non v'è domani!# with that said, the Italian pulled Noto close and kissed him on both cheeks.
#Ah! Yes… well… I should be contacting the crews to let them all know about this change.# Noto said as he took a few steps back from the group of smiling Italians. He knew that he was blushing fiercely but the foreigner's exuberant greeting had completely taken him by surprise. Looking to Shinako for some support, he realized he was on his own for the moment since her hand was over her face and her shoulders were shaking with her barely controlled laughter. Et tu Shinako?
"Here Noto." The Major handed Noto a card with a small map and address on it. "If you can tell your managers to meet us here, we'll get things going immediately."
"Of course. I'll get right on that." Still a bit flustered, Noto bowed to them all and said in the formal Japanese way, "Thank you very much!"
.
Thursday morning, March 17th – Hisamitsu Estate
Obāsama hung up the phone and reached for her coffee. Unfortunately, she had finished the last of it several minutes ago while listening to Shinako give her report. Coincidentally, the report left her with a similar dissatisfaction as the empty coffee cup. Despite the optimistic spin that Shinako had put on the report, the Hisamitsu elder couldn't get over the feeling that Noto was coming home prematurely. She was well aware that he was eager to see his wife and children again, and that his classes would be starting up in another two weeks. But something about it... just didn't feel right.
A fluffy white ball of fur jumped onto her legs and immediately curled into a ball in her lap. Absentmindedly, Obāsama began petting the affectionate Angora while she thought about the situation in Sendai. She had been working herself up to a fret, thinking about Noto's decision to turn the three construction units over to a group of foreigners. But with every stroke of her old hand on the long silky fur of the purring feline, her inner turmoil seemed to calm down. Realizing what was happening, she stopped petting the cat and quietly fussed at him.
"You're on their side, aren't you? You damn little traitor." she mocked.
The cat noticed that the comforting petting had stopped and flicked his tail. Languidly, he looked up to see old woman's hand hovering overhead, but not petting him. He tilted his head and looked past the hand into the eyes of the old woman.
"I shouldn't be putting up with your shenanigans you know. I should call him right now and set him straight." Her hand started to move to the desk where her cell phone was laying, but the paws of the purring cat grabbed her around her wrist and pulled her hand down and onto his furry head.
This was something that he always did, when he wanted to let her know that he wasn't finished being petted yet. And it always worked. As stern as the old woman was with anyone else, she would always acquiesce to the demands of her cat.
"Maybe just a little while longer." Obāsama said through a wrinkled smile as her hand returned to the silky fur of her feline companion. And, with the reduced stress that resulted from this simple act, she also started to rethink the situation with Noto. The unease had never been a strong feeling. It hadn't even been strong enough for her to voice an objection when she had Shinako on the phone. But, after she finished that call and was alone with her thoughts, she had worked up quite an anxiety and could see all kinds of pitfalls and troubles that could arise from Noto's decision. Obāsama was calmer now though. She was still a little concerned, but no longer saw plots and conspiracies in every shadow. Pulling out her phone, she keyed a message to both Noto and Shinako.
Obāsama: You two have done a splendid job and have my gratitude for the honor that you have brought to the family name. I understand that you would like to come home as soon as possible, but would you consider staying long enough to meet with all the local politicos and make sure they are pleased with your arrangement.
Noto's response came back only a few minutes later.
Noto: Thank you for the advice, Obāsama. We will stay through the weekend. You should expect us back on Monday or Tuesday.
Obāsama: Very well. I will let your wife know, as soon as she gets back.
Noto: She isn't there?
Obāsama: No, she left with her two young friends yesterday to stay overnight at the mountain cabin. They should be returning later this morning.
Shinako: I am glad to hear that Maya-chan is feeling better.
Obāsama: Indeed, and I shall enjoy seeing her happiness when she hears that both of you will be returning soon.
"All right, are you happy now?" Obāsama said to the cat that had finished with it's petting and was stretching in preparation to jump out of the comfortable lap. Sure enough, he jumped down and slowly walked away as if his mission had been accomplished. Obāsama called out to him as he left the room, "You really are a traitorous little scamp." Then she remembered her empty coffee mug and decided to go make another cup.
As she opened the door to her office with her empty mug in her hand, a thought came to her that made her chuckle. The little brat is probably waiting for me in the kitchen.
.
Far up the mountain from the Hisamitsu estate, three girls were enjoying a morning run. Well, that may be a bit of a lie – or at least an exaggeration. Minori was enjoying the run. Taiga was putting up with it. And poor Maya was gasping for air and struggling through cramping pain as she tried to keep up with her… friends.
Friends! Hah! If they were real friends, they wouldn't be trying to kill me. Maya hadn't wanted to do this in the first place, but after an innocent comment the night before… she knew she had to. They were all in the cabin's large bath together when Taiga observed that Maya still appeared to be carrying her pregnancy weight around. She had tried to defend herself that this was normal, but they had pointed out that both Ami and Yuri-sensei had gotten back to their pre-pregnancy shape within two months of giving birth. They had accepted the excuse that the other two hadn't been carrying twins, but it still bothered Maya.
So, that was why she was now suffering excruciating agony as she plodded around the high mountain pasture. But the effort was worth it if she could achieve her goal. And the goal was worth it if she could return to being the attractive wife that her husband could be proud of. Concentrating on keeping up with the other two that had the benefit of being in athletic programs at their college, Maya realized that she really needed to accept the help that Hisako had been offering. Rejoicing that she could take a short break, she came to a stop at the fence where Minori and Taiga were leaning.
"Wow… what an incredible view." Taiga said as she looked out from the fence railing at the vista before her. The morning sun had not yet hit the valley below. It was still buried under the mists so that there was a sea of insubstantial gray filling the vales between the mountain they were on and the next mountainous range several kilometers away.
"Yeah… I… like… it… too." Maya said as she panted heavily to catch her breath.
"How are your boobs?" Minori asked.
Taiga spun on her best friend and was about to demand how she could ask such a question when Maya actually answered it.
"They're really... hurting. I don't... get it. I wore a... sport's bra." Maya was starting to breathe better, but the pain in her chest wasn't going away.
"You didn't express before we ran, did you?" Minori asked.
"No… I didn't think… it would be this bad." Maya admitted.
"Huh?" Taiga wondered what this was all about.
"Her boobs are engorged with milk and… it can be painful. The pain can be a lot worse when you are doing impact exercises, like running." Minori explained.
"Why do you know about that?" Taiga suspiciously poked a finger at Minori's breasts while she asked, "Is there something you're not telling me?"
"No, silly!" Minori batted Taiga's finger away then told her, "A couple of the senpai's on the team are having to deal with it."
"How bad is it?" Taiga asked Maya who looked to be almost in tears.
"I would gladly trade boobs with you, Taiga." Maya said as she winced from the pain.
"Ha! If you did, I wouldn't give them back. Then your kids would starve and Noto-kun would be following me around like a zombie!" Taiga joked.
"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!" Maya cradled her breasts as she laughed at Taiga's joke. Unfortunately, the laughter only intensified the pain.
"Let's walk back from here. Or, do you need to express now?" Minori asked.
"That wouldn't gross you out?" Maya asked.
"No, I've seen it before from my senpai's. It's no big deal." Minori said encouragingly.
"Thanks!" Maya began struggling out of her sweater in anticipation of the relief she would soon be feeling.
Minori started to walk a little distance away to give Maya some privacy, but Taiga was fascinated with all of this. She had watched her mother breastfeed her little brother, but she had always used a blanket to hide everything away. Now, Taiga watched in fascination as thin streams of milk sprayed from Maya's nipples when she squeezed her breasts. The body temperature milk melted the snow where it sprayed.
"Heh. HAHAHA!" Taiga started laughing as she watched the snow melting under Maya's milk deluge.
"What?" Maya didn't see what was so funny about bending over and squeezing her boobs at the edge of this pasture.
"See!" Taiga pointed at the lines of melted snow that Maya had made, "Boys aren't the only ones that can write their names in the snow!"
In the valley down below, a few people could faintly hear what sounded like several girls laughing hysterically.
.
.
Glossary
Quando l'amico chiede, non v'è domani: When a friend asks, there is no tomorrow.