Airisu, Sakura, and Oogami stood across the street, peering from the wall. “This is the paper mill. Looks like there’s a bunch of guards out front. We’ll have to take them on, then split up and search for Sumire-kun.” Oogami said, “Reinforcements will be here shortly.”
“Waai! Let’s go!” Airisu said, charging ahead. The three fought their way inside the building, goons coming in from left and right. “There’s so many!” Airisu cried, blasting a handful with her powers.
“I know, but we have to hold them off until we can find Sumire-san…” Sakura started to say as she clobbered a guy with the handle of her sword. She saw Sumire being carried down the stairs, “There she is!”
“Sumire-kun!” Oogami called, but she didn’t answer. She looked pale and weak. “What did you jerks do to Sumire-kun!” he exclaimed angrily and tried to go to her. Meanwhile, one half of the crowd took off with Sumire, while the rest blocked the entrance. “Shimata! Sumire-kun!”
“Hurry! Go after Sumire-san!” Sakura said, unsheathing her sword and clearing a path, “I’ll stay here and fight these guys!” They stared at her. “Go on!”
Nodding they rushed out. Outside, they followed the crowd into an alley. After fighting off the underlings, they saw the man who had taken Sumire. He was holding Sumire at knife point. “Stay back!”
Airisu pointed at him. “It’s the man from the hotel! Airisu knew you were up to no good!”
Jean-Paul replied, “The money I could get from this ransom would have paid off my debt to Jacques. Stealing from hotels wasn’t enough so I’m not letting this opportunity go to waste!”
“Still, Sakura-oneechan trusted you!” she yelled, “What is she going to think of you if you go through with this?!”
Jean-Paul lowered his head. After a moment, he loosened his grip. An image of Sakura’s face flashed in his mind. Finally, he threw Sumire at them. “Go on. Get out of here.” he muttered.
Oogami held onto Sumire. “Sumire-kun, are you all right? Can you move?” he asked.
She replied feebly, “Iie, my legs can’t move. I’m numb all over. They injected me with some sort of anesthetic so I couldn’t run away.” Actually, they had just gotten tired of her nagging.
“It’s okay now. You’re safe.” he said softly, and lifted her up in his arms, “Let’s get out of here.”
Airisu looked around, “Where’d that Jean-Paul guy go? He’s gone!”
“Doesn’t matter. We’ve got to go and check on the others.” Oogami replied, carrying Sumire, “Airisu, come on!”
“H-Hai…”
* * *
Sakura tried to fight all of the gangsters at once, but there were too many of them. One of them hit her from behind with a bedpost, causing her to drop her sword. When she tried to reach for it, they knocked it away.
“Heh, it’s payback time, little girl!” sneered a goon, holding up a lead pipe.
‘This is it!’ she thought as they encircled her like a pack of vultures.
But then, she looked up and saw that the koubu had come. All of the goons were being thrown outside, ready for the police to pick. "The Paris Teikoku Kagekidan is here!"
“Sorry it took so long.” said Hanabi.
Glycine added, “You can relax now, we’ll take it from here!”
“Hai!” she chimed, as they hassled all the gangsters down the stairs. She was going to go after them, but then a gun appeared at her head. “Nani…?”
“That’s right!” a bald, bearded man laughed, “If I’m going down, I’m taking you little meddler with me! Within seconds this place is going to burn down.”
“What? You can’t do that! There’s too many people…!” she cried, unable to move. She eyed her sword a couple feet away, lying on the floor. ‘If only I could reach it…’
As all the Koubu were getting out, Oogami looked up at the building, “Why isn’t Sakura-kun coming out? I’m going in to get her!” he stopped to see her in the window. She was shaking her head. “Hah? What’s going on?”
“Matte, Onii-chan!” Airisu said, tugging at his sleeve. “Airisu smells gasoline.”
“Nani? Minna, clear the area!! Sakura-kun, I’m coming!!”
Inside, Sakura was struggling. She saw that Oogami was running towards the building. “Iya, dame…!” she cried.
The evil-looking man was holding her sword. “Hmm? An antique huh?”
“It belongs to the lady.” said a voice.
Sakura exclaimed, “It’s Janparu-san!”
Jean-Paul punched the man and sent him crashing onto the gasoline-drenched floor. “Sorry, Boss, but I quit.” He then picked up the sword and handed it to Sakura. “I’m so sorry, Sakura, for everything.”
“What are you talking about? You just saved me.”
“I’ll explain it all later…” he started to say.
He was interrupted by evil laughter. “It’s too late.” the bald crime lord said, lighting a match.
“Yamette!” Sakura cried, gripping her sword. But then, Jean-Paul pushed her out of the window. As she was falling, she looked up and saw the place burst up into flames. “Janparu-san!!!!”
Before hitting the ground, she was caught by Oogami. “You’re all right now. I’ve got you. Now, let’s get out of here!”
“Iya! There are still people inside…!”
“Nan da? There’s no way anyone could survive…!" he cried, "Hah? Sakura-kun!”
She was passing out. “Onegaishimasu…”
Lobelia's koubu came by. “Taichou, the area has been cleared and the fire department is just arriving. We suggest you move out of the way and let them handle it.”
“Aa...” he replied, looking up at the blazing rubble that once was a building.
* * * Later that evening, the Hanagumi had gathered in the Chateau Noire discussing the aftermath of the mission. “It was said that Jean-Paul Renoir the con artist turned himself in at the police station.”
“What? You mean that guy survived that fire?” Glycine uttered.
“Seems so.” Lobelia replied, rubbing her chin. "Guess he must be enjoying jail right now..."
"Amazing!!" Coquelicot excitedly chimed, "Stuff like this don't happen everyday! It's like the detective stories!"
Oogami was listening from the door. ‘Better let Sakura-kun know, so that she won’t worry.’ he thought as he walked up the stairs. He had heard that she was resting in Hanabi’s room. But when he got there, she wasn’t there. “Hah? Where did she go?”
As he was walking through the halls, he ran into Sumire. “I’m feeling better now, thanks to you, Chuui-san.” she said.
“That’s good to hear.” he replied with a smile, “So, have you decided if you going to go back now?”
“Maa, as much as I want to stay with you, I do realize that they really need me back home.” Sumire noted, “I’m sorry, Chuui-san, but I have to go back.”
“It’s sad that we only had such a short time together. I wish you could stay longer, Sumire-kun.”
“Me too. I wish that more than anything.” she said, putting her hand to the side of his face, “But that Sakura-san insists that we absolutely leave tomorrow morning.”
“Sakura-san? You mean you saw her?”
“Eeh, she went that way.”
“Arigatou!”
As he was walking in that direction, he stopped to see Airisu, sitting with her stuffed bear. “Onii-chan, Airisu feels so sad. We have to go tomorrow. Airisu doesn’t want to leave Onii-chan.”
“Demo, Airisu,” he said, sitting with her, “You have to go back. All your friends are waiting for you.”
“Sou ne...” she uttered, “Airisu promised Reni to bring her a hat.”
“Yokkata desu ne, Airisu. You have friends, so you won’t be sad or lonely.”
“But what about you, Onii-chan? Won’t you be lonely without Airisu?”
“Of course I will, but I can’t let that get me down.” Oogami replied, “Because there’s still so much to do before the next time Airisu comes.”
“Hai~! Next time, we’ll have lots of fun!” Iris exclaimed happily.
“Aa... next time.” he replied, giving her a hug.
* * * At long last, he found Sakura. She was on the kinematron again. “Sumire and Airisu are both safe. We will be taking the first boat back tomorrow morning as scheduled.” she said into the screen.
“That’s good to hear.” Maria said, “I’ll let Yoneda-shihainin know. We’ll be waiting for your return. Great work, Sakura.”
After hanging up, she turned and saw Oogami. “Glad to see you’re feeling better now. If it’s all right, could I talk to you now?” he asked. She nodded and the two went out on the balcony, “It seemed that Jean-Paul survived the fire.”
“Yokkata desu. I feel relieved. Even though he was a criminal, he was a very nice man.”
“You knew?”
“Airisu told me.”
There was a moment of silence. Oogami suddenly asked, “Do you really have to leave tomorrow?”
“Hai. I promised Shihainin and Maria to return as soon as possible. Although, Airisu and Sumire-san are both really going to miss you…”
“Just Airisi and Sumire-kun???” he asked, "Hm??"
Embarrassed, she exclaimed, “N-nani?! Oogami-san, s-stop it!”
“Come on, tell me the truth, Sakura-kun!” he teased.
Sakura turned serious and rested her hands on the rail. “I used to always think that ‘if Oogami-san is with me, then I absolutely cannot fail’. However, when you left, I couldn’t believe that anymore. I had to learn how to rely on myself for strength. Being without Oogami-san… it’s been the hardest thing to overcome.”
“Sakura-kun…” he said, looking over at her, “It looks like you’ve grown up a lot since we last met.”
“Not quite. I’ve still got a long way to go. You still haven’t changed a bit, Oogami-san, but that only makes me happy.” she replied, “Don’t worry; I’ll take care of everyone while you’re gone. You can rely on me.”
“Don’t forget to take care of yourself.”
“Of course!”
He paused for a moment then said, “Being without Sakura-san has also been difficult.” Sakura turned her head in surprise. The two smiled at each other then continued to gaze out at the city.
* * * The next morning, the girls went off to the pier. Oogami and the Hanagumi went to see them off. As Airisu’s many bags of luggage were being loaded onto the ship, she was crying. “B-bye, Onii-chan! Airisu going to miss you!” she wailed as she clung around his neck.
“I’ll miss you, too, Airisu.” he told her, putting her back down onto the pier, “Cheer up, ne? We’ll see each other soon.”
“Uhn…” she sniffed.
He turned to Sumire. “Well, I guess this is goodbye for now.” he said.
She nodded. “Ee, until next time, Chuui-san.” she said, kissing him on the cheek.
“S-Sumire-kun…” he uttered, his face all red.
Airisu exploded with rage. “SUMIRE!!!!” she exclaimed, waving her little fists in the air.
“Hohohohohoho!” Sumire laughed and patted her on the head.
Oogami was rubbing his cheek when Sakura walked up to him. “This is it.” she said with a smile, “Let’s do our best, ne, Oogami-san?”
He returned the smile. “Yes, of course.”
Sakura turned to the arguing girls. “Come on, let’s go!” she said, leading the way up the platform. On the boat they waved to Oogami, who stood on the pier. “Sayonara! Please visit us!”
As the boat was setting sail, Airisu pointed at Sumire. “Waa, how could you! Onii-chan is MINE!!!”
“Hohohoho! Honestly, he didn’t say anything like that.” Sumire laughed, “You’re getting way ahead of yourself, little girl!”
“What did you say?!” Airisu growled. Sakura could help but giggle, but stopped as Airisu pointed at her. “And you, Sakura!! MOU!! Airisu did not like that look you shared with Onii-chan! Back off!”
“Hey hey, it didn’t mean anything!”
“Sure, that’s what everyone says!!! Airisu is not a child! Airisu understands everything!” she yelled, exploding a patio chair with her powers.
Sumire muttered, “Mattaku, look what you did. Is she going to be like this for the rest of the trip?” She stopped to notice Sakura clinging to the railing. “Ara? Sakura-san, what’s the matter?”
“Ugh, I forgot about the boat ride back… I feel really sick…” Sakura uttered, “ULP!” She turned green and threw up over the side.
“Ewww…” Sumire uttered, covering her eyes, “Couldn’t you have just left me back on the pier with Chuui-san?” Sighing, she looked out to sea, towards Paris. “Oh well... until next time…”
SAKURA’S NARRATION:
I won’t lie to myself... separation is difficult. For everyone, it must be endured. However, we can use the time apart to become stronger and better people. That’s what I’m hoping for.
It’s true…you are there and we’re over here; there’s nothing we can do about it.
All what is left is ‘to do our best’.
Until the next time we meet...
