Hoshi No Hedatari Condensed

         “Mikako, do you have everything? You’re always so forgetful, if you need something, just call back and I’ll send it right out.” Mikako Nagamine’s mother asked her as she smoothed her daughter’s hair.

         “Yeah. Stop doing that! I’m not a little kid, you know?” Mikako pouted as she redid her hair. “The military will provide me with everything. Besides, it would probably take forever to get anything, seeing as you are pretty air headed yourself.”

         “AH! Noboru, see how she treats me? Such a bad daughter.” Mikako’s mother complained.

         Noboru Terao smiled and looked away as the two bickered. He knew better than anyone the deep relationship these two shared. He had been friends with Mikako since they were kids. Friends? Noboru felt pain at thinking about that word. What he felt for Mikako was different from friendship now, but when he told her that, she had turned him down, asking that their relationship not change. Friends. If that’s what she really wanted to be then, that’s what they would be. He could at least give her that before she left.

         “Noboru?” Mikako’s voice pulled him from his thoughts. He looked at her confused. “Geez, don’t space out like that. Mom wants you to take our picture.”

         “Picture? Oh right.” He raised the camera in his hand and photographed them.

         “Thanks. And let’s get one of you two.” Mikako’s mother said as she reached for the camera. “Now stand side-by-side. Mikako, get a little closer to Noboru.”

         Mikako stepped to her right and their hands touched.

         “Sorry.” Mikako said as she felt Noboru stiffen.

         “No… no prob.” Noboru answered.

         “Aww. That’s no good. Noboru, put your arm around her or something. Right, like that. On three now. One. Two. Three.”

         Mikako and Noboru made weird faces as Mikako’s mother took the picture.

         “Great, there’s one I’ll treasure forever.” Mikako’s mother said sarcastically as they laughed.

         Noboru pointed out that they had begun to line up for boarding the transport, which would take her to the space ship, “… I guess this is goodbye.”

         “No, that’s too sad. Besides, we’ll message each other and stuff…”

         Noboru thought “Please, don’t go” but that wasn’t what Mikako needed to hear so he smiled and said “Yeah, good luck. I’ll be cheering for you.”

         Mikako thought “Don’t forget me.”, but what she said was “Don’t forget me.”

         Mikako gasped. “I didn’t mean to say that…”

         Noboru’s smile faded a little and he just nodded.

         He watched Mikako enter the transport for the ship and waved at her through the glass walls. She smiled confidently and gave him the peace sign as the transport slowly ascended.

         Noboru continued to slowly wave and watch her until her image blurred through his tears.

-

         Mikako angrily tossed the book back into her bag, she couldn’t focus and had read the same sentence over ten times. The screen on the wall said that the ship would arrive at Mars in 16 hours. She put the complementary headphones on and flipped through the music selection before taking them off again. Turning off the overhead light, she closed her eyes.

         “Mikako! You sleeping?” someone yelled at her. She rolled over and threw the covers over her head.

         She heard her door quietly open. Suddenly she was being assaulted by a soft weapon. She quickly sat up and glared at her attacker.

         “What are you doing with Mr. Panda?” She demanded.

         “Ha ha, I can’t believe you still sleep with a stuffed bear.” Noboru teased.

         Mikako fumed. “You know, Noboru. You really should never enter a girl’s room without permission. It is punishable by death!” She dove off the bed at Noboru. They both fell onto the ground.

         “AH! Mrs. Nagamine, Mikako’s hurting me!” Noboru pretended to be afraid.

         “Take this and that!” Mikako used the stuffed bear to deliver her justice.

         “No more, no more!” Noboru put up his hand to catch the bear/club but missed and he grabbed a handful of nightshirt. They both froze.

         “No… bra?” the words slipped out before he could stop them.

         Mikako covered her chest with her arms.

         “I… I’m sorry, Mikako.” Noboru began to say.

         Mikako glared at Noboru. “Get out!” She yelled as she kicked him out of her room.

         Twenty minutes later, Mikako, full dressed, flew downstairs and ran into the kitchen where her mother and Noboru waited. “Late for school, no time for breakfast!” She yelled as she stuffed a slice of toast in her mouth.

         “You wouldn’t be in such a rush if you just woke on time.” Noboru pointed out.

         The air in the kitchen grew very cold as Mikako said “are you ready to die today?”

         “We’re going now.” Noboru said as he ran out with Mikako in tow. Mikako’s mom waved through the closing front door.

         “CRASH!”

         Mikako jumped as she woke up. She glanced over and saw a stewardess pick up some cans of juice which had fallen off her serving cart. Mikako reached down and put her hand against her beating heart. She could still feel the warmth of Noboru’s hand and hear his voice. She raised her legs to her chest and cried as she tried to go to sleep again.

-

         “Get that crap out of your ears and listen closely morons!” The scary woman yelled after Mikako’s ship landed on Mars. “You all need to get back on that ship because I was expecting some fighter pilots, not chickenshits!” Some people actually turned around and started to head for the ship again, which made the red faced woman even more angrier. Mikako sighed inwardly as she wondered what she had gotten herself into.

         Despite the initial harsh training, Mikako didn’t think she hated the UN space military yet. She quickly adapted to the simplistic but strict schedule and did well in her classes. She was also allowed ten minute calls to Earth and then the time came when she got her cell phone back. Although there was no commercial cell phone voice service in the area, she could still exchange messages with people on Earth.

         She was surprised when she saw that Noboru had sent her a message every day that she was gone. That first message she sent back was long as she told Noboru about her training, how beautiful Mars was and the thrill of piloting a Tracer, the giant humanoid robot the UN military used. From then on, they continued to exchange messages. However, as Mikako’s training and then mission assignments took her further away from Earth, the time that it took the messages to transmit became hours, then days, months and then it had become one year for a message to travel one way.

-

         At first, Noboru waited anxiously for messages from Mikako but one day, Noboru realized that there had not been a message or anything for nine whole months.

         "Maybe she’s forgotten? She’s probably busy with her new life. Maybe I should do the same?” He thought to himself without any bitterness.

         He turned as he heard someone calling his name. It’s her. Noboru thought as he started walking away faster.

         “Noboru! Wait!” The girl who called out to him ran up faster.

         “What do you want Rian?” Noboru asked as he continued walking.

         “Will you stop!?” Rian grabbed Noboru’s bag and pulled him back.

         “What, What?” Noboru turned to her.

         Rian realized she was right in front of him. She only had to reach out and…

         “Hello?” Noboru waved a hand in her face.

         “Oh! Yeah, Noboru… you want to get some coffee with me, I know a great…”

         Noboru frowned. “No. I’m busy, leave me alone.” He started walking away again but stopped. “Hey. Were you?”

         Rian looked up and saw a crushed pink envelope in his hand. “AH! My let… I mean, a love letter? Who’s it from?”

         Noboru sighed as he put the letter back in his pocket.

         “Fine.” He muttered. He saw that Rian had a confused look on her face.

         “I said, fine. Let’s go get that coffee.”

-

         “Noboru? Do you know what day it is?” Rian asked as they walked back from school together.

         “Uh… Thursday?” Noboru said as he held the umbrella up.

         Rian was grateful for the rain as she hugged Noboru’s arm under his umbrella. She had hers in her school bag, but she wasn’t about to tell him that.

         “No. Well, yeah but also it’s our four month anniversary.” Rian pouted.

         “Is that so?” Noboru said as he gazed out into the rain.

         “Yes, I thought we should, you know, celebrate. Hey, are you listening?”

         Noboru stopped suddenly. “Hey, you got plans tonight? I’ll take you out to dinner.”

         “Well, I have to study for that test tomorrow. Wait a minute, I suggested that first! Don’t think you’re so cool, buddy.”

         Noboru chuckled. “Yes, mam. Why don’t you go home and change, I’ll come by to pick you up at five-thirty?”

         Noboru pushed the umbrella into her hands.

         “OK. I’ll be waiting. Don’t be late.” Rian grinned. She watched as Noboru walked away in the rain. Only after she had stood there for another ten minutes, her shoes soaking up rain water, did she remember her own umbrella.

         Noboru ran in the rain until he saw an empty booth for train passengers to wait in until it arrived.

         He shook the water from his hair and was grateful the summer rain wasn’t cold. Four months huh? He thought. His phone rang.

         “Did she forget something?” He wondered as he picked up his phone.

         Message from Mikako Nagmanie The phone read. Noboru was amazed.

         Mikako apologized for the delay due to distance and that she had bad news, by the time her message would have arrived, her fleet would have already warped eight light years away. She finished her message “I’m sorry, it seems like space and time are against our love.”

         What did she mean “love”? Eight years? That’s like saying forever. He thought. If I reply to this, it will take eight years to get to her. By then, she could already be heading back to Earth or have met someone else. Reading her message, he could feel her sorrow and loneliness. He suddenly remembered Rian and their date. The rain had stopped and the sun was bright when he made his decision and stepped into the sunlight.