@ abok: As we have discussed offline, here is one of the epilogues
Finally had time to think.
@ Her Awesome Holiness: Taking your advice about the epilogue and I actually meant I'll see what I can come up with for the Tanakame omake (which is still in production, I have a general idea but just haven't jotted down the words)
Epilogue A full year has gone by already since Airi had discovered the truth about Maimi and her team and it seemed like it was just yesterday. Throughout this time, Airi would make frequent visits to the jailhouse to pay Mano Erina a visit, always avoiding the topic about Maimi though because of the turmoil that Mano Erina had to go through herself, it was probably the best course of action. Thinking about Maimi, Airi couldn’t help but feel sad, she wasn’t by her side and haven’t been since, something that Airi would have to get use to.
Airi looked into the open sky, a lot has happened in the year, a lot of things that she would have never imagined would have happened in her life, good and bad, it felt unreal. Airi used her hand to cover the sun rays that were beaming down at her face, faced with a ring on her finger, glistening before her. Smiling, she lowered her hand and stared at the ring on her finger, recalling the love she felt from the person who had given it to her, the same ring that she slipped on a year ago. She recalled the times they were together and the talks that they had, although at the time nothing was concrete yet, it felt amazing that just the small task of someone listening to her and talking with was enough. ~plink plink~ Airi saw droplets fall on the ring and quickly wiped them off as if they will stain it, but the more she wiped the more that fell, it had suddenly dawned at her that she was crying. Holding the ring close to her heart, she continued to cry as the most vivid memory that she had recently was that day when the hospital called Saki.
Flashback“That was the hospital, Maimi…” Airi dashed out, slipping the ring on her finger, followed by everyone else, whereas Ai contacted the missing team mates to meet at the hospital.
When they had arrived at the hospital, the doctor was just coming out and he hung his head low, shaking it, portraying that something is definitely wrong. Being the closest to family, Saki walked up to the doctor and asked about Maimi’s condition. From afar they could see the doctor explaining something to Saki, and one could also tell Saki’s was going to cry anytime soon. The doctor bade Saki goodbye before walking off but Saki didn’t move so everyone walked up to her instead.
“Saki-chan, what did the doctor say?” Ai looked at Saki’s face, tears falling down, shocked “Saki-chan?” Ai shook Saki a bit
“M-M-Maimi…” Miya stood beside Saki and pulled her into a tight hug, brushing her back “Maimi woke up…”
“So why are you crying?” Momo raised an eyebrow “That’s good news right?”
“She…she…she couldn’t feel her limbs and… now she is in a coma” Saki finally choked out, everyone else gasping, hand over their mouths, Airi with tears in her eyes
Airi grabbed Saki’s shoulders “But that was the worst case scenario…that was the worst case scenario…” recalling when they were first informed that there was this possibility after her operation because the bullet went through her stomache and stopped real close to her spinal cord.
Reina and Eri pulled Airi from Saki “Suzuki-san, don’t, Saki and the rest of us are just in shock” Airi just slumped down on the floor, this isn’t what she expected nor did she want this result.
Airi felt arms hug her and the familiar scent of strawberry found it’s way to her nose “Ane….ane…”
Brushing Airi’s back, Risa could only calm her down “I know, little one, I know”
Turning to see her sister, Airi lunged into Risa’s embrace crying onto her shoulder “Ane…M-M-…”
“Just cry it all out little one, just…*choke* cry it all out” Risa tried her best to keep herself from crying, she wanted to be strong for Airi even though she was deeply crying inside. Reality was, Maimi had made a big impact and impression in Risa’s eyes…like a younger sister, and it even felt like it was her own younger sister in a coma and paralyzed.
The group stayed there crying, unsure as to what to say or what to do but to cry, cry about the after math of a person who had tried so hard to protect those around her, only to come to this result. “C-c-can we s-see her?” Eri choked out. The group looked at Saki, who was trying her hardest to make herself stop crying, wiping and rewiping the tears off her face. Seemingly have lost the use of her voice, Saki just simply nodded and had turned to direct, pushing a hand from Miyabi’s help.
Just as she had taken a step forward, her legs gave way “Saki-tan, you don’t have to act strong, let me help you” Miyabi instructed when she caught her, helping her to her feet
“*Sniff* I…I can’t…I n-need to be s-strong for the girls…I n-need to *choke* be strong for Maimi” Saki pushed herself away from Miyabi
Miyabi was about to argue when she felt someone pull her back to see 5 individuals go ahead of her and took a hold of Saki. Seeing the girls, Miyabi knew it wasn’t her place nor moment to step forward, as she watched the girls use each other as support turning Saki around. No exchange of words was needed, but they knew that at this moment, they really needed each other’s support as they got into a group hug, before they walked together towards Maimi’s room.
The walk was slow and painful, fear searing through their bodies, minds didn’t know if they were ready to face their leader in a coma state. Step after step, door after door, they finally reached the room that Maimi was in “Anyone want to back out?” Ai whispered, tear-streaked face, all cried out. No one responded as they pushed through the door to be faced with a dimly lit room blocked by a window. The only significant light was that of the heart monitor indicating that her heart rate was normal and relatively speaking it wasn’t as bad as they thought, she looked….practically normal, but that could be the fact that the blanket was covering her stomache.
Pressing against the window, the members looked at Maimi’s sleeping face “Maimi-chan” Eri suddenly hollered out, tears flowing down her face again “Maimi-chan! Wake up!” slowly Eri started knocking on the window “please wake up, see I am awake so you should be too…we…we need you…I need you” Reina and Ai could sense that Eri was going to continue knocking louder and louder as Reina took hold of Eri’s arms
“Eri, Maimi-chan will...” Ai soothed “She’s just tired…she’s been tired for too long, she deserves to rest”
“Baby, y-you have to be strong” Reina choked “we have to make Maimi-chan proud of us when she wakes up, worth her risking her life to protect us” Reina was fully aware that since Maimi had risked her own to protect Eri, Eri had grown very attached to Maimi, more than usual and it was understandable to her, heck Reina tried to go on her best behaviour when it came to Maimi in repayment and gratitude for saving Eri, a gratitude that she’ll never forget. Of course being the tough one, she didn’t let other see the effort and tried to act as if she wasn’t but she knew how Eri still recalls the day that Maimi used her body to protect Eri.
“Reina’s right” It had been awhile since Saki spoke up “we have to be strong for Maimi because she’ll need us for the aftermath” Saki then turned to look at Airi still in Risa’s embrace “be and stay strong for Maimi, she’ll need our support”
End of FlashbackRecalling Saki’s words, Airi wiped her tears and stood up straight,
‘I have to be strong for Maimi’“Why am I not surprised to see you here?” Airi turned to see 6 smiling faces beaming at her
“Hey” Airi greeted weakly “what brings you guys here?”
“Saki and I are here for Natsuyaki-chan and your sister” Ai answered with a grin
“I meant why did you guys come here?”
“Miya told me to find you while she packs up and suggested we look here…so you have the same habit as Miya” Saki looked over the ledge “Boy never thought I would be on the roof of the police department, kinda gives off an movie feeling” Airi giggled at the irony of Saki’s statement considering the fact that the girls before her were undercover but not once did they have to meet at a rooftop. “You ready to go?”
*************************************************************************************
Walking through the familiar corridors, Airi had begun to feel uneasy, she wasn’t sure if the others felt the same, but she had suddenly feared the place because she had been at the location on multiple occasions for the past while, to the point that she really didn’t want to be here anymore. Before it wasn’t such an issue but with everything that had developed, she had also developed some fears for the place and wasn’t really too keen about it nor the vibe she gets from it. Pushing through the doors, the group stopped in front of a wide window looking inside at the occupant and Airi cringed at the sight. Someone else was inside that caught the appearance of the new arrivals standing outside, putting a finger on her lips, indicating not to tell the occupant that they were outside.
“Congrats Saki-chan” Airi suddenly spoke, not removing her gaze from the events of inside the room “I heard about your little battle with your parents, I’m glad Miya doesn’t have to be heart broken like she was a while ago when we first heard about your parents trying to set you up with someone”
Saki turned and smiled at Miya, going into her embrace “I couldn’t have done it without Maimi though, I would have never had that courage to go against them or go that far in terms of chasing for something that we want if it wasn’t her influence”
Airi turned around from the window, feeling that she had seen enough, and turned to Maimi’s group “How are things at the Crown’s office Umeda-san, Tsugunaga-san?”
“Things are okay, no one knows about our little mission as promised by the Commissioner, so we can continue to work there” Erika spoke on behalf of herself and Momo who was leaning her back within Erika’s arms.
“That’s not a bad arrangement if you think about it, you can use the skills you have learned at the Crown’s office and continue to work there but if we ever needed the team again you guys will join us in action” Miya commented to no one in particular as if thinking about the benefits
Saki pushed Miya on the forehead “Don’t think too much about it” causing Airi to giggle at the antics that she had seen from the two.
There was a moment of silence before a door opened revealing the doctor walking out, followed by a sweaty Maimi rolling out in a wheelchair. The moment Maimi’s eyes met Airi’s her face lit up “Guys! What are you doing here?”
“Well it’s the day you are finally released so we all decided to come pick you up, we are a team right?” Reina answered, putting forth a peace sign.
Maimi smiled at how close her team was, “Team or not, I hope everything will not be a ruckus when I get back or I am getting Erika to give you a court notice of damage to private property” wiping the smirk off of Reina and Eri’s face. Maimi cringed “Ouch!! Why does your facial expression tell me that I will have my house upside down?”
“Maimi, still joking I see” Ai rolled her eyes and turned to Reina and Eri “Guys, she’s joking, with Saki around, I doubt Maimi would have to worry right?”
“Ahhh~~ still the best secretary ever Ai-chan” Maimi slowly wheeled herself down the hall but Airi decided to push her. Sensing that Airi was going to help push, Maimi put her hand up “I’ve got this” before she continued to push herself slowly down the hall. It actually pained the team to see Maimi in this state and trying to be strong, not letting anyone help her but they also didn’t want to make Maimi feel inferior. When Maimi woke up from the coma, a series of analyses was performed, resulting in her upper body being weak hence believing that she was immobilized. After a few days rest and some exercise, Maimi had full use of her arms, relieving everyone, giving some hope to her lower body.
The last that they heard from the doctor was that there wasn’t much progression on her lower body but regardless, Maimi went through a lot of physiotherapy session. The girls didn’t quickly follow Maimi because after every session, Maimi would use 1 hour to bathe herself from the sweat and everyone could feel that it made Maimi uneasy for them to wait for her in the room. “I don’t know if it’s just me, but I do believe Maimi is getting faster and faster with getting herself around” Eri suddenly commented, which was sort of random in a sense but did get the group out of feeling bad for Maimi.
“Since she’s going to shower, let’s go have a coffee or something before helping Maimi pack her things” Risa suggested
****************************************************************
The girls talked randomly just so that their thoughts wouldn’t go into a negative mindset, they promised each other that they were going to be strong for Maimi and they intend to follow through with it. “Um…I guess we should head up now, it’s been a little over an hour” Momoko finished up her coffee as the rest followed suit before heading towards Maimi’s room.
They continued to chit chat while walking into Maimi’s room, with Airi and Saki ahead of everyone else, but stopped when they saw Maimi sitting there clad in a black suit, white dress shirt, black boots and a loose tie “Er…nice choice of clothes…” Saki commented at a lose of words “…when did you get that?”
Maimi grinned “just recently”, they nodded whereas Airi was unable to answer, staring at Maimi looking stunning in a guyish way
“Wait a minute! Just recently? How?” Reina hollered, making Maimi only grin a little wider
Maimi put her hands on the handle of the wheelchair and as if in slow motion, holstered herself up, standing before the surprised group “like this”
The room went dead silent before Maimi was bombarded with questions of what the heck was going on, how long has she been hiding this fact etc, with the exception of one that was stunned to the point that her feet was glued to the floor. Maimi noticed this and lightly gave a tap on Saki’s shoulder, waiting for the results of her actions. Knowing Maimi the longest, Saki didn’t have to be told as she put her arms out in front of Maimi and did a swimming motion, moving everyone away from Maimi, causing everyone to understand and of course close their mouths. Maimi then clapped her hands, to the surprise of everyone…Sayumi walked through the door with a bouquet of roses.
“Thanks Michishige-san” Maimi took the bouquet in her arms
“No problem Maimi-chan” Sayumi winked at Maimi and stepped aside with the others
Maimi slowly stepped forward, one step at a time until she was right in front of Airi “For you Airin” Airi who was still stunned just took the roses, never leaving her eyes from Maimi’s. “I know you may be shocked to see me on my two feet because I am still shocked myself. From the day that I had known that I may never use my legs again, I was torn inside not because I couldn’t use them, but because I might have to make a drastic choice. I don’t want to be a burden for anyone” Maimi took Airi’s free hand “especially not to you, I didn’t want you to be living a life of hardship with someone that needs to be taken care of most of the time. But that is what gave me the drive to do my best in my physiotherapy, I didn’t want to throw in the towel until I have tried my best. I know hearing this, you might think I am selfish for making a decision for the both of us and you might tell me that you don’t mind, but I did and I even thought of how far I was going to take it just for you to move on. That was what I thought, that was the scenario that I didn’t want to come true, so I did everything I could to avoid that and luckily it paid off because if it didn’t…”Maimi put her hands into her pocket “ I wouldn’t be standing here before you. I didn’t want to reveal this until today because today is a special and important day for me...” Maimi pulled out a box, causing everyone from behind to smile, whereas Airi was still mesmorized by Maimi standing before her “not because I leave the hospital but…” everyone watched as Maimi went onto one knee “…because I wanted to propose to you. Will you, Suzuki Airi, make me, Yajima Maimi, the luckiest person alive and marry me?” Maimi opened the box to reveal a single diamond ring
The couples inside the room clutched onto their other halves as they waited for Airi’s answer. Airi’s tears had started to brim the moment that Maimi had gone on one knee, hand over her mouth, touched by Maimi’s reserve to get better, touched by Maimi’s speech and of course actions as she nodded her head. Maimi smiled, pulled the ring out of the box and slid the ring onto Airi’s finger before getting up, swinging Airi in the air. When Maimi placed Airi back on ground, she couldn’t wait to kiss the lips that she has longed to kiss, putting her hand at the small of Airi’s back pulling her closer and deepening the kiss while jeers and cheers were in the background.
They slowly pulled away, Airi looking into the eyes of Maimi “You didn’t have to get me another ring, you already gave me one”
“The first one is to show you my appreciation and love for you whereas this one…” Maimi brought the hand with the engagement ring up close “…is to show the world that I am the luckiest person alive” Maimi kissed the ring, causing Airi to blush
As the girls were cheering, Saki used her elbow and jabbed Miyabi in the midsection “Why can’t you be that romantic?”
“Learning anything monkey baby?” Risa leered in Ai’s direction
Eri turned to face Reina, brought her hands to her hips and pouted whereas Reina put her hands in the air “I know baby, I know what you’re going to say, no need to say it”
Maimi holding one hand around Airi’s waist, couldn’t help but share a laugh with Airi and give apologizing looks to those glaring at her.
“Wait a minute, did you just say you were going to break up with me if your physio didn’t work?” Airi narrowed her eyes at Maimi, stopping everyone from their silent bickering
“Er…gotta go” Maimi bolted out of the room with Airi giving chase.
Topic: Colour of Truth - Omake (Tanakame) Part 7 (last) - 10/04 (Read 83004 times)