A Stolen Goodbye

Mizuki Tomita’s hands trembled as she once again opened her eyes to the two lines on the white stick in her hands. This was the third day in a row she had checked, and it had been over a month since her cycle was due. For weeks the same worries had swirled around inside her mind.

“How could this have happened? Didn’t we use protection? How will we afford this? What if Naga-kun leaves me?”, these questions kept her up at night as her leave time approached.

She had however, answered most of them. They had definitely worn protection, and she had found a way to stay financially afloat if her boyfriend Nagataka left her.

“I guess that’s why they don’t say it works one hundred percent of the time on the packaging.”, her older sister Rei had said over the phone the previous day while laughing, “I don’t know why you’re worried about Nagataka leaving, but if things don’t work out you can always come stay with us sis.”

“Why am I still worried? Of course, Naga-kun will stay. Even if he leaves, I’ll be fine living with my sister.”, she thought as she combed her short black hair in the mirror, “But if he leaves how will I ever trust someone like this again? Would I even get that chance again?”

Tomita put on her military uniform and inspected herself in the mirror. The symbols of the Japanese Self Defense Forces and her rank of Leading private could clearly be seen and there were no stains or excessive wrinkles. She looked at her soft, round face a final time, her dark blue eyes reflected the sea of uncertainty in her head. A memory flooded her mind while putting on the watch her father had given her.

“Right, how could I forget what Papa had told me?”, she thought.

She remembered the day he gave her the watch. It was the first time he had taken her fishing and she was complaining about her friends at school while on the boat.

“I can’t ever trust anyone Papa.”, she pouted, “They always tell my secrets and laugh at me.”

“Well darling did you have a reason to trust them?”, he asked her without looking up from his line.

“A reason?”, she asked curiously.

“Yes sweetie, you should always find a reason to trust someone before giving them that trust. If you can’t think of a good reason, don’t trust them. If you can find a good reason, then trust them fully, with peace of mind.”, he told her as a fish began biting on her line.

She gasped and yelled, “Papa a fish! I’ve got a fish!”.

She reveled in her memory for a moment and imagined her father’s embrace as she thought, “Yes, I trust Naga-kun. I have many reasons to, from the incident at the beach, to everything he’s done for me over the years. I’ll tell him today, before we start our leave together. I’ll tell him I’m pregnant, and I’m sure he’ll stay.”

She looked at her phone and it read, April thirteenth, five forty-five A.M, one message from Naga-kun, “Hey Sunshine, at your door, ready to go?”.

Tomita smiled and walked across her apartment to her door. She got her wallet and keys before unlocking her deadbolt and doorknob but stopped for a moment to ready herself.

“OK, just tell him. Then we can start this next chapter together. This is Naga-kun, there’s nothing to worry about.”, she thought as she opened the door.

The sun had yet to pierce over the horizon, but she could see quite well in the twilight. Cherry blossoms fluttered past a pair of feet before her, it was Nagataka, shifting about and fiddling with his shaved black hair. Across the street behind him was a military transport truck, in it was the rest of their squad Daisuke Ono, Jun Yoshioka, and Ito Masato. They were all dressed for work and leaning out of the truck, smiling at them.

“That’s weird, why is everyone here? And why in a truck?”, she thought as she looked back at Nagataka.

“Ah, Tomita-chan”, Nagataka said while scratching the scar on his neck and looking away, “I’m sure your wondering why everyone is here, and I’ll explain that in a minute. Ono-kun always pulls crap like this. But listen Tomita-chan, forget about them for a minute. I’ve got something I have to say, something I’ve been needing to say for a while now. I got myself ready for this today and I can’t quit just because Ono-kun and the others are here.”

“What? He has something to say. What is this? Is he breaking up with me? Wait no, why would the squad be here for that. What the hell?”, she thought as Nagataka continued.

“Tomita-chan”, he said as he stepped towards her and looked down into her eyes, “We’ve been dating along time, and we’ve known each other far longer. I’ve felt this way from the start, from the first day we met, from the first time we kissed, and I can’t wait any longer, Tomita-chan.”

Nagataka’s hands shook as he went down on one knee and pulled out a small box and opened it. Inside was a diamond ring, three blue diamonds, the middle one being larger than the others, on a silver ring. Tomita gasped and heard her squad mates in the truck began to rustle about as Ono hushed them.

He looked back up at Tomita and cleared his throat before he continued speaking, “Will you stay with me forever, will you marry me?”

“Marry you? Oh Naga-kun, of course I will, but he doesn’t know. He doesn’t know I’m pregnant, what if he changes his mind, what if he’s not ready for a kid.”, she thought before she suddenly spoke.

“I’m pregnant.”, she blurted out.

To her surprise, and by the look on his face Naga-kun’s as well, the words had simply slipped out of her mouth. Her eyes fell to the ground and began to fill with tears. She didn’t know what to do or what he was going to say.

“Tomita-chan, that doesn’t answer my question. Will you marry me?”, Nagataka asked again.

Tomita looked into his eyes and let the tears start flowing from her own as she knelt down and wrapped her arms around him.

“Yes Naga-kun, I’ll marry you. It’s not even a question, of course I’ll marry you.”, she cried as they held each other.

“Wow, that’s great, and your pregnant, this is so great.”, he said as he pulled her face to his, “Are you sure? I mean, about both things?”

“Yes, yes definitely.”, she said reassuringly.

“That’s fantastic, this is so wonderful. Here, put this on.”, he said as they put the ring on her finger.

Nagataka put his hands back on her face and kissed her toothy smile.

“What a wonderful day”, she thought as she hugged him again, “April thirteenth, the day I got engaged, the day I told Naga-kun I was pregnant.”

She looked over to the truck as she heard her squad mates cheering for them. Yoshioka was whistling, Masato gave them a thumbs up, and Ono was nodding.

Nagataka turned to them and yelled, “Were pregnant!”

They all began to yell and cheer now. Yoshioka honked the horn and Ono scolded him. Nagataka waved to them and they got out of the truck and ran over to him and Tomita. They stood up and exchanged hugs with their friends, while they all laughed and smiled. Tomita held Nagataka as she looked at the ring on her finger.

“So, leave it to Ono-kun to interrupt ya’lls big moment, huh?”, laughed Yoshioka.

Ono took off his cap for a moment and rubbed his bald head while saying, “Well, I had no idea Naga-kun was doing this today when I made this decision.”

“Everything’s fine Ono-kun.”, said Nagataka with a smile as he turned to face Tomita, “Instead of me driving us to base camp like normal, Ono-kun told me this morning that he would be picking everyone up and I asked him to keep it a surprise from you because I didn’t want it to affect your mood. I had been planning on asking you today for a few months now after all and wasn’t ready to back out of it over this.”

“That’s wonderful Naga-kun”, said Tomita still feeling butterflies, “But what exactly is it we’re doing with that truck?”

“A certain someone had an off the books request and I was the first person they looked to for help.”, said Ono.

“I think we all know you mean colonel Oshiro-san, Ono-kun.”, remarked Yoshioka.

“This person, which none of you heard by name,”, said Ono with a wink, “said that some weapons and munitions had mistakenly not been shipped to their destination, and asked that we deliver them. We’ll sign off that we were on a proper, on the books, transport today that will instead be taken care of by someone else. During that time, we’ll be making this delivery instead. Once delivered we’ll meet someone there who also doesn’t want any of this to be official, who will take the trucks content off our hands, and then we’ll drive back to base. However, before entering we’ll rendezvous with the transport we signed on and switch trucks. In exchange for our discretion in this matter we’ll all be given an extra day of leave.”

Tomita had always been ok with Ono’s “special” requests from the colonel since the beach incident, but her pregnancy was making her rethink how much risk she was willing to take.

“Ono-kun are you sure that this is ok?”, asked Tomita.

Ono nodded his head.

“Alright, but this is the last time I do something like this. I have to think about the baby.”, said Tomita while looking at Nagataka and putting his hand to her stomach.

“Of course.”, said Ono, “I’ll tell my friend that this is the last time you and Nagataka can be involved.”

“Thanks Ono-kun.”, said Nagataka.

“Oi, Oi. What about the rest of us?”, asked Masato sarcastically.

“Ito-chan relax. This means we get another day at the expo this summer. Besides, the old man has never led us astray.”, laughed Yoshioka while putting his arm around Masato.

“I’m not old yet. Anyway, let’s get moving everyone, were almost out of the allotted extra time I give us on missions like this.”, said Ono.

Tomita held onto Nagataka as they crossed the dimly lit street. Nagataka opened the door and she climbed up into the truck. She noticed there were Howa Type eighty-nine rifles under all their seats while sitting down between Masato and Nagataka in the back of the truck.

“This again?”, she asked Yoshioka, who was, as usual, riding shotgun.

“You know I don’t want to be caught with our pants down. Do you want another day at the beach? Besides, breaking one more rule today won’t hurt anything.”, said Yoshioka, smiling.

Ono and Nagataka shut their doors simultaneously while Ono started the truck.

“Relax Tomita-chan, no one’s going to pull over a military truck going the speed limit.”, said Masato as he cleaned his glasses.

“You too Masato-kun?”, asked Tomita in surprise.

“He convinced me it’s a good idea.”, said Masato.

Tomita giggled and said, “Maybe you’ve just changed a little after all this time.”

Masato made a half smile and looked out the window as Ono drove the truck down the road. Tomita turned to her right and put her head on Nagataka while looking out his window. It was almost daybreak and she could barely see the light from the street lamps as they approached the highway.

“So, Ono-kun, have you got any plans with the family over your leave?”, asked Yoshioka.

“I’m finally going to stay home and spend time with the wife and kids. You?”, asked Ono without looking from the road.

“That’s great to hear Ono-kun. I’m just going to upgrade my P.C, work on my car, and go to the expo with Ito-chan. Oh, that reminds me Naga-kun, why wait until today to pop the question?”, asked Yoshioka, turning back and looking at Nagataka.

“Oh, I didn’t tell you? I’m going to visit my parents during my leave. I don’t want to leave Tomita-chan’s side again after this. I was planning on making today our last goodbye.”, said Nagataka.

Tomita looked up into Nagataka’s eyes and smiled.

“Why not take her with you?”, asked Yoshioka.

Ono cleared his throat.

“Oh, right that was about this time last year. Tomita-chan I’m sorry, I”, Yoshioka attempted to say as Tomita interrupted him.

“It’s fine Yoshi-kun.”, said Tomita with her head down.

This time last year her father had died in a car accident. He had been drinking late again and drove into a tree late at night. Colonel Oshiro had that fact scrubbed from the reports though. Her father had told her that they were old friends in his army days. As for his drinking, that had started right after her mother died from cancer. Tomita remembered looking into his eyes. It was the first time she had seen him with that face. He looked so lost and defeated, like all the life had left his body. He was never like his old self again, not even for Tomita.

“But it’s time I start my new life with Naga-kun, and I want that life to start right now. Right now, while I have this energy, I’ll ask him before I overthink things.”, thought Tomita.

“Actually, that sounds like a great idea. What do you think fiancé?”, she asked while grabbing Nagataka’s hand and looking back at him.

“I could get used to the sound of that.”, said Nagataka with a sigh, “Oh, and yes, I’ll text my folks that your coming right away.”

Nagataka took out his phone and texted his parents while Tomita looked out his window. Finally, the sun was breaching the horizon and was showering the land in light.

“April thirteenth,”, she thought again, “The sun finally shines on this special day, the day everything changed for me. Papa, I finally did it, I finally took a step forward again.”

Tomita looked back to Nagataka as he spoke to her, but she heard nothing. She watched his lips move without making a sound. He continued speaking but Tomita heard nothing.

“Naga-kun stop being silly, what did they say?”, asked Tomita, who assumed he was joking around.

Nagataka looked confused and appeared to ask Tomita what she meant by that, but still she heard nothing. Tomita stared in bewilderment as Nagataka continued to speak in silence. She began to get worried and started to shake his arm as all the sound around her ceased. The truck, the highway, the cars driving by, all became absolutely silent. A trembling sense of dread swept over her as she thought she had lost her hearing altogether, when suddenly she started to hear sound coming from Nagataka’s mouth.

A snarling sound left his mouth as he spoke. Tomita could hear the sounds of rustling, chomping, the tearing of flesh. She violently shook Nagataka as she began to hear him screaming.

“What’s going on?”, she thought as she stared at a now motionless Nagataka.

The world around her began to fade away as she stopped screaming. The sounds of snarling and eating continued as everything darkened.

She screamed, “Naga-kun!”, as she lost all sensation and the world cut to black.

. . .

Her eyes suddenly opened and squinted from a dim light coming from the sun. Her vision was cloudy, and she felt exhausted. She took a deep breath and was met with a much greater need to exhale than she expected. This feeling of receiving too much air continued and her breathing shallowed as a result while she felt grass, dirt, and hard rocks protruding out of the ground with her hands and back. She realized she was laying on the ground as the haziness in her vision wore away and her eyes widened, noticing a problem in the cloudy sky.

The sun was mostly covered by a large dark object, behind the star was land, and although mostly dark, she could still make out colors and shapes. Greens, browns, and blues stretched across the entire sky completely engulfing the sun. She looked down past her feet to see a valley, the land spotted with protruding skeletons and litter, end at the tree line of a large forest. Glistening autumn leaves tumbled around her through a gentle breeze. Beyond the tree line was a strange horizon where the land blurred out before reaching up behind the clouds and continuing across the entire sky.

“Where am I?”, thought Tomita as she heard gunfire.

Feathers burst into her vision and fell around her, as her ears began to ring from the abrupt sound of close gunshots. A large feathered body fell to her right side as she continued to stare at the sky. Ono leaned into her view and knelt down to her. He closed his eyes and spoke to her, but she couldn’t hear him over the ringing sound in her ears. The ringing quickly died down however, and a litany of sound filled her ears. Screaming, gunfire, the sounds of animals, and finally she heard Yoshioka to her left.

“Ito-chan! Stay with me, please don’t go.”, she heard Yoshioka scream while shaking something, “Fuck! Ono-kun he’s gone too!”

“Alright pick up that rifle and start firing or we’re all going to die with them.”, said Ono calmly as he knelt over Tomita.

“Fuck you Ono, you heartless bastard!”, yelled Yoshioka while firing his rifle, “Die you stupid animals!”

“Tomita-chan I’m so sorry. I’m so desperately sorry, but I need your help. Please deal with what’s on your right as quickly as you can, and then help me and Yoshi-kun.”, said Ono while taking a step forward and firing in front of them with the rifle in his hands.

“Wait Ono-kun! What’s going on? Masato-kun is dead? What’s attacking us? Where are we? Where’s Naga-kun?”, these questions spiraled in her mind as the haziness she had felt faded.

A paralyzing reality struck her as a singular thought came to the forefront of her mind, “What’s to my right if not Naga-kun?”

Tomita slowly turned to her right and saw the body of a feathered creature laying in a pool of blood. She felt the blood run under her arm and back as the stench of it and bowel pierced into her nostrils. She was dumbfounded as she realized it was a raptor, which Masato had once described to her were typically feathered, not scaly. She trembled in fear as she sat up slightly, realizing what must be on the other side.

Finally, she found him. Nagataka laid motionlessly in a patch of blood-stained white flowers, stretched out with dead raptors at his sides and feet. His neck and body were torn open, gushing blood, and he wasn’t breathing. Tomita froze and for a moment as the sounds around her faded away, her skin went cold and she felt her heart sink deep into her chest as a feeling of absolute hollowness swept through her.

“No, this is impossible. Why?”, she thought while leaping onto his corpse and shaking his face.

“This can’t be happening! We just started our new life today! God please, please don’t take him away. I can’t live without him, I don’t want to be alone again.”, she thought as she desperately tried to stop the bleeding coming from his neck.

She shook him while chanting, “Wake up, wake up.”

She remembered the words her father had spoken while her mother died at the hospital, as she felt them exit her mouth, “No, please don’t go. I can’t take it.”

“Tomita-chan, we need you! We can grieve after we survive this!”, said Ono in a stern voice.

“No!”, growled Yoshioka, “Tomita-chan take all the time you need. I won’t let these monsters touch you!”

Tomita slammed her bloody hands into the ground and her face fell down to Nagataka’s. The tears from her eyes dropped onto his dirty, bloody face.

She stared into his lifeless eyes as she silently cried out into a deafened world, “Nagataka!”