Breakthrough

In the auditorium of the school, about twenty members of the fire brigade, all dressed in casual clothes, plus about thirty students, including the entire student council and all seven student firefighters, were present, as well as the parents of some of the students. All the student firefighters, minus Tomoko, were meeting with each other to discuss what would possibly happen. “My sister is hoping for the best,” Rumiko said to the others. “She’s been pretty tight-lipped to me about what the student council has been discussing in regards to this decision, though. It seems like not even they know what the school decided, though.”

“At this point,” Naoko said. “It could be anything.”

“We just gotta keep up the hope the principal comes to his senses and won’t abolish us,” Yui said.

Then, Enji ran over, having just arrived. “Amano-san!”

Naoko turned to him and greeted him, surprised he had come. “Oh, hey, Hirayama-senpai. Didn’t expect to see you here.”

“I got a text saying they made a decision,” he replied. “Some more townsfolk are coming down to support you guys.”

Confused, Sumire asked him, “Wait, how did word about it spread? I don’t think the fire brigade has said anything.”

“Word travels fast in small towns,” Yui explained.

“I hope it’s a decision to keep us,” Naoko commented. “If it’s to abolish us, me and Ayumi-chan are gonna be in a bad mood when we go to our Advanced Firefighting class tomorrow. Tomorrow’s the last actual class for us before we take the test on Thursday.”

“Me and Rumiko-chan are doing our last Basic and SCBA Firefighting class tomorrow, too,” Sumire replied. “I didn’t realize both courses ended in the same week.”

“They usually don’t in the summer months,” Yui replied to her. “Usually one ends a week or two before the other. Looks like the academy instructors are gonna be busy this week.”

“Fourteen weeks and one hundred and thirty-five hours later, we’ll finally be able to go into buildings like the rest of you.”

Yui smiled and told her underclassman, “We can’t wait for you or Rumiko-chan to join us on a hose line inside a fire.”

They all turned to the entranceway to the auditorium and then saw a group of ten paid firefighters walk in, all of them in uniform and all from the paid Harukawa fire station. Ayumi turned to Naoko and remarked, “Wow, the whole shift came.”

The on-duty captain for the day, a man in his forties named Yoichi Chida, walked over to the girls, turning to Yui first as Tomoko walked over from the student council members to greet him as well. Yui greeted him with a bow, saying, “Good evening, Captain Chida.”

“We came down here to support you guys,” Yoichi said to her. “There's been some… Contention among our ranks as to the proposal, but I know the shift I personally work with is against abolition. It’s a bit unofficial, but I do want to be here to see the decision the school makes, regardless of the result.”

Tomoko then arrived, rendering a salute to Yoichi and greeting him with, “Captain.” Yui saw this and also somewhat awkwardly rendered her own salute to join her, partially to make sure she was not alone in doing so.

Yoichi chuckled. “At ease, Morishima. We’ve known each other for a while now. Same to you, Kitagawa.”

Enji asked Naoko, “Is he a paid firefighter?”

“Yeah,” she nodded. “He’s the captain of the Yoshimatsu Area Fire Department’s fire station in Harukawa, meaning he not only oversees the shift he works, but also oversees the lieutenants who work the other three shifts. He’s worked in Harukawa ever since he became a lieutenant, so a lot of the guys in the fire brigade know him.”

Yoichi looked around the auditorium and commented, “I know Hoshizora-san is working, but I don’t see Yamada-san anywhere.”

“It, uh,” Yui replied. “It’s a long story…”

“Oh… Right… The divorce. She must be busy tonight dealing with that.”

“She’s busy moving in with Lieutenant Hoshizora,” Tomoko explained. “It’s been hard trying to get her things out of her house and into the Lieutenant’s apartment, not to mention dealing with her son.”

“Man, I feel bad for her kid,” Yoichi commented. “Her, too, but especially her son. Divorce always sucks.”

Fumio then walked over, greeting Yoichi with a bow. “Greetings, Captain.”

“Same to you, Chief,” Yoichi said with his own bow, surprising Fumio.

“I mean, you do outrank me when I’m at work…”

“But we aren’t at work, are we? Here, I’m at your command.” The two then shared a laugh. “So, where’s Chief Mikazuki?”

“Taichi is somewhere around here talking to various people,” Fumio commented. “He’ll come around to you gu-“

“Hello, Captain,” then replied Taichi, almost on cue as he walked over.

“Speak of the Devil,” Fumio chuckled.

“What’s up?”

“We were just talking about you,” Yoichi said to him. “So, I got all ten of us from the fire station down here.”

“Thank you so much for coming down,” Taichi then replied as he bowed, prompting Yoichi to bow as well before the two then shook hands. “It really means a lot that you’re backing us up here.”

“Ah, it’s nothing. After all, if you guys lose the program, you’ll have some serious issues with manpower.”

In agreement, Taichi nodded and replied, “You’re not kidding. All arguments about tradition and community aside, these girls are vital to us, especially during the summer months or when we have firefighters who are also fishermen out to sea. Not to get too impolite, but we’d be screwed without them quite a bit, especially during the day since the school lets them out for major emergencies.”

Then, Noriko Matsumoto called everyone’s attention from a podium up on stage, speaking into a microphone. “Everyone, if I may have your attention…”

As everyone went silent and turned to her, she could feel the weight of the world fall on her shoulders, especially given how clear it was that pretty much everyone in the audience was opposed to the program’s abolition. She took a deep breath and thought to herself, “You can do this, you can do this…” She then cleared her throat and began the proceedings. “Welcome to the auditorium of Harukawa Girls’ Academy. Me and Principal Furutani apologize for the rather sudden announcement of this, well, announcement, but we feel as though you should be aware of the decision we have made regarding the Student Firefighter Program as soon as possible. I will now have Principal Furutani make the announcement.”

As Noriko stepped away, Keiichi took to the podium, feeling everyone’s eyes shift to him while they remained silent. He, too, could sense the contempt much of the room had for him and the proposal. “Thank you all for coming. We have discussed the proposal and have heard a lot of comments from members of the community and the fire service. We have heard comments both for and against abolishing the program, and there are many people who are rather passionate about this matter at hand.” He then took a pause as the anticipation in the room began to build. “The decision we have come to is…”

Yui whispered to herself as she watched the proceedings, “Please, don’t…” Around her, everyone from students of the school to village residents to firefighters from various places in the Yoshimatsu area were all watching and waiting to see if the Student Firefighter Program would live or die.

Keiichi looked down at the sheet of notes he had been using for reference as he spoke, the bullet point regarding whether or not he would announce the program’s end having been erased. “That’s odd,” he thought to himself. “Who erased part of my notes?” Then, Naoko walked over, surprising him. “Huh? Matsumoto?”

“I forgot to say one thing,” she then said to him. “Please, let me speak briefly.”

“But-?”

“Please.”

Keiichi then stepped aside, not wanting to fight with her in public. “Go ahead.”

Naoko then took a deep breath as she approached the podium before making an announcement. “Before the Principal makes his decision, I would like to say that after much deliberation, I am against the abolition of the Student Firefighter Program.” As gasps echoed through the auditorium, she explained, “When I went to school here, I was a volunteer firefighter as well, much like the seven girls in the program now. I joined another fire brigade after high school graduation and remained in it until after I graduated college. I am proud of my time spent in the fire service. Initially, I believed I was doing the community a service by ending the program due to the risks involved, but now, I realize that I would only hurt the town I went to school in. I cannot in good faith support the proposal. If the school goes through with it, you can all consider this to be my resignation.”

Ayumi said to herself as even more people in the audience gasped in shock, “Holy shit…” She then turned to Naoko and Yui, asking them both, “Did you think this was gonna happen?”

“Not at all,” Yui replied quietly. “This feels like a twist you’d see in a drama.”

As Noriko stepped away, Keiichi awkwardly stepped forward, taking to the podium once more. Clearing his throat, he addressed the crowd with, “Now, uh, if I may have everyone’s attention… Given the recent attention this has received, and, well, the response from Assistant Principal Matsumoto… I have come to the decision that the program shall stay in place for the time being. Given the backlash from the residents of the Village of Harukawa and the students of Harukawa Girls’ Academy, it is clear that more care needs to be taken and more research needs to be done. Therefore, the Student Firefighter Program will continue on. Thank you for your time.”

As Keiichi bowed and left the podium, the crowd in the auditorium began to clap, overjoyed by the decision. Tomoko and Rumiko hugged each other, cheering over the decision for the program to stay. “We did it,” Tomoko told her sister. “Rumiko, we did it!”

“We did, oneechan!” All the other girls in the program then joined them in a group hug.

As the cheering continued, Taichi texted both Kana and Masako the good news with a smile on his face.

TAICHI: Matsumoto-san changed sides, and Furutani-san chose to let the Student Firefighter Program continue

KANA: holy shit, she did?!

MASAKO: Thank God he came to his senses

TAICHI: Matsumoto-san said that if the program was abolished, she would resign as Assistant Principal

KANA: about time

KANA: still im glad she came to her senses too

Fumio then said to Taichi, “Texting Hoshizora and Yamada?”

“Yep,” he replied. “They’re both really happy about it.”

Back in the group hug, Yui told the other six Student Firefighters, “Now that we know we’ll live, let’s all wish Rumiko-chan and Sumire-chan good luck in their last week of Basic and SCBA Firefighting. Tomorrow is their final class and this Thursday is their test.”

“Don’t forget me and Ayumi-chan,” Naoko pointed out. “This is also our last week for Advanced Firefighting.”

“Right, of course,” she corrected herself. “Wish the two of them luck as well. Hopefully, by the end of this week, all seven of us will be able to go into fires now.” The group then split up, talking to their other friends from among the students who had attended.

As Tomoko walked back over to the Student Council members, Keiko told her, “Council President, I’m glad it all worked ou-“ Tomoko then surprised her with a hug. “Oh, uh…”

“Thank you, Keiko-san,” Tomoko said to her vice president as her grip on her tightened. “I can’t express enough how much it means to see the whole Student Council on my side. I’m so proud to have each and every one of you in it, and I’m proud to be your student council president.”

Keiko then returned the hug with a smile, telling her, “It’s my duty… Not just as your Vice President, but as a friend, Tomoko-san.”

…

Rentaro and Yui were walking back from the school together, still giddy over the decision Keiichi and Noriko had made. “I’m glad they’re gonna let the program stay,” he said to his now-girlfriend. “I’ll tell you, it kinda hurt seeing how much this all made you worry a lot, Yui. I was getting pretty concerned, actually.”

“Aww, thank you,” Yui replied with a smile. “So, uh… Where do you wanna go after this?”

“Wanna go back to my place for a bit? It’s still a bit early, and my parents aren’t around right now.” Rentaro looked up at a clock hanging from the wall of a building along the street.

“Don’t you have work tomorrow?”

“Yeah, but not until eight in the morning. I got the evening off, and then I’m working from midnight to eight after I get out of class.”

“Ah…” Yui then leaned in on his shoulder and rested her head against him. “Do you wanna… Maybe…?” She paused, blushing as she tried to think of a way to ask her next question.

“Maybe what?”

Yui, deciding to just spit it out, then asked him, “Do you wanna do what we did after the festival?”

…

At Rentaro’s house, the couple were having sex for a second time. Having a little bit of experience under their belt, this time was a bit less awkward than before. A TV playing a news show that neither of them paid any attention to was going in the background as the bed creaked and moans filled the bedroom. Finally, once the two were finished, Rentaro got up off of Yui and stood up from the bed, telling her, “Hah… I’m gonna toss the condom. I’ll be back.”

As Rentaro walked out of the bedroom, still stark naked as he walked to a bathroom nearby, Yui took a deep breath and wiped her forehead of sweat. She looked around the room and said to herself, “Fuck, that felt good.”

When her boyfriend came back into the room, he laid down on the bed next to Yui and kissed her. “So, Yui, how was that?”

“Better than the first.”

“Hopefully, we won’t get interrup-“ Both of their pagers then went off. “God damn it, again?!”

As they both got up and hurriedly began to get dressed, an annoyed Yui told him, “You just had to say it, didn’t you?!”

“It sounds like it’s just a fire alarm activation at the nursing home,” Rentaro pointed out. “So it shouldn’t take too long.” The nursing home he referred to was a large four-story building in the middle of town that had housed many elderly people in the nearly twenty-five years it had existed. It ranked as one of the largest and tallest buildings in Harukawa, although it was not number one in either category, coming in second in terms of height and fourth in terms of size.

Yui finished putting her school uniform back on after pulling up a pair of black modesty shorts and a skirt, but as she began to run out of the room, she stopped herself. “Damn it!” She then ran back into the bedroom.

“What’s up?”

“I forgot a bra and I didn’t realize it until I tried to run,” Yui shouted from the bedroom. “Hold on!” After another fifteen seconds, she emerged from the room, running as fast as she could to her outdoor shoes and putting them on. “Girls with bigger boobs generally don’t run without bras. They’d rather them not fly all over, myself included.”

“Oh, right,” Rentaro realized. “Good point.” The two then ran out of the house as the siren from the fire brigade’s station continued to wail, with both of them hopping in Rentaro’s father’s car and him quickly turning it on before speeding off to the fire station.

About two minutes later, and four minutes after the call came in, Rentaro and Yui pulled into the side parking lot and ran into the station, quickly reaching their lockers and kicking their shoes off before Rentaro slipped his silver hip boots on and pulled them up. Yui meanwhile had to hurriedly slip her skirt off and put on a pair of sweatpants she kept in her locker first before putting her hip boots on and pulling them up. They then grabbed their coats and helmets, put them on, and ran to Pumper 31, both hopping into the last seats available. Yui told her father, who happened to be up front, “We’re all set up here.”

“Glad to see you could make it, Yui,” he replied with a chuckle. He then radioed out, “Engine 31 is responding with a crew of six, four SCBA.” As Engine 31 sped off into the night, more firefighters ran into the station to grab the other trucks. Meanwhile, on board, Yui began putting on an air pack along with one of the other two people in the back and two of the three up front.

Once Engine 31 pulled up, the crew all hopped off and stood by near their apparatus. Yui told Rentaro, “We’ll probably get told to go back in a few minutes.”

Hideaki turned and told his crew, “Just stand by over here. I’m gonna go up and confer with the paid crew and Assistant Chief Ueda.” Taichi had apparently decided to not go to this call and let Fumio run it, given it was not a serious call by any means.

As Hideaki walked up, Fumio turned to him and said, “It was burnt food on the third floor. I turned Utility 35 around and I’m releasing Ambulance 4. We’ll keep Engine-Aerial 4, Tanker 4, and you guys for a few minutes, but I don’t think we’ll need you guys to go inside.”

“Got it.” Hideaki then turned around and walked back to his crew, telling them once he got closer, “We’ll just stand by here. It’s smoke from burnt food on the third floor.”

“Of course it is,” Yui commented. “Either that or one of the residents lights up a cigarette where they’re not supposed to.”

Rentaro asked her, “Aren’t a lot of people in this place on oxygen, though?”

“That doesn’t stop some people. My dad has been on a few calls where someone lit themselves on fire because they smoked with it on. It’s happened here before, too. Nothing too serious, though, at least not yet.”

Horrified, Rentaro replied, “Holy shit. Why?”

“Some people are just that addicted to smoking, I guess. Either that, or they’re that stupid.”

…

August 17, 2023

At a large firefighting training facility in the City of Yoshimatsu, a group of twenty volunteer firefighters, all of them dressed in blue and orange uniforms, proudly stood outside of a burn tower, all of them holding certificates as they posed for a group photo. Masako and Kana, who were the ones taking the photo, adjusted a camera as the latter said to the group, “Squeeze in a bit more! The one at the end is cut off a bit!” Also watching was Tomoko, who was proud to see her little sister graduate from the class.

A fire instructor then turned to Kana and said to her, “So this is why you did a work swap yesterday.”

“Of course,” Kana replied. “I wanted to see my guys graduate from the class, after all.” Kana had swapped shifts with another firefighter, working the day before so she did not have to work today to attend Rumiko, Sumire, and Rentaro’s graduation.

“Alright,” Masako then said as she got ready to take the picture. “Taking the picture in three, two, one!” She pressed the shutter release three times, taking three pictures. Once she was done, she said to the group, “Thank you. We’re all set.”

Once this was done, the three firefighters from Harukawa then walked over to Tomoko, Kana, and Masako. Rumiko immediately hugged her sister, telling her, “Oneechan, we did it.”

“We sure did,” she replied to her as she patted her head. A few seconds after, both of their parents joined in, congratulating their youngest daughter on a job well done.

Sumire looked over at the happy family and smiled, thinking to herself, “My parents may not be here in person, but I know they’re here watching over me. I know they’d be proud of who I am now.”

Kana walked over to Sumire and said to her with a pat on the shoulder, “Congratulations, Suwabe.”

“Thank you, Lieutenant,” she replied back. “My parents may not be here, but I know they’re watching me.” A single tear fell down her face and past her scars as she reminisced about her mother and father from before she had lost them.

Meanwhile, Rentaro’s father and mother posed for a photo with him that Masako took. As they finished taking the photo, Rentaro turned his head and suddenly saw Yui standing close by. “Oh, Yui!”

“Congratulations,” she replied as she walked over. “So, how does it feel to finally be done with this?”

“It feels pretty good.”

Rentaro’s father, curious about the girl, asked him, “Rentaro, who’s this girl? Is she a friend?”

“I’m Kitagawa Yui,” Yui replied with a bow. “I’m a Student Firefighter. I’m also the daughter of our captain, Kitagawa Hideaki. I’ve been friends with your son ever since he joined us back in April.” She then subtly winked at Rentaro.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Rentaro’s mother then said to her as Yui shook hands with both her and Rentaro’s father. “I’m glad to see my son’s really come out of his shell ever since he joined the fire brigade. He was pretty quiet and kept to himself when he was in school, after all.”

“Mom, come on,” Rentaro replied with a hint of embarrassment. “I’m different now.”

“It hasn’t been that long since you graduated,” his father pointed out. “Less than five months.”

Yui laughed and said to his parents, “I’m glad to see him graduate the Basic and SCBA Firefighting class. Now he’ll be able to go into fires with me.”

Ayumi and Naoko than ran over, accompanied by Shiori and Enji. All of them waved at the group, with Naoko saying to them, “We just got done with our test and passed!”

“Hey guys,” Yui replied as she also waved. “Congratulations to you as well!”

Ayumi then turned to Rentaro and told him, “Congratulations, Nojima-senpai!”

“Same to you, Tamura-san,” he replied to her. He then turned to Enji and asked him, “Oh, hey there, Hirayama-kun. What brings you here?”

“I came to congratulate Amano-san,” he replied to him.

“Are you thinking of joining us when you graduate too?”

Naoko laughed and told him, “I’ve been telling him to do it, but he won’t budge. Don’t worry, though. We got another seven months or so to make him see the light.” All of them then shared a laugh at her remark.

With Rumiko and Sumire having passed, all seven of the student firefighters were now able to go interior at structure fires and wear self-contained breathing apparatus. Additionally, Ayumi and Naoko now had another sixty hours of training under their belts.

Things were looking up for everyone, and it seemed like nothing could stop them now.

…

End of Volume 1

This light novel series is dedicated to all people in all countries, past and present, who have answered the call to serve their fellow man and become firefighters.