Closed Boxes

Hoshina pulls down her sleeves to cover her arms. The inside of the ship is cooler, but also far more labyrinthine, with many corridors obstructed by rubble.

The darkness is not a problem thanks to the lantern uncle Ge lent them. Still, they both have to do quite a few turns because of dead ends, and mark the walls so they won't get lost.

On the bright side, they also find many working gems inside the different broken apparatus scattered around. Though an additional wand would also be welcome in case things do get dangerous at some point.

In the worst-case scenario, Kaji might abandon her to escape.

Why am I thinking about such grim situations again?

She shakes her head and faces forward, finding Kaji staring at her, waiting beside another collapsed wall. This one doesn't fully block the path, so it's passable.

"Take care not to scratch yourself," he says, then turns towards the rubble.

After going through, they find themselves in a spacious room filled with boxes of various sizes. Some are open, while many others appear to have remained sealed for centuries.

"This looks promising, should I use my cane to open some of them?"

"No, that could damage the contents. Let me try first." He pulls out his metal rod and begins striking the lid of a box.

"Umm… brother, I think—"

"Wait, I almost got it."

His rod has a curved end; he could use it as leverage to open the box.

Regardless, the lid cracks, and Kaji pulls it out.

If it works it works.

The first box contains a jumble of metal pieces that neither Kaji nor Hoshina knows what to do with.

The second is more promising, filled with lanterns, a few of them broken. They decide to take two and replace the lid.

The third box turns out to be empty, with only a small note inside that Kaji tries to decipher.

"b, u, b, s was here… less than three? The fuck does that mean?"

Both silently agree to leave the box as is and move on to the next.

Inside the fourth, they find what looks like an animal made of metal. Hoshina has never seen anything like this before—

"Let's keep searching." He puts the lid back.

"Huh? Shouldn't we check if this dog thing works?"

"It doesn't. Forget it.

"Alright."

…

Wait, is it really alright?

While her brother examines the next box, Hoshina returns to the previous one and takes another look inside.

Is there something wrong with this?

Does her brother dislike machines that try to imitate living things because of his arm?

"What are you doing? I told you to leave it alone."

"Why?"

"Because I said so." His voice grows louder.

"Why are you getting worked up? It's just a machine."

"I don't like it and I don't want to think about it. So let's forget we ever found that thing."

"Why?"

"Stop asking questions!"

"The more you try to hide something the more I want to know about it."

"It's not your fucking business, so stop meddling!" He strikes the ground with his rod, the sharp metallic sound grating on her nerves.

"I'm your sister, I have the right to know. It's not good to hide things from each other."

"Oh yeah?" He sneers. "Then tell me, dearest sister, what's the real reason you didn't go through with your bath?"

"What do you mean? I already told you I could get an infection or something."

"‘And while that's true, you're not the type to consider consequences like those. It got me thinking, and slowly, more of your recent actions started to bug me."

"You are changing the subject."

"The subject's still the same, it's just that this time, you're the one on the spot. Unpleasant, right? So how about you stay out of my business, and I'll stay out of yours?"

"But—"

"End of the discussion. Don't talk to me unless it's about something else." He turns around and continues hitting the box, now harder.

"What if I want to take the dog for myself?" Kaji stops, then walks toward her until he's right in front of her.

"Then I'll break it before you can even touch it."

"And if I stop you?"

He drops the rod.

"You think I'm afraid of getting physical? I don't care if you are skilled with the wand and shit, I've been doing fist fights my whole life."

"So you want to make the score three to zero then."

Kaji reaches to grab her clothes, but she pushes his arm away. He grunts and tries to seize her with both hands. Hoshina easily lifts him over her shoulder—

But her legs give out, and they both fall, Hoshina landing on top of Kaji.

"Ugh! Damnit, you stupid tearful monster!"

"Stop calling me that!" She slaps him, and he shoves her away with his left arm. Then, Hoshina notices something's wrong. "Wait, brother—"

"Don't you brother me now!" He gets up and raises his left arm, fist clenched. "Come on! I'll show you how real fights are done."

"Your arm!"

"What about…?" He falls silent as soon as he sees the hole in his mechanical arm. He must have fallen on the rod. "Ah… agh!" He presses the wound with his left hand. "Shit! Godsdamnit!"

"What's going on? Why are you acting like—?"

"Because it fucking hurts!"

"But we don't feel pain in—"

"Well I do! I'm going back to see if the geezer can do something about this."

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to—"

"Shut it! Not another word."

And not a single word was spoken on the way back.

I messed up, again.

And this time, I might not get any more chances.

༻──⋆༺𓆩⋆𓆪༻⋆──༺

"Agh! Shit, be more careful where you touch."

"Kaji, my boy, I haven't started." Kaji looks at Ge, he's putting on a pair of gloves.

"Then why did it feel like you were picking at my bones with a stick."

"A friend of mine used to say that our mind is sometimes our worst enemy. You want some anesthesia?"

"Ugh! Fine." Ge injects a syringe into Kaji's shoulder, and his feeling of the area disappears, including the pain in his nonexistent arm.

The clicking sounds that he can hear from Ge picking his arm rub him the wrong way. Still, Kaji refuses to look.

"I won't be around forever you know? Eventually you'll have to find a way to do the repairs and maintenance by yourself."

"That's impossible. Even with the numbing drug I still feel pain if I see the insides of my arm being fiddled with."

"Guess I'll have to teach Hoshina." Kaji lets out a huff. "What's that mean? Do you not trust her?"

He doesn't have a clear answer to that question, be it positive or negative.

"She doesn't trust me either, so it doesn't matter."

"Is that why you two fought?"

"What did she tell you?"

"Nothing, I learned to pick up on clues."

"Did you also guess that she's still hiding shit from us?"

"All kids your age hide some of their feelings, more so those who suffer an experience like yours."

"Then tell her that if she wants to keep hiding her 'feelings' she shouldn't pry into mine."

"The thing is, dear nephew, these types of feelings don't go away on their own. Ignoring them is easier than facing them, but you sure you wanna carry that burden for the rest of your life?"

"When did we go back to talking about me? I can deal with my own stuff, alright?"

"And I don't doubt it. Just be aware that some of these problems can have a time limit. You might miss your opportunity and end up with regrets for the rest of your life."

"You speaking from experience?"

"It's the only thing I've got at this point. Well, also my vast survival knowledge, my long and mostly satisfying life, my sense of humor, my—"

"Enough"

"He, he, he!"

…

If there is a time limit to these things, then I…

Kaji ruffles his hair. "What if I've already missed my opportunity to make things right?"

"Then sharing your regrets can, at the very least, alleviate some of the burden."

"I'm not telling you about my private matters."

"I'm not saying you need to. Just make sure you choose someone you trust enough to open up."

"Yeah, well, my options are kinda limited if you haven't noticed."

"That should make the choice easier, don't you think?"

"And if I choose none?"

"That's an option, though I wouldn't recommend it." Kaji clicks his tongue. "Your mistakes aren't anything I haven't seen before, and I don't mind taking them to the grave with me. But Hoshina's probably been through something similar, given you both share the same struggle."

"What do you mean? She's nothing like me."

"Said the pot about the kettle, hye, he, he!"

There may come a day when Kaji does it…

A day when he punches an old man.