The Pioneer's Granddaughter

“Iwasaki, thanks for helping with my shelf. I didn’t know if I could reach it,” Lafon shouted from inside her room.

The aura disappeared, and Sato’s face brightened. “Oh…those shelves are tall!”

Nice thinking, Lafon…though I think I’m only about a couple of centimeters taller than her.

The door closed behind me, leaving just me and Sato in the hallway.

“Anyways, what’s up? New quarter treating you well?”

”Nothing much! And…” her eyebrows twitched momentarily. “My brain is getting fried–”

“That’s to be expected,” I resigned.

“What’s that?”

“I said you’ll be fine.”

She pouted. “I feel like you said something else.”

***

Later that night, I plopped on my chair after taking a shower; while I wasn’t physically exhausted, my mind had been put through the wringer.

The bombshell dropped today was quite a lot to take in. The arrival of a new resident on the 7th floor, finding out she is Lafon’s best friend of many years, as well as her crush…

Wagner’s also in an interesting position; moving in next door to her best friend and unaware of her feelings, while for the moment she has her…for lack of a better term…husbando.

I appreciate that Lafon entrusted me with this information, and now I have another secret to keep, otherwise, I would be subject to my own execution.

I stared at the ceiling. Luckily she didn’t really ask about specific advice…that I would have no clue; Tachibana would be the one to look to.

Me, on the other hand: Level 1, 0 XP, when it comes to that.

I can’t think of how to convey myself to her. That’s what she told me before…

When it comes to love, perhaps we’re in the same boat—

“AHHHHH!” Clunk!

Startled by the noise, I stood up in reflex. That sounded like it came from the other side of the wall! Was that Sato?

I went searching for my phone to see if I could message her, left it over here charging. I went to open the LINE app, when a text appeared.

Sato: Sorry I’m ok! Just tripped! Actually, could you come by my room?

Her room…come to think of it, I’ve seen everyone’s dorm except for hers…

Why am I thinking about that right now? I should check if she’s okay first—

I replied back, hurrying over to the hallway. Thirty seconds after I got to the door, I heard the door unlock and slowly swing open…until it stopped a few centimeters ajar.

“Iwasaki-kun….could you open the door?”

“Sure,” I opened the door fully, revealing Sato on the ground, looking like she had crawled from her living space to the doorway.

She held onto her left ankle, laughing awkwardly. “Woops!”

Sato, you are definitely not okay!!!

“What—what happened?”

“Ahaha, funny story–” she pointed at the box up on the top shelf. “I was trying to grab that…and then I fell.”

I’m wondering how she got it up there in the first place…

“Are you okay? Anything hurt?”

“I think it’s just a twisted ankle,” she awkwardly giggled. Come on, you’re definitely in more pain than you’re letting on.

I glanced inside, seeing a chair and her first aid kit sitting at the edge of her desk.

“I’ll help with your ankle, mind if I come in?”

“Ah, sure–”

I made my entrance and carefully got to her. “I’ll get you up, just…uh, can you sling your arm around my shoulder here…” I got down and got her arm, slowly balancing her as she got up on her good foot.

Carefully, we walked towards her chair, slowly but surely getting her to sit down. I quickly went to the first aid kit, opening it and searching for some bandages…

Finding them, I got to her ankle, now slightly swollen and red, but nothing looked out of place. Watson would probably be much better at this, but it shouldn’t be that hard to wrap an ankle.

“Sorry to bother you about this.”

“Happens to everyone. Papercuts, twisted ankles.”

“You’re rig–agh!” A soft yelp escaped her lips.

“Sorry, it might hurt…” I contained myself.

How can she make a noise this cute!?

“Don’t worry about me–eep!” Again! I’m not trying to, but the squeaks are…Ryuuto concentrate!

Bandage over the base of the foot–

“Ow–”

Then up to the ankle–

“Eek!!”

Sato, you’re going to give me a heart attack!!

I finished wrapping the bandage on her foot…my willpower was on overdrive towards the end. Ice pack for her ankle… I think I may need one as well…

“By the way, what were you trying to get?”

“If you can get it from that shelf, I’ll show you!”

I removed the box from its resting place and placed it on the table. As Sato rummaged through, my eyes wandered around the room.

Sato’s room….quite a few posters of spaceships. For the most part, the room’s organized and clean.

The one area in contrast was right by the closet: a month’s supply of snacks in that corner, blankets, a pillow, and a lot of stuffed animals.

Honestly, it looks cozy.

“Here it is!” She lifted a navy blue aviation jacket, shaking it a little before putting it on. As she pulled her sleeves on, I noticed several patches; one of the Japanese flag, another with a small spaceship, and on the front a recognizable logo.

JAXA, the Japanese Aviation Exploration Agency.

She waved her arms around, inspecting her outfit with glee. “How do I look?”

“Pretty cool,” I gave two thumbs up.

“Right?” she beamed. “It’s a gift from my grandparents. They definitely changed the designs over the years, so by the time I get my own, it’ll be totally different!”

“JAXA, huh.”

“That’s the dream.” She sat back into her chair, letting her arms rest on her lap.

“Sato-san, you mentioned–” I noticed the patch under the JAXA logo, a small embroidered name.

Hideo Sato.

Don’t tell me…

To be completely honest, I didn’t pay very much attention in history class when it came to science and technology, but that name rang a bell.

Professor Hideo Sato, one of the pioneers of Japanese space exploration.

“Sato-san,” I pointed at the name patch, “is that–”

“My grandfather?” she nodded, a smile forming on her lips. “You recognize his name?"

I was still processing this new piece of information. “Yeah… Professor Sato was one of the founders of the national space program.”

“My dream makes a little more sense, right? Coming to Japan to join the space agency my grandfather helped to create.” She slowly got off her chair, gingerly settling down on the floor by the table.

“I never met him in person, but I’ve heard many stories about him from Grandma…” She looked up at the ceiling. “How they met at a conference in Houston, how she moved to Japan with him…lots of stories.”

“That backstory is very interesting–I mean that’s the most intriguing family history of anyone I’ve known…”

“Really!” Her eyes brightened. “Thanks!!”

“Sounds like you haven’t told many people about it.”

“Well, other than maybe elementary school, I haven’t really told anyone…not even when I applied here.”

Not even the university?

“If at least the school knows, couldn’t that make it easier to reach your dream? For things like graduate programs, internships–”

“I thought about it,” she said. “But where's the satisfaction in that?"

“Yes, my dream comes from my grandfather, but I don’t want the reason I get in to be because I’m his granddaughter.” She smiled confidently. “It’ll be with my own brain and merit.”

I sighed. In a world where connections and nepotism, to an extent, do have a significant impact on career opportunities, her choosing the earnest path is something.

Realistically, it's an airheaded choice… but I respect it.

“Too bad your Japanese is as clueless as my career goals.”

“What’d you say?”

“What a remarkable dream you have.”

She pouted yet again. “You didn’t say that!”

I raised an eyebrow. “How so?”

“You said…Nihongo—that’s Japanese – then…your… you’re making fun of my Japanese!”

I nodded. “Hey, you picked up on that, which means your Japanese is improving.”

“You’re right,” she seemed impressed for a moment, before crossing her arms. “Still feel a bit slighted–”

“Then…” I eyed the snack stash in the corner, and swiftly, I grabbed one of the bags and tossed it to her.

“Cheering me up with my own stash of snacks,” she deadpanned, taking the bag and opening it. “And the worst thing is it works.”

Mission cleared.

“Anyways, about my grandfather, that’s between you and me,” she pointed a shrimp cracker in my direction. “Like, eventually I’ll say I want to work at JAXA, but other than that, lips sealed.”

“Alright, lips sealed.”

“Pinky promise?” She held out her pinky, to which I also returned the gesture.

Ah, yubikiri. “Fun fact, pinky promise comes from the Japanese rhyme where if either of us lies, we’d have to eat 1000 needles.”

“N-needles?” she faltered, her pinky starting to tremble.