Tag Team

“Haru, I don’t think we’re going to find any hot air balloons around here. This is an airfield.”

“I know that. We’ll save the romantic hot air balloon ride for tomorrow.”

“So why are we here? It's not like we need a plane for transportation. And you didn’t mention anything about this yesterday.”

“That's because it wasn’t my idea.”

Out from the nearby aircraft hanger Minori could hear a familiar voice,

“Hey you guys. I hope I didn’t ruin any plans you had for today.”

She turned around to see Ichika walking toward them. And runs over to embrace her with a hug.

“Oh, it's my guardian angel. What are you doing here?”

“It was my idea for you guys to come out here silly.”

“Really? So are you going to fly us out somewhere?”

“Not exactly. I do have something exciting I thought you would like to try though.”

Haru placed his hand upon his chin as he looked over at her with a single eyebrow raised.

“We’re listening.”

“I was thinking that we could play a new intense game of laser tag.”

“Laser tag?”

“Why would we need to be out in an airfield for that?”

“It's not really a traditional way of playing it. We’re going to be using planes.”

“Huh? Like all of us chasing each other around while inside of a large plane?”

“No no no. We'll each be in our own plane. It's going to be more like air to air combat between fighter pilots. You know, just without the actual bullets and explosions.”

“That sounds awesome, but there's just one problem. We don’t know how to fly a plane.”

“You may not but I do. Ichika isn’t the only one that can operate more than a car.”

“You can pilot a plane Haru?”

“Yeah. My grandfather taught me how to. He has a small plane that he uses to crop dust on his farm land in Hokkaido.”

“That's cool I would’ve never guessed.That still doesn't solve the problem of me not being able to fly though. I guess I can just stay down here while you guys enjoy yourself.”

“No way Minori. You’ll be joining us.”

“But–”

“Don’t worry, This is also the perfect time for me to test out the new autopilot system I helped to develop. “

“Wow Ichika. I already thought you were impressive enough with all of your machine operating skills but you developing autopilot systems too just blows my mind.”

“Ichika couldn’t help but smile at her reaction.”

“It's no big deal I have just been burying myself into my work for the past six months or so.”

“Yeah that …guardian angel of yours sure is something else.”

“So tell us how it works.”

“Well the autopilot system is connected to the airfield’s watchtower where it fully transmits its cockpit to a unit inside. It calculates all of the necessary adjustments needed for it to both take off and land on its own. After it reaches a safe altitude it has the option of relinquishing the controls that are simple enough for even a novice to control. And if there are any emergencies it can be remote controlled from the unit in the watchtower similar to an unmanned aerial vehicle.”

“That’s impressive. What about the laser tag part?”

“Oh that? It works the same as a regular laser tag game. When you hit the trigger in the cockpit a n infrared light fired at the point in your reticle on screen. When the opposing plane receives that infrared light through its sensors, it will release a cloud of smoke to simulate a realistic hit.”

“I am so ready to try that.”

“Me too!”

“Just let me explain the basic controls to you so you can handle yourself once you are in the air.”

They walk over to a nearby flight simulator where Ichika gives Minori her crash course.

“So Minori, do you think you can handle those controls?”

“Yeah I can handle it.”

“Ok great. That means you’ll have no excuse when I beat both of you ladies then.”

“Do you believe him, Minori? He actually thinks he has a chance of beating us.”

Minori’s face lit up with a smile.

“You have no chance against the two of us.”

“Two against one huh? I guess that's more than fair but it wont make a difference. You were both going to lose anyway.”

“You sure are confident Haru. Come on Minori, let's shut him up.”

The three of them each put on their gear and get into their own designated planes.

“Is everyone’s radio linked to the same frequency?”

“Yup.”

“All set.”

“Well then let's get started.”

The autopilot system sends them off into the sky one by one.

“Are you ladies ready to lose?”

“Ha! Let's see if you have the skills to back up that confidence of yours.”

The girls were side by side in the air both eyeing Haru down before the three of them took off in different directions to start off the match. The calm sky quickly became an aerial battle field as they darted past each other.

“Minori, it looks like he's not going to make this easy. Let’s do that maneuver we discussed while you were in the simulator.”

“You got it!”

Minori vanishes out of sight. Haru and Ichika serpentine past each other as if they were traveling in the path of a double helix.

“Ha! I told you you couldn’t get me.”

Just as he swerved out Ichika’s last attack, Minori emerged from the clouds to greet him from a higher altitude coming from the opposite direction.

“Looks like this is the end for you!”

Minori plunged the nose of her plane right into his direction and fired a successful shot in his direction. A trail of smoke started leaking from below his cockpit.

“Ha! Good job Minori!”

“We told you that you’d lose!”

“I must admit that was really cool, but make sure you slow down and keep your eyes on me.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’ll see.”

Haru takes off straight up into the sky like a rocketship with his trail of smoke still behind him. He turns off to the right as if he were going to make a circle, but plunges back toward his starting point. He lifts the nose of his plane and darts upward before flipping upside down and plummeting straight back down, finishing a giant heart drawn in the sky.

“Oh wow Haru.”

“Aww well isn’t that sweet.”

They each slow down and reactivate their autopilots for their descent to the strip outside of the aircraft hangar. Upon landing they get out of their planes and walk back toward the hangar.

“Even though I lost I still had a ton of fun.”

“Surprising to see you aren’t being a sore loser today.”

“I’m so glad you guys came today, I had a great time. What did you guys originally have planned for today?”

“We were going to take a romantic ride on a hot air balloon.”

“Oh, I can help you out with that. That is, if you don’t mind me flying it.”

“Of course we wouldn’t mind.”

“Perfect. We can do it tomorrow.”

“Sounds like a plan.”