[Omake] Ending With a Wedding

Author's note: This is the final planned omake chapter. Thank you for reading to the end.

Every day was slightly harder than the last. The aches and pains made sleeping a bit more difficult. Lifting heavy objects took a tad more effort.

Even worse were her fading memories. She should have been thankful that the gruesome details of her past missions didn’t come so easily, but the fog intruding on her mind was a grim reminder that she wouldn’t achieve immortality like the chief. After all, she could solve her physical ailments with magic if she truly wished to, but there was nothing she could do about her aging mind.

Some memories never faded. The visceral fear of launching on the Space Shuttle; the day she first met the chief and laid eyes on immortality; and the day the government took her from her family remained fresh in her mind.

So too did the faces of her loved ones. Her parents; her younger brother; a classmate named Bashira, her first crush; the woman she almost proposed to, Nozomi; and even the brief fling she tried to use to forget Nozomi, whose name she now forgot.

And then there was Hina. After turning her down on GE26, she had banished Hina from her mind. Years went by, and she only thought of Hina as a cheerful child, but recently, more romantic memories had bubbled to the surface. The way Hina had seduced her on the ISS, the fear and secret hope that Hina might invade her crew cabin at night, and that last moment together on the island.

Maybe she should have taken Hina up on that kiss. It would have made a nice memory.

More than anything, what bothered her most about aging was that her feelings never faded. She expected that as she grew weaker, so too would her physical urges, but the harsh truth is that you’re never too old to love—or want to be loved.

While mired in such thoughts one lonely morning, her surroundings blurred. At first, she thought her eyes had filled with tears again, but as the world came into focus, she realized she had been teleported to a familiar office. In front of her sat one of the women she would never forget.

“Chief, you can’t just yoink people out of their homes without warning. What if I had been on the toilet?”

“Wouldn’t make much of a difference. You look like shit. It’s only been two years, but I can hardly recognize you. How could you let yourself go like that?”

“What I do with my retirement is no one’s business but my own. Furthermore, I never rubbed it in your face when you were in one of your depressive moods.”

The chief’s shoulders slumped. “Sorry. I didn’t bring you here to criticize you. Er, what name are you going by these days?”

“Name? I haven’t used a name in a long time. When you’ve had so many, I guess the whole concept starts to lose meaning.”

“Well, you have one name that holds a lot of importance.” Summoning a folded card to her hand, the chief offered it to her. She couldn’t help but notice the JAXA logo in the corner.

“Oh, no. Get someone else to do it. I gave the best years of my life to this country, and all I ask in return is to be left alone to waste away in peace.”

Placing the card on her desk, the chief folded her hands together. “We had someone else play Erika for an event about a year ago. Fooled the rest of the world, but those girls caught on right away. This invitation was sent to your home address. Your new home address.”

“Shit. How’d they find me this time?”

“Since only the two of us were privy, I assumed you leaked it to them somehow.”

She waved her hand dismissively in front of her face. “I’d never do something like that. I want to be left alone.”

“Regardless, I intercepted this and tried to decline on your behalf, but they insisted that the choice should be yours. For what it’s worth, I could tell they really wanted to see you again.”

“Which ones?”

“All of them. Even the gynoid.”

“Guess I gotta be Erika Vidal one last time. Those girls don’t stop till they get what they want.” With a heavy sigh, Erika picked the card up off the desk and opened it up. She instantly regretted agreeing. It was an invitation to Hina and Yasu’s wedding. “Says I can bring a guest. Wanna join the fun?”

“Don’t have the time, but even if I did, JAXA hasn’t yet decided what kind of person they want Erika to be seen as romantically involved with. It’s awkward enough that two couples were formed from the ISS mission. For now, you’re to pretend to be married to your fictional JAXA administrative job.”

“Got it.” Turning the card over in her hand, Erika allowed herself to linger on the photo of Hina’s smiling face. “That’s perfect for a loner like me anyway.”

⁂

The wedding was to take place at one of the swankiest hotel ballrooms in the city. JAXA had offered to pick her up in a private car, but after transforming into a younger body, Erika decided to walk instead. She didn’t live far from the hotel, and she didn’t want to pass up an opportunity to enjoy walking for once. In her natural form, she would have had some difficulty, even on such a short walk.

As she breathed in the sweet fragrance of blooming cherry blossoms, she felt simple joy for the first time in years. Sure, the scent was artificial, but that didn’t make it less calming. Best of all, her lungs didn’t ache in protest as she filled them to capacity.

Maybe she should keep her body magically young after all. It was doing wonders for her mental health.

Not far from the hotel, however, she encountered a sight that took that sweet breath away—A beautiful woman, crying alone on a bench. She looked so fragile that she might shatter at any moment. Definitely not Erika’s type.

And yet, she couldn’t take her eyes off the girl. Her light brown hair seemed to glow in the sunlight. The tears that slid down her perfectly-proportioned cheeks were as clear as fresh-melted ice. Even under a JAXA jumpsuit, Erika could tell she had a rockin’ figure.

More than that, Erika knew her, but she couldn’t remember who she was. Something was off about her jumpsuit. On closer examination, Erika realized she didn’t have any mission patches. Maybe she was one of the girls who was never assigned to a crew. If that were the case, Erika might have seen her on Neo Tanegashima, but never talked to her.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Erika was taken aback as the woman looked up. Were they not puffy and red from crying, the woman’s large eyes would be as beautiful as the rest of her.

“I lost my invitation, and they won’t let me in.”

“Security’s always tight at these things. It’s such a pain.” Taking a seat next to her, Erika handed her a handkerchief.

“Thank you. It’s just, we went through a lot together, and I wanted to congratulate them in person. They really deserve each other.”

Erika wasn’t sure she bought that story, but a quick magical scan of the woman revealed no weapons or poisons. What harm could there be in letting her in? She was probably being excluded because Sachiko didn’t think she was meritorious enough. “Tell you what. If you wanna pretend to be my friend, you can be my plus one.”

“You’d do that for me? Oh, thank you!” Without warning, the woman threw her arms around Erika and gave her a soft kiss on the cheek. Erika may have preferred strong women, but she couldn’t deny how nice it felt to have lips pressed against her once more.

When the two of them arrived together, the bouncer gave her companion the side-eye. He obviously remembered booting her out, but when Erika mentioned they were friends, he begrudgingly stepped aside.

The elegant ballroom interior was decorated with JAXA logos and gaudy space-themed decorations. Guests were milling about, but Erika couldn’t see any of her former crewmates. Since they were early, Erika fetched two glasses of punch and handed one to the woman.

“Feel any better?”

“Yes, thank you.” The woman downed the punch in one gulp and handed the glass back. “I must look like a mess. If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go find someplace to redo my makeup.”

Not long after she left, Erika felt a tap on her shoulder. “Please come with me, ma’am. You’re needed backstage.” She followed the burly man into an adjoining hallway. The way he carried himself, he was obviously a soldier cosplaying as a waiter. “I know it’s not my place, but I want to thank you for what you did. All of you. I was hours away from being deployed to the Soviet front line.”

“I’m glad it didn’t come to that.” Before she could say anything else, they arrived at their destination. Two bodyguards outside the room opened the door, and Erika entered alone. Inside, she found not Hina and Yasu, but Maeko and Sachiko sitting in fold-out chairs.

Sachiko’s belly was as round as a melon.

The sight caught Erika by such surprise that she floundered for words before looking directly at Maeko and blurting out, “Did you build a tiny factory in there or something?”

A polite smile graced Sachiko’s face. “Hina made the exact same joke. It wasn’t funny the first time, either. Glad to see it’s really you, though. The last one they sent kept saluting us in private. Talk about awkward.”

“It is a surrogate,” Maeko said. “We will also be adopting.”

At first, nothing about that seemed strange to Erika. Plenty of couples adopted despite having their own kids, but she knew Sachiko and Maeko never did anything without a good reason. Were they planning to raise a group of free laborers for their private island?

“Congratulations. If I may ask, what made you want to have kids?”

“We wish to determine if Sachiko’s tolerance of gynoids is primarily genetic or a learned behavior,” Maeko said.

“Well that’s the most disturbing SachiMae reasoning yet. Speaking of, where’s Tweedle Buff and Tweedle Possessive? I ought to congratulate them.”

“They’ll be coming later.” Sachiko gestured towards a chair. “We wanted to speak with you in private first.” She waited until Erika was sitting before continuing. “Would you consider moving in with us?”

“I can’t think of anything I’d hate more, living alongside such a lovey-dovey couple in the middle of nowhere.”

The smile remained on Sachiko’s face, unchanged. “We’re moving back to the city to raise the kids. Reconstruction’s going to begin on the reactor soon anyway. Besides, it would be better than continuing your current depression-fueled decline.”

“Have you been spying on me? How in the hell?”

“Not personally, but that’s not important right now. We know you’re convinced you don’t have long left, but your doctor…”

“You have my medical records?”

“…thinks that with a better attitude, you could live for another decade or more. You just need to find a reason to be happy, and a challenge to keep you on your toes. If you were to become a live-in nanny…”

“Look, I appreciate what you’re trying to do, even if it’s super creepy, but I’m not very fond of kids.”

Finally, Sachiko’s smile faded. “I can see you’re determined to refuse, no matter what, but you should think it over. We’re not going to let you go back to being lonely, and being our nanny has to be better than being Yasu’s pet dog.”

“I… I’ll consider it.”

Leaning forward, Sachiko wrapped Erika in a light hug. “You have friends,” she whispered in her ear. “Remember how hard you struggled to survive on the ISS. Don’t let it be for nothing.”

“Shit.” Erika rubbed her eyes with the back of her sleeve. “I promised myself I wasn’t going to cry, but I wasn’t prepared for you of all people to pull on my heartstrings.” Taking a deep breath, she calmed herself just as one of the guards knocked on the door.

A sharp-dressed woman Erika had never seen entered the room. “We’ve got a minor situation, ladies. One of the orphans that grew up with Hina and Yasu has managed to go missing. We suspect she’ll show up here and try to cause trouble. Keep your eyes peeled.”

“Will do,” Sachiko said, “but I doubt she’ll be able to get inside with all the security. Focus the search on the surrounding area. Let’s try to nab her before she gets to the entrance. There are paparazzi outside.”

Turning on her heels, the woman walked out of the room, brushing past Hina and Yasu as they entered.

The two were wearing matching white dresses that kind of sort of looked like EVA suits if you squinted hard enough. Honestly, Erika thought they were a crime against fashion, but she had to admit Hina looked better in a dress than she imagined.

“Hey, thanks for coming.” Stepping forward, Hina pulled Erika into a hug. Tighter than Sachiko’s, but gentle, as if she feared harming Erika. It was an unnecessary gesture, but a welcome one.

“Once again, you didn’t give me much choice.”

As Hina stepped back, Yasu held out a hand, palm up. “Shake.”

“Very funny.” Nevertheless, Erika placed her hand in Yasu’s and allowed her to pat the top of her head. “Isn’t it supposed to be bad luck to see each other before the wedding?”

“Couldn’t possibly be worse luck than getting stuck in space for half a year,” Hina said. “Besides, after surviving up there, I’m not scared of anything anymore.”

“I suppose not,” Erika agreed. “Back then, you used to be terrified of committing yourself to Yasu, even though you were clearly over the moon for her, but look at you now.” An uneasy silence fell over the room. Hina and Yasu looked away from each other. Everyone stood awkwardly for a few moments while Erika put it together. “Oh, you’re not doing this by choice, are you?”

“Government didn’t want Hina causing any more scandals,” Yasu said. “It was either this or an early grave.”

“I’m so…” Checking the room for listening devices, Erika pulled the other four women close. “If you want, I can change your faces, change your height even. We sneak out of here, and you start new lives. Just say the word.”

Yasu opened her mouth to answer, but turned to look at Hina, who shook her head. “Thanks, but you were right about one thing: I love Yasu more than anyone. This is just another bit of bad luck. We’ll make it work and come out better for it.”

Another knock at the door. A woman poked her head in. Once again, Erika recognized her, but couldn’t remember her name. When she smiled at her, she smiled back, but when the woman locked eyes with Sachiko, she looked away. “The press areas are ready for you.”

“Thanks, Melina.” As soon as the words were out of Sachiko’s mouth, Melina pulled her head out of the room, closing the door behind her.

“I still can’t believe we have to give interviews at a wedding,” Erika said.

Placing her hand on Maeko’s shoulder, Sachiko stood up. “Just think of how it must feel for us. We have to put up with it for the rest of our lives.”

“At least you have lives ahead of you.” Erika didn’t mean to sound so bitter, but she couldn’t help it. “Sorry, that was uncalled for.”

“Me too.”

Except for Maeko, the others recoiled in surprise. It wasn’t like Sachiko to back down so easily.

“Guess having a kid really does change you,” Yasu said.

“Aww, are you jealous? I’ll put one in you right now if you want.” Hina grabbed Yasu around the arms and bumped their hips together.

“Stop it!” Despite herself, Yasu couldn’t help but laugh. “What kind of pickup line is that? You can’t be a father.”

“Really? Maybe we just haven’t been trying enough.”

“Pfft. No one would accuse you of not trying every chance you got.”

Blushing a deep red, Erika walked to the door. “Come on, they’re waiting for us.” The atmosphere was only reminding her of how lonely she was.

Once out in the hallway, they were flanked by two security guards, and the girls’ real selves hid behind their public personas. Halfway to the press area, they heard footsteps coming from a nearby restroom. The guards tensed up and didn’t relax when the woman Erika had escorted into the building came bouncing into the hallway.

Erika started to reassure the guards. “It’s OK, She’s—”

“Claire?!” Hina blurted out.

Oh shit.

As soon as Hina said it, Erika remembered exactly who the woman was.

“Hey!” Claire beamed at them, her face as perfect as an ancient Greek statue. You’d never know she had been crying not long before. “This is where you’ve been. Wow, those dresses are so tacky.”

Yasu placed a hand on one of the guard’s shoulders. “It looks like our friend had a bit too much to drink. Could you give us some privacy?”

“I am not drunk.” All five hoshinauts glared at Claire for her unhelpful outburst.

“Understood. We’ll secure both ends of the hallway.”

Stepping in front of Hina, Yasu grabbed Claire by the collar. “How did you get in? Did you have help?”

“Yeah. She let me in.” Without dropping her bright expression, Claire pointed at Erika.

Yasu turned her head to look at Erika. “Bad dog. I’ll have to train you not to track garbage inside.” Turning back to Claire, she released her hold. “What are you doing here?”

“I think I deserve some closure, don’t you? Besides, I wanted to congratulate the two of you in person. You two really deserve each other.”

A victorious smile spread across Yasu’s face. “Fuck you too, Claire. I’m glad you’re still a bitch, so I don’t have to feel guilty about what they’re going to do to you after this.”

“What do you mean?”

“If you’re lucky, the nice people in black suits will take you back to your sparsely-furnished room. Only this time, I doubt they’ll let you see the light of day ever again.”

“But I didn’t do anything wrong! They should arrest you for not inviting anyone from the orphanage to your wedding. Talk about cold.”

“We didn’t invite you because we were worried that you’d do something stupid. The ceremony will be broadcast worldwide. If you tried to disrupt it and tell the world what we’re really like, you could endanger world peace.”

“Oh, get over yourself. How long are you going to cling to the one good thing you’ve ever done? The world’s moved on. The Soviets and ‘Muricans aren’t going to start lobbing missiles at each other no matter what you do.”

Claire looked to Erika for support. Finding none, she tried Sachiko, then Hina.

“I’m afraid the government doesn’t see it that way,” Hina said. “You slipped your monitor. That makes you a risk, and they don’t tolerate risks.”

“My monitor?”

Grabbing Claire’s chin, Yasu forced Claire to focus her attention on her. “Your roommate was an intelligence agent sent to watch you. I said was, because after slipping up so bad, she’ll probably share your fate.”

Claire’s facade finally crumbled, and her mouth fell open. “For all those years? But I trusted her. Oh, oh, oh. This really is serious, isn’t it?”

“Yup,” Yasu said. “Honestly, did you even think about what you were doing for more than two seconds?”

“Not everyone plans their lives in advance, like some kind of launch checklist.” Claire threw herself into Erika’s arms. “Please, help me. I’m not dangerous, I promise. I’ll do anything…”

Erika looked to Sachiko. “Is there no other way? I know a powerful hypnotist. We could erase her memories.”

Sachiko shook her head. “Hypnosis can wear off at any time. If that were an option, we would have already done it. Give it up, unless you want to be responsible for keeping an eye on her 24/7.”

“That… might not be so bad.”

“What?” All four of the other hoshinauts blurted out simultaneously.

“It’s like you said. With the right challenge, I could easily live another decade.”

“I really don’t get you.” Running a hand through her hair, Sachiko thought for a minute. “I can’t guarantee anything, but if you can keep her under control today, I’ll put in a good word.”

“Oh, thank you.” Claire hugged Erika tightly. “I swear, I’ll be good.”

“You can start by drinking this.” With a flick of her wrist, Erika summoned a glass to her hand. “A sedative. To prevent any… mishaps during the ceremony.”

“Why do you have that?” Yasu asked.

“Learned my lesson not to associate with you girls unarmed.”

“No, I’ll be good. You don’t need to—”

“Hold her,” Erika ordered. Hina and Yasu each grabbed an arm, but Claire turned her face to the side to avoid the glass. “I agreed to protect you, didn’t I? Trust me.”

“I want to, but I’m scared. What if you’re lying to me? What if I never wake up again, or worse, wake up in a cell?”

Placing her hand on Claire’s cheek, Erika gently pulled her mouth open. “This is the only way. I promise to do everything I can for you.” She tipped the glass, and Claire allowed the liquid to run down her throat.

“Thank you,” Claire said as her eyes dulled.

After sending the glass back from whence it came, Erika let out a big sigh. “You’re all a bad influence.”

Sachiko raised an eyebrow. “You’re telling me you never did anything morally dubious for the greater good before?”

“No, but when I did, it was under orders, and this… I’m doing it for myself.”

⁂

The rest of the event went off without a hitch. Erika fumbled her way through the interviews, and then it was time for the ceremony. With a glassy-eyed Claire sitting next to her, she watched with feigned enthusiasm as Hina and Yasu walked down the aisle.

Their vows were beautiful, short, and delivered with such grace that Erika had no doubt they had been practiced to perfection. They had probably been written by professional PR handlers, as they seemed perfectly designed to play well on social media.

It was a shame that their love hadn’t been allowed to develop naturally, that it had been molded to the government’s whims and packaged for mass consumption, but even as they kissed on stage, Erika couldn’t find it within herself to be sad. Her own life was doing much better than it had been just hours prior.

Sure, she wouldn’t be loved, but living alongside a beautiful woman who was thankful for your protection was almost as good. After all, this wedding had shown her, once again, that nobody gets everything they want in life, but you can’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. With a positive attitude, the good can turn out to be pretty sweet.