Shizukesa no kokoro: hearts of serenity

Chapter 18: A warrior's solitude

Later that night while the S.S Poseidon was sailing towards the islands of sector 5, Rusty put the ship on autopilot while they were asleep so they won't lose progress in the morning. However Yuki was still up and she looked towards the horizon, Coco got up and noticed that Yuki was still awake, "Yuki, what's wrong?" "I can't sleep" Yuki replied. Yuki took out a locket and looked at a picture inside it, the picture showed Yuki and Hideki when they were younger. Coco looked at Yuki's locket, "feeling homesick?" Yuki looked at Coco and slowly nodded, "in a way, yes. I'm worried about Hideki, I wonder if everything is alright with him ever since we went on this journey." Coco jokingly poked Yuki's cheek, "aww, you miss your big brother." Yuki turns her head away from her, "come on, Coco!" "Yuki, I miss my family too. But I at least know that they will be safe. After all you've prayed every night for Hideki's safety right?" Coco said. Yuki nodded at what Coco said, "thanks Coco." Coco headed back to the bunk rooms along with Yuki, "Rusty said we'll be in sector 5 by tomorrow morning. So for now let's get some sleep." Yuki started to lie down on her bed, "alright, good night Coco." Coco slowly fell asleep, "good night Yuki." Before going to sleep, Yuki took another look at the picture, she held her locket close to her heart and Yuki slowly fell asleep. Meanwhile at a bar in sector 7, Hideki walked in and sat down near the bar. "What'll you be having?" The bartender asked. Hideki looked at the bartender, "the usual. I need to relax myself after training." The bartender prepared Hideki's drink but before he could finish, a drunken man with green hair and a shredded jacket barged into the bar along with five other roughnecks. "Didn't I tell you not to come here anymore?" The man asked. Hideki remained silent and started to drink. "Hey! I'm talking to you! Didn't your mama ever tell you to look at people when their talking to you?" Hideki put his drink down and turned to him, "forgive me, but I do not talk to mentally impaired people like you." Hideki turned away and finished his drink. The green hair man tried to punch him, "you son of a!" Without looking Hideki blocked his attack with his left hand. "You were always a shell of a man ever since the battle ended. It's amazing that you're still alive today!" The bartender slammed his fist to the table, "that's enough! Busujima get out of my bar immediately!" Busujima gave both the bartender and Hideki a death stare, "you better serve us a drink next time or else. And you, I better not see your face around my turf again, or were gonna have a problem!" Busujima left the bar with his roughnecks behind him. "Busujima. He says he's the strongest guy in this sector, but he's just a thug" the bartender said as he started to close up shop. Hideki got up, and he payed his bill for his drink, "thank you, I must take my leave now." Hideki left the bar and proceeded to his house, "Yuki...I wonder how you're doing. If only my arm would heal faster, I would be there in no time. Yuki...All I ask is for you to stay strong and I promise I'll be there soon." Hideki entered his house and proceeded to his room, finally he fell asleep. Later that night at the military district, Fredrick gave permit to Maxis. "So this is what we need?" Fredrick stood straight, "yes sir, this is the permit to search Scott's house. It may have been a pain in the ass to get this permit but we finally got it. But what's to say what you're looking for is there?" Maxis got up and started to walk out of his office, "leave it all to luck I suppose." Fredrick angrily looked at Maxis, "that's your plan?! Leave it to luck?!" Maxis left the military district with Fredrick behind him, "don't question my ways major Fredrick, Scott mentioned something for Hideki at some point. So I'm presuming that it's in his house." Fredrick followed Maxis, "so in our words, we're doing spring cleaning?" "If that's what you want to call it then yes" Maxis said. They finally arrived at Scott's house and they opened the door. "You know, this house is still in good shape ever since Scott's unfortunate demise. I'll check the bedroom, Fredrick you check the living room" Maxis said. Maxis checked the bedroom and found nothing of interest in there," Hmm. It's not here all I found was some manga and a questionable magazine." "If I would have known he was an otaku earlier I would have invited him to my book club" Maxis murmured. "Sir! I found something!" Fredrick shouted. Maxis went towards Fredrick and looked at what he has in his hand, "It's a letter. It says, (to: Hideki. From:Sylvette)" "I'm surprised about this, why would Scott keep this from Hideki, wouldn't Sylvette have given it to him earlier. Or did she think she was gonna die and she wrote it for precaution?" Maxis put the letter in his pocket and exited the house along with Fredrick, "I don't know. But tomorrow I'm gonna pay Hideki a visit and I'll give him this exact letter." Maxis took out a manga from Scott's bedroom and started to read it. "You took that with you?!" Fredrick asked. Maxis turned to him and said, "this is just research. Research about why he didn't tell me he was interested in this!" Fredrick put his hand on his face, "Maxis...you have the body of a grown man, but the mind of a child." Maxis proceeded back to the military district. The next morning, Hideki was training near the front yard of his house, all of a sudden he saw Maxis come near the house. "Buongiorno Hideki! How are you doing this fine day?" Hideki paused his training and looked towards Maxis, "I told you maxis. I'm not coming back to the military, I cannot afford any more casualties on my part." Maxis stood in shock,"Hideki, mi fratello. You can't jump the gun on any occasion. I'm only here to give you this." Maxis handed the letter to Hideki, "that's all I needed to do here, you may be surprised on who it's from. Ciao!" Maxis left back to the military district and Hideki went inside to look at the letter. Hideki looked at the letter to see that it was from Sylvette. "Sylvette? But how?" Hideki opened the letter and he started to read it.
Dear Hideki,
By the time you're reading this i'm now in Cecilia's warm embrace. Hideki, I just want to say that despite my death, I'm happy that you're still alive. We've known each other ever since we were babies and I've always believed that one day you will be big in this world. But, enough of that, I was worried about your condition ever since you wielded Amaterasu. so just in case that you can't use Amaterasu anymore, here's a map about something I've hidden away for you. It's located in the iron heart ruins so it can be easy to find knowing you. Hideki, if you ever find that thing in the iron heart ruins or if you ever plan to go back in war. Promise me that you won't do anything that's too reckless. If anything goes too far for your standards, you can come home safely. Hideki, I don't want anything to happen to you because I love you. You've always been that one person I deeply care about. Stay strong Hideki, I love you.
-from my heart, Sylvette.
Hideki finished reading the letter, and he gripped his fist, "Sylvette, Scott...if only I could turn back time. I would have prevented that travesty....forgive me." Hideki rushed to his room, he grabbed a sword and he put on a jacket. Hideki exited his house and left towards the iron heart ruins, "Sylvette, your death will not be in vain!" Before he could continue, Hideki ran into Busujima and his roughnecks once again. "Where do you think you're going? There's a fee for passing here." "Hey boss! This is the same person from yesterday!" One of the roughnecks said. Busujima stared at Hideki, "hey you're right. You're that shell of a man from yesterday, didn't I tell you not to pass by me anymore?" Hideki looked at Busujima, "like I said, I don't talk to mentally impaired people like you." Busujima went through his pocket and he took out a pocket knife, "I said we're gonna have a problem if you ran into me again. So you better go back to your house or you're gonna get shanked." Hideki threw his sword aside and maintained a fighting stance, "I'm not moving am I? You truly wouldn't attack me, after all you know what I've done for Serenia correct? You truly don't have the courage to attack me." Busujima finally gripped his knife and charged towards Hideki, "ASSHOLE! I'M GONNA CUT YOU UP!" Hideki held his stance and he put his palm forward, "teiji dachi, stand like the character." Busujima attempted to stab Hideki, however Hideki dodged his knife. Busujima felt a sharp pain in his chest and his pocket knife went flying out of his hand. Hideki jabbed his palm into busujima's chest with great force, "just because I was discharged from the military, doesn't mean I've lost my ability to fight. Who's the shell of a man now?" Hideki removed his palm and moved forward. Busujima coughed up blood and he fell unconscious in front of his colleagues. "Hey, Busujima. Stop fucking with us, you're okay right?" One of the roughnecks asked. Busujima gave no answer, and the roughnecks backed up from Hideki. The roughnecks fled from Hideki knowing his power. Hideki finally proceeded to the iron heart ruins, "Sylvette, I will use your memento with pride."