The Burning Desire to Save

Chapter 14 (END OF VOLUME 1)

In the auditorium of the school, about twenty members of the fire brigade, all dressed in casual clothes, plus about thirty students, including the entire student council and all seven student firefighters, were present, as well as the parents of some of the students. All the student firefighters, minus Tomoko, were meeting with each other to discuss what would possibly happen. "My sister is hoping for the best," Rumiko said to the others. "She's been pretty tight-lipped to me about what the student council has been discussing in regards to this decision, though. It seems like not even they know what the school decided, though."

"At this point," Naoko said. "It could be anything."

"We just gotta keep up the hope the principal comes to his senses and won't abolish us," Yui said.

Then, Enji ran over, having just arrived. "Amano-san!"

Naoko turned to him and greeted him, surprised he had come. "Oh, hey, Hirayama-senpai. Didn't expect to see you here."

"I got a text saying they made a decision," he replied. "Some more townsfolk are coming down to support you guys."

Confused, Sumire asked him, "Wait, how did word about it spread? I don't think the fire brigade has said anything."

"Word travels fast in small towns," Yui explained.

"I hope it's a decision to keep us," Naoko commented. "If it's to abolish us, me and Ayumi-chan are gonna be in a bad mood when we go to our Advanced Firefighting class tomorrow. Tomorrow's the last actual class for us before we take the test on Thursday."

"Me and Rumiko-chan are doing our last Basic and SCBA Firefighting class tomorrow, too," Sumire replied. "I didn't realize both courses ended in the same week."

"They usually don't in the summer months," Yui replied to her. "Usually one ends a week or two before the other. Looks like the academy instructors are gonna be busy this week."

"Fourteen weeks and one hundred and thirty-five hours later, we'll finally be able to go into buildings like the rest of you."

Yui smiled and told her underclassman, "We can't wait for you or Rumiko-chan to join us on a hose line inside a fire."

They all turned to the entranceway to the auditorium and then saw a group of ten paid firefighters walk in, all of them in uniform and all from the paid Harukawa fire station. Ayumi turned to Naoko and remarked, "Wow, the whole shift came."

The on-duty captain for the day, a man in his forties named Yoichi Chida, walked over to the girls, turning to Yui first as Tomoko walked over from the student council members to greet him as well. Yui greeted him with a bow, saying, "Good evening, Captain Chida."

"We came down here to support you guys," Yoichi said to her. "There's been some... Contention among our ranks as to the proposal, but I know the shift I personally work with is against abolition. It's a bit unofficial, but I do want to be here to see the decision the school makes, regardless of the result."

Tomoko then arrived, rendering a salute to Yoichi and greeting him with, "Captain." Yui saw this and also somewhat awkwardly rendered her own salute to join her, partially to make sure she was not alone in doing so.

Yoichi chuckled. "At ease, Morishima. We've known each other for a while now. Same to you, Kitagawa."

Enji asked Naoko, "Is he a paid firefighter?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "He's the captain of the Yoshimatsu Area Fire Department's fire station in Harukawa, meaning he not only oversees the shift he works, but also oversees the lieutenants who work the other three shifts. He's worked in Harukawa ever since he became a lieutenant, so a lot of the guys in the fire brigade know him."