Up in Flames (Fire Force fanfic)

Chapter Fifty One: What Remains

The phone is ringing off the hook, I run to go answer it. "Hello, this is company seven, where's the fire?"

"Hey Clarisse, it's Wakana. I was wondering if you could drop off some clothes and stuff off at company eight. I'm going straight to work today."

"Anything other than the necessities you want me to bring you?"

"Yes." She whispers quietly into the phone, "Bring me my smoking box."

Aka her pot box. "Alright, I'll bring you some wine for the occasion."

"Thanks, you're the best."

🔥🔥🔥🔬🔥🔥🔥

"Hey Konro, mind giving me a hand with bringing Wakana her stuff to company eight?"

"Oh sure. We can use the match box to drop it off."

Konro follows me up to Wakana's old room and sets about repacking her discarded clothing into one of her many suitcases. I walk over to her closet that is filled with stringed instruments.

"Hey Konro, should I pack some of these instruments? Since she uses them for her ignition abilities."

Konro walks over and takes a look at the instruments in front of him. "Hmm...definitely pack the spare Shamisen, the Koto, acoustic guitar...I don't think she'll need her sitar but she might need her Kokyū."

"Uh...how many instruments does she have?" I ask as I place some of the instruments into their cases.

"About fifteen and most of them she made herself. When our parents died, some of the instruments survived the fire. So she dedicated herself to rebuilding them. She was such a small child...I remember finding her at our local Koto shop begging the owners to teach her how to fix it. Our mother had a deep and profound love for traditional Japanese instruments...it's something she holds onto very tightly. Sometimes listening to her play the Koto takes me back to when I would hold Wakana on the floor and listen to my mother play."

"She's...so talented." I say mystified by all the instruments she keeps in her room.

"You wouldn't think that looking at her...but she's not a bad person. Just trying to cope with the world around us. Clarisse," he turn to me and points to the Koto, "mind helping me put this one in its case? I don't want to break it, it was our mother's."

I lift the other end of the Koto and help Konro place the instrument gently into its case. While doing so I feel etching on the side of it.

"Did it get damaged?" I look at the etchings to find it's a quote.

"Music should strike fire from the heart of man, and bring tears from the eyes of woman." - Ludwig van Beethoven

"Oh that, our mom etched that quote on her Koto a very long time ago. She was fond of the sentiment of that quote. To strike emotion through music..."

"Music that is birthed out of adversity is more like it. Ludwig van Beethoven found a weapon and burning passion in music, despite the abuse he got from his teacher. Kinda funny how much alike he and Wakana are, now that I think about..."

"What do you mean?" Konro asks while packing away other essentials.

"They're both spitfires. Ludwig had his own special way to wreak havoc. He would go from one music virtuoso to the next and pummel them all to the ground with his music. His music was his weapon in his own right. They both learned from one of their parents, except I'll assume that your mother was much gentler with her teaching."