Concerto du vent: Concerto for wind: 03/30/2021, 10:51 A memory of when Kazami was 19 years old...  ♪ BGM: Loyalist / Theme of Tachibana ♫ Kazami spoke to the girl next to her as they stood in the midst of that warm breeze.  Nice weather, isn't it, Nagisa? Sure is, Sis.The one who answered was Kazami's sister, ''Nagisa''. Today was Kazami's day off, so she went to the park for the first time in ages. She could hear the sounds of children playing in the distance.   Hey wait, you sneak attacked me! One more time from the start! Heheh, still gonna lose no matter what you do. What was that--!?--It appeared a boy and a girl were playing hip sumo. She'd seen the boy before. He was probably one of the kids who lived around this neighborhood. Oh look, those kids are about your age. Why don't you go play with them? N-no... that game looks kinda hard... Oh, that's fine. It'd be better for you to not play any rough games anyway. Then why don't we just take a nice little walk? Yeah!Kazami took her beaming sister by the hand and broke out into a walk. --Nagisa had been born with a frail body. She didn't have any chronic diseases or anything like that, but she had weak cardiopulmonary function, and she was prone to catching colds and such. That was why they hadn't visited the park in a while. (I guess she inherited too much from Mother and Father...)The sisters didn't have any parents. They both passed away from cancer-- their mother five years ago, and their father three. Kazami currently worked at a flower shop to support Nagisa. But as they had no family aside from each other, their sisterly bonds were very strong. You'll be starting elementary school soon, huh? Yeah. You think I can make lots of friends? Of course. In that school, definitely. You're right. Eheehee, I'm so excited for it.Seeing Nagisa's smile filled Kazami with joy. Nagisa had only been 3 years old when their father had passed away. It had not been easy for the then-16-year-old Kazami to raise her sister by herself. But it had by no means been a painful experience. For Nagisa was a very kind girl. Her smile always greeted Kazami when she came home from work. It was nigh-therapeutic for Kazami to see such consideration from her sister despite her young age. Nagisa was the most precious treasure that Kazami's parents had left behind for her. Though she was her younger sister, it felt the other way around at the same time. And so Kazami had properly raised her sister until the time had come for her to enter elementary school. Nagisa meant everything to her. ...By the way, looks like spring's finally started for real now. Yeah, it's so nice and warm out. Why don't we just rest and enjoy the sun, Sis? Now that's a good idea.Kazami and Nagisa laid down in the grass.  Mmm, it feels so nice too.The spring sunlight shone upon the sisters. Kazami thought to herself as she lay engulfed in the warm light. (... It's already been three years since I started supporting Nagisa, huh... Maybe it was thanks to this city that we were able to make it so far.)It had already been seven years since Rokumei City had been made a government designated top secret city. The city's social services had considerably bloomed in that time, allowing Kazami and Nagisa to reap their benefits. The city had profited immensely from its many science and technology industries (centered around nuclear power and BC)-- and that wealth provided for the sisters. (I should be grateful for that... even though I have virtually no aptitude.)Kazami also had BC aptitude, but very little of it-- she was only ''Rank D''. Those at that level could hardly call themselves Communicators-- it pretty much took all their effort to have even the slightest hope of using telepathy. Kazami couldn't even use telepathy, so she'd never attended Rokumei Academy. --But there were more important things to worry about. When she was 12, the city had been swept by a horrible disaster. ''The Great Rokumei City Arson''-- an attack committed by an extremist group who hated Communicators. The Tachibana family had fortunately been unaffected by the incident, but the facts surrounding it were enough to frighten Kazami. So to be careful, she had instructed both herself and her sister to not talk about BC very much. (But, well, I guess that will have to end soon... For Nagisa, at the very least...)Drowsiness started catching up to her as she idly thought about that. (Oh... oh no. Nagisa will get bored if I fall asleep...)But she had a hard time staving off the exhaustion that came with having worked hard day after day. ...Oh, Sis? Are you asleep...?Nagisa's voice also sounded like it was very far away. (I'm sleepy... no, I mustn't sleep... but I'm sleepy...)Despite her struggle to stay awake, Kazami dozed off.  ♪ BGM: Silence ♫ Kazami had a sad dream. It was about Nagisa going away somewhere.  (Nagisa! Wait, don't go! Don't go! You'll never be able to come back if you do!)She tried to scream aloud, but her voice wouldn't obey her. In spite of that, Nagisa quietly turned around--   Kazami then woke up. H-huh...!? Where's Nagisa!?Kazami was astonished. She wondered if her dream had become reality for a moment--  Next to her was a local girl named ''Jun''. It appeared that Nagisa had come across her and the two of them had started playing while Kazami was asleep. (Oh no, how could I have been so careless!?)♪ BGM: Loyalist / Theme of Tachibana ♫ Kazami frantically stood up and ran on over to them. J-Jun! I'm so sorry you had to watch over Nagisa for me! Oh, Kazami. Nah, it's cool, I was having fun too. You were sleeping like a log, Sis, so I didn't wanna wake you up... I can't believe I dozed off like that... It must be because it's so nice and warm today...Nagisa and Jun laughed at Kazami's embarrassed reaction. ...Oh my, it looks like it's already past noon now. Why don't we go home and I'll fix you up some lunch? Yeah! I'm starving!Kazami then took Nagisa and Jun hand in hand and started heading back to her residence. She believed that this simple peace would last forever...
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| ← # ? May 18, 2017 15:03 |
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