"...Yes, I'd like that. It was good catching up," you said. "Thank you. For reaching out." It felt awkward, but it was also true. And the smile he gave you made you think that maybe, just maybe, there might be something better to be found here in the future.
---
The rest of the month past uneventfully, and fortunately without descending into the biting cold and snow that had come last year. Things at the base remained just as boring as ever, with the paperwork for demobilizing the WNA backed up behind the mountains of other requests, presumably. At the very least your responsibilities expanded to cover another warehouse (this one full of spare uniforms, a notoriously volatile material that obviously needed careful management).
New Years approached rapidly, looming large in the blissful normality that had become your life. It was exciting, that your relationship with Aiko would become public in such a definitive way, but also nerve wracking, a voice in your head insisting it would blow up in your face and cost you everything, take her away from this cozy apartment, from your side every night. You weren't the sort to get anxious, but this was weighing on you.
Finally, the day arrived, and Aiko despite her excitement was also as nervous as a person could be. She was flitting in and out of her wardrobe, trying to decide what would be appropriate for her to wear to a function at the
palace of all places. You had it easy--you would wear your dress uniform and every jangly bit of shiny metal the government had given you over the past seven years of your life, which had become quite the collection.
This included the newest one, the 'Medal for Victory Over Caspia' was golden colored medal (probably brass alloy). The front showed a pair of national flags crossed over each other beneath a triumphant Imperial bellflower sigil. The reverse was a simple wreath surrounding an inscription 'For participation in the victorious war against Caspia, 2536-2537.' Shiny. You pinned it to your chest along with the others.
"They're going to have to issue you a second jacket soon, for all those." Aiko said, helping you fasten the Order of the Meritorious Spear around your neck. You really didn't need the help, but you weren't going to say
no.
Aiko eventually settled on the nicest dress she had, and (with a little encouragement) even broke out her iron and started curling her hair. She'd stopped both because of the cost of the fuel and because she'd received some
looks at her previous job: it wasn't terrible patriotic, apparently.
That seemed foolish to you. You liked it, so how unpatriotic could it be?
While she hunted for things to wear, you retrieved the red-furnitured sword off the wall, the one you'd taken off Commander Arakari during the attempted coup. It was one of those little powerplay things, in case your cousin was in attendance, though you imagined his invitation was almost certainly lost in the mail.
Aiko, meanwhile, spent a few minutes fretting about her shoes, when you pointed out that the New Years Party took place in one of the newer, western-style halls, so shoes were to stay on. With a grin, she broke out her long-unused heels from one of the still-packed boxes, trying them on gingerly in the doorway.
"I haven't worn these in… since Hideaki's wedding, I think. I hope I don't look too stupid trying to remember how to walk in them."
"You look, ah…" You weren't sure what to say at first. "You look good," you settled on that compliment and tried to pretend you weren't blushing while you buckled on your dress sword. It evidently didn't work, as Aiko stepped closer (and a little awkwardly) grinning at how flustered you were.
"You okay there, Haru?" she asked, clearly insincere.
"... yes." was all you managed.
"So… when do we have to be there for again?" she asked casually, leaning over you, her hands finding yours. You'd have to retie the sword on, to took so long… rather inconsiderate.
"It's an all-night event…" you muttered.
"I think we can afford to be a little late, right?"
---
Despite unavoidable delays, you somehow managed to get to the palace in time to be merely fashionably late. The light, chill rain drizzling over everything was must more favourable than the snow of previous New Years, so you made good time in the car borrowed from your family. It was the nice blue one, of course, this was supposed to be a nice event, though the thing was four years old now and was starting to show its age.
You only missed the clutch once, and you think you managed to convince Aiko the car was supposed to make that noise.
As you pulled to a stop at the Imperial Guard checkpoint into the palace, you picked your sword up from where it lay across your lap and offered it to the Imperial Guard lieutenant who had stepped forward to speak to you in the driver's seat. He saluted you sharply and then received it with all due reverence to a fellow officer's weapon.
"We will keep this safe for you, madam."
"I'm sure you will. Thank you, lieutenant." He stepped back from the car, saluted again and you returned the gesture as the car rolled through into the outer palace. Aiko was looking at you from across the backseat, her expression puzzled.
"Why did you wear your sword if you're not even wearing it inside?"
"No one except the Imperial Guard is allowed to carry weapons inside the palace grounds. That's just how it is."
"Right, but… I dunno, it seems silly to bring it along if you just don't wear it for the rest of the night. And didn't you say this sword had a special meaning?"
"But… then I'd be the only officer who showed up without a sword?" Did she not get it?
"... okay. Sure. Makes sense."
You drove the car the rest of the way to the reception hall, handed it over to the valet, and headed to the entrance. Though you did have an invitation this time, the Imperial Guard at the door gave Aiko a bit of a hard time before you pulled her through. Really, did they expect you'd bring an assassin in guise of your girlfriend or something?
The two of you made your way inside, checking your coats and heading within, Aiko's eyes wide at the splendor all around her, the art and artifacts and architecture. Then the main hall opened before her, a cavernous space filled with all the richest and most powerful people in Akitsukuni.
The reception hall was splendid, designed by a Gallian architect who had made it a beautiful space that was perfect for the sorts of gatherings meant to take place here. Cleverly, it had made use of woods and other materials native to Akitsukuni and Cathay, giving it a subtle foreignness to Westerners. There was open space for dancing, and while there were some semi-private nooks there was nowhere that someone could easily be out of sight of others for more than a few moments. There were tables scattered around the room at the moment, laid out for dining and servants in impeccable livery circulated through the crowd with trays of drinks and food.
Most notably, and unlike previous years, there was an installation in the center of the far wall. Art, of some kind, a couple of sculptures and a massive canvas propped up, a riot of colours and shapes. It was utterly unfamiliar, and clashed with everything around it.
No matter. You'd make your way over there in due time.
The traditional first stop was the drinks table, but in this one specific instance you found yourself without much fondness for tradition and a sudden desire to go as far as possible to the other end of the hall as possible. Still, that wouldn't be fair to Aiko, and you dreaded questions from other attendees about why you were going about without a glass in your hand, so you went over, hesitating at the table, looking over the options. A lot of these brands were a little too familiar, and all of them incredibly tempting.
Eventually, you decided on something a bit light and definitely celebratory--a glass of champagne. Your first drink in three months. Your last was on the deck of the
Kari, a toast for something or other, and it had been accompanied by the same dread anticipation.
Fortunately, this was champagne, and no amount of weakness for the chemical within can make champagne taste anything but awful. For some reason, Aiko liked the stuff, but you couldn't understand it. You'd always thought of it as a sort of New Years hazing ritual.
"What do we do now, exactly?" Aiko asked, as you headed back away from the table.
"There's not exactly a schedule or anything. We dance, we talk, we look at expensive things. I told you, it's going to be stuffy."
"I think it's pretty amazing. What do you usually do?"
"Well… uh. The last one of these I attended with something of a goal in mind." you said awkwardly. "Though it's not exactly available this year."
"Oh? Why not?"
"Because I'm dating you?"
"
Ooooh. You really hit the
Empress' New Years Party just to pick up a girl?"
"... yes." you admitted.
"Surely there are easier places, Haru. You're related to half the people here, and the other half are all westerners. Are there even gay westerners?"
"... there is at least one." you said.
"Nice! Well, there's one potential path for the evening, though we should explore others."
It made you… a little uncomfortable sometimes. You weren't really worried about Aiko cheating on you, it was almost the opposite. Why did she seem so okay with the idea of you being with other women?
"You're… not upset?"
"...Why would I be? We weren't even dating." she said lightly. "Hey, I think somebody's trying to get your attention."
She gestured across the hall towards a nondescript person in nice (but not extravagant) traditional clothing who was making their way towards you through the crowd. You had some difficulty recognizing them at first, but you put it together.
"Excuse me, but I think I've been misinformed regarding your name." you said.
"Kitashirakawa Teru, it's lovely to see you again. Been a few years." You hadn't seen them since that awful week where you had gone to nothing but funerals. You hadn't had a chance to speak to them at the time, though you'd been close friends as children. "I never properly got a chance to congratulate you for getting into the Academy, or graduating. Or all the medals. Very impressive."
"Thank you! It's been a journey. What are you doing these days?"
"I have the privilege of helping run the downtown public transit infrastructure, which is a fancy way to say I sort out streetcar schedules. It's much more fulfilling work than it sounds. Father helped me get set up with the whole thing."
"I have a friend who works with streetcars!" Aiko interjected, excited she had some tenuous common ground with the other people here.
"Oh? What's their name, I probably work with them in the office." Teru said cheerfully.
You could almost see the gears turn in Aiko's head, as she realized that nobody here at the party would would know anyone as lowly as a streetcar conductor, that it was simply assumed that, whoever she was, the people
she knew were at least some form of white-collar worker.
"Oh, sorry, you probably wouldn't. I'm from Shimazu."
"Oh, yes. I hear they've managed to get the streetcars running there as well. I have some friends in Shimazu, myself. What's your name?"
Oh
no.
"Kishimoto Aiko, lovely to meet you!" she said brightly.
"Oh? Of the northeastern trade family?"
"Of Kishimoto Hardware." she responded nimbly.
"I don't know that firm, I'm afraid."
"We're highly localized. Mostly just in Shimazu." Which was… true. As far as you knew her father only had the one store, though you thought Aiko had mentioned they were opening a second location? You couldn't remember at the moment.
"Oh! As it happens, one of my friends down south is looking for a supplier, things are all turned upside down with the war. I'll pass along the name, thank you."
"My pleasure!" Aiko said stiffy, a nervous smile plastered on her face.
"It was lovely catching up, Arisukawa, and lovely meeting you, Miss Kishimoto, but I'm afraid I have to move on. I'm avoiding my boss." Teru said, then they shuffled along and Aiko let out a long sigh.
"You navigated that like you've been doing this for years!" you beamed, nudging her arm excitedly, "lies of omission, misdirection, technical truths… you might just be able to hold your own around my family with a bit more practice."
"Just thinking about doing that is
exhausting. Let's go look at the pretty pictures." Aiko responded, taking your arm and pulling you toward the pictures.
Unfortunately, halfway across the hall, you were forced to divert her as you spotted a familiar face in the crowd. Well, technically, a familiar back-of-someone's-head.
"My
mother is here." you whispered. Four words that induced more terror than the closest artillery barrage.
"It's
fine, Haru. She was going to know anyway, now she's here to witness it, that's all." Aiko responded.
"She wasn't supposed to know so directly, I thought she was at the winter house…" you said.
"Haruna, I know you're nervous, but it's going to be okay, alright?" Aiko said, taking your hand. "Come on, let's go say hi. She won't see that coming."
Yes, perfect. That was a plan, and nothing helped center you like having a plan.
"Alight. Yes. That's a good plan, I agree." After a moment's hesitation, you downed the rest of your champagne, then immediately regretted it, both for the taste and for your willingness to turn to it for courage. "Let's get it over with."
The two of you made your way across the floor just as your mother finished talking to the wife of some minister or another, and she turned, taking a moment as if to study the pair of you.
"This is bold." she said flatly. "I do hope you've considered this thoroughly." Translation: This is a terrible idea. I can't believe you've done this.
"Of course I have." you responded bluntly, prompting the
tiniest rise of an eyebrow. "Father didn't seem terribly put out by the idea."
"...He actually encouraged us to go public," Aiko added, and you winced internally. Too blunt. TOO BLUNT.
"Well, he always did have his own way of doing things. There's a reason things were the way they were, but that's neither here nor there, is it?" Your mother said with a demure smile.
"I suppose he did, but so do I." Your mother's eyes narrowed just a little.
"You're more like him than I'd hoped, in that case."
Oof.
"I'll take that as the compliment you intended." You didn't have time for this. She was obviously furious with you, but you found that you didn't really
care. You were here, with your gorgeous girlfriend. You were having a good time! "I was thinking of introducing her to my cousin later."
"If you think that wise," Mother said. Good. Now she was extra-furious.
You took your leave hastily, and it was your turn to feel as if you'd just fought a sword fight instead of a verbal duel.
"I'm starting to think that most of being a noble is learning to talk for a really long time without actually saying anything." Aiko said quietly.
"Yes, pretty much. She's
so mad."
"Really? She seemed pretty calm..." Aiko hesitated. "...Do you think she'll do anything?"
"Like what? Cut me off? She would never do it, at least not until my brother has a nice marriage secured. The awkward questions she'd have to answer about her prodigy daughter suddenly living on a mere junior officer's salary and the scandal around that would make it impossible for her to marry him off," you explained. "She'll probably just send me an angry letter."
"Well, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. then. Can we take a break from difficult conversations for a bit?"
"Yes, let's do that. Shall we look at that uh… art display?."
You made it the rest of the way across the hall and finally got a good look at the pieces, and automatically found yourself incapable of caring. It was some of that modern stuff, neither trying to look traditional or realistic. The sculptures were formless curves, vaguely resembling a bicycle, a human shape running, perhaps a train, while the painting was all sharp angles and bright colors and… was that supposed to be a person in there? You couldn't be sure. All your really got was an impression of rapid movement and possibly three faces or figures.
"Not sure it's to my taste," you said to Aiko. "You can't really see what's supposed to be happening? Whatever it is, it's happening very intensely."
"It's cool, whatever it is." Aiko offered.
"Is it?"
"I think it's rather striking, myself," said a warm, familiar voice from just behind you. Oh. You turned and there was your cousin. The Empress, smiling and looking resplendent in her traditional finery. Usually in public, as a woman of the court, you bowed. But as an Imperial Naval Officer, you saluted. Shit. Shit, what did you do?
In desperation, you did both, catching brief sight of Aiko desperately pressing her face against the floorboards. There was an awkward pause that felt like it went on for an eternity.
"...I understand the confusion, Haruna, and I'd tell you to just pick one and stick with it, but honestly that was very entertaining to witness. And do tell your friend to get up. She doesn't need to be so formal. It's New Year's Eve!" She laughed behind one massive sleeve. You bent down slightly to help Aiko to her feet. Aiko bowed again, this time staying on her feet.
"Your Imperial Majesty, can I present my dearest companion," that was the polite court codeword for 'lover' or 'paramour' "Kishimoto Aiko."
"Delighted, Miss Kishimoto," the Empress said and tilted her head just slightly in place of a bow. "It's a pleasure to meet someone so dear to my little cousin."
Aiko made a noise that had some of the elements of 'thank you', but mostly just a sort of overwhelmed squeak.
"Isn't this fantastic, though?" The Empress said, sweeping a hand over the painting. "It's this new style, I find it fascinating. You can really see the movement!"
And little else, you thought.
"It is fascinatingly unique." you offered diplomatically.
"Oh, of course you don't like it, Haruna, it was made this century. Miss Kishimoto seems to think otherwise, though?"
"It is really cool. Look, this is an airplane, right? But it's not about the shape of an airplane, because we all know what they look like, it's all the little motions. You can see the propeller turning in the patterns, and the wingtips, all the turns its made getting here. I'm really impressed." Aiko managed to speak after a moment of awkward, uncertain silence. She seemed to be relaxing now that she had realized the Empress wasn't going to just… shun her.
"You have a good eye, though I'm a little disappointed Haruna here hasn't worked out what the painting is about."
You and Aiko took a step back to study the whole canvas, eyes drifting over it. It was mostly just a muddled set of lines as best you could tell, darks and curves and discordant colours.
"... Spirits, Haru, this is a picture of you! Um, not just you, two other people too, I think that guy's a pilot, and that one is a soldier on a bicycle… or maybe in a car?"
"It's both, actually." You glanced to see another person had entered the conversation, with a remarkable casualness. "Or at least that's how I like to look at it."
"It's a little frustrating it's so open to interpretation." you muttered, looking the stranger over. A man perhaps in his early thirties, mostly unremarkable save for a pair of fairly impressive sideburns. You noticed a cane in his hand he was leaning on fairly heavily.
"Well, that's how I made it. The world is as you perceive it, after all." he said. "But your friend is right, that figure is supposed to be you. Drawing a sword at a hilltop, ordering torpedoes fired, blazing into the future, you see? The pilot here is our ace of aces, Major Arita Yachi, and this one is a more general portrait of the soldier of the future. On wheels, of some kind, of course."
You tilted your head with hopes it would give you a fresh perspective, but no dice.
"I'll take your word for it. I feel a little strange introducing myself to a man who has apparently painted my portrait, but Lieutenant Arisukawa Haruna."
"Kita Hozumi. It is wonderful to meet an inspiration." he said earnestly. "And who is this?"
"Kishimoto Aiko. I'm... Haruna's girlfriend." she said nervously. "I am really impressed by all this, how it gets the movement across."
"That's the idea, right? Life moves so fast these days, so should our art." Kita said.
"The, ah, modern age?" Aiko suggested, and you couldn't help but smile. You had your own injoke! Wonderful.
"Mr. Kita is a part of a fascinating art movement called Dynamism, all about conveying motion through art. Not just sculpture and painting, either, but poetry, prose, architecture… he was in Europa before the war working with other artists to develop it." The Empress explained.
"Thank you, Your Imperial Majesty. I came back for the war, of course, drove armoured cars." he explained. "Unfortunately, this consisted mostly of sitting around waiting for a chance to move. I can't imagine someone with such an exciting career can much relate to that."
"My war was not nearly as dynamic as you imagine, I think." you offered.
"It's all hurry up and wait, right? I was fortunate enough to be a part of the landing, all hurry and no wait. War at thirty-five kilometers an hour, racing down the roads! It was glorious, until I hit a tree. Hence the cane, and nothing to do while I was demobilized but work on a painting for the victory."
"Time well spent, Mr. Kita." Aiko offered.
"I've been sponsoring his work, since I heard of it." The Empress offered. "Had a chance to see one of his prewar sculptures and read some of his political articles. Fascinating stuff, I'll send you some if you like."
Now this was interesting. You'd gotten a taste for political theory, read your copy of
The Right to Well Being until it was dog-eared and worn and expanded into a few other essays. This might well be worth the time.
"I'd love that, Your Majesty."
You didn't have much more time to talk, unfortunately, as another party approached the art pieces looking to take up your cousin's time. This one looked like it had the new Caspian ambassador among them, who was looking nervously at the Imperial Guardsmen who found every excuse to keep as close an eye as possible on her. Served them right.
You spent the next hour or so doing social rounds and dancing with Aiko. You met with a wide selection of family members, though you felt a little crestfallen when you realized it was not nearly as many as you were used to. You also ran into Nashimoto Kageyasu, who treated you quite well despite the bad blood between your families and the rather poor impression you'd likely left on him. He did say, obliquely, that he appreciated your devotion to duty. Which you thought meant he approved of you snitching on his brother, but you weren't one hundred percent sure.
Another highlight was signing a folded snippet of the picture of you fighting the fire aboard the
Kari, brough by a young woman from Varnmark who dearly hoped you be attending the party. She also desperately wanted to know what your thoughts had been going into that action and you had to awkwardly make up something heroic instead of your actual thought, which was 'FUCK! MY BOAT IS ON FIRE!'
Throughout, you made occasional visits to the drinks. Perhaps a little too frequently, as Aiko caught your arm before you headed back.
"This'll be your third, Haru. Not counting the champagne." she reminded you, voice soft.
"It's New Years Eve," you protested. "If ever there was a time…"
"I'm not worried about New Years Eve. I'm worried about tomorrow. I'm worried about
you."
"... okay. One more, and that's it." you offered, but her face didn't budge. "Half?"
"The more you try to negotiate on this, the more I think you shouldn't have any more." she explained. It took a second to realize that was what you were doing, how
easy it was for this to get away from you.
"Okay. Okay, you're right. Yeah. Let's… go over there instead." you said, gesturing vaguely away from the drink table and towards a gaggle of dancers. Dancing seemed like a good idea to work off the pleasant buzz that had been steadily developing over the night.
As the pair of you ended your next waltz, Aiko bent and gave you a little kiss on the lips. Nothing untoward--in fact, compared to some of the things you had seen at New Year's parties (though never at an Imperial event) it was downright tame. Near you on the dance floor, a Europan woman wearing the chestnut uniform of Kyburg Familial Union's with the insignia of a major had been dancing with a tall man wearing the blue of Akitsukuni.'s army, though his uniform marked him a captain. Out of the corner of your eye, you caught her expression twist unhappily and then heard her, quite clearly:
"
It's a shame that the princess everyone is so quick to talk up back home seems to be something of an invert." You weren't sure what that meant, exactly, but you assumed it had to be something to do with you kissing girls. In particular Aiko.
The man she was dancing with snorted quietly and replied in the same language.
"
That's normal enough here. What's not is that she's reaching rather far below her station just to find company. I wonder if she's only on her arm for the night, hm?" And he laughed.
You saw red. Aiko wasn't below your station. Aiko was beautiful and funny and kind and intelligent. She was the best thing that had ever happened to you. And having some jumped up muddy-booted Army snot insult her, even in a language she didn't understand… you'd put up with a lot of things over the past… seven years. This was
too far.
[ ] Break his nose. He won't see it coming, and he has it coming. Technically he's the same rank as you, too, so you wouldn't get in trouble for assaulting a superior officer. Just a regular officer. A bad officer. Who cares? It's New Years Eve.
[ ] You know what every good party needs? A screaming match. And Dyske is the perfect language for yelling at other people. It's so… loud. And angry. ANd STUPID. Beautiful language. Like poetry. It'll be completely undignified, but who cares? It's New Years Eve.
[ ] This guy probably doesn't know you speak Dyske, right? You can just pretend you didn't understand. And you can also pretend that the lady he's talking to is more attractive and less of a piece of garbage than she actually is. Maybe if you flirt hard enough she'll get angry and cause a scene herself. Or catch fire. That'd be nice. Who cares? It's New Year's Eve.
[ ] Write In (Keep in mind: Haruna is drunk, stupid, angry, and drunk. Also, there's no such thing as consequences to her right now, she doesn't fucking care. It's New Year's Eve.)
Voting moratorium, voting will open in the New Year! Specifically, 24 hours from this post. When it says, "Posted a day ago" or whatever the formatting is. We will post in the thread to let you know when it's open, too.
Also, Happy New Years, Nerds.
Thank you so much for the last year. Writing this story has been a huge amount of fun and we super appreciate all the support you've given us. Thanks so much. <3
