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It was silent in the room. A man was lying in bed and sleeping peacefully as the sun found its way through a gap in the curtains of the room. A sliver of light fell on silken strands of his tousled brown hair, and a nose twitched when the sun tickled it. His lips parted in a groan, and one of his hands pulled the blanket further over his head.
There was a suit hanging off the door. It had been carefully chosen by the man in the bed, and one could tell that it had never been worn before. Nothing worn could ever be as crisp. The stillness of the scene vanished when of the alarm clock on the small bedside table came to life as the larger of the two hands reached the half-hour mark.
The man in the bed groaned, and his other hand appeared from under the thick blanket to find the offending device, finally turning it off. Brown eyes opened sleepily and looked at the clock to see it was time to get up and get ready.
The man, who had reached the last year of his twenties, sat up, running a hand through his messy hair.
“Ready for the day, Sho-chan?” he heard five minutes later, still sitting on his bed lost in a world between sleep and wakefulness. It took him a few seconds to answer in the affirmative.
As ready as he ever was going to be.
Hello Sho-chan,
the stars look beautiful from here, you know? We just set out yesterday, but we are already deep in space. It is scary how fast these new ships are. The windows are big and our quarters are tiny. All I have is a bed, a table with a chair and a small cupboard to put my outfit in. It’s not much, but I don’t need anything else here. In the end, we aren’t here to have a good time, I think.
The stars, though, the stars are gorgeous. I can’t get enough of them. So please excuse me if I repeat myself. We have seen many planets already, too. They look nice. Not as green and blue as Earth, though.
The first day, when we had just left Earth, I spent the whole time looking at our home planet. I already miss it. It looked so small so quickly. It hurts to think that you are as far away as Earth already.
Sho went through the motions of his morning in auto-mode. He showered, brushed his teeth and styled his hair with a bit of gel. He almost put on his usual trousers and dress shirt before he remembered what day it was. Instead, he changed into an old shirt and jogging bottoms to go out of his room and into the shared kitchen.
“Breakfast is ready. Make sure tp clean the plates before you head out,” Sho's roommate, Nino, reminded him, already dressed in his work clothes and ready to leave.
“Uhn, thanks for preparing it for me,” Sho said.
Nino grinned in amusent at his words. “J did. He said it’s safer than to trust you not to burn the kitchen down. I don’t think he has forgiven you for breaking his coffee machine.”
“It was an accident,” Sho argued silently, and Nino giggled before waving and leaving him alone. Sho looked after him for a moment before beginning with his breakfast. As expected of Jun the food was delicious, and a warm feeling settled over him. His friends and roommates always made sure he had everything before leaving for their work. It was nice not to live alone.
After finished doing the dishes, he entered his room again to wear the prepared suit. He made sure that there was not a single wrinkle on it when he finally looked at himself in the mirror. He looked good, he thought.
Sho-chan,
we finally arrived at Mars. It is a beautiful planet. It is warm here, and it reminds me of you. We met some of the people that came here during the last mission, and they are nice. I like them.
Tomorrow I will start to train with the fighter ships that we will use to defend ourselves against the aliens. Isn’t it strange? That we call them aliens? I think right now I am the alien on Mars and yet… They told us the aliens are closing in on us and that we have to be ready soon. I don’t know when this message will reach you, Sho-chan.
If I remember correctly, they will need eight weeks until they reach Earth. It's weird to think that my e-mails needed only seconds to get to you just a few days prior. Now you will have moved on without me knowing when you read this.
Your exams will be over by then also, ne? I hope you managed to enter the university you wanted. I am rooting for you. Please tell the others that I miss you all. Perhaps we will manage to come back to Earth soon.
Sho stepped out of his house. He looked at the horizon. The sun bathed everything in a beautiful red-golden light and Sho took a moment to appreciate the warmth that ran over his face. It was good. Spring was finally back. Sho had missed the warm days during the last months. He always had been a summer person, even if he had been born in winter.
After a look at his watch he realized he had to hurry to be on time. He tore his eyes away from the beautiful scene to head for the subway station. It was a ten-minute walk, and usually Sho liked to take his time going there, greeting the elderly lady that owned the little convenience store. But today he was too nervous to take his time. This was an important day after all, and Sho couldn’t be late. He would never forgive himself.
Hey Sho-chan,
yesterday I messed up. I met this one person here, called Oh-chan. He was already here for the last mission, but he stayed on. He is said to be some kind of genius because he is the best fighter. He looks very sleepy, to be honest. But I watched him train, and he is excellent.
But, oh well, I messed up, and it’s kind of because of him. We met for lunch, and we talked, and he showed me his favourite place, and we got lost. He doesn’t have to visit school anymore since he already graduated on Earth, so he wasn’t concerned.
But I missed classes because of him. I got a very long scolding because of that.
I feel bad. But also good, because finding a friend here is good. It makes everything a lot brighter.
In the subway Sho found a corner to stand inl and looked around. The car was as crowded as always. He caught the headline of the newspaper the person beside him held in his hand. It was something about the latest Mars mission.
He tried to read more. He was curious about those missions. But he also wanted to ignore them. It only distracted him from his routines if he tried to keep up with what happened outside of Earth.
Sho-chan, I have to go to Saturn. Oh-chan will be with me. We use a two-pilot ship now. It’s nice to fight alongside someone you trust. The bad news about this: The message delivery will take even longer now. I think the next message will take a year and six months to reach. Please don’t forget me.
Sho got off the subway at the right station and carefully made his way through the masses of bodies. All of them were on their way to work or school or university, just like him. Sho thought it was so easy to get lost in this sea of foreign people.
For a small moment, Sho stopped walking. He observed the carefree teens, their laughter and their shocked yells when they realised how late they already were. Almost too late to be in school on time. Sho envied them.
Sho-chan, I’m scared. We were told to move out even further. We will leave this solar system, Oh-chan and I and a lot of other fighters. We have to protect this solar system. They say it will be dangerous.
I’m scared. I know I'm a trained fighter and I have sworn to put my life on the line to protect Earth and its people. I will do that. But that doesn’t change the fact that I wish to be home.
Maybe I will never meet you again. Before today I never thought of that possibility. But now I can't shake that thought.
Did you forget me? I am so far away now. I think you are in your mid-twenties? I’m sorry if my maths is wrong. You know it never was my strongest subject.
I talk with Oh-chan a lot, you know? He has family back down on Earth. He told me he is scared ever to go back. He is scared to go back and find that his parents have died. I can understand that in a way. I am scared that you all will forget me. I’m stuck here…. For me, only a year has passed while you must have finished university already.
I don’t know what you do now. I always imagined you to be an office worker when you are all grown up. You must look great in those crisp suits.
Sho-chan, I have to go now. They are calling us. I hope this message will reach you in time. The next will come even later, if ever.
Sho entered the academy grounds and greeted the other students. There was a hum of excitement in the air. Today was the day they all had worked so hard to reach.
The sky darkened, and Sho looked up just in time to see a big spaceship fly above them. He observed it for a moment. It was smooth and metallic. As he closed his eyes, he remembered the first ship he ever saw, all those years ago.
Sho-chan, we won. It was hard, and I have killed too many aliens than I ever wanted. I am tired and hurt. The last fight was hard. They will move our ship back to Pluto.
Have I ever told you about Pluto? It is such a small planet. But it looks wonderful. It is calm here, funnily enough. I like sitting in the station, watching the stars and imagining being surrounded by all of you. I would introduce you to Oh-chan. You'd like him.
This station is large. Families are living there now, did you know?
For now, though, I just want to lie down and sleep.
I’m worried. Oh-chan was hurt during that last fight. The paramedics were almost too late in getting him. It was my fault. I was sidetracked for just a tiny moment. But that was enough for those monsters to come at me. Oh-chan got in between us, and he managed to win. We were both brought back to the main ship just in time.
They haven’t allowed me to see Oh-chan yet. I hope he is okay. I hope he’ll live. If you get this message and could maybe find Oh-chan’s family, will you tell them how great their son is?
Sho adjusted his tie as he entered the great hall and looked for his seat. It was right in the middle of front row. He thought of his friends and what they would think of it all. Sho never had told them everything. The only thing they knew was that today was graduation day.
A hush fell over the audience when the director of the academy entered the small stage.
Hello Sho-chan,
we are safely back on Pluto for the moment. Oh-chan survived. He can’t move as well as he wants to anymore but he decided not to go back to Earth. They gave him the chance, you know? But he said he wanted to be part of the ground force on Pluto to help the fighters and all of his friends.
I understand. I would probably do the same.
For me, I will just stay here for a short while before moving on to the next solar system. Fighting the monsters and discovering new worlds. I want to protect Earth with all my might.
Sho didn’t listen to most of the speech. His eyes wandered over to his teachers, standing on stage behind the director. He was reminding them of all the heroes who had fought for them and lost their lives while protecting Earth.
Most of their teachers knew or even had lost people that they had trained, so their expressions were quite forlorn. But as Sho looked at the people beside him - much younger than he was - he saw only eagerness to prove themselves. They hadn’t lost anybody in those fights, and they didn’t know anybody still fighting them. Not like Sho.
Sho,
I have something to tell you. I'm usually a scaredy cat, but I don’t think I can keep it for myself any longer. A whole universe lies between us. How old are you now?
I miss you so much. But that’s not what I wanted to tell you. Not that we found a planet in the solar storm system that looks just like Earth, either. It is beautiful. Today it rained there. I wished I could have stepped outside to breathe in the smell of wet soil and feel the rain on my skin. But I couldn’t.
The next attack is coming soon. I don’t know if I will survive this time so I have to tell you now.
Are you ready? Sho-chan, from the now 18-year-old Aiba Masaki to the twenty-something-year-old Sakurai Sho:
I love you.
“Congratulations on your graduation. We are proud to announce that you are cleared to discover the new world.” The director walked up and down the rows, distributing diplomas.
Sho bowed deeply when it was his turn to get the certificate that told the world and everyone else that he had graduated with honours from the space preparation programme he had been attending for the last few years.
Sho looked at the paper for a long moment. It wouldn’t be long now, Aiba.
~Ten Years Ago~
“I got approved to go with them as a fighter,” Aiba said, and Sho tried his best not to flinch at those words. He should be happy for Aiba. He had trained hard to be allowed to participate in this mission. Finding a new planet to live on and fighting against those monsters that were a threat to the people around him had been Aiba’s dream for so long.
But it was difficult. Sho wanted for Aiba to stay here with him and not to leave him.
Nonetheless he forced a smile on his face at Aiba’s words.
“I knew you could do it. You are one of the best in class after all,” Sho said, and his smile got a bit more honest at the blush that appeared on Aiba’s cheeks. He was beautiful. “When will you leave?”
“Tomorrow,” Aiba whispered and Sho felt something break inside of him. Tomorrow was way too early.
“Let’s stay in contact?” Sho asked.
Aiba giggled. “Of course. I’ll write you daily until we meet again,” he promised.
The press of warm lips against Sho’s was soft and brief as Aiba left him. They didn’t say goodbye.