𝐈 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐈'𝐋𝐋 𝐍𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑
𝐁𝐄 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄
𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐘 𝐎𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑
𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀𝐑𝐌𝐒,
𝐊𝐄𝐄𝐏𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐌𝐄 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐌.
"𝐎𝐇 𝐊𝐄𝐍𝐉𝐈... " Kenji heard his mother's words as she spoke to him as a child.
𝘒𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘪, 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘬𝘰, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 (𝘠/𝘕) 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘏𝘢𝘺𝘢𝘰'𝘴 𝘜𝘭𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦, 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘒𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘪 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘱 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘯 (𝘠/𝘕). 𝘎𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮.
"Your father wants to be with us more than anything in this world,"
𝘒𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘪, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 (𝘠/𝘕), 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘳𝘶𝘣 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘨𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘰𝘳𝘣𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮.
"But sometimes, he has to be away to protect us. "
𝘒𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘪 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘎𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯'𝘴 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬.
𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘒𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘪 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘦.
"𝘈𝘈𝘙𝘎𝘏𝘏! " 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘒𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘪 𝘺𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘸 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥, 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘵.
(𝘠/𝘕) 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦.
"𝘒𝘦𝘯𝘯𝘺.. " 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘩𝘦'𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘩 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘺.
𝘒𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘪'𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘹𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘧𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮.
"𝘏𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, " 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘹𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘴. "𝘋𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘦? " 𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥.
𝘒𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘪 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘵. (𝘠/𝘕) 𝘯𝘰𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘱 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘬, 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘏𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘬, 𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘴.
"𝘐𝘧 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, " 𝘏𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 (𝘠/𝘕) 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩, 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰. "𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳. " 𝘒𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘪 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥, 𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴.
𝘏𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 (𝘠/𝘕) 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘏𝘢𝘺𝘢𝘰 𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮.
𝘒𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘪'𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘛𝘏𝘈𝘛 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥.
"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰-" (𝘠/𝘕) 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘶𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘒𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘪 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.
"𝘒𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘪.. " 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. "𝘐𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘸. " 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘬𝘦. 𝘎𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦.
(𝘠/𝘕) 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘒𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘪, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘶𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘴.
"𝘏𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭. " 𝘏𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, 𝘫𝘢𝘸 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴, 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯'𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥.
"𝘏𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶-" "𝘏𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺. " 𝘏𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘶𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘮 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵.
"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮.. 𝘏𝘦-"
"𝘕𝘰, 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯-"
"𝘓𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬. " 𝘒𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘪 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦, 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦.
"𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘭𝘭 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦. "
Kenji remembered her words as he slowly descended into the depths of the ocean.
Oh how much he yearned to be in her arms one last time.
"(𝘕/𝘯).. " His last thought was his lover, before he succumbed into the hands of the ocean.
Unbeknownst to him, a large clawed violet hand dove under the waters, pulling his form out of it.
Kenji coughed and groaned out, looking up at the giant that saved him.
"Dad..? " Kenji called out warrily, his vision still adjusting.
"Think again. "
Kenji's eyes shot open hearing her voice.
He looked up, thinking he was hallucinating and expecting to see his dad in his Ultraman form and not the love of his life.
He violently rubbed his eyes to make them adjust faster, only to let out a surprised yell seeing (Y/N) in her Kuronama form without her mask, smiling softly at him.
"(N/N) -! " He practically yelled, jumping to his feet and latching his form onto her cheek as he started to tear up.
"I-I thought you died-" Kenji's voice trembled as he spoke, still not believing she's alive.
"Gonna take more than an explosion to kill me and your old man. " She said, smirking as she did so making Kenji confused.
Seeing his confusion, she laughed cheekily and pointed her thumb over her shoulder.
"Dad? You're alive! " Kenji exclaimed, looking at his dad who was in his Ultraman form.
"I promised you I will always be there for you. " Hayao said, making Kenji's face soften.
"Don't wanna ruin the mood or anything but uhh... Who's that? " (Y/N) said, nodding her head at the direction of Gigantron... Or.. Mecha Gigantron?
I don't wanna write the fight scene guys . ☹️
Gigantron- MECHA Gigantron let out a loud roar, gaining all of their attention.
Emi screeched, flying towards her mother.
Wait.
𝘍𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨?
"EMI HAS WINGS?! " (Y/N)'s voice boomed, startling both Hayao and Kenji at the volume.
They watched as Emi got closer to the mecha who was continuesly wailing, while Emi sent out waves at it.
Emi continued to try to help her mother gain control over herself again, sending out more waves.
The mecha- no. Gigantron scratched the robotic eye off of her face, finally gaining control.
"Aw, does that mean I'm not Emi's mom anymore? " (Y/N) complained, pouting slightly as she watched the mother and daughter bond.
".. We can always make another baby-" "Oh look heres the part where the villain sends a hidden force we didn't know about. "
Hayao interrupted Kenji, already knowing what he was about to say.
(Y/N) was about to retort, until she looked up seeing a red beam coming at them.
"HOLY SHI-"
She clenched her fist where Kenji was in just in time when she and Hayao got hit, sending them back far from when they were originally standing.
Hayao coughed, looking at Kenji who stared at his father and lover with a worried expression on his face.
(Y/N) looked up, seeing Emi flying towards her and started rubbing her scaly cheek on (Y/N)'s smooth ones.
"It's okay baby.. I'm okay. " she reassured the kid who chittered in response, until a large shadow loomed over them all.
"Dad, (N/N), You okay? " Kenji questioned worriedly, glancing around (Y/N)'s suit to see if she has any injuries.
"We're fine, Kenji. " Hayao groaned out, until his head snapped towards what was in front of them.
There stood the once KDF jet that turned into a fucking robot.
"You have got to be kidding me. " (Y/N) groaned, already knowing who was in control of the robot.
"We gonna do this together? " Kenji asked them with a cocky smile on his face, making Hayao retort back. "Well we're not gonna do it alone. "
Kenji laughed, standing tall before launching his fist in the air.
SCHUWATCH!
Kenji, in his Ultraman form, stood there with all his glory making (Y/N) let out a whistle.
Hayao snapped his fingers in front of her face, making her snap back to reality and stand in a fighting stance.
They were all ready for a fight, the author is not, I don't wanna write this, thunder violently rumbled behind them as the rain grew stronger.
"AAAAGHHHH!! " Onda let out a battle cry as he started running towards the group of giants.
The group was caught off guard when the robot jumped into the air, luckily they jumped out of the way right on time before it crashed down on them.
They took it as an opportunity to try to hold the robot down, Kenji held on the right arm, Hayao held on the left arm, while (Y/N) tried to rip it's back out.
Kenji and Hayao grunted when they were thrown off, while (Y/N) groaned out lout when she got headbutted making her distracted.
The robot took this advantage to attack Kenji first while the woman was still processing, slamming the back of it's hand on the side of Kenji's ribs.
"AGH! " Kenji grunted, feeling like his rib actually broke making (Y/N) refocus. She saw Hayao struggling to defend himself from the robot's arm, while the robot was distracted, she jumped behind him. Successfully ripping off a large part of it.
"DAMN IT! " Onda yelled, seeing that his missiles were removed by the woman who stuck her tongue out at him mockingly.
"WHY YOU-" He yelled out in anger and started rapidly stomping towards her, only to get pushed to the ground.
Kenji jumped on the robot that was much larger than him, pushing it to the ground and pinning it's legs down. Hayao saw and immediately ran to pin down the robot's left arm while (Y/N) pinned down it's right.
What the trip didn't expect was the robot to suddenly summon a force shield, making them all groan as they got thrown away.
They landed beside Gigantron and Emi, who let out beams towards the robot who used a shield to reflect it.
Onda was pressing buttons on his arm to summon missiles, only to curse out loud remembering they got destroyed.
"That filthy woman..! "
Onda used the Kaiju's beams against them instead. Making the shield face towards their direction successfully deflecting it.
"Look out! " Kenji yelled out, connecting his shield with his father just in time to protect all of them.
Onda squinted his eyes at the explosion in front of him, thinking he won and was about to come over until the smoke dissapeared, revealing the five that remained untouched.
Gigantron roared, making the trio run towards the robot to attack it.
The KDF robot slammed it's fist towards Hayao's form, barely missing. Gigantron flew on his back, distracting him for a second just long enough for Kenji to land a punch on it.
Onda presses a button in his machine, making the upper body of the robot start turning. Successfully getting the group off of him.
Once the robot stopped, Kenji immediately latched onto it's right arm with (Y/N) joining in, trying to take it off. Not realizing that they were about to get hit.
"(Y/N)! KENJI! " The lovers looked at their father in alarm, only to see a boulder coming at them.
(Y/N) was about to summon a shield for both of them, but it was too late.
"ACK-" Both (Y/N) and Kenji choked as they got hit on the ribs, screaming as they got thrown into the air.
Emi, seeing her parents get thrown, let out a wail and started flying towards their direction.
They could have landed anywhere, anywhere else, but of course they landed into a traffic.
Kenji groaned when he crashed onto the cement, onto to let out another groan when (Y/N) soon followed, crashing onto him.
"S-Sorry-" She choked out, making him rub his thumb on her cheeks in reply.
"Woah! " She heard a toddler exclaim, looking at her right seeing a very familiar woman in a car with her daughter and mother.
"Hi Ultraman and pretty giant woman! " (Y/N) heard Ami's daughter greet them, making her wave back and smile tiredly.
"Hello, hello to you too, Ami. " She replied, making Ami look at the giant woman in confusion since she doesn't know the giant.
Ami squinted her eyes at the giant woman's very familiar eyes, only to let out a gasp and slam her palm onto her mouth in shock.
"MISS VERLASSEINE-! " She didn't mind Ami's screaming, more focused on the fact that Emi came out of nowhere and tried to carry a pole.
"Oh my gosh, look! " The giant family heard the kid say, "I know you! "
Emi screeched at the child in reply who continued to say 'hi's and 'hello's at the pink Kaiju.
"Emi come on, leave the human alone. " Kenji's tired voice boomed as he turned around, ready to go back into battle. He grabbed (Y/N) 's hand and launched themselves into the air with Emi following close behind.
".. I can fly-" "Just let me hold you like this. "
It was a silent flight, Kenji just missed having his woman in his arms again.
He'll spend as much time as he can with her right now, he doesn't know if one of them is going to come back out alive after the battle.
The duo let out a battle cry as they dove just right on time to stop the robot's sword from killing Hayao.
They struggled, their knees almost giving up if it wasn't for (Y/N) using her other hand to claw at the robot's arm.
While the robot was still trying to regain it's balance, Gigantron flew behind him and grabbed at it's left arm and held it still.
"Batter up! " Kenji and (Y/N) said in unison, pointing their hand at Emi.
Emi let out a war cry as she swung her new found weapon, a pole, unto the robot's arm, successfully destroying it.
𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘮.. (Y/N) thought, determination graced her face as she looked for any weaknesses that the robot might have.
The robot suddenly raised it's sword and aimed for Kenji's shoulder. Kenji acted right on time and held on to the side of the sword before it actually sliced it off.
(Y/N), although was startled, acted quick and grabbed the sword, punching it out of the robot's arm and freeing Kenji.
Kenji flew up and landed on the robot's head, doing a black flip on it's head making the robot stumble.
Once Kenji landed near (Y/N), he held his shoulder in pain.
"FUCK! " He yelled out and started squeezing his shoulder to relieve some of the pain.
"Kenji... " He looked to the side, seeing his father and his lover staring at him softly.
He looked down, noticing that his timer started to slow down. He nodded his head towards their direction in acknowledgement.
"𝘚𝘏𝘐𝘕𝘌𝘌𝘌𝘌𝘌𝘌𝘌𝘌𝘌!!!! " They heard Onda's voice booming in the air, making their heads snap back towards the robot's direction who summoned a new sword and started approaching the group.
(Y/N) nudged Kenji with her shoulder, signalling him to do the thing.
Kenji looked at her in confusion, but immediately understood when she did it herself.
Kenji crossed his arms, a beam formed between them making the robot halt in it's tracks and summon a shield, trying to defend itself.
Hayao connected his arm with Kenji, Kenji's being vertical, and Hayao's being horizontal.
Gigantron and Emi joined in, their beams connecting with the father and son who looked at (Y/N). Signalling her to end it.
She nodded, placing her palm in front of her and towards the robot's direction, she sent one final powerful blast towards it.
Onda cried out, his shield shattering at the impact of the blast that threw him away. His robot that was now destroyed.
The group panted heavily as they watched the robot's light flickering, until it didn't.
"We did it.. " Hayao tiredly said, leaning on his son's side that was still heavily breathing. Kenji smiled in victory, thinking they won and grabbed the woman's arm, trying to pull her close.
She didn't move from her place, making Kenji confused and look at where she was looking.
"(N/N), it's over.. " he tried reassuring her, seeing her tense up.
"No, something's wrong. " she said, her voice stern. Kenji was about to question her until the robot started sending shockwaves.
Hayao, Kenji, and (Y/N) looked at the robot in worry, knowing what was going to happen.
"Oh god, " Kenji said through pants. " he'll destroy us all. "
(Y/N) looked down at her arm, feeling Kenji's grip on her loosen making her look at him in confusion.
"Kenny-" She looked at him, only to see him already staring back at her. She was about to speak, until he suddenly used his free arm and caressed her cheek, even if he had a mask on, she could see his eyes tearing up and gave her an open mouthed kiss on her cheek, slowly trailing up to her ear.
"I'm sorry. "
He didn't give her a second to react and bolted towards the robot.
"No, Kenji! " "KENJI! "
"𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩? 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵- 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘶𝘴? "
Hayao reached out to (Y/N) who was already trying to reach Kenji.
"𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺. "
Kenji jumped on the robot, summoning a forcefield around him.
"𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘬𝘪𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 (𝘠/𝘕), 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘭𝘭 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥. "
He stared down at Onda who stared up at him with teary eyes.
"𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩, 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 (𝘠/𝘕) 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦. "
Five.
"Kenji! " He looked behind him, seeing his father pounding his fist on the shield trying to get his son to change his mind, then he looked at his beloved.
Four.
Oh how much he wanted to wipe those tears off her eyes and tell her how much he loves her.
Three.
(Y/N) was a few feet away from them, tears running down her cheeks with her mouth agape and dropped to her knees. Unable to do anything as she watched her world sacrificing himself for them.
Two.
Kenji looked at her one last time, giving her a reassuring smile before mouthing something at her that she knew all too well.
One.
"I love you. "
𝐏𝐔𝐓 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐃
𝐈𝐍 𝐌𝐘 𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐃
𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐖𝐄'𝐋𝐋 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐘.