Volume 2 - CH 6

And then, Christmas arrived. How many years has it been since I was this anxious about Christmas? Pretty sure it’s been at least since my early childhood. Ever since the presents on my pillow started to disappear, I didn’t consider it an event that had anything to do with me. It was just a day that other people spent together. However, today was different. I stood in the center of the war that would happen today. I was feeling excited about what would happen, but rather than joy, it was the necessary energy I needed to keep my head in check and not forget what was on the line. I was actually thinking of playing the guitar a bit to calm myself down, but I knew that whatever I could do, it was already too late.

I gave up and opted to take a walk, leaving Manor Hall after me. I figured the city would be on edge, but it was eerily calm. It was comparable to Japan’s New Year’s. Most shops had closed, so the majority of people surely will spend the rest of the day at home. And today, it was relatively cold compared to the other days. The cold wind from the harborside pierced me and sent a shiver down my spine. It must be the calm before the storm.

Since I had made up my mind and found my own solution, I practiced a lot in hindsight of the Christmas War. And since I was already on semester break from university, I got up early, went to [The Ark], met up with Nelina, Gabriel, and JF, and then practiced until late at night. Most of it was strictly done through Gabriel’s instructions. At first, all I could do was follow his orders and ensure I played what he expected me to. Just like an instrument, truly. But that was just the starting point. Finally, we reached an endless repeat of give me a question. Think. Surprise him. Give him a never-seen experience.

During the practice, I understood quickly that JF simply wanted a supporting role, too. If I did something crazy on stage, it would mess up his equipment. And he was the stone standing tall. Nelina also responded to all of Gabriel’s requests, too. She constantly changed her way of singing, too. And each time our practice was over, she went to drink a beer and let out her stress by complaining to me. But I knew…that this was her way of showing her trust.

That’s why I didn’t mind looking after her. The problem was my own music, actually. I was simply desperate to keep up. I’m never good at coming up with something new. On the same scale, doing the same playstyle, Gabriel reminded me over and over. And that hasn’t changed now. I made up my mind to play the guitar. However, I failed to reach the conclusion of what music I should play, and for what reason. Meanwhile, Nelina showed her unlimited talent and responded to all that Gabriel requested.

However, even as the day approached, I was unsure. The music itself I had nailed. I repeated it over and over and pulled it off just fine. However…is this really good enough? I realized that I had walked quite a long time, and my body had cooled down aggressively. I thought of getting some warm coffee, only to see no cafe around me. It’s because I’d usually have my coffee at the Bearpit. But ever since I made up my mind to participate in the concert, I haven’t set foot in there. I haven’t met Lara or Peni. Not even Boudicia, for that matter.

Oddly enough, I wasn’t longing to meet her, either. Even the times we were apart were enjoyable to me. I wondered just what this feeling was and then realized it. We arranged to meet up beforehand. Tomorrow, Boudicia will come. That ship stopped near the river. We may come from different places, walking our separate paths, but we head to the same place. To fight? No, that’s not quite it. I worked hard so that it wouldn’t come that far. Granted, I don’t know if it will work out, but at the very least, I won’t be a bystander any longer. All I can do is have faith in what I have to do and give it all I got. No matter what result this may bring.

Bristol was covered by thick clouds, making me think that maybe it’ll run tomorrow.

*

“Nice to meet you. You must be Gabriel.”

“And you are Captain Lara. Though, after everything I know about you, this really does not feel like our first meeting. And I know plenty of your stubbornness.”

“The feeling is mutual. I’m here to crush that prejudice of yours.”

“Crush? Really, you’re all savages.”

“Why, thank you. We are pirates, after all. That is a compliment for us.”

It was Christmas Day, and two ships had stopped adjacent to the river. Next to [The Ark] stood another that was close enough to crash into it. It was an old boat made of mostly wood. It was a good bit smaller than [The Ark], but together with its three masts, the sheer size towered even over ours. Now, Lara and Gabriel stood in front of those two ships, looking at each other. Or rather, Lara had to look up at him, which felt like I was gazing at the two ships in general.

It’s like all the water had evaporated from the air. We were right next to the river, and yet my throat felt parched like everything would burn up in flames because of the smallest spark. And it wasn’t any imagination, I just felt that nervous.

“The winner will remain in Bristol. The loser will have to leave. Sounds good, right?”

“Yeah. And the ones who will decide that are the citizens. Once Christmas is over, one of us will be gone. Their voices will tell.”

“Playing fair, yeah?”

“I always play fair. Because I am right.”

“Those who call themselves right rarely are, you know?”

“That is not something for you to decide, Captain. The citizens…No, history will decide that.”

Soon enough, we were surrounded by citizens. Using social media and personal blogs, they gathered people here who will decide if graffiti or music will stay in Bristol. Right now, it was Gabriel, Nelina, JF, and me standing on our side. Facing us were Lara, Peni, and the writers of Queen Bear’s Revenge. Their ages varied greatly, too. I realized once again that this was a war.

“That’s right. I…No, we will win.”

I heard a familiar voice. The lion’s sharp gaze lit up in the night, as she revealed herself.

“Boo! So you came! But, why…”

“Thank that fox over there. She pissed me off.”

“Huh? What do you…”

Lara was bewildered, but Nelina crossed her arms and looked away. On the surface, she seemed annoyed.

“Lara, let me be straight with you. This isn’t for your sake, nor is it for Bristol. I’m here…to get what I want for myself.”

“…Thank you, Boo.”

Normally, Lara would immediately leap at Boudicia. However, she composed herself. Instead, Nelina took a step forward.

“This time, I will beat you up. With my music, of course.”

“Fight’s on. I will hunt you down, fox.”

Their eyes, their gazes—their souls clashed.

“JF. Don’t hold back, got it?”

“I’ll write, too. I can’t be sitting on the sidelines forever.”

“Yeah. I’m done acting half-baked.”

Lara, Peni, and JF all confirmed their feelings. It still felt unreal. There was an invisible line between the two ships, signaling the limit for each faction. I stood on one side, staring at Boudicia across from me. She looked at me, too. I glanced at the line below us, and then—stepped over that line with one step.

“Boo-san.” She didn’t respond, so I continued. “Back then, we fought together…But I had never known things would develop like this…”

“Once I’ve decided to fight, I’ll go out with everything I have. That’s all there is. Aren’t you the same?” Boudicia looked at me.

That’s right. I’ll fight with all I have. It’s the same for me.

“Yes…And I’ve got my own methods,” I said and turned around.

During that time, my eyes met with Lala’s. She faintly nodded, in a way that only I could realize.

“Then let us begin…Merry Christmas.”

And like this, our very special Christmas began.

*

[The Ark] was filled with people. Of course, I didn’t know what they felt, what they thought, and what they expected when they came here. They might be Gabriel’s fans. Maybe they’re interested in [New Announcement]. Maybe they just came here to check what all the fuss was about. Maybe they’re aggressively against graffiti and came here to show their opinion. But either way, they chose to use their once-a-year Christmas evening to come here. There’s no mistaking that. And as I stood on the side of the sage, I listened to the audience. I could hear faint voices, slowly turning into a wave that completely filled the hall.

Today, only [New Announcement] will be playing. That’s why we had already finished setting up the sage, and I had my guitar on me. I looked behind me, seeing JF rubbing his hands together. Nelina was jumping on the spot like a rabbit. It’s something like her routine whenever she would step on stage. She said that during her first performance, she was so stiff that she couldn’t even sing, and I remember how embarrassed she looked when she said that. Only Gabriel was the same as always. It seems like the concept of tension didn’t exist in his vocabulary.

He looked at the clock, checked our faces, and then walked toward the stage. It’s time, it seems. I watched him, JF, and Nelina walk onto the stage. I could see my hand was faintly shaking. To stop myself, I tightly formed a fist and stepped on the stage. Normally, this is where the cheers would come in. But, it was eerily calm right now. Everyone was waiting. Everyone knew that today’s stage was different. I raised my guitar, putting it on my shoulder. It felt heavier than usual. I had the pic in my right hand, checking the sensation of the strings in my left hand.

Everyone took their positions, waiting for me to play. The first song of our concert had its first start with the guitar. It’s relatively rare to have a song begin with the guitar as the rest joined in. And the rest, who had its tempo determined, won’t be able to adjust once it’s off-rhythm. In practice, I pulled it off. I managed to perfectly be on time since Gabriel was very strict with that. But now, I didn’t know what the right tempo would be. My racing heart was beating too fast. The spotlights gathered on me, turning the audience pitch black. It felt like I carried my guitar all by myself in this dark world. And then, this darkness asked me:

Did I change? Just like when I couldn’t play at all, my hand was shaking right now. Having come all this way…did I not change at all? Without even being aware of it, I relied on Nelina to show me the way. When we were in Japan, it was simply because she is a genius, and I’m not. That’s why I thought I just had to do as she told me. That I simply had to match her momentum and let myself get pulled along. She realized this and told me. Gabriel said I have a question to ask myself. And…he’s right. The question of “Have I changed?” is fundamentally wrong. I will change…over and over. My environment changes, my relationships progress or regress, and I will have to answer a new question. Nobody goes through the same thing again.

I closed my eyes. What appeared in my mind was always the same—Boudicia’s profile. And that day when she wrote. Even after losing her right hand, her left inherited it all. Even if I’m not perfect…even if I don’t always have the right answer…We will always continue to change.

As the audience looked black like the sea at night, I once again focused on my ears. This space…is brimming with anticipation. Time…is waiting for something to happen. Then, I’ll just play as the world expects me to. I slammed my pic down the chords. The signal went from my guitar to the speaker, made it vibrate, and filled the air. Immediately after, the people in the audience gasped. I could hear their confusion, but I continued to play.

I ignored the tempo we practiced. The lines we decided on. Everything. I just matched my music with the always-accelerating beating of my heart. Right now, the music that was born inside my body, I let my emotions clash with my music. Burning up everything that was inside of me, I was thrown into emptiness. The sound from my guitar continued to vibrate a bit longer, changing into a louder feedback noise. What a selfish performance, I thought to myself. I ruined it all. What’s gonna happen now?

While feeling like this wasn’t even my problem, I looked around the stage. JF gave me a thumbs-up. Nelina winked at me with a smile. And Gabriel—seemed satisfied. I see, so this was good enough. Everything is changing…and our changed music will restart right here, right now. We all breathed in at once. JF, Nelina, Gabriel, and I—all prepared ourselves. And then, I jumped high into the air. When I landed, the music started, swallowing up everything like a tidal wave.

*

Even after the performance ended, the heat and excitement didn’t vanish from [The Ark]. I stepped down to the side of the stage, immediately calling out to Gabriel and Nelina.

“Gabriel-san! Nelina-san!”

“Yoshi, that performance just now…”

“That can wait! Come with me.”

“What?”

“You too, Nelina-san!”

“H-Hey!”

I grabbed both of their hands and headed for the exit. When we showed up in the bar, people cheered in excitement. And although I wanted to be happy about that, there was something more important that would overwrite that soon enough.

“Everyone!” I screamed in a loud voice so that everyone could hear me. “Take a look outside! Something is happening!”

The people were confused but still stepped off the ship. Gabriel and Nelina also gave me dubious looks.

“Just come with me, you two.”

“Yoshi, what is going on?”

“You two? But where is JF…”

“That doesn’t matter right now!”

I dragged them with me to the crowd outside the ship. Floating in the water there was a Ghost Ship. Amidst the navy-blue night we were in, it glowed in a strong orange color. It was a hallucination scene incomparable to before. After seeing our arrival, the pirates clapped. This began to spread as the air around us sounded like it was roaring.

“What is this…?”

Even the calm Gabriel couldn’t help but look around in confusion. And then Nelina raised her voice like she realized something.

“Wait…Yoshi, did you…!”

“Haha! I love to see a plan working out!”

The one to arrive and bring energy to the darkness was none other than JF.

“JF? What are you…”

“Yoshi asked me to help out, y’know. We connected the speakers so that everybody could hear our performance…Even outside, that is!”

“They heard our music.”

Aeon told me that, if I can’t choose one option, then I’m caught in the conflict. So what’s important is to move away from the conflict. That’s why I followed his advice, except in my own way.

“So, this is your answer? Are you admitting defeat just like this?”

“Hell no.”

“You are…”

We looked toward the source of that voice when silhouettes appeared from the ghost ship. One wore a red cap, and the other had green hair.

“We’ll write from now on.”

“What did you say?” Gabriel returned a question.

Normally, he always asked the correct questions, and yet he was dumbfounded for once.

“Really, I never would have expected Yoshi to be this clever.”

“Yoshi, you…!”

Hearing Lara’s words, Gabriel’s face shot toward me.

“That’s right. Yoshi told us to delay our start. To listen to your performance. And…to ensure that you could watch our graffiti being born.”

That day—There were two things on my list. First, I wanted to convince Gabriel to stop this war, and find a way for graffiti and music to co-exist. But, this ended in failure. So, I went with my alternative plan. First, I wanted all graffiti writers to listen to our music. And then, I wanted all the people who love music to observe the graffiti being written. But, just listening to it alone wasn’t enough. It had to be live. It had to be portrayed in front of the people. I didn’t know how things would play out for a moment…but hearing that applause, it didn’t seem too bad.

“Well, just waiting would have been boring, so we decorated the place a bit. What do you think? Feels Christmas-y, right”

“I swear, Lara gave me such a fight. You even kept it a secret from me,” Boudicia said as she pouted.

Seeing that defenseless smile, I burst out laughing.

“I’m sorry. But…I didn’t want to ruin your determination, Boo-san.”

“That’s part of why I’m so pissed!”

Lara smiled as she listened to our exchange, grabbed her megaphone, and stood at the helm of the ship.

“Merry Christmas, everyone.”

The crowd stopped moving. The people who just stepped out of [The Ark], the graffiti writers on the ship, even all the citizens…they just listened in silence.

“Now of all days, this ship here is our Queen Bear’s Revenge. Let us show our respect to these musicians and grant them the honor of joining us. Burn this sight into your eyes…Because this is how we do things.”

This voice reached the ears—and ultimately the hearts of everyone. Their emotions grew and resonated with each other. This time was filled with compassion. And then, Lara declared.

“Now, weigh the anchor! Ready and aim! Soon, everyone will know! We are…”

Lara glanced at Gabriel, and she knew. The “we” involved all of “us.” Not leaving a single person behind.

“We are Bristol! Yohoho!”

Yohohoho! All the writers chimed in and began writing. The outside of the ship, the interior, and all places were filled with spray paint. Red, blue, green, purple, yellow, pink, orange, mustard, tangerine orange, argo blue, vivid red, Canarias yellow, metropolis gray, and then beryl green…They turned into trails of spray, filling the wall slowly but steadily. The world was filled with colors. Then, it slowly turned into shape. The magic sealed away inside the spray cans was set free, as I took Gabriel and Nelina with me onto the ship. From the deck, the people who listened to our music had glasses from [The Ark] in their hands as they watched the ship be covered with art and letters.

Seeing all of this peaceful, pleasant, and warming spectacle unfold while it was illuminated by the lights, I was reminded of the festivals home in Japan. Of course, they don’t have yukata or fireworks here…But they have graffiti.

In all the chaos, I spotted Boudicia. She looked up at me and smiled without uttering a word. I smiled back because we didn’t need any more words. She wrote her graffiti right behind the steering wheel, at the center of the ship. Her golden hair shook at every move, like a wave that moved down her back, shoulders, arms, and up to her fingertips, as it created an image on the wall.

“Gabriel-san, Nelina-san…This is your first time watching graffiti being written, right?”

Gabriel and Nelina just stared at Boudicia in a daze.

“I see…This is how they draw it…How they draw graffiti,” Gabriel muttered as he watched Boudicia write her graffiti with all her might. “I’ve always loved beautiful music. I thought it was breathtaking to see people become instruments themselves for that reason…I’ve seen so many walls that were hurt. But…I guess I never looked at the person writing the graffiti. Maybe I asked the wrong question…this whole time,” he said and closed his eyes. “We are Bristol, huh…” He repeated Lara’s previous words.

The mast right ahead of us was covered in a gentle light.

“Nelina doesn’t get it,” Nelina muttered as her gaze was glued to Boudicia’s back. “Nelina just got here a few days ago. Never tried graffiti. Never cared about this town. Never knew a thing…And that’s so frustrating, but…” In her eyes, she still only had Boudicia. “For the first time in my life, I thought that someone is cuter than me,” Nelina pouted.

“Nelina-san…”

“Gaaah, no! Not true! She’s still below Nelina, no doubt!”

“Haha, we can leave it at that.”

I know right now that there could be no greater praise from Nelina.

“…Nelina still doesn’t get why you stopped playing the guitar.” She said as she looked at Boudicia, and smiled. “But at the very least…She sorta gets why you started playing again.”

When Boudicia finished writing her graffiti, she turned around and waved at us.

*

The writers filled the ship to the brink with graffiti. I’ve seen walls buried with graffiti countless times so far…But this was something else. It reached from the stem to the stern, left to right without leaving even the smallest gap, as you could see paintings and letters at every corner. The tone of each work was a tiny bit different, making it feel like gaps and borders had been crossed and become hazy. Rather than the ship being full of graffiti, it’s like the whole ship became a single masterpiece, as it was revived from the brink of death to receive new energy.

I don’t know anymore who came to listen to the music, and who came to watch the graffiti. They all had drinks from the bar in [The Ark] in their hands, drawing their own memories of this event. And at the same time, pleasant music played from the speakers. And if I had to guess, it was probably JF’s selection to match this holy Christmas night. While I stood on the deck of the ship, I looked down at all the graffiti. Nobody stood on the boat any longer. It was just me and the various works. Boudicia’s graffiti was written on the back of the ship, next to the steering wheel, and best visible of all. Shown there were a pigeon and a bear.

The pigeon came soaring down from the sky, and the bear stood on the ground with its legs. Placed on a diagonal line, they were in the center of the graffiti, their heads pushed together as if they were kissing. The lines drawn were simple, comical, and had a pop feel to them. It felt like I was washing a still frame of an animation or a cartoon. Boudicia’s previous graffiti was drawn with precision, embodying pressure and vigor, as it felt like I stared a lion in the eyes. With her right hand as it was right now, she probably won’t be able to spray as precisely as that ever again.

And even so, this graffiti has begun to move again. The pigeon flew into the sky, and the bear walked on the ground. When the two approach each other, in that split second they converse, you can feel the distant past and the approaching future overlap. And then, there was a line of text written above the two—This night.

On this Christmas night, we will change. I was reminded of Banksy’s “Mild Mild West” that Lara showed me before. The graffiti of the teddy bear throwing a Molotov cocktail at the police officers. Will this graffiti in front of me be preserved in a similar way? And will it remind people of the past, just like “Mild Mild West” is doing now, twenty years later?

Will someone look at this graffiti and be reminded of today? What will the city be like then? Where will I be? And—Right as my thoughts reached one conclusion, a hand was placed on my shoulder. Turning around, there stood Boudicia.

“Not bad, I gotta say.” She grinned at me, leaning against the railing of the deck.

Because it was made of wood, it let out a worryingly aged sound.

“I didn’t expect you to go this far, Yoshi.”

“Tell me about it. I’m still in shock at my own actions.”

“The heck!” She laughed.

“And I could say the same. I never would have imagined that you would write graffiti like this, Boudicia-san.”

“Mm…Well, yeah.”

“Is it…because your right arm won’t move anymore?”

Boudicia didn’t answer and instead took out her vape, putting it in her mouth. The blue LED light lit up, with white smoke being dispersed into the darkness. Boudicia then gazed up at the sky as if she tried to follow the smoke.

“…That first guitar part of your concert…It wasn’t supposed to be that way, right?”

That’s absolutely right. And I was flabbergasted to hear her say that. At the same time, I was embarrassed that she found out. Even so, she continued.

“Hearing that, I was shocked. Considering how wild all of it was.” She laughed as more white smoke came out of her mouth. “At first, I thought it wasn’t like you at all. But…even graffiti never is the same. And we write on a different wall every time.”

The orange light lit up her profile, creating a gentle feeling.

“…No matter how much I practice, I won’t be able to draw the same way as before. I can tell as much myself. But, I’ve accepted that. My style, and what I want to write…I don’t mind if that changes. Or rather, it won’t be the same forever, anyway.” She said and her stern expression slowly crumbled. “Gaaah, why can’t I just say what I want to say! Anyway! Listening to you play the guitar like that made me feel this way!” She said and rammed her left hand into my shoulder.

Despite the momentum, it was a gentle push.

“I can’t really express it either, but…” So that she wouldn’t realize my voice was shaking, I carefully voiced my thoughts. “When I was playing the guitar before, I was thinking of you, Boo-san.”

At first, she looked at me in confusion. Only after a brief silence, she began laughing. She sounded delighted from the bottom of her heart, as it reverberated and disappeared into the night.

“So things ended up like that because of how wild I am?! Makes no sense!”

After laughing for a while, she wiped her tears away and stuffed her hands into her pocket. She then looked up at me.

“But…Am I really that wild?”

“Huh?”

“Did you never…y’know, think of me as cute before?”

Boudicia’s gaze pierced through my heart. The impact I felt could be compared to getting shot right through the chest, as even my breathing stopped. All the myriad expressions I’ve seen from her so far raced through my mind. Answering that question would be simple. But…if I were to say what I genuinely feel, then something definitive might change within our relationship.

“Hey there, Yoshi.”

Although I didn’t want to admit it, I was a bit thankful when Gabriel’s voice interrupted the awkward silence between us.

“Gabriel-san.”

“Did I possibly interrupt you?”

When Gabriel glanced at Boudicia, he almost seemed like he was pulling a joke.

“N-No way! It’s not like that!”

“So you were Boudicia, right?”

Seeing them face each other, I was beginning to feel anxious.

“I’d like to thank you. You created something wonderful tonight. Cheers.” Gabriel looked at the graffiti Boudicia created and tilted his glass.

I saw that and sighed in relief.

“Truly, this graffiti does not hurt anybody. Rather, it brings people together. Yoshi, maybe you were the one who was right the entire time.”

“Gabriel-san, you really stay true to your word. That you don’t lie to yourself and live a correct life…And that’s all I tried with this.”

“Mhm…A good question. As well as a good answer.” Gabriel said as she watched the beer inside his glass shake. “You played good music tonight, Yoshi.”

“Huh?”

“I didn’t think you had something like that in you. I don’t think our performance would have ended up in such a way if you played according to our practice.”

“Ah, I was just so lost in thought that I…”

Thinking back on it now, I could feel a cold shiver run down my spine. I’m shocked I could even do something like that. It was reckless, to say the least. But even so, Gabriel praised me for it. My decision…No, my music. To me, that was something very meaningful. So much so that my chest started to burn hot.

“But, Yoshi…I don’t believe you hold that much talent for music.”

He immediately sliced through my joy. And yet, I wasn’t as depressed as I thought I’d be.

“Talent is something deeply rooted within your body. Through rigorous training, you can definitely obtain the necessary skill. However, that’s just on a technical level. Without the solid ground for it, no flower can bloom…You get what I mean, right?”

I nodded. I knew that better than anybody else. That I’m different from Nelina, or Boudicia.

“But…I believe that you may have a different talent.”

A different talent…? What does he…? But before I could ask, he took a sip from his beer and sighed.

“I can tell. That your music has been influenced by graffiti. That is why I have to accept it.” And then he sighed, as he just spoke to himself. “…Will Grandma be able to accept this?”

Boudicia didn’t miss that.

“Grandma?”

“We were pretty close. She passed away last year, right around Christmas.”

“Hm, sounds nice.”

“Oh, what do you mean?”

“I was always on bad terms with my grandma.”

“Really? Well, at least your graffiti can continue.”

These words made me feel like something was off. However, Boudicia asked a question before I could dig deeper.

“What was your grandma like?”

Surely, that question must have made countless memories resurface inside Gabriel’s head. He gently smiled, as he placed one hand on the railing.

“Both my parents were musicians. She’d let me listen to music, teach me how to play the piano…Very strictly, too.” He gently caressed the wooden railing. “That’s why I’d often go to my grandma’s place to play. She owned a music store over at Park Street. It wasn’t a big store, but there were so many instruments, it smelled like wood in there. She was always proud, saying that she was raising the next generation of Bristol’s music.”

“Sounds like a great grandma, all right.” Boudicia laughed. “I would have loved to have a grandma like her.”

“Also, she was the exact opposite of my parents, absolutely in love with rock. I was always listening to The Who. And each time, she said that now it was ‘your generation’ next.”

Boudicia stared at Gabriel like she was thinking about something.

“And because she said so, I genuinely believed in it. In my life, which was regulated to the smallest step…I really felt like my life was my own for once.”

I’ve walked down Park Street a few times, myself. But, I had no idea there was a music store.

“But…One day, someone had written graffiti on her store.”

Graffiti—The moment that word popped up, I swallowed my breath.

“It was a small thing at first. She let it go, saying that this was normal if you lived in Bristol. But, it continued to escalate. It was like her store turned into a blank canvas. More and more graffiti followed as the old one wasn’t even erased, just overwritten. You couldn’t even see inside the store any longer. Eventually, everybody forgot what that store even sold…until it went out of business.”

The golden liquid inside his glass swayed left and right.

“Shortly after, she got sick and passed away. That happened last Christmas.” Gabriel placed the glass on the railing.

Almost like he was honoring the dead. In this city, graffiti and music go hand in hand as they created this special culture. Yet, Gabriel was so hungry to erase all graffiti that he started a war. Why would he go to such lengths? His conversation just now was plenty of an explanation. He must think that graffiti…killed his grandmother.

“The music store…at Park Street…” Boudicia put her hand to her mouth and started thinking.

At the same time, Gabriel’s movement stopped, as he looked at the graffiti. They raised their voices at the exact same moment.

“Gabriel…I remembered…”

“This sign…It looks familiar…Don’t tell me…”

“I wrote graffiti on your grandma’s store.”

“So you are…”

“Yeah, it’s me.”

“You are the Ghost of Bristol?!”

I couldn’t believe it. Or rather, I didn’t want to. The threads of fate have intertwined in such a place, such a location. When met with this revelation, Gabriel began shaking slightly.

“…Gabriel-san, are you okay?”

“Oh, don’t you worry about me. I just wanted to indulge in a toast, nothing more.”

With a quivering hand, he reached inside the pocket of his coat. What appeared from that was a small bottle with liquor inside.

“A toast? Gabriel-san, what are you…”

“Do you smoke, Yoshi?”

“No, I don’t…?”

He took out a small rectangular lighter.

“What a coincidence. Neither do I.”

He opened the lid with one hand, turning on the fire as a faint flame appeared. I looked at his hands again. In one hand, he had a lighter. In the other, he held a bottle with transparent liquid inside. The bottle had a bit of fabric hanging out at the bottleneck. Something about this felt familiar. It was like the object in the teddy bear’s hand—A Molotov cocktail.

“It’s what you graffiti writers love to use. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. I thought it sounded applicable here.”

“Gabriel-san?! Was this your plan from the very beginning?!”

“Yoshi, I didn’t think I would have to do this because of your efforts. But with the Ghost here, that changes things.”

“But…you said that people could finally connect! And your grandmother surely wouldn’t…”

“I won’t forgive them!”

That voice coming from Gabriel was unlike anything I’d ever heard from him.

“It’s wrong! And you did it! You…killed grandma! I can’t accept that as right! That is… is the only answer! And that won’t ever change! Because it is the truth!” Gabriel muttered as he slowly moved the lighter toward the fabric inside the bottle.

As the flame passed over to the fabric, it lit up brightly, illuminating Gabriel’s face.

“…Back then, someone wrote graffiti on that store. I tried to overwrite that when your grandma saw me.” Boudicia explained with a quivering voice. “I thought of running away, but then your grandma stopped me. Said ‘Don’t run. At least finish it to the very end.’ And each time someone wrote some lame-ass graffiti on her window, I came to overwrite it. Whenever she saw that, she praised me, saying ‘Not bad.’ So far, nobody would ever accept me for who I am or what I do. And yet, she spoke so kindly of it.” She lowered her head and gazed at her right hand.

Her right hand, which was now not able to function properly any longer.

“That grandma told me…that she doesn’t understand much about graffiti, but she knows that it’s part of Bristol’s culture. And she said I should look after this palace…Because it’s ‘your generation’ now.”

Gabriel’s eyes shot wide open when he heard that.

“It felt like she was my own grandma. But…the store eventually closed, and she disappeared…And I didn’t know where she went.”

“That’s…Grandma, she…Didn’t say anything…to me…”

“I didn’t know a damn thing. Because of me, her store was forced to close. I was the one…who killed her…!” Boudicia couldn’t stand anymore as she sank to the ground on one knee.

Meanwhile, the flame of the bottle continued to sway in Gabriel’s eyes.

“Please, stop this! If you throw it into the water, then…!”

“…Even so, Grandma won’t come back to life. The past can’t be changed. All that was hurt…won’t come back again. Never…!”

I couldn’t hope to understand Gabriel’s pain. But surely, Gabriel should know. That you can’t get this time back, and that the past can’t be changed. Even if you burn everything to the ground.

“Gabriel-san!”

I jumped at him in order to grab the bottle. Meanwhile, Gabriel hesitated, turning around to throw the bottle into the water…However, the burning cloth touched his hand, and my hand slipped past the bottle as it fell out of his hand. The bottle then fell onto the deck, followed by what sounded like a beast’s roar. Light flickered up to illuminate the dark knight. My eyes were blinded, as I covered my head in the heat of the moment. My arms felt scorching hot. Looking around, the fires spread as if they tried to swallow the world itself. Even Gabriel’s shadow was now shaking behind the fire.

I closed my ears, feeling terror. However, I quickly realized that I was a lot calmer than I expected to be. When I opened my eyes, I could see fires burning everywhere. But…it was just fire. Standing on a stage in front of people to play music was much more terrifying. I might burn up at the roaring flames today…but that will only happen after I’ve done everything I can. I ran toward the railing and leaned over, spotting Lara, and screamed.

“Lara-san!”

“What’s wrong, Yoshi?”

“There’s a fire! A fire is spreading!”

Lara was bewildered but quickly heard the sparks behind her. The fire had run up the large mast of the ship. And this flame reached Lara’s eyes, too.

“…Everyone, listening! We have to get away as quickly as possible! Don’t panic! I’ll give you the orders! Just do as I say, and you’ll be fine! JF, look for a fire extinguisher!”

I can only leave it to Lara now. Because I had bigger problems on my hands.

“Boo-san!”

“…I…”

Her eyes devoid of emotion reflected the flames ahead of her. The flames continue to swallow everything around it. It’s like…the hatred was spreading. At this rate, we’ll all burn up. I went down on one knee, placing my hand on Boudicia’s shoulder, as I called out to her.

“Boo-san, the past won’t change. Hurting others, being hurt in return, the past won’t come back. However…”

I heard a roaring noise nearby, telling me that the fire was spreading. I stood in front of Boudicia, gently embracing her as I whispered into her ear.

“…And because we can’t get this time back, we change. We have no other choice but to change. You changed, too. And I know that more than anybody else.”

Right now, I still don’t have the answer. But, I know the question I have to ask myself…To look for a method that hurts nobody else. One day, surely…

“If we can’t turn back, then let’s move forward. Let’s live on. Carry our sins, and then…change again once tomorrow comes!”

I felt something warm on my back. But, it wasn’t the fire. The warmth belonged to Boudicia’s arms. She tightly embraced me for a moment, and then quickly let go again. That was all I needed to know.

“…Got it,” she spoke calmly, but with determination. “But, I don’t wanna be alone.”

“Boo-san…”

“You’ll come with me. Right, Yoshi?”

I moved away and stood up.

“Yes, of course.” Boudicia grabbed the hand I offered her. “Let’s go, we have to save Gabriel-san.”

“Yeah…!”

As we held hands, we stormed inside the fire.

“Raaaaaah!”

Through the wall of fire, we reached Gabriel’s location.

“Stand up, Gabriel!”

He held his knees like a child sitting in the corner of the room.

“It’s okay…I’ll go meet Grandma now…”

“Stop acting like an idiot!” Boudicia roared as she grabbed his collar.

However, he just averted his face, devoid of strength.

“I knew…That this won’t solve anything…But even so…I can’t get rid of this anger and fury…I can’t change…That’s why…I just want to burn up and be free.”

“Careful!”

I heard the sound of something breaking, as a burning mast came crashing down. I quickly got between the two.

“Gah…Hot…!”

Despite wearing a thick coat, the heat still continued to swallow us. The red light around us illuminated the black smoke as it disappeared into the night sky.

“…I know she won’t return no matter how much I apologize. But even so, I’m sorry. It’s my fault. I was the one who killed your grandma!”

“…Ghost…you are…”

“You can do as you want to me later. But, we’ll do that after we get out of here! After we get out of this alive!” She screamed as she turned Gabriel’s head to face her. “I’ll save you. I’ll get out of here alive. I know it won’t account for much, but if you die…then your grandma in heaven will cry!”

Gabriel looked at Boudicia and then sighed.

“The Ghost…is talking about heaven, huh?” His voice was still shaking, but he had calmed down quite a bit.

“No. I’m talking about your grandma.” She looked at Gabriel. “You are right. When I wrote on your grandma’s store, I didn’t consider her feelings in the slightest. I just wanted to ruin everything. I was wrong…and I’m probably still wrong even now.”

“Of course. What you’re doing is wrong.”

“I know that very well. I don’t think I’m in the right, either. But…it was your grandma who told me not to quit or run away.”

I could see Gabriel’s eyes opening wide. Boudicia continued.

“The store is gone. Your grandmother is dead. That makes me sad, too. But, I’ve watched this whole time…how the city changes. Every graffiti eventually disappears. And so will we. We’ll die eventually. So quickly, even.”

Her voice was calm, but it packed definitive passion.

“Sure, I might be wrong. But, even if I end up hurting others…It’s all I can do. It’s what it means to be alive.”

Her words shone brightly despite the fire all around us. Strong enough to not lose against it.

“I won’t run away. I’ll fight until the very end. No matter what happens, I’ll accept it. Until the day I die, I keep moving. So, Gabriel…” She rammed her head into Gabriel’s forehead. “You don’t run, either. Fight until the very end.”

Like a glass had toppled over, tears came streaming down from Gabriel’s eyes. He closed them for a moment and then smiled as he muttered.

“Not bad.”

Gabriel removed Boudicia’s hands and slowly stood up. However, he immediately sunk down again. His consciousness was slowly fading. We have to hurry. Boudicia tried to support Gabriel by offering him a shoulder, as I looked around. The fire was spreading. We won’t be able to make it out anymore. I tried to keep it down with my coat, but the fire swallowed it whole right after.

I could hear distant screams and roars. Did the citizens manage to make it to safety? I just hope Lara and the others are okay. I still can’t hear any sirens in the distance, meaning the firefighters won’t make it in time. There was no option left to get out of this fiery hell alive. The wooden boat had begun to lose its shape as everything was burned to cinders. In a few more moments, we’ll be swallowed by the flames. And…we were powerless against this.

“Hey, Yoshi.”

Amidst this scorching heat, Boudicia’s skin shone in a crimson red. Even though we were about to meet our end, I couldn’t help but think…how beautiful she was.

“We didn’t make it in time for Christmas, but…”

“Boo-san!”

She began coughing aggressively. I tried to help her carry Gabriel’s body, but he felt heavy and lumpy.

“If…if we make it out of this alive…There’s something I wanna do with you.”

“Stop talking! You’ll breathe in the smoke!”

“I can only say it now!”

More of the ship collapsed amidst the flames. And yet, her eyes shone brightly.

“I want us to…!”

Her lips, quivering in fear and exhaustion, moved, but before she could finish her words—We heard a noise resembling spray paint being sprayed on a wall, as our view turned white.

“Okay, that’s enough!”

Despite the situation we were in, that voice cut through all despair. And the silhouette who appeared beyond the white smoke belonged to—

“Nelina-san!”

A fairy holding a fire extinguisher.

“Seriously…You’re completely helpless without Nelina, not to mention flirting like this when she’s not around! She knew something was off…But, her timing never fails, right?” She removed the cloth around her mouth and grinned arrogantly.

“Nelina-san…Why are you here?! It’s dangerous!”

“Huuuh? Dangerous? You’re asking that now? Sometimes, you can be such a dummy, Yoshi,” she sighed at me in disbelief. “Nelina came here to save you!”

“Nelina-san…”

“If that poor kitty burned up here…Then you’ll probably blame yourself forever, and stop playing the guitar for good. And then you’ll never belong to Nelina!”

Despite the situation, Nelina was Nelina. She reaches for everything she wants, no matter the situation. Even if it’s inside a sea of flames.

“Over here!”

Nelina pressed the handle of the fire extinguisher again, and the flames around us disappeared. Even if she couldn’t clear it all, she made a path for us.

“To think the fox would come to save us…Let’s go, Yoshi!”

“Boo-san.”

“What now?! Let’s get out of here before…”

“Let’s do it.”

“Huh?”

“What you just said.”

“But, I didn’t even finish what…”

“No matter what it is…if it’s with you, I’d love to do it, Boo-san.”

That’s right. We only have right now, always limited by choices. Once we let it slip past us, the chance might never come again. Whether we are on a burning boat… in front of a brick wall…maybe even up on the stage of a live concert…whatever place it would be—We always only have one moment.