Hisao and Akira(?!): Walla Walla Bing Bang 10/31 Finale!

[Hoitash]

“Nightmares end. They shouldn’t end who you are.” –Bob, The Walking Dead TV Series

Previous Chapter

Epilogue: The Day After


First making sure the kitchen was back to relative normalcy, we got ourselves cleaned up, and tossed out our gory, ragged clothes. Hisao then left to check Refia and make a few phone calls while I drifted off to bed, though not before visiting the twins. They slept comfortably, blissfully unaware of the horrors that we'd prevented—as it should be. Although I was curious about who Hisao had called, I didn't bother asking, and, by the next morning, the remains of the truck, the lightning rod, and the Tesla coil were gone. So was the poker.

Mom believed my flimsy excuse about sending the knives for sharpening, and to this day has no idea they were completely replaced. It made a decent Christmas present, at least. Other than Refia’s buzzing, no one had heard or seen anything strange the previous night, except me and Hisao. Throughout the day I got the distinct impression Hisao was avoiding me, no doubt realizing that I wanted to ask him a few uncomfortable questions. For a while, I let him have the space, and just focused on trying to act normal.

That lasted until the early afternoon when I managed to corner him while he was outside watching the twins, Satomi, Akio, Hanaye, and Thomas have a snowball fight. Nursing a mug of coffee with a thermos at his feet, he sat with a bemused smile plastered on his face, watching the kids playing just a few hundred yards from where we'd faced down that first ambush. It was a little surreal, but no stranger than the ambush itself. Walking over quietly, I sat down beside him on the porch steps and waited.

Turning out to watch the snowballs fly, I remained quiet, letting him collect his thoughts. My twins were chasing down Akio as I waited, battering him with a few well-placed snowballs, but that only lasted until Satomi popped up from behind a snowman to defend her brother. Yelling, she started pelting them with snowballs, and Akio joined in, picking them from the small arsenal they had built up behind that snowman.

It seemed as though they had inherited their father's tactical sense.

Even though it was clear the twins had run themselves right into a pincer attack, they just giggled and retreated to the safe zone, which was wherever Thomas was standing. While this was going on, Hanaye spent most of her time with Thomas, describing the spectacle for him. She did have a few patches of snow on her blue coat, of course, showing where she'd taken some hits—strays or otherwise—but the two of them were content with watching, or listening, as it were.

For an instant, I imagined a grim possibility where those flecks of snow were rotten gore, and their childish giggling turned to zombified groaning, but it quickly passed. Blinking to clear away the imaginings, I shook my head and sighed. As far as I knew, none of them had any idea how close they'd come to becoming the victims of a crazed voodoo-witch, and I intended to ensure they never learned about it, either.

It took a moment before I realized Hisao had turned toward me and raised an eyebrow.

Once I noticed his gaze, he remarked, “This is alcohol-free, if you’re wondering.”

“Not what I was thinking, actually,” I replied, clearing my throat. As he nodded and turned to watch the kids some more, I cautiously added, “I wanna talk about last night.”

“Figured,” Hisao sighed, nodding slowly. “Anything specific?”

Uncertain how to respond, I opened my mouth, paused, and closed it again. All the questions I had seemed so beyond my understanding of the world, and asking them seemed like opening a can of worms I really, really wanted kept closed. The werewolf I could ignore somewhat; it had been an isolated incident, and was solved with an adequate application of bullets. The spectacle I observed last night, though, was far beyond anything I'd ever imagined could be possible in the real world.

It was a whole different kind of crazy.

There were really only two questions I felt comfortable actually asking, and so, with a sigh and a raised eyebrow of my own, I asked the first one.

“How the hell did you block her lightning?”

Hisao smirked and tapped his chest. “Traditionally, so called magic relies a lot on blood–specially dark or ‘black’ magic, as it's called,” he explained, taking a sip from his mug before continuing, “My blood is pumped through a defective heart, as you know. Bad heart, bad blood–kinda like using rancid oil to make croquettes.”

“Okay...” I said, nodding, but still not quite understanding.

Hisao chuckled and swirled the contents of his mug. “I’m honestly not sure on the specifics myself,” he admitted, “And figuring it out'll keep me busy for a while… maybe I’ll trade my findings to the Occult Club at school to keep them in line.”

“What goes on at that school of yours?” I asked.

“This and that,” Hisao remarked, “Any other questions?”

“Just one,” I stated. Hisao raised an eyebrow, so I clarified, “Just one I’m comfortable with.”

“And that would be?” he prompted.

Taking a moment to collect myself, I calmly asked, “How do you deal with it?”

Hisao sighed and looked out toward the kids, and I followed his gaze, turning to watch them across the snow, which glittered and glistened in the afternoon light. Chise and Carry had turned the tables and were pelting the crap out of Akio by that point, who was trying as hard as he could to plaster Satomi in the face —apparently there was dissension in the ranks. Satomi was too good at dodging and too good a shot, but she ended up getting an earful of snow from Thomas, for whom Hanaye was playing spotter.

“Well,” Hisao said, continuing to swirl his mug around, “a discreet therapist helps. At first, I claimed the moral high ground–I was right, they were wrong... simple ethics, right?”

As a lawyer, I'd heard my share of justifications, and moral ones were usually the easiest for even the most well-grounded person to accept. Nodding, though not necessarily approvingly, I prompted, “And...?”

“And, well... that doesn’t work in a world of gray,” he continued, shaking his head slightly, “...because they think the same damn thing, of course. So, instead I told myself they had fired first. I was justified in my actions because I was defending myself. That sort of works, but it wasn’t enough to justify why I kept going back—kept seeking wrongs to right. My family, though... that kinda cinched it.”

His mention of family turned my eyes back out to the snowball fight, which had apparently been temporarily abandoned in favor of making snow angels. The sight made us both sit and stare for a while, and I felt a little lighter just thinking that we had helped keep their innocence intact for a bit longer. Eventually, movement from my side turned me to watch as Hisao drained the contents of the mug, then set it down beside the thermos.

“So, to answer your question,” he said, “I do it for all three: faith that I’m doing what’s right, and because they attacked first, and that, in the end, everything I do is for my family. It took a while, but it sits well with me these days...”

As he trailed off, I witnessed Hanaye taking a snowball to the face that sent her reeling.

“HEY!” I shouted at the twins, “No headshots you two! They’re not used to this weather!”

“Sorry!” the twins called back.

Hanaye was already giggling as she protested, “I'm fine, Auntie Akira!”

Rolling my eyes and trying not to smile—I had to maintain my reproving motherly exterior—I turned back to Hisao, who had taken the moment to pause and reflect before asking, “How about you?”

Not sure how to respond, I blinked a few times and bit my lip contemplatively.

On one hand, what we went through would haunt my dreams, but so would the nightmares of an undead horde descending on our families, tearing them to shreds with decaying hands, or worse; our little snow angels could have become perverted ghouls, following the beck and call of a malevolent master. We might not have been the best people for the job, but we were there, we had acted, and we had saved the day. Not only that, but we had also freed a horde of undead from the clutches of a madwoman, and sent her to hell where she belonged.

Thinking about that, I realized I had found my answer.

“…I’m fine with that,” I replied, “but… what if we'd failed?”

“That is the real question, isn’t it?” Hisao sighed, reaching for the thermos and his mug.

Fully expecting a rhetorical reply at best, I asked, “You got an answer, there, Teach?”

“Not yet,” he said, chuckling as he shrugged, “...But, when I do, I’ll let you know. Then we’ll both sleep better, I imagine.”

“I hope so. That shit’s gonna be hard to forget,” I remarked, trying not to think about the image of a crazed ghoul landing on top of me, or stabbing its putrefied skull until it stopped moving. “‘Course, I imagine you wanna make a book about it again...”

“Well, it’s a bit too early to start another zombie craze,” Hisao replied, “That said, you could stick the Setou or Nakai name on just about any book, and it'd sell….”

Hisao trailed off, no doubt continuing to ramble to himself as he refilled his mug.

In the absence of discussion, our attention turned out to the kids' playing, though not for long. Hearing the back door open, I turned to find Hanako, Refia in her arms, stepping outside. As she closed the door and started wandering across the porch, Hanako's dark violet eyes squinted against the bright snow, her gaze fixed on the ongoing snowball fight. Fidgeting in her mother's arms, Refia beamed a bright smile, her brown eyes darting between me and Hisao.

“Hi, Daddy!” Refia chirped, “Hi, Auntie Akira!”

It was good seeing her so cheerful.

Returning a broad grin, I waved to the girl and greeted, “Hey, Kiddo!”

“How you feeling?” Hisao asked.

“Great!” Refia replied.

Hanako turned her attention away from the flying snowballs and raised an eyebrow. “Why do you ask?” she inquired, turning down to her daughter, “Refia?”

“She was a little off last night, is all,” Hisao replied, “Just the weather, I think...”

Grinning widely, Refia nodded and declared, “I’m better now! No more buzzing!”

For a moment, Hanako's brow furrowed suspiciously, but Hisao's excuse thankfully didn't have any logical holes; jet lag and bad weather could easily mess with someone's head like that. Smiling up at his wife, Hisao patted the spot on his other side of the step and offered a hand to help her down. Hanako nodded, took his hand for support, and gingerly set herself down. Setting Refia carefully in her lap, she faced her out toward the spectacle of the snowball fight.

The couple's hands stayed together.

“Snow is pretty,” the energetic little girl declared.

Hisao grinned and gently patted her head. “Yeah, it is.”

Hanako nodded, smiling as she remarked, “I’m not sure I’d want this type of weather all the time, but it is nice to visit.”

“Hey, we got more than just snow,” I stated.

“Right,” Hisao said, “You also have fog, and rain, and more fog...”

“Very funny,” I drolled, “We also have great beer.”

As Hisao nodded, the look I got from Hanako told me not to mention that again—at least not with Refia around.

It was weird how easily I was able to put aside the previous night. While I was tired, and knew I'd be haunted by things no human should have to see, at the same time, I was bantering with my family and watching our children play in the snow. Maybe it was because Hisao and I had come so close to losing it all, and had to endure such terrible things to keep it, but, for the safety of our families, I'd say it was worth the price; one never knows what they have until they come a hair's breadth from losing it all.

Although I certainly didn't want to make a habit of monster slaying.

“Are you two alright?” Hanako asked, “You seem a little... preoccupied.”

Shrugging, I glanced over at Hisao, who looked similarly lost in thought.

“Just looking forward to the vacation,” Hisao stated, “Right, Akira?”

“Yeah,” I replied with a nod, “...hopefully it'll be a nice, relaxing one.”

+++

Hey, the Double Feature happened! Praise be to Helbereth!

THE END

Happy Halloween, everyone!

I would like to once again thank Helbereth for his work as my editor, and for taking time from his busy schedule of MMO’s, insomnia, and headdesking his way through writer’s block to edit for me. Extra mad props for getting these two chapters ready for today, man.

I’m gonna take a fan fiction writing break to work on some other stuff, so until then… wait, I know I have one somewhere… why is there one in my briefcase?

/smokebomb.

[Helbereth]

Hoitash did all the work. All I did was give him a little push.

In all honesty, I prefer this one over the other two Halloween capers since it has something to lose; you realize throughout that there's a house full of their family who're doomed if they fail. From the beginning we are forced to realize there are seven kids at the house, and if that isn't enough to make you worry, Refia shows up mid-story to remind everyone they're still there.

My only problem is that, at times, it almost seems too easy how Hisao deals with the witch. Granted, both he and Akira are nearly killed more than once, the ghouls are terrifying, the zombies are zombies, and the witch is wielding ridiculous power, but there's a level of nonchalance, mostly from Hisao, that almost seems unwarranted. Of course, Akira is convinced they're toast throughout the last fight, and the story is told through her eyes, which probably makes Hisao's actions seem even more heroic.

The part I didn't expect was the epilogue scene with them watching the kids have a snowball fight. It's such a huge contrast to the previous events, and gives that moment of reflection - what if it had all gone wrong? - that makes the rest seem much more overwhelming.

Surprisingly, that last part was my favorite bit to edit. The action scenes are usually what makes editing Hoitash's stuff entertaining, but the sort of slow epilogue with the kids chasing each other while Hisao and Akira ponder the ramifications of having gone through an ordeal like that pings off several different emotional fields rather elegantly. It's also where I made some of my proudest minor additions.

[Hoitash]

The epilogue additions were great, and it was important for me that the epilogue did what I wanted it to do -what you said it did for you, basically) so again I thank you for that.

I do think Chapter Six is some of the best work of mine you've edited fan-fic wise, and I also agree that of the three, this is my favorite Halloween Special.

Though I am rather fond of Soon-hee, I am also rather fond of Refia, because she is adorable.

[Helbereth]

I really haven't got anything to contribute to this that I haven't already said, but, since this story actually occurs sometime around Christmas - despite being a Halloween tale - I felt it deserved a bump for the holidays.

It's kinda like The Nightmare Before Christmas, except without the musical numbers.

[Hoitash]

It's kinda like The Nightmare Before Christmas, except without the musical numbers.

Well, some chapters have musical intros, so there's that, at least.