Patlabor Fan Fiction ❯ Personal Files ❯ Episode 16 ( Chapter 3 )
[ P - Pre-Teen ]
By: David_A._Tatum 
Anime/Manga: Patlabor Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Police / Mecha / Comedy / Action / / Romance | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 09.22.2003 | Pages: 12 | Words: 5.8K | Visits: 412 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: Patlabor Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Police / Mecha / Comedy / Action / / Romance | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 09.22.2003 | Pages: 12 | Words: 5.8K | Visits: 412 | Status: Work In Progress
Patlabor: Personal Files
An Episodic Patlabor Fanfic by David A. Tatum
Disclaimer: Insert legal junk here...
Episode 16: Asuma vs. Noa- the Confrontation in the Hot Springs
March 9, 2000
"Another Unit vacation? So soon?" Takeo asked. All of unit two was
gathered in the captains' office to hear the announcement.
Gotoh nodded. "With the re-organization of the SV2, the commissioner
decided to try and standardize the dates for the Annual Unit Vacations
to give each unit one three day weekend together. Even though our last
one was was only four months ago, that was before the reorganization.
They asked each captain to name a weekend, and that would become the
fixed date for future unit vacations. Noa is still not cleared to pilot
a labor and we're only at half-strength, so I figured I'd sign us up for
our vacation now."
"So where are we going this time?" Asuma asked.
"An onsen- the same one as last time." He paused. "But the vacation
doesn't start until tomorrow, people, and we've got things to do right
now. Dismissed."
Noa sought out Asuma as they left the office. Their little dip in the
Tokyo Bay helped to break through the tension that had built up, though
perhaps in the back of both their minds were the events of that night at
the fireworks show. Still, they'd gone back to their tradition of
finding a private place every night, and acting as the couple they were.
Asuma hadn't been quite as comfortable as Noa, however. He'd had a
rather... unusual... experience before falling into the bay, and during
it he'd learned a few things about himself. Some of those things he
wanted to talk to Noa about, but whenever they were alone on those
nights he couldn't bring it up. It just wasn't the right mood, or there
wasn't enough time, or he just didn't know HOW to bring it up.
At any rate, he wasn't going to let this inability keep him from
enjoying himself.
"You doing anything at the moment?" Noa asked him.
Asuma shrugged. "Just got the usual duty shift busy work. Why?" Their
nightly meeting wasn't scheduled until several hours later.
"Shige's going to be teaching me a bit on how to maintain Alphonse, like
I asked him to a while back. I was wondering if you might want to join
me."
That was another thing that had happened that same day. He and Noa had
gotten into a fight, of sorts, because he hadn't told her he was jealous
of Alphonse. Noa now knew this, and ever since finding out she'd done
everything she could to reassure him she liked him more. However, she
was ALSO trying to get him more involved in her interest in the labor,
and this definitely appeared to be one of those times.
'Oh, well... might as well go make sure she doesn't aggravate those
injuries of hers... she really should be taking it easy, still. But I
guess that it's okay... I've been able to spend a lot of time with her
because of them.'
"Sure, why not?" he said. "Just let me make sure that I'm not really
needed for whatever useless assignment they're giving us today."
"Thanks. I'll see you there." She turned to go.
Asuma stopped her just before she left. "Say, Noa..."
"Yeah, Asuma?" she said, turning back around.
"I was thinking about asking you tonight, but now's just as good a time
as any. There's an afternoon matinee concert by Kana on the eleventh
which I think we could get to rather easily from the onsen. I was
wondering if you might want to go to it."
There were a variety of reasons he was asking this. Kana's style of
singing wasn't his type of music (or Noa's, for all he knew), but she
WAS sort of a friend to the both of them. Kana had been part of Unit 2
for a little more than a week, studying how to pilot an Ingram as part
of a promotional stunt she was doing, and during the period she'd gotten
to know the both of them pretty well. Especially Noa, who had been put
in charge of teaching the young idol singer the basics of Labor usage.
In fact, Noa had been the object of some affection by the singer- a very
unnerving thing for her. However, Kana gave up on Noa after seeing how
she and Asuma felt for each other. In fact, looking back on it, both of
them considered her the first person to point out how deep their
relationship was building to, claiming she couldn't compete with the
depth of feelings Asuma had for Noa.
Since then, Kana had made certain they stayed in contact. It wasn't
easy- the demands on the life of the two police officers was bad enough,
but when you added in the schedule that an idol singer was expected to
maintain it should have been impossible. However, Kana was determined.
At one point, Asuma noted to himself that the singer had the same
characteristic stubborness with this that Noa sometimes showed when she
got mad during labor combat.
The contact WAS limited- they almost never saw each other- but Kana
frequently called to chat with Noa on the phone, and she wrote to her
friends at the SV2 all of the time. In one of those letters, she'd
informed them that she was going to put their names on her guest list at
every concert she performed in case they ever wanted to attend one.
This would be their first chance to take her up on that offer.
It was also the first time since the dip in Tokyo Bay that they were
going out. Something Noa was a little concerned about, considering how
things had gone at the fair.
"I... sure! I'd love to!" she said.
Asuma nodded. "Good. We'll hammer out the details tonight, at meeting
spot three. Now, don't keep Shige waiting. I'll join you in a minute."
With that, he ran off in the direction of the main office.
Meeting spot three was one of their prearranged private locations. It
was also, since it was outside on the fishing pier (the same one which
they fell off of a week beforehand), one of the few where they could be
seen in the open. Noa feared this meant that he was withdrawing from
her, still- a great disappointment to her, as she had hoped his
invitation to the concert was a sign that he'd finally gotten over
whatever it was that scared him off at the fair. However, there wasn't
much she could do about it.
Shinohara, glancing behind him, noticed that Noa still hadn't moved.
"Hey, are you going to your lessons or not?"
"Huh?!" Noa said, startled out of her little reverie. "Ack! I'm gonna
be late!"
* * * * *
March 10, 2000
Noa stretched out slowly, stepping out of Asuma's car. They'd driven up
to the onsen seperately from the rest of the unit, though the sight of
the chartered bus showed that they'd arrived after everyone else. Asuma
had been a little concerned at how not going with the rest of the group
would look, but rationalized that there wasn't any other way to get to
the concert without bringing along his car and so it was worth the risk-
they'd done similar things before without having gotten into trouble for
it, after all.
The concert wasn't until the next day, so they still had that night to
relax, soak in the hot springs, maybe get drunk, and just have fun with
the group in general. In the meantime, though, she wanted to work out
those kinks in her back she'd gotten from the drive.
Asuma looked on in concern. "Are you sure you're fully recovered from
your surgery? I've seen you trying to stretch out your back more these
past few days than I ever have in the past...."
Noa nodded. "I think so. I have been feeling a bit more stiff lately,
though- possibly because of the surgery, but even if it is I don't think
it's anything to worry about. I think it's probably more due to all the
bed rest I had to take during that month recovering. Don't worry- I'll
be all right. Besides, a soak in these hot springs will probably take
care of it, no problem."
Asuma wanted to say more, but he never had the chance.
Natsume Kawai ran out of the onsen's lobby, waving. "Hi, you two!" she
chirped. "We've all been waiting! Come on! Let's not waste what time
we've got here! Hurry up, hurry up!
With that, the hyperactive girl grabbed hold of both of their hands and
dragged them to where the rest of the second unit was waiting.
Shinohara sighed as he was being pulled- there was something he wanted
to talk to Noa about, but it didn't look like he'd be able to tell her
then.
* * * * *
Noa sighed as she relaxed into the hot spring. The spots on her back
where she'd had to have stitches were a lot stiffer than she'd let on to
Asuma, but this soak felt like just what she needed to complete her
recovery.
Takeo smirked at her as she entered the tub. "So, Noa... how's life
been for you? Haven't had much of a chance to speak woman-to-woman with
you in a while."
Noa raised an eyebrow. She wanted to relax, not to talk, but it would
be impolite to just ignore her. "Well, I was in the hospital for a
month until about a week ago, so what do you think? My back's been
killing me off and on these last couple of days... this trip to these
hot springs are just what I needed."
"Yes, you've been in a hospital for a month, but you've certainly had
plenty of company. Asuma stayed with you that whole time, I believe...
when I was shot, I wasn't visited nearly as much by anybody."
Noa hesitated. She wasn't sure if she liked how this was going- of all
the others in the SV2, Takeo (and Ohta as well, though he usually
confronted Shinohara instead) was the one who most hinted that she knew
what was going on between her and Asuma. That comment was another
example of such.
Still, it wasn't really possible to deny that Asuma had been there the
entire month- after all, he'd as much as admitted it when he took her
back to visit everyone on Valentine's Day. "Yeah, I did have company...
I wouldn't necessarily call it pleasant company, though. I swear he
spent most of his time there just trying to figure out a way to annoy
me." That was sort of true- though partly because Noa, in a fit of
absolute boredom, had challenged him to come up with the best way to bug
her once she got up on her feet. He never came up with a good one,
though- at least, not one that he'd told her about.
Takeo smiled nostalgically. "I wish someone had bugged me during my
time in the hospital. Especially if that someone was a cute guy like
Asuma."
Noa sank deeper into the water, glancing around shyly as she wished that
Natsume would get finish getting ready and join them in the spring in
the hopes that Kumagami would end this line of questioning. "Takeo!"
Takeo giggled quietly. "Sorry- I know that you like to think you're
just friends. I happen to know that what you say isn't true, just from
how you two act when you're together, but cling to your delusions while
you can. Still, it doesn't hurt your friendship that he's cute, does
it?"
"Um... no, it doesn't hurt," Noa admitted, blushing brightly. She
paused, and thought frantically for a moment. After a few seconds of
pondering, she came to a decision. "Takeo... um, we aren't claiming
that we're just friends any more. At least, not to each other..."
Takeo stiffened, trying to keep from exploding into even greater
laughter. "Oh?"
"Please don't tell anyone!" Noa begged, misinterpreting her expression.
"We don't want it to get too widely know... we don't want to be
seperated by some sort of internal affairs investigation and-"
"My lips are sealed," Kumagami said. "But it IS pretty obvious what's
going on between you two."
"Maybe," Noa agreed hesitantly. "But it isn't obvious enough that
anyone can prove anything, yet, and we're trying to keep it that way."
Smiling at Takeo, she said, "It would be nice to have a confidant about
all of this, though."
Takeo nodded. "I'd be glad to be one," she said. "Now, tell me... how
far have you gone with him?"
"Um...." Noa blushed even deeper than she had been before. "Well...
just a little kissing. He's kinda distanced himself a bit since that
trip to his fathers."
"Oh? What happened?"
Noa sighed. "I wish I knew. I mean, things were going perfectly... we'
d had a fight in the morning, but we resolved that and decided to go on
a date around town to make up for it. We went to a carnival, and stayed
most of the day... there was a fireworks show, and I glanced up at him,
and... and suddenly, his face filled with fear and he cancelled the rest
of our plans, insisting that we had to hurry back."
Takeo looked amused. "Hmm... and, just out of curiousity, what do you
think he saw when he was looking at you?"
"Huh?"
"Might it be possible that he saw some emotion in your face that scared
him?"
"Like what?"
"Oh, I don't know... maybe like love?"
Noa's eyes widened. "He warned me earlier that he was pushing
himself... maybe he was afraid I was moving too quickly."
"Maybe. Or maybe he's afraid of commitment. Lots of men disappear just
when you might be willing to spend the rest of your life with them,"
Kumagami said wistfully.
"Asuma won't run from me," Noa said with determination. "He won't do
that. He was just scared we were moving too fast, that's all."
Takeo sighed. "Ah... I envy the naivete of the young."
Noa tried to comment on that, but the door finally opened to present
Natsume Kawai.
"Hi, you two! What are we all talking about?" the new arrival asked,
quickly making her way into the pool.
Noa coughed. "Um... nothing important."
Takeo laughed, amused at Noa's antics. "No, it's just something every
girl in Noa's situation goes through now and again."
"Did I miss something?" Natsume asked, blinking.
* * * * *
On the men's side of the onsen, the conversation was a lot less
personal. In fact, there was a lot less conversation. Asuma, who
before realizing he and Noa were a couple would have been plotting ways
to sneak a peek of the girls (not that he didn't want to sneak a peek at
Noa, but he also wasn't willing to risk getting in trouble with her at
the time), was sitting alone in a corner of the hot spring, brooding.
Joudo Ishikawa was just relaxing in the water, nearly sleeping. Gotoh
had snuck out to call Shinobu. Hiromi, perhaps, was the only one who
MIGHT have wanted to talk, but there was no-one around to talk to.
Asuma continued to plan what he was going to do at the concert while he
brooded. There were things he needed to talk to Noa about, and he wasn'
t sure how he was going to do it. He hoped the concert would provide
the right element to explain things to her, but he wasn't sure it would.
Hiromi was a little unnerved by the silence. Usually, even though he
didn't make much noise himself, whenever the unit went to a hot spring
or a public bath, there was lots of noise. Shinshi and Ohta would be
fighting with each other while Asuma would be conspiring to peek on the
girls, or there would be a terrorist who they needed to investigate, or
the bath would be died the color of blood by a 'leaky' paint cartridge.
It was never that quiet.
Besides, Asuma looked a little upset. As he'd once done for Noa, Hiromi
decided to see if he could talk his partner through his problems.
Wading over to Shinohara's corner of the spring, he asked, "Asuma, can I
talk to you for a minute?"
Asuma looked up, a bit startled. Hiromi, wanting to talk? "Um, sure...
what about?"
"You looked kind of down. Noa hasn't exactly been herself the past week
or so, either. Did something happen between the two of you?"
Asuma sighed. "Well... yeah, maybe. I did something stupid, but we're
working it out. No big deal."
Hiromi nodded. "Okay. But I think I should tell you I know what's
going on. Don't mistreat Noa, and I won't have any complaints with you.
If she doesn't mistreat you, I won't complain to her, either. But I'll
have my eyes opened. And right now, it seems to me you're at fault for
whatever it is upsetting her."
Asuma blinked, staring across the hot spring to make certain that Joudo
was still asleep.. "You... know?"
Hiromi nodded. "It would take a blind man to miss it. Besides, you
might not think of it very often, but I'm with you two more of the time
than anyone else. You tend to let what little guard you have down when
I'm around."
Asuma bit his lip. "Um... you know that if our superiors find out about
Noa and me, we'll get in a lot of trouble..."
Hiromi nodded. "As long as they can't prove anything, though, you're
safe. Don't be afraid to show her how you feel, just as long as you
keep the public displays of affection to a minimum."
"Um... right. That's partly why-" Asuma stopped when Joudo issued a
loud yawn, indicating he was waking up. "Um, let's talk later."
Hiromi nodded, heading back to his side of the pool. "Just treat her
right, Asuma. She loves you, after all," he whispered.
Asuma stiffened- that thought still frightened him, but there was little
he could do about it. When he finally settled down, however, he went
back to planning the concert. Everything had to go just perfect...
* * * * *
March 11, 2000
There was a knock on the door.
"Come in."
The door opened. "Five minutes, Miss Matsumoto. Oh, yeah, and two
non-regulars from your guest list are in the audience."
Kana, applying the finishing touches to her makeup, looked over at the
messanger. "Oh? Who?"
"A Mr. Asuma Shinohara and Ms. Noa Izumi."
"Noa!?" Kana repeated brightly. "Make certain to invite them backstage
after the performance, will you?"
The messanger nodded. "Sure thing... who are they, by the way?"
"They're the people who taught me how to pilot a labor. You remember,
that Patlabor unit..."
"Oh, right. I'll make certain they get your invitation. Oh, yeah, don'
t forget- five minutes."
* * * * *
The concert was nearing its conclusion. It had been quite enjoyable for
Noa and Asuma- even though they didn't particularly care for the music,
the energy of the people in the audience was contagious.
The infectious crowd was not the only thing, though, that was making Noa
happy. At one point during the performance, Kana had started singing a
love song, and during that song Asuma had reached over and squeezed her
hand. For some reason, that one little action seemed to dissipate all
the tension that she'd felt building since that fireworks show. For
her, this little excursion was a victory, of sorts. The only problem
she was having, in fact, was that her back was still a little stiff.
Maybe a nice massage would help....
"Say, Asuma," Noa said, trying to get heard over the cheers. "Would you
like to get out of here a little early and avoid the traffic?"
Asuma wasn't paying attention to her. Instead, something else caught
his eye. "Noa... is it just me, or are those two security people
heading towards us?"
Noa barely made out what he was saying over the roar of the crowd.
Peering over at what he was looking at, she cried. "Yeah! What do you
think they want?"
"I dunno, but let's go talk to them. If there aren't any problems, we'
ll go after that."
Noa just nodded instead of trying to say anything. Leaving their seats,
they worked their way to the advancing security people.
"Excuse me sir, ma'am. Are you Mr. Asuma Shinohara and Ms. Noa Izumi?"
the first guard asked.
Noa and Asuma looked at each other in surprise. "Yes, that's who we
are," Shinohara replied.
"You've been invited backstage by Miss Kana. Do you wish to come with
us?"
Asuma looked relieved now that he knew they weren't being called into
duty, but Noa looked a little reluctant. Kana was a friend, but she got
a bit... annoying... in person. "Um... I'm not sure..." she tried to
say.
Unfortunately, she didn't say it loud enough for anyone to here her. "I
don't see why not," Asuma said. He didn't have any real bad memories of
Kana besides her brief flirtation with Izumi... which was something he
thought was more fun teasing Noa with than getting jealous about.
"Sure."
Noa sighed at hearing that. Oh, well- now she'd have to deal with the
brat. At least the rest of the day had gone good up to that point...
then again, the last time she'd had an exceptionally good day it was
spoiled by Asuma's sudden hesitation regarding their relationship.
Hopefully, that wouldn't happen again.
The two bulky security men escorted Noa and Asuma through the throngs as
they made their way backstage. Just as Kana finished the concert, they
arrived.
She passed them on her way back. "Hi, guys!" she said exhuberantly (if
breathlessly- she'd just finished a concert, after all). "I'll be back
in a minute- just let me get changed." With a wave, she ducked out.
"Asuma," Noa said as Kana disappeared. "Why'd you agree to this? You
know how annoying she is...."
Asuma smirked. "Yeah... say, does this mean I win the bet I made in the
hospital?"
Noa's eyes widened as she recalled the bet SHE made with him- to annoy
her in a way which was both intentional and non-offensive. He'd taken
the bet almost too quick....
"Hey... did you PLAN all of this?"
"Not until I heard the offer to come backstage, but it works, doesn't
it?"
"I'm not sure if it counts," Noa said. "After all, if you didn't plan
it, how can it be intentional?"
"I don't-"
"Sorry to keep you waiting," Kana said, walking up to them. "It's so
nice to see you both again!" With that, she through her arms around Noa
to give her a hug she couldn't escape from.
Asuma ALMOST started feeling jealous until Kana released that hug and
glomped him instead. "Eep!" he cried as the breath was forced from his
lungs.
Finished with her greeting, Kana let go and turned. "Follow me- I know
just the place where we can sit and talk."
* * * * *
Kana, Noa, and Asuma all sat around a small table, each with drinks in
their hands. Noa and Asuma each had a coffee (Asuma wanted a beer, but
there weren't any alchoholic beverages available in the backstage
vending machines), while Kana sipped a hot cocoa.
"Noa," Kana said plaintively. "Remember the time I was doing target
practice in your labor? That was so much fun... you're both still in
the SV2, right?"
"Um... yeah," Noa replied, sighing. Yep, really annoying. Just like
she'd feared.
"I wish I had a labor to pilot... then again, if I got a labor like
yours, I'd be a target for people like that guy who kidnapped you,
wouldn't I?" Kana sighed. "I'm glad he did, though- he kept me from
embarrassing myself too much with you."
"Huh?" That statement threw Noa for a loop.
"When I saw how much Asuma cared, I just knew I couldn't stand in the
way of your love for each other." She paused for a moment. "You two DO
still love each other, right?"
"Um..." Noa and Asuma both hesitated. It was one thing to KNOW you were
in love with someone. It was a totally different thing to admit it when
blatently confronted about it by someone else when you hadn't even told
the other person yet.
Kana nodded and sighed. "Yeah, guess you are. Anyway, if I can't get a
labor like yours, maybe there's another type I could get which would be
fun to pilot around from time to time...."
* * * * *
Several hours later, Noa and Asuma were on the road back to the onsen.
For the first time in a while, the silence was more or less
comfortable... well, at least it was for Noa. For Asuma, it wasn't
really all that comfortable, as he was trying to decide if he should
really say what he'd been planning to say... and exactly how he should
say it.
Finally coming to a decision, he cleared his throat.
"Noa," he said.
"Yes?" Noa replied, relaxed, not hearing the slight tremor of concern in
his voice.
"I just wanted to say... about what Kana asked us earlier tonight.
"Yes?" Now, she knew that he was trying to say something important.
"Noa, I just wanted you to know... um, she's right. I do... l-love you.
Deeply. Very deeply. I'm sorry about that fireworks show, I just wasn'
t ready to hear it then. Now, though.... I just thought you should
know. Now that I've realized it myself."
Noa was stunned. She didn't know what to say- she'd been worried he'd
been distancing himself the whole week, but apparently, he was just
working himself up to saying this. The only thing that was clear,
though, was a thought that kept echoing itself through her head. 'He
said it! He SAID it! I can't believe he said it!'
Asuma started getting more and more nervous as Noa didn't respond. Not
able to stand it any more, he said, "Noa?"
"Asuma... I love you too!" Noa cried, wrapping her arms around him.
"Ack, Noa! Leggo, I gotta drive!" Asuma shouted, startled. Noa let go,
smiling widely. "I just wanted to say it, okay? It doesn't change
anything, though. We still have to hide it and all-"
"It doesn't matter," she interrupted. "Let's not worry about that right
now. I just want to be able to sit back and enjoy it for now."
"Okay, Noa," Asuma agreed. "And... thank you."
"Huh? For what?"
"For not trying to run away. Thank you..."
Noa didn't understand that at all... then again, it didn't matter. He
loved her. That was all that was important.
-------------------------
End Notes: As a curiousity, some of the events referenced about the
hospital stay may be covered in an OAV I'm planning (I did mention that
I'm planning a few Patlabor: Personal Files OAVs for those episodes
which don't fit in the regular series, right? Usually, these will cover
events before the series starts or overlay events that happen in other
episodes... though occasionally, there'll be OAVs which are made OAVs
because otherwise they'd contain spoilers for future episodes...). I
have yet to decide if I WANT to write the OAVs, however, so we'll see if
I do them... at any rate, that's the current plan. Initially, I started
coming up with the OAV series idea as a way to offer openings for guest
authors who might want to write in the series, but so far there ARE no
guest authors... *sigh* If anyone wants to BE a guest author and write
either an OAV or an episode (there's still one opening available for the
first season, but that'll disappear in a few episodes), please let me
know.
Next Episode: Chief Sakaki retires... but can the mechanics squad
really survive without him?
An Episodic Patlabor Fanfic by David A. Tatum
Disclaimer: Insert legal junk here...
Episode 16: Asuma vs. Noa- the Confrontation in the Hot Springs
March 9, 2000
"Another Unit vacation? So soon?" Takeo asked. All of unit two was
gathered in the captains' office to hear the announcement.
Gotoh nodded. "With the re-organization of the SV2, the commissioner
decided to try and standardize the dates for the Annual Unit Vacations
to give each unit one three day weekend together. Even though our last
one was was only four months ago, that was before the reorganization.
They asked each captain to name a weekend, and that would become the
fixed date for future unit vacations. Noa is still not cleared to pilot
a labor and we're only at half-strength, so I figured I'd sign us up for
our vacation now."
"So where are we going this time?" Asuma asked.
"An onsen- the same one as last time." He paused. "But the vacation
doesn't start until tomorrow, people, and we've got things to do right
now. Dismissed."
Noa sought out Asuma as they left the office. Their little dip in the
Tokyo Bay helped to break through the tension that had built up, though
perhaps in the back of both their minds were the events of that night at
the fireworks show. Still, they'd gone back to their tradition of
finding a private place every night, and acting as the couple they were.
Asuma hadn't been quite as comfortable as Noa, however. He'd had a
rather... unusual... experience before falling into the bay, and during
it he'd learned a few things about himself. Some of those things he
wanted to talk to Noa about, but whenever they were alone on those
nights he couldn't bring it up. It just wasn't the right mood, or there
wasn't enough time, or he just didn't know HOW to bring it up.
At any rate, he wasn't going to let this inability keep him from
enjoying himself.
"You doing anything at the moment?" Noa asked him.
Asuma shrugged. "Just got the usual duty shift busy work. Why?" Their
nightly meeting wasn't scheduled until several hours later.
"Shige's going to be teaching me a bit on how to maintain Alphonse, like
I asked him to a while back. I was wondering if you might want to join
me."
That was another thing that had happened that same day. He and Noa had
gotten into a fight, of sorts, because he hadn't told her he was jealous
of Alphonse. Noa now knew this, and ever since finding out she'd done
everything she could to reassure him she liked him more. However, she
was ALSO trying to get him more involved in her interest in the labor,
and this definitely appeared to be one of those times.
'Oh, well... might as well go make sure she doesn't aggravate those
injuries of hers... she really should be taking it easy, still. But I
guess that it's okay... I've been able to spend a lot of time with her
because of them.'
"Sure, why not?" he said. "Just let me make sure that I'm not really
needed for whatever useless assignment they're giving us today."
"Thanks. I'll see you there." She turned to go.
Asuma stopped her just before she left. "Say, Noa..."
"Yeah, Asuma?" she said, turning back around.
"I was thinking about asking you tonight, but now's just as good a time
as any. There's an afternoon matinee concert by Kana on the eleventh
which I think we could get to rather easily from the onsen. I was
wondering if you might want to go to it."
There were a variety of reasons he was asking this. Kana's style of
singing wasn't his type of music (or Noa's, for all he knew), but she
WAS sort of a friend to the both of them. Kana had been part of Unit 2
for a little more than a week, studying how to pilot an Ingram as part
of a promotional stunt she was doing, and during the period she'd gotten
to know the both of them pretty well. Especially Noa, who had been put
in charge of teaching the young idol singer the basics of Labor usage.
In fact, Noa had been the object of some affection by the singer- a very
unnerving thing for her. However, Kana gave up on Noa after seeing how
she and Asuma felt for each other. In fact, looking back on it, both of
them considered her the first person to point out how deep their
relationship was building to, claiming she couldn't compete with the
depth of feelings Asuma had for Noa.
Since then, Kana had made certain they stayed in contact. It wasn't
easy- the demands on the life of the two police officers was bad enough,
but when you added in the schedule that an idol singer was expected to
maintain it should have been impossible. However, Kana was determined.
At one point, Asuma noted to himself that the singer had the same
characteristic stubborness with this that Noa sometimes showed when she
got mad during labor combat.
The contact WAS limited- they almost never saw each other- but Kana
frequently called to chat with Noa on the phone, and she wrote to her
friends at the SV2 all of the time. In one of those letters, she'd
informed them that she was going to put their names on her guest list at
every concert she performed in case they ever wanted to attend one.
This would be their first chance to take her up on that offer.
It was also the first time since the dip in Tokyo Bay that they were
going out. Something Noa was a little concerned about, considering how
things had gone at the fair.
"I... sure! I'd love to!" she said.
Asuma nodded. "Good. We'll hammer out the details tonight, at meeting
spot three. Now, don't keep Shige waiting. I'll join you in a minute."
With that, he ran off in the direction of the main office.
Meeting spot three was one of their prearranged private locations. It
was also, since it was outside on the fishing pier (the same one which
they fell off of a week beforehand), one of the few where they could be
seen in the open. Noa feared this meant that he was withdrawing from
her, still- a great disappointment to her, as she had hoped his
invitation to the concert was a sign that he'd finally gotten over
whatever it was that scared him off at the fair. However, there wasn't
much she could do about it.
Shinohara, glancing behind him, noticed that Noa still hadn't moved.
"Hey, are you going to your lessons or not?"
"Huh?!" Noa said, startled out of her little reverie. "Ack! I'm gonna
be late!"
* * * * *
March 10, 2000
Noa stretched out slowly, stepping out of Asuma's car. They'd driven up
to the onsen seperately from the rest of the unit, though the sight of
the chartered bus showed that they'd arrived after everyone else. Asuma
had been a little concerned at how not going with the rest of the group
would look, but rationalized that there wasn't any other way to get to
the concert without bringing along his car and so it was worth the risk-
they'd done similar things before without having gotten into trouble for
it, after all.
The concert wasn't until the next day, so they still had that night to
relax, soak in the hot springs, maybe get drunk, and just have fun with
the group in general. In the meantime, though, she wanted to work out
those kinks in her back she'd gotten from the drive.
Asuma looked on in concern. "Are you sure you're fully recovered from
your surgery? I've seen you trying to stretch out your back more these
past few days than I ever have in the past...."
Noa nodded. "I think so. I have been feeling a bit more stiff lately,
though- possibly because of the surgery, but even if it is I don't think
it's anything to worry about. I think it's probably more due to all the
bed rest I had to take during that month recovering. Don't worry- I'll
be all right. Besides, a soak in these hot springs will probably take
care of it, no problem."
Asuma wanted to say more, but he never had the chance.
Natsume Kawai ran out of the onsen's lobby, waving. "Hi, you two!" she
chirped. "We've all been waiting! Come on! Let's not waste what time
we've got here! Hurry up, hurry up!
With that, the hyperactive girl grabbed hold of both of their hands and
dragged them to where the rest of the second unit was waiting.
Shinohara sighed as he was being pulled- there was something he wanted
to talk to Noa about, but it didn't look like he'd be able to tell her
then.
* * * * *
Noa sighed as she relaxed into the hot spring. The spots on her back
where she'd had to have stitches were a lot stiffer than she'd let on to
Asuma, but this soak felt like just what she needed to complete her
recovery.
Takeo smirked at her as she entered the tub. "So, Noa... how's life
been for you? Haven't had much of a chance to speak woman-to-woman with
you in a while."
Noa raised an eyebrow. She wanted to relax, not to talk, but it would
be impolite to just ignore her. "Well, I was in the hospital for a
month until about a week ago, so what do you think? My back's been
killing me off and on these last couple of days... this trip to these
hot springs are just what I needed."
"Yes, you've been in a hospital for a month, but you've certainly had
plenty of company. Asuma stayed with you that whole time, I believe...
when I was shot, I wasn't visited nearly as much by anybody."
Noa hesitated. She wasn't sure if she liked how this was going- of all
the others in the SV2, Takeo (and Ohta as well, though he usually
confronted Shinohara instead) was the one who most hinted that she knew
what was going on between her and Asuma. That comment was another
example of such.
Still, it wasn't really possible to deny that Asuma had been there the
entire month- after all, he'd as much as admitted it when he took her
back to visit everyone on Valentine's Day. "Yeah, I did have company...
I wouldn't necessarily call it pleasant company, though. I swear he
spent most of his time there just trying to figure out a way to annoy
me." That was sort of true- though partly because Noa, in a fit of
absolute boredom, had challenged him to come up with the best way to bug
her once she got up on her feet. He never came up with a good one,
though- at least, not one that he'd told her about.
Takeo smiled nostalgically. "I wish someone had bugged me during my
time in the hospital. Especially if that someone was a cute guy like
Asuma."
Noa sank deeper into the water, glancing around shyly as she wished that
Natsume would get finish getting ready and join them in the spring in
the hopes that Kumagami would end this line of questioning. "Takeo!"
Takeo giggled quietly. "Sorry- I know that you like to think you're
just friends. I happen to know that what you say isn't true, just from
how you two act when you're together, but cling to your delusions while
you can. Still, it doesn't hurt your friendship that he's cute, does
it?"
"Um... no, it doesn't hurt," Noa admitted, blushing brightly. She
paused, and thought frantically for a moment. After a few seconds of
pondering, she came to a decision. "Takeo... um, we aren't claiming
that we're just friends any more. At least, not to each other..."
Takeo stiffened, trying to keep from exploding into even greater
laughter. "Oh?"
"Please don't tell anyone!" Noa begged, misinterpreting her expression.
"We don't want it to get too widely know... we don't want to be
seperated by some sort of internal affairs investigation and-"
"My lips are sealed," Kumagami said. "But it IS pretty obvious what's
going on between you two."
"Maybe," Noa agreed hesitantly. "But it isn't obvious enough that
anyone can prove anything, yet, and we're trying to keep it that way."
Smiling at Takeo, she said, "It would be nice to have a confidant about
all of this, though."
Takeo nodded. "I'd be glad to be one," she said. "Now, tell me... how
far have you gone with him?"
"Um...." Noa blushed even deeper than she had been before. "Well...
just a little kissing. He's kinda distanced himself a bit since that
trip to his fathers."
"Oh? What happened?"
Noa sighed. "I wish I knew. I mean, things were going perfectly... we'
d had a fight in the morning, but we resolved that and decided to go on
a date around town to make up for it. We went to a carnival, and stayed
most of the day... there was a fireworks show, and I glanced up at him,
and... and suddenly, his face filled with fear and he cancelled the rest
of our plans, insisting that we had to hurry back."
Takeo looked amused. "Hmm... and, just out of curiousity, what do you
think he saw when he was looking at you?"
"Huh?"
"Might it be possible that he saw some emotion in your face that scared
him?"
"Like what?"
"Oh, I don't know... maybe like love?"
Noa's eyes widened. "He warned me earlier that he was pushing
himself... maybe he was afraid I was moving too quickly."
"Maybe. Or maybe he's afraid of commitment. Lots of men disappear just
when you might be willing to spend the rest of your life with them,"
Kumagami said wistfully.
"Asuma won't run from me," Noa said with determination. "He won't do
that. He was just scared we were moving too fast, that's all."
Takeo sighed. "Ah... I envy the naivete of the young."
Noa tried to comment on that, but the door finally opened to present
Natsume Kawai.
"Hi, you two! What are we all talking about?" the new arrival asked,
quickly making her way into the pool.
Noa coughed. "Um... nothing important."
Takeo laughed, amused at Noa's antics. "No, it's just something every
girl in Noa's situation goes through now and again."
"Did I miss something?" Natsume asked, blinking.
* * * * *
On the men's side of the onsen, the conversation was a lot less
personal. In fact, there was a lot less conversation. Asuma, who
before realizing he and Noa were a couple would have been plotting ways
to sneak a peek of the girls (not that he didn't want to sneak a peek at
Noa, but he also wasn't willing to risk getting in trouble with her at
the time), was sitting alone in a corner of the hot spring, brooding.
Joudo Ishikawa was just relaxing in the water, nearly sleeping. Gotoh
had snuck out to call Shinobu. Hiromi, perhaps, was the only one who
MIGHT have wanted to talk, but there was no-one around to talk to.
Asuma continued to plan what he was going to do at the concert while he
brooded. There were things he needed to talk to Noa about, and he wasn'
t sure how he was going to do it. He hoped the concert would provide
the right element to explain things to her, but he wasn't sure it would.
Hiromi was a little unnerved by the silence. Usually, even though he
didn't make much noise himself, whenever the unit went to a hot spring
or a public bath, there was lots of noise. Shinshi and Ohta would be
fighting with each other while Asuma would be conspiring to peek on the
girls, or there would be a terrorist who they needed to investigate, or
the bath would be died the color of blood by a 'leaky' paint cartridge.
It was never that quiet.
Besides, Asuma looked a little upset. As he'd once done for Noa, Hiromi
decided to see if he could talk his partner through his problems.
Wading over to Shinohara's corner of the spring, he asked, "Asuma, can I
talk to you for a minute?"
Asuma looked up, a bit startled. Hiromi, wanting to talk? "Um, sure...
what about?"
"You looked kind of down. Noa hasn't exactly been herself the past week
or so, either. Did something happen between the two of you?"
Asuma sighed. "Well... yeah, maybe. I did something stupid, but we're
working it out. No big deal."
Hiromi nodded. "Okay. But I think I should tell you I know what's
going on. Don't mistreat Noa, and I won't have any complaints with you.
If she doesn't mistreat you, I won't complain to her, either. But I'll
have my eyes opened. And right now, it seems to me you're at fault for
whatever it is upsetting her."
Asuma blinked, staring across the hot spring to make certain that Joudo
was still asleep.. "You... know?"
Hiromi nodded. "It would take a blind man to miss it. Besides, you
might not think of it very often, but I'm with you two more of the time
than anyone else. You tend to let what little guard you have down when
I'm around."
Asuma bit his lip. "Um... you know that if our superiors find out about
Noa and me, we'll get in a lot of trouble..."
Hiromi nodded. "As long as they can't prove anything, though, you're
safe. Don't be afraid to show her how you feel, just as long as you
keep the public displays of affection to a minimum."
"Um... right. That's partly why-" Asuma stopped when Joudo issued a
loud yawn, indicating he was waking up. "Um, let's talk later."
Hiromi nodded, heading back to his side of the pool. "Just treat her
right, Asuma. She loves you, after all," he whispered.
Asuma stiffened- that thought still frightened him, but there was little
he could do about it. When he finally settled down, however, he went
back to planning the concert. Everything had to go just perfect...
* * * * *
March 11, 2000
There was a knock on the door.
"Come in."
The door opened. "Five minutes, Miss Matsumoto. Oh, yeah, and two
non-regulars from your guest list are in the audience."
Kana, applying the finishing touches to her makeup, looked over at the
messanger. "Oh? Who?"
"A Mr. Asuma Shinohara and Ms. Noa Izumi."
"Noa!?" Kana repeated brightly. "Make certain to invite them backstage
after the performance, will you?"
The messanger nodded. "Sure thing... who are they, by the way?"
"They're the people who taught me how to pilot a labor. You remember,
that Patlabor unit..."
"Oh, right. I'll make certain they get your invitation. Oh, yeah, don'
t forget- five minutes."
* * * * *
The concert was nearing its conclusion. It had been quite enjoyable for
Noa and Asuma- even though they didn't particularly care for the music,
the energy of the people in the audience was contagious.
The infectious crowd was not the only thing, though, that was making Noa
happy. At one point during the performance, Kana had started singing a
love song, and during that song Asuma had reached over and squeezed her
hand. For some reason, that one little action seemed to dissipate all
the tension that she'd felt building since that fireworks show. For
her, this little excursion was a victory, of sorts. The only problem
she was having, in fact, was that her back was still a little stiff.
Maybe a nice massage would help....
"Say, Asuma," Noa said, trying to get heard over the cheers. "Would you
like to get out of here a little early and avoid the traffic?"
Asuma wasn't paying attention to her. Instead, something else caught
his eye. "Noa... is it just me, or are those two security people
heading towards us?"
Noa barely made out what he was saying over the roar of the crowd.
Peering over at what he was looking at, she cried. "Yeah! What do you
think they want?"
"I dunno, but let's go talk to them. If there aren't any problems, we'
ll go after that."
Noa just nodded instead of trying to say anything. Leaving their seats,
they worked their way to the advancing security people.
"Excuse me sir, ma'am. Are you Mr. Asuma Shinohara and Ms. Noa Izumi?"
the first guard asked.
Noa and Asuma looked at each other in surprise. "Yes, that's who we
are," Shinohara replied.
"You've been invited backstage by Miss Kana. Do you wish to come with
us?"
Asuma looked relieved now that he knew they weren't being called into
duty, but Noa looked a little reluctant. Kana was a friend, but she got
a bit... annoying... in person. "Um... I'm not sure..." she tried to
say.
Unfortunately, she didn't say it loud enough for anyone to here her. "I
don't see why not," Asuma said. He didn't have any real bad memories of
Kana besides her brief flirtation with Izumi... which was something he
thought was more fun teasing Noa with than getting jealous about.
"Sure."
Noa sighed at hearing that. Oh, well- now she'd have to deal with the
brat. At least the rest of the day had gone good up to that point...
then again, the last time she'd had an exceptionally good day it was
spoiled by Asuma's sudden hesitation regarding their relationship.
Hopefully, that wouldn't happen again.
The two bulky security men escorted Noa and Asuma through the throngs as
they made their way backstage. Just as Kana finished the concert, they
arrived.
She passed them on her way back. "Hi, guys!" she said exhuberantly (if
breathlessly- she'd just finished a concert, after all). "I'll be back
in a minute- just let me get changed." With a wave, she ducked out.
"Asuma," Noa said as Kana disappeared. "Why'd you agree to this? You
know how annoying she is...."
Asuma smirked. "Yeah... say, does this mean I win the bet I made in the
hospital?"
Noa's eyes widened as she recalled the bet SHE made with him- to annoy
her in a way which was both intentional and non-offensive. He'd taken
the bet almost too quick....
"Hey... did you PLAN all of this?"
"Not until I heard the offer to come backstage, but it works, doesn't
it?"
"I'm not sure if it counts," Noa said. "After all, if you didn't plan
it, how can it be intentional?"
"I don't-"
"Sorry to keep you waiting," Kana said, walking up to them. "It's so
nice to see you both again!" With that, she through her arms around Noa
to give her a hug she couldn't escape from.
Asuma ALMOST started feeling jealous until Kana released that hug and
glomped him instead. "Eep!" he cried as the breath was forced from his
lungs.
Finished with her greeting, Kana let go and turned. "Follow me- I know
just the place where we can sit and talk."
* * * * *
Kana, Noa, and Asuma all sat around a small table, each with drinks in
their hands. Noa and Asuma each had a coffee (Asuma wanted a beer, but
there weren't any alchoholic beverages available in the backstage
vending machines), while Kana sipped a hot cocoa.
"Noa," Kana said plaintively. "Remember the time I was doing target
practice in your labor? That was so much fun... you're both still in
the SV2, right?"
"Um... yeah," Noa replied, sighing. Yep, really annoying. Just like
she'd feared.
"I wish I had a labor to pilot... then again, if I got a labor like
yours, I'd be a target for people like that guy who kidnapped you,
wouldn't I?" Kana sighed. "I'm glad he did, though- he kept me from
embarrassing myself too much with you."
"Huh?" That statement threw Noa for a loop.
"When I saw how much Asuma cared, I just knew I couldn't stand in the
way of your love for each other." She paused for a moment. "You two DO
still love each other, right?"
"Um..." Noa and Asuma both hesitated. It was one thing to KNOW you were
in love with someone. It was a totally different thing to admit it when
blatently confronted about it by someone else when you hadn't even told
the other person yet.
Kana nodded and sighed. "Yeah, guess you are. Anyway, if I can't get a
labor like yours, maybe there's another type I could get which would be
fun to pilot around from time to time...."
* * * * *
Several hours later, Noa and Asuma were on the road back to the onsen.
For the first time in a while, the silence was more or less
comfortable... well, at least it was for Noa. For Asuma, it wasn't
really all that comfortable, as he was trying to decide if he should
really say what he'd been planning to say... and exactly how he should
say it.
Finally coming to a decision, he cleared his throat.
"Noa," he said.
"Yes?" Noa replied, relaxed, not hearing the slight tremor of concern in
his voice.
"I just wanted to say... about what Kana asked us earlier tonight.
"Yes?" Now, she knew that he was trying to say something important.
"Noa, I just wanted you to know... um, she's right. I do... l-love you.
Deeply. Very deeply. I'm sorry about that fireworks show, I just wasn'
t ready to hear it then. Now, though.... I just thought you should
know. Now that I've realized it myself."
Noa was stunned. She didn't know what to say- she'd been worried he'd
been distancing himself the whole week, but apparently, he was just
working himself up to saying this. The only thing that was clear,
though, was a thought that kept echoing itself through her head. 'He
said it! He SAID it! I can't believe he said it!'
Asuma started getting more and more nervous as Noa didn't respond. Not
able to stand it any more, he said, "Noa?"
"Asuma... I love you too!" Noa cried, wrapping her arms around him.
"Ack, Noa! Leggo, I gotta drive!" Asuma shouted, startled. Noa let go,
smiling widely. "I just wanted to say it, okay? It doesn't change
anything, though. We still have to hide it and all-"
"It doesn't matter," she interrupted. "Let's not worry about that right
now. I just want to be able to sit back and enjoy it for now."
"Okay, Noa," Asuma agreed. "And... thank you."
"Huh? For what?"
"For not trying to run away. Thank you..."
Noa didn't understand that at all... then again, it didn't matter. He
loved her. That was all that was important.
-------------------------
End Notes: As a curiousity, some of the events referenced about the
hospital stay may be covered in an OAV I'm planning (I did mention that
I'm planning a few Patlabor: Personal Files OAVs for those episodes
which don't fit in the regular series, right? Usually, these will cover
events before the series starts or overlay events that happen in other
episodes... though occasionally, there'll be OAVs which are made OAVs
because otherwise they'd contain spoilers for future episodes...). I
have yet to decide if I WANT to write the OAVs, however, so we'll see if
I do them... at any rate, that's the current plan. Initially, I started
coming up with the OAV series idea as a way to offer openings for guest
authors who might want to write in the series, but so far there ARE no
guest authors... *sigh* If anyone wants to BE a guest author and write
either an OAV or an episode (there's still one opening available for the
first season, but that'll disappear in a few episodes), please let me
know.
Next Episode: Chief Sakaki retires... but can the mechanics squad
really survive without him?