Chapter 20: Epilogue

“Future Proof”

The Christmas Wars ended in a draw. Or more accurately, it wasn’t counted. As one of the ships burned down as a result of the battle of graffiti versus music, it ended up on the news. Gabriel turned himself in to the police, confessing he was the one who started the fire. However, because the boat was supposed to be abandoned anyway and just burned on the sea, plus nobody was severely hurt, the charges were light. Additionally, there were rumors that the city council covered for him because he’s such a crucial musician conveying the culture of Bristol.

The citizens, who supported Gabriel’s opinion of removing all graffiti, were bewildered at this result. Seeing that opposition against graffiti reached even such aggressive levels was shocking. And finally, Gabriel published a post on his social media.

Let me start with my conclusion. I was wrong. That Christmas night, I saw the graffiti being written. And I thought…it was beautiful. No, I was reminded how beautiful it could be. Not from an artistic standpoint. The soul it contained… made me think it was breathtaking. And yet, I burned it all down because of my personal feelings. It was turned to ash…to dust. I wanted to burn down the boat and then die with it. However, the person who saved me was a graffiti writer. And it was none other than the [Ghost of Bristol]. Undoubtedly, writing on random walls owned by people is a crime. My thoughts have not changed. It’s impossible to say that all graffiti is right. But it’s equally impossible to call all graffiti wrong. Thus, we have to continue to ask ourselves…And work toward the future of the city that is waiting ahead of us.

Reading this message, many of the citizens stopped speaking against graffiti. Then again, there couldn’t have been too many either way. But when you’re given a reason, it’s easier to take one side. And that is a terrifying thought. Crazy enough, Gabriel’s grandma who owned the music store was actually friends with Radesh. She apparently knew that she didn’t have much more time to live. Apparently, she asked him for advice and if she should let someone inherit the store, but she decided to close it completely in the end. And that was already a decision she made before Boudicia started writing on it. In other words, Boudicia’s actions had no influence on the store. But that brought up the question of why Gabriel’s grandmother kept this a secret. When I voiced that question, Radesh gave me one possible hypothesis.

“I own a store, too, so I can kind of understand. She probably couldn’t tell her grandson who loved music so much that she’d have to close up shop because she was sick. It takes a lot of courage to make this decision.”

Another reason for the resistance toward graffiti slowly disappearing was Lara’s work. One of the people present at the scene took a video of what happened. Many of the citizens saw the leader of Queen Bear’s Revenge as a hero who protects the people, and this spread all over the internet. Gabriel’s post put even more attention to this incident, so she practically became famous overnight as the beryl green maiden, acting as the hero of Bristol. Queen Bear’s Revenge quickly recovered its popularity, too, and JF was allowed back inside the crew.

Gabriel obviously took time off his work, so JF spent his time working on his graffiti or starting a solo career. He wanted to put more effort into his music, except none of his songs needed any guitar parts, so I was out of the picture. At the same time, Nelina decided to head back to Japan. According to her, she was really pushing the limits with her producer just to come to Japan, forcefully taking time off her work. And for that reason, I felt extremely apologetic. That being said, she would take a quick detour and visit Paris on the way home. Yet again, very much like Nelina. So, Boudicia and I saw her off to Bristol Airport.

“Be careful, Nelina-san.”

“Hmph, just hope the plane doesn’t crash.”

Nelina actually carried her large suitcase here all by herself. She probably realized that she really acted spoiled. But the fact she could just bring that here without any issues makes me wonder how much physical strength she has.

“If the plane really were to crash, then Yoshi would come swimming to save me, right? Nelina saved his life, after all.”

“…I am aware that I owe you a lot.”

She saved me inside a sea of flames, so she will make me swim through a storm at sea if need be.

“Aaaah, this feels great! Now you have to listen to all of Nelina’s orders, right? Aw man, what should she make you do next!”

“Hey, Yoshi isn’t your damn toy!” Boudicia leaped at Nelina, but she easily evaded that.

“Did you know? In Japanese, you call that toasted rice cakes.”

“Huh? That makes no sense. I’m just saying you shouldn’t push around other people to make them do as you…”

“Ah, right, right. So sorry, little Poor Kitty. Nelina feels bad for Yoshi.”

“Shut up! I don’t wanna hear that from you of all people!”

Nelina took a deep breath and then stood in front of me. How long has it been since she faced me like this? When we make music together, she always stands by my side.

“…Yoshi. Nelina’s gonna wait for you. And she’ll convince everyone.”

“I’m sorry for being selfish. But…right now, I need it.”

Nelina invited me to head home together with her, but I decided to stay in Bristol. One big reason was of course that I still had my university classes here.

“But instead, you’ll get super-duper good at playing the guitar, or you’re out. Got it?”

“I-I’ll do my best.”

There were still things I needed to find out here. Sights I needed to witness. And surely, this will positively impact my own music. And when I told Nelina that, she said she’d wait for me. I feared she would try to threaten me to force me home. And I bet she would’ve been able to do so, too. She even came to the UK just for me. However, she didn’t. If so, I want to respond to her expectations. She gently tapped my shoulder and then moved on to Boudicia.

“Boudicia.” She called her name.

“Huh? How do you…”

“I’ll leave the Yoshi babysitting to you.”

“Heh. I will make him a man, Nelina.”

“Make him a man? I didn’t know you were such a horny lion!”

“Th-That’s not what I meant!”

After they engaged in a conversation that could easily invite a headache, Nelina opened both her arms, looking at us. She then pushed her left hand toward Boudicia. She gazed at this in confusion for a moment, but eventually pulled her own left hand out of her pocket, taking Nelina’s. Then, they stared at each other, until Nelina let go and grabbed her suitcase.

“Heh, okay. It’s time for Nelina to go! Make sure to stay in contact!” She said and walked away, as the suitcase created a loud rattling sound.

We continued to stand still and watched her walk off for a while.

“And there she goes…as quickly as she came.”

“Tell me about it. But, she was pretty interesting, I gotta admit.”

I knew that this was Boudicia’s way of offering praise.

“In the end, we couldn’t even enjoy Christmas in the slightest.”

“…Yeah, true.”

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“By the way, what is it that you wanted to do, Boo-san?”

“Huh?”

“On that boat, remember? You wanted to do something with me. I wanted to bring it up this whole time, but…What was that about?”

“That’s…Um…Saying it right now is pretty embarrassing…”

Is it something embarrassing to say? I subconsciously tensed up. I slightly regretted agreeing without thinking much, even considering the situation.

“…Pie.”

“Huh?”

“…I wanted you to bake me a pie.”

“What do you mean?” I was bewildered and returned a question.

“You can bake pies, right? You mentioned that before.”

A distant memory flashed up in my mind. I think it was on the day we first found graffiti written on the window of the 8-Bit World. That was the first day I saw graffiti. And I mentioned that I was a relatively good cook. I mean, I could bake a pie…But, why?

“On Christmas, I’ve always been alone, so…I never got to eat pie with someone. That’s all.” She hid her face with her cap.

However, she couldn’t cover up the fact that she was blushing beneath there. But…that’s what it was? That’s a bit…of a let-down…Though, actually. To her, it’s probably that big of a deal. Sitting together with a family, eating pie together. And as my thoughts carried me that far, I stopped that thought. A family? I don’t know how Boudicia feels about this…But if it’s for her sake, I don’t mind baking a pie.

“Okay. While the iron is hot, as they say. Let’s do it right now.”

“…You’ll make one for me?”

“From zero is a bit tough, even for me. If we can use a pre-made dough, I should be able to do it.”

“That’s good! I don’t really get it, but that’s good enough!” Boudicia jumped for joy, almost like a small child excited for their present.

“The shared kitchen at the dorm has a spacey oven, too. Let’s buy the ingredients on the way back.”

“Yay! Ah, but…if possible, I’d like a chicken mushroom pie! Or, an apple pie would be good, too…”

“We can make both.”

“Really? Like, for real?”

“Really. Just leave it to me.”

“Woooo! This is like a celebration!”

“Which fits just fine, because we’re here to celebrate Christmas…Although a bit delayed.”

“Now I’m hungry!”

“It won’t be done that quick, you know?”

“Sure, sure! Let’s go!”

Boudicia took my hand and started running. It happened so naturally, it was like we’d always done this. And it left me speechless.

“Ah…”

The moment we stepped out of the airport, Boudicia raised her voice in surprise, as she looked up at the sky. I did so, too. One of the white objects that gently fluttered down from the sky landed on Boudicia’s long eyelashes.

“Snow, huh? What a rare sight.”

“Yeah…”

Without saying another word, we left the airport after us, worrying that these feelings inside of me might melt away like the snow…that I have to let go of her hand. And after we finished our shopping trip, we made the pie at the dorm. At first, I thought Boudicia might be able to help me, but I quickly realized she wouldn’t offer any strategic value, so it was mostly just me doing all the work while she sat next to me drawing in her sketchbook. And after I placed the pie in the heated oven at 200°C, it was waiting time.

I sat next to Boudicia, watching the snow fall outside the window. Bristol definitely isn’t a place known for its snow. I heard that it was a rarity to see snow in general. Maybe this might be some record level, even. But whenever something happens, you begin calling it destiny, as the world slowly changes. As we encounter unbelievable coincidences and find the need to fight back, we slowly change. Even if things don’t go the way we’d like, even if we can’t do what we set out to do, we still change.

I remembered Boudicia’s graffiti that was the first victim of [Z]. Is it also being covered by snow right about now? And even if it wasn’t…that wall will continue to change. Maybe by the hands of the Ghost, or by someone else entirely. But either way, it definitely won’t stay the same way. It will continue to change, surely. And nobody knows how it will end up next time. All we can do is put our souls on the line for even just a single moment. We might not know what’s right or wrong, but we have to choose one path.

In a way, we’re like the howling fire. That’s why…the scent of pie coming from the oven…the color of the pen Boudicia was using to write…her faint sleeping noises as she leaned on me…and even my racing heart as that took me by surprise…Just like Bristol with its now right now, it will one day be overwritten by something else.

OVERWRITE: THE FIRE OF CHRISTMAS WARS

THE END.

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