Kiki's Delivery Service: Azure Seas and a Month of Misunderstandings - Umi's Proposal and Wind-Reading Training

What should I do? Kiki sat hugging her knees in the attic room of the Gütiokipän bakery. The afternoon sunlight streamed through the small window, making the dust motes on the floor glitter and sparkle. But Kiki's heart remained completely overcast. At the edge of her pillow, the black cat Jiji slowly swished his tail. The clock tower again? You never learn, do you. But what else can I do? I have to go. Kiki stood up. She patted down the skirt of her purple dress with brisk slaps. When she picked up the broom leaning against the wall, the cool ash wood handle settled familiarly into her palm. The words Umi from the Tobikaze Flying Club had said to her yesterday were still spinning around and around in her head. *"Try actually reading that letter."* What did she mean by that? Would reading the letter really change something? Kiki didn't know. But right now, she had to retrieve the letter stuck on the clock tower no matter what. Mimosa was suffering so much, after all. I'm going, Jiji. Yeah, yeah. I'll tag along. Jiji leaped onto Kiki's shoulder. The familiar weight. The familiar warmth. Just that alone gave her a tiny surge of courage. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ The clock tower in the central plaza gleamed dazzlingly in the afternoon sun, its gray stone walls shining bright. Thirty-five meters tall. Built about fifty years ago, this tower was the symbol of Koriko, visible from anywhere in the town. At the very top of the tower, on the spire, the letter was still caught. The pale blue stationery fluttered and swayed in the wind. Kiki gripped her broom tightly and stood at the entrance to the clock tower. *(This time, I'm going to make him listen to my request.)* She pushed open the heavy wooden door. The hinges groaned with a *creeeak*. Inside, it was dim, and the air smelled of oil and dust. Several large gears turned on the walls, their steady *click-clack* echoing through the space. Um, excuse me... Mister Ino...? Her voice reverberated off the stone walls. After a moment, an old man leaning on a cane emerged from the darkness in the back. Old Man Ino. Seventy-two years old. Hard of hearing, but his eyes were eerily sharp. From beneath his white eyebrows, he glared fiercely at Kiki. You again! I told you not to touch these delicate gears! Please! Let me get the letter! If it stays like this, I can't deliver it! Kiki steeled herself and prostrated on the spot. She pressed both hands and her forehead to the cold stone floor. *(Will he understand now?)* But Old Man Ino's face only grew redder. You intend to damage the clock tower with your magic?! This clock hasn't stopped once in the fifty years since it was built! If you so much as scratch it with that broom of yours... I won't stand for it! I won't scratch it! I'll just take it gently, really gently! Liar! Just yesterday I saw you get close to the tower on your broom and nearly crash into the wall! Urk... That was true. Yesterday, caught by the wind, she had almost slammed into the clock tower wall. Old Man Ino grabbed the long broom leaning in the corner of the entrance. It was a cleaning broom, much larger than Kiki's. Get out! Or I'll chase you out with this broom! Eeek! Kiki scrambled to her feet. Old Man Ino was surprisingly quick, chasing her while swinging the long broom wildly. Don't get cocky, you young witch! Waaah! Help, Jiji! Not my problem. You brought this on yourself. Even as he said it, Jiji tangled himself around Old Man Ino's legs. Whoa! What is this cat?! Get off me! The old man flailed his legs. Jiji nimbly leaped away. In that opening, Kiki dashed out of the clock tower. Her heart was pounding. *(I failed again...)* A dull ache spread through the center of her chest. At this rate, she really wouldn't be able to get the letter back. Mimosa and Tonbo would both remain hurt. Kiki bit her lip and mounted her broom. ...I'm going to Hamakaze Hill. The wind rustled Kiki's black bobbed hair. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Hamakaze Hill was a small rise at the northern edge of Koriko. Sixty meters above sea level. When you climbed to the top, the wind from the sea was always blowing, making the grass ripple and rustle in waves. Kiki brought her broom down on top of the hill. Before her stretched the blue horizon of the Rusha Sea. Seagulls cried in the distance. The white waves glittered and sparkled, so beautiful—and yet, Kiki's heart was heavy. Jiji sat down primly on the grass. Well, you know. You did good. ...Just doing my best isn't enough. Kiki lay down on the grass. The sky was blue. Clouds drifted slowly by. Maybe I should just quit being a delivery girl. Her voice trembled. I mean, this is how my first big job turns out. The letter gets blown away, my friends get hurt, the old caretaker yells at me... Without a word, Jiji gently licked Kiki's hair. The wind blew. The grass swayed. And then— Hey, Kiki. A voice suddenly fell from above. Kiki bolted upright. A human silhouette glided smoothly closer from the sky. Wings of cloth stretched over a wooden frame. Supporting them with both hands, the figure soared on the wind. It was a homemade glider from the Tobikaze Flying Club. Piloting it was a girl with long golden hair tied back into a single tail. Umi. Fifteen years old, and the vice-captain of the Tobikaze Flying Club. Two years older than Kiki. Her strangely ash-toned blonde hair, which reached down to her shoulder blades, looked almost silver when the wind shone through it. A small, star-shaped silver earring glinted on her left earlobe. The glider touched down softly. Wiping away sweat, Umi approached Kiki. You got chased out of the clock tower again, didn't you? I saw it. Huh... you saw? Yeah. On my way back from a test flight. You even prostrated yourself. It was pretty pathetic. Kiki's face flushed hot. I-If you saw, you could have helped me! Nah. Against that old man, I'd just get chased out too if I showed up. Umi plopped down beside Kiki. The sea breeze swayed Umi's long hair. A strange scent drifted from her. Machine oil, sea salt, and something faintly sweet—that kind of smell. Looking out at the distant ocean, Umi spoke. Hey, Kiki. I could get that letter from the clock tower for you. What?! Kiki's eyes went wide. R-Really?! How?! Well, there's a way. If I use our glider, I can approach the tower while reading the wind. I can control it much more delicately than your broom. A light of hope flickered to life in Kiki's chest. But— However, there's a condition. Umi looked straight into Kiki's eyes. Her pale blue-gray eyes, like a calm sea. As always, Kiki couldn't read what she was thinking. Once you get the letter, you have to read it. Kiki froze. ...Huh? Read it...? That's right. Look inside. I-I can't! Reading someone else's letter without permission is the lowest thing a delivery girl can do! It's a matter of trust! Kiki sprang to her feet. Umi was unfazed. Then your best friend will never recover. Those words were as cold as ice. They stabbed sharply into Kiki's heart. ...That's... Mimosa won't be able to get back on her feet unless she knows Tonbo's true feelings. You understand that, right? Kiki looked down. Mimosa's face floated into her mind. Her fluffy chestnut hair. Her honey-colored eyes that always seemed a little teary. That smile of hers, bouncing up and down with joy whenever something good happened. But now—she was bedridden, delirious with a high fever. ...Mimosa... Are you going to just let your best friend suffer? Kiki was at a loss for words. No. That wasn't her intention. But reading the letter was still wrong. And yet— *(I want to help Mimosa.)* *(I want to deliver Tonbo's feelings.)* *(But what should I do...)* Her mind became a tangled mess. The wind blew. The grass rustled. A seagull cried in the distance. After a long silence— ...Fine. Kiki raised her head. Tears welled in her eyes. But she didn't cry anymore. I'll read the letter. In exchange, I need your help. Umi smiled, just a little. Only the corners of her mouth, just barely. You should have said so from the start. But before that— Umi stood up and pointed at Kiki's broom. I'm going to whip your flying skills into shape. If you can't read the wind, tomorrow's operation won't succeed. Read the wind? That's right. Special training starts now. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ The training ground was the grassy field of Hamakaze Hill. Umi had Kiki stand in the middle of the field, then folded her arms and spoke. Listen, Kiki. Reading the wind means feeling the flow of an invisible river. The flow of a river...? That's right. The air is always moving. Warm air goes up, cold air goes down. The speed and direction of the flow are different over the sea and over the land. Umi picked up a pinch of grass and tossed it lightly into the air. The grass rode the wind, drifting softly, softly to the east. First, use your sense of smell. Smell? Kiki did as she was told and sniffed the air. The scent of the tide. The scent of grass. And—a slightly smoky smell mixed in too. A strong scent of the tide means the wind is coming from the sea. You can feel the humidity too, right? That means there's a chance the wind will get stronger. Wow... Next. Watch the flow of the clouds. Kiki looked up at the sky. White clouds were slowly drifting from north to south. The clouds are being carried by the wind high up. That means the wind direction is different up there compared to down here. If you're flying low like you do, read the ground-level wind. The clouds are a decoy. I see! So that's why I got blown around more than I expected yesterday! Exactly. Okay, next. Watch the birds. In the distance, a seagull was flying. Without flapping its wings, it was gliding smoothly. When a bird flies without flapping, it means there's an updraft there. Conversely, when they're flying low, it's a sign the wind is unstable. Birds read the wind too... Of course. Every creature that flies does it unconsciously. All of Umi's explanations were easy to understand. They were logical, and she absorbed them effortlessly after hearing them just once. *(This person really knows a lot about flying.)* Kiki was impressed. But— Alright, time for practice. Use everything I just told you and try flying to the other side of that hill. Got it! Leave it to me! Kiki mounted her broom. She sniffed. Strong tide scent. Sea wind. She looked at the clouds. North to south. She looked for birds—none. *(Okay, so the wind is like this...)* Kiki took off energetically. *Whoosh!* Caught by a strong crosswind, Kiki's broom spun around. Waaaaah! She tumbled straight into the grass with a *thud*. You're clumsy. N-No, I'm not! I just made a little mistake! Kiki stood up, her face bright red. Grass clung to her hair, making it all disheveled. Umi chuckled softly. Well, it's not something you can do easily. Try again. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ After that, she failed over and over. She got blown away by the wind, caught on tree branches, and was laughed at by Jiji— You're terrible! But each time, Umi gave her advice. Lower your hips more. If your center of gravity is high, the wind will take you. Lean your body into the wind. Anticipate being pushed downwind. Also, close your eyes and feel the wind. Is it cold or warm? That tells you the nature of the wind. Kiki tried doing exactly as she was told. She closed her eyes. She could only hear the sound of the wind. A cool breeze brushed her right cheek. *(Cold... that means it's wind from the sea. It's damp. So, this wind is...)* Kiki opened her eyes and slightly adjusted the angle of her broom. The next moment— *Swoosh.* A sensation of gliding *with* the wind, not against it. I flew! Kiki's broom was gliding smoothly over the grassy field. Oh, you finally

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Episode 3

Name: Kiki's Delivery Service: Azure Seas and a Month of Misunderstandings
Author: Novelia

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