Kiki's Delivery Service: Azure Seas and a Month of Misunderstandings - The Truth of the Letter and the Love She Realized

The promise she'd made with Umi the night before kept spinning around and around in her head. *"I'll get the letter for you. In exchange, you read it."* Kiki greeted the morning having barely slept at all. Outside the small attic window, the sky was just beginning to tint with pale blue. The eastern horizon, where the sky met the Rushea Sea, was brightening as if bleeding light into the world. Kiki rose from her bed and slipped her arms through the sleeves of her purple dress. "I'm going, Jiji." The black cat curled up by her pillow cracked one eye open. "Yeah, yeah. Just don't fall off your broom from lack of sleep." Kiki picked up her broom. The ash wood handle felt colder than usual. (*Read the letter, huh...*) She still didn't understand what Umi had meant by those words. But first, she had to get the letter back. With only that thought in mind, Kiki took to the sky. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ The town of Koriko was still asleep. Not a soul walked the cobblestone streets, and the harbor cranes gazed silently up at the sky. Only the clock tower melted its steady tick-tock rhythm into the morning air. Kiki circled the clock tower on her broom, reading the wind. She remembered Umi's training. (*The wind is alive. Don't fight it recklessly.*) Today's wind was an easterly, blowing down from Hamakaze Hill. Its speed was weak. On the west side of the clock tower, there would be a blind spot where the wind was blocked. Which meant—if she approached from the west, she could get close to the tower without being buffeted by the wind. Just then. From the direction of the hill, a pair of white wings came flying. Umi's glider. A small aircraft, nothing more than cloth stretched over a wooden frame. It rode the wind and pulled up alongside Kiki. "Right on time." Umi raised one hand, her face as calm as ever. Her golden hair, long enough to reach her shoulder blades, streamed in the wind. The silver piercing in her left ear glinted in the morning sun. "Umi-san! What should I—" "The plan is what I told you yesterday. I'll block the wind from the east. In that opening, you grab the letter from the west side. You have ten seconds. If you fail, give up for today." "T-Ten seconds..." "That's plenty. You should have learned to read the wind during that training the other day. Have some confidence." With that, Umi tilted her glider's wings. As if deflecting the easterly wind, she circled around to the east side of the clock tower. Kiki swallowed hard. (*It's fine. I can do this.*) She tightened her grip on the broom. On her shoulder, Jiji spoke in a low voice. "Go, Kiki. I'm with you." Kiki nodded. And in that instant— Umi's glider cut directly into the face of the easterly wind. *Whoosh!!* The wind struck Umi's wings and vanished from around Kiki. (*Now!*) Kiki swung her broom into a sharp turn toward the west side. The stone wall of the clock tower rushed toward her. There, caught on the spire, the pale blue stationery was still snagged. It trembled faintly, as if shivering in the wind. She could hear her heartbeat pounding deep in her ears. Five seconds. Kiki pressed her broom right up against the tower. She stretched out her hand. Eight seconds. Her fingertips brushed the corner of the stationery. Nine seconds. —Got it! Kiki clutched the letter, envelope and all, and pulled her broom away from the tower. At that same moment, Umi withdrew from in front of the easterly wind. The wind shook Kiki's hair hard, but the letter was no longer in danger of being stolen. Ten seconds. When Kiki landed on the ground, she realized her knees were trembling violently. "I-I got it... I got it, Jiji!" "Good grief. That took years off my life." Just then, Umi's glider touched down softly. "Well done. Now—about that promise." Umi climbed off the wing and pointed at the letter in Kiki's hand. Kiki's chest tightened with a squeeze. (*Read it... right here, right now?*) The letter suddenly felt impossibly heavy. "B-But... this is a letter Tonbo-kun wrote to someone important to him... For a delivery girl to just read it without permission..." Umi looked Kiki straight in the eye. Her pale blue-gray irises shimmered in the morning light. "You really are dense, aren't you. You're the one who needs to know what's inside this letter most of all." "Huh...?" "Well, you'll understand once you read it. I'm heading back to the hill first. If you feel like crying, come find me." Umi hoisted her glider's wings onto her shoulder and walked off without a backward glance. Kiki watched her retreating figure, clutching the letter to her chest. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ At the top of Hamakaze Hill. The wind from the sea ruffled Kiki's black bobbed hair. The letter in her hand. On the white envelope, in Tonbo's clumsy handwriting, were the words: "To Lilia of Partia." The seal had already come loose, and the contents were nearly visible. Kiki crouched down on the spot. Beside her, Jiji slowly swayed his tail. "...Do I really have to read it, Jiji? Umi-san had such a serious look on her face... There must be a reason." "Well, just read it. It's better than agonizing without knowing what it says, right?" With trembling hands, Kiki pulled the stationery from the envelope. Three sheets of pale blue paper. Tonbo's handwriting was, as expected, a little clumsy. She let her eyes run over the words. —Dear Lilia. I hope you're doing well. I'm working as a sailor's apprentice now, here at the port of Koriko. Every day I'm hauling cargo and learning how to tie ropes—it's really tough, but I'm finally starting to get the hang of being on a ship, little by little. Soon, I'll be setting out on a long voyage with a ship from the Perene Maritime Union. I won't be back in Koriko for about half a year. So before I go, there's something I absolutely have to tell you. I'm in love with you, Lilia. Ever since we were kids, I've been thinking about you constantly. I still remember those days we ran around together in the vineyards of Partia. The sunset was so bright, and your smiling face looked like it was sparkling. This might sound stupid, but the reason I wanted to become a sailor was because I thought—someday, I'd travel the whole world on a big ship and find so many sights I'd want to show you. So—before I become a sailor, I absolutely have to tell you this. I love you, Lilia. If it's okay, please write back to me. If you send a letter to the Kamome-tei tavern at Koriko Port, it'll reach me. Anyway, take care of yourself. From Tonbo— Kiki clutched the letter and couldn't move. The center of her chest grew hot, spreading warmth through her. No. This was a letter Tonbo had written to Lilia. Tonbo was in love with Lilia, and he wanted to tell her how he felt—that's why he'd entrusted this letter to Kiki. And yet— Tonbo's face surfaced in her mind. That clumsy smile he'd worn the first time they met at Kamome-tei, his face bright red as he held out the envelope. Those embarrassed eyes. *"Please, Kiki! I have to get this letter delivered, no matter what!"* His voice from that moment echoed deep in her ears. (*Tonbo-kun...*) Her chest ached with a tight, squeezing pain. This was jealousy. She knew it herself. Tonbo was in love with another girl. Reading his earnest words, somewhere in her heart she'd thought, *"How nice."* There was a part of her whispering inside, *"If only it had been me."* "I... I was... in love with Tonbo-kun..." The moment she said it aloud, the tears came flooding out. They wouldn't stop. Still crouched down, Kiki stifled her voice and wept. Jiji pressed close to her knee, rubbing his head against her. "You idiot. You realized it way too late." "But... but I didn't know...! I never thought I'd feel this way..." "Yeah. And that's okay, Kiki. That's just how love is. By the time you realize it, it's already too late." Kiki hugged the letter to her chest and hung her head. Her tears fell onto the dry earth, forming small dark spots. (*But I'm a delivery girl.*) (*This letter holds Tonbo-kun's precious feelings, and it's my job to deliver it to Lilia—and yet, I've gone and fallen in love with the person who wrote it. I'm the worst.*) More tears came. The self-loathing felt like it would tear her chest apart. (*And on top of that, even Mimosa is in love with Tonbo-kun.*) Her best friend Mimosa. The little sister figure at the Guchokipa Bakery. So pure-hearted, so smitten with Tonbo—and when the news of the love letter spread through town, the shock had been enough to make her take to her bed. And Kiki had fallen for the very same person her best friend loved. "I'm... what a horrible person I am...!" Kiki struck the ground with her fist. Jiji spoke quietly. "Kiki. Don't blame yourself so much. Feelings don't follow logic." "But... but still...!" Kiki couldn't lift her face. The tears blurred her vision. Her hands, clutching the letter, were trembling so hard the stationery was nearly crumpling. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Just then— She heard light, pattering footsteps. Someone was climbing the hill. Kiki frantically wiped at her tears. "M-Mimosa...!?" Her fluffy chestnut hair bouncing, Mimosa came running. Her complexion was still a little pale, but her large honey-colored eyes were fixed firmly on Kiki. "Kiki-chan! Are you okay!? You were gone so early in the morning, I got worried..." Mimosa knelt in front of Kiki, and her expression clouded when she saw Kiki's wet cheeks. "Kiki-chan, you've been crying...? What happened...?" "I-I'm fine! It's nothing! I just, a little..." Kiki tried to hide the letter behind her back. But Mimosa had already seen it. "That... is that Tonbo-kun's letter?" Kiki's words caught in her throat. "...Yeah. I just got it back from the clock tower... And then, and then..." Mimosa nodded. Then, slowly, she sat down beside Kiki. The wind swayed both their hair. A silence stretched between them. Mimosa spoke in a small voice. "...Did you read it?" Kiki flinched. "Huh...? R-Read it, well... I mean...!" Mimosa shook her head. "It's okay. If you read it, Kiki-chan, then I think that was for the best. I mean, the other day Umi-san told you to 'read it,' right? There must have been a reason." "...How do you know about that?" "Osono-san heard it from Umi-san at the harbor market. She said Umi-san was muttering, 'I wonder when Kiki will figure it out.'" Kiki's face turned bright red. That Umi—she'd even been telling people about *that*? Mimosa folded her hands together on her lap. "Hey, Kiki-chan. I have a favor to ask." "...What is it?" Mimosa lifted her face and looked straight into Kiki's eyes. "Delivering Tonbo-kun's letter... I want to help. I want you to take me with you." Kiki was so surprised she couldn't speak. Mimosa's eyes were brimming with tears, but she managed a smile. "I've been thinking about it a lot, you know. I loved Tonbo-kun. I really, really loved him. But I realized—his feelings are for someone else. The other day, when the contents of the letter became the talk of the town, I understood just how seriously Tonbo-kun cares about this person..." Mimosa's voice trembled. "So, it's okay now. My love... it's over. But still... if Tonbo-kun can be happy, then I think that's enough for me. So I want to help deliver the letter. If it's okay... is that... no good...?" Kiki looked down. The letter in her hands felt unbearably heavy. Mimosa was so pure. Without showing a single trace of bitterness, she was wishing for Tonbo's happiness. And yet— (*I'm sitting here, in love with Tonbo-kun... my best friend's crush...*) She felt the tears threatening to come again. But she couldn't cry in front of Mimosa. "...Mimosa, you're amazing." Kiki said it without lifting her head. "Huh? Amazing? Me?" "Yeah. I mean, you found out Tonbo-kun loves someone else—you must have been hurt—and even so, you can still say you want to help. I... I could never do that..." Kiki's v

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Episode 4

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

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