Kiki's Delivery Service: Azure Seas and a Month of Misunderstandings - Kiki's Determined Glide! A Love Letter Delivered by Everyone

Dawn broke. The rain had stopped, and the cobblestones, still wet, caught the morning light. The horizon over the Rusha Sea was beginning to stain itself gold. In the attic room of the Gütiokipan bakery, Kiki sat huddled under her blanket, arms wrapped around her knees. She hadn't slept a wink. On the floor before her lay her ash-wood broom. Cold, motionless — it might as well have been an ordinary stick of wood. Jiji, curled up by her pillow, quietly lifted his head. " Kiki, it's morning. You still can't fly?" Kiki shook her head. *(I can't fly.)* She reached out and touched the broom. A chill, cold sensation spread across her palm. The warmth that usually made her want to leap into the sky the moment she touched it — that warmth was completely absent. " Jiji... do you remember what Umi said last night?" " Yeah. 'You *can* fly — you're just running away from your own feelings.' That one, right?" " Yes. When I heard that, it hit me. I've been running from my feelings this whole time. Telling myself I'm not allowed to like Tonbo. That because he's the person Mimosa likes, I can't like him. I was trying to lie to my own heart like that." Her voice trembled a little. " But in the end, that just hurt everyone. I couldn't deliver the letter, Tonbo yelled at me... At this rate, I'm the worst delivery girl there is." Jiji gently pressed his head against her knee. " So what are you going to do? What do *you* want?" Kiki lifted her face. Outside the window, the hands of the clock tower pointed to eight in the morning. She had less than ten hours until the delivery deadline. " I'm going to... apologize to Tonbo properly. And to Umi and Mimosa, too. I'll tell them honestly how much trouble I've caused everyone. And then... I'll deliver it. Tonbo's letter. To Lilia, no matter what." The moment she spoke those words, she felt a faint warmth return to her fingertips. The broom still didn't move. But something that had been sleeping inside her body was slowly beginning to stir awake. " I'll make it work! I absolutely will!" Kiki rose to her feet. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ As she dashed down the bakery stairs, Osono's flustered voice reached her from the shop front. " K-Kiki! You've got another visitor! Just one boy this time, but...!" When Kiki looked toward the shop entrance, Tonbo was standing there. The three large men from yesterday were nowhere to be seen. His reddish-brown curly hair, stiff and crunchy from the sea breeze, was sticking up in all directions as usual, but his face was a little pale, with faint shadows under his eyes. His fists weren't clenched — instead, they were shoved into his pockets. " ...Hey." His voice was so small it was hard to believe this was the same person who always said "Perfect!" His eyes met Kiki's for a moment, then he immediately looked away and scratched the back of his head. " Uh, so... about yesterday... I'm... sorry." Kiki held her breath for a second. " Huh...?" " I said I'm sorry for yelling at you and stuff! After that, the old man at the tavern really laid into me... Said bringing three grown men to shout at a kid like you is the lowest thing a sailor can do. And he was completely right... I was seriously the worst." Tonbo's voice grew quieter and quieter, and his face turned bright red. " So, uh... are you okay? You seemed like you were in a lot of pain yesterday... Is it true that you... can't fly anymore?" Something deep in Kiki's chest tightened sharply. *(Tonbo was worried about me.)* " Yeah... it's true. Right now, my broom won't float at all. It's a phenomenon where a witch's power disappears — it's called *Kokoronagi*. When you lose your way emotionally, or blame yourself... you can't use your magic." " That can happen...? Hey, can it be fixed!?" Tonbo stepped forward. His worried eyes were fixed directly on Kiki. Those bright brown eyes that were always gazing at the distant horizon were now looking only at her. Her heart was pounding. *(I really do love him.)* That feeling — the emotion she had been keeping a lid on all this time — threatened to overflow. But now wasn't the time to tell him. First, she had to fulfill her duty as a delivery girl. " I'll fix it. I will. It might take time, but... I'm going to keep my promise. I'll deliver your letter to Lilia. No matter what. So... I want you to wait for me." Tonbo choked on his words. He opened and closed his mouth, trying to say something. His expression was a mix of embarrassment, bewilderment, and yet somewhere in it, a hint of happiness. " ...O-okay. I'll wait. But don't push yourself. If you try to fly when you can't, you'll be in danger." Saying that, Tonbo scratched the back of his head again. It was an expression she'd never seen before. This wasn't the usual mischievous, boisterous Tonbo. This was a face that was looking at Kiki — properly, as a girl. " Thank you, Tonbo! I'll definitely deliver it!" Kiki bowed deeply, then broke into a run. Her destination: Hamakaze Hill. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ The early-autumn sea breeze rippled through the grass on the hill. The Tobikaze Flying Club's workshop sat halfway up Hamakaze Hill. It was an old wooden shed converted from an abandoned barn, with parts for human-powered aircraft and model airplanes scattered around it. When Kiki opened the shed door, Umi was inside, sitting alone at the workbench. Her ash-blonde hair swayed around her shoulder blades, and the star earring in her left ear reflected the light from the window. In her hands were a notebook and a pencil. She was sketching some kind of wind-direction diagram. " You came. Right about when I figured you would." Umi spoke without looking up. " Umi, I have a request! Please, lend me the power to fly one more time! I'll do anything! Please help me!" Kiki bowed her head. Umi slowly raised her face. Her pale blue-gray eyes, like a calm sea, gazed steadily at Kiki. " Lift your head. You don't need to do that. I've been here from the start, intending to help you. I'm going to make sure you deliver that letter properly — and settle things with my own jealousy." Umi stood up and pointed to a large corkboard hanging on the shed wall. On it were a map of the area around Koriko and numerous arrows indicating wind flow patterns. " Listen. The reason your magic won't come back is because your feelings are unsettled. You're scared to admit you're in love with Tonbo. You feel guilty toward Mimosa. You're crushed by your responsibility as a delivery girl. Everything's a tangled mess, and you're binding yourself up in it." Kiki nodded wordlessly. " So first, we untangle that mess. The first step is delivering Tonbo's letter. That way, you fulfill your responsibility as a delivery girl. Facing your own feelings can come after that." " Umi... you thought this much about it, for me..." " It's for me, too. I told you, I'm jealous. If you don't get yourself flying properly, my frustration just turns into something ugly." Umi held out her notebook to Kiki. Written inside, in detail, were the flight route to Partia and wind-direction predictions for each time period. " This evening, if you ride the land breeze blowing from Hamakaze Hill, you can reach Partia in forty minutes. But there's a problem. There are signs that a Rusha Storm might form around tonight. If your departure is delayed, you'll get caught in a gale en route. In other words, if you're going to fly, you only have one brief window at dusk." " O-One brief window..." " Scared?" Kiki thought for a moment, then shook her head. " I'm scared. But my desire to deliver it is stronger than that. I'll do it." Umi let out a soft laugh. " Now that's a good face. A far cry from the crybaby yesterday." Umi clapped her hands, and a noisy clamor of voices rose from outside the shed. The next moment, the workshop door burst open and about ten young people came flooding in. They were all wearing coveralls, or had goggles pushed up on their heads, or were carrying model airplanes. " Umi! We finished the final check on the wind data! We've graphed the hourly variation patterns!" " The airflow simulation with the model planes is perfect, too! The air current heading from the hill toward Partia is way more stable than we expected!" " Hey, someone bring a barometer! We're gonna calculate the storm's approach speed!" When the young people noticed Kiki, they all started shouting at once. " Kiki! We heard about this from Umi! Let us help!" " Leave the wind direction to us! We grew up playing with the wind on this hill!" " If a witch can't fly, then we of the Flying Club will read the wind for you instead!" Kiki felt a warmth spread through her chest. *(So many people... for my sake...)* She was desperately holding back the tears that were welling up when a small figure came bounding in through the entrance. " Kiki!" " Mimosa!? But your fever was still..." " I'm all better now! More importantly, I heard! That you're going to try to fly again, to deliver Tonbo's letter!" Mimosa's cheeks were still a little flushed, and her breathing was slightly ragged. But her large, honey-colored eyes were sparkling brightly. She was bouncing in place like a little bunny rabbit. " So, I want you to let me help! Tonbo's letter got torn and dirty when it fell from the clock tower, right? I'll make a clean copy on fresh stationery, in the beautiful handwriting my mother taught me! I want Tonbo's words to reach Lilia properly, all neat and clean!" " But... Mimosa, you... about Tonbo..." " I did like him. Even now, it still stings a little. But, seeing you trying so desperately, I realized something. I want to genuinely wish for Tonbo's happiness, too. And besides... you're my best friend, Kiki. When you're working so hard, there's no way I can just stay in bed!" Kiki couldn't hold back any longer. Tears spilled down her cheeks in streams. " Mimosa...! Thank you... thank you...!" The two embraced. Mimosa's shoulders were still a little warm, and she smelled gentle, like freshly baked bread. Just then, Jiji came flying in through the window. " Kiki! Reconnaissance complete! On the land route to Partia, the stream swelled up from yesterday's rain, and the bridge is closed. I found a detour, so even if you can't fly, I've secured a walking route!" " Even you, Jiji...!" " Obviously. I'm your familiar, aren't I?" The shed filled with laughter. *(I'm not alone.)* Last night — so lonely, so hopeless, so utterly helpless — felt like a lie. Here and now, she had friends who were moving into action for her sake. The tears overflowing from Kiki's eyes fell to the floor. In that moment— Her fingertips grew faintly warm. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Dusk. From the top of Hamakaze Hill, the town of Koriko and the Rusha Sea spread out in full view. The sky was beginning to stain a deep crimson, and beyond the sea, a wall of black clouds was approaching. The harbinger of the Rusha Storm. Kiki gripped her broom tightly. The Flying Club members were confirming the final wind data. The letter Mimosa had copied out was tucked inside Kiki's red-ribbon bag. Tonbo's clumsy handwriting, transcribed with heartfelt care by Mimosa onto pure white stationery. On the envelope was written, "To Lilia." Umi stood before Kiki. " Final data. Fifteen minutes from now, there will be a single moment when the easterly gust weakens. If you fly at that timing, it's forty minutes to Partia. However, if you miss that fifteen-minute window, you'll be caught in the storm. There's no guarantee for your life." Kiki nodded. " I'm going." Her voice didn't tremble the way it had until yesterday. It was a strong voice, one that believed in her own decision. Umi removed the star earring from her left ear and pressed it into Kiki's hand. " This is a charm. My brother gave it to me, so I wouldn't get lost in the sky. I'm going to want it back, so make sure you return." " Umi...! Someth

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Episode 6

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

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