Volume 1 - Chapter 19

Time Enough For Love

As we all got ready to turn in for the night, Aiko pulled me aside. Like always, I was captivated by her presence.

When she was with me all things felt possible, and my heart was warm with love. In her beautiful brown eyes I saw an angel.

"Hachiro," she said, her voice low.

I was disarmed by her seriousness because she didn’t appear to be flirting or teasing me.

She said, “I want you to be careful out there tomorrow. I don’t want you to be a hero and get yourself hurt.”

I nodded, feeling a lump form in my throat. It was obvious she cared for me more than I believed. We had only known each other for one full day.

"I will be careful," I promised her. "I won't take any unnecessary risks.”

Aiko smiled, her eyes filled with warmth. I had never felt more wanted in my entire life.

The moment lasted a perfect amount of time. Not too long to become awkward and not so short to be forgettable.

We loved each other.

"Good," she said. Then she had a playful smile again. “Because I fell in love with you at first sight yesterday, I just didn't want to admit it."

"Same. I love you, Aiko."

She kissed me, then said, "Forget what I told you before about not wanting a relationship. I want to make the most of my second chance at life.”

I gulped, my face red. I didn’t know what to say.

“Now,” she said, "what I would like to do is spend all night talking to you the way new lovers do.”

“What about the others?” I asked.

She laughed. “You want them to be lovers too?”

Shaking my head nervously, I realized I had misspoken.

“No,” I said, laughing at myself. “Never mind. I was thinking we might talk about the meteors and our deaths and what we all thought about it.”

“We can do that with them tomorrow,” she nodded. “Let’s just spend the night together, the two of us.”

“Right,” I said. “Sounds good.”

She smiled. “My room is the last on the left. I’ll be there in a minute.”

"Okay."

I walked down the hallway, heart pounding with anticipation. Not wanting to miss out on a night well spent with Aiko, I chose to do what she wanted this time.

I could hear Aiko saying goodnight to Chiemi, Yuki, Mio, and Ryotaro. I took a deep breath and opened her door, stepping into her bedroom.

The dim glow of a bright moon coming in the window was my only light. It was a traditional Japanese room, with tatami mats covering the floor and shoji screens dividing the space.

The walls were adorned with baseball memorabilia. I saw signed baseballs, framed jerseys, and photographs of Aiko in action on the field.

There was a low bed in the center of the room. It was covered in plush pillows and a soft, inviting comforter. The room was sexy and organized, just like Aiko herself.

I could feel my pulse quickening as I imagined what her idea of talking like lovers meant. I had never been with a woman of Aiko's level before. She was confident, strong, and utterly irresistible.

All the women I had dated at university were shy and inexperienced just like I was. There was a time and place for everything, and after schooling I had gone directly into the banking world working long hours.

I looked around the room and studied the photos of Aiko. In some of the images she was with family or friends, but in most of them she was in a uniform with other players. She had always been athletic, competitive, and attractive.

I heard the door open and close behind me and I turned to see Aiko entering the room. She turned and locked the knob, then slowly relaxed, lowering her shoulders.

I could tell she was taking a breather before she turned to look at me. When she finally did, I saw a woman who was tired.

"Good," she said, studying me, "I'm glad you want to be here."

"Are you kidding?" I almost laughed.

She smiled, but exhaled heavily once again, releasing a stress I didn't know she carried.

Aiko walked over to me, her confidence draining with each step. She placed her hands on my shoulders, her touch sending shivers down my spine.

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This woman was just slightly taller than I was. That was fine with me. I didn't care that Aiko was taller than the average woman. She was also far more gorgeous than the average woman.

"Hachiro," she said, her voice low and serious. "I'm tired of being the baseball star everyone thinks I am. I'm tired of pretending to be strong. I just want to be a normal person who's scared and lonely. I just want someone I can be myself around, and who can comfort me when I need comforting."

My mouth hung open even as I put my arms around her. I hadn't expected anything like this.

Aiko was on the verge of tears.

I gulped. "You don't have to hide anything from me."

She rested her chin on my shoulder and we embraced for the longest time. I let her cry, not knowing what else to do.

Aiko had apparently bottled up all her emotions into a strong exterior. She exuded confidence, bravery, and perfection in public, but with me she felt capable of breaking down.

I was so blessed. In that moment I was glad that I had died in my cubicle at the bank building. She was everything I ever desired and then more.

We held each other for a long time before either of us spoke again.

"Okay," she said after a while, "now, before we do anything, I need you to know some things about me."

She wiped tears from her eyes and then looked into mine.

Knowing there was nothing she could tell me that would make me think less of her, I answered with, "okay."

She considered her words carefully. "First, you should know that I have slept with many partners."

I shrugged, thinking this was not an issue. I would have expected a woman of her perfection to have lots of experience.

She shook her head. "I don't even know how many, since I was very promiscuous when most of my friends were not interested in sex."

"Okay," I said again, shrugging this time. "I would be more concerned if you told me you were a virgin."

Aiko laughed. "Are you?"

I blushed. "No, but I'm not very experienced and it's been a while."

She nodded. We held each other in silence for a while before she kept talking.

"Second," Aiko said, "you should know that I'm a very jealous person. If we're going to be together, it's only us. I don't care about repopulating the world or some other garbage. I don't care about Mio, and I can't have children anyway because I have had an operation a few years ago to make that impossible."

I nodded. "Again, I'm not worried. I have never wanted children."

She smiled and leaned her head in against me again.

"Especially in this economy," I joked, "the yen is worth shit now."

"Stop it!" She laughed, "I'm being serious here."

I knew enough to stop while I was ahead.

After that, Aiko and I lay down on the bed, our bodies entwined. The soft glow of the moonlight filtered through the window, casting a gentle light on her face.

I could see exhaustion in her eyes, but also a determination I had come to admire.

"Hachiro," she whispered. "I want you to know that I'm in this with you, no matter what happens."

I felt a warmth spread through my chest. "I feel the same way, Aiko. I don't know what the future holds, but I know I want to face it with you."

Aiko leaned in closer. "We'll survive this together, I promise."

I felt a lump form in my throat as I looked into her eyes. "I promise you the same thing. No matter what happens, I'll always be there for you."

We held each other tightly, our hearts beating in sync as we made our promises to one another. I knew the road ahead would be difficult, but with Aiko by my side, I felt like I could face anything.

I leaned in and kissed her again, feeling a sense of peace as I did. For the first time in my life, I felt truly loved and alive.

It was crazy I had to die in order to find it.

"Do you remember the meteors?" she asked, her voice soft.

I nodded. "Only the blue one that hit my building and surged into me through my computer. Why?"

"Well the first ones caused the zombie outbreak," she said, her eyes filled with sadness. "They burned hot orange and red in the sky like normal meteors, only they apparently contained the airborne virus. It spread quickly all over the globe, infecting almost everyone it touched."

I shuddered at the thought. It was exactly what she had told me the first night, only in more detail.

"But what about the blue ones?" I asked.

I thought more about the backstories Aiko and Chiemi had discussed. Their experiences matched up with mine.

When she didn't respond immediately, I continued thinking out loud. "The blue ones seemed to target specific people like us."

Aiko nodded. "I've been thinking about that too. The blue ones only fell down upon survivors who seemed to be immune to the airborne virus."

We sat in silence for a moment, both lost in thought. We had no idea what this meant, but it couldn't be a coincidence.

"Why us?" I asked.

Aiko shook her head. "I don't know. Maybe we were just lucky."

I didn't believe in luck; at least not this type of luck. There had to be a reason why we had been hit by the blue meteorites, and why we still lived as humans when everyone else on the planet became zombies.

"Or maybe there's something more to it," I said, my mind racing with possibilities.

Aiko looked at me, her eyes filled with curiosity. "What do you mean?"

"Well, think about it," I said. "The blue ones only fell on survivors. Maybe they were some kind of protection, or maybe they gave us some kind of immunity."

Aiko considered this for a moment. "That's an interesting theory. But we were already immune. That's why we weren't zombies even before they hit us."

I shook my head. "I don't know. I'm just thinking here. Maybe there's something special about us. Maybe we have a purpose."

Aiko smiled. "I like that idea. It gives me hope."

I smiled back. "Me too."

We lay there in silence for a while longer, both lost in the possibilities.

I asked, "What do you think about the big numbers in the sky?"

She shook her head. "Maybe a spotlight?"

"I don't think so. It would have to be shining against something, like a cloud."

"Yeah," she answered, "that's right. I didn't think of it that way."

"Do you think it's a countdown?" I asked.

Her eyes sparkled with fear. "Of what? Days? It has only gone down by one and it's only been one day. That's basically a full year."

"Are we supposed to survive for a full year?"

She left the question unanswered for a while. We were both too afraid it was the truth.

"I don't know if we can," she said after a while. "And none of it matters if I lose you."

I smiled. "I can't believe we have each other to begin with. What if our purpose is to kill all the zombies?"

Aiko furrowed her brows. "There's billions of them on the planet. That's a lot of killing, and it doesn't answer the number question. What if our purpose is something simpler?"

I shrugged. "What do you mean?"

She looked at me, eyes filled with warmth. "What if our purpose is just to survive? To live our lives to the fullest, no matter what happens, for a full year."

I thought about it for a moment. It was a simple idea, but it resonated with me. Despite feeling impossible, so long as we were doing it together, I liked it.

"I like that," I said, smiling. "I think that's a purpose we can both agree on."

Aiko smiled back. "Me too."

"Hachiro?" she asked.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think we'll make it?"

I looked at her, my heart swelling with love. "I don't want to lie to you. Unless something changes, we don't stand much of a chance."

"I agree," she answered.

Aiko started crying again. I held her tightly for what felt like hours. When we were alone together she could be weak. It was okay. I would always see the strong and beautiful woman that she truly was.

"No matter what happens," I said, "I'll be there for you."

She understood. We held each other tightly, our hearts beating in sync as we shared our minds and bodies.