HA3 5.4 – Rainstorm
Several decades ago, Americ’s military issued a brand new sleeping bag. It was made of a thin and light heat insulation sheet, but it was very sturdy and water proof. Its full size was 2x1.2 meters, and the opening on its upper part could be turned into adjustable hood with transparent flap to cover your face.
The folk from walk-loving recce tribe loved this thin sleeping bag so much. The thin and light material enabled them to fold it into as thin as folded T-shirt. Most of all, if heavy rain hit them when they were in the middle of infil and they had to stop, they could find a bush and then lie down in the ground, silently nestling inside the sleeping bag along with their rucksack and weapon, and then took a short nap in turn.
In case there was no bush or other light cover, they could dig a shallow hole, and then let their body being submerged under the water, hugging their rifle while using their rucksack as pillow to ensure their face was slightly above the water surface. Usually they would also cover the flap on their face with natural camouflage to make it harder to spot.
Meanwhile, in artic environment where losing body heat could be fatal, this sleeping bag could save their life in case they couldn’t find shelter or had material to build it.
The only drawback was, because it was thin, if you used on top of hard ground without additional layer, it won’t be as comfortable as ordinary sleeping bag. For walk-loving recce folk it was not a problem. When they were only young and naive chick in recce training, they already got used to the joy of sleeping on hard ground without sleeping bag or even simple rolled mat.
However, the majority of military folks hated this thin sleeping bag. Some even called it as a lazy work from chain of command, who didn’t bother to put an effort in providing decent sleeping bag. And so, the thin sleeping bag was being scrapped from list of standard issue equipment shortly after its first birthday.
Some PX stores outside Americ still had it for a while before it was fully leaving this world. Then, in mid 2000s this thin sleeping bag found its way to the heart of hardcore outdoor lover, and then being reborn as commercial product and returned to this world.
Hide met with the commercial reincarnation of this thin sleeping bag when he was attending winter ranger course. A former Americ’s Green Beret who became guest instructor introduced it to the student in the course.
And now, he shared this very same thin sleeping bag with Aizawa. The two sat next to each other. Aizawa sat on her rucksack while Hide sat in the ground directly. This sitting set up would ensure they had same height level and could adjust the hood and the flap that cover their face with ease.
Inside the thin sleeping bag, it was warm and comfortable. Hide also chose a sleeping position where he and Aizawa could have the night view of downtown Nichiko unhindered. However, Aizawa had no time to enjoy it. Currently, she had some more pressing matter she had to worry.
FYUUUOUUU WOOOUUUUUU WOOOUUUU!!!
FLASH! FLASH! FLASH! FLASH!!!
BOOOOM!!!
RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE!!!
Aizawa face was as pale as white sheet, as she witnessed the raging rainstorm before her. Heavy downpours hit the ground mercilessly, howling wind whipped the trees tops, while lightning kept flashing in the dark sky above, followed by deafening rolling thunder.
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Only a few minutes after she entered the sleeping bag with Hide, rainstorm suddenly hit Nichiko and Uruba Hill was not an exception. A moment later, a strong water current from upper ground poured in into El Hola, before exiting to lower ground.
“B-Big Bro,” Aizawa said in a trembling voice. “C-an… Can we go home?”
“Are you afraid?”
“Mhm,” Aizawa firmly nodded. “This rainstorm is super-duper scary. It makes Aizawa super afraid.”
“Unfortunately,” Hide gently said. “It’s too dangerous to walk down the trail under this rainstorm.”
“B-but… will we be safe here?”
“We will.”
“Really?” Aizawa worriedly asked.
“Well, let’s check our situation,” Hide gently said. “We are not in the opening or right under a tree. We also already turned off our smartphone, so we won’t have to worry about lightning strike.”
“…”
“Next, we are inside a hole, so we won’t need to worry about falling tree. Our sleeping bag will also protect us from cold water and keep us warm.”
“…”
“Most of all, it’s already 20 minutes since the rainstorm hit us but we are still fine. We are not wet, cold, or injured.”
“But Aizawa is super afraid right now,” Aizawa weakly said.
“It’s normal to be afraid when you sit under rainstorm like this. Even adult will trembling in fear, but over reacting is more dangerous than the storm itself. It can lead you to fatal mistake.”
“It’s not over reacting. This rainstorm is super-duper scary,” Aizawa protested in low voice, and then pressed her lips together.
“Honestly, Big Bro is scared too,” Hide said. “But we really shouldn’t do anything right now. We can only wait until the storm die down on its own.”
“Is Big Bro really afraid right now?” Aizawa curiously asked.
“Yeah.”
After a moment of silence Aizawa weakly said, “Okay, let’s wait here then.”
Hide could tell Aizawa still had huge worry in her heart, but she didn’t ask him to take her home anymore, so a small bloomed in his lips. Then, Hide brought the conversation to another direction.
“How is your school? While we wait for the rainstorm to die down, you can tell Big Bro about your school.”
“Uhmmm…” Aizawa slightly tilted her head to the side.
Usually, when she had dinner with Hide, she would tell him about her day in the school. But previously, she was too busy enjoying the BBQ. It was very delicious while she was starving after all. Now, she finally remembered something she wanted to talk with Hide.
“Yesterday,” Aizawa said. “Kaede Sensei asked Aizawa to ask Daddy, when she can visit our house and talk to him.”
Question mark in an instant popped up in Hide’s forehead. “Do you know why Kaede Sensei wants to talk with Daddy?”
“Mhm,” Aizawa nodded. “Kaede Sensei wants to know Daddy’s opinion, if Aizawa play piano for Saturday evening mass in Saint Marry.”
“Is it the Saint Marry church where we put Emily’s urn?” Hide curiously asked.
“Yeah.” After a short pause Aizawa explained, “The student from high school section who usually plays piano for Saint Marry will graduate this year, so Kaede Sensei want to prepare her replacement.”
“And you are one of the candidates who will replace her?”
“The selection already took place, and Aizawa becomes the only candidate. The priest from Saint Marry also already agrees after he sees Aizawa’s plays.”
“Wait a second…” Hide creased his brows before turning his gaze to Aizawa. “Are you saying you will replace a high school student from final year to play piano in formal event?”
“Mhm,” Aizawa firmly replied.
“Don’t you study music only for about two months? Can you really replace someone who had been studying music for several years?”
“The priest and Kaede Sensei said that Aizawa’s plays is good enough, and Saturday evening mass is for elderly and children, so Aizawa will only play the simple version of church music.”
“I see.”
“But it will still give Aizawa a good experience of playing piano in front of audience.”
“So, if Daddy gives his permission, you will play piano for Saint Marry.”
“Mhm.” Aizawa gave Hide another nod. “And Kaede Sensei will accompany Aizawa.”
Hide recalled that back then, there was a huge scandal where some Catholic priests in Americ committed sexual crime against minor in their church. Maybe Kaede Sensei already put some precaution for this issue, but she still had to ask permission from the parent.
Other than that, there was also a concern about conversion to Christianity. For some people in Nikko, this was rather concerning matter and Hide was one of them. He highly valued a free and responsible mind after all.
After taking a deep breath Hide asked Aizawa, “Does the priest ask you to receive baptism under Catholic Church’ tradition before you can play piano in Saint Marry?”
“No, but some parents forbid their kid from becoming candidate because they worry the priest will baptism them in secret.”
“I see.”
“Big Bro, do receive a Catholic baptism is bad thing?”
“It’s hard to say if it’s a bad or good thing. There are lots of factors you need to weight over before you can draw a conclusion for it,” Hide casually said. “But, it’s not a secret that believer, including the ones from Catholic Church, can be very careless. When it comes to things closely related to their faith, believer tend to lose their reasoning too easily somehow.”
“How so?” Aizawa curiously asked.
“Well, let Big Bro give you an example.”
“Mhm,” Aizawa eagerly nodded.
*****
Author’s note:
I’m a Catholic by the way, and through this work I will bring a little bit of unknown perspective of Catholic Church. It’s only a bit and very random, but I guarantee it will deliver a meaningful experience with Catholic’s teaching, without touching the theological aspect.
Thank you and Best regards.