A Wholesome Night Together

It seemed unlikely that Zhou Lizhi was lying about the Tikhonov issue. More than anything else, her words were consistent with logic. Chiang Kai-shek casually handed a sword to Barbara Tikhonov at the entrance ceremony. Even at 100 years old, Chiang was still vigorous. His Chinese pronunciation was flawless, indicating that there was no problem with his mental health.

If there’s one thing I felt after meeting him, it’s that it’s impossible to attempt behind-the-scenes politics or seize control of the government and act tyrannically against the current Chiang Kai-shek. The large-scale purge of Central Executive Committee members that occurred in the Chinese government this time must have been Chiang Kai-shek’s own will. It’s reasonable to consider the Tikhonov issue as Chiang Kai-shek’s own will as well.

China and the Soviet Union are up to something. Should I approach Tikhonov herself? Or… should I indirectly probe Tikhonov’s thoughts through someone else?

…If so, there’s only one person to approach. It’s not an extremely urgent matter, so let’s slowly find the answer.

I bowed my head to Zhou Lizhi and returned to the dormitory to wrap up the day. Inside the room, Briar Churchill was wildly playing an electric guitar she had obtained from somewhere.

“Ah, it’s noisy.”

I covered my ears as I entered the room. Hearing me come in, Briar Churchill stopped playing the guitar and looked at me.

“Oh, you’re back?”

“Where did you get the guitar from when you didn’t even leave the school… Have you given up on the violin?”

“The principles are all similar. And I like this one better. For now.”

“What sudden wind blew your way?”

“This instrument makes a sound like it’s screaming.”

She’s protesting again that her heart is in pain. It’s really annoying that I can’t say anything because I’m the culprit. I opened the bathroom door to take care of business, feeling slightly irritated.

“The violin also makes a sound like a woman screaming, so it’s all the same.”

“I agree. But the scream of the electric guitar is more masculine. Yes, this suits expressing my feelings better. I’ll burn it when I’m done playing. With true rock spirit!”

“Do you even know rock?”

“I don’t know much! But it’s all roughly the same, right!”

“Performances are only meaningful when done in front of people, Bri. If it’s a performance just for me alone, I’m disappointed. Do you think I’ll bat an eye at that?”

“Ah, you’re right.”

Briar Churchill took off the guitar she had slung over her shoulder and leaned it against the wall. When I came out of the bathroom after taking care of business, she was sitting on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling and muttering incomprehensible nonsense.

“Right. I’ve lived my life too comfortably. The reason I became a fighter who keeps hearing about talent, talent, but never actually produces a proper work. I get it. I lacked pain. It’s the best material. What prevented her love? The infamous playboy who taught love to an arrogant lady. The nobleman who falls in love with a prostitute makes passionate courtship to her, but the prostitute carelessly makes other women pregnant and repeatedly does trashy things like denying that they’re her children…”

“I’ve never done that.”

“No, part of it is a scenario. It was like I was going to write lyrics with that kind of scenario feeling.”

“Don’t mix fact and fiction so cleverly. Troublesome things happen. If a star lyricist’s lyrics are too realistic, fans and the public persistently try to find the original motif. You know how that turns out, right?”

“Seven parts truth, three parts fiction.”

“Where did you learn such a saying? No, that’s not the issue, at least leave out the pregnancy.”

“But that’s the cliché! Unless it’s a villain who casually fathers illegitimate children left and right, it’s not an adequate explanation for the pain I’m suffering!”

“And the setting doesn’t match either. You said last time that you feel the pain of a man, right? Why is the concept in the lyrics going towards a ‘woman’ who’s been rejected?”

Hearing my words, Briar Churchill clapped her hands. She laughed loudly, holding her stomach.

“Right, that’s it! That’s exactly it! I knew something was off, and that’s where I was wrong. Then let’s go with this. But even before I met her, in her womb was the child of an unknown man…”

“Please stop, it’s adding to the misunderstanding about me…”

“…But I accept the woman carrying an unknown man’s child, and far in the future, the born child realizes that the date of their birth doesn’t match the date when their parents first met…”

She’s fallen into her own world. Judging by her attire, it seemed she had already finished bathing and preparing for bed before I came in. Her nonsensical talk and the sleep-talking she does when she falls asleep. Since it was all the same, I turned off the bedroom light at my discretion and lay down on the bed. Churchill also stopped muttering when I turned off the light and lay down on the bed.

As was my habit, I tried to stay awake with my eyes open, not falling asleep before Churchill. I didn’t want to mutter Mayumi’s or anyone else’s name in my sleep again. I had casually dated quite a few women for missions. I didn’t want to utter the name of any of them in my sleep.

…Somehow, I don’t think I’d sleep-talk about any woman’s name other than Mayumi’s.

After lying down and quietly staring into the darkness for about 10 minutes, I didn’t hear any singing from beside me. I called out to Churchill.

“Briar.”

“…”

“Briar.”

“…What?”

“It’s quiet. Can’t you sleep?”

“…Tonight is the last chance, right?”

Churchill said. I knew what she meant and answered.

“No.”

“What?”

“Even if you’re later than Zhou Lizhi, you can’t be faster than the women I’ve already been intimate with. If you say this is the last chance, it means you never had a chance to begin with.”

“…No. It’s still different in meaning. The Major and I are here at the same time. Those lovers in your memory and Zhou Lizhi who can walk in front of me anytime are different. So, it is the last chance.”

I turned towards her. Even in the dark bedroom, I could faintly see the outline of the Maestro looking this way with the blanket over her head.

“That might be true, Churchill. So? Shall we do it? Want to try?”

“…You know I’m a woman too weak to dare to challenge. It’s the weakness of mine that you exposed.”

“That’s why I’m saying this. Even from that perspective, you never had a chance to begin with. Being too weak to seize the opportunity can also be said to be having no chance.”

“Still, I’ll gather my courage and ask one thing.”

“Yes. Go ahead.”

“Will you… come over here?”

She slightly lifted the blanket, opening the gap towards me. It was too dark to see clearly, but her usual gown that had been covering her body… was not visible.

She was either wearing nothing or just underwear. Different from her usual sleeping attire.

“…What do you mean?”

“Even if I lack the courage to go further than that. I can at least share the blanket. That’s possible. That’s… possible for me too. Right now, even. Even tonight.”

“Should I undress too?”

“That’s up to you. But I… I… I’m not sure.”

I sighed and raised my upper body on the bed. Then, I slowly started unbuttoning the pajamas covering my body. In the extremely quiet and dark bedroom. I heard Briar Churchill gulp, as if swallowing her saliva.

“Sleeping with you will be tiring. It means I have to listen to that noisy sleep-talking while stuck close to you.”

“I’ll fall asleep later. When your breathing becomes regular, only then will I sleep.”

“I don’t want to let you hear my sleep-talking again.”

“It’s okay about Mayumi. I told you. The only one I care about is Zhou Lizhi.”

“Even so, I don’t want to.”

“Then, I’ll fall asleep as soon as I hear your breathing.”

Churchill’s tone was almost pleading. I, who was already planning to comply with such a small request from her, had already taken off my pajama top and carelessly thrown it on the bed.

I quietly crept into the gap in the blanket that Churchill had widened. Her body heat drew closer, and her skin touched mine.

I felt that she had already taken off even her underwear. I whispered.

“Promise me. If it seems like I’ve fallen asleep, you’ll go to sleep right away too.”

“…Okay. I got it.”

That night passed like that. She put her arm over my body, and my arm wrapped around her bare waist. The waist below her excessively voluptuous breasts was so thin it seemed unable to bear their weight, but its soft touch was as cozy as the chest right above it.

My fingers dug into her side, and her arm was heated up hotter than her usual body temperature under the blanket.

But the night really passed like that. Surprisingly, nothing happened.

As we both had expected.

Briar Churchill’s nature couldn’t keep up with her impatient heart.