Chapter Seventeen: Realizations About Expectations

*When Serena stepped out of the bathroom, Hiiro was nowhere in their room. She sighed in relief. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to see him—in fact, she wondered where he had gone without any money or directions—but it was more that she had nothing on save a towel. In her haste to get to the shower and feel clean, she had left her change of fifties clothes in the room. It would have been so embarrassing if she had had to come out with Hiiro in the room!

Quickly she pulled on the bullet bra, which made her choke back a fit of laughter before she pulled it off and threw it aside. Some things were just better left in the fifties. Settling for the one the she had been wearing, she then pulled on the dress. It was actually a two-piece set: a simple powder blue, short sleeved, collared, button-up blouse, and a darker blue skirt that fitted her tiny waist and then flare out with the two layers of petticoats below it. On her feet went a pair of white bobby socks and white sneakers. She felt so clean! It was magnificent! Sitting on the bed, she began to brush her long hair, which was surprisingly almost dry. Just as she finished working out the tangles and was searching for the scarf she needed to tie it up in a ponytail, the door to the room opened and in walked Hiiro.

Instead of the army pants and shirt he had been wearing, he now wore a pair of simple blue jeans, a white t-shirt, and a black leather jacket. His shoes remained the same, and his hair was still wildly out of place, but nonetheless, it was a vast improvement. In his hands he carried two plates, filled to the brim with eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, and toast.

“Hungry?” He asked. She nodded, and Hiiro saw a glint in her eye. He knew she had to have been—she hadn’t eaten solid food for three months! For that matter, he couldn’t really claim the slop he had been eating in the camp had been solid food either. Shaking his head at his thoughts, he put the plates down on the small round table that sat off to the corner of the room and then opened the drapes. When he turned back around to finally sit and enjoy his meal, he was stopped dead in his tracks.

He had known she could clean up fairly well—he had seen that much when they had been in the German base the first time. But her transformation was incredible this time. She had gone from the dirtiest, filthiest woman he had ever seen to the cleanest, sweetest looking girl… The blue in her clothes made her bright blue eyes stand out, and her blonde bangs framed her face in a way that when the sun shined on them, they glowed with a golden sheen, highlighting her pale features with a delicate ethereal quality. And when she smiled just as she was… her entire face lit up with mirth and innocent amazement. The effect was, nonetheless, simply extravagant in his mind.

“Where did you get the food?” Serene asked Hiiro, smiling warmly.

“Huh?” He asked, bringing himself back down to reality. Focus!

“I asked where the food came from?” She repeated, sitting down graciously at the table, all the while trying to finish with her hair.

“Continental breakfast.” He muttered. “Leave it down.”

“I’m sorry?” She asked, a confused expression now playing on her face. Leave what down? Was he awake?

“I mean, leave your hair down. It’s…” Hiiro let himself trail off, but when he found himself under Serena’s expectant gaze, he felt his cheeks redden and was compelled to continue. “Nice. It’s nice.” The smile he earned was worth the embarrassment.

“Thank you.” She smiled politely. Then she placed the brush on the dresser beside her and turned back around. “Maybe I will. How did you know there was a continental breakfast?”

“I went looking for clothes and passed by the food.” Hiiro shrugged. “On my way back I picked some up.”

“Good thinking, I’m starving. Where’d you find the clothes?”

“The room below us.” Hiiro told her indifferently and busied himself with his eggs. Serena choked on her toast, both laughing and frowning at the same time.

“You stole them?” She gasped.

“Borrowed. Besides, I needed to fit in somehow.”

“We could have gone shopping.” She pointed out. Hiiro said nothing. “Oh well. At least they fit you.” She paused, and then started to laugh. He looked up wondering what the source of her amusement was.

“What?”

“I was just wondering how many other rooms you had to break into before you found a set of clothes that fit?” She laughed harder and Hiiro smirked.

“Four.” He told her shamelessly. She continued laughing for a while longer, and when the silence over took them, it was a comfortable, unstrained one.

“So Hiiro.” Serena asked as she finished the last bite of bacon on her plate. “What are we going to do now that we’re in the fifties? Was there someone you wanted to meet? A place you wanted to go?”

“Let’s take a walk.” He suggested. Serena frowned slightly.

“Hiiro? We’re in a small town, but there are still so many people out there. What if we get lost? Or run out of money? Maybe we should just stay here, nice and safe.”

“What was the point of coming to the fifties if we don’t go out and see it for our own eyes?” Hiiro asked her quietly. This wasn’t about getting lost, or running out of money. This was about her fear of humans. Even though he didn’t particularly enjoy or get along with the rest of humanity, he still held a small feeling of respect for them, and he certainly had no fear of them. She would have to overcome this sometime, and as the old saying went, there was no time like the present.

“Hiiro, why don’t you go? I’m a historian! I’ll tell you about things you can go and see, and you can go out and take a look!” She implored him. He shook his head.

“Come on, we’re going. It’s still early, only eight thirty. There won’t be many people out yet.”

“I don’t know…”

“I do. Let’s go.” He stood from the table and held his hand out to her. Still very unsure, Serena took hold of it and allowed him to help her up from the table. Once again his eyes briefly landed on the white bandages she had wrapped around her hands, but said nothing.

“Well, let me put my hair up then.” She finally gave in. He looked at her, questioning why with his eyes. “Long hair isn’t really in style, unless it’s up.” Quickly she manage to sweep her golden locks into a ponytail and tie them with a blue hair scarf, and then looked towards Hiiro for approval. When he nodded, she sighed. “Let’s go then.”

The streets of the small town were just coming to life as the couple walked silently down the street into the middle of town. Passing first the outskirt businesses of shoe repair and clocks and little antique shops, they gradually worked their way in, closer to the bigger and busier stores. Every so often a person would look up, noticing the two new people in town, and gaily wave hello, or smile and greet them with a giant ‘welcome’! Serena and Hiiro were slightly taken aback the first few times they received these attentions, but as they strolled, they found it to be more common and adjusted to accept it.

“People here are so friendly.” Serena whispered. Hiiro nodded.

“They are ignorant of what the future holds, and they don’t care to think about it.” He replied with a longing sigh hidden deep within his voice. This was what he had expected of the fifties. Everything was exactly as he had thought it might be. People were friendly, they were happy, and there was no war. Everything was perfect…

“They can’t not care to think about the future Hiiro.” Serena broke his reveling.

“Why not?” He asked, truly wanting an answer.

“Because. If they didn’t care to think about it, they wouldn’t be—”

“Stop.” He ordered her suddenly. She stopped, in the middle of a crosswalk, looking at his with her eyebrows raised. Hiiro felt a slight heat rise in his cheeks. “I didn’t mean stop walking, I meant stop talking.” The flush deepened when her jaw dropped. “I didn’t mean that either. What I meant was… I don’t really want to hear the answer. I just want to think that they don’t care.” With that clarification, he turned around and began walking once more.

Serena closed her mouth and continued walking, but kept her eyes trained on Hiiro’s back. When she caught up to him, she reached out and lightly grazed her fingertips against his arm. Taking hold of the sleeve of his leather jacket, she lightly tugged at it, trying to get his attention. When he finally dipped his gaze to acknowledge her, she began quietly.

“Why did you want to come to the fifties Hiiro?”

“Let’s look at town hall.” He brushed her question off. The blonde narrowed her eyes slightly.

“Hiiro, answer me. Why the fifties? What was the purpose? Was there a purpose?” Her voice became higher, and more heated. He knew she was getting bolder with her personal questions, but he couldn’t answer them…

“What is humanity’s purpose? When you can tell me that, I’ll tell you why I wanted to come.”

“That’s not fair!” She whined. “That is a question scholars, historians, and philosophers have been trying to answer for thousands of years—and you want me to answer it?”

“Yes.”

“Hiiro…” She shook her head as he led them up the clean, red brick steps of the town hall. Into the old fashioned doorway they walked, through a small lobby and then he paused.

“When you can answer my question, I’ll answer yours.” He finalized his proposition. Serena huffed slightly, and his eyes lightened watching the motion she was displaying. On the whole she was a very quiet, gentle person who usually melded into the background and stayed that way until people forgot she was there. But he knew, he could see, that when she was near him, she trusted him enough to open up and be louder and more opinionated than usual. And when she was like that, when she had that fire… He couldn’t help the fact that it forced him to rise to the occasion.

“Welcome to Hooperville, are you two new in town?” A cheerful man walked up to them and politely offered his hand to Hiiro.

“Yes.” Hiiro nodded, taking the hand. “We arrived yesterday.”

“How nice to have visitors! I’m Tom Smith, the Mayor of Hooperville.” Hiiro gave the man a look over. He was shorter and clean-cut, with a pressed gray suit on over a white collared shirt. His graying hair was slicked over to one side of his head with a drastic part, but his warm smile and revealed pearly white teeth in a straight row. The perfect man to have as a Mayor. Well seasoned, kind, welcoming, and probably had a good, strong, work ethic.

“Hiiro Yui.” Hiiro gave him his name.

“And who is this lovely young woman?” Smith asked, giving Serena a happy smile. She shied back behind Hiiro, trying to hide her body behind his as best she could. Unfortunately, Hiiro grabbed her elbow and squeezed, making her jump out into the open. She frowned at the smirk he wore on his thin lips, then turned to the man on front of them. Bowing her head and gluing her eyes to floor, she muttered a quick hello and her name. Knowing quite well that her cheeks were red, she then wrenched her arm free of Hiiro’s hold and stepped behind him.

“Serena’s a very lovely name.” The man nodded, shooting Hiiro an understanding smile. “How long will you folks be staying with us?”

“We’re not sure.” Hiiro told him, smoothly lending his voice to a more normal and natural tone. “We’re still tired from traveling.” Behind him, he could hear Serena cough to hide a giggle, and he himself smirked. Travel? More like tired from being prisoners in World War Two…

“In any case, however long you were planning to stay, I hope you enjoy your visit here. Hooperville is a nice, quiet little town where everything runs pretty much the same every day. It’s a nice change from that faster paced city life.”

“That’s just what we were looking for.” Hiiro offered the man a smile.

“Well, I have to get back to work. Lots to do you know… I hope you and Serena have a nice day.”

“Thank you.” Hiiro nodded. When he was sure the man was out of earshot, he turned to Serena, who was still hiding behind him. “Not so bad, was it? He didn’t bite.”

“He didn’t have to. No man is that friendly to people he’s just met.”

“Maybe they are here, in the fifties.” Hiiro shrugged. Serena just shook her head.

“Men have been men as long as they have walked on two legs. Human nature isn’t going to change all that much simply because you’ve stepped a thousand years or so into the past. Even human development takes millions of years to evolve… people can’t change that easily.”

“I didn’t say people. I said that one man.”

“One man, one people.”

“Stereo-type.”

“Hypocrite. You think the same way Hiiro, you know it.”

“I agree, human are animals, and their nature won’t change simple because of a trip back in time a few thousand years. What I am saying is that at least I’m not afraid of those animals.”

“That’s not fair. You’re trained to fight, to be strong. It doesn’t matter whether or not you’re scared of them, because even if you were, you’d still be able to defend yourself against them.”

“I’m here. I’ll defend you.”

“What happens when you aren’t here anymore?” She challenged. Hiiro was caught. So, instead if answering Serena, tuned in the radio that was playing on the desk nearby.

“Who is Senator McCarthy?” He asked her; avoiding the piercing looks she was shooting his direction.

“McCarthy? He stirred up a bunch of trouble called the Red Scare… people actually came to believe there were communists in the American government.”

“What’s wrong with that?” Hiiro narrowed his eyes in confusion.

“Well, this is the fifties. Communism is the enemy of the free world. Let’s face it… no matter how sound communism is in theory, it just doesn’t work when applied to a government. Human nature is greedy, and when people are given power the way they are in a communist government, it’s bound to happen that someone will take advantage of it, abuse it, and hurt the rest of the people in the process.”

“I’m not disagreeing. What I’m asking is why it was a problem for free people to believe in something they wanted to believe in?”

“That is why McCarthy is wrong.” Serena shook her head. “You and I know it. People in the future will know it. But now, in the here and present? All people see is their old enemies, the Chinese, the Russians, the Germans to some extent, all as communist. Of course they’re going to believe that communists are all bad.”

“Alright. Explain the Red Scare to me.” Hiiro sighed.

“McCarthy accused people of being communist, and then put them on trial. The trials were broadcast, yada, yada, yada, and the whole country was in over night panic that someone they knew would be accused, list them as a communist and then they would be put on trial.”

“The fifties are not supposed to have fear like this. The fifties are supposed to be an ideal time, no conflicts.”

“It isn’t a conflict, per say, just social unrest and a waive of rights. And it ends in another year or so.”

“People are still scared. People are still panicking.” Hiiro shook his head, frowning. “This was not how the fifties were supposed to be.”

“Nothing is ever the way it was supposed to be. Come on, I don’t want to listen to this trial anymore. It’s too… weird.”

“Alright. Food?”

“Starved.” Serena smiled.

“You’re always hungry.” He grunted, letting a small smirk grace his lips before he sobered up.

“So are you.” She pointed out. “Come on, wasn’t there a diner a block or so down the street?” Serena began walking out the door, Hiiro in tow.

“Yeah.” He replied; mind and heart still set on thinking about McCarthy and his Red Scare.

“Papers! Get your papers! Headline daily news! New study shows cancer can be cured with nuclear power! Get your paper!” A boy, who looked like he was just barely out of school, called from a street corner. “Hey mister! Come and get your copy of the paper! New York Times!” Hiiro looked at the boy, and then nodded. He could read about something else in the world, something that would make him feel better. Giving the boy a coin and taking a paper, he looked over the headline.

“Nuke Kills Cancer.” He read aloud. Serena peered over his arm at the black and gray print.

“ ‘Renowned scientists claim that the other day tests showed positive results that nuclear power can kill the disease called cancer. The cells that are effected are neutralized by the high intensity of the…’” She trailed off. “This is so funny…” She finally shook her head in amazement. “They sure were innocent in these days… or are innocent.”

“Doesn’t radiation kill cancer?” Hiiro asked. He had thought this was a good headline.

“Yes… radiation does, when used in small dosages for short amounts of time. These people are talking nuclear power… it’s a whole different ballgame. They made a lot of patients very ill treating them with nuclear power before they discovered it actually did more harm than good.”

“What about testing regulations? They didn’t test it before it went out on the markets?” Serena shook her head.

“Couldn’t. They didn’t have the regulations we have in the future for testing drugs first. Plus, this was a government ploy to get people excited about being able to use nuclear power.”

“We don’t have nuclear weapons in the future.” Hiiro mussed. “They disarmed them in AC 113; because they were worried that having them would cause more tension between the brand new Alliance government.”

“They caused lots of tension in the past, I see no reason not to believe that.”

“We do, however, still use nuclear power. It’s what keeps the generators going in the colonies and resources satellites. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be enough power to keep them on rotation and orbit, their gravity would be thrown off of le grange point, and they would go spinning into space.”

“I don’t know anything about that. All I know is that people in the fifties are very worried about the A-bomb, as it’s affectionately called. Russia has the capability, as does the United States. In fact, the U.S. just used theirs for the first time during World War Two. Now people are worried other countries will use them as retaliation.”

“Diplomacy would be used first, of course?”

“Of course diplomacy would be considered… But hotheaded political leaders often times can make life-changing decisions without consulting anyone. It really all depends on the circumstances…Sometimes those leaders—”

“Can revert to more animalistic attributes, become greedy, selfish, and impatient, and fire one bomb, thus killing thousands instantly.”

“Exactly. Hiiro, look at this!” Serena pointed out a store window as they walked by it. A tiny model was built. Constructed to look like it was made of concrete, the model show a one-room cellar, stocked to the brim with food and supplies. There were mini flashlights, a radio, water, oxygen masks, and helmets. As Serena gazed in wonder at the tiny replica, Hiiro read the title of the piece.

“ ‘Bomb Shelters: Are You Prepared?’”

“What?” Serena looked at him confused.

“That’s what this sign says. It’s bomb shelter. People think that these will protect them?” He snorted. “They should save their money. They’d be dead before they could get into them.”

“No one said the fifties had logic in them.”

“The fifties are supposed to be a serene, quiet, peaceful time. Instead we get communist accusations, insane senators, nuclear power, bomb shelters… This was not in mission parameters.” He frowned darkly, and his voice became cold and unfeeling. Even his muscles were visibly more taut than they had been seconds earlier.

“What were ‘mission parameters’ exactly?” Serena asked, narrowing her eyes. This was some sort of mission? For what? Who had sent Hiiro, and why?

“That isn’t what I meant…” He shook his head. “I meant this wasn’t what I had expected from the nineteen-fifties.” When his shoulders slumped and the darkness in his voice dropped away, Serena’s intense gaze melted as well. She placed her hand on his shoulder, and squeezed gently, trying to comfort him.

“Nothing is ever what it seems to be Hiiro. To all appearances the fifties seem perfect. People look clean cut, they look happy, they look healthy. But the fifties were an era of fear, of tiredness, of consumerism and waste. On the outside, sure, society is perfect. But even the most perfect things have to have some flaws.”

“Not the fifties.” Hiiro shook his head in denial. “The fifties were perfect. The are perfect.”

“Let’s go back to the hotel Hiiro. I’m not so hungry anymore.” The catatonic pilot gave a nod in consent, and allowed Serena to begin dragging him away, back towards the safety of their hotel room, where everything looked perfect from the outside of the world. *