"Ah my precious Mary-chan, you're so wonderful."
I pressed my cheek against my lovely Mary-chan. Ahhh, she's so perfect with her smooth, armor black cerakote slide and her tin barrel peaking behind the custom portal cuts... She makes the most perfect snap and click after each shot. Her cold body was warmed just after a few rounds down at the range.
My hands trembled with literal joy as I held her close.
"You certainly love that thing, kid."
Alex, one of the American friends I made at the gun range, spoke out to me. His head shone as brightly as the gun he was polishing on his lap.
He was bulky and a bit heavyset.
It would be easy to assume he must be some sort of veteran, but he's too enthusiastic and smiles too much to have been someone that went through boot camp drills.
He had on a thick green military-like vest. It was puffy and it was likely filled with all sorts of stuff.
Maybe he did hunting? Maybe he fished?
He smiled at me, bright and toothy as he addressed me.
I must have had the same weird smile on my face.
But it just couldn't be helped in the presence of my Mary-chan.
I turned back to Bloody Mary, my wonderful perfect amazing super customized Glock 21. Even before it was legal for me to buy her, I knew exactly what I wanted for years beforehand. I had bought all the customized parts bit-by-bit.
The day I finally got her body and put her together...
It was probably the same feeling brides have when they get married.
"Well you can't get this sort of thing in Japan, you know. It takes forever to get a license for a shotgun, and handguns are absolutely prohibited."
"It's not like you lived there long, did you? Your English is like a goddamn natural."
He was right. As a navy brat I was able to live with my mom in Japan while my dad worked overseas. But at some point we moved back to America with him.
Mom told me countless stories about how handsome and cool my dad was. He was a Sub-Lieutenant when they first met. It was some sort of shared allied drill Japan and America were having. She worked a bakery by the waters and she said he stopped by every single day to see her.
It was frowned upon by her family, but love won in the end.
By the time we moved to America, I already spent all my time learning about America and the navy. There was just something so cool about ships, sure, but I was more interested in the guns. Japan bans them, sure, but almost every photo of my father-in-uniform had him holding a gun by his side.
He looked so cool.
Combine all that with a childhood full of cool tokusatsu tv shows, and you get me:
A nineteen-year-old, half-American/half-Japanese gun otaku whose best friend is a thirty-four-year old gun nut he met at the range.
"Up until I was thirteen, actually. We have to learn a bit of English in Japan too, but my mom taught me a lot on her own."
Alex patted his vest pocket as he turned to address me. I could hear the rattling of bullets in there.
"Ain't the only thing you're a natural with, Shigure! That's some shooting! You could give me a run for my money and I'm using a rifle!"
"That's not so hard to believe, considering you're still using that beat up Winchester 1894."
"Hey don't knock an heirloom kid. I'll tell you h-what, this was made off the same line as Eisenhower's old lady as well. This could knock out a section of a wall if ya ain't careful."
He slaps me on the back and laughs loudly.
Oi, you're strong, you know that?
The only exercise I get is paintball on the weekends.
His bear like strength almost knocks the wind out of me, but I keep my composure.
A chuckle, as forced as it is, escapes my lips as I stand up.
Holstering my sweet Mary-chan back into her cozy home, I turn back towards Alex.
"I've got to run some errands back home. See you next week?"
"Ahahaha, as if you could resist coming back. I'll see you in two days, tops!"
I sigh.
...He's right, but he didn't have to say it like that.
I can't really afford spending like a dollar a round as much as I do. I barely make the money at my part-time job. But Mary-chan uses .45 ACPs and those are expensive, you know? My lady is high maintenance and demanding of my wallet.
Mary-chan's cooling body pressed against mine, however, reminds me it's all worth it.
Before I fully left the basement of the shooting range, I turned to inspect myself in a nearby mirror.
It's me, Enomoto Shigure.
Height, 5ft., 10 in. Weight, 157 lbs. Shaggy black hair, green eyes. Style: fantastic. Looks: pretty decent if I say so myself.
Yeah, still looked the same.
I'm grateful for my American father, who was built like a tall brick. I don't know if I would've been this tall if I was fully Japanese.
I adjusted the black strap across my chest, which was part of Mary-chan's body holster, and grabbed my long black coat from off the nearby rack.
The stairwell door gave way as I pushed it open, ready to ascend and leave.
Ready to head on home.
But as I stepped forward, expecting there to be ground below my feet, instead I caught nothing and found myself falling into endless darkness below.
I turned quickly to look behind me.
From where I was, through the door I had fallen through, an explosion rang out and the world I had come from was bathed in light.
==Darkness==
I don't know how long I fell.
Somewhere in the distance of the darkness there were explosions.
They sounded like bombs.
It was dark, but I could tell there were bright lights sounding off wherever I wasn't.
Did that make sense?
The door I had fallen through had long since twinkled out, much like a star that slowly faded out into nothing.
Was everyone okay?
What happened?
How long have I been falling?
There was an explosion... So was I dead?
Was this just my brain processing the last moments of my death?
Did... something, someone, take pity on me?
Was I saved while all the friends I made, while Alex, was left to die?
I reached under my coat and pressed a hand against Mary-chan.
At least she was still here with me.
Wherever I was, at least I had her.
"Ahh, with you here, I feel I can take on the world."
"Though that might not be long, Mary-chan."
My lips moved as I continued to speak, just to give sound to my ceaseless fall.
"I had it all set, y'know? Get a part-time job at the gun-store. Maybe go into the marines. The navy seemed cool and all, but they don't get to handle guns like they do. Become some kind of quartermaster or something. Do the marines have quartermasters? They should. Maybe I could've gone to some faraway land, somewhere back across the water. Maybe meet some foreign girl like father did."
...Not like any of that was going to happen now.
Well, it might not have happened anyways, but at least there was always a chance.
Instead I was trapped here, alone, with nothing but my thoughts, my coat, and my Glock 21, Mary-chan, by my side.
At the very least I had an out.
With those thoughts milling about in my head, I fell into a fitful sleep.
All while falling through the darkness of infinity.
-----------------
Glossary
Tokusatsu - A genre of television drama typically depicting science fiction and fantasy. Most known for Sentai shows (Power Rangers in America) and Kamen Rider.
Otaku - A rough parallel to being called a 'nerd' or 'geek' in Japanese, but more tightly associated with 'overenthusiastic obsession.'