"You've been through a lot", Anton who was listening to Hiro's story said to him.
"Feeling pity?", Hiro asked him as he grinned.
"Many become MECHA pilots for pride and the pay it gives.", Hiro continued.
"Don't degrade yourself like that, Hiro.", Anton told him.
"Yeah", Hiro replied and continued, "I must go now, I have some errands to run or Alma will kill me."
"Did you get married, Hiro? If so, congratulations."
"No, I didn't."
"But this person you call Alma. You seem to have a special kind of connection with her."
"What do you mean?"
"Most of the time you talk about Alma. It's as if you are in love with her."
"Really?"
"Think again."
"Sorry bro, I gotta go."
"Ok, then."
Hiro got up and started walking.
"Also, Hiro.", Anton called out to him.
"What is it?", Hiro asked turning back casually.
"Happy Birthday in advance".
Hiro smiled at his words saying, "Thank you".
Hiro went back to Macross district as dusk almost ended and the sky was orange in colour. He went to benches near the statue which were kept in a circular pattern.
He sat on a bench and looked at the statue of Robert. He looked at the statue muttering, "Why did you have to leave this quickly?"
"I saw Hiro cry for the first time that day."
Alma said that to Yuki. Yuki was speechless. Neither did she try to tell anything back nor could she find any words to tell her. Alma continued the story.
"That oath wasn't the only part of his conviction."
"What?", Yuki asked her.
"After the first stampede, when the attacking RIORS died down, he also suffered a lot"
In the end of first stampede, where Robert sacrificed his life to save Macross district. The government quickly replaced it with other pillars. His sacrifice was honored by many. They had the feeling of rioting against the Monarchy on the decision but it might cause them damage as well. People went through crisis at that time and the upcoming lord who was Robert's younger brother, Henry was an incompetent lord who was self-centered and greedy.
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In the aftermath of the stampede, many had lost their family, property and a proper place to live.
The lord who took Robert's place could care less about how the people suffered since they were commoners or peasants.
The Rescue Squad itself had arrived late.
'The Rescue Squad', are soldiers composed of both Noble people and Commoners. Anyone could enter it and their main line of work was to save people who were stuck in disaster irrespective of being a higher-class or a lower class person.
"Being beside the corpse of the late lord, me and Hiro were taken for interrogation by the rescue squad who arrived late."
Alma and Hiro were beside Robert's corpse and were taken into custody under the suspicion of killing him. The rescue squad interrogated him in a humble manner, since they were also commoners but were late due to being trapped inside Weiss district.
"So you're name is Hiro, right?"
"Yes, Sir."
"So, how did the lord, Robert die."
"He died due to injuries of being under the rubble.", Hiro claimed.
"So you did not kill him."
"Yes, I didn't"
The person didn't seem to believe him and reiterated the question.
"So do you atleast know what he said before he died?"
"Sir, we have received the post-mortem reports.", another rescue squad member.
The member who was interrogating him looked at the reports.
He asked the other member, "Are the reports true?"
"Yes, they haven't been altered and it has been done under the supervision of me and the captain.", the other member replied.
The one who was interrogating sighed and looked at Hiro saying, "Sorry, kid for having my suspicion on you."
He questioned Hiro, "Did Mr. Brown say anything to you before he died?"
"He made me do an oath.", Hiro replied.
"Can you elucidate it to me".
Hiro showed his right palm to them which was tied with bandage
"It was a blood oath which he made do. It was for me to become a MECHA pilot."
"Ohh", the person who interrogated him said and started laughing with the one who was beside him.
"Hahaha", the both of them laughed while looking at Hiro.
"Do you think, we commoners can really become MECHA pilots?", He asked Hiro while laughing at him.
"If everything is done, can I leave.", Hiro asked the member.
"Yeah, you can go. Do you need anyone to escort you, pilot?", he replied in a mocking tone towards Hiro.
Hiro left the room and soon looked at the time. It was 8:45 at night. He was tired and Alma walked upto him from behind.
"Boo.", She whispered in his ears.
Hiro was stunned and looked behind to see it was Alma.
"So, it was just you."
"Yeah."
"I need to go back home.", Hiro said to her and started walking. Alma walked a meters behind him.
"Hey, tell me", she directed the words towards Hiro.
"What is it?", Hiro replied as if he were irritated.
"Are you really gonna become a MECHA pilot and fulfill the oath.", she asked him.
"I must, I have to.", Hiro replied.
"Do you think a commoner can become a MECHA pilot?", she asked him.
"I will be the very first commoner then.", he replied and continued, "Aren't you gonna laugh as well?"
"Why should I?", she asked him.
Hiro was surprised at her words and turned back to her.
"Mister Hiro", a voice called out to him and Hiro looked in the direction as he was about to look at Alma. When Hiro looked at the direction of the voice, a crowd gathered in front of him.
Hiro and Alma were kind of scared at the large group of people in front of them.
A person from the crowd came in front of Hiro and asked him, "You were the last one to talk with the lord aren't you?"
"Yes.", he replied.
"Did he say any of his last words to you?", the person asked him.
"Umm", Hiro was tensed to say his last words.
"Please tell it, his words could be our last hope to rebuild ourselves."
Hiro stayed silent and Alma walked upto him whispering in his ear, "Don't take it too badly on yourself, Hiro. Nobody will laugh at your oath. Especially if its an oath with the lord."
Hiro listened to her carefully and moved slightly forward, taking a deep breath. Hiro inhaled deeply and exhaled.
"The lord's final words were for us to celebrate today as it was the first time humanity had triumphed against a stampede."
"What do you mean?", the person from the crows asked him.
"It was exactly as I told, we should celebrate today as the day where humanity survived a stampede as the monsters and then send the lanterns upwards.", Hiro replied.
"Is it really true.", the person asked him.
"Well, the part where he wanted us to celebrate was true but to send the lanterns to respect the fallen who lost the lives to the RIORS are my words.", Hiro said.
Hiro lied as he breathed, it was either out of his insecurity and fear or his concern for the people of the district. Hiro couldn't understand his motive himself. Hiro was guilt-ridden over the words he said.
"I am sorry for lying, I just wanted people to honor this day where you sacrificed your life as a heroic tale, to be celebrated as a festival."
"So, then, let us celebrate the sacrifice today. Where our lord's sacrifice will be remembered in our hearts.", the person who came to Hiro cried to the crowd.
He continued, "Today, because of our lord's heroic sacrifice, we can see the sunrise tomorrow. It was all because of him that we live. We must move forward as celebrate today to show the world that we survived."
"The day he died shall be the day that a new hero should be born. His lgave up his life to save the lives of many. Thus, we who live because of our lord today shall show that the people in this district had a single lord and his name was Robert de Brown."
The crowd yelled in excitement, they cheered the idea and began screaming the slogan "We had, have and will have one lord"
It was the slogan which claimed that Robert was the only lord they had, they have and will be only lord they respect.
The slogan spread like fire in a forest i.e., wildfire, throughout the district and the people were screaming the slogan in the district before they sent out the lanterns.
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"Wait, so Hiro was the one who started this festival?", Yuki asked her.
"Yes, it all happened right in front of me.", She replied.
"Wait, wait. It is really hard to get to it. Do you how much ruckus would it cause in the district if anyone heard this?", she told to Alma.
"Actually, nothing would happen if leak the truth. The people just think that you were slightly confused.", she replied.
"Really?", she wondered.
"Well, back to the story.", Alma said.
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Back to seven years ago, after the heated atmosphere there with the slogans and stuff. Hiro and Alma were walking beside each other trying to stay away from the atmosphere there.
"Have you eaten anything?", Alma asked him.
"No."
"Well, follow me."
Alma took Hiro to an abandoned hotel. It wasn't destroyed in anyway or so. It seemed as though the RIORS didn't attack this place.
"Do you know this place?", Hiro asked Alma.
"Actually, I regularly visit this place.", She replied.
"Well, I am seeing it for the first time and it seems as though any RIOR didn't attack it."
"This place was run by an elderly couple.", She said.
"What?"
"They died in the stampede right in front of me.", she said.
"I'm sorry."
"This place wasn't pretty famous, it had delicacies from the upper class but many people didn't come here because it exists in the back alley.", she said and dragged Hiro inside.
The interior was beautiful, it had an exquisite and an exotic look.
"Did a place like this really exist in Macross district?", Hiro asked her.
"I know, this feels different right. The interior feels different from exterior.", She replied.
There weren't any corpses or there wasn't any smell of rotten food.
Alma went to kitchen and looked at the storage where the food was kept. Hiro walked upto her and stopped her, holding her arm saying, "Stop, you don't know what kind of food might be infected with the RIOR's fluids."
Alma shook his arm and took out some ingredients from the freezer showing it to him. Hiro was surprised looking at the ingredients. They were fresh.
"Wait, but how?", Hiro asked her.
"The RIORS ignored a few places which didn't have humans and this was place was one of them.", she replied and continued, "Now go to the hall, I'll cook something."
Hiro went the main hall where there were tables. He saw that the place was truly empty. The furnishing seemed brand new and exquisite. He wondered about how a couple could maintain a large place like this. He noticed a pair of stairs in the hall which were upwards.
"Now that I think about it, wasn't this building two-storey?", he thought.
Hiro climbed the stairs and saw a couple of rooms there. He opened the door and saw that there was an exotic interior within the room. It had a rich and comfy looking bed with a large lamp on a double drawer beside it which were attached a window. It had a rich carpet on the floor and had the fragrance which would please anyone entering it.
"Uhhm", a sound came to Hiro from behind.
Hiro turned behind and was scared to see it was Alma.
Alma smiled, hiding the anger behind her smile saying, "Ohh, can you tell me, what can be more interesting in a room than eating your food?"
"Nothing.", he replied.
Alma was happy at his and both of them went downwards to the hall and ate the food.
After eating the food, Alma collected the plates which he and Alma ate on and went to kitchen.
"Say, Alma, why don't we spend the night here?", Hiro suggested.
The plates in Alma's hands fell down as Alma got flustered at his words.
"What are you suggesting so suddenly?", she asked him.
Hiro himself got embarrassed and said, "No, I mean, its gotten pretty late. Why don't stay in here, in separate rooms. I mean like that."
Both of them regained their composure and Alma went to the kitchen after taking the plates.
Alma was flustered the whole time at Hiro's words. Her imagination ran wild.
Meanwhile, Hiro went to the room which he saw. Alma came into the room and Hiro was slightly flustered to see her.
"Alma, thank you for being by my side even now."
"No need.", Alma said it and she smiled and hugged Hiro.
"Its sad I know. You know Hiro I have observed you since the evening. Don't hold back your tears."
"Alma...", Hiro said those words as tears ran through his eyes and he hugged Alma tightly. He broke down into tears. Alma caressed his head slowly.
"Now, now. I am there for you. Be happy.", she said to him in a calm tone.
The both of them then fell asleep slowly as Hiro hugged Alma.
The next day, both were embarrassed to look at each other in the face. Hiro went to orphanage he was raised in only to be stopped by Raj and Yuki.
Hiro heard the sound something being destroyed from the direction of the orphanage. His eyes looked pale as if he saw something horrible. He tried to run in the direction of the orphanage by Raj held him with full force trying to stop him.
"Why are stopping me?", Hiro asked Raj.
"You cannot go there.", Raj replied.
"Big brother!", the voice came from inside of the inn. He saw Haruna, Varuna and Tohji running towards.
Hiro felt relieved and asked them, "Where are the others?"
"You don't need to know that, Hiro.", Raj told him.
Hiro got pissed off and ran towards the orphanage before Raj could even stop him. The three children ran behind him. Raj also came behind him. Hiro stopped in front of the orphanage to only see a scene of horror.
The orphanage was being demolished under the orders of the new and present lord 'Henry de Brown', the brother of Robert de Brown.
Henry looked at Hiro with amusement saying, "Oh, you survived. Aren't you my brother's favorite pet?"
"What is going on...", Hiro asked him with a scared look on the face.
"This, huh. I am going to demolish this orphanage to make it into a resort for Noblemen who come to this district time-to-time for business meetings or other stuff.", he claimed.
"What about the other orphans?"
"You mean, those mutts right? They've died in the stampede and you four are the only ones left."
"They've died?", Hiro muttered slowly and remembered all the moments he spent with them.
They a few caretaker and there were about 32 children and five were of his age and the remaining were younger than him.
Alma also rushed to the spot where Hiro was. She saw Raj looking down with agony and anger in his face. She then looked at Hiro, it was the first time Hiro had ever made that expression. She herself was scared to see Hiro's expression. That expression intimidated a few of the workers there.
Hiro had the expression of pure hatred indicated towards Henry.
"What are you making that expression for, you dog? Did you think I will be scared of you?", Henry said in a mocking manner and continued, "You better get out of here before I send you to prison by framing you for a crime you didn't do."
"I saw Hiro suffer a lot.", Alma told Yuki back in the present.
"That day, Raj was also depressed, he wasn't able to utter a word.", Yuki told her.
"Yes, that was the reason.", She claimed and continued, "It was hard on Hiro, to lose everyone he called family."
Then, Hiro having the terrible exchange with Henry, he asked Raj about where the surviving caretaker was. Raj gave him the co-ordinates and Hiro rushed to the hospital there in the district to the caretaker.
"Is that you, Hiro?", the caretaker asked him in her bed.
"Ma'am Joseph, please don't talk, take rest.", he replied.
"I am happy that at least you are here.", Joseph told him.
Joseph was an elderly woman in her 50s. She was suffering from a terminal disease. Many wounds had been inflicted on her during the stampede.
"Can you please wait outside, the patient needs to be operated on.", the nurse who entered told Hiro.
"Yes, please.", Hiro replied and waited outside.
The doctors rushed inside to operate on her and after a few hours a doctors came out.
He moved towards and said the words, "I am sorry."
Hiro lost hope as tears ran down his eyes.
"We tried the best we could.", the doctor said.
Hiro, not being able to bear his words, walked away from him. He went out from the from the hospital and ran to the middle of nowhere, where there weren't people.
He cried, cried at the top of his lungs. He wondered, "why must I be the one to suffer."
"What mistake have I done?"
"What sin did I commit?"
He was tormenting himself with more and more worse thoughts. He soon looked at the mark on his palm. He remembered his oath to Robert. He remembered that he still has Haruna, Varuna and Tohji left for him who were his family. He wiped away his tears and convinced himself, "I still have something left."
"That day, I had it, my conviction to become a MECHA pilot"