Amitie and the Mysterious Egg Chapter 5 - Training!

Tama’s always with me. Always with me, whether it’s going to school, playing at the park, eating lunch, taking a bath, at night, even sleeping. As I spend time with Tama, I grow to understand it more and more. It doesn’t communicate with words, but somehow, “I’m hungry.” or “I want to play.” is what I can understand from is chirps… Ehehe, what else is on plate for mom responsibilities!?

---

It’s the next day. As usual, I took Tama to the park after school.

“Hey, Tama! Today’s lunch is simmering stew! Home-cooked by me!”
“Kyukyuu!”

Tama bounced and wiggled around Arle’s stew, while Ringo and I watched.

“Guguu!”
“Sure sure, you can have some too, Carby!”
“Kyu~kyu~”
“Gu~gu~”
“Ahaha, is it good?”

Tama and Carbuncle look so happy~. Those two really like to eat alright… Ringo, though, is thinking about this, and muttering to herself.

“Tama is really big now~”
“Eh? Of course!”

Now Tama’s right below my knee. I can’t call it a baby now. Its personality is still sweet as ever, though.

“So, I’m curious…Tama, you can’t fly yet, right?”
“Wait, yet?”
“Even if it’s big, I think it can still fly. Though, there is no sign of it growing up…”
“Hmm~…”

Actually, I’m really curious. Tama can flap its tail feather, it can land from high places just fine, and can jump because it’s light. But it can’t land safely if it flew in the sky.

“Tamaa!”

After I finished eating, I called out to the content Tama.

“Kyu?”
“What’s up, Amitie?”
“Gugu?”

Arle and Carbuncle approached Tama and me.

“So you said that Tama can’t fly.”

I squinted my eyes at Tama as I explained myself to Arle.

“Say Tama, do you want to see if you can fly?
“Kyu~?”
“Uh, I didn’t get that…”

I thought about how I would explain it to Tama after looking up and away. Then I saw a pretty little blue bird pass by through the sky.

“Ah! Tama, look at the sky!”
“Kyu?”
“See, a bird! You have feathers, so you’re like them aren’t you? You want to try flying like that?”
“Kyu…”

Tama curiously watched the flying bird. Its eyes slowly sparkled.

“Kyuuuu♪”

Tam started to jump and skipping, eagerly flapping its wings.

“Tama…wants to try and fly!”
“Kyuu!”
“I see…to get you flying, What should we do? Do you know, Ringo?”

I turned to the knowledgeable Ringo, and then she held up her index finger.

“Let’s be frank, it hasn’t practiced at all, has it?”
“Practice?”
“About the bird in the sky, when it is newly hatched, it is unable to fly. When it witnesses its parent, it will practice on its own, thus marking the beginning of their flight.”
“But Tama has no parent to watch on how to fly.”
“Hmmm…”
“Well, you are its foster parent, do your best to teach it how to fly, to the best of your ability of course!”
“Wait, me?!”

W-well, I am acting as Tama’s mom, but I don’t know how to fly!

“W-w-wh-what should I do!? Do I hold gigantic feathers in my hands and fly with those!? So I would be showing Tama how to fly, and then Tama will know how to fly…Aah!? That’s actually cool! But can I really do it!?”
“Amitie…calm down.”

Arle chuckled a bit and put a hand on my shoulder.

“Amitie, I think that method you said just now sounds really convoluted.”
“Oh…phooey, is it really? Then, now what…”
“It’s alright. Even if you can’t fly, does it mean you can’t give it flight training? We’ll give you a hand!”
“Ah, for real, Arle!?”
“Me too, of course. Without further delay, we shall research how birds fly in the library!”
“Thanks, Ringo! This is great, Tama. Everyone’s giving us a hand just so you can fly!”
“Kyukyuuuu!”
“Tama says ‘Thank you’ too♪.”

And so, this day marked the beginning of Tama’s fly-in-the-sky training.

---

The first of all, running while flapping practice. Run full speed ahead and flap your wings. On the way, jump several times and try to float off the ground.

“Do your best, Tama!”

I was with my friends, keeping an eye on Tama from a short distance and waved at it. Tama replied back with a “Kyuu!”, and began running with great vigor! …it seems to have started running then…eh? Uh, it’s running right? Oh.

*wobble wobble wobble wobble*

*waddle waddle waddle waddle*

Tama itself is really frantic, but it’s running like a speedy penguin…

“Ehh. I feel really calm for some reason.”
“Agreed, like something’s healing us…”

Next to me, Arle and Ringo were grinning from ear to ear. Ah, well it is really cute. Cutie.

“W-Well, it can’t fly just yet…”

I muttered to myself, shrugging my shoulders.

---

“If Tama ran down this hill, its speed will increase, and hopefully it will up the necessary air resistance for flight!”

Following Ringo’s lead, Tama’s next training ground is the tall hill. We all watched from the bottom of the hill. Tama was at the top, running down towards us.

“Be careful, Tama!”
“Kyukyuu!”
“Alrighty…ready, GO!”

Tama takes off with a vigorous start.

“Kyu…Kyukyu!”
“Ah! It’s descending more rapidly downhill than last time, Amitie!”
“Yeah, what Ringo said!”
“Hu hu hu…all according to my tactics!”

Goody-goody! Tama’s running real quick with both of its feet!

“Kyukyukyukyukyukyukyu!”

Of course, Tama’s also really happy about…uh, wha!?

“Wait a minute, did Tama just take a spill!?”

I shouted as I pointed at the dilemma. From downhill, Tama is tumbling on down. As I say that, now I’m gonna be tumbling on down! Yikes! AAH!

“Kyuuuu!”

Tama’s got tripped up after all that. It managed to flap its way off the ground despite that, but it just got worse. On the next instant, it hit me face first, then I started to tumble downhill!

“Uwawawawa! Someone catch mee!”
“From here!? Or here!?”
“Wait! Arle, Ringo, push me! I might-!”

*CRASH!*

We got caught up in this mess and Tama came crashing down on us, leading to a rather crazy Strike. All of our eyes were spinning, totally zonked out.

"Guuguu…”

And off to the side, Carbuncle sighed.

“Running while flying training seems pretty hard. But, maybe we can train its ability to descend from a high place!”

Next up, Arle’s idea.

“Where would be a high place, though?”

Arle just let out a “Fu fu fu.” when I asked.

“Well, take a look. If you will, Carby!”
“Guguu!”

Nodding at Arle’s words, Carbuncle opened his mouth large and wide. Out of it came his lo~ng tongue.

“Kyu!?”

And then, he took Tama with his tongue and flung him up sky-high! All of us looked up and held up our hands nice and high.

“Kyukyuu!”

Tama got a bit flustered from the sudden turn of events, but started to flap away. Then, it slowly and gently landed.

“…Whoaaa!”

Ringo and I were pretty amazed, and clapped our hands in applause. Carbuncle stuck out its chest and said something like a “Heh heh.”, feeling proud of itself.

“So. If we keep doing this sky-high flapping training over and over and over, it’ll be able to fly in no time!”

Arle winked after that. Uh~, she’s not wrong. Sounds good to me!

“Alrighty, let’s get going! If you will, Carby!”
“Guuuu!”

*Woosh, woosh, woosh.*

Tama was flung in the air again and again.

“Kyu…Kyukyu…Kyu!”

Then in no time at all, it flailed and fell…repeatedly.

“Keep it up, Tama!”
“It’s flight duration has increased just now!”

Ringo and I cheered on.

*Woooosh, woooooosh, woooooooooosh*

“Kyu…kyuu!? Kyuu…”
“Wh…a….?”

Somehow…it’s got sprung even higher and higher from here.

“Arle, wait, hang on…”

I got up on one of the park trees to point at Tama, and Arle seems confused.

“Carby, isn’t that a bit too high?”
“Gu~gu~.”
“Y-you’re tired?!”
“Gu~.”
“You’re so bored you’re gonna do it in one fell swoop!?”
“Gugu!”

G-Get really real! Wait just a minute~! And just before I could stop him, Carbuncle did his next pitch…

*woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooosh!*

“KYUUUUU!”

Tama was flung so far high, I can’t even see it anymore!

“T-TAMAAAAAAA!”

The three of us shouted Tama’s name. There’s not even a sign of Tama coming down!?

“Carby, that was way out of line!”
“Gugu♪”
“Don’t you ‘Teehee♪’ me~!”

Arle’s violently shaking Carbuncle, but besides that right now…

“Tama, where the heck did you go!? W-we’ve got to find it~!”

Then one hour passed. Tama went super-ultra far away from the park and got caught in the tree top branches. We had to get it down from there when we found it…

“Gah….hah…T-Tama, you alright?”
“Kyukyu~…”

I climbed the tree and was able to rescue Tama…After Carbuncle’s throw, I think we should stop training for now…

---

“Well, see you tomorrow~!”
“Gu!”
“Kay, bye-bye, Arle!”

I waved my hand to Arle and Carbuncle as they walked into the sunset.

“Let’s do our best tomorrow too!”
“Yeah, totally!”

After a courteous bow from Ringo, she left and I saw her out. It’s evening, and now that everyone’s left, it’s just Tama and me.

“Tama…are you tired?”
“Kyuu?”
“I’m tired too. Sorry~. Though, I think Arle and Ringo did their best in helping you fly!”
“Kyu…?”
“Yep, all for you!”
“Kyu!”

So then, when Tama and I traded looks, it cheerfully jumped about. Ah, I’m getting psyched too!

“Alrighty, let’s get back home!”
“Kyuuuuu!”

Tama’s gonna give its all tomorrow! It looks so eager too. Ah, this is how we do it! I’m sure we’ll get you flying, Tama.

---

I talked about Tama’s fly-in-the-sky training at the Magic School, and it quickly spread. After school, I walked over to the park alongside Tama, but then I got interrupted by a “Amitie! Tama!”. I turned around, and there was a smiling Raffina.

“I heard it all. You want to get Tama soaring in the sky, no? Though it gets around being a cutie, and I think it is a bit gluttonous for a relaxed bird-like critter, it needs to have the guts to take on new challenges!”
“Uhhh…well, if you put it that way, Raffina…
“Kyu~…”
“Still! This has special meaning to me! Allow me to help you with Tama’s flight training!”
“W-wait, I didn’t ask though…”
“Rigorous training is essential to be able to fly…that is, 1. Muscle training! 2. Muscle training! 3 and 4, Muscle training, 5. Muscle training!”

Bleh. Raffina’s not listening to me at all past her energy… W-Well, if she says she’s doing it for Tama, does she mean it? And at around her feet, some kinds of dumbbells, large and so close, were placed down.”

“Raffina…where did you get those…?”
“They’re my personal belongings!”

“S-Seriously…well, the flower name tags stuck on them do have ’Raffina’ written on them…”
“They’re cute, aren’t they?”
“S-Sure…the dumbbells are totally cute.”
“Now then! Tama! Gimme your top speed, now start!”
“Kyuuuu!?”

Tama scuttles around randomly in front of the dumbbells for a bit, but then it picked up one of them in its mouth. It was able to lift it, but it couldn’t keep it steady…This is getting dangerous!

“More! More! Speed it up!”
“Kyuu~!”
“Seize glory with your hand…steady progress will pave the path to victory. Tama! Believe that you will soar the great blue sky, and fight!”
“Kyu, kyuu~!”

Geez. Raffina, is completely fired up. She talks kinda like a demon instructor… I’d just view the training from a distance, since I would give up if I went in it. Is there no other way to get it flying though…?

“Next up are squats!”
“Kyu…kyuu…”
“C’mon c’mon! Lower those hips!”
“Kyu! Kyu!”
“Next up are bunny hops!”
“Kyu…Gyuu~!!”

…Bleh. They’ve been training for one hour. Tama seems incredibly exhausted though. A relaxing break sounds like a good idea right about now… The moment I was thinking that, a voice called out from behind me.

“Um…Miss Ami…”
“Huh? Lidelle? What’s up?”

I turned around and Lidelle is indeed standing there.

“Um…Miss Ami…”
“Huh? Lidelle? What’s up?”

I turned around and Lidelle is indeed standing there.

“Uhm…h-here…”

Lidelle bashfully takes out a canteen and a lunchbox bundled up in a cloth.

“The stuff in here…I made these…”
“Eh!? For real!?”
“Mister Tama, I heard that you’re trying your best to get to the sky. Well, um, I want you to get strong too…
“Wicked! Thanks!”

Nice timing! That’s just like Lidelle! I looked at the overly vigorous Raffina, and the rightfully concerned Lidelle breathed a sigh of relief~. I’m super happy for Lidelle’s homemade stuff!

“Tama! Raffina! Let’s take five! Lidelle’s got some home cooking to share~!”

With a “Kyu~!”, Tama happily rushed on over after I called them. Raffina walked on over, answering with “Well, I could use a quick break.” Waitno, you can’t quickly get back to the muscle training menu at all!

“Oh~? What do you have here, Lidelle?”
“E-Ehehe…some juice and manju…”

Lidelle gave out some green-colored juice and fluffy manju. Wow~ Lidelle’s handmade snacks look so good! First off, the juice…

“Thanks for the food!”
“Kyuu!”

*Gulp.*

“………urp.”
“………gyu.”
“Miss Ami, Mister Tama? Wh-what’s wrong?”
“L-Lidelle…wh-what’s in this?”

I asked almost automatically. This juice is, somehow, grassy green, syrupy, bitter, yet strangely sweet… In other words, it’s gross! I stared at Lidelle, and then she blushed.

“Um…Mister hard-working Tama, this will make you a little bit better… I think this very nutritious juice is good for you…try to drink this green juice.”
“O-Oh…is that so…”
“I promised to pick lots from the forest, grind it up to make it…how is it…?”
“H-how is…it? Tama?”
“Kyu, kyu…?”
“I wanted it to be sweeter, so I put in honey… ehehe, I think you’ll be able to fly much sooner…”

Ack! She has her 100-something-percent good-willed face, and now I can’t say anything bad!

“Th-thanks! It’s really nutritious! How about that manju, then!”

For now, I put down the juice and got uneasy about the manju in my hands. So is Tama. Thanks for the food, for the both of us…

*Munch.*

“……………………urhp.”
“……………………gyuu.”

I thought it was going to be sweet and delicious manju…What is this!? My mouth is on fire! It’s so spicy!

“L-Lidelle…is this…”
“Uh-huh. It supposed to strengthen your body…kinda like meat…in meat buns. So then, to make it invigorating, I mixed some spicy peppers in it…”
“I-I see. Gimme…a second…”

Looking at my side, Tama’s trembling and in tears. Uhh, I expected it to be that spicy…

“Whew. If it’s nutritious, it can’t be that bad, could it?”

Raffina’s eating at the ultra-spicy manju and drinking up the green juice. Bleh, how can she do that!?

“U-um, Can it fit in your mouth, Mister Tama?”

Lidelle’s nervously spoke as she looked at Tama in the eyes. Ahh. The vibes are too serious to even say a word…

“Kyu…kyu!”

Tama, flapping around while teary-eyed, began eating the rest of the manju.

“Ehehe… Is it delicious? That’s good…”

I mumbled a laugh after Lidelle’s relieved words. Geez, I can’t bring myself to hurt Lidelle’s feelings, and Tama…is such a gentlebird. I’m not sure if Tama is a boy or a girl though. B-But Tama and I are trapped in a sea of consequences. The taste is painful enough, I can even feel the nutrition!

“T…Tama is thankful too. Thank’s Lidelle!”

Lidelle thanked us again, and then said “O-Oh please…” and blushed.

“T-though, your comments make me so happy…I’ll make some more for tomorrow…”
“Uh…uhm, there’s no need! Ahahahaha!”
“No need? But why…when I had fun making lots of things for Tama…?”

Ohno ohno ohno, don’t do this…please!

---

“Ah, Amitie, Tama. Good afternoon.”

This one’s a different day. I took Tama out for a walk like I usually do, then I heard Klug call out to me. And then…

“Amitie.”

Right behind Klug was Sig. In their hands were a couple of poles and some cloth.

“Hiya Klug, Sig! What'cha got there, Sig?”

When I asked, instead of Sig, Klug spoke up while he adjusts his glasses with his finger.

“Fu fu fu… This is custom-made flight training equipment made for Tama! The Klug Kite No. 1!”
“The heck is that!?”
“Taking aerodynamic principles into consideration, with this equipment…they will compensate for Tama’s tiny wings!”
“Uhh, uhm…I’m not sure if I get it, but it’ll help Tama fly you say? Thanks!”

Even though I’m smiling, Klug looks offended for some reason.

“Could you be any more dense. While Tama does have white fluffy charm…it needs my cooperation…it’s a fickle one!”

Klug scoffed at us. Gee, he’s so fickle~…While in thought, Sig muttered “Glasses read tons of books to learn about Tama…”

“Shut your mouth Sig!”
“The Klug Kite Number 1…He made it to help out…He got tired…”
“HEY! Sig!!”

Klug shouted through his red face. Oh Klug, deep down you really want Tama to do its best~♪.

“T-This makes no difference. Now then, training shall commence!”

Hearing the word “training” made me think of Raffina.

“Don’t tell me…is it necessary muscle training~? Dumbbell lifts, squats, bunny hops…”

Hearing fear from me, Klug arrogantly laughed at me.

“Seriously, that sounds like something Raffina and no one else would think of!”
“Exactly that, Klug~…”
“You mean this idea?”
“No no, this conversation!”
“As the creator of this idea, that makes me the smarter one! We must assemble the eqipment. Okay Sig, put it together as planned!”

But Klug only got a spaced-out “Eh?” from Sig from behind.

“I…want to go home now…”
“Listen up, we’re doing this until the end!”
“Meh…don’t force me.”
“Tama, come here. We’ll put on the Klug Kite No. 1!”
“Kyukyuu!?”

Klug and Sig crowded up on Tama, and few minutes later… I saw the “Klug Kite No. 1” stuck on Tama’s back.

“T-Tama, you alright…?”
“Kyu~…”

If I had something big on my back like Tama, I’d be tottering too…

“Uhyahyahyahya! Just as planned!”

Klug’s brimming with pride.

“Now, we’ll do this as planned, Sig!”
“Aww man…”

Klug vigorously raised his hand for the signal, Sig unwillingly began to run. They’re really doing it!

“Kyu!?”

Sig pulled on the rope he’s holding, the kite with Tama slowly floated up. It’s flying up just like the kite.

“Whoah, this is amazing!”

I’ve went through various training things, but now it’ll get flying in no time! I take back those thoughts about Klug being strange. That’s expected from the top student!

“Haa ha ha ha! Yes! A great success! I’m such a genius!”

Klug’s got a triumphant, smug laugh.

“Kyukyuu!”

Tama looks so happy flying in the sky! The hard-working and running Sig, then…

“…how long…do I do this…”

Huh? He’s looking pretty tired. He’s always so emotionless, but I can tell he needs to catch his breath.

“Klug, don’t you think we should get it down?”
“I see, I see…hm? Take it down?”
“Yep! Just so Sig could stop running and rest. It also looks dangerous for Tama. Tama should be able to flap on down and land on the ground now!

”……“

Klug looks up at the sky and doesn’t answer. …Hey, wait a minute!!

“Klug! You didn’t think about how to get it down!?”
“Hey, just give me a minute! I’m thinking about it. Rope… ah, we can wind up the rope and shorten it to bring down the kite!”
“Okay then, hurry hurry!”
“Alright. …Sig! Coil up the rope with your hand!”
“Eh?”

Klug calls out Sig, and now he’s standing there. “Like this?” Sig says, as he coils up the rope…wait, don’t just stand there!

“Ahhhh!”
“Kyuuuu!”

With no one pulling on it, Tama came crashing down…

---

“Tama, are you okay…?”
“Kyu…”

How lucky, Tama didn’t get any big injuries. Just got a bump on the head. I said goodbye to Klug and went back home with Tama.

“Hah~, everyone really cares about Tama… Today continues to get crazier, and it’s making me worried. Tama, if you don’t like it, can you say you don’t like it?”
“Kyu~? Kyukyukyu!”

Tama’s so small, yet can’t say anything selfish, hoping everyone’s hard work pays off. Tama’s such a nice bird…