Planes at the Harbor

Planes at the Harbor is the ninth chapter of The Two Cats and was published on November 6, 2019.

The Morning After
The morning after the events of Expi's New Friend, Expi goes over to Mariko's home before going over to a large stretch of land in front of a harbor - a place where Expi likes to go to write, draw and think. Expi tells Mariko about what has happened in her life, with the divorce of her parents and her guilt and the rest of her family moving to New Yolk City. Mariko feels bad for Expi, and tells her about how she had to leave Sonrisa due to government corruption and the election of fascist leader.

The Attack
They continue to talk, however Mariko sees a few planes coming over the horizon, and she gets Expi to run away with her as the planes begin dropping bombs on the area. They get out of there and return to their homes safely, even as the city is in commotion. Expi returns home to find her mother is worried sick about her, but she is relieved to find out that Expi is safe. The attack is being played on television, and in response, her uncle begins to shout angrily about Sonrisa and it's citizens, much to Expi's dismay. Expi ends up going upstairs to her bed, and stays for almost the entire rest of the day before her mom comes back up to check on her before inviting her to dinner. The television is playing the President's speech, with her uncle cheering on revenge for the Sonrisans. Afterwards, she returns upstairs and sees her friend "Tester" joking about how something is "finally" being done about Sonrisa. Expi decides to delete the messages, ban him from her server and unfriend him.

Going Back to School
The next morning, Expi and Mariko go back to school, greeting each other as they walk in. Mariko thanks Expi for banning Tester after the messages he left. They enter the school to find themselves getting stared, sometimes glared at, by the other students. Gracie grabs Expi by the arm, and tells her to be careful around Mariko. Expi just walks away, and she and Mariko go to their first class. Afterwards, they go to their second class, and due to having issues with the computer system (as a result of the government shutting down phone and public networking services as a response to the attack), Expi is sent to take the attendance up to the front office. On the way, however, she finds Mariko sitting out in front of a classroom due to some students finding her to be "scary." Mariko tries to stay strong, but as Expi leaves, she lays her head down and begins crying.

Lunch Time
Expi and Mariko meet up again for lunch, and they both head to Expi's friends' table as usual. However, Gracie tells Mariko that they don't want her kind to sit there, and that Sonrisa as a whole should be destroyed. Expi starts getting angry as Mariko is rendered speechless, and right after Expi's "friends" tell Mariko that she should kill herself, which causes Mariko to run off while crying. Expi is horrified by the actions of Gracie and the rest of them, and begins to run off before being told that if she sticks by her, none of them would talk to her ever again. Expi shrugs this off, and sets off to find Mariko. She ends up finding Mariko in the art room, crying. Mariko tries to tell Expi to leave since she thinks she'll ruin her reputation, but Expi stays there trying to comfort Mariko, telling her that she cut off all of her old friends. After a bit of resistance, Mariko finally joins back up with Expi and they return to lunch.

Epilogue
Expi returns home later that day to Jaana asking her why she unfriended Tester, to which Expi simply responds by saying "Reasons." Expi then goes off to the former site of the harbor, which is now in shambles, and finds Mariko sitting there. Mariko tells Expi that she is the best friend she could ever have, and the two sit there, watching the sun set.

Trivia

 * This chapter is inspired by both the Pearl Harbor attack and the 9/11 terrorist attack, as well as the stigma of Japanese and Muslim citizens following those respective attacks, as well as present day stigma against Muslims in society.
 * This chapter was originally idealized as a historical fiction story idea set during the Pearl Harbor attack, however this original idea never got off the ground and ended up being saved for The Two Cats.
 * This is the last "The Two Cats" chapter published in 2019 and the last chapter published during the 2010's decade.