Caldwell Young entered the mission center and was immediately asked a question: "Who was that woman with you?"

More or less honestly and automatically, he responded with: "She works for a man I've spent about four hours explaining The Church. He sent her to drop me off here in his car."

The lights in the entry hall were shut off. "You mean, his limousine," the unknown woman asked from the darkness.

Caldwell Young clarified, "Yes, or his company's. Excuse me, but who are you?"

"It's me, Cal," said his interrogator, switching the lights on. She was Kathy Ullman, or she had been.

Caldwell Young said, "Kathy. What are you doing here?"

"My husband is the new Mission President," said Kathy.

"Really?"

Kathy said, "Why are you so surprised? You know he did his mission in Japan."

"Yes," said Caldwell. "And of course he can speak Japanese. Still, it's quite an honor to be chosen as the president of this Mission. It is the largest in Japan."

Kathy said, "Where's your partner? McNamara, isn't it?"

Caldwell Young said, "No. He had to go back to the States. Zeke Braxton is my partner now."

Kathy said, "He doesn't seem to be with you, either."

"He..." Caldwell Young stopped himself.

Kathy said, "Well?"

Caldwell Young said, "Her name is Heather Saotome. She's four years older, she's a reporter, she's from Seattle, she works for a Japanese company. Her boss is in love with her, but she's decided to marry me when I finish my mission here. I think her boss might actually come to services tomorrow. I've been together with Heather since early morning. We watched a baseball game on TV, went to Tokyo Disneyland, and then we went to where she works where her boss surprised us. We weren't having sex. We've never had sex. I've never had sex. Did you bring your little boy with you?"

Kathy took a long moment to speak. "Yes, I brought Conner. What kind of a mother do you think I am?"

Caldwell Young said, "A tough one. Maybe you can tell my sometime how you got Kreisler to marry you. Should I start packing, or can I just go straight to bed?"

"I didn't know you were here in Tokyo," said Kathy. "Your mother never said."

"I think I can guess why," said Caldwell Young's demon companion.

The new Mission President didn't speak to the group until well after Sunday services, though through his wife he told the missionaries to wait for his instructions. The second grandson did come to services, and he talked with Mr. Kreisler for a long time afterward. After that the new MP finally addressed the missionaries in his charge for the first time, beginning with this:

"My name is Frederick Kreisler. I've been a teacher at Rex College in Southeastern Idaho for the last nineteen years, where I met my wife. I've been teaching Japanese, and many of my students have gone on to do missions here in Japan. This is...this is my first time in Tokyo. On my own mission as a much, much younger man..." Kreisler paused for laughter, longer than he needed to. "As I was saying...my mission as a young man was in Kyoto, the ancient capital of Japan, or one of them. I hope some of you will have time to visit there before you return to your homes, unless of course you decide to make your homes here in Japan."

Frederick Kreisler ambled on for twenty more minutes, ending with, "I'm not going to making any changes in your assignments for this week. I'm sorry to have kept you so long today...I'm going to let you go now—" His wife, fussy baby in one arm, had a private word. "Yes, I'm going to let you go now except for Mr. Braxton and Mr. Young, Caldwell Young...who had the misfortune to be one of my students at Rex College." There was more laughter than for any of the new Mission President's previous jokes.

Kathy Kreisler guided Braxton and her husband into the MP office and closed the door behind them. Turning to Caldwell Young she said, "Conner's hungry. Come with me." The Mission President's wife led him into her quarters where she began to nurse her child. "If you're shocked, get over it. It's what the Lord made these for."

"No problem," said Caldwell Young.

"How did you meet that woman?" demanded Kathy.

"She was sitting next to me on the plane when I flew here," said Caldwell.

Kathy said, "I suppose you've been seeing her every day since."

Caldwell Young said, "No, I didn't really get close to her until the blizzard."

"Blizzard?" asked Kathy.

"There was snow around the world," said Caldwell. "Or at least that's what they said on television."

Kathy said, "The snows...what do you mean, you got to know her then?"

"She came to the same shelter," said Caldwell. "A high-school gym."

"Really?" said Kathy. "Why were you at a shelter instead of the mission center?"

"Do you want me to explain for you?" asked Caldwell Young's familiar demon.

"I'm tempted," said Caldwell Young to Mara. Then he returned to talking with Kathy Kreisler, now looking both puzzled and impatient.

Meanwhile Ezekiel Bradbury Braxton V was being interviewed, sort of. Kreisler said, "Your mission partner resigned, I understand. I mean, your first partner."

Zeke Brazton answered, "Yes, sir, he did."

"Would you like to tell me why?"

Braxton didn't, but he explained, "My partner had inappropriate feelings for me."

"You mean, he was gay."

Zeke Brazton answered, "Yes."

Kreisler shook his head. "I've seen a lot of that. College seems to...bring it out. But it's happens everywhere...it's just that it's hidden better in some places...You lived in San Francisco, didn't you?"

Zeke Brazton answered, "No."

"Oh...I'm sorry, that was Mr. Brandon."

"I'm from Colorado, around Denver," said Braxton. "It has a gay community."

"Yes, well, even Salt Lake has one...yes...What do you know about your new partner? Why did his partner return, do you know?"

"To put it bluntly, he went nuts," said Braxton. "He started seeing little demons. It was when the blizzards came."

"It was?" Kreisler shook his head, and laughed. "He wasn't the only one who lost his mind. None of the scientists seem to agree on what happened. I was snowed in at the college, power was out for three days...no television. So much static we couldn't pick up radio for more than a minute or two...anyway we didn't know it wasn't just us that were snowed in for almost a day. I imagine attendance was way up here after that."

"I believe it was," said Braxton.

Kreisler asked, "The boy who killed himself...did you know him well?"

"No," said Braxton. "He had a bunk next to ours, but I only spoke with him a few times. We had different assignments and different working hours."

Kreisler said, "Yes...you and your partner are the only ones who are assigned to Kabukichō. Where is that? Near the Palace? I mean, if it has Kabuki theaters, I'd think...no?"

"No," said Braxton. "It's a small entertainment district in Shinjuku Ward. There are a lot of immigrants there."

Kreisler said, "Entertainment? Like the Ginza?"

Zeke Braxton elaborated: "Or Roppongi, but it's really for Japanese only—customers, that is. It's not on many of the guided tours, except maybe for the Buddhist temple."

Kreisler said, "I see, I think...I know your partner has a good command of the language. And you...just a sec..." Kreisler fiddled with his laptop. "Oh, I see. I got my folder labels wrong...Well, I see that you are the other really fluent speaker. And you have good marks in written Japanese. Very good, very good, just the sort of person we would need in an area where gaijin are less welcome than in other places...Just what kind of entertainment are we talking about here, Mr. Braxton?"

"How come you never wrote to me?" asked Kathy Ullman Kreisler asked at last.

"You weren't my girlfriend," said Caldwell Young. "You were Mr. Kreisler's. Everybody knew that. Even me, eventually."

Kathy got a very mean look on her face for a moment, but said nothing. Instead, she carefully, gently laid her child in his cot, careful not to wake him. "You should talk to my husband now," she said.

The missionary girls all seemed to be in the common area when Caldwell Young followed Mrs. Kreisler out of her quarters, and Braxton was with them...standing close by his Miyuki. And also close to big Miyuki was little Miyuki, which meant that—

The flock of missionary girls parted before the Mission President's wife. Big Miyuki bowed with courtly grace as she made way. Now the central point of the gathering became visible: A chair. In the chair sat Skuld Torsdottir, nursing both of her infants at once.

"I sense a disturbance in the Force," said Caldwell Young's familiar demon. Skuld's eyebrows raised slightly in reaction.

Ignoring the demon, Caldwell attempted private words with his partner, "When did they come?"

"They were at the service," replied Braxton. "You didn't notice them?"

Kathy Kreisler turned around, with a frozen smile. "You'd better run along to see Mr. Kreisler, Brother Young. He might wander off and forget you if you wait too long." She laughed as if it might be a joke.

Krieisler was doing something with his laptop when Caldwell Young entered his office. "Yes, Mr. Young," said Kreisler. "Close the door, please. Please."

Caldwell Young closed the door, and took his seat before the Mission President's desk. After Kreisler said nothing for too long, he prompted, "You wanted to see me."

Kreisler said, "Yes. Yes...This is...this is awkward...awkward for both of us, for you and for me."

Caldwell Young said, "You mean, being a Mission President? It can't be that much different from being a teacher."

"What I mean is..." Kreisler rubbed his hair with one hand, and for the first time Caldwell noticed how thin it was on top. "What I mean is, I know you have a history with my wife."

Caldwell Young said, "She lived on the next farm, we used to play together, and we went to a few dances together. Not the Senior Prom—she went with someone else. We kissed. No tongues. And I am engaged to another woman."

Kreisler said, "You are?"

Caldwell Young said, "Yes."

Kreisler exclaimed: "To that ugly Jap girl!"

"So, what really happened?" asked Frederick Kreisler's wife at the end of the day after she got their son to sleep.

Kreisler said, "Your boyfriend slugged me."

"I'm shocked, shocked," Kathy said. "Right away?"

"I asked him if he was going to marry that ugly Japanese girl," said Kreisler. "I was so shocked, I called her a 'Jap.'"

"He's going to marry a Jap, but not that one," said his wife. "You are so dumb. The big ugly one belongs to his partner. I'll bet you dollars to donuts she's already got his bun in her oven.i You didn't tell anyone else about Cal hitting you, did you?"

Kreisler said, "No. No, of course not. Start out with a scandal on the first day?"

Kreisler's wife said, "Good. It never happened. Too bad you missed the other one."

Kreisler said, "Other one?"

Kreisler's wife said, "The ugly one's friend that showed when you were still talking with Braxton. A half-white Jap with a six-year-old brat and two more just popped out. She went to high school with the ugly one. All our girls were fussing over her and her brats until she left."

Kreisler said, "What are we going to do?"

Kreisler's wife said, "You can teach Jap to our people and English to the Japs. I'll take care of the rest."

"Your old girlfriend," said Heather Saotome, "And the teacher who got her pregnant...are in charge of you and the other missionaries now?"

"Mr. Kreisler is the new Mission President," confirmed Caldwell Young. "You can stop laughing any time."

"I'm sorry," said Heather, not sounding sorry at all. "I wish I could see you now. Where are you?

Caldwell answered, "In the lobby of the Shinjuku Prince Hotel. Zeke's still in the men's room. Where are you calling from?"

Heather said, "My apartment—well, the one I stay in. You know. The search finished, and I was right. The talent scout is tied up with the Z group. Maybe a third of the white hostesses in Tokyo work for them. They do have regular actresses and idols too, but they also handle a lot of porn actresses. And they're a yak front. They turn out girls."

"Turn out?" queried Caldwell Young.

"Get them into prostitution," explained Heather. "The way it usually works is they sell the girl's contract to another company so Z group isn't liable for anything. The yaks set up these companies all the time, operate for a few months, and then trash them and start new ones."

Caldwell asked, "Why would they need to do that? I mean, with schools for prostitution here?"

Heather said, "Not for foreign girls. And Mizushō grads get big cuts of the take. Gotta go now, love."

"Mom? What are you—what time is it over there?" said Heather Saotome.

"It's after midnight. Your father's asleep."

"You called me to tell me Dad's asleep?"

"I'm sorry I'm not laughing at your joke," said Heather's mother. "You haven't called since Christmas. You haven't sent an email for three weeks now."

Heather said, "I'm sorry, but I've really got stuff going on here."

Heather's mother said, "It would be nice if you told me about some of it. It can't all be confidential, can it?"

"No, not all of it," said Heather, sighing. She scribbled a post-it and stuck it on her computer screen: "Mother 母" The Office Lady waiting for Heather's attention covered her mouth and giggled. "As a matter of fact, I do have some pretty big news. I'm going to get married."

"To Mr. Yamada?" asked Heather's mother.

"No, to a missionary for The Church, believe it or not," said Heather, careful not to lapse into the Japanese she was more used to now. "He wants me to wait until his mission finishes, about a year from now."

Heather's mother said, "This is...why haven't you said anything before?"

Heather explained, "Well, I didn't know until yesterday. He's got no money but he's a solid guy. Um, he's only twenty-one, but he's an old twenty-one, you know what I mean? Kind of like Papa when you met him, I imagine."

Heather's mother said, "I don't know much about The Church, but won't you have to join it?"

Heather said, "I don't think that will be a problem. Like I said, he's an old twenty-one."

Heather's mother said, "I guess you won't be getting married in a Cathedral, then."

Heather said, "Oh, I wouldn't completely rule it out. How's Ashley? She hasn't posted on her blogs for awhile now."

Heather's mother said, "Maybe she's too busy studying. That's about all she did when she was home for spring break."

Heather said, "Papa must be proud. Ashley, studying."

Heather's mother said, "Aren't you going to tell me the name of your young man?"

Heather said, "It's Caldwell Young."

"Is he Korean?"

Heather's mother said, "No, he's white with red hair, blue eyes, and freckles. And he's really tall. Sorry to disappoint you, Mom. But he can speak a little Korean."

"Really? Where would he use Korean in Tokyo?"

"I've really got to get back to work, Mom. I'll call you tonight."

"Ash! You gotta see this!" said her roommate.

"I'm working," said Ashley Saotome.

Her roommate grabbed Ashley's laptop and closed it. "I mean it! Everybody's watching it in the lounge!"

Resisting the impulse to do murder, Ashley Saotome followed her Harvard roommate into the lounge, which was filled mostly with girls. On the screen, her older sister was speaking.

"...funerals in many years. Hayashi's sudden death seems to have been completely unexpected. Tetsutaro Hayashi was 34 years old, one of the youngest oyabun in history of the yakuza, the much-sensationalized but at the same time very real gangs that have dominated organized crime in Japan for many generations. Like the funerals of crime bosses in the United States and elsewhere, the media is not welcome. However, unlike in the United States, official photographers were present and we have here some photographs released by Hayashi's organization. Now, this photo here may remind some of our older viewers of pictures of Russian funerals from the Soviet era, or from the parades in Red Square where the top leadership stood atop Lenin's tomb. The order of the pallbearers probably matters very much. The two men at the head of the coffin..."

In an email to her sister when finals were over Ashley said:

...lost the whole morning's work, but I'll have to admit, it was worth it. Screw KMAR, you're gonna be major network when you come back to the States. I miss you.

The night before I flew back home I caught the Mariners playing the Red Sox in Boston. I got absolutely golden seats from Professor Palmerston. Her daughter went into labor a few hours before the game started. I was three rows from the Mariner's dugout. And I got some more surprises. First of all, Kawanishi, the short stop, spotted me and kind of looked at me funny. A little while later a stadium services guy gives me a note which says that Kawanishi wants to see me after the game. So I go to meet him outside their locker room—I was with Doris McKern, she's my roommate now—and Kawanishi is being interviewed by Bob Waggoner. I didn't expect to run into him in Boston. Anyway, Waggoner looked like he'd seen a ghost, and Kawanishi introduces me as you to Waggoner! It turns out Kawanishi thought I was you. And Waggoner actually made a joke about us all looking alike—he was pretty drunk, by the way.

So, sis, when did you get to know Sentaro Kawanishi? I really didn't get a chance to talk to him. Waggoner just would not leave. I just couldn't stand to be with Waggoner. Why didn't you tell me he's such a creep? You gots lotsa 'splainin' to do when you come home.

When are you going to come home? You've been in Japan for over a year now. I'm going to be home until the last week of August. Take a week or two off and come home before I have to go back to Beantown.

iFor readers who aren't familiar with American English idioms, "bun in the oven" means "pregnant."