Well another chapter is up and ready to go. The war is now slipping into a temporary lull as both sides prepare for the invasion of Japan. Let see what becomes of our characters as they try to reconnect with civilian life in the time they have off and what else is going on in the world.

Updated January 11, 2008: I find this chapter a little slow pace personally, but I also like how it showed some of the characters personal lives and see them more as people than as soldiers.


Chapter 11: Alone in the Far East

"Look at old Colonel Jackson staying out there like a stone wall"

A Confederate General at the 1st Battle of Bull Run (1st Battle of Manassas), that is how 'Stonewall' Jackson got his nickname

0637 Hours; May 27th, 2010; Train #06, Sagami River Line; Kanagawa Prefecture, Japanese Federation

Mutilated corpses of children filled a white room. Men and women lay across tables with there stomachs ripped open, throats slit, and intestines strewn across the room. Screams filled the air and…

Harima woke with a start. He looked around. No dead. No scene of carnage. Just a bunch of people sleeping on a train bound for Uenohara of the Yamanashi Prefecture, but would make a stop at Yagami Station.

Harima went to the back of the passenger car, into the bathroom, and washed his face.

"It… was only a nightmare," he told himself. He'd been having these nightmares since that final day in Korea. Even though it had been only two days since then, it was taking its told. Harima also knew he wasn't alone, the others were having similar problems, but they refused to mention it.

He went to the empty dining car, which was basically a passenger car with a small sushi bar that wasn't open, a deli counter that was serving breakfast, and a group of vending machines lined up at one end of the car. Harima bought a doughnut from the old man working the counter and coffee from a vending machine. He returned to his seat and quietly ate and drank. The sun was just rising on the horizon and Harima was enjoying the quiet. It was new for him; he'd always loved action and noise in the past, but now he wanted peace and quiet.

"Attention passengers," said a voice of the train's PA, "we will be arriving at Yagami Station in 5 minutes. I repeat, we will be arriving at Yagami Station in 5 minutes."

Hanai slowly stirred. "You sleep well Haruki?"

"Not really," he said stretching.

"So what are we going to do?" asked Asou who'd also woken.

"Well, I'm going home to prove to my parents that I'm not dead," said Hanai. "Kenji is taking Mai to his cousin's place. I would take her, but I don't think my parents would be up for the idea."

"Can you blame them?" asked Kitsumori, "what are you gonna say, 'hey mom and dad I'm home, oh and look what I found while I was in Korea' I bet they'll love that."

"Yeah, and I live alone and my place doesn't have room for her," said Asou which wasn't entirely true, but he didn't think he was capable of taking care of a 10 year old and she seemed to be very attached to Harima anyways.

"Which is why we're taking her to my place," said Harima, "as long as we pay for her expenses, Itoko wouldn't care if she was a 25 year old male gun dealer… actually she probably like that."

"Riiight… so I'll be crashing at Harima's place," said Kitsumori.

"Why?" asked Hanai.

"I've got my reasons."

"Come on, after the months of training and then 9 days of fighting you won't tell us? Come on, we're like family," coaxed Asou with a tiny smile.

"Okay," Kitsumori said slowly. He sighed and said, "My parents and I had a big fight the night before I was to be shipped off for training."

"What about?" asked Harima.

"I didn't get into college and they were pissed," he said. "They wouldn't listen when I told them I did my best. I told them if they didn't think I did my best then maybe I won't live with them anymore."

"Any you haven't spoken since?" asked Harima.

"Nope."

"Will you?"

"Maybe… I don't know."

Asou watched his expression, "Okay, you crash at Harima's and think it over. Don't make any decisions yet."

Kitsumori laughed, "Eh, well you got us out alive so I guess I'll just trust you and do that."

"Hai, that's our good old Staff Sergeant," said Hanai.

Asou was surprised. He'd never thought of himself a leader, let along a good leader, but they seemed to think so. It was true that he'd gotten them through the Battle of Pusan and even gotten a promotion to Staff Sergeant, but he still had doubts about their belief in him; after all he ordered them to throw grenades into that bank. Asou didn't say anything though, he didn't want to destroy the little confidence and hope they still had.

"We're here," said Hanai as they arrived in the familiar wooden station that was reminiscent of European architecture.

They grabbed their bags. Kitsumori carried Mai's bag and Harima carried Mai over his back with her arms around his neck.

They said their good-byes and went their separate ways.

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0722 Hours; May 27th, 2010; near the Resident of Asou Hiroyoshi; Yagami, Japan

Asou headed to the restaurant he used to work at. During his 3rd year at Yagami High School his parents had moved to Osaka, but he rented an apartment above the restaurant so he could stay in the area. He'd sent rent to his old boss, who was a relative of his, so it was still his place.

There it was. The Chinese restaurant he worked at. An image of artillery and mortars shell raining on him cause the word 'Chinese' to send a surge of anger through him. 'Get a grip. It's not like hating everything with the word Chinese or associated with them is going to make me feel better,' Asou rationalized.

He went into the back alley behind the restaurant where a small motor pool was, he walked up a set of steel stairs, pulled out a set of keys, opened his back door, and entered his apartment. He was expecting his place to be hot, stuffy, and dusty, but the place was clean and the air fresh. The mail was even stacked neatly on his kitchen table.

Asou's apartment had two entrances; one being the back alley into the kitchen and the other from a stair that led to the restaurant. He had one big room that was living room and kitchen divided by kitchen table in the middle of the room. The kitchen had a small stove, microwave, sink, dish washer and drier, refrigerator, cabinets, and counters. The living room had a couch, coffee table with a laptop on it, and arm chair, side table with lamp and phone, TV with DVD and cable box on top, a ceiling lamb above, and bookshelf with books, old school books, and DVDs. In another room was a bathroom with shower, and two small bed rooms, one with his printer in it. It was a nice place and being a valued employee and related to the owner helped him get it at a good price, not that the furniture came with the place; he'd bought all that with his own money. He legally owned this space and truly lived on his own.

He looked out his window for a couple of minutes loving the undisturbed peace. He turned to his mail; vaguely he wonder who'd took care of the place for him. His mail included a notice from a college he'd applied to saying he'd missed the deadline for acceptance. A lot of junk mail was also in the pile. Nothing interesting, but then again everyone knew he wouldn't be home to receive mail.

He left his apartment after checking the contents of his refrigerator. He bought himself milk, soda, bread, ramen noodles, white rice, a small packet of neatly cut fish, and other food. He also mailed a few letters to his parents in Osaka and to other family to say he was going to be home for a little while. As he walked home he walked past Yagami High School. He stared at the place for a full hour transfixed.

"It all started there," he said to himself. He walked back to his apartment. He put the groceries in the appropriate places and sat down. He looked at his clock and was surprised it was already 4:30 pm; he didn't realize how long he was out, but did spend a lot of time wandering the streets an noticing how different everything felt. Nothing seemed the same and he hated it, it all felt so foreign and strange like he didn't belong.

Asou heard footsteps and then his front door open. An attractive young, blond girl in a Yagami High School uniform entered Asou's apartment with his mail. Her eyes were bluish-grey and her hair was in a sort of bun/knot and was probably fairly long if she let it down. She placed it on the counter and went to open a window; she hadn't notice Asou sitting at his kitchen table.

He watched the girl open the window before calling out to her, "Sarah-kun, what are you doing?"

"EEEKKK!" she shrieked, she turned and stared in absolute shook at him. "Asou-sempai?! When did you get back?" she asked holding her chest, roughly where her heart was, while trying to calm herself down.

"Gomen (sorry), Sarah-kun. I didn't mean to scare you," he said honestly. "I arrived this morning at about 7:30 am."

She smiled and he returned the smile slightly. "Having you been taking care of my place while I was gone?"

Her eyes widen and she looked down at her feet turning a little red, "Gomen, I thought you'd hate to come back to a dirty, stuffy apartment and…" Her voice trailed off.

"Don't apologize, Sarah-kun," Asou said standing up from his chair, "It was very nice of you."

She blushed a deeper red and smiled, still not meeting his gaze. "Arigato, Asou-sempai."

Asou thought for a moment and then asked, "Why did you? You didn't have to and I can't imagine why you would."

She looked down at her feet again, her face turning redder by the second. "Uh… um… I have my reasons…. So, how was Korea?"

Asou froze. He didn't know how to answer such a question in a way that wouldn't get the message across. Plus he didn't think she would understand. "It… it… was… different," he said slowly.

"I'll bet," she said with an understanding smile that told him she wouldn't pursue the subject. He opened a few more windows and started to leave. "I'll be starting my shift soon downstairs. I'll tell the boss you're back, but I'm sure I can get you the night off, since you did just get home from a war zone."

He felt a surge of gratitude for his former underclassman, "Arigato, Sarah-kun. Stop by for tea sometime before I ship out again, okay?"

"Hai," she said as she left his apartment. He felt very lonely when she left and he decided to make himself diner. As he cooked, he tried to fight the images of civilians killed by his grenades. He needed to think about something else. He looked around his place and noticed that must have worked hard to keep this place clean. Her face appeared clear in his mind and the images of the Battle of Pusan slowly drifted away.

Yagami sure was different… he hated that… but one change he had noticed didn't bother. A curtain someone danced through his thoughts.

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0750 Hours; May 27th, 2010; near The Hanai Family Dojo; Yagami, Japan

After Hanai had left the station he wandered around for a bit. He passed many stores and streets he'd wandered many times before, but the places seemed different. They felt distant and alien to him as though they were part of another man's life and not his.

After a few hours he approached the dojo he called home. He thought he'd be happier to be home, but this too had the separated feelings.

He entered the dojo. He walked into the training room where many young teenagers were practicing drills. Suddenly, Hanai saw a man out of the corner of his eyes flying at him in a jump-kick. Hanai instinctively grabbed him, threw him, pulled a bayonet from his its sheath in his belt, and was about to slit the man's throat when his senses caught up with him.

"Haruki, you mind getting off you father?" asked Hanai's mother from behind his back.

"Oto-san (father)! Gomen! Gomen!" Hanai apologized while bowing. "You see instinct took over when you attacked me and…"

"It's okay son," he his father pulling Hanai under his arm and showing him off to the class. "Students! This is my son, Hanai Haruki, who has just returned from the front in Korea."

"Really?!"

"What was it like?!"

"Did you nail any Commies?"

"Tell us?"

"Hai! Tell us!"

The students pounded Hanai with questions about the war. He was so overwhelmed, the questions seemed so trivial and stupid plus he was confused by this he couldn't even speak.

"I have to go," he told his father and mother before ducking out of the room, running to the area his family lived in, and barricaded himself in his room. His room was just like he left it; bed, table, bookshelf, computer, printer, small TV with DVD build on it, and desk. He sat with his back against the side of his bed in his room for hours thinking how stupid some of the questions he was asked.

No one bothered him until evening. There was a knock and someone entered.

"Haruki?" asked a familiar voice.

"Konban wa (good evening), Mikoto," he greeted his childhood friend Suō Mikoto.

"You okay?" she asked gently while sitting down next to him.

"… iē, I don't think I am."

"Why?" Mikoto asked surprised by his response.

"It's pretty bad out there."

"There?"

"The war," he said looking her straight in the eyes with a haunted look and a piercing stared that seemed to penetrate her entire body, "they think I'm some kind of hero, but I know better. They have no idea what it's like!" Hanai's voice was steadily growing louder and angrier. Suō decided to let her best friend let out his anger.

"They North Koreans come in endless numbers. They don't care how many men they lose! They Bomb us and anyone in the way!" he raved, he was now on his feet. "Then the Chinese! They are better and more heavily armed then the North Koreans! They pretty fucking smart on top of that! Our leaders and forces are scattered and confuse and/or whipped out! No one prepared us for the chaos or for losing all our officers and nearly the entire company! A fucking 10 year old knew what to do better than us! And as for us we… we…" he slumped on the floor next to her, his rage broken down into fear, depression, and shame.

"What happened, Haruki?" asked Suō, clearly horrified to a person so special to her reduced to this scare man who wanted stability until he regained sense of himself.

He was silent for a while and then he said feebly, "We did a bad thing… we did a very bad thing."

She placed her hand on his and said gently, "It couldn't have been that bad."

He shook his head, "It was and it's been haunting me for the past two days."

"Two days?"

"The last day we were in Korea."

"Oh… you want to tell me about it?"

"Iē (no)."

"What do you want to do?"

He intertwined his fingers with hers and leaded his head against hers, "Can we just sit here? Just for a little while?"

Suō smiled, gave his hand a squeeze, and said, "Take all the time you need."

"Arigato… I'll tell you someday… but not now."

They sat quietly, for quite a long time. Hours in fact.

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0745 Hours; May 27th, 2010; near the Apartment of Osakabe Itoko; Yagami, Japan

Harima, Kitsumori, and the sleeping Mai made their way to Harima's cousin's apartment. Mai was being carried on Harima's back. They arrived in front of the apartment's door as Mai stirred.

"Ohaiyo (morning), Mai-chan," said Harima as he placed her on her feet and unlocked the door.

"Where are we?" she asked sleepily.

"At Itoko's," said Harima as he opened the door.

"That's Itoko-san," she a cold voice. Harima was shot in the head with a rubber bullet that knocked him off his feet.

"Harima-sempai!" yelped Mai seeing him on the ground. She drew her Beretta M9 and aimed at the woman who shot Harima.

"Easy kid, it's a rubber bullet… actually… who the hell are you?" asked a tall an attractive woman with long dark purplish hair and a small mole by her mouth.

"I am Li Mai. Who are you?" asked Mai aiming her gun at the woman forehead.

"I'm Osakabe Itoko, Harima's cousin," said the woman. "Oi, Kenji-kun what's with the kid?"

"We found her in Korea. Her family is dead and we couldn't leave her. We all agreed to take care of her. If you let her stay we'll all pay for any of her expenses. The squad worked it all out that me, Kitsumori, and Asou would do what we can be her here and the other would help if asked," said Harima.

"The military let you take a Korean citizen out of the country?" asked Itoko.

"Hai, an American Lt. Colonel pulled a few stings for us. We just have to take her to the Ministry of Immigration (1) and get her some papers and shit," said Kitsumori.

"And you're still staying here?" she asked.

"Hey, I know the drill. I paying my rent," he said raising his hands in mock defense and walking past her with Mai's bag.

"I think I'll need a bigger place… but with the increased rent I can afford to move," Itoko said closing the door after them.

Mai was placed in a guest room, Kitsumori went into the room he used when he was there before, and Harima in his room. After he unpacked his stuff, he helped Mai unpack her belongings.

Mai's belongings consisted of a few change of clothes, a three pictures of her family and relatives, a small tool kit, a small medical kit, lock picks, Swiss army knife, bayonet, a necklace with a jade carving attached, a pillow, camping mattress, a blanket, and her M9 handgun.

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0945 Hours; May 28th, 2010; Itoko's Apartment; Yagami, Japan

Harima stepped out of the apartment alone, hopped on his motorcycle, and drove to the shopping district. Mai had to go the Ministry of Immigration in Tokyo and she had nothing formal for the occasion.

He entered a store and picked out an ankle length black skirt, white button dress shirt, a thin red sting like bow, and a black blazer jacket that he hoped was in her size. 'Damn, I should have brought her with me,' he thought.

He took the clothes to the register and handed them to the store clerk. She gave Harima a weird look which he responded by saying, "Uh… it's a surprise for my little sister. There is this thing and she doesn't have the proper clothing for it."

It wasn't a complete lie and the seemed to clerk buy it. "Aww, how sweet of you," she said scanning the items. He paid for them and returned to the apartment.

A few hours later, Harima and Mai were on a Yamanote Line (2) train to the heart of Tokyo after switching from a few previous trains. Harima was wearing an A Class formal military uniform because he wanted to look official and not like a delinquent and Mai was wearing the clothes he'd just bought; she seemed to like them and they even fitted her.

His dress uniform was a light whitish-green button-up shirt with a bluish-black tie, dark olive drab tunic, and matching pants. On his left sleeve roughly below the shoulder was a yellow chevron on a black patch which marked him as a private. On the other sleeve was a light blue coat of arms with a yellow 6 on it showing he was in the 6 Division. On his head was a cap that was dark olive drab too and had a shiny black visor to shield his eyes from the sun.

They soon emerged from the subway station into the governmental district of Tokyo. They entered a government building and sat down outside an office that dealt with cases of asylum (3).

"Li Mai," called a voice.

"Hai?" she said nervously.

"Please enter," said the voice from the office.

They entered the office of Isaka Chiyo, a middle-age woman with short dark brownish-red hair. Mai took a seat. Harima removed his hat, sat down next to Mai, and placed his hat in his lap.

"I received a call from the Embassy of the Republic of Korea and they informed me that your parents did not survive the attack on Pusan."

"Hai, ma'am," said Mai quietly from her chair.

"And no family that you know of survive?" she asked gently.

"Hai."

"And for your own safety you were evacuated from your home?"

"Hai."

Isaka wrote in a file on her desk and then looked up, "Okay, your papers are in and you don't appear to be a danger to our nation, so I can have you processed in a couple of hour. I just need some information fill out, okay?"

"Hai, arigato ma'am," said Mai a bit more relaxed.

"First I need you date of birth."

"August 25th, 1999."

"Your age is?"

"10 and I turn 11 this August ma'am."

"Your place of birth is?"

"The city of Pusan, Republic of Korea."

"Arigato Mai-san. Now Harima-san where is Mai going to stay?"

"In Yagami of the Kanagawa Prefecture at my cousin's place, where I live too," said Harima.

"And how are you going to support her?"

"5th squad has agreed to pay for all her medical, education, and other expenses throught our jobs."

"Where will she go to school?"

"We'll fill out the forms for Yagami Elementarily School once she has her papers."

"I see, it sounds like you and your squad is going to take good care of her," she said sounding a little impressed.

Harima placed a hand on Mai's head and ruffled her hair, "She's like family to us… and I would like to make that official."

"That's all I need to hear," said Isaka-san as she closed the file.

They were walking from Yagami Station. Mai was staring joyfully at her brand new Japanese Federation Passport and citizenship documents. Mai was guessing that American Lt. Colonel have really pulled some strings to get her in the country.

When they entered the apartment Harima said to Mai, "Welcome home, Mai."

She turned to face him, her face broke into a huge smile and he said, "Arigato, Onii-chan (big brother)." She hugged him and skipped off to her new room in her new home.


I wanted to give each of my characters gets a part in this chapter. I hope some of you were able to pick up on the early signs of Asou and Sarah pairing and Suō and Hanai pairing. It won't be the center of the plot, but may have some importance.

Stay tuned for when Tenma confronts Harima for her sister. See Mai on her first day of school. And the coming of the PLA and PKA.

Updated January 11, 2008: I liked how this chapter came out when I first wrote it a few mouths ago. I'll edit chapter 12 tonight and should be up in a few hours.

Appendix

1. I do not know there is a Ministry of Immigration, but I would assume that Japan must have some organization to duel with foreigners entering their country.

2. The Yamanote Line is one of the subway lines in Tokyo. It goes in a complete loop and passes through most of the major areas of Tokyo including the major shopping districts, business centers, the main rail terminal, and the government offices. Needless to say, the Yamanote Line is one of the busiest subway lines in Tokyo

3. Most of you may be familiar with the term asylum as a place for crazy people, but in this case it means a plea from a foreign citizen asking another country to take them in because if they're sent back to their homeland their will be killed there.

Respectfully

J. H. Kamiya