Well on with the next chapter
Well on with the next chapter. I'm on spring break so I have a lot of time on my hands and I think I can get a couple of chapters out pretty quickly. Anyways, hope ya'll are okay. This should put me pretty close to 200,000 words.
Thank you Gin and ahgwa for you reviews.
To ahgwa: I put something in the end of this chapter just for you.
I don't own any trademark or copywrite item. Please review and/or tell a friend.
Chapter 44: Changing of the Guard
"Charge in never easy, but it is unavoidable.
We can only hope it's for the best… or won't kill us at the least."
Just something I say. I don't know if it is a real quote.
?? Hours, September? 2010? Location unknown
Harima opened his eyes and he saw the blurry outline of a woman.
"Great, another one of my weird dreams after being shot or nearly killed," groaned Harima.
"Gomen PFC Harima, but I don't believe this is a dream… or maybe it is," she the woman with long orange-red hair unsurely as though she didn't know whether she was a figment of Harima's dreamworld.
"So what is today? The 27th?" he asked trying to get up.
She pushed him back down in the bed he was in and said, "Iē, it's actually October 1st."
"I've been asleep for a week?"
"Actually it was only 5 days," she said airily. Harima's vision was getting better and he could see her more clearly. She had grey eyes, wore a doctor's white coat over her olive drab uniform, and had a captain's insignia pinned to her shoulders. She also had large breasts that were easily visible in spite of the slightly lose uniform the military issued. Not that Harima judge women based on their breast size, his four year obsession with Tenma was proof of that.
"So who are you?" asked Harima after trying to get up for the second time.
"I am Captain Inoue Orihime, I was your surgeon," said she.
"Captain Inoue, I need you check on something," said a nurse.
"Coming," said Captain Orihime. She stood up from the stool next to Harima bed, took a couple of steps, and fell flat on her face. He looked up and smiled nervously at Harima who sweat-dropped.
"Please tell me she didn't actually operate on me," pleaded Harima to a male nurse who was putting on a fresh IV bag.
"I know she seems clumsy, but Captain Inoue is very good at her job," he said patting him on the shoulder.
He left and Harima looked around the room. He was in a prefabricated building. There were beds lining the wall. At least ten beds on each side of the room. There was one set of double doors leading to the outside on his left and a second set of double doors to his right that led deeper into this place. It appeared to be a mobile hospital. A mobile army surgical hospital or MASH to be exact.
Harima was lying on his belly because he had been shot in the back. He looked to his left where he saw a sleeping Hanai who had bandages wrapped around his head. To his right was Kitsumori who was sitting up in bed and trying to read with he bandaged hands.
Harima lay in bed for hours. He had no idea how lot he'd be there. He wasn't allowed to move. The nurses brought him lunch as some point. He could remember being so board in his life.
"Hey Harima, hey Hanai" said Asou as he staggered over to him with the aid of a pair of crutches.
"Sir," groaned the two of them. Hanai had woken up about half an hour ago. "Where is everybody?"
Asou sat on the stool between the two of them and sighed, "Kaoji is dead. So are Shimazu, Gawaki, Reimaru, and Shino, so we don't have an engineer team anymore. Yamako is still in a coma. On the bright side, they say they can save Ishida's leg, Abarai won't die, Kurosaki was barely hurt by that grenade, Ikuro liver wasn't hit as he originally thought, and you guys aren't dead."
"And Jupei?"
Asou looked down. He was silent for a long time.
"Is she dead?" asked Hanai cautiously.
"Iē… but her… they called it 'female complications'… or that was a gently way they broke the news to her that her reproductive organs were… damaged," he paused, "she has something like a 60 percent chance that she'll never have kids."
The world seemed like it came to a grounding halt. They didn't hear anything else. What they heard just couldn't he true. It didn't seem fair. It wasn't fair.
Why?
0900 Hours; October 2nd, 2010; 34th MASH Regiment, Pusan; South Gyeongsang Province, Republic of Korea
Hanai, Harima, and Kitsumori sat around Jupei's bed. She was staring blankly at the ceiling. Most of the people in the room had gone to breakfast in the mess tent and they were hoping to talk to her without people overhearing them.
"Ohaiyo," they said quietly to her one by one. She gave them a weak smile that reflected how much emotional, and possibly physical, she was in rather than putting on a brave face.
"Uh… you want to talk?" asked Kitsumori gently.
She shrugged and was silent for a while, "You ever thought about having kids?"
In all honesty, neither Hanai nor Harima with their past obsessions of Yakumo and Tenma respectfully could say no. So they said a vague kinda'.
"Yeah… well it isn't the kind of thing you think about… but now they tell me I may never have them… it's… all I can think about," she said. Harima grabbed one hand, Kitsumori grabbed the other, and Hanai put a hand on one of her shoulders each showing their support.
"There's still a chance," said Kitsumori.
"Hai, a 40 percent chance. The odds are against me," she said harshly.
"The odds were against us of being alive today, but here we are," said Hanai falsely cheerful voice, but it was true.
"… why?" she asked feebly.
"… I don't know," said Harima.
"Well at least I'm not in denial or lashing out at everybody like yesterday… but I'd give anything to get have things the way they were before," she said with a sob.
"Hai, it's one of the 5 stages of grief. First denial, second rage, third bargaining, forth depression, and finally acceptance," said Kitsumori.
Everyone stared at him.
"What? Just because I hang out with these two idiots you think I've never read a book," he said defensively.
"Look, Miho… we have your back," said Hanai.
"Hai, we're brotherhood in arms," said Harima proudly punching the air and then cringing in pain from the rapid motion that didn't help his still healing wound.
"Uh… Kenji, Miho is a girl," pointed out Hanai.
"Oh yeah, uh… were a sisterhood in arms… wait you're the only girl in the fire team… uh…," he struggled.
Jupei let out a laugh that sounded a little like a sob, but was a laugh nonetheless, "Baka. You guys are like my big brothers… baka, but there when you need them… arigato."
"Great let's get breakfast," said Harima clapping his hands together.
"Cool," said Kitsumori.
"Sure," said Hanai.
"What about me?" asked Jupei.
"You're coming too," said Harima grabbing a wheelchair from the corner. "Come on. You can't stay here alone."
Jupei rolled her eyes. Truth be told, was she didn't feel like eating… or doing anything. She wasn't even sure she wanted company, but maybe it would help. Maybe.
1300 Hours; October 5th, 2010; 34th MASH Regiment, Pusan; South Gyeongsang Province, Republic of Korea
"It's cold out… today," said Harima in English.
"Yes it is," agreed Fujiwara, "and your English is getting much better Kenji."
"Thank you very much," said Harima. He still hesitated with some words because he couldn't remember them or had trouble pronouncing them and he still had an accent, but it was starting to disappear and being replaced with a more American sounding accent. With a lack of anything other to do they watch Asou, Ishida, and Ikuro trying to walk without their crutches or whatever else they do.
Harima and Fujiwara were in the mess tent. It was getting cold in Korea this time of year. Not near the freezing point yet, but still pretty cold and a descent size wind was blowing in from the sea.
Asou limped into the mess tent and say down. He pulled out a report and began to read what was going on in the war. He read it out loud for the benefit of the others, "Says the entire South Gyeongsang Province. We also control the South Jeolla Province and most of the North Jeolla Province including Kusan. We are encountering fierce resistance in Taegu, North Gyeongsang Province. It seems the Chinese have dug in there. The British and French are having trouble clearing a path to Taejon, Chungcheong Province. The Chinese have dug in there too. The whole fucking war is bogging down."
All those dead and they control only a couple thousand square kilometers of South Korea. That only amounted to a sixth of the country.
"On the positive side most of the main ports are in the parts of the RoK we control," said Asou.
"And on the negative side?" asked Ifukube sitting down.
"We're in a stalemate with the communists."
Pvt. Ifukube Kunitake was one of the newest members of 5th squad. He'd only joined the squad in the final week of training before the invasion. He had the look of someone who lost a lot of weight in a short amount of time, probably during training. He wore thick glasses and had short messy black hair. He had a sort of awkwardness about him, but he seemed to fit in just fine with 5th squad. He had been quiet for most of his time here and it occurred to Harima this was the first time he heard him speak. He has 20 and was pulled out of college according to his file.
"Has anyone seen Miho?" asked Hanai walking into the mess tent.
"Iē," said Kitsumori. "Why?"
"Well, she hasn't been doing that well."
"Can you blame her?" asked Ikuro.
"Iē, but I've been pretty worried about her."
"Well she went through denial, anger, and bargaining… so she's on depression, cool," said Harima punching the air. There was a long silence and then, "That's not a good thing is it?"
Everyone in the room sweat-dropped.
Harima, Kitsumori, and Hanai began to search around the camp. Jupei could be fine… but somehow it didn't seem likely.
After an hour of searching the outside they started to search buildings. They figured she wouldn't be inside the personal quarters of the nurses, surgeons, MPs, or other medical personnel. So they checked the storage sheds.
"Miho are you… oh fuck," said Harima. Jupei was sitting alone in the storage room where they kept items of soldiers being treated. She was sitting against a shelf stacked with uniforms and boots. Directly in front of her was one of the handgun lockers. She seemed to be staring at the various sidearms from small snub-nosed Smith & Wesson revolvers to massive Desert Eagle .50 cals.
"Miho, hey," said Hanai in nervous/false cheerful voice, "how are you? Why don't we go somewhere else, okay?"
Kitsumori and Harima grab either arm of her and led her out away from the gun lockers while Hanai kept talking to her. All three of them horribly aware of the longing look she gave the guns, but she didn't resist or say a word.
0900 Hours; October 14th, 2010; temporary Japanese Federal Army base, Pusan; South Gyeongsang Province, Republic of Korea
Jupei was out of therapy. She seemed to be mostly okay, but there was now a fire of rage that burned in her eyes when someone mentioned the North Koreans.
Asou had spent the past week under investigation by the South Koreans and had even appeared before a NATO tribunal due to strong political pressure from the South Korean military. The whole matter was kept very quiet. It was either NATO admits to responsibility for bombing a civilian neighborhood and killing an estimated 110 people or the South Koreans admit they'd nearly doomed the very invasion that was to liberate their nation.
The Japanese raised hell with their North American and European allies saying they were using one of their soldiers as a scapegoat.
In the end the charges were dropped quietly. The media overlooked Asou and 5th squad completely. It wasn't hard when you think about the hundreds of people dying in the siege of Taegu and Taejon; either city had fallen into NATO or South Korean hands.
The situation in the Eastern European Communist Blocs was stabilizing. The Hungarians were still trying to expel the last of the Soviet troops. The Czechoslovakians were put under martial law by the Ukrainians, Poles, and other Soviet nations who were trying to keep the USSR together while the Russians fought on. The world watched nervously knowing the number of nuclear weapons at stake and the fate of a large portion of the world too.
It seemed the war in Korean was getting overlooked more and more by the day, except for the Federation of Japan, the Democratic People's Republic of (North) Korea, the Republic of (South) Korea, and the People's Republic of China. They couldn't ignore the war on their doorsteps. Well… China's attention was being diverted elsewhere because of new protests in the Tibetan autonomous state and the Xinjiang autonomous state (1). However according to reports from command, the internal fighting was the responsibility of the PLA People's Armed Police and it wouldn't take away PLAGF, PLAN, or PLAAF personnel away from Korea.
Asou was getting acquainted with PFC Toyotomi Katase, no relation to the Toyotomi Clan (2). Toyotomi was taller than most Japanese, not as tall as Harima or Hanai, but close. He had his hair cut very short to the point you could see his scalp. It was hard to tell whether his hair was dark brown or black because it was so short. He had brown eyes and tattoo on his wrist that said 'ike' which is Japanese for life. He was carrying a Type 89 assault rifle and a radio on his back. He was Kaoji's replacement.
Cpl. Amakasu Noriyori was the new engineer team leader. He was a large man. Messy bleached hair, which was orange. He carried a Type 89 assault rifle and had a generic double-action .45 caliber revolver.
PFC. Mori Ina was a soft spoken woman about 27 years old. She was clearly the oldest of them all. She kept her black hair in a tight bun under her helmet like Jupei and Fujiwara. She also had a natural motherly way about her. She also made sure that everyone brushed their teeth before going to bed and would say things like 'wear you coat or you'll caught or death out there.' Needless to say she quickly earned the nickname 'Oka-chan' (mom). Her weapons were a Colt M4A1 carbine and an H&K USP .45.
Pvt. Tsutsui Junkei was a slightly overweight man with his hair in a ponytail. He'd once or twice mentioned ambitions to being a professional wrestler, but he volunteered to join the Federal Army once he turned 18. He was built like a tank and carried an FN Minimi and no side arm.
Pvt. Shibata Keiji was a delinquent wannabe. He joined the Federal Army thinking he could impress his friends. Basic training seemed to beat from of those delusions out of him and 5th squad was making it clear he doesn't know what he's in for. He carried an H&K UMP .45 and an H&K USP .45.
5th squad was waiting to meet their new platoon leader. 1st Lt. Matsumoto and Captain Hitsugaya were also waiting to meet the new guy.
"What's his name?" asked Matsumoto.
Captain Hitsugaya pulled out a file and said, "His name is Urashima Keitaro (3). He is being transferred out of the 82nd Mechanized Infantry Regiment to us. He is a veteran of the fighting in Korea, Japan, and helped with the linkup with our paratroopers at Gimhae International Airport. He is a student at Tokyo University and came highly recommended."
"Sounds good to me," said Lt. Matsumoto.
"There was one thing. They said in a crisis he moves swiftly and professionally, but in peace time he his clumsy like you've never seen. Or at least that's what they said."
"How bad could it be?"
UH-60J Black Hawk approached the helipad and landed. A couple of soldiers got off and one officer.
A lone man with a 2nd lieutenant insignia walked towards them. He had a pack on and a sack slung over his back. He had a Colt M1911A1 .45 semi-auto handgun at his hip and an unloaded Colt M-16A5 assault rifle in one hand.
He put the rifle and the packs on the ground and walked towards them.
"You must be Captain Hitsugaya and Lt. Matsumoto," greeted Lt. Urashima warmly. "I'm 2nd Lt. Urashima Keitaro."
He had his hand out and took a step towards them. Matsumoto and Hitsugaya tried to give him a word of warning, but it was too late. Lt. Urashima didn't see a pothole in the ground. The toe of his right boot went in and he tripped. He fell straight into Matsumoto's massive breasts. The force of the impact knocked of his glasses which fell in the crevice between her breasts.
"I'm terribly sorry about this," he said pushing off her breast with his hands. "I think my glasses fell in this crack."
Some of the men in stared enviously and the others stared dumbfounded as Urashima reached in Matsumoto's tunic fishing for his glasses.
"Got them," said Urashima triumphantly and putting his glasses on. It only took about four seconds for Urashima to realize where his hands where and the innocent smile he wore faded.
"I'm sorry!" he shouted flinging his arms over his face as though he expected to be hit.
"It's not a problem," said Matsumoto cheerily.
"Really?" asked Urashima uncertainly lowering his arms as though he expected it was some kind of trick and he would be punched into another continent.
"Sure, you file warned us you clumsy and people drop things down there are the time," she said airily.
Urashima gave Matsumoto a concerned look and look to his new superior for answers. Captain Hitsugaya had slapped a hand to his face and shook his head mouthing the words 'don't ask'.
"So anyways, I'm Captain Hitsugaya Tōshirō and this is my second in command 1st Lieutenant Matsumoto Rangiku. This is SSgt. Ugiji of 4th squad, SSgt. Asou of 5th squad, and Sgt. Watanabe of 6th squad. This is your platoon. Good luck," said Captain Hitsugaya patting Urashima on the shoulder and leaving with Lt. Matsumoto.
2nd Lt. Urashima Keitaro was an average height male with dark brown hair and grey eyes. He wore thin wire frame rectangular shaped glasses. He had a friendly smile marred only by the 'thousand yard stare' that anyone who had killed possessed.
"I am 2nd Lieutenant Urashima Keitaro. I am 25 years old and was going to start my 4th year at Tokyo University when the war started. My major was archeology and I have been to digs around the world and I have learned several languages along the way. My archeology teacher and my aunt we former mercenaries and taught me how to fight and outsmart an army. I have been to Tibet, Bosnia, Iraq, and Chechnya on digs so in my past I have had to shoot my way out some situations… it's a long story. Anyways I was transferred out of my regiment to this on and I am your new platoon leader. Any questions?"
Ikuro raised her hand.
"Hai, corporal?"
"You were transferred out of the 82nd?"
"Hai."
"Aren't they up in Taegu?"
"Hai. Command said they needed an experienced officer in another unit and now I'm here."
"What's the fighting like up in Taegu?" asked Asou.
"Ugly, plain and simple. We have pushed the Chinese and North Koreans out of their more fortified positions, but they fight us for every block."
"Do did kill any North Koreans?" asked Jupei savagely. Pvt. Shibata nodded eagerly.
"Lots, but mostly the Chinese hold the lines," answered Lt. Urashima eyeing Jupei with some concern at her eagerness to kill North Koreans.
"Are we going to Taegu?" asked SSgt. Ugiji.
"Possibly. It's that or Taejon or the mountains in between."
A pause.
"Any more questions?"
No one spoke.
"Very well then. You are dismissed."
2nd platoon wandered off, but Jupei felt someone grab his shoulder.
"Walk with me," ordered her new platoon leader.
They walked down the roads between barracks.
"You smoke?" asked Lt. Urashima.
"Iē."
"Neither do I. I tried it once, but didn't like it," said Lt. Urashima conversationally. "So what's your problem?"
"I have no problem, sir," she said, but a note of anger said otherwise.
"You have a death wish."
"Iē, I have a wish to kill," she said.
"It'll end the same either way. You'll get yourself killed," said Lt. Urashima knowingly. Jupei wanted to hit the men, but that fact that he was an officer prevented her. Plus his smile was very friendly and too disarming to the point where her anger started to fade.
"… I may never have kids," she said finally. He seemed like was prepared to listen to any of her problems.
"That's harsh," he said with a vague shrug. "But it's not the end of the world. After all you said you may never have kids. I know men and women who defiantly will never have kids. I know people who have lost their minds to the point where they may never interact with the public again. I know people who have lost their ability to walk, to see, to hear, or use their hands. I lost my old perspective of the world. I always thought the world was a place full of hope, but I see I was lying to myself all those years. Reality may be the most devastating weapon of war… still you have a chance that you still are whole, and that's better than most."
Jupei stared at him nervously and finally voice her greatest fear, "I'm not… damaged goods?"
He smiled sadly, "We all are in one way or another. Once you pull the trigger we're damaged beyond repair, but even damaged things can still work and sometimes work better than the unbroken."
Jupei considered this for a while.
"That help?" he asked.
"Hai… it does," she said truthfully.
"Good, then you're dismissed."
He walked off. Leaving Jupei alone. She wasn't the same girl she was when she was drafted. Even before her injury she had worried that she was 'damaged' in a way that her parents and her family and friends would never understand. This injury to her womanhood was only the catalyst to her fears. She was not the same person and never will be, but she could adapt. There was a chance she'll be fine. That was all she needed to know she could be on.
She looked up at the sky which seemed particularly bright and sunny today, "So this is stage 5… acceptance."
0700 Hours; October 16th, 2010; a temporary Japanese Federal Army Base, Pusan; South Gyeongsang Province, Republic of Korea
"Major Daijin here to see you sir," said a corporal to Lt. General Honnoji.
"Thank you corporal, let her in," said the Lt. General without looking up from his paperwork. Major Daijin entered, saluted, and then sat in the chair in front of Honnoji's desk.
Lt. General Honnoji was reading the final page of a report. Once he finished he closed the file and pushed it aside before looking up at the 27th Infantry Battalion commander, "Shiori, I have good news and bad news."
"Hai, sir."
"The good news is that the German, American, and Canadian soldiers in Taegu may be able to break the siege and force the enemy to withdraw."
"And the bad news is we are going to Taegu, isn't it?" she asked wryly.
"As usually Shiori you remind me why you earned your rank," said the Lt. General with small smile. "I need you to take these marching orders to the 28th Armor Battalion's commander and 26th Heliborne Battalion's commander."
"Why couldn't you have given this to Colonel Hojo or Lt. Colonel Fūma?"
"Because Colonel Hojo is busy and Lt. Colonel Fūma of the 26th Heliborne has been transferred to the Special Forces," he said standing up and walking to her. He removed the major insignias from her shoulders and put them on his desk. He opened a small box on his desk and pinned a new set of rank insignias. "For your service to the Japanese Federal Army and the Federation of Japan, I see fit to promote you to the rank of Lt. Colonel."
The Japanese Lt. Colonel insignia was a shoulder pad. A green strip with a gold circle at one end by the neck and a set of twin bars at the other end with two stars. Making her a Lt. Colonel meant that she was second in command of the regiment.
"Arigato gozaimasu," she said hoarsely. She couldn't believe that this was happening.
"Iē, zenzen. You did the work Lt. Colonel Daijin. Now make sure those orders are distributed to the rest of the 81st. Gook luck in Taegu. Fighting is still fierce up there."
"You won't be disappointed."
0600 Hours; October 17th, 2010; a temporary Japanese Federal Army Base, Pusan; South Gyeongsang Province, Republic of Korea
'Dear Sarah,
Sorry I haven't written for a while, but I've been in a hospital for the past two and a half weeks. We really took a beating. I lost nearly a third of my squad. I won't lie to you; I thought I was going to die that day and almost did. I have had seen my soldiers suffer in the aftermath. I want to tell my parents and my brother, Yuya, that I love them.
One more thing and it is very important. I love you Sarah. You may not know it, but you are one of the kindest most selfless individuals I have ever known. I want to spend as much time as possible after this war. Please wait for me. I will be there one day.
With love,
Hiroyoshi.'
Asou sealed the letter in an envelope and dropped off with the mail. He was changing his priorities. His soldiers' lives survival came first, objectives second. He needed to reach to the people he loved more. He wasn't alone either. Hanai was dropping something in the mail too and Asou was pretty sure he knew who it was to.
Well the second chapter I have written this week and I only two days. I'm on a roll. I won't promise I will have a chapter tomorrow. I have things to do. I do hope to have a third chapter up before Monday March 25, 2008. I think I can achieve that. I think this story is going to go past chapter 50, but I think it will end before I hit 60. I also have the undisputed longest School Rumble fanfiction on . Not bad for a guy with a learning disability centered around reading and writing, eh?
Respectfully
J. H. Kamiya
Appendix
1. Most of western China is made up of autonomous states like Xinjiang, formerly known as East Turkestan. Xinjiang is made up of mostly Uyghur Chinese who are Chinese-Muslims. Another large portion of western China is Tibet who are mostly made up of Buddhist. Both the Tibetans and Uyghur and other Chinese-Muslims like the Hui are very opposed to being ruled by the Han Chinese who run the Central Government in Beijing. Xinjiang (East Turkestan) and Tibet were invaded by China in the 1950s and have been at odds with China since.
2. The Toyotomi Clan were a very well known family in Japan. Toyotomi Hideyoshi was the successor to Oda Nobunaga and he was the one who first united Japan during the Sengoku Era (Warring States Era). He died shortly after his failed invasion of Korea (unrelated to his death). A civil war broke out in Japan and that gave rise to the Tokugawa Clan and the start of the Edo Era which would last until the Meiji Restoration and the start of the Meiji Era.
3. Urashima Keitaro is the main male protagonist of the anime Love Hina. All rights reversed to Ken Akamatsu author of Love Hina. It was actually a Love Hina fanfiction that inspired this fanfiction.
