Chapter Sixteen: Reconnaissance
"Alpha Bravo One to Alpha Mike India One dash One, Over."
Groaning, Emori set his coffee aside—it wasn't as good as Nyam's—got to his feet and headed over to the radio unit. Too early for this. It was 0530, and orders didn't come in usually for another Bravo One was Army Base One, the Command and Control of the operation. Alpha Mike India One One—Army Motorized Infantry One was his unit's designation. The "dash-one" was him, as leader of the unit.
Private Kuluna handed the handset over to him.
"Alpha Mike India One dash One, over."
"We need you to check out a cloud of smoke, twenty clicks south-southwest, grid 27." Emori's Colonel got straight to the point.
"Map!" Emori hissed to his radio operator. Hastily unfolding it, he checked it out. "Roger. Looks like Ectbana in the area." Ectbana was a small town between the jungle and the desert. "We'll check it out right away sir. Hope it's just some locals doing a slash and burn."
"I hope so too. Alpha Bravo One out." Slash and burn farming was illegal, but some of the poorer farmers still tried to get extra cropland. If that was all it was, the poor bastard was going to be in trouble when they showed up. But, if it was the rebels, that column of smoke probably means civilian casualties.
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This feels like it will be a good day. Keitaro felt much better this morning than he had previously since he landed on Pararakelse. Last night, he had finally been able to talk to Naru. Ten minutes a week at the ¥1000/minute rate on the satellite phone was all they could afford in non-emergency situations. But hearing her voice was revitalizing. He counted his blessings. I was lucky enough to marry her, lucky enough that she reconciled with me.
Naru was happy to hear that he had taken precautions with Makie and put up a barrier against any further attempts. "Just watch your back," she had said. "I trust you, but I don't trust her to let you go without trying something."
Meanwhile, he was happy to hear that the reports on her pregnancy and her psychiatric visits were positive. "Keep on doing your best," he had told her. "I love you and I love our baby."
They finished their time on the phone—after Naru had checked for eavesdroppers—with whispered descriptions of what they wanted to do to each other when he got back.
As a result, he felt ready to deal with whatever antics Makie might try.
He walked over to the battery banks on the back of the truck to plug the phone in to make sure it would be fully charged when needed. He then hurriedly walked around to the other side of the truck to answer the call of nature, fumbling with his zipper… and threw his hands up as he crashed into Makie—who had just taken off her bra—knocking her flat.
What is she trying to pull here? he thought, uncomfortably aware of the fact that his hands had made contact with something soft and feminine as they collided.
The next thing he knew, he was struck in the head by a flung shampoo bottle. Reeling, he saw Nyamo—towel wrapped hastily around her—reaching for a bar of soap to throw. Makie was covering herself with her arms and scrambling for her own towel.
Oh, shit!
"KYAAAAAA!" both women screamed.
"GET OUT OF HERE, KEITARO!" Nyamo yelled at him.
"HENTAI! BAKA!" Makie shrieked, looking around wildly for a large projectile she could throw without exposing herself. If Keitaro had not spurned her earlier, she might not have objected to the physical contact. But he had and she did.
Keitaro beat a hasty retreat, apologizing all the way.
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Having got a sense about how Juban Middle School worked, Naru was able to focus more on her concerns. There were a few periods during the day where a Haruna would be teaching but she would not, so she could look up records.
She looked with distaste at the tracker in her hand. Su had volunteered the use of her tracker to keep an eye on problem students. Wouldn't I be hypocritical to use them, after getting angry with their spying on me? Sighing, she placed it in the counter. I won't use it unless I think she's in danger, and right now I don't know that.
"Come on, Hachi, let's go for a walk," she said cheerfully. Hachi responded with a rapid fire barrage of enthusiastic barks.
Having talked to Keitaro the night before, she felt calmer, knowing she had his support and that he had laid down the law with that Saito woman. It was good to know he'd be staying out of trouble.
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"You have tomorrow if you keep on living," Makie muttered angrily to herself as she finished sponging herself off. If Keitaro had been interested in her, it wouldn't have been so bad. But as it stood, she was mortified by the encounter and just as angry at Keitaro as she would have been if it had been any other man… more because she still resented their last encounter in Port Oxley. She felt violated.
"Don't you Japanese have a saying, 'There's nothing you can do about it, so just pretend you were bit by a dog'?" Nyamo said, soothingly.
Makie, who had emptied a bucket of water over her to rinse, stared blankly. "What does that mean?" She had never heard that one before.
Nyamo looked away, feeling foolish. "I read it in a manga when I was a kid… Maison Ikkoku."
"That one was before my time," Makie replied with a shrug.
Once dressed, they came out to where the crew were gathered for Artyom's briefing.
"…so, are any issues?"
"Yes," Makie said, icily. "Can we put up some barriers in the bathing area so perverts don't come walking in." She folded her arms over her breasts and glared at Keitaro.
"Hey! Nobody told me about it being over there!" Keitaro snapped back.
Please tell me these idiots aren't going to cause trouble. "We set rules last night. Men use spring behind that truck in evening. Women in morning. I guess you don't hear while you do 'wife time.'" Artyom said.
The other members of the crew nodded.
Keitaro sighed. Everyone knew but him. 'Wife time' was when a member of the mostly male crew used the satellite phone to call his wife. Everyone gave the person a wide berth because it was personal, and sometimes explicit. I guess I should have checked the bulletin board after my call. "All right, I'm at fault here." He turned to Nyamo. "I'm sorry. I'll remember that rule in the future. And you too," he said to Makie as an afterthought.
Nyamo looked mollified. But Makie scowled, turning away.
"Cut me some slack!" Keitaro growled peevishly at the embarrassment. "I said I was sorry!"
Dammit Keitaro! Nyamo thought, sweatdropping. You saw her half naked and accidentally groped her. Think about how she feels right now!
"Just remember your own boundary," Makie said in Japanese, "'so that you are a person who never does something like that again.'" She imitated his voice in saying it.
That stung, as he remembered Makie had been trying to apologize to him when he said it to her in the first place. He vaguely remembered the story Naru said she heard at the Church in Nagasaki. Something about forgiving to be forgiven. Maybe I ought to be a little nicer. "Makie…" he said placatingly.
"Just don't talk to me unless it has to do with work." She stormed over to one of the trucks and retrieved her surveying equipment. "My crew, let's get this set up and calibrated," she called out.
Keitaro sighed and headed over to prepare the digging equipment for the day. Nyamo caught up with him.
"Hey, you all right?" she asked.
"Not really," Keitaro said. "On one hand, well, I did tell Artyom to keep her away from me outside of work. So I can hardly complain about her saying the same thing to me."
"And on the other?" Nyamo prompted.
"I'm annoyed that she won't accept that it was an accident and that the two situations aren't equal. I have to make sure that she respects the boundaries between us."
Nyamo sweatdropped. "Well… I'm a bit used to it. That doesn't mean I am ok with it, but when I first met you and Naru, I was more afraid of you two yelling in a language I didn't know and seeing Naru punch you than I was of you seeing me naked. But Makie hasn't seen more than a sample of your accidents, so it's probably a lot more frightening for her when you walk in and accidentally grope her."
"Hmm, maybe I should go talk to her." He stopped abruptly as Nyamo grabbed the edge of his shirt.
"Don't. Right now, she's mad. Let it wait until the embarrassment fades." How did he ever live long enough to marry Naru with survival instincts like that?
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The scene in the kitchen was more normal compared with yesterday. That didn't mean everything was calm—that would not mean normal in Hinata House—but things were functioning more smoothly in the chaos. Shinobu has done lunch preparation the night before, so she could focus on breakfast.
After Naru and Sara got back from walking Hachi, Sara grabbed her bag and bento. "No time for breakfast, gotta go!" She was out in a flash.
"Sara's rushing to get to school early?" Haruka asked, surprised. "Never thought I'd see that."
"Maybe she has day duty?" Motoko shrugged, sipping her tea.
Everyone looked at Ema, who shook her head. "I don't know. We don't have the same classroom, and even before the break we ran in different circles."
Motoko got up from the table. "I'll be home later than usual. I need to spend time in the law library after my classes are over."
Shinobu served everyone else. "See you, Motoko." She looked at the others. "So, who has the afternoon duty?"
Afternoon duty? Naru thought.
"I don't have any other obligations today," Kanako said. "I can be there."
A lot of chatter followed on clubs and other obligations. Naru observed, remembering her own college days. Kanako, Su, and Mutsumi would have to prepare for their final exams before graduating. Shinobu and Motoko didn't.
I'll have to help keep things quiet for them.
When it was time to head down to catch the streetcar, they were able to do it in an orderly fashion, to the relief of the other passengers.
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"This is Alpha Mike India One dash One to Alpha Base One, Over." Emori's eyes swept over the carnage as he handed the handset.
Private Haluna, his radio operator, slowly stood up and wiped his sleeve over his mouth. "Sorry sir," he said queasily.
"It's okay. We were all rookies once." Personally he felt like vomiting himself. There were at least thirty civilians lying dead in the town square. Men, women, children… all indiscriminately snuffed out by those bastards. People like Nyam, he thought. The worst was the mother and baby—both killed by the same bullet. And that was just the town square. The town once had some four hundred people living there. If there were any survivors, they hadn't come out of hiding.
"Alpha Base One, go ahead."
"We cleared Ectbana. It looks like the rebels killed everyone they could find and fled before we arrived. I think it was to make sure nobody could tell us where they went. Looks like they looted the town for gas and food. They also destroyed the gas station to prevent anyone using it."
"Roger." The colonel's voice sounded like he felt. Cold, trying to restrain his anger so it wouldn't get in the way of his job. "We'll be sending two units to help you, and a third to take care of the civilians. Your unit is to get ready to move out, keep searching for those rebels so we can stop them from doing any more of this. Is that clear?"
"Yes sir." Emori knew what the colonel meant. The unit had been getting the bodies placed and covered in a more dignified fashion. That would have to stop until the assigned unit took over. "Alpha Mike India One dash One out."
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Rika Sasaki, Naru thought to herself as she perused the file. What sort of person are you? The records showed that the girl was considered kind but quiet. She didn't belong to any clubs. Her closest friends from Primary School were attending another school. She had some friends here. Still a good student, but some falling off since she came here. Not known to have a boyfriend… or a close female friend. Times are changing, she reminded herself. So who would give you an 'engagement ring?'
She jotted down some notes. After school? Where does she go? Who does she meet? What time does she get home? HOW does she go home? Answer these before home visit.
"Good morning, Urashima-san," Haruna said, returning from one of her classes. "Busy?"
"Hello, Haruna-senpai," Naru replied. "I'm just doing some preparation, getting to know about my students."
"I see," Haruna said, coming around to do just that. "A home visit? Are you sure that's wise? We try to avoid disruption here."
Naru nodded. "I don't want to do it. But that ring's not a toy and it's not cheap. It fits her perfectly. So, I talked to one of my friends who's studying to be a lawyer. Unless her parents gave their permission to be in a romantic relationship with an older man, something smells here." She gestured to her notes. "I just want to be sure of my facts before I take any action."
Haruna grimaced. "It does happen at times," she conceded. "Back in the 90s, before they changed the laws, we'd sometimes see college students go after high school students, or even middle schoolers." Whatever happened with that nitwit all those years ago? She sighed. "And there's always a concern about the occasional photographer showing up at field days and school fairs. But what can we do if nobody makes a complaint?" She shrugged. "Not much."
I should have asked Motoko about that, Naru thought. "I could ask my friend…" she offered.
"Oh Urashima-san," she said gently admonishing. "If you want to make a career out of being a teacher, you need to learn not to rock the boat."
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Major Anzara, formerly of the Pararakelsean military and now a wanted man, glared at the map. If those stupid farm boy excuses for soldiers hadn't been trigger-happy, we wouldn't be in this mess. He had wanted witnesses locked up in the local church so they could get away after looting supplies. But one of the civilians resisted and his men started shooting.
Now they'll come after us looking for blood. Getting to the coast now to escape would be difficult. We need to find a place to lay low!
"Start heading East by Southeast," he ordered his driver.
"Sir? That's going into the desert."
Anzara backhanded the driver. Awkward, given they were sitting next to each other. But it got his point across. "Shut the fuck up and do it!" Men were starting to question his orders now. I'll probably have to shoot somebody soon. "There's supposed to be an oasis out there. We need to hide after what your idiot friends did back in Ectbana."
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Ema was returning from the bathroom, trying to get in much of her lunch break as possible before classes resumed. Shinobu had warned them that Tachikawa High School—which she had also attended—was strict, and she had been right. The education was great, but the regimented style made her appreciate her free time.
She stopped by a vending machine to picked up a canned coffee when she saw Sara creep out of her classroom and sneak over to the stairs heading to the roof.
What's she up to? Ema wondered. The two girls traveled in different social circles that seldom intersected, but they did share a sort of "Hinata sisterhood," looking out for each other. So Ema followed along, wishing she had Leon's color change ability so she wouldn't get caught doing reconnaissance.
Sara slipped out onto the roof and made her way over to a teenage boy with blue hair and wearing a beanie. "Give me a cigarette," Sara said curtly.
"Give me a kiss first, Sara-chan," he leered.
Sara rolled her eyes, but gave him a quick peck, before lighting up.
Ema was appalled. Sara smoking, casually kissing a boyfriend, and that boyfriend was Kokeru Moroboshi of all people… Ema knew there would be hell to pay from Sara if she told anyone and hell to pay from Haruka if she didn't. But, since Sara would know if she did tell and Haruka might not know if she didn't, Ema decided that discretion was the important thing.
That and getting off the roof unseen. She did her best to silently ease the door to the roof access. But she made a slight scraping sound with it and Sara—beleaguered by balancing her cigarette and fending off Kokeru's advances—somehow heard it.
While she said nothing, Sara's eyes narrowed as she looked at Ema… then widened again. "WATCH YOUR HANDS!" she snarled, punching in to the roofing tarmac.
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It was nearing the end of lunch when Naru had tracked down two of Rika's friends, Chitose Urata and Kahoru Hayato. They immediately clammed up when she approached, limiting themselves to a polite greeting. "Hello, sensei," Chitose said as they both bowed. "How can we help you?"
Keep calm, and you can press them, she thought. "I need to talk to you about Rika Sasaki," she said coolly. "I'm told you are her closest friends here."
The two girls exchanged a puzzled look. "Ah," Kahoru said, hesitantly. "We hang out together at school, but not outside of it. I hear her closest friend is Sakura Kinomoto over at Tomoeda Middle School."
"I see," Naru replied, wondering how she would make that connection before the girl went home. "What sorts of things do you all do together after school?" she asked, scraping for clues.
Another uncomfortable pause. "I… couldn't say," Chitose said. "After school, she heads to the gate and gets picked up in a red sports car. I guess it's her dad. She never sticks around." She hesitated, as if trying to decide how much to say. "I wish she would hang around with us more. She's nice, you know? But she has a life outside of Juban."
After thanking the girls—who sighed with relief being out of the scrutiny of the teacher—Naru headed back to the teachers' office. Red sports car, father… what kind of job does he have that he'd be off so early, yet have that kind of money? Does this Kinomoto girl know anything? She sighed. I don't even know if anything is dodgy yet. Should I keep going? Or should I stop rocking the boat?
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This time, they found the marker between the best and worst case margin of errors. Keitaro wiped what felt like a liter of sweat from his brow and signaled his find. This time it had been the surveying team with the crosswords and dominoes, so Artyom and Makie hurried out to get the surveying spikes in the ground.
"I was beginning to think we wouldn't find it at all," Keitaro said after draining his water bottle. "I wonder why this was so divergent from the last set."
Makie shrugged, feeling defensive. Play nice, she told herself. She and Artyom had a talk that afternoon and he had warned her that he was a bit annoyed with both her and Keitaro. "That far in the past, all we can do is guess. I imagine that guy making the map was rushed or tired in the sun." She handed him a fresh water bottle. "Things like that is why I always try to include a 'worst case' scenario in my readings."
"Oh, sorry. I'm not blaming you," Keitaro said, remembering his own talk with Artyom. "We found it inside your estimated area, after all."
Makie nodded absently, already working on the problem, gazing at the skyline. "Let's see, the first reading was North to South, the second was facing West… hmm." She pulled out a calculator and began tapping in numbers. "Umm…"
"As I say," Artyom said with a smile. "She good with what she does, like you with digging." He beamed like a proud father. "Things keep up, we may have good luck on this."
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It had taken all damn day, but Emori's soldiers finally found the traces. "Sir," Corporal Benneda came up, saluting. "They're zigzagging, but the general direction seems to be heading East from here. Doesn't make much sense though. What the f- erm, sorry sir, what are they going out there for? That's into the middle of the desert…" he stopped, staring at Emori. "Umm, Sir? Are you feeling all right?"
Emori felt a ball of ice materialize in his stomach and he staggered. "Oh my God…" he whispered, horrified. "Nyam's out there!"
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Kanako was nothing if not efficient. She was walking to the teacher's lounge to meet her brother's wife when suddenly Naru rushed past her. Hey, should she be running around like that when she's carrying oniisan's baby? Turning about face, she hurried after.
Rika"s friends weren't kidding when she said she rushed to get out of here, Naru thought, breathing heavily. The bells had barely chimed and the Class Rep had barely finished the "Stand! Bow!" before Rika was out the door.
Naru had hurried after, but had reached the gate only to see a red sports car drive off.
"Tama 200, Ha 37-45" Kanako said, softly, at her elbow.
"What?" Naru asked, puzzled and startled to see the younger woman.
"The license number of that car. Was that the girl you were worried about?"
"Yes. I'm probably worried about nothing but-"
"I don't think you are," Kanako replied. "That's a sporty two seat car, not the kind of car you'd expect a family to own, kind of pricy. I could see a bachelor owning a car like that, you know… the kind of person with no family expenses."
"Damn," Naru muttered softly. "I guess I'm going to have to set up a parent teacher meeting after all."
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Author Notes:
"There were a few periods during the day where a Haruna would be teaching but she would not." New teachers do not teach as many classes as veterans. The teachers who mentor also have fewer classes so they can monitor the new teacher.
"Don't you Japanese have a saying" I saw it used in the old translation of Maison Ikkoku. But Google seems to have no knowledge about it as a saying.
"I have to spend time in the law library." I made an error in Forever and a Day based on the manga translation. I assumed that Mutsumi had attended a four year program and was now on a 2 year Masters program. I assumed Motoko would have to do the same. But apparently, both medicine and law are six year programs (ending in the equivalent of a Masters), not 4 + 2. However, Makie would be on a 4 + 2 program, having completed her Bachelors equivalent and working on her Masters.
"we'd sometimes see college students go after high school students, or even middle schoolers" A reference to Fushigi Yuugi and Sailor Moon respectively. Apparently nobody heard of "Mandatory Reporters" at that time.
"Tachikawa High School, which she had also attended". Shinobu's high school apparently was never given a name, but it was based on a real school called Tachikawa, so I just decided to go with that.
"Kokeru Moroboshi." In Urusei Yatsura, Kokeru was the future son of Ataru Moroboshi. I figured he'd take after his father. He was originally going to be a character in Forever and a Day, but I wanted to cut down on the bloat that would distract from the main story.
"Tama 200, Ha 37-45" The general structure of a Japanese license plate is two rows. The top row is the prefecture (Tama is Tokyo) followed by a 3 digit number. The second row is a hiragana letter followed by two numbers, a dash, and two more numbers. There's no Easter egg references here. Just picked out at random.
