Chapter Seventeen: Closing In

Things were gradually settling into a routine at the camp. The surveying crew, led by Makie, started early. The digging crew, led by Keitaro, started later but finished later too. That let him sleep a little later in the morning… in theory.

"WE'RE AN AMERICAN BAND! WE'RE AN AMERICAN BAND!" blasted suddenly from one of the crew's boom boxes, jolting Keitaro awake.

Keitaro groaned and sat up. 6:45 am on the dot. How is it possible to settle into an anarchical routine? Rubbing his chin, he threw on a pair of pants, and reached for his shoes. Gonna have to shave before I go home, he thought. Naru preferred him clean shaven and, missing her, wanted to return to Japan in a form she preferred.

Makie took the next southern bearing. Looks like my theory might be right, she thought. The markers the ancient Pararakelsans used were South, and then either East or West. The Southern readings were generally easy to get almost dead center. But the East and West readings could be off. I bet the difficult finds were when they were measuring into the rising or setting sun.

Keitaro walked over around then, causing Makie to grit her teeth. You have tomorrow if you keep on living, she reminded herself. "Yes?" she asked, coldly.

Keitaro sighed, remembering what Nyamo had told him of what she was mad about. "Just keeping it professional," he began warily. "It seems to me that there's a bit of time lost, between the time that you finish calculating your estimates and the time we get over and start digging." I was wondering… I know your job takes as long as it takes, and I'm not blaming you. But I was wondering if you had ideas on what we could be doing anything to cut down on the time to so you don't have to wait on us."

Makie pondered that, defensively wrapping her arms to cover her breasts. She was still pissed off at him, but Keitaro's question had merit. They were really disorganized compared to past digs, and they only had so much daylight to do readings in, and find the markers. She tried to keep her tone neutral. "I suppose if you want to send somebody from time to time, I can keep you posted on the general status once I start taking my second set of readings. If you want to get to the perimeter of the 'worst case' zone, you'll be that much closer while I do my best case readings. Just don't enter it until I'm done. You might block the landmarks."

That was a bit colder a response than he hoped, but it wasn't the demonic hatred it could have been. "We'll do that. Thanks for the suggestion." He turned back to the camp. Her advice was common sense, except for how sloppy they were this time, but he was more interested in sending out some peace feelers. "The equipment is ready. I'll send somebody by in a half hour." He began walking back to the camp.

"Hey," Makie said. "I know you're in a hurry to get back to Japan. I'll see what I can do on my end too." The tone was a little less frigid. Keitaro wondered if he saw a hint of softening in her expression.

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Things were gradually settling into a routine at Hinata House. Get up, deal with morning sickness, get dressed, deal with Hachi, deal with breakfast and get ready to catch the streetcar. This time, it was Su's turn to wait for Naru after classes were done… which was never routine.

She rubbed her legs as she prepared to put on her nylons. I'm going to have to shave them before he comes home, she thought. He's not going to want me less than smooth down there. She wasn't a slob, but without him there, she had less reason to do that particular chore. Still, she wanted to be in a form he preferred when he returned to Japan.

She sighed, missing him, but at least she could at least move forward with her life, unlike when she was on Pararakelse.

If it wasn't for this thing with Rika, this would be a comfortable routine to go through until Keitaro returned, she mused. Unfortunately, today was the day of her home visit to the Sasaki household. Since she was going right after school, she reluctantly accepted one of Su's trackers so she could be found.

Not everything was smooth though.

"Where are you going so early?" Haruka said to Sara.

"Just to school," Sara snapped back, immediately raising her stepmother's mistrust and ire.

"You never used to go early," Haruka growled back. "So what's really going on?"

"Are ya saying you don't trust me?" Sara snapped. "I don't have time for this!"

Naru thought Ema looked suddenly nervous. How odd. No, she amended, watching Sara glare at Ema, how suspicious. It was obvious that Sara had secrets, and Ema knew something.

But Sara was already darting out the door and down the hill, leaving Haruka irritated at more than just a lack of nicotine.

"Damn that girl!" she growled. "It seems like no matter what I do, she's going to fight me.

Kitsune looked at her sympathetically. "Ten years ago, that was me." And I hope she doesn't wind up like me today. "Maybe, I should say something?" She said it dubiously, like it needed to be done but didn't think she would succeed.

"Maybe we should look into what's going on first?" Naru suggested, sensing her friend's unease. "Is there something serious going on? Or is it just the typical teenage rebellion? She comes by to help me with Hachi every morning and evening. Maybe the topic could 'come up'?"

Kitsune smiled, relieved. Not just over getting off the hook. Ever since she and Kei got back together and started seeing the doctor, she's regained a lot of confidence. That was a good thing. Naru had always been the unofficial leader. I never realized how hard that was until I had to take her place.

Haruka smiled, also relieved. "Thanks Naru." She considered Kitsune a good friend, but worried about what sort of advice she might offer. She didn't want be careful about guys' intentions to be limited to make sure you have contraception on hand.

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Things were gradually settling into a routine in the search and destroy mission. Send out the scouts, have them report on the material, evaluate it. Then try to work with HQ and other units to plot the probable path of the rebels. We need more helicopters, he grumbled to himself. The military had three, and they were used for helping rebuild Port Oxley. Admittedly, they were necessary where they were, but dammit, the rebels were heading in Nyam's general direction.

Lieutenant Kidd hurried up, saluting. "Sir, we have some bad news," he said breathlessly.

"Must I wait for it?" Emori didn't care for being jerked around when that meant delaying the important information.

"Oh." Kidd cringed, then continued. "The rebels seem to have turned directions to the south. They may be heading for Ralato."

That was moving away from Nyamo and towards the habitable zone. Good for him, terrible for those people living in Ralato—especially after what happened in Ectbana. Emori felt ashamed of his initial sense of relief. "How solid is this information?"

"Sir, we found a broken water tank about twelve miles in. Then the trucks stopped about fifteen miles into the desert. There were footprints all over the place. Then the vehicles turned south."

"All right," Emori nodded. Kidd was a good soldier. He just had to get experience. He might get it too, he mused. That would mean men getting killed… potentially some of his own. Bad business. Getting to his feet, Emori reached for the map. "Do we have a heading?"

"It's varying sir. But if they change direction outright it will be a change."

"All right. Get Halama over here with the radio set. I want to coordinate with the other units. Let's see if we can trap and nail these bastards before anyone else loses his life." He remembered watching Patton as a kid on DVD. The quote about making the other guy die for his country instead was in his mind… except that they were from the same country and the other guy had betrayed it.

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"So, you're determined to go through with this, Naru?" Haruna asked, apprehensively, setting down her cup of tea. "Are you sure this is wise?"

"Yes," Naru replied, cautiously. She had been more confident until she saw Haruna's reaction. "There are just too many red flags on this, and I think RIka's parents should be informed." She sighed. "I just think of the high school students in our dorm. I'm sure their parents would want to know what was going on if they were in this situation."

Haruna gave her a Well, it's your funeral look. "Well, you do have that right. I just hope you don't regret it. I think you'd be a good permanent addition to our school, and I hate to see you risk it over something that's probably nothing."

I wonder how many other cases there are out there where the teachers stayed silent out of fear. "I hate to risk it too," she replied. "But at the end of the day, I don't think my conscience would let me do nothing."

It was nice knowing you, Haruna thought sourly. "Well, it's about time for the first class. Let's see if the students do better with algebra under your system."

They ended up passing Rika in the hall, heading to her own classroom. She gave Naru a hard look as they went past each other. Probably on account of her friends telling her about the questions. I hope that doesn't mean trouble during the visit.

As it turned out, the first year students had been mis taught the rudiments of algebra by her predecessors. So, Naru was kept busy getting them to understand… too busy to worry about her other plans.

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This time, Makie had got the measurements almost dead center. Nyamo had barely broken a sweat before Keitaro called out, "Got it! Turtle with… five legs? At least I hope that's supposed to be a leg. Looks like it's facing to the west."

Makie smiled. "Okay, let's see if we can get this set up before the sun begins to set. The next one will probably be less accurate if my theory is correct."

"Oh?" Artyom asked. "Is problem?" He remembered the wasted dig when their calculations led them into the middle of a yeblya poor residential district instead of the temple district.

"Not on our end," Makie replied. "But I think the ancient Pararakelsans had a problem with the measurements they took going into the sun. I've noticed the East-West measurements have a greater margin of error than the North-South line."

"Okay," Keitaro said, smiling. "We'll make sure we're rested for that dig. I was wondering why every other one was rough." He looked around. "Looks like half a klick from where we dug last time. This feels right this time."

Makie smiled, forgetting to be mad at him.

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To Naru's surprise, it was Mutsumi who was waiting for her at the school, not Su, when she got out of class. "Change of plans?"

"I thought you had enough trouble dealing with one reckless child being distracted with another one," Mutsumi said sweetly. "Do you need anything before we go?"

Good point, Naru thought. The meeting might require some tact—and Su and Tact didn't belong in the sentence without a has no between the words. "No, let's just get this over with before I lose my nerve," Naru replied. "It occurs to me that if I'm wrong or acting impulsively, I'm opening myself up for a disciplinary hearing."

Mutsumi placed her hand on Naru's shoulder. "You may have lost your temper with Kei-kun sometimes, but that was always spontaneous. But this is something you have been thinking on for awhile. Besides, isn't it better to be cautious and find out there was nothing to worry about than to do nothing and find out there was something to worry about?"

They reached the gate in time to see a red sports car drive off. Seeing Naru stare at it, Mutsumi thought for a moment. "You know, Nacchan? I think there are two things to consider here if the person in the car is the one who gave her the ring. First, since you need to be 18 to get a license here, he has to be much older than her. Second, if he is here every day, then he has a job that gets off of work before the average salary-man. Third—"

Naru sweatdropped at the mis-numbering.

"—it's a pricey car, and while Juban is a nice district, I don't think a family who sends their children to school here would be able to afford a two seater like that. So, something smells here."

It was a ten minute trip, involving the train, a transfer to another line, and a bus. Thankfully, my bladder and my feet are under control here, Naru thought. I'd hate to have to deal with that while trying to look professional.

Mrs. Sasaki had been laying out the tea tray when they arrived, and apprehensively hurried to the door when the bell rang. She had been worried about the visit since the school had called her the night before. Rika had said she had no idea why the new teacher wanted a home visit. It must be because she's a new teacher and is visiting all the students, she thought.

At the door, she saw two women in their mid to late 20s. The younger one with a maternity mark on her blouse. "Good afternoon," she said, bowing.

"Good afternoon," the two women responded. The younger one continued, "I an Naru Urashima, and I teach at your daughter's school. This is my friend, Mutsumi Otohime. I apologize for the inconvenience of bringing someone along, but since…" she gestured to her maternity mark, "my friends want to make sure the baby and I are safe." She faltered for a moment. "I imagine that sounds foolish."

"Not at all," Mrs. Sasaki said, leading them into the living room. "I remember my first pregnancy. Every little thing had me convinced I had done something terrible and would hurt the baby before he was born." She smiled. "It gets easier—well, easier is the wrong word—it gets more familiar after the first one."

After pouring the tea, Naru said, "I apologize for the inconvenience of this visit, and I hope I am worried about nothing. There are a few things I need to find out if you are aware of. If you are, then I am sorry for the inconvenience." She had been expecting a wary, if not hostile, response. But Mrs. Sasaki had been welcoming.

"Ara, that sounds serious," Mrs. Sasaki said. "I wish Rika-chan could have been here for the meeting, but she has her after school clubs until late. What sort of things?"

Naru and Mutsumi exchanged a look. "Club meetings?" So Rika was lying to her mother. That was worrisome. Well, hopefully it was just happenstance. "Well, first of all, does your husband drive a red sports car?"

"My husband? No, he commutes by train. The cost of a vehicle is a luxury when you live in Tokyo."

"Ah," Naru said, dismayed that two pieces of the puzzle did fit. "The second question is, have you and your husband given her permission to be in a romantic relationship?"

Mrs. Sasaki almost dropped her teacup. "Of course not! She's fourteen, much too young for that! She's supposed to wait for dating until she's finished with high school! What are you implying with these questions?"

So, there was a bit of stress beneath the polite reception. "The third question I have to ask is, have you or another relative lent or given her a ring? A gold band with a stone set into it?"

"Now you're being ridiculous, Mrs. Urashima. That sounds like you're describing an engagement… ring." Her voice trailed off, seeing Naru's expression. "Wh- what has my daughter been up to?"

"Well," Naru began, sighing. "Apparently at school she refers to it as an 'engagement ring….'" She began to relate the events she had noticed: her being picked up by the red car after school, and the engagement ring. "The fact that her actual schedule is different from what she told you also seems suspicious. I was hoping that there was an innocent misunderstanding here," she said. "But I reached the point where I figured I would be burying my head in the sand if I didn't schedule this meeting."

Naru bowed deeply. "I am sorry, Mrs. Sasaki. I hope there is some innocuous reason to fit the facts, but I thought it would be better for you to know than to do nothing."

"I do not hold you accountable. You managed to discover this in the three days you were here… the school didn't notice it in the three years that Rika was there." She brought her hands down hard on the tabletop, hard. "An engagement ring? And it was common knowledge? How could they do nothing about it?" Mrs. Sasaki brushed her eyes, irritated. "I- I think I have some things to look into before my daughter gets home. If you'll excuse me…?"

As they left, Naru thought of what Haruna had said. If you want to make a career out of being a teacher, you need to learn not to rock the boat. She wondered how widespread that problem was.

"Ara, that was troubling," Mutsumi said softly as they walked away from the house.

"Yes, for me, the fact that Mrs. Sasaki told me that she thought her daughter was at after school clubs felt like the proof that this isn't just an innocent misunderstanding. That girl's hiding something."

She thought for a moment. "Ema still goes to her cram school on Wednesdays when school is in question, doesn't she?"

"I believe so," Mutsumi said, perplexed by the change of topic. "Why do you ask?"

"Well," Naru replied grimly, "This has reminded me of Sara's fight with Haruka. I think Ema knows something—and I think I ought to find out what before I make any hasty judgments."

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The sixth marker was a hard find. Partially because Makie turned out to be right on the East-West variations, and partially because the search area was strewn with rocks, and was also where a number of turtles were sunning themselves—some of them gargantuan in size. They didn't want to move, and when they finally responded to coaxing, they moved about one foot before slumping back down.

"Oh, come on," Keitaro grumbled to one particularly stubborn large turtle, "You have a whole damned desert to sun yourself in!"

"Myuh!" it had responded, digging in more stubbornly.

But at last they found the marker, a six-legged crocodile.

"At least that's less problematic than the five legged turtle," Makie smirked. "Anyway," she continued, "I'm thinking that what we want has to be within that region." She swept her arm in an arc that was well apart from the previous digging area that had turned out to be a disappointment last dig. "Assuming all goes well, we could hit the spot we're looking for by the end of tomorrow."

"It would be nice heading back to Japan, knowing that we found it before I left," Keitaro said excitedly. For a brief moment he was tempted by the thought of staying on to excavate the library but… No, It's time to put Naru and our child first, he thought to himself.

Makie found herself looking at Keitaro in a new light. He really does love that woman. I don't know how or why, but he does. I guess I never had a right to come between them even when I thought they were divorcing. She had no idea that she was echoing Shinobu and Motoko on the matter. "It'll be a good way to begin your graduate studies with a discovery like that."

They exchanged a smile. Neither was one of romantic attraction, but of camaraderie.

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Ema folded like a cheap paper fan when Naru showed up at the cram school to question her on Sara.

"I didn't say anything because I knew she'd be mad if I said anything to give her away!" she said defensively.

"This Moroboshi kid is a sleaze, you say? How do you think Haruka will act if she finds out you did know?"

"I figured Sara finding out if I talked was guaranteed. Haruka-san finding out if I didn't was less certain! But yes, Kokeru has a reputation among the girls in my class. He's always hitting on them, and they keep hitting him."

"Ara," Mutsumi said. "I can't imagine Sara would want to date somebody like that."

"I can," Naru said, grimly. "If she was rebelling against her mother. I wish Seta hadn't jumped on a plane back to Molmol yesterday."

He had too, spur of the moment, announcing he had made a discovery and needed to do some research. Haruka had taken it in stride. I'm used to it, she had said. No sense getting mad now after all these years."

At this point it was a ten minute walk back to Hinata House and Naru's feet and bladder were doing all right, so—after a worried question and a patient answer over whether it would be harm the baby—they two women decided to walk, leaving a stressed Ema behind.

I never should have followed Sara to that roof!

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Emori fired off a three round burst at one of the rebels as he sought to climb onto the last of the fleeing 6x6. The man jerked violently, slumped to the ground and did not move. He ducked behind a wall and reloaded while soldiers in the jolting, weaving truck returned fire.

His own men were on the ball, providing covering fire for him. Another rebel jerked suddenly and pitched forward out of the back of the truck before the vehicle sped away. The firing tapered off. Slowly, Emori looked around before he stepped out of cover.

"Fire team A," he shouted. "Sweep east, fire team B sweep west. Look for stragglers! The rest of you, look for wounded civilians!" He hoped there weren't any. They had gotten to Ralato before the rebels did, but not enough before to set up an ambush.

Turning to Kidd, he said, "And find out what heading those bastards are taking!"

"Sir," Lieutenant Kidd responded, "I have the initial status report. We have no casualties among our men at the moment!" He cringed, waiting for the blow-up.

Emori sighed. "Yes, I should've waited for that first." Dammit, keep it together, Emori. "All right. See to the men. Tell the sarge to get a team together once we're clear!" Be safe, Nyam! He thought. If I could, I'd blaze a trail out there to you right now!

A couple of staccato bursts of gunfire reminded him that, despite his personal feelings, he had a job to do.

Readying his rifle, kept low as he began his own observations, forcing himself to be objective. Fire had almost finished turning one of the 6x6 trucks into a charred skeleton. They had stopped that one with a Carl Gustav Recoilless Rifle when it tried to run the barricade. None of the rebels had made it out of the explosion and the ensuing fusillade that followed. Twenty bodies had been recovered from that one. Emori estimated that between a fifth and a fourth of the rebels had been in the truck. Unless they had a backup camp somewhere… unlikely. It looks like they're trying to stay together. Still, the 75-80% remaining was enough to be a serious threat to his men if he was careless or distracted.

He looked around. "Get me Halama and the radio set, on the double!" Halama showed up a minute later lugging the set. He must have legged it.

"Sir?" Halama asked, saluting.

"Get HQ on the horn! I think those rebels are heading out to the desert oasis, and if we can get our attack chopper out there it might save lives."

He looked at his own cellphone. There was a good signal from there, but wherever Nyam was, she was too far away from a tower to get a signal. I should have gotten the satellite phone number from her. I kept putting it off. Of course, where she worked had a landline, so perhaps…

It was against regulations to use his personal cell phone while on a mission, but this was his beloved at risk here. So he punched in the number.

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Major Anzara swore as they retreated from Ralato. First Some idiot had forgotten to secure the water tank, meaning they had lost half of their water supply. Then somehow the government troops had guessed he had doubled back, and were waiting. One 6x6 destroyed, thirty men lost between the vehicle and the soldiers left behind.

It had to be that Captain Emori Leba. He was one of a cadre of officers who considered the defense of the nation to be a serious matter instead of a job. He inspired other officers to turn their men into well trained units. He'd be a bloodhound. If it was up to him, he'd keep hunting the rebels until the job was done. Fortunately, it wasn't up to him.

"Nothing for it now," he growled to his driver. "We have to find that oasis that those foreign archaeologists are digging at. Hole up there until they lower their guard.

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Dr. Cha was getting ready to head for home. He had had a quiet day running the office, being the only one there. It was getting on to early evening. Time to spend time with my family, he thought. With his daughter, Ji-Hwan, getting ready to go off to college in the United States next month and his wife, Hyun-Sil determined to visit Mrs. Urashima in Japan after Ji-Hwan left, the remaining days were precious.

He grabbed his hat and his briefcase—nobody needed a coat an the island except when the typhoons came—and headed towards the door.

Suddenly, the landline rang.

That was unusual. It was used so seldom, that sometimes he wondered why they bothered paying the costs for the thing in the first place. Unusual enough that he thought he had better see to it instead of pretend he hadn't heard it before he left.

"Joint Research Institute, Dr. Cha speaking. How might I help you?"

"Dr. Cha?" The voice was staticky. Probably from a cell phone "This is Captain Emori Laba calling."

"Ah yes, Nyamo's male friend, isn't it? I'm afraid she's off on a dig right now."

"Yes sir," Emori said. "I'm calling because I think the dig may be in danger, and I need the number of their satellite phone. The rebels are moving in that direction, since it's an oasis. I don't know if we can get there before the rebels do, so I want them to get out away from there!"

But they're almost at the point of finding the library! he thought, but didn't say. Human life was more important. "I understand." He rattled off the number. "Since you are apparently are dealing with spotty communication, perhaps I can call from the landline and relay messages while you are out of cell range?"

Thank you doctor! Emori thought to himself. "We're getting ready to pursue now, and will soon be out of range!"

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Keitaro was sitting by the fire, having just finished the beer in his hand, when Makie walked over with two unopened ones. "Flag of truce?" she asked, handing him one of the cans. Since Nyamo was using the Satellite Phone to try to do wife time—or in this case, Guy I hope to get engaged to time—he didn't have any real reason to evade her.

"Sure," he said, keeping his voice calm.

She surprised him by sitting at an appropriate distance. "So, I've been able to do some thinking," she began hesitantly. "While it's true that I only went after you because I thought you were planning on a divorce, I can see now that I was out of line for trying anything prematurely. So, regardless of who misinterpreted who, I was wrong here. So I am sorry."

Keitaro hesitated. He had to admit that Makie wasn't acting any different than Shinobu and Motoko had recently. I guess I really sent the wrong signals here. "Thank you for that. I… understand that I had misread some of your intentions too. Having just gotten reconciled with my wife, I thought it was important to keep barriers between us, especially since I have the worst mishaps. I'm sorry about that too."

Makie smiled slightly. "Maybe next time, keep your fists clenched around women?" Of course, that would probably mean she'd get punched there a lot, but better that pain than the embarrassment of constantly getting accidentally groped.

The two of them shared a laugh over that. Then Makie looked at him. "I will have to go back to Todai before the next term begins, and I was thinking I should probably take some time and apologize to Naru personally, but would I be welcome to do so? Or would my presence be offensive?"

Keitaro pondered that. While Naru had made her peace with him, she still tended to react angrily to the mention of Makie. "I don't know," he said cautiously. "I've learned that I shouldn't make decisions about her without involving her in the process. So, I think I should probably ask her if she is okay with that or if she just doesn't want to meet with you." He finished his beer. "I won't try to pressure her either way on this. All I can do is ask, and if she says 'No,' I'll back her up."

Makie nodded. It wasn't the answer she wanted, but it was clear she wasn't going to be able to appeal for another one. "I guess I have no right to expect more than that." She shrugged. "I'll have tomorrow If I keep on living."

"I've never heard that saying before," Keitaro said. "What do you mean by it?"

"Hmm? It's something my mother would say when I was a girl and things didn't go my way. I always interpreted it as meaning that as long as we're alive, we have options for the future. I was reminded of it when we had our um… difficulties on this trip. I can't change what Naru feels about me or what I did but shouldn't have done. But if I approach life that way, whatever bad things that do happen doesn't mean that my life is destroyed forever. I can try again, or change my goals."

"Interesting," Keitaro said. "I never formulated it that way, but it fits how I approached preparing for college despite failing three times. Maybe that's why I kept bouncing back, with the support of my friends."

"From what you and Nyamo have told me, you have an… erm… interesting group of friends," Makie said. She felt a sting of regret. Her choices most likely barred her from ever getting to know them, of becoming part of the group of friends. Well, I have tomorrow….

There was a commotion at the camp proper. Nyamo was holding the satellite phone and gesturing to Artyom.

"Now what's going on?" Makie grumbled.

Keitaro sighed as he got to his feet. "Guess we better find out.

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Sara got home a bit late—as she had been doing lately—shed her school uniform for jeans and a t-shirt and went to collect Naru and Hachi. The latter leapt all over her. Naru seemed a bit reserved. Must have been a bad day at school with that girl that she was talking about.

Naru didn't say much before they got to the rubble field that was once the annex. Then, while Sara threw the stick for Hachi, Naru sat on a rock next to where she stood.

"I thank you for changing out of your uniform before coming to walk Hachi with me," Naru began softly. Since I've gotten pregnant, I am pretty sensitive to cigarette smoke. I'd hate to have to start walking Hachi without your help."

I thought the Febreze covered that up, Sara thought, alarmed to be caught out. Casually, she tried to sidestep. "Well, the trains are pretty bad…."

You just take the streetcar, Naru thought. Similar lies to what Rika was telling her mother. "Sara, I think you are putting me, and the rest of the residents here in a difficult situation,"

Sara stopped short, eliciting a stream of barking protests. So she threw it again. Then turned to face Naru. "Have I?" she asked warily. She reviewed her steps since she went to Naru's room. She couldn't think of anything.

"I think of you as a friend. But I also think of your stepmother as a friend." Naru sighed. "As a teacher, I see things that are warning signs when students do them. Haruka and I both see these signs with you. I don't see her questions and concerns as being unreasonable in this day and age."

Sara shrugged. "All Moms and Daughters fight, don't they? I just want her to cut me a little more slack."

"Well, how much freedom you want and how much you need is something you and your mother need to work out. I don't have any say in that matter. But being insulting, lying or being evasive… I don't see your mother as being wrong to worry."

Sara looked at the ground. Part of her wanted to tell Naru to mind her own damn business. But she also looked up to the older woman. If she chose to push Naru away, their relationship would be damaged. "I guess so," she mumbled. "I just feel like Mom's overreacting."

"That might be," Naru replied gently. "But if you hide things from her, she won't know what the proper reaction should be." She waited a moment. Time to ease in the question and hope it sounded like a deduction, not information from Ema. "You wouldn't be seeing a boy, would you?"

Her casual delivery was perfect. "H- how did you know?" Sara asked, thinking exactly as Naru hoped. "Yeah, I met a guy. We see each other before and after school. He lives over in Nerima, so school is the only place we can see each other. Nothing wrong with that!" She said the last a bit defensively.

"That depends on whether or not he's some kind of lech." Naru hesitated. "I don't know if your parents had a talk with you about-"

"Hey!" Sara objected. "I'm not planning on letting him see the panda birthmark, y'know?"

They both blushed.

"Anyway," Naru continued, "if you hide this and then your mother finds out, what do you think she will feel about your hiding it? Do you think she might wonder about what you're doing that you need to hide it?"

"I'm hiding it because I'm afraid she'll draw the wrong conclusion!"

"Then don't give her the chance. Show her you're being careful, and show her you're not hiding anything. If she thinks she can trust you, you might find that she does start to trust you. But if she discovers you're hiding something, you can expect she'll think you can't be trusted."

"So…" Sara said, dubiously, "You think I should tell her?"

"Well, think of it this way. If you go on hiding it and resenting her concerns, things will probably keep building up until Haruka lays down the law for you. She won't be happy, you won't be happy, and we won't be happy being caught in the middle of your war."

Sara didn't respond, but Naru could see she was pondering.

Well, I hope things go better from now on.

.

.

"Are you kidding?" Makie growled. "You want to pull out when I'm almost there?"

That clueless phrasing caused Keitaro and several of the men—missing their wives—to cough nervously. "Are you sure this is a real threat and not just a worry?" he asked.

"I don't want to give up," Nyamo sighed, "but Emori took the time to get a message out to us. He thinks it's dangerous, because the rebels are looking for a place with water to hole up. I guess he's the one hunting the rebels, so he'd be the first to know where they were running."

Artyom looked grim. "Makie, Keitaro. I think this is not something to gamble on. I was in Afghanistan in 1980s. I've seen what desperate men with guns do." Unfortunately, some of those desperate men with guns were my comrades in arms. "If discipline breaks down…" he looked at Makie and Nyamo, and remembered the actions of some soldiers and the KhAD agents in Darul Aman and Khair Khana… and their refusal to obey his orders. "We must get ready! We have two bolt action rifles and M-1. Not enough to defend with."

"But it's dangerous to drive in that damned rock patch of a desert at night!" Makie said, feeling unnerved at Artyom's tone as he stared at her. She knew little of the Soviet involvement in Afghanistan in the 1980s. But his look told her that whatever happened, it must have been terrible.

"Then we pack now and ubiraysya otsyuda at first light!" he exploded.

Makie wilted at the verbal assault. Nobody asked for a translation. His expression and tone told them that it was obscene and the situation was deadly serious.

Sighing, Artyom turned to Keitaro. "I do not want my wife and child to be widow and orphan. I do not want to be one to tell Naru that she is widowed mother! All the libraries in world not worth one of your lives!"

Naru… The name brought Keitaro to his senses. He wanted to go home to her and the baby. "All right…" he said softly. "Let's get pack what we can and cache the rest. We can be ready to go for when it gets light.

"I hope so," Artyom replied, hoping he was keeping fear out of his voice.

.

.

Author's Notes

"Heading to her own classroom." As I understand it, in Japan, the teachers rotate between classrooms while the students stay in the room.

"Yebla." Another Russian profanity.

"Panda birthmark." In the manga, Sara wears a bathing suit in the hot springs to cover the panda shaped birthmark on her posterior.