My name is Hana. I live with Mama and Papa and Koro-chan. I go to elementary school.

Mama is really beautiful. She has blonde hair because she's a foreigner. She does speak Japanese, though. I didn't know that until the time when I had a friend over to play. She asked Mama a question, and I thought I was going to have to translate it for her, but Mama answered in Japanese. I thought Mama only spoke English, because that's what she always talks to me in. Just like Papa only talks to me in Japanese. Mama told me they decided to raise me like that so I could grow up speaking both languages. She's going to start teaching me Serbian next. That's where she's from.

Papa is Japanese. He has black hair. He's very tall and strong. Sometimes people think Papa looks grumpy but he's really nice.

My hair is black like Papa, my eyes are blue like Mama. I'm half Japanese and half Serbian.

Koro-chan is my dog! He's the same age as me, so we've known each other all our lives. When I walk to school, Koro-chan walks with me and then he goes back by himself. And when I get out of school, he's waiting at the gate! Koro-chan is really smart.

One time when I was leaving school, a boy was teasing me for being a "half breed." Koro-chan growled really loudly at him and the boy ran away. Papa says Koro-chan is really protective because he's a German Shepherd.

Yesterday when I was going home, a strange man got in the way. He was big and fat and he had scars on his face. He said I should call him "Papa." He was scaring me a little, so I pressed the panic button in my pocket. Koro-chan barked really loudly and jumped on him.

I remembered what I was supposed to do. I kept my eyes on him and stepped back a few meters. Since I pressed the panic button, someone would be there soon.

He pulled out a knife and I got scared he was going to hurt Koro-chan. I opened my backpack and pulled the Glock 42 out. I did just what Papa told me to do: I turned off the safety switch and held it in the "ready" position. I yelled "Don't you hurt Koro-chan, mister!"

Koro-chan got off him and stood in front of me. He was growling.

"I'm not afraid of toy guns, sweetheart," the scary man said.

That's when I made my mistake. I was supposed to fire a warning shot, but I guess it was too low and it hit him in the shoulder.

He dropped the knife and covered the wound with his hand. He started yelling some naughty words and stepped towards me.

"Get back! The next one is a headshot!" That's what Papa says I should say, but I wouldn't actually shoot him in the head. Papa says that the goal is to stop a person, not to kill them, and that a chest or belly shot is good enough to stop someone.

It worked. He stopped walking forward.

I was getting scared again until I heard the sound of Mama's motorbike. She must have been in a hurry. She hadn't put her helmet on, and when she got to where we were, she jumped off the bike without parking it, so it crashed into a car on the street. She was holding a shotgun.

She started yelling at him. She used a lot of naughty words in different languages.

The scary man was starting to look scared. He looked around where he dropped the knife. He was about to pick it up when there was another gunshot and it flew away. I looked over. (That was another mistake. I should have kept my eyes on the scary man). It was Papa! I knew everything was going to be okay.

That's when I started crying. Koro-chan licked me in the face, and Mama came over and hugged me. Papa would have hugged me too, but he was holding the scary man to the ground with his revolver at his head.

The police and the people from the army got there a little later, so Mama and I went home. Papa got back soon after that.

I explained what I had done and I said I was sorry for the mistakes I made. Papa said I shouldn't dwell on mistakes and that I had done really well. He said they were proud of me. Mama made a video call to Auntie Rinka and Uncle Ryuunosuke and I told them what had happened. Rinka said I had done better than she did the first time she shot a real gun and that made me very happy. Some of my other aunties and uncles called, too. Uncle Karma made his funny smile and said maybe I should have aimed lower and shot him in the 'jewels.' I started explaining that he wasn't wearing any jewelry, but Papa hit the 'end call' button. He does that a lot when Uncle Karma calls.

And I talked to Grandpa Lovro, too! He called me a brave little soldier.

After dinner, I wanted to cuddle. I sat in Mama's lap, and she sat on Papa's so he could put his arms around both of us. Koro-chan sat down next to us so I patted him. I wanted Mama to tell a story, so she told my favorite story, Vasilisa the Beautiful. Afterwards, Papa said I had been just as brave as Vasilisa that day.

Mama said that since I had been such a good girl, it was okay if Koro-chan slept in my bed that night. It was for one night only, though. Having him in bed next to me makes it easier for me to sleep.

The next morning (this morning), I felt really great. Mama said I should write everything down so that I can remember it better when I grow up. And Papa said that for a special treat, on Saturday, we could go to the firing range!

But he says I'm still too young to fire the Kalashnikov.