Chapter 7: A Soldier's Duty
"Good morning, sir." Haida heard from sergeant Tamura. Haida sat at a desk with a work computer in front of him, but slowly smiled when he saw his panther NCO in front of him.
"Ahh, good morning."
Sergeant Tamura sat down at another desk near Haida's as the hyena struggled to get his email open.
"Come on!" Haida growled, the military email system froze for almost two minutes before the flood of emails from various supervisors and subordinates. Taking a deep breath, Haida began working through them. After three months of wearing it every day, the camo uniform had strangely become comfortable, at least compared to business suits.
Haida stretched for a moment before noticing an email calendar reminder for an upcoming meeting.
"Oh, right." He said, almost sweating as he got up and walked through the finance building towards a conference room.
"Good morning, sir."
"Ahhh, good morning." He nervously replied. It was still a strange sensation, being in a position of authority and people forced to greet him like that. Particularly with some of the sergeants calling him sir, even though he was younger than them.
But perhaps it was strange just being back at work. He reached the conference room and sat down among a few other officers and senior NCOs.
"Morning, Asami." Another second Lieutenant said as he sat down beside Haida.
"Morning, Saito."
"Enjoying your time here at the 8th Finance Battalion?" The young Crocodile officer asked.
"Well enough."
"If you have any more questions, feel free to ask. I remember how confusing things were when I first got here."
Haida narrowed his eyes for a moment and did his best to stay calm.
"Arigatōgozaimashita." He muttered.
"Did you get your email set up? How about the in-processing checklist? CSS likes new members of the battalion to get that done within two weeks of arriving."
Haida tightened his fist in subdued rage/frustration. He was five years older than Lieutenant Saito, yet the younger officer had a year of experience in the military he didn't. Having someone half-a-decade younger schooling him was beyond demeaning.
"Room attention!" A Sergeant First Class called in a booming command voice. Haida and the other soldiers sprung to their feet and the position of attention when their battalion commander, Major Hayashi, walked in.
"Morning everyone, as you were."
The soldiers sat back down as the Major took his seat at the table's head beside his deputy, a mare Captain.
"First order of business, Lieutenant Asami, are you getting acquainted with your platoon well?"
"Yes, sir." Haida said, giving a respectful bow.
"There's no trouble then? Let me know if you have any problems." The way Major Hayashi spoke, it almost sounded like he was trying to kiss up to Haida, who nervously sweatdropped. The hyena glanced at a few of the officers and NCO who seemed to murmur and whisper while emphasizing him.
"Anyway, let's get down to business." Major Hayashi went over the usual items, taskers for the platoons, enlisted performance reports, and individual readiness training. Each platoon leader received their assignment for the week, that was until Hayashi came to Haida.
"Lieutenant Asami. Your platoon's tasking comes right from Colonel Ishii. He'll be quite pleased once it's completed. Be sure to ask for help if you need it. We're in this together."
"Yes, sir." Haida nervously looked over at the others and heard their murmurs.
"Why does it seem like Asami is getting special treatment? He's the newest officer here, and he gets the best taskings."
"I hear he's a prominent general's son."
"Figures, now he's instantly the Major's favorite. I'll bet his entire career will be handed to him on a silver platter."
Haida felt his head drop as he took a deep breath. Back at his desk, he spent most of the day looking over expense reports from the regiment and going over input from soldiers in his platoon. It wasn't all that different from his old job; only now, he had over thirty soldiers to lead.
"Sir, I need this signed."
"Sir, Corporal Sakai isn't feeling well and had to go home."
"Sir, is this report ok to turn in?" Haida's head almost spun after so many requests and questions. Haida only received a brief respite with a trip to the base gym. After that, it was to the mess hall. During lunch, he noticed the some of the other officers avoid him while others kissed up to him.
"So, Haida is it true your father is attending a NATO conference in America with the Chief of Staff?" A Captain asked while coming uncomfortably close to Haida.
"I don't know, sir. That's his business."
"I heard rumors that General Asami is one of the Prime Minister's favorites and might eve become Chief of Staff one day." Another Captain said. Haida sighed and looked over at two more second Lieutenants who looked at him somewhat resentfully.
"I must say, Asami. Your dad must have big plans for something expensive if he put you in finance to start with." Another Lieutenant said as Haida's eyes continued to narrow.
"Doubtful." A sharp and somewhat uncomfortable voice interjected. All eyes turned to First Lieutenant Akira Yanagida from the intelligence battalion. Akira was a tall cheetah with glasses and an intrusive demeanor. He was only twenty-six but carried himself as someone older than Haida.
"According to my research, Lieutenant Asami only recently joined the GSDF at the behest of his father due to losing his accounting job and having kids on the way."
"Eh!" Haida almost shouted while Akira held up his phone and scrolled through social media.
"It's called intel gathering. According to you and your wife's old posts, you also tried to be a musician, but it didn't work out."
"Geeze, ease up on him, Yanagida!" A captain almost laughed.
Akira's expression didn't change, and it reminded Haida of someone else's that he knew.
"Tell me, Lieutenant Asami, what are your career goals in the GSDF?" Haida's expression hardened, but after a deep breath he took out his phone.
"Tell me this, Lieutenant Yanagida, are you single?"
"Eh!?" The question caught everyone off-guard, including Akira. That was until Haida showed him a profile and the cheetah's face blushed slightly.
After lunch, Haida felt ready to drop his head to the desk and think back. For a brief moment, the possibility of living out his dream as a musician felt like possible, only for harsh reality to set in.
"Coffee, sir?" Haida looked up at Sergeant Tamura, who offered him a cup of coffee.
"You look tired, sir. I find coffee always helps me beat a food coma."
"Ahh, Arigatōgozaimashita." Haida graciously took the coffee and began drinking.
"Are you doing alright, sir?" Haida took a deep breath and stared at a picture of him and Retsuko at their wedding. The hyena smiled fondly before Sergeant Tamura came over.
"Is that your wife, sir?"
Haida nodded.
"Her name's Retsuko. She's pregnant with triplets."
"Triplets! Well, uh, congratulations then, sir." Tamura said half-laughing.
Haida took another deep breath.
"Sergeant, why did you join the Ground Self-Defense Force?"
Tamura rubbed the back of his head and took out a picture of him with a Jaguar woman and two children.
"This is my wife and our two girls. Right out of high school, I got her pregnant and needed to get a job. I was never a great student, and the Army seemed like the best choice."
Tamura's story struck home for Haida.
"Did you regret your decisions?" Tamura shook his head with a deep smile towards the picture of his family.
"Not at all. I might have joined for a job at first, but I've loved my time here, and it's allowed me to have a real family life."
Haida looked back at the picture again and smiled.
That evening, he returned to their apartment and breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing his new guitar in the hallway closet where he left it. Haida held his prized possession up for a moment before finally noticing Retsuko staring at him with all the stress and fatigue of pregnancy plus her mother's constant lectures across Retsuko's face.
Before Haida could speak, her eyes glowed blue.
"Rage."
"Alone!" She roared, now holding a microphone.
"You've been gone for months on end! Leaving me here with my mother and her lectures! All-day all night I hear her endless words! How I wish I were back at work!"
Haida's fists tightened as his own frustration from the duty day boiled over inside him. His eyes glowed blue just like Retsuko, and he pulled the guitar up into a playing position.
"Rage."
Haida played a booming cord on his guitar and followed it up with a heavy-metal tune.
"You think you're the only one with stress! Try living in your father's shadow! Hours of constant work with no real friends around to help you cope! Half just want to kiss up, and the others hate me for his success!" Haida unleashed death metal and almost matched Retsuko's intensity.
"At least you can escape this place! Spent time around real people! Your body hasn't turned against you! Every moment is harder than the last!"
"Don't act as if my job's so easy! Giving up my life's ambition and behesting myself to my father! It's my life, not his!" Haida and Retsuko continued their rage-filled music for another half-a-minute, then both abruptly stopped to pant. Their fury vanished, and Retsuko wrapped her arms around Haida tightly. Her husband smiled back warmly while stroking Retsuko's head.
After dinner, both rested beside each other in bed as Retsuko listened to Haida play the guitar. Her stress and angst all but faded into a calm serenity as she savored his song. Haida similarly found it soothing, and perhaps even more enjoyable than performing in front of an audience.
No matter how stressful their lives got, it was moments like this that made it all worth it, and soon they'd have three more to share it with. Retsuko continued to listen and almost as if out of a reflex, she began singing a softer tone, similar to her non-metal work in OTM.
Haida looked down at her with a growing smile.
"Retsuko, I haven't heard you sing in a while."
Her face turned a deep red full of embarrassment.
"I think it's beautiful. Come on, let's make some music together." Haida said while rubbing her shoulders. Retsuko still looked nervous, but Haida's look of encouragement allowed her to muster enough courage. With another deep breath, Retsuko began singing with Haida's guitar playing. The minutes went by as both lost themselves to their duet until Retsuko felt something kick in her stomach.
"Eh!"
"What is it?!"
"Haida, I think they kicked!" The hyena frantically put his guitar down and felt her stomach. After a moment, the kicks returned.
"They are! I think they like our music!" Haida laughed. Retsuko felt ready to cry, though not out of sadness. Quickly grabbing his guitar, Haida continued playing, and Retsuko joined in.