Ishikawa relaxed into the soft chair of the bullet train, closed his eyes and smiled. Convincing Nishiwaki and a few other key members of the garrison to let him go on a vacation alone, actually hadn't been as difficult as he'd expected. There hadn't been that many objections and he'd been able to override them with minimal argument.

*** Flashback – Nishiwaki's office. Ishikawa is NOT there *****

"… and then he actually suggested we meet up for the last 3 days of the vacation! PLEASE Nishiwaki, help me get this through the Security Committee. I'm not keen about him going out 2 days on his own, but he's actually the one that wants us to have time together. I know you've always known about how I feel for the Instructor."

"And how he feels for you."

"Yeah, you probably knew about that before he did. So, please, help us get this time together."

Nishiwaki leaned back in his chair for a moment, looking at the wall. "Actually Iwase, Dr Sakai has been concerned about the Instructor recently."

"Concerned?"

"Yes, Ishikawa is the first Instructor here to last for more than year. He's concerned that the constant work stress and lack of privacy may be wearing on the heart and the nervous system. With what I know about the Instructor's nerves" - here he and Iwase exchanged a look in remembrance of past conversations (chapter 4 around pg 37) – I agree with him. The only time he's truly alone anymore is while in the bathroom, the shower and when making phone calls home. But his being alone away from the garrison while on vacation worries me."

"Don't we have people watching his family? So they can't be used as hostages against him?"

"Yes, just as there are people watching yours." Iwase sent him a surprised glance. "You're too high up now, your family has to be protected as well. I think this once, we will have to listen to the Instructor. He is; after all, not a helpless child." Iwase suddenly had a flashback of an arm stretched before him as the Inspector sheltered him from gunfire. He hadn't remembered who he was at that time, how to fight nor any of his training. But the Instructor had kept him safe time after time during both firefights and hand to hand combat while they were in enemy hands. (Chapter 8 – 9) No, the Instructor was not helpless at all.

******* end Flashback ******************************

He had agreed to spending an extra day with his brothers (no one had noticed him crossing his fingers behind his back) and to call in every morning of his "free" vacation. He had a cell phone with him (currently turned off) and was supposed to use it if anything "strange" happened. He snorted. He swore sometimes everyone forgot the 9 months he had served as Assistant Instructor to his predecessor. He did NOT need to be coddled like he would break if he stubbed his toe. He shook himself and sighed. No sense in getting upset about it now. He was on the trip home, on vacation. It was time to relax.

Later that night Haruka stared up at the wooden rafters over his bed. All had gone well, he arrived at his Uncle's house and had enough time before the boys got home from school that he and his Uncle were able to have a talk before they arrived. Mostly it consisted of an update on how both of them were doing in school. Susumu had gotten home first. He was doing well in school. He should have no problems going for any career he wanted. He wasn't a genius, he had to study to got those good grades, but he did get them. Noboru had been the surprise. Last time Haruka saw him Nobo-kun had been at the end of a growth spurt and had been the same height as Susumu, maybe an inch under his own 5'8". But in the past few months he had had a second and unexpected growth spurt. Susu had told him, but it still didn't prepare him for looking up into Nobo-kun's eyes. Nobo had laughed at his surprise and later that evening had made the mistake of trying to wrestle Haruka. Haruka didn't even use any of the self-defense tricks he had learned in the past 4 years. He just grabbed Nobo-kun and stood up holding him over his shoulder with his legs clamped against his chest. Noboru didn't have the strength to break his hold or do anything but try to throw himself out of Haruka's grasp.

Haruka grinned. Noboru was going to be a good sized man, but Haruka made sure he wrestled with Iwase on a regular basis. It was good to pit yourself against someone 8 inches taller and at least 60 - 80 lbs heavier. It not only kept him in shape, it helped him practice to be able to defeat any enemy he might encounter in hand to hand combat. (Ishikawa ignored the fact that he never beat Iwasi. It was one thing to say he wrestled with the larger man, it was another to say he won when he wrestled.)

Once more he closed his eyes. It was late, he should quit going over all the things that had happened today and get some sleep. Wasn't that part of what he was supposed to be doing with this vacation? But it wasn't long before he sighed and turned on his side. This wasn't helping at all. He needed to relax and go to sleep! Maybe things would be better after tomorrow. It was a Saturday and he intended to spend the half day after school with both the boys, talking and having a picnic. He would work hard on wearing himself out physically. And maybe after talking to Noboru about his job, some of the stress would leave.