Chapter 7 – Toshiro the Soldier

Just before Toshiro could utter a word, he saw three black haired beauties walking towards them from across the stream.

"Oh, Grandma?" Akiko asked amazed. "Wow, it really is her! Grandpa, can we go meet her?"

"You are all adults, you can do whatever you want…" Toshiro shrugged with a smile of satisfaction.

"Hey, come on you two bozos!" Akiko grabbed her two brothers and forcefully tugged them towards the two incoming guests.

"Oy vey…" Andrew sighed.

"Preaching to the choir, brutha…" Conrad muttered.

"Hey, it's Mom and my uncles!" Aya cheered, as she saw the three running towards them.

"Really?" Nami asked, and she looked first at the Akiko beside her, and at the one in the distance. "Woah… Hey, you two are almost indistinguishable!"

Akiko giggled and said, "My Granddaughter really is almost like my twin, but that's just pure genetics. But her character is more in line with Yoshika, rather than myself."

"And she has brown eyes, unlike you, Grandma," Aya smiled. "Why don't they just teleport here…"

"Feelings often fog the sane view of a situation, Aya," Akiko said calmly. "But I bet somebody else will teleport."

"I think I know who," Nami snickered.

Just half a second later, Toshiro and Yoshika appeared out of thin air before the three.

"Ding!" Akiko chuckled. "Hi, Toshiro."

"Hi, Mom. And hi Nami."

"Aw, what about me?" Aya sulked.

Yoshika embraced her tightly and said, "Hi, Aya."

"Heh," Aya said with a mellow face. "Hi, Grandma."

"Hey hey hey, not so fast with the hugs!" the younger Akiko said as she appeared out of the sudden near Aya, hugging her daughter.

"Oh, I'm going in too!" the older Akiko giggled and found some space to grab Aya.

"I'm being hugged by three generations of the Edelweiss family…" Aya sighed with a tear forming in the corner of her left eye."

"Hey, give her some time, and Anastasia should come," Toshiro cracked a cheeky smile.

"Oh come on, Grandpa, she still has a lot of time left, right?" Aya asked.

"Sure she does, more that she thinks she has."

"Hey, Niece, how's life?" Andrew asked.

"And what brought you here?" Conrad joined in.

"Heh, I'm fine, Uncle Andrew," Aya smiled. "And as for your question, Uncle Conrad, we were just strolling around aimlessly."

"No, we were bonding," Nami nodded, trying to look seriously. "And what were you doing, Toshiro?"

"Also bonding," Toshiro smirked. "I wanted to tell my kids how I became a soldier."

Toshiro saw immediately that his mother made a sour face, but she saw that, and said, "I know that I'm long dead, and that we're in our own custom made paradise, but that still is a bit of a thorn in my bum… Things could have gone different."

Before Toshiro could respond, Amaterasu appeared amongst them, and after a deep sigh she said, "I still was in "curse you to the umpteenth generation mode" back then, Akiko. I really doubt I would let it be much different… Sorry…"

"I know, I know," Akiko smiled. "But Toshiro, how about you tell the story from your side, and I'll make an addendum later, okay?"

"Sure, Mom," Toshiro said. "Okay everyone, take your seats, it might take a bit, depending on how I wrap up things."

Aya snapped her fingers, and everyone had comfortable lawn chairs standing behind them.

"Always taking the initiative," Nami giggled.

The first class of my high school education was a truly mixed bag. On one hand, the guys and gals there were a bit more tolerant towards me, the teachers however were a bit more salty. I wont go into details, but I wasn't viewed as a prodigy anymore. But there was also one more thing – Mom started behaving a bit differently since the start of the first term. She always took smaller portions than usually, and she discouraged me from arguing about that, since "I was growing" and all. I really thought that she was caring about me in a selfless way, but… well, I was spot on, since one day I returned from school and…

I was walking down the road, clad in a warm coat with his school emblem sewn onto it. The October wind blew gently, but it clearly stated its existence.

"How nice that last period got canceled, heheh…" I cheered under my nose. "I'll surprise Mom!"

I ran faster and appeared before the door of his apartment silently as a cat. Trying hard not to make a noise, I opened the door, and slipped inside, closing the door behind myself. After taking off my shoes, I continued my sneaky voyage, but I almost immediately heard silent sobbing.

I stormed the room without thinking, and saw Akiko crying her eyes out on the chabudai.

"Mom, what happened?" I asked concerned.

She twitched visibly hearing my voice, however when she raised her face wet from tears, she just started crying with doubled intensity.

"Oh Mom…" I sat beside her and hugged her.

After a few minutes, Akiko finally spoke up.

"W-Why are you here now, Toshiro?" she asked.

"Classic literature got canceled, Mom. What happened? You never cried so hard in your life…"

"It's… It's about our financial matters…"

"Oh, that's something I never poked into… What's the matter, Mom?"

"Your late father always sent us some money, and after his death, we got some kind of stipend from the Wehrmacht… But since a few months, I haven't received a payment… I was afraid to ask what's wrong, so I decided to save on food, since I didn't think about some kind of rainy day fund. B-But I'm crying because…" Akiko's lip started trembling. "I got fired today, and the rent is due tomorrow…"

"You got fired?" I asked, as if Akiko told him that people are making glass houses. "How did that happen?"

"I… I busted a sewing machine… It was a Liberian made Singer, so it was very expensive and… I damaged it beyond repair…" Akiko said and started wailing again.

The same day, I went to the sewing workshop to plead in Mom's case – nope. Mom got a similar result at our landlord, since he only postponed the rent payment by a week. And after a week, it was curtains. We had to move out, but that sly son of a bitch "gave" us a shack in the rice fields on a delayed payment. One day after we moved into it, I started looking for a job, but somehow surprisingly, nobody wanted to hire a fifteen year old, healthy, muscular teenager of my size. All except for one place – the military.

"Okay, that will be all…" the recruitment officer said after I signed my enrollment form. "Go to the quartermaster and he'll give you a uniform. Although I doubt that he'll have one handy…"

"Is the army understocked?"

"First of all, now you'll address me with "sir", is that clear?"

"Yes… sir?"

"Good. Secondly, look at you, you damn behemoth! Two uniforms for you would make three normal ones!"

"Ah, right…" Toshiro muttered.

"I seriously doubt the result of your IQ test…" the officer sighed. "But whatever now, go and at least try getting a uniform, and then take a look around the base. I'm thinking about where to assign you, but I'll gladly hear your opinion."

"Thank you sir, I'll try my best!"

"Go already… Oh, and you fly that ID of yours whenever you suspect a shout is directed your way, since civilians aren't exactly welcome here. And a tip for you – if in doubt, you salute."

"Affirmative!" I saluted briskly and ran outside.

I made my way to the storage, and just as the officer predicted, a guard well into his forties halted me with a stern face saying, "Civilians are forbidden to roam the base freely. I have to ask you to leave the base."

I pulled my ID out my pocket and presented it saying, "I'm new here, sir. I'm looking for the quartermaster to give me a uniform."

The guard looked at the ID, and then at me. He smiled and said, "Welcome to the army then, son. Old Hiroshi is present; just don't piss him off on the first day."

"Yes sir!" I saluted and ran inside the warehouse.

The inside was filled to the brim with munitions, guns, food supplies, and whatever else there is needed for a military unit this big to function. As I was gawking around with an opened mouth, I heard a voice saying, "You must be the new one."

I turned to my right side and saw a soldier that should be taking care of his grandchildren, but the voice didn't match the body of an old man at all.

"Uh, yes sir, Private Akayama reporting!" I shouted and saluted.

"Yes, yes, at ease…" he replied calmly. "I was notified that a lumbering mountain of a recruit was coming, but I was thinking of somebody more… Asian… Now that I see you, I can say with hundred percent confidence that you won't get a uniform today."

"Ah, I see…" I said disappointed. "But sir, are you sure? Maybe there's one lying somewhere here?"

The man poked his temple with his right index finger, and with a condescending voice he replied, "Sonny, in my head, I have the best ledger there is. I remember every nut and bolt that's on stock in this warehouse, so please don't imply anything, understood?"

"Uhm, I didn't mean to, sir…"

"Yes, yes, you probably didn't… Stay right where you are, I will deliver you a temporary measure."

"Yes sir."

I stood there for a few good minutes, but the man that the guard called Hiroshi came back to him with a stack of items.

"Here you go," he said as he passed them on to me. "Your blanket, a cap, an armband, hygiene utensils, and cutlery. Put the cap and armband on right now, and I will place an order for a uniform later today. Don't run away anywhere, because somebody has to take your measurements."

"Yes sir!"

"Now, go to the barracks and introduce yourself to your comrades."

"Yes sir," Toshiro replied and put on the aforementioned items while going out of the warehouse.

"Much better," the guard said with a cheeky smirk. "I guess you're going to the barracks? You can see them from here, just go there," he said as he was pointing at a barrack complex.

"Yes sir, understood."

"Dad, are you gonna bore us to death with the miniscule details of your first day in the military?" Andrew moaned.

"Oh you little shit!" Toshiro shouted faux-confounded. "You really don't want to know?"

"Well… I do kinda wanna know… I hope it's worth the wind-up, huh?"

"I'll just continue…"

I finally found the barracks I was supposed to be quartered in. I opened the door and said, "Pardon for the intrusion."

I saw a multitude of double deck beds standing in two rows along the whole room. The inhabitants were present, all with an average age of twenty-something, and all of them looking at me more or less suspiciously.

"And you are?" the eldest of them, at least thirty, asked with a gruff voice.

I snapped into attention and shouted, "Private Toshiro Akayama reporting!"

"Akayama?" he asked. "I think I heard that name one of two times… Well, whatever, that's not important right now. So, you just got here?"

"Uh, yes sir, the signature on my papers is still wet, heheh…"

"You look young… How old are you?"

"Fifteen, sir..."

"Fifteen? Shouldn't you be attending school instead of being here?" somebody else asked.

"My family was impoverished, and nobody else wanted to hire me, sir…" I mumbled.

"Ah, yes, what a pity…" the eldest one sighed. "Well then, welcome to our humble abode, Toshiro. There's a free bunk far to the right, make yourself comfortable there."

"Uh, thank you, sir, I will!"

I ran to the place I was told to go and saw that the top bunk was indeed unoccupied.

"A bunkmate?" the occupant of the lower bunk, a skinny young lad with glasses asked. "Private Nisio Iwakuro," he extended his hand.

"Toshiro Akayama, also private," I shook his hand firmly. "I hope you won't mind me?"

"There's a lot more to mind than you, if I should be honest… Unless you snore like a boat engine…"

"Ah, not a problem then, heheh…"

"Okay, maybe I'll cut this short after all…" Toshiro sighed. "I surprisingly landed in a barrack with nice guys. The brass tried to find an apt occupation for me, and their first shot was gunsmith assistant. A rather well placed shot, I may say, since I did spend some time doing weapon maintenance. However, I found that being a mechanic was better for me. It coincided with the worsening of Mom's condition…" he looked at Akiko with a faint smile. "I pled my case to the brass, and I managed to negotiate that I'll be doing an 8-5 job and then return home to my sickly mother."

"Awwww…" the younger Akiko mused. "Dad's always been a sucker for ladies in need, huh, Grandma?"

"Heh… I raised him that way, Dear. It was a bit selfish, I have to admit it now, but in the end, it turned out beneficial for my dear son."

"I can't blame you for anything, Mom. You knew our situation, and every bit of help from me, even if a bit forced, was justified and needed for our survival…"

"So much family warmth it's started getting stuffy," Nami giggled. "Come on, Aya, maybe we should continue our journey?"

"What journey again?" Toshiro asked.

"Ah, we're running around, acquainting ourselves with our ancestors and whatnot, listening to stories…" Aya enumerated.

"Good job, girls," Yoshika smiled. "Fight!"

"Heheh, okay, Grandma, I will!" Aya cheered and ran away.

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