Chapter 11 – Everyone's cousin
"Hmmm… Mom, what are you doing here?" Toshiro asked Akiko, who was sitting on a mat under the blooming sakura tree in Amaterasu's realm.
"Uh, well, I decided to move here. This way I'll have better contact with you. You know, less hassle… Aren't you happy?"
"I would lie if I'd say I'm not… Yeah, it's nice that I can at least meet you in another realm… Of course not when you'll be pestering me about grandchildren…"
"Well, from what I've heard, you could have a nice bunch of grandchildren already…" Akiko said with a coy smile.
"So you know…" Toshiro sighed.
"I don't exactly approve of you just banging around every beautiful girl you find, be it with Yoshika's consent or not…"
"Says the one that probably got knocked up on her first date…" Toshiro mumbled.
"It was the second one! And don't talk like that to your mother, or I'll wash your mouth with soap!"
"Sorry… But after seeing that photo, I could only wonder…"
"That photo? Oh my, so one copy survived… How nice."
"What do you mean by "One copy survived"?"
"Well… I wasn't careful enough with my copy of that picture and… it got in the fireplace…"
"Ooooh… How terrible…"
"Yes… But I got over it… My memories of Lucas are still vivid."
"By the way, where and when was that picture taken?"
"There was a small local festival in Yokosuka. It was our second date…" Akiko said with red cheeks.
"Oooooh… I understand…"
"Have anything else to discuss? I'm always here when you need me…"
"No, I believe not… I think I'll go back to sleep."
"Good night then, Toshiro."
"Thanks, mom…"
Toshiro opened his eyes, feeling fresh as a daisy. He exited his room, and bumped into Adolfine, who was still a bit sleepy.
"Oh, hi, Toshiro… Did you sleep well?"
"Sleep? Yes. But getting there was a pain in the ass…"
"Huh? Why?"
"Because SOMEONE decided to whack the beaver just behind my head…"
Adolfine's cheeks burned red as she looked ashamed at him
"I mean, I don't have anything against it, but seriously, be a bit quieter… You were moaning almost as loud as if I was drilling you myself…"
"S-Sorry…"
"Nah, don't worry… In the end, you probably came, I got to sleep… No harm done."
"Ummm… Yeah…"
"I should probably blame myself for not refusing your… offer to console me..."
"No, no… I'm grateful for what happened! But… You know… Nature abhors a vacuum…"
"Just don't turn into Shirley on me…"
"Into Shirley? How?"
"Let's say she was secretly harboring very romantic feelings towards me, despite Yoshika being my choice… We had a three sided quarrel because of that, but in the end, she realized that Yoshika and I are for real."
"Aaaah… I see… Well, I don't want to take you away from Yoshika or anything, no sir! You just woke up that part in me that laid dormant for two years…"
"And I also boosted your confidence towards me a bit, heheh…"
"Well, hey, after what we did, we can't go back, so we might as well advance, heehee… Let's move on with our daily schedule, kay?"
"Good idea. If I get late…"
"Oh, you don't want to…"
"I don't want to?"
"You don't want to…" Adolfine said while shaking her head.
The day rolled on lazily. They got to work, Toshiro went for his class, he went to dinner, back to class, back home and off to bed, this time not being kept up by Adolfine's shenanigans.
The next day at breakfast, Adolfine said, "Today, your class will be a bit shorter."
"Oh? Why? The grumpy General didn't tell me anything…"
"It's you uncle's birthday, Toshiro. He's having a small soiree in his office after 1500."
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah fuck… I totally forgot… Damn officer course…"
"Don't worry, I don't have a gift for him either… I mean, what could you give an Emperor, right?"
"Your logic is truly infallible… I hope my uncle is also a man of reason at heart, heh..."
"I already told you once and I'll repeat it – your presence alone will be the best gift for him."
"Aaaaaand I remembered I was officially dead… Adi, tell me please – how did he manage?"
"Towards the outside? Hard as Krupp steel. But whenever he was alone with me…" Adolfine sighed. "He was a wreck of a man. Doctor Morell proposed amphetamines, but the Kaiser refused…"
"Yoshika once told me how she felt during that period… I can imagine it was somehow similar."
"Poor Yoshika, she probably experienced hell… But that's behind us, let's look brightly towards the future. Finish your food and get dressed. Today, you can drag out all your medals, but take them with you in their boxes. Sitting with all that brass on your chest during a lecture would probably piss off Sperrle, heh…"
"What, do I have more bling than he does?"
"Most certainly, hahaha! And not of such a variety… Toshiro, really, you have very high ranking awards from THREE countries now… I'm actually a bit jealous myself…"
"It's not like I'm hunting for them, right?"
"Right, right… Your moral compass just led you to them on the way, heheh…"
"By the way, what awards do you have, Adi?"
"Me? One you see every day, my Ritterkreuz. I have a silver Wound Badge and an Honor Clasp. And sadly, that's it…"
"Not bad, Adi, really, not bad… Most people only get a wound badge or something…"
"Or nothing… Or a posthumous Iron Cross…" She sighed. "Move, Toshiro."
They finished breakfast, and Toshiro went to his room. He dressed up and put on his Knight's Cross. The other four awards he had in his chest he took with him, each one packed in its original decorative box. With such a stack he exited his room, and like every day, Adolfine did the same at the same time. She had her regulatory Luftwaffe uniform again, and her badges pinned over her left breast, and her Knight's Cross handing down from her neck.
"You look nice, Adi. Distinguished, should I say…"
"Thanks, Toshiro. Now, off we go."
"One second… Did you ever think of wearing your hair differently?"
"Yes. All propositions looked bad to me…"
"Hmmmm…" Toshiro pondered while imagining every possible hair combination for Adolfine. "Yeaaah… Beside a geisha hairstyle, everything doesn't suit your beauty…"
"A geisha hairstyle… Hmmm… I didn't get such a proposition…"
"A shame I don't know how to style your hair like that. You would look really beautiful…"
"I'm not now?" She pouted.
"Now you're just amazing, heheh…"
"Ugh…" Adolfine poked him in the arm. "You really have a gift of pissing off people in such a way they won't be mad for more than a minute… Come on, or we'll get late…"
"Can I drive?"
Adolfine looked at him like as if he was a piece of dung on a stick and said, "I'd rather walk…"
When they entered HQ, Adolfine said, "Let's stop by at Helga first."
They approached the blonde receptionist, who greeted them immediately after she saw her.
"Greetings."
"Hi, Helga. Mind if we drop off some stuff?"
"And what would it be?" Helga asked.
"This guy's award." Adolfine said while pointing out Toshiro with her thumb.
"Ah, okay. Please, Herr Oberst, let me have those."
"Sure… uh, I'll call you Helga, I hate all this official rank hubbub…"
"Oh, please, I don't mind." Helga said with a slight blush.
Toshiro gave her the boxes, and she stashed them under her desk.
"Finished." She said.
"Have a nice day, Helga." Adolfine said.
"You too, Adolfine. And of course I wish you a nice day too, Herr Oberst."
"Heheh, a good one to you too, Helga." Toshiro said with a smile.
The two split up, Adolfine going her way, and Toshiro going to his class. He entered the room, but the General was still absent. He sat in his seat, and waited. Just after a minute, the General came in. Toshiro stood up in attention and saluted.
"At ease, at ease…" He mumbled. "As you may know, or not, it's the Kaiser's birthday today and he is throwing a little soiree, to which he invited me and you alike. So we are ending our class a bit earlier.
"Yes sir, Adolfine already told me about it."
"Good for you. But that only means that we will have to speed up! Prepare to receive your knowledge!"
"J-Jawohl!"
When the small handle on the clock over the blackboard was halfway between two and three, and the big one over six, Sperrle said, "Ende for today. I have to refresh myself a bit. I have a tip for you, Oberst."
"Yes?"
"Don't eat dinner now."
"Aaaah… So there's a chance I could stuff myself full at the party?"
"That is what I implied. I will take my leave now."
Toshiro saluted and the General went out. Toshiro slopped down on the chair and mumbled, "Huuuuurrrggghhh… But I want to eat… Let's see if I can get at least a salad in me…"
Toshiro went to the mess hall. This time he didn't bump into Adolfine, and the line was short, so he took his place. After ten minutes, he stood before the massive buffet lady.
"What's cooking?" He joked.
"Hackbraten."
"I'll bite. But only a small portion, if it's possible."
"Define small…" She said with a bored voice.
"A third of the usual."
"Can do… Fig compote or apple juice?"
"First option."
She turned around and went to the kitchen. After a minute she returned with two slices of meatloaf and a glass of compote.
"Have at it…" She mumbled. "Next!"
Toshiro shrugged and went to a free table. He devoured the content of his plate in a matter of minutes, such was his hunger.
Well, at least I covered the bottom of my stomach… Now where could Adi's shapely ass be around…?
Toshiro returned his plates to the counter and exited the mess hall. By pure coincidence, he bumped into Adolfine.
"Ah, here you are! I was looking over half the building for you…"
"You should know that I have a ravenous hunger after each study session…"
"Yeah… I hope you have some place in that six pack protected gut of yours?"
"I only had two slices of meatloaf"
"Ah, then okay. Let's go to Helga."
As they approached Helga, she already pulled out the boxes with Toshiro's awards.
"Ah, thanks, Helga." Toshiro said.
"Most obliged, Herr Oberst."
"Ah, come on, call me Toshiro."
"If you wish… Toshiro…" She said with a small smile. "Are you going to the Kaisers little birthday celebration?"
"Yes. Coming too?"
"No… I wasn't invited… And I would feel veeeeery uncomfortable…"
"Why should you? The guests are probably all people you greet from this spot, right?"
"Right but… my rank is a little… low to mingle at such an event…"
"As you wish, Helga. Maybe I'll smuggle out something for you, heheh…"
"Heehee, I'm not expecting anything, but if you manage to bring me something back, I'll be happy."
"Stop flirting with Helga, and get those awards of yours in order, sheesh…" Adolfine sighed.
"Yeah, yeah… Let's sit down on that bench and I'll do everything…"
Toshiro sat on the nearby bench, and put on all his awards. Adolfine looked at him with a sour face and said, "Let me do a few adjustments…"
He felt that Adolfine made a few tugs on the ribbon of the Legion of Honor, she tilted the sash of the Order of the Sunlit Moon a tad and she re-pinned his Honor Clasp above the Wound Badge.
"Now you look like a man. Let's go."
"Where?"
"To the Kaiser's office."
"So what, no fancy ball room?"
"Toshiro… That room is so snazzy and spacious you might as well make a New Year's Eve party there…"
"Valid point… Let's go then."
They scaled the stairs to the floor where the Kaiser had his office. Two soldiers, armed to the teeth were guarding the entrance door. They approached Inge's desk, and this time, she didn't have her uniform, but a velvet little black dress.
"Now, now… Inge, you look sexy…" Toshiro said honestly.
"R-R-R-R-Really?!"
"Yup. I wonder why those two square jaws at the door aren't hitting on you yet…"
"Because they know I would rip their dicks off. Well, let's do the formalities… Generalmajor Adolfine Josephine Fernanda Galland and Oberst Toshiro Lucas Edelweiss have arrived. Guards, send the gests in." She said in imperious tone.
"Jawohl!" They both shouted, saluted and started opening the double wing door.
"Did I just hear two additional names behind Adolfine, Adolfine?" Toshiro asked quietly.
"Ah, well… Shirley didn't make a fuss out of her middle name too, right? And you use your middle name once in a blue moon…"
"Yeah, I suppose so… But Adi is too sweet, heheh…"
Once the door opened, Toshiro almost lost his breath. The couch and desk were moved out of the room, and instead, a long table was standing in the middle of the room. It was chock full of fruit bowls, platters with canapés and the finest silver plates and cutlery. The room was full of people in uniforms, all flashing as many awards as it was possible.
"Holy… Adolfine, I'm literally scared…" Toshiro whispered.
"The Field Marshals and Grand Admiral's don't bite, heehee… Oh shit, the boss himself! Toshiro, salute!"
Toshiro quickly looked at the direction Adolfine was looking. A man approached them, at least sixty years of age, with swept back, slowly graying hair and a small moustache. Toshiro knew who he was, even a total ignorant like him knew. It was Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Bodewin Johann Gustav Keitel – the chief of the OKW, de facto the boss of the Wehrmacht. Toshiro saluted nervously.
"At ease, Oberst, we're off duty here." Keitel said. "It's nice that I can finally meet you in person."
"Um, the pleasure is on my side, Herr Generalfeldmarschall. It's nice to meet the boss of my boss, heh…"
"Yeesss… Adolfine is fitting for your superior… Well, it was nice to meet you, but Erwin is such a passionate story teller! Please excuse me…" Keitel said and went on.
"Hmm… Ah, indeed, Rommel is also here… Care to explain who is who, Adolfine?"
"Sure. The chumpy looking guy who looks like a Christmas tree beside Rommel is Otto Moritz Walter Model. The other chump is Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Paulus. To the right of them are Robert Ritter von Greim and someone you should know – Smiling Albert. Another group behind them are Ehrhard Milch, that's the guy that looks like his crib was on fire and somebody tried to extinguish the fire with a shovel. The suave looking guy with him is Erich von Manstein. The two Großadmiräle are Karl Dönitz and Erich Johann Albert Raeder. The guy supporting the wall is Werner Eduard Fritz von Blomberg. He didn't even get a Knight's Cross, heheh… Ah, Sperrle joined him…"
"You sure have… vivid descriptions…"
"Hey, a Karlslander has to be efficient, right?"
"Haha, yeah… Oh, look, Uncs is coming."
The birthday boy himself was dressed as usual, only he had his Star of the Grand Cross of the Iron Cross pinned to a sash.
"Ah, my two favorite people in the Wehrmacht, hohoho!" Franz said loudly and bear hugged Toshiro.
"Heh, nice to see you again, uncle. But you know, I have to disappoint you…"
"Oh, what is it?"
"I don't have any present for you…" Toshiro said with his head hung down.
"Toshiro… I can have any worldly possession I want, but the best present is you standing here, healthy and in good spirit…"
"Really?"
"Yes…" Franz said and extended his hand towards Toshiro.
"Happy Birthday, Uncle… Which is it by the way?"
"Fifty six, Toshiro. Just as your father would be…" He sighed. "Oh, I actually have something for you!" He said and pulled out an envelope. "Open it once you're home."
"What is it?"
"You'll see. Now, Adolfine…"
"Ummm… Froher Geburtstag, Herr Kaiser?" She said flustered.
"And what about a gift for your good Emperor?"
"Uh, well… umm…"
"Adolfine, Adolfine… I invite you to a party which only the top notch can attend, and yet you have no trinket for me… This is the last time I let it slide…"
"Jawohl…" Adolfine mumbled ashamed.
"Nah, I'm shitting you. Half of these stuck ups didn't bring me anything, since I didn't request anything."
"R-really?!"
"Yes. I didn't mention it to you?"
"No…"
"Then I am now, hohoho! Beeernaaaaard! Bring in the food!" Franz yelled as he turned around to the gathered. "Everyone! Thank you for coming! Now it's time to eat some food!"
The gathered applauded and the process of getting seated commenced. Toshiro wound up on the Kaiser's right side, and Adolfine was seated on Toshiro's right.
The first dish rolled in. It was grilled salmon with baked potatoes, covered in some brown sauce and some herbs.
After eating that, everyone got a piece of goose.
"Hey, uncle…" Toshiro whispered.
"Hmm?"
"Could you tell the waiters to give some goose and salmon to Helga downstairs, while it's still warm? Ah, and maybe Inge could use some too…"
"The receptionist? You already befriended her, huh?"
"Heheheh…" Toshiro laughed dryly.
"Sure, sure." Franz said and waved in a waiter.
He whispered something to him and after receiving an affirmative not, Franz resumed stuffing himself.
For desert, and enormous birthday cake rolled in, and everyone sang Happy Birthday.
"Well, this was a nice party…" Franz said to Toshiro. "You both can go home now, I'll be having some chit chat with the rest."
"Should we really?" Adolfine asked.
"Yes… And I can see that Toshiro isn't exactly comfortable…"
"Then we bid you farewell, Mein Kaiser."
"Bye, Uncle."
"Good night, you two."
After they went outside the room and the doors closed behind them, Toshiro sighed deeply.
"Finally out, huh?" Inge asked.
"Yeah… But I doubt you had fun…" Toshiro asked.
"It wasn't that bad…And I got some food!"
"How nice. We'll be leaving."
"Okay, good night you two."
"Night." Both Adolfine and Toshiro responded.
They ventured down the stairs, where Helga still sat on her usual spot.
"Hey, Helga, was the food good?" Toshiro asked.
"Ah, yes, exquisite! Did you make it happen?"
"I told you I would get something for you, right?"
"Heehee, thanks. Going already?"
"Yup."
"Good night then. Toshiro, Adolfine."
"Good night." The two responded and Toshiro took his medal boxes from Helga.
Toshiro and Adolfine returned home. He undressed himself and put all medals in their boxes. Then, he remembered he had the envelope in his pants. He pulled the envelope out and opened it.
"Edelweiss family tree, prototype…. Huh?" Toshiro wondered as he looked at the piece of paper with lots of names and dates, connected with lines on it. "Maybe Adolfine will want to see this with me…"
Toshiro wandered down, and saw Adolfine sitting in the living room on the couch.
"Mind if I join?" He asked.
"Be my guest…" She said and patted the spot beside her. "Oh, what's that?"
"It seems to be my family tree. Want to analyze it together?"
"Why not…"
The Akayama part of the tree was full of blank spots and question marks. The only sure entries were Rei Akayama, his great grandmother, Kamiko Akayama, his grandmother, Akiko Akayama, his mother and him, who came out of a combined line with Lucas Edelweiss. He looked up towards the earlier generations of the Edelweiss. His father was connected to the previous Kaiser, and he was in turn connected to Mary Barkhorn and Conrad Edelweiss.
"Wait a second… Mary Barkhorn?" Toshiro asked stumped.
"Maybe that's your grandma's maiden name?" Adolfine asked. "Let's look up further."
The father of Mary was name Franz Josef Barkhorn, who was on the same level as Gerhard Barkhorn. Toshiro's pulse increased almost twofold as he skipped two generations, and found two names, all too known for him – Gertrud Barkhorn and Christiane Barkhorn.
Toshiro's face now looked like the character on the famous painting from Edvard Munch. Adolfine wasn't all too far from that expression.
"Incredible… Fucking incredible…" Toshiro said with a voice as if he just crossed the Kalahari Dessert.
"Uh, well… Look at that, Toshiro… Now you can call Gertrud per cousin…"
Toshiro shook his head violently.
"Wow, and I wanted her in our orgy…" Toshiro mumbled.
"You what?!"
"Yeah, I proposed that Trude joined that foursome of ours back then, but I shrugged off the idea myself… Phew, close call…"
"Indeed…"
"We only kissed once, that doesn't count too… Right?"
"Hardly…"
"Wow, what a revelation… I can't wait to see the look on her face, bueheheheheh…"
"That will surely be something…"
A sudden realization struck Toshiro.
"Ooooooh…"
"What is it?"
"If Yoshika marries me, then she will become Trude's family, and also Chris's… Wow, Trude will flip from joy…"
"You say?"
"Yeah. Chris looks like a younger Yoshika from what I could compare. And Trude is an incurable siscon…"
"So I heard… Well, it's about 2000… What would you want to do?"
"Maybe some lifting after pigging out?"
"Splendid!"
They worked out for an hour, and then both washed themselves and turned in for the day.
And if you want to praise/rant about my story, please leave a signed review, so we can continue via PM's. Seriously, I don't bite. Unless provoked :]