Thanks for the review!
The next few weeks were a living hell for Shin. He was starting to think his uncle was acting that way on purpose. Even when Ryuusuke met him, did he say something to Shin along the lines of 'your uncle is crazy.' But, Shin noted, his mother was happier and Shin wasn't going to ruin her happiness. There were several times when Uncle Robert would try to convince her to come back to England. His mother would politely decline. Half English or not, Shin couldn't imagine having to live near him.
Every other night, Shin would call Yayoi. They'd chat for a bit before he would have to hang up to entertain his uncle. Two days before Shin was scheduled to leave, he received a visitor. He came to the door as Sayoko left with a grin. He gave her a look, wondering what was so funny.
"What are you doing here?" Shin asked.
Yayoi was standing there, with her arms crossed, "I came to see you before you left."
"Where are you staying?"
"A hotel not far from here. I didn't call first, so I could intrude in your house."
He quickly smiled, "I assume you'll want a tour. I don't recommend it at the moment though. My uncle's here."
"Oh. Is he someone I should avoid?"
"No, he's just crazy." He said, putting his shoes on, "Come on. We can go into the city."
"Alright. Can I get cleaned up first? I've been on a train for a while."
Feeling like an idiot, he opened the door wide for her.
"It's down the hallway towards the right." Shin said, smiling like a spoiled kid.
When Yayoi walked out the door, Shin had the car running.
"Where are we going?" she asked when they didn't continue into the city.
"It a surprise." He grinned.
"Okay. Does your sister or mom know where we're going?"
"Sayoko does. I'm not too worried about anything happening."
"And this is coming from the same guy that gets shot and picks fights at weddings."
"Both were not my fault."
"No, you're correct." She said, feeling bad about irritating him.
An hour later, Yayoi woke to a beach house. It looked like it hadn't been lived in for a few years.
"Where are we?"
Shin smiled, "Our old house. I figure I can let you take a brake as I go to the store."
"You're going to cook?"
"Of course, unless you want take out."
She smiled, "No, you haven't cooked for me yet. Seiji says you're alright."
"He says very things is alright." He said opening the door to the house, "It's just been cleaned, so no worries on messing your clothes up."
"Alright."
"I'll be back in ten minutes. You can hold me to it."
"Are you ok?"
Shin stopped, "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just glad to be away from that man called my uncle."
"Is he that bad?"
"Yes." He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, "I'll be back."
Yayoi took the time to look around. The sandy beach stood out to her. The waters seemed calm compared to home. There was a slight breeze as well taking the summer heat away. Making her head to the dock to wait, she took her shoes off and placed her feet in the water. Not paying attention, she didn't hear Shin come behind her. He sat down behind her, and wrapped his arms around her.
"Nice view, isn't it?"
"It's lovely." She said, giving him a look for scaring her, "What are we having?"
"I thought I'd make some Korean food. You know; Bugolgi, kimchi and other stuff."
"Interesting."
"Then I bought some mint ice cream, because our breaths will smell." Shin smiled.
She laughed.
Unexpectedly, Shin got up took his shirt and pants off revealing swim trunks and dove into the water. Yayoi screamed from getting a little wet.
"What the hell?" she asked when Shin came back up.
"It's been a while. The water's perfect."
"What about the food?"
"It'll be fine. I have an hour before I can actually cook it all." Shin smiled before diving back under.
It was a good couple of minutes before he came back up.
"So are you just going to ignore me?"
"No." Shin smiled, "I know it's rude, but I can't help myself when I come here. I have to jump into the water. Besides you were enjoying the view."
"Is it that important?" she asked, not taking him seriously.
"Yes. I don't know how much swimming I'll be able to do when I get to Somalia."
Yayoi laid down on her stomach. During the moment of silence, she played with the water with her hand.
"Shin," she started quietly before speaking louder, "Don't play hero over there, okay? In med school we looked at a lot of injuries from war, and they were not pretty."
Lifting himself to the dock, he gave her a sad smile, "I'll be fine. I'll be handing out food and water to those who need it. The weapon is for just in case."
After a quick salty kiss, he headed back to the house.
"I'll start on the food."
It wasn't so much the food that made the night perfect, it was that Shin brought it out to her so they could eat on the dock. Well, she thought, the food was wonderful too. As the sun started to set, she began to fall asleep.
"I can take you back." Shin's voice brought her back.
She nodded, and stood to stretch.
She woke to Shin gently shaking her.
"We're back." He said, "I'll escort you back to your room."
"Alright."
It was a quiet walk to her room. Shin gave her a kiss before saying good night when Yayoi grabbed his hand.
"Stay tonight?"
Shin gave her a sad look, "I couldn't. Seiji would kill me if I did..."
"Seiji isn't as perfect as you think he is." She interrupted, "Besides, it's my turn to take care of you before you leave."
"If you insist." Shin grinned.
As to make the day worse, it was raining. With a fresh haircut, Shin was waiting for his escort to take him to Tokyo. Sayoko had already taken his their mother back to the house, because of her health. Only Ryuusuke and Yayoi were there.
"What's the guy look like?" his brother-in-law asked.
"He's supposed to be some American." Shin said fixing his tan uniform.
Surprising him with a bear hug, Shin turned to see Shu and Ryo right behind him.
"Did you think we'd let you leave without saying goodbye?" Shu said laughing.
"Shu, I can't breathe." Shin coughed.
"Sorry." Shu grinned, "So, are you ready?"
"Ready as I could ever be." Shin responded.
"Touma gave me this to give to you." Ryo said, handing him a wrapped package, a walkman with batteries and a couple cassettes.
"What is it?"
"Do you even want to know?"
Shin laughed, "No I guess I'll find out."
"Hi Yayoi." Shu grinned, "Enjoying Yamaguchi?"
She smiled, "It's not bad."
The group quieted down when a car pulled up to the train station. Although they were not in uniform, the men's haircuts made them stick out.
"Seaman Mori I assume," Asked one of the men in bad Japanese.
"Yes. I'm guessing you're my ride?" he replied in English, which to the men's relief, was better.
"I'm Technical Sergeant Tyler and this is Captain Parry. We're your escorts for today."
"May I have a moment before I leave?" Shin asked.
"Sure."
Shu and Ryo simply gave him a handshake. Ryuusuke gave him a hug and a few words of comfort. When he got to Yayoi, he was fighting tears. Yayoi had already given up trying to fight them.
"I'll be back in nine months." Shin said, hugging her tight.
"Nine months is a long time."
"Just don't date another doctor. I don't like fighting them."
She laughed, "Just, do not be a hero."
"I leave the hero thing to Ryo." Shin joked.
One of the Americans coughed, "We need to go if we're going to avoid traffic."
Shin nodded. He gave Yayoi one last kiss before getting in the car.
After they left the city limits, the Captain turned, "Is one of your friends a member of the soccer team in Tokyo?"
"He is."
"Man, I should have asked for an autograph." The other man said.
Shin laughed, "He's not much of a social person, but I could probably get him to give you a few things."
"You're completely not like we expected." Tyler said, "I was expecting a short Japanese guy, not Freddie Mercury."
Shin sighed, "I'm Japanese, just my mother's not."
After a while, Shin opened Touma's package. It contained a few magazines that Shin wasn't expecting.
"What the hell?" he asked, looking through an adult one.
There were also a few science related ones about the ocean and stuff, and a book but Shin was completely at awe with the current one he held. Looking at the note Touma included, Shin couldn't help but laugh.
I know it's not what you expected, but I think you'll enjoy it after a few months of being around lots of dirty, sweaty men. I hope you enjoy the music too. By the way, Yayoi doesn't approve, so you should get rid of the magazines before you come back.
"Is that the recent Playboy?" the sergeant asked, looking back, "Let me see that shit."
"It's from March. Have fun." He had a feeling Touma picked that month on purpose too.
"You don't want it back?"
Shin gave him a look.
"I get it. I'll give it back."
Shin and the captain heard Tyler go on about the magazine until they were in Tokyo. As they were going through the gate, the guard made jokes. As the captain collected their ID cards, he started his briefing.
"Ok, so the aircraft we're taking you to will be carrying other support equipment. You'll probably be asked to help with minor things. It's going to head towards Germany first, and then you'll get on another flight to Mogadishu. We'll stop so we can get you some snacks. I was going to hook you up with some reading stuff, but it seems your friends hooked you up."
"He thought he was being funny." Shin added.
"Sounds like a good guy to me." The other one said.
They stopped at the shop. Shin was looking through what he thought he was going to miss, but it was mostly American snacks stocked. Grabbing some crisps and a Coke, he waited for the Americans to pay.
Soon he was at the plane. Part of him died inside as he watched Japan leave his sight.