Chapter 22: The Heart Connection

The JRCS hospital was in a state of organized chaos. A war footing. Longstanding plans were invoked, departments reorganized, roles redefined.

Kurosawa's years of pre-planning were paying off. And not only within the JRCS, but outside of it as well. Japan's governmental bureaucracies were swinging into action far more quickly than they normally would. Well-laid plans and doctrines for precisely this kind of emergency were now being rushed into action. Pre-approved orders and pre-written instructions were being flash-alerted from Japan's various government ministries to people who already knew what they were supposed to do.

The USNS Mercy prepared for departure. When fully activated, the ship was designed to quickly morph itself like a character in Transformers and become a floating hospital with a crew and medical staff of over 1,200. It could then rapidly treat thousands of injured and wounded patients that would arrive by sea or by air. In this case, with Busan's port destroyed, they would be airlifted on CH-53 'Stallion' helicopters that would land on huge helipads that could accommodate the world's largest military helicopters.

As part of the Pacific Partnership Program (motto: "Prepare in Calm to Respond in Crisis"), Japan had previously sent a large number of personnel aboard the Mercy in preparation for the the joint disaster rescue and relief exercise. This included personnel who were trained for ground, sea, and air rescue, medical doctors, nurses, and other specialists from the civilian sector as well as from Japan's armed services - both active-duty and reserve.

The Mercy had originally docked in Yamaboshi with a crew of only 220 Americans, of which approximately 70 of those were the basic operational crew required for the ship's navigation and maintenance of its 12 operating rooms and 30 wards. Except for the bridge crew and a small security force to prevent Somali-style pirates from boarding, the rest of the 70 crew were civilian members of the US Merchant Marine, operating under contract. In addition, about 150 US Navy doctors and nurses from the San Diego US Navy Medical Center were on hand to provide training and participate in the Pacific Partnership exercise. Japan provided the bulk of the ship's complement, over 1,000 personnel, for the exercise from the JSDF and from various other non-military governmental agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

Kurosawa was the head of the NGO contingent. Because of his well-known reputation as an emergency manager in past disasters, many of the heads of the other agencies tended to give him wide deference, and because the honorary president of the Japanese Red Cross Society was the Empress of Japan and the Crown Prince and Crown Princess were its vice-presidents, the JRCS was actually more of a governmental agency than a truly independent one anyway.

The Mercy would be ready to set sail to Busan with a full complement of 1,200 personnel only a mere eight hours after the earthquake, a new record.

The departure was scheduled for 8 p.m., four hours away. Inside the Yamaboshi JRCS Regional Headquarters complex, people were running everywhere seemingly willy nilly. It looked like chaos, but it was actually a carefully planned metamorphosis. Alerts and reminders were popping up on the hallway flat panels everywhere. Staff were rushing to their designated rally points, checking the panels and their cellphones for any updates or changes to their pre-issued orders.

Taichi and Aoki were huffing and puffing down the hall. They spotted Kurosawa ahead of them in his wheelchair. He was talking with some men in JSDF military uniforms. They ran and caught up with him.

Taichi huffed, "Kurosawa-sensei!"

Kurosawa turned to face him. "Yaegashi, you need to get downstairs for the final briefing."

"Yes sir. I was wondering if Aoki here could come with us."

"Reason?"

"Sir, look how big and strong he is. A pair of powerful hands like his are going to come in really handy in pulling out survivors. I could really use his help on site."

Kurosawa looked briefly at Aoki, then faced Taichi again. He explained it succinctly. "Yaegashi, while it is true that we would normally be grateful to accept every extra pair of hands we can get, Aoki is not formally trained yet. All staff are required to receive basic training in emergency disaster relief before being deployed in the field. It's JRCS policy."

Aoki begged, "Please sir. You need strong men like me out there. Just to remove debris and stuff if nothing more. I don't need training for that."

Taichi chimed in. "Sir, I beg you. He's steadfast in a crisis and takes direction well. I'll take full responsibility for him."

Kurosawa looked at both of them. Then he started typing on his ultralight notebook. "Very well. Aoki, I'm putting you down as a volunteer. You'll need to sign a waiver."

"Thank you sir!"

"Aoki, as a volunteer you are going to be Yaegashi's batsman. Please stay near Yaegashi at all times. Do whatever he says and follow his instructions to the letter. Do you think you can do that?"

He jumped and saluted. "Yes sir! Absolutely sir!" The two military officers standing nearby tried to suppress their smirks.

"Good man."

Taichi's cell buzzed. He checked and saw he was needed downstairs. The pair turned to go. Then Kurosawa said, "Yaegashi, I'd like to brief Aoki a bit more if you don't mind. You go on ahead. I'll make sure he catches up."

"Thank you so much, sir." Then he made a fast bow and ran off.

Kurosawa then turned his chair and faced Aoki. "Normally I would never have done that, but I am worried about Yaegashi getting in over his head out there, so I am making an exception here. I know that he is your best friend."

"Yes sir, he is."

Kurosawa said quietly, "Then pay attention. This is unofficial. I'd like you to keep an eye on Yaegashi. Make sure he doesn't do anything stupid or reckless out there. If he does, stop him. Tie him up, carry him away, I don't care. Just don't let him make his wife a widow. You understand?"

Aoki's puppy-dog eagerness changed to a look of deadly seriousness.

"Yes sir. I will."

It was evening. The USNS Mercy was now underway at its maximum speed of 17.5 knots (32 km/hr). The great white ship would travel in a straight line from Yamaboshi to Busan, about 350 kilometers away. Given favorable ocean currents it was expected that the Mercy would arrive and drop anchor just off Busan around 10 a.m. Because of the proximity of Yamaboshi to Busan, the Mercy would arrive at the scene of the disaster at least a full day ahead of the task force headed by the USS Ronald Reagan.

As soon as the Reagan came into flight range, the Reagan's Sikorsky Chinook CH-53E ('Super Stallion') and and CH-53 ('Sea Stallion') helicopters would launch and begin rescue operations, flying between Busan and the Mercy around the clock. In Busan the Mercy's rescue workers would extract buried victims from the rubble and do first-aid before making triage selection for the airlift of the most seriously wounded survivors back to the hospital ship for emergency surgery and intensive medical care.

It was dark. Taichi, Aoki, Bakou, and Keiso were standing on the large flat helipad deck that was mounted right behind the bridge. They were gazing out along the back rail in awe of the vessel that extended below and behind them for over a thousand feet, with great waves churning from its four massive screws.

Meanwhile, Aoki was admiring one of the CH-53E Super Stallions that was parked on the pad.

He said, "Wow, that's a big helicopter."

Aoki was not exaggerating. The CH-53E was the largest and heaviest helicopter in the United States military. The 'E' version added a third engine and a seventh blade to the main rotor for extra speed and lift.*

The four men were wearing windbreaker jackets in the chilly breeze. The stars were still shining above, but they knew that would change soon because the weather report indicated that a squall line was approaching later that evening.

Keiso had already taken three Dramamine pills. Taichi looked at him. "You gonna make it?"

Keiso muttered, "Yeah.."

The men heard a low humming noise. They all turned. Kurosawa was approaching in his electric wheelchair. His eyes were beaming. "Good evening, lads! Beautiful night tonight, isn't it?"

Taichi spoke for the group. "Yes, sir, it is."

Kurosawa sported a large pair of astronomy-grade binoculars around his neck. "I couldn't sleep either, so I was trying to do some sky observations to take advantage of the ideal viewing conditions out here. There's no moon tonight, with dark skies and no clouds, it's perfect.. well, until the squall hits in a few hours, that is. Anyway, I was checking the Andromeda galaxy with my 7x50s on the other side of the pad just now. I figured it would look amazing at sea with no city lights or smog."

Kurosawa began to screw on the caps onto the lenses of his binoculars. As he did so he said idly, "You know, few people realize just how big the Andromeda galaxy actually is in the sky: about the size of the full moon. But it is really hard to see any detail of the spiral arms without dark skies, even with binoculars. So I figured the binocular view tonight should be outstanding." He sighed as he looked around the deck. "Feh, these stupid floodlights are all over the ship, ruins everything."

Taichi looked sympathetic. "Pity, sir."

If the bald man was disappointed, his face didn't show it. Instead he said brightly, "So, what brings you boys out here on this chilly night? Doing some star watching too?"

Taichi said, "No sir. We were just admiring the ship, that's all." There were no portals or windows below deck.

Kurosawa moved his chair up to the rail and looked out at the white irregular blocks of the endless superstructure that sprawled away into the distance. It reminded him of a scene in Star Wars (1977) when the X-Wing fighters were flying low over the surface of the Death Star before they dived into the trench.

"Yes, it's an impressive sight. By volume it is the largest ship that has ever sailed in the US Navy. In any country's navy. And all for purely humanitarian purposes. Quite remarkable."

Then Kurosawa noticed that Aoki was staring up at the sky. Kurosawa glanced up. "See something interesting up there, lad?"

Aoki turned, "Oh, sorry sir. I was just trying to find Andromeda. If it's as big as the full moon I figured I'd see it."

Kurosawa chuckled, "Sorry, my boy, you won't. To see it with the naked eye takes someone with perfect 20-20 vision in pitch dark skies to even spot it, and then it's just a faint blur of the central core, about the size of a pencil eraser held at arm's distance."

"Oh, I see. So where is it, exactly?"

He pointed. "Start with the constellation Pegasus, that big rectangular box right there. It's called the Great Square. See it?"

"Yeah."

"Next, find the big 'W' of the constellation Cassiopeia, which is right next door to the square. Look at the star named Sirrah, which is the star in the square that is nearest the 'W'. Then draw an imaginary line from Sirrah to the star at the bottom of the left 'V' of the 'W', a star named Ruchbah. Find the middle of the line between Sirrah and Ruchbah and go down perpendicularly away from it, south, about one moon length. And there it is.

Aoki squinted. "I don't see anything."

"Well, like I said, you won't."

Kurosawa then looked at Aoki thoughtfully. "My, you are a big guy. Are you trained in self defense? Martial arts?"

"Uh, no sir."

He addressed both Aoki and Taichi. "Well, then if someone tries to rob you, or if you two see someone else being robbed, or see some looting going on, don't resist and don't try to interfere. Bakou here will be on your team for security."

Bakou crossed his arms. He looked like he could beat Popeye in an arm-wrestling match. Kurosawa said, "Do not be a hero." He looked at them sternly. "Is that understood?"

Aoki and Taichi said in unison, "Yes, sir!"

The group continued to look out at the ship. Kurosawa noticed Keiso leaning heavily on the rail above the decks below. "You take your seasick pills?"

"Yes sir.."

"Well, just remember to puke on the leeward side. You don't want it flying back in your face." The others chuckled.

"Oh, uh, thank you sir."

The breeze began to pick up. Aoki flapped is arms. "Man, it's getting cold."

Kurosawa nodded. "Yes it is, and you boys need to get your sleep for tomorrow. All of you, go downstairs into your berths and try to get some rest. Anchor drops in 10 hours. We have a long day tomorrow."

The group assented and they left the deck for the stairs below. Meanwhile Kurosawa motored towards the freight elevator. The doors closed behind him.

Lord, please protect them all.

It was 4:45 a.m. Taichi was still unable to sleep. He kept trying, but the unfamiliarity of his bunk bed combined with Aoki's incessant snoring had kept him awake. He kicked himself for not remembering to bring his earplugs.

The tossing and turning of the ship as the squall line passed did not help. Because of the large size of the ship, it rolled up and down rather slowly. It wasn't particularly jarring; it felt more like an elevator going slowly up and down.

Up and down. Up and down.

Taichi heard a moan next door. He put on his shirt and slacks and went into the gangway. He knocked on Keiso's door. Bakou was bunking with him.

"You okay in there?"

Then the door opened. It was Bakou, who was holding Keiso up. He looked green.

Bakou said, "He filled both barf bags. Please help me get him topside." Taichi immediately pulled up Keiso's left arm as Bakou supported his right.

Then Aoki sleepily opened the door. "Whatssup?"

Taichi tried to turn to face his friend, but with holding Keiso he was in an awkward body position. He slipped and fell on the steel floor.

His head barely missed a sharp steel projection that was sticking out from the fire suppression system that was mounted on the wall. Instead his head struck the floor.

Aoki was alarmed, "Taichi, be careful!"

He rubbed his head, "Ouch."

Aoki jumped down and helped Taichi stand up. "You okay?"

"Uh, yeah."

Aoki admonished him. "Dude, you need to watch yourself. You aren't familiar with this ship. Look, let me and Bakou help Keiso get outside. You stay here."

"No, I'm coming with you. I want to make sure he's going to be all right."

"Bakou and I can do it. Just you stay here."

Taichi was adamant. "No, I'm coming to help."

Aoki was having difficulty holding Keiso. He knew he wasn't going to win the argument anyway. "Fine, whatever. Let's go."

They were all topside. The rain had stopped but the deck was still rather slick. Keiso started puking again over the starboard rail.

Aoki muttered, "I can't believe the guy has so much puke in him.."

After Keiso finishing heaving again, he became short of breath. He inhaled deeply. As a result he started choking and coughing, having aspirated some vomit down his windpipe. Taichi began patting his pack trying to help him cough up whatever went down the wrong pipe. "It's okay."

Keiso pulled his head back and then leaned forward and did another tremendous heave.

And he flipped over the side.

"Keiso!"

Taichi tried to grab his hand as he went over, but it was too late.

I hate the sea. I can't even swim.

And so Taichi took off his shoes and jumped in after him.

The others were stunned. They had no time to react.

As soon as he jumped over the side, Taichi regretted doing it.

For you see, he was experiencing a curious phenomenon that was universally known among jumpers who were just as suicidal as Taichi unintentionally was. A famous article in the October 2003 issue of The New Yorker magazine (Title: 'Jumpers: The fatal grandeur of the Golden Gate Bridge') explained it rather succinctly. The jumpers who had survived jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge in San Fransisco, a bridge with a 98% fatality rate, revealed an interesting commonality:

As soon as they jumped they regretted doing it.

Call it a moment of clarity. Call it a moment of truth. Whatever problems existed in your life, they could be fixed. Except that one.

Kevin Hines was 18 when he jumped in September, 2000. After he crossed the chord, he recalled, "My first thought was, 'What the hell did I just do? I don't want to die.'"

Ken Baldwin did it in August 1985. As he crossed the chord in flight, Baldwin recalls, "I instantly realized that everything in my life that I'd thought was unfixable was totally fixable - except for having just jumped."

And Paul Alarab in March 1990. "I was praying for God to give me another chance."

And those that died? Many jumpers wrap suicide notes in plastic and tuck them into their pockets. One read, "Absolutely no reason except I have a toothache."

The article explained the reality of jumping.

Jumpers tend to idealize what will happen after they step off the bridge. "Suicidal people have transformation fantasies and are prone to magical thinking, like children and psychotics," Dr. Lanny Berman, the executive director of the American Association of Suicidology, says. "Jumpers are drawn to the Golden Gate because they believe it's a gateway to another place. They think that life will slow down in those final seconds, and then they'll hit the water cleanly, like a high diver."

In the four-second fall from the bridge, survivors say, time does seem to slow. On her way down in 1979, Ann McGuire said to herself, "I must be about to hit," three times. But the impact is not clean: the coroner's usual verdict, suicide caused by "multiple blunt-force injuries," euphemizes the devastation... Jumpers who hit the water do so at about seventy-five miles an hour and with a force of fifteen thousand pounds per square inch. Eighty-five per cent of them suffer broken ribs, which rip inward and tear through the spleen, the lungs, and the heart. Vertebrae snap, and the liver often ruptures. "It's as if someone took an eggbeater to the organs of the body and ground everything up," Ron Wilton, a Coast Guard officer, once observed.

Time seemed to slow down for Taichi.

He was still falling.

Inaba.. I'm sorry.

At 41 meters (134 feet), the helipad deck of the Mercy was somewhat lower than the Golden Gate Bridge (67 meters, 220 feet). But it was still at a height at which even Acapulco cliff divers would not attempt. It was too dangerous.

I'm so sorry.

He tried to orient himself so that he would hit feet first. He was wearing his windbreaker, which was partially unzipped. It puffed up like a parasail.

I'm sorry.

The windbreaker slowed his final speed at impact from 28 meters per second (63 miles per hour) down to roughly half that speed.

Impact.

The slowed speed at impact saved his life. It also saved him from serious injury and subsequent drowning.

He went down 9 meters (30 feet) into the ocean. In the coldness of the water he nearly gasped and inhaled it.

Time became confused, a jumble.

He started swimming madly in the dark. His jacket came off. He was spatially disoriented, not knowing which way was up.

Somehow his head was above the surface again.

He looked around and yelled, "Keiso!"

But there was nothing to be seen except the white wall of the ship as it continued to pass.

"Keiso!"

Then a thought entered Taichi's head. Get away from the propellers.

With the ship moving at 32 km/hr, he had 22 seconds left to clear them. Taichi started swimming madly away from the ship.

He could hear the churning of the huge screws as they got closer, a thrumming.

He swam as fast as he could.

Louder and louder.

Then he was pulled under the water again. This time he was ready and took a deep breath first.

He was strangely calm. He hovered under the water until he figured out which way was up, then swam to the surface.

The great white ship receded into the distance.

I'm so sorry.

Aoki and Bakou were stunned.

Bakou recovered faster. He leaned over the rail and spotted Taichi's parasail-like descent and his clean impact into the water feet first. The ship's lights illuminated the water, and Bakou tried to track where Taichi went in. The splash-area quickly receded into the distance, but just before losing track he thought he could just barely make out a head bobbing up in the water.

Meanwhile, Keiso was no where to be found.

Aoki was panicking. He lunged at the rail. "Throw them a life preserver! Something! Man overboard! Man overboard!"

Bakou stopped Aoki as he leaned over the rail and pulled him back. "It's too late."

Aoki gripped Bakou's jacket. "You saw them? Did they make it?"

"I saw Yaegashi, he surfaced. No sign of Keiso."

Aoki was gesticulating wildly. "Them tell to stop! Stop the ship! Turn it around! We have to save them!'"

Bakou's dead face actually showed an expression for once.

Resignation.

"Aoki, I am sorry. This ship is built on an old oil supertanker hull. It takes almost an hour just to slow, turn, and get up to speed again."

"Then send a helicopter! Send that one!" Aoki pointed at the CH-35E that was parked nearby.

Bakou shook his head. "Again, I am sorry. It is pitch dark out there. No moon. Yaegashi has no light or radio. The sun will not rise for another hour. And at this water's temperature, hypothermia will likely have set in by then, assuming he even has the strength to remain treading water for that long."

"Then.. Then.."

"I am sorry, they are gone."

Aoki was numb. "I was supposed to protect him.."

"As was I." Inaba's father had sent his best field operative to follow Taichi onto the ship. Not to spy upon or harm Taichi, but rather to protect him.

"We both failed our mission."

Taichi felt ethereal.

Am I dead? Is this the afterlife?

He was laying on his back on a solid surface that was gently swaying underneath him. The stars were above him. They were brilliant, shining, magical.

The squall line had passed, and the clouds had parted. It was pitch dark. And in those perfect nighttime viewing conditions, Taichi saw thousands upon thousands of stars blazing above his head. The grand expanse of the Milky Way galaxy arched across the sky.

He continued to stare at it all in wonder and in awe. For indeed, that was the purpose his of being able to see that shining vista in the first place: To declare the glory of the One who created it**.

"So amazing.."

Taichi looked and found the Great Square of Pegasus. It had rotated since early that evening, but the constellation was still well above the horizon. With his mind's eye he drew an imaginary line from Sirrah to Ruchbah, and then about midway along that line he looked down about one moon length.

And there it was.

He saw a small fuzzy patch of dim light. He could just make it out with his dark-adapted and averted vision.

He knew what it was. Another ocean of 100 billion stars. Another universe nested within our larger observable Universe. And was there a universe beyond our own? Was there a universe of universes? And what about beyond that? Did it just go up, higher and higher and higher?

The platform he was on bobbled a bit. He sat up and felt it.

He found that he was laying astride an old heavy plastic molding for a floor-standing refrigerator. The piece of heavy styrofoam was about six and a half feet long and three feet wide. He then remembered climbing upon it when it floated past.

For this was the scourge of the Pacific Ocean: floating garbage. Decades of discarded non-biodegradable refuse had accumulated on the surface of the ocean from passing ships, or from offshore dumping, or pulled into the ocean by tsunamis like the great Tohoku wave that had drawn several square miles of floating debris out to sea: lumber, plastic, conduit, barrels and bottles, and other assorted wreckage from the disaster. It had formed into mats that were sometimes miles wide. Eventually some of it would drift as far as San Fransisco Bay and wash up on shore.

Taichi sat up on his styrofoam raft and looked around. There was nothing on the horizon in any direction.

"I can't believe this."

He was all alone in the middle of the ocean, with no water, no food, and aboard a sea craft that was very, very fragile.

"Dammit, I am such an idiot."

His outburst was not at all surprising. For you see, Taichi was merely going through the normal emotional states that all people typically experience when facing imminent death.

The model was first proposed by the Swiss psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross in her famous 1969 book, On Death and Dying. It was based on her extensive field work with terminally ill patients. According to the her theory, there are five distinct emotional stages that people go through when facing death.

Taichi had already passed stage one, denial.

"Everyone was looking out for me. Everyone warned me. And I still screwed up. Everyone! Dammit dammit dammit!"

Taichi was now on stage two, anger.

"[Bleep]! What was I thinking?"

Then he entered stage three.

"Inaba, I promise that if I survive this I will make it up to you somehow. I'll listen to everything you say."

He sighed.

Suddenly he yelled into the air. "Dammit! I'm such a stupid [bleep]head!" Sometimes the stages overlap.

During his outburst he jostled his raft and it started to crack. He didn't realize how fragile it was. He decided to lay back down.

He looked up at the stars again.

Should I pray? I've never done it before. I don't even know how.

He continued to look up.

Uh, God? Lord, sir? Are you there? Can you hear me?

Sir, I made a mistake. I did something stupid. Kurosawa-sensei says that you hear prayers, and I know he's a smart man. So please, God, I need help. If you can hear me, please help me.

His little craft continued to sway on the waves. He noticed that the crack was lengthening. At some point it would split his little raft in two and he would fall in.

Lord, if you save me, I'll become a Christian or something. I promise.

He was bargaining, the third stage.

Look, I'll make a deal with you. Save me and I promise I'll do whatever you say. Okay? Please? Please God?

No response.

He continued to look up. He saw the small streak of a meteor flash by. It was a tiny dust particle, formed in the primordial soup of the early solar system over 4.6 billion years ago. It burned itself up in a glorious half-second display of self-immolation in the upper stratosphere.

Please, God?

Still nothing.

I need help.

Nothing.

He sighed.

Apparently it wasn't working.

He closed his eyes and gave up.

What have I done?

He was now entering the fourth stage, depression.

I give up. Inaba, I am so sorry. You married the wrong guy. I said I loved you, but all I did was hurt you.

What will you do now? How will you react? I know how fragile you are. Please don't fall apart. Please don't self-destruct.

Wait.. self-destruct?

He sat up again. Self-destruct.. Yes, that is what Iori did, at least if Inaba's suspicions about her were correct. But surely it wasn't because of him, was it?

No, that's absurd.

How could Iori's bad life choices be his fault? He didn't leave her; she was the one who left him.

It was her choice, she said so. They all heard it. Surely she has moved on. He knew she had no feelings for him anymore.

Surely that can't be possible, not after all these years.

Then he recalled her odd behavior during the retreat that sometimes happened when she was alone with him. He remembered that first time in front of the fireplace when she tensed up, and the time most recently when he accidentally knocked her sideways on the bed during his thankful hug for saving Inaba. She became rigid.

Oh no.. Iori..

Inaba had told him that she suspected that Iori's life story was tragic. Was it because of him?

And if so, and if that kind of sad decline had happened to someone as self-sufficient and self-confident as Iori, what would happen to someone like Inaba?

What would happen to Inaba if she became a widow at age 21?

He knew that his wife could be very fragile - more so than he was willing to admit. Oh, under the right circumstances she was incredibly strong-willed and determined, as much as any person could be. It was particularly true whenever she was wheeling and dealing in the rough-and-tumble world of business finance. She loved the tension and excitement. But on a personal level? When dealing with those she truly loved? With those people she could become very fragile and vulnerable. Very vulnerable indeed.

Inaba, I know how fragile you really are. That's why I never pushed you, why I always let you take the lead. I always waited until you were ready. I always took care of you, shielded you, protected you, as best I could. I always let you believe that you were the Alpha in our relationship, and I always pretended to be the Beta. Because I loved you.

But now I've hurt you so terribly. God, please. Please save me for her. Not for me. I don't care what happens to me. Just please save me so I can continue to protect her. Otherwise I don't know what will happen, what she might do. Please, dear God, please.. Please!

He continued to bob on his craft in the darkness.

He knew that without a true miracle, there was no way that he was going to be rescued. The ship's captain would have assumed that he had drowned by now as his strength gave out while treading water, or that he had died of hypothermia in the cold water.

It was just possible that maybe, days from now, after the disaster operation was completed, that perhaps the US or Japanese Navy, or perhaps the Maritime Safety Agency (the equivalent of the US Coast Guard), might do a few air searches and eventually find his body.

After all, Busan was the priority. They would never waste a precious helicopter to search for just one person, not when thousands upon thousands of injured victims desperately needed help in that city. It was simple arithmetic.

There would be no rescue.

I am going to die.

He was now entering the final stage, acceptance.

He tried to prepare himself. What was death like? Was it simply oblivion? Or was it something else?

Was there something beyond this life?

Kurosawa seemed to think there was. He believed that the whole point of Creation was to allow independent beings, who could see and recognize what their Creator had done, to enter into a deep and loving relationship with that Creator, and that He had provided a living bridge to make that intimate contact possible, as he made the ultimate loving sacrifice of Himself so as to bring us face-to-face with Him, to be united in love, and all ultimately for His glory.

Taichi began to understand.

He was being selfish. He was begging merely for own wants, not His. He was bargaining, trying to cut a deal with God.

And that was wrong.

He laid back down on the raft again and closed his eyes.

Lord, thy will be done.

"I would like to speak with Captain Haddock, please."

Kurosawa was sitting in his wheelchair outside the entrance to main navigation bridge. Bakou and Aoki were standing behind him. A young navy officer was blocking their entry. He spoke in halting Japanese, "I am sorry sirs, but you are not allowed in this area without proper authorization."

Another voice behind him spoke in English. "It's all right, Hansen. Let them enter."

It was Captain Haddock***. She was standing in her blue regulation duty uniform alongside a Japanese-American petty officer named Fujimoto.

Because of the importance of inter-language communication for the Pacific Partnership exercise, there were more than a dozen expert Japanese-English translators on the ship. Almost all of them were provided by the host country (in this case Japan), which was customary. The Mercy was planning to visit several countries across the Pacific rim, and it wasn't feasible for the ship to carry a large number of translators for each language in every country during its six month voyage.

But in this case the translator, Fujimoto, was an American of Japanese descent and a US naval petty officer. Kurosawa speculated that US citizenship was probably a necessary prerequisite for anyone who was serving on the bridge or in sensitive communication areas. Although the Mercy was not a commissioned vessel it was still an active part of the US military service, and it had sensitive communications gear on board for receiving authenticated orders from PACCOM. That probably prohibited foreign nationals from being stationed on the bridge.

Kurosawa also knew that because Fujimoto was a native English speaker that he was probably the best translator on the ship for talking with the captain.

As he translated on behalf of Captain Haddock, Fujimoto communicated both her inflection and her emphasis with his voice.

Captain Haddock got straight to the point. "Kurosawa, we are not turning this ship around."

[A/N: For the remainder of this section, you should assume Fujimoto is translating the Japanese and English between Kurosawa and Captain Haddock.]

The Director of JRCS Operations addressed the captain. "Madam, I am not asking for that. The needs in Busan outweigh clearly everything else. I'm just saying that we are still almost six hours out, and that gives us time to do an aerial recon, possibly even a recovery."

"Of bodies."

"My man here confirmed that he saw at least one survivor."

"But did that survivor even make it pass the screws? And even if he did, could he survive without floatation gear? For this long? In this water's temperature it would take a miracle."

"Fine. Recovery then."

"No. I'm sorry."

"But Madam, why not? The helicopters are sitting idle right now. We have plenty of time to go out and return long before landfall. And the sun is rising any minute now, with clear skies and low winds."

"Because no one on my crew is trained for Recovery and Rescue [RAR] missions. This is a medical ship. We only do medical transport. Aerial RAR at sea is a very specialized and technical skill, and only sailors on commissioned warships or in the US Coast Guard are rated for it. Not us. Not even to recover a body. I am sorry, no."

"Madam, with respect, my men are trained for this. Bakou here is ex-JSDF and worked in special ops, including clandestine aerial hostage rescue situations while under fire. My people can handle the recovery part, running the winches, going down in the basket, and bringing them up. All we need is the pilot."

"I said no."

Kurosawa thought a moment. "Fine. Call it a training mission then. If you recall the mission plan, we were planning to do RAR like this anyway. We were going to simulate a post-tsunami rescue from a capsized sailboat. Do you remember that? The plan was to have four simulated victims in the water, one with a broken leg? Our men were going to train on the CH-35E and run the recovery op."

"Kurosawa.."

"Good grief, I helped procure the sailboat for that op myself! It's the same thing!"

"But this isn't a simulation."

"I know that! That is why I carefully set these things up to be as realistic as possible. This is actually easier."

"No, I'm sorry. Unless I have received authenticated orders from PACCOM, no helicopters are leaving this ship until we drop anchor at Busan. That's final."

Kurosawa realized that he was dealing with a bureaucrat, one that only followed orders. It was because the USNS was mainly a civilian service, and the kinds of officers that showed initiative or courage under fire were of a different breed.

Kurosawa understood. This was the kind of bureaucrat that he had often confronted in many large organizations, including his own.

He turned to Bakou. "Get me my satellite phone."

42 minutes later, after Kurosawa called the Minister of the Navy (whose daughter Kurosawa had helped save in the Tohoku disaster), who then contacted US NAVSEC, who then sent an order to PACCOM, which was then communicated via MILNET to the Mercy's chief communication officer, who then rushed the authenticated orders to the captain, that a CH-35E Super Stallion rose into the air and headed back along the Mercy's straight-line path with Bakou and a JSDF RAR team on board.

Inaba looked out of the window. She saw a large black limo drive up. She recognized it as one of her father's.

Inaba went outside and waited for the casket to be taken out. It was because Japanese law required that the nearest next of kin identify the body.

Aoki emerged from the limo's middle door, while the driver got out and opened the back.

Then a second person emerged from the middle door.

It was Taichi. He was still wearing a blanket.

Taichi wasn't sure how Inaba would react. She would certainly run to him. And then? Would she collapse in his arms crying with joy? Or would she smile first, then hug him?

She did none of those things.

She simply walked up to him as Iori watched from a respectful distance.

"You.. you stupid.. dumb.. idiotic.. bastard."

"Inaba, I'm sorry."

"How many times have I told you to be careful? How many times have I said, 'Taichi, watch out. Taichi, think before you leap.' But no, you did it anyway."

Inaba spoke in a low monotone.

"I'm leaving. And I'm not coming back."

He blinked his eyes.

She quickly jumped into the middle seat of the limo and closed the door behind her. She leaned forward, "Drive."

And before Taichi or anyone else could react, the limo drove into the distance and was gone.

Taichi finally collected his wits and started running. "Inaba! Stop! Come back!" He kept running until it was no use. Then he stood there.

Iori finally caught up with him.

Iori said quietly while standing behind him, "Are you surprised? You shouldn't be. She's at the bottom of her depressive cycle."

Taichi turned to face her. "I know. She needs time alone. She'll get better. She always has. We just have to be patient and wait."

Iori gave him a look he had never seen before. She was cold as ice.

"No, not this time. You still don't get it, do you? Your dumb act of heroism has confirmed her worst fears. You should have died, but you didn't. She knows that next time you will succeed in getting yourself killed."

"I know.. I'm sorry."

"Sorry isn't good enough this time."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean this."

Iori slapped his face with a palm strike, as hard as she could.

"YOU BASTARD!"

Taichi spun backwards from the blow and fell over.

Iori stood over him, unrelenting in her verbal attack. "Do you know how hard she tried to save you? To save your life? Do you have any idea what she sacrificed to try to protect you from yourself?"

He sat up and numbly shook his head. A large bruise was already spreading on his left cheek.

Iori's voice steadily rose in anger. "Well I'll tell you. She sold her soul to the devil to save you from yourself. And then she gave up her firstborn child. All for you!"

He looked up at her in confusion. "What? A child?"

"All that, and despite all her pleading, all her begging, you still thoughtlessly threw your life away! You think you're a hero? You're not. You're a thoughtless prick. Inaba sacrificed everything she had for you: her life, her child, even her soul. You want to know what she plans to do? She plans to stage an 'accident' to give that demon what it demanded: her firstborn child. You wouldn't know it was actually her suicide so you wouldn't feel guilty when she died and took her baby with her. Then she thought you'd end up with me."

"She's.. pregnant?"

"Yes! And that was the price she paid to try to save you: first her baby, and now herself. All for you. At first I thought she was just going to hide her abortion, but she realized that Number Three would somehow arrange for you to discover her deed after the fact. So your marriage would be destroyed no matter what. And I was just as trapped as she was. I couldn't say anything. If I told you beforehand, Inaba would still do it to save you. And of course I would never say anything afterward. Either way, the marriage would still be destroyed. Number Three's gambit was perfect. She made sure all three of us were screwed no matter what.

"And after your wife was gone for good? Inaba thinks I'll take her place and try to save you because I love you. But I won't. I won't because I know that I'd fail just like she did, because sooner or later - probably sooner - you will do another stupid suicidal rescue attempt, and you will succeed and get yourself finally dead.

"And then I'll give up. Actually, I already have given up. I know there's no point in my trying to save you. Nobody can. I'll drift aimlessly back to my wreck of a life, and I'll spiral down because I don't care anymore. Eventually my dead and violated body will be found in a ditch somewhere, and that will be it. All three of us will be dead, and the devil will have won.

"Yeah, I shouldn't have told you she was pregnant. I shouldn't have told you she is going to secretly kill herself and make it look like an accident instead of aborting your child. She's doing it to protect you from all that guilt. Inaba thought I was bluffing and wouldn't actually tell you what she intended to do. She thought I would never tell you, to protect you from the terrible truth, to prevent you from blaming yourself for her blood sacrifice.

"She was wrong. Why? First, because a [bleep] like you doesn't deserve that kind of protection. And second, because I care for her in ways you'll never understand.

"Yaegashi, you're pathetic. Inaba is leaving your life. I quit too. Goodbye."

"Iori..?"

"Inaba is gone. I can't stop her. And don't try to stop me either. And you know what? Before all three of us die in this [bleep]ed-up tragedy, I just thought you might like to know: It is all your fault."

And with that, Iori turned and left.

And Taichi just stood there.

Taichi was kneeling in his bedroom.

Only a dim light peered through the open window from the cloudy sky.

"Heavenly Father, I am a sinner. A foolish, stupid, selfish sinner. And I don't know how to change. Please, Lord, change me. I can't do it myself. I here and now repent for my sins, and believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I believe that Christ died for me, as my substitute, and rose from the dead according to the Scriptures. Thank you Lord, for sending Your Son, and paying my debt in full. Even though I was separated from You by my sins, You saw me laying helpless on that raft, and You loved me enough to bring me home, and even die for me on that Cross. I believe that Jesus suffered the penalty of my sins, and paid the full price to clear my debt for my foolish and stupid actions. Your Word declares His Precious Blood, sinless and Divine, pays for all of my sins. Because He suffered my penalty, I am now free."

The clouds broke and a shaft of light appeared. And then Taichi looked up at it.

"Please Lord, I ask for your forgiveness, and I now receive Jesus Christ into my life as my Savior. Today, I accept Your gift of love, mercy, peace, and eternal life. I declare by faith that Jesus Christ, the living bridge, the connector of the finite to the infinite, now lives within me. I am a new creation in Christ, born of God with the life of Jesus in me. I trust the blood of Christ blots out every sin from my life. My record is clean by Your mercy. According to Your Word, I am now forgiven, I am now saved.

"Please allow the Holy Spirit to enter my heart, to send to me that still, small, voice so that I may hear it, to act wisely and with purpose, to not rashly go like a fool into danger with my selfish desires to save everyone without thinking, but instead guide me to serve You and Your plan for me. Help me to make amends to all the people I have so grievously harmed, to my wife, to Iori, Yui, Aoki, to everyone. I accept the gift that You offer, which is a debt that I can never repay, as I turn everything over to You, all that I have and all that I am, as you lead me and guide me, and enter my heart and take control of my life."

He looked down from the window towards the floor. And then, slowly, he lowered his head, further and further, all the way down to the hardwood floor until it touched. And he kept it there and did not move.

He was silent.

After another minute he lifted his head again.

He was smiling as he looked up at the illuminated window.

He spoke softly, "Thank you."

He did not notice the person who was quietly standing at the bedroom door that was still partially open behind him.

Iori silently closed the door and remained in the hallway. Taichi did not see her. She stood there, reflecting on what she had just seen and heard.

Iori entered the hotel room.

Inaba was sitting on the bed. She looked up. "How did you find me?"

"You forgot to turn off the GPS on your phone. Your father had to pull in some favors from somebody inside of NTT."

"Figures." Then she added, "And I bet you tricked the desk clerk into giving you a card key."

"Yep."

"Wait.. Iori, you talked to my father?"

"I did. You know, he's actually a rather nice guy."

"You actually met him? In person?"

"Yeah. Say, he's kind of cute. Is he single?"

Inaba rolled her eyes. "Iori, stop it."

"Uh, sorry, heh. I crack bad jokes when I'm nervous."

Inaba gave her a wan smile. "Still, I'm glad you're here. Last visit to the condemned prisoner and all that, eh? Hey, I got an idea. What do you say we go bar hopping and get smashed?"

"As appealing as that sounds, that is not why I'm here. And besides, it's not good for your baby."

Inaba remained quiet. Iori understood the implication. It would not matter.

Finally she said. "It's hopeless."

Iori sat on the bed. "I know, honey. Rina really screwed you over. All of us. I feel terrible about it."

Inaba sighed, "How do you think I feel? It's over. Rina has won."

Silence.

"Dereban, I've been thinking about this endlessly, going over it in my mind, over and over, and I don't see any way out either. Given the way Rina has set this whole thing up, there is no escape."

"You are right, there's none."

More silence.

Iori leaned closer. "But then it hit me. Rina's method. How she operates."

"Which is?"

"Don't you see it? She divides us, separates us. That's what she does."

"And she's done a damn fine job of it."

"Yes, she has. Which is why I told Taichi everything."

Inaba was horrified. "You what!?"

"I did. I told him the whole thing: I told him that you were pregnant, that you had been tricked into pledging to abort your baby, and that you were planning to have a fatal accident to hide it."

Inaba jumped up from the bed. "Iori, stop joking! Tell me you didn't!"

Iori replied calmly, "I did. Just sit back down and relax.."

Inaba remained standing. "But.. but why?"

"I told you. I did it to break down the barrier that Rina had cleverly constructed between you and him and between you and everyone else."

Inaba was in shock.

"No.."

"Dereban, relax, sit. It will be okay. We are going to work on this together: you, me, Taichi, Yui, Aoki, heck maybe even Heartseed himself. We are all going to work together to help you. It's the only way to defeat them, you know that. We've done this before, and we'll do it again now. We only win when we work together."

Inaba was becoming increasingly distraught. "But.. but.. how can I ever face Taichi..."

Iori yawned on the bed and then looked at her nails placidly. "So what? That's kind of a moot point now, correct? I mean, you announced right in front of me and the whole world that you were leaving Taichi for good. So who cares, eh? I mean, it doesn't matter now, right?"

"I don't believe you.. please tell me this is another bad joke.."

Iori became serious again. "I did tell him. I really did. Look, Dereban, I had to stop you. You were right, it was hopeless. We were completely boxed in by Rina's plan."

Iori leaned forward, her face earnest. "But you know what? A long time ago I learned that sometimes the best way to solve a puzzle is to simply smash it." She smiled. "So I did."

Inaba was getting bitter. "Yeah, and so you burned all my bridges and made it impossible for me to go back to him now."

"Dereban..."

Inaba's face became dark. "So now you get to have what you want, yes? To boot me out for good so that you'd have another shot at him? I can't believe you actually told him. I thought you were my friend..."

Now it was Iori's turn to get upset. She stood up. "I am your friend! Inaban, you had planned this whole match-making scenario, not me. You were the one who was going to secretly bump yourself off in an accident, and then, after he had finished mourning, that he and I would ultimately get together again. You set this whole thing up yourself. You wanted me to have him!"

Inaba shouted back, "You're wrong! I didn't!"

"Huh? What do you mean? Of course you want me to have him. You said it yourself!"

"No, don't you see? I was doing it for him, not you. For him! You idiot, it could have been Setouchi, it could have been Kurihara, it could have been any girl. You just happened to be the one he likes best!"

Silence.

Iori said softly, "Dereban, I did it for you, not for me. For you. He still loves you. In fact, he loves you now more than he ever did."

Inaba shook her head as she sat on the bed. "That's impossible. He's just saying that. Mr. Goody Perfect is just putting up a brave front because of his absurd capacity for self-sacrifice. He only loves me out of his sense of duty now. Our marriage is finished."

Iori said quietly, "No, it's not. And he will never try to throw away his life like that ever again."

"He said that? He promised that?"

"Yes, he did."

Inaba was even more bitter. She looked down. "Then don't believe it. Oh, he believes that promise himself, I'm sure. It's just that I know that people cannot change their fundamental nature like that. Sooner or later he'll revert true to form. The character flaw in him is basic. It's intrinsic. I know him well enough. He can never change."

Inaba looked up again. She was calm.

Then she looked at her best friend. "Iori, I can't save him. Nor can you. Nobody can."

"I know. But we don't have to.."

Iori sat down on the bed with her.

".. because he's already been saved."

"What?"

"I actually saw it happen, I think. I'm not sure what it was, exactly."

"Huh? What did he do?"

"He kneeled and prayed."

"Prayed?"

"I actually saw it. Whatever it was, it was real. He's changed. I could tell."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because I know people. I can read them. I can practically read people's thoughts as they think them. It's why I'm so good at fooling people. And believe me, he's changed. He won't try to recklessly throw away his life anymore."

"But how did he change? What happened?"

"I'm not sure exactly. Like I said, he prayed. Aloud."

"Aloud? What did he say?"

"He admitted he was a sinner, that he didn't know how to change, and asked God to let Jesus enter his heart and help him make amends."

Inaba was incredulous. "He became a Christian? I don't believe it." Then she did a facepalm. "Wait, this is Taichi we are talking about. Of course he's a Christian now. Oh that's just great. That is so classic Taichi. He helps people, Christians help people, so he wants to be one. Of course. But he'll revert, Just wait and see. He'll go back to his old ways. It's just a phase."

Iori shook her head. "No, I don't think this is some temporary thing. I think he has changed, and for good."

"You think that a near-death experience can do that? Transform a person, I mean?"

"It can..." Iori absently touched her wrists. "But, in Taichi's case I think it was something more, something external to himself. It was powerful. There was some.. force.. in the room with him. I could sense it. Invisible."

"You mean like Heartseed?"

"No, something else. Something I've never seen or felt before. I.. I don't know what it was."

"Wow, if it knocked even you for a loop it had to be something."

"Yeah, it was."

The women were silent. Then Iori interlocked her fingers with Inaba's.

"Taichi won't stray again. He loves you. Come home."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

Kurosawa was on his headset talking to Taichi, who was sitting at Inaba's PC. Kurosawa's face in the Zoom window was grave. "Yaegashi, thank you for telling me."

"You're welcome sir. And thank you again for saving me. I know you are really busy right now."

Taichi could see some men running back and forth behind Kurosawa on the screen. "Think nothing of it. I'd do that for any of my people. And yes I'm busy, but I do have a few minutes to spare at the moment. Now Yaegashi, listen carefully. Based on what you told me, I think your wife is under attack. A strong spiritual attack."

"A spirtual attack?"

"Yes. A big one."

It was not surprising to Kurosawa. There was a famous story that C.S. Lewis had written, called the Screwtape Letters, that explained why. The novel consisted of a series of letters written by a senior demon named Screwtape to his underling, advising him on how to best capture the soul of a young person living in London, who is only called 'the patient'. Screwtape explained to his underling that he should expend his efforts only upon individuals that teeter on the edge. There was no point in wasting resources on souls they already safely owned, only those they think they might lose.

Kurosawa said, "I'm not going to sugar coat this, Yaegashi. Your wife is under an all-out assault, a no-holds-barred attack by the Enemy, and they are using every weapon at their disposal. They must think they might lose her, and she is somehow important to them, so they are working on her as hard as they can. That includes exploiting her mental weaknesses, like her bipolar disorder and her depression. Both can make a person quite vulnerable to the Enemy's temptations and lies. Depression can be particularly nasty that way. In your wife's case, I suspect they are due to a physical problem, an imbalance of neurochemical transmitters in the brain like norepinephrine and serotonin."

"Just tell me what to do."

"You need to wage a counter-attack against the Enemy's assault. Fight back both on the spiritual and physical level. First, admit that much of this is frankly your fault, due to your own foolish actions. Pray for forgiveness and wisdom. Then get her to see a psychiatrist. I know in our country there is a huge stigma about that, but make her go anyway. Get her the meds she needs. And pray for her unceasingly. Ask for help for her protection. Use Psalm 23 for starters."

Taichi was already familiar with it.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters.

He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me;

Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; my cup overflows.

Surely your goodness and loving kindness will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.*4

"Use that Psalm, or use your own words. Try to do it with her if you can. She'll probably be quite skeptical of course, but that doesn't matter. That's because in your corner of the ring you have the strongest combatant of them all, and so pray unceasingly for her*5. And it will help you as well. You will learn great and hidden things that you have not known before.*6 Remember, if you ask anything according to His will, He will hear you*7. Whatever you ask for in His Spirit will be done*8."

"But what should I say? I'm not a great speaker. I don't know how to use fancy words."

"Then don't try. We don't know how to pray as we ought, but that's okay because the Spirit that is within us will intercede for us and translate our groanings that are too deep for words*9. Just let it come naturally."

"All right."

Kurosawa looked down and was doing something on his tablet off-screen. "I'm putting you on paid administrative leave effective immediately. When I get back I'll send you the contact information for a psychiatrist in Yokohama that I can recommend. He's very busy of course so it might take a while." It was because, like all psychiatrists in Japan, it would normally take months to get a first appointment. "When you do, use my name; it should help speed things up."

"Thank you sir."

"Go to your wife. Be with her. Pray for her. Ask for help in saving her. And I will be praying for her and you as well."

"Thank you so much. You might have saved her life."

"Just get going. Signing off."

Kurosawa removed his headset.

Lord, please be with them both.

Later that day Inaba returned home with Iori. She just stood in the entryway, not knowing what to do. Taichi ran to her. She looked down. He then hugged her as hard as he could. As they began their tearful reconciliation, Iori silently left. She motioned Aoki and Yui to leave with her and give the couple some time alone.

And so they did.

Taichi and Inaba were reconciled. Inaba would keep her baby, and they would face together whatever challenges Rina threw at them. The Pentagon was united. They knew that the blood contract protected them all until the birth actually took place, so they had time to prepare.

The days passed. Inaba often went on long walks outside with Taichi.

Yui and Aoki's relationship was growing. Aoki and Yui often went on their own long private walks as well, with Aoki pushing Yui's wheelchair along the paved walking paths whenever she became too tired to continue on foot.

One day at the dinner table, Inaba noticed that Aoki was wearing a paper bread-twisty that was wrapped around his ring finger. Inaba leaned into Taichi and got him to spot it, then motioned at Yui. He saw that Yui was wearing one too.

He made the connection between the couple. Taichi and Inaba smiled at each other and didn't say anything.

One day the doorbell rang. Iori answered it.

It was Daisuke Inaba.

She beamed at him. "Inaba-sama! Welcome! Please come in."

The large man entered the foyer. Iori saw that he was still wearing his hakama. She guessed that he had come straight from a meditation session with Baso without changing out of his traditional clothes first. His face was somber. He glanced around. "Is my daughter here?"

"No, sorry sir. She and Taichi are out on a walk somewhere. They should be back soon."

"I see. Well, since I know how close of a friendship you have with my dear daughter, perhaps it's best that I talk to you first then."

"About what?"

"About these."

He showed her the photographs. Underneath them were annotations.

Iori was unhappy. "You've been spying on us."

He shook his head. "Not here, not in this mansion. I assure you that no surveillance equipment has been placed inside this building. My operatives took photos only outside, long distance, in public areas. Nothing more."

"But what about this pic?" Iori pointed at the photo.

He looked at it. "That was taken earlier, from another building. Yaegashi did not close the drapes."

He looked down. "I am ashamed that my operative recorded the audio as well, but only that one day. It was accidental."

Iori put her hand behind her head. "Hoo boy. Inaban is going to blow a gasket when she finds out.."

He continued to look down. "I know. This is very difficult for me as well. It is why I came here in person, to try to explain to my princess.. to apologize."

Then he looked up. "But maybe you could do it better than I could.."

Iori understood. "Sir, please allow me to talk to her first. I will explain it on your behalf." Iori took the photos and the USB thumbdrive from him.

The owner of Inaba Textiles and Trading bowed. "Thank you. Afterwards I will apologize to her in person as well. Ms. Nagase, I am in your debt."

Yes, you are.

Iori smiled. "Oh, it's nothing."

"She is the most precious thing that I have in this sad and suffering world. Please take care of her."

Iori said somberly, "I will. We will."

"Thank you."

He left.

Then Yui approached Iori on her steel arm canes. "Iori, was that Inaba's father?"

"Yeah."

"Wow."

Iori then noticed the concerned expression on Yui's face. "So what's up?"

"I need to show you something. Come with me."

Yui escorted her to the PC in the sitting room. Aoki was standing nearby with his hands in his pockets. He looked despondent. Anzu was trying to comfort him.

Yui pointed at the small article on the screen. Iori started to read it. Meanwhile Yui looked at the man who gave her the paper promise ring.

Iori saw that she was getting angry with him. "Aoki, why didn't you tell me?"

"I.. I.."

Meanwhile, Iori leaned forward and read the three paragraphs in the browser window. She stood up straight again and stared into space.

Then her cool calculating mind went into overdrive.

Aoki saw her staring at nothing. "Iori? Are you okay?"

Then she turned and faced them all again.

"I got it."

Then she smiled. "Of course."

She kicked herself. She figured out a way to defeat Number Three. It was so obvious, so simple. The solution was there in front of them whole time. It was right there from the beginning. They all missed it.

She knew.

Iori started to run out.

Yui was getting more upset. "Iori, wait! Come back! Explain this first!"

Daisuke's large limo was still parked outside. He was sitting in the back, busy talking on his cell phone.

He spotted her running towards him. He rolled down the back window of the limo.

Iori was out of breath. "Sir!"

He said kindly, "Yes, Ms. Nagase?"

"Can you please do me a favor?"

"Of course. Anything."

Taichi, Inaba, Iori, Yui, and Aoki were taking a pleasant stroll together along an old bumpy pathway towards the temple. All except Yui that is, who was back in her wheelchair with Aoki pushing it. She was too emotional for walking.

Yui again apologized to Aoki. "I'm sorry for getting so upset with you."

"It's all right."

They walked among the stones. The path was a bit bumpy for the wheelchair, so they went slowly. Iori was in the lead, followed by Taichi and Inaba, with Yui and Aoki taking up the rear.

Inaba put her arm around Taichi. As they watched the orange sun slowly sink she said to him wistfully, "It's so pretty out here, particularly with the sunset."

"Yes, it is."

"This was a nice idea, returning back to where we got married."

"Yeah." They continued to walk among the stones.

The path split. They turned to the right.

Inaba pointed. "Wait, the temple is the other way."

"I know."

"Where are we going?"

He remained silent.

Then they stopped.

Yui started crying.

Inaba grew concerned. "Yui, what's wrong?"

Inaba did not notice that Iori had approached Inaba from behind. She was holding a manila folder. She began to remove something from it.

Taichi wrapped his arm tightly around his wife. "I've been praying for you every day. Just remember that He loves you, and I love you. We all do. Never forget that."

Inaba became alarmed. "What the hell is going on?"

She whirled and faced Iori. "This is one of your tricks, isn't it? You duped me into coming here, just like on that trip back to Yamaboshi Academy."

"Dereban, I'm sorry."

"What? Just tell me."

Iori looked at the others. Taichi nodded. She pointed.

Inaba looked where she was pointing.

The tombstone stood in front of them. It read, 'Ryuuzen Gotou, 19xx-20xx.'

Iori spoke softly. "He died almost a year ago in a traffic accident."

"But.."

Iori held her hand. "I'm sorry. Heartseed hasn't come back."

No..

"He only existed in your head. Inaban, he's not real.."

No..

Iori pulled out her smartphone. "Your father accidentally recorded a conversation between you and Rina when you made that pact against Heartseed in the hotel suite. Listen."

She pushed a button on her smartphone. Inaba heard herself talking to Rina.

"Yeah, I'm an atheist. Big deal. So what?"

"Then why not offer me your soul, then? What harm is there in offering me something that you claim does not exist?"

"Because.. no.. I've seen some pretty weird stuff that I can't explain. Things like Heartseed, like you."

"Well, nevermind then. It's not important. I apologize for the distraction. I want something else anyway."

"Wait, why?"

"Because I'm not particularly interested in your gracious offer."

"Why not? Low quality or something?"

Iori pushed a button and stopped the playback.

The first voice was Inaba's.

So was the second voice.

The second voice had a lower pitch and spoke with a quasi-British accent, but it was definitely the same person speaking.

Inaba was talking to herself.

"I called Yamaboshi Academy and checked. Rina was on a bus field trip that morning. There were over 30 witnesses."

Iori showed her the photos of the encounter. Inaba could be seen walking back and forth. She was gesticulating with her hands. She was clearly carrying on a conversation with an imaginary person.

"Dereban, you need help."

No..

Iori looked down. "Yui was the one who finally spotted the obituary notice in the online archive of the local newspaper. At first she thought we were all hiding his death from her and so she got upset, particularly at Aoki." She sighed, "We really should have caught this sooner. It was so obvious in hindsight."

Sitting alone in the far back there were no other witnesses to his presence. Except for the bride's weird behavior, there would be no evidence that he was ever there. Everyone else would think he was nothing but a figment of her imagination. [Ch1]

There was not a single witness. I looked myself. He wasn't there. Baso didn't see him either. Nobody saw him! [Ch2]

Look, we specifically instructed the ushers to be on the lookout in case he showed up. You remember that? To watch for him. They swore to a man they never saw him in attendance at the wedding. [Ch2]

And she crashed right in to Mr. Go... But there she was, standing alone in the pouring rain, utterly pathetic, with strangers staring at this scorned woman in a white wedding dress... Mr. Go walked away. [Ch3] (He was never there.)

It was because she now sensed someone sitting in the booth opposite her. [Ch6] (He simply materialized.)

She fumbled at the phone and read the message. It confirmed it. [Ch6] (Heartseed never said what happened.)

The door slammed shut behind Rina. From Inaba's angle it was clear that it was not touched by anybody. It made Inaba jump. [Ch10] (She only imagined the door slamming shut.)

From his angle, [Bakou] did not see the door slam. He could tell that the action at the hotel was finished for the time being. [Ch10] (He could see the door.)

Surely you must be grateful for the little miracle that I requested on behalf of Kiriyama and Aoki, yes? [Ch11] (Heartseed admitted he did not do it himself.)

So what is your 'test' this time, anyway? ... The test this time is a very simple one. I want to see what would happen if I brought the five of you back together again. [Ch11] (Heartseed always created supernatural phenomenons. There wasn't any this time.)

But he hasn't disclosed to us the phenomenon yet. And don't you find that just a little bit weird? In the past he has always explained to us up-front about whatever crazy crap he intended to inflict on us. [Ch15]

From the bedroom window of the apartment Iori thought she could just barely make out Inaba sitting on a bench on the far side of the park. [Ch16] (Iori saw Inaba talking aloud, standing up, then falling on her knees in front of an invisible Rina. At the time, Iori had assumed that Inaba was having some kind of inner debate with herself and did not realize that she was hallucinating.)

Go to hell. Too late. [Ch17] (Number Three is a demon, one that existed only inside of Inaba's mind.)

Can you tear up my contract for me? No. Can you stop her? No. Can you save Taichi? No. ... You are no help at all. [Ch18]

[Inaba] had locked herself in the empty eighth bedroom on the third floor. Heartseed visited her again. "Hello, Inaba. I sensed that you wanted to see me." [Ch21] (Inaba did not unlock the door.)

Taichi said softly to her, "I talked on the phone to a psychiatrist that my boss recommended. He said that he couldn't make a diagnosis without seeing you in person, but he suspects that you probably have paranoid schizophrenia. Split personality disorder."

Inaba felt light-headed. The world began to recede.

Taichi held his wife up. "It's okay. I love you; we all do. We'll take care of you. We'll all help you. All of us together."

The world shrank down to a narrow tunnel. Her head felt very large.

Then the world shrank down to a point. She collapsed into unconsciousness.

"Inaba!"

Dereban, come back!

I believe you! You're not crazy!

Come back!

Inaba was spinning in nothingness.

She heard unseen laughter.

Then she heard a female voice. It was low and oily.

"You see, Inaba, I kept my promise. Heartseed is simply a delusion, like me. We are only different aspects of your own schizophrenic mind. And so Heartseed is now impotent, and my promise is now kept. He can never harm you and your friends ever again. You see?"

Inaba asked as she continued to spin, "But.. but why would I invent you two.."

"Isn't it obvious? You did it to rationalize away your guilt, to blame an external malevolent force to justify your own selfish actions. And so you re-created Heartseed in your mind to wreck your own wedding. It was because you were having second thoughts and wanted to back out of it. Later you invented Rina to justify the abortion. Your subconscious mind already realized that you were pregnant. All the signs were there: the tiredness, the nausea, the vomiting. And so you created me and invented that foolish agreement. It should have been obvious that my pact with you was a trap. A child could have seen it. It was something you would never had fallen for. You were merely using it as an excuse to blame someone else for your decision to go ahead with the abortion."

No.. No..

More laughter.

The spinning stopped. Inaba opened her eyes.

She was standing on a perfectly flat and empty glassy white plane that appeared to stretch off infinitely in all directions.

"What is happening to me?"

A voice answered. It was male.

"Your blood pressure and heart rate are both dangerously elevated due to the massive flood of adrenalin, cortisol, and other stress hormones that your body has just released. Your vascular system is being overwhelmed. As a result, the right carotid artery in your neck, the one that provides the blood supply to the right temporal lobe of your brain, has just spasmed shut."

"You mean.."

"Yes. To not put too fine a point on it, you are dying. You are having a massive stroke, a transient ischemic attack (TIA). It's a kind of stroke that is not due to the blockage of the artery by a chunk of cholesterol, a blood clot, or some other obstruction, but rather a pinching-shut of the artery wall itself. The right temporal lobe of your brain is now being starved of oxygen."

"So I'm dying, then."

"Yes. If the artery remains shut for five more minutes you will begin to suffer irreparable brain damage. A few more minutes after that you will be dead."

"I only have five minutes."

"Yes. Would you like to chat?"

She looked at Heartseed. He was dressed and looked like Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings.

She frowned. "Not like that."

He looked like Dumbledore in Harry Potter.

She said simply, "No."

He sighed and changed again. Now he looked like Iori.

"No. Oh, wait.. you know, that actually works. Okay, use that."

"Very well."

Inaba walked up to him. "So, is Rina correct about me? Am I just crazy? Schizophrenic?"

He shrugged, "Well, that is for you to decide."

"C'mon, just tell me."

"Think about it. If I said that I was real, that you were sane, it could just be another instance of your own mind rationalizing its own wants and desires. Nothing I can say can convince you one way or another."

She crossed her arms. "Feh, you really are indeed useless."

He said, "Well, if it is any consolation, would you like to know the phenomenon this time?"

"I thought it was your bringing us back together again. You said it was an experiment, to see what would happen if we all lived together."

"True, that was a major component of my little experiment, but it was not the phenomenon."

"It wasn't?"

"No. There is always a phenomenon. And yet none of you spotted it. You still haven't."

"Ok, I'm game. So tell me, what is the name of the phenomenon this time?"

"The phenomenon is called Mind Split. I wanted to see how long it would take for your group to figure out that you had a split personality."

"That is so lame." Inaba felt that 'Mind Split' had to be a self-rationalization of her condition. "And so stupid. I must really be schizophrenic."

Heartseed ignored her. "I was a little disappointed that Kiriyama figured it out from the obituary article. I was hoping they would catch on from your behavior, and the fact that no one else ever saw me, and the fact that there was no phenomenon present even though I clearly told you - and from you to them - that one was in progress."

"All right, fine. Is it over now?"

"Yes, the phenomenon has ended."

"And yet you are still here."

"Ah, you caught that. Very good."

"Wait, how much time do I have left? You said only five minutes."

Heartseed explained, "Time is stopped in this place." Then he added, "Of course, you'll just have to take my word on that."

"I'll have to chance it. All right, so tell me then, is it true that none of your so-called random phenomenons - hito, kizu, kako, michi, nise, and yume - were actually truly random?"

"No, they were not."

"Thought so. In fact, you picked the moments to trigger all those phenomenons to maximize their effect on us to achieve your goals. Am I correct again?"

"Yes. You benefited greatly. I was quite pleased. You five students were my favorite of all my subjects at Yamaboshi. Over all the years that I ran my experiments in that school, I liked you the most."

"Why?"

"Because you were the most interesting, of course."

"There's that word again. 'Interesting'. So how exactly are we so interesting to you weird creatures?"

Heartseed made a small smile. "Ah. Well. That question goes rather deep. You might as well ask 'Why does God allow evil?' or 'Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?' ..."

"Okay, fine. So why does He do that?"

"I think you are better off asking your husband that one."

"Okay, fine, whatever."

She recrossed her arms. "So who exactly are you anyway? An alien? A demon? An angel? What?"

Heartseed considered her new question. Then he said, "Well, I was a member of a certain club at one time. Then I was kicked out, you see."

"Kicked out of the club?"

"Yes. My methods were considered too direct. Sometimes I liked to bend the rules. They told me to stop, that the ends do not justify the means. But I disagreed. You see, I believe that orienting people to connect with Him is so important, so critical, that I should be allowed to use any means necessary to make it happen. I explained that the Enemy was not bound by such niceties, so we should not be either." He sighed, "But they did not see it my way. So I went ahead and broke the rules to achieve my ends. To say they were unhappy with me is an understatement. And so I was kicked out. I then moved in to Number Two's and Number Three's neighborhood. Frankly, it is not a nice part of town. I have to keep my doors locked at night."

"Very funny. So what about Number Three? Is she still around?"

"Regrettably yes. And she has quite thoroughly neutered me."

"How so?"

"Well, now that you know I only exist in your mind, I can no longer make you see my presence in the real world, nor can I influence you in any way. Well, other than by speaking to you inside your mind like this, that is."

He frowned. "However, your blood contract is quite real, and it is still in force. And because you made that contract, she continues to have power and influence in the real world, including the ability to greatly harm your friends. That is unfortunate."

"Okay, so tell me then, is there any way I can stop Number Three? Defeat her?"

He thought a bit. "Actually, yes, there is."

Inaba asked, "How?"

He looked uncomfortable. "Well, if I told you I would be breaking the rules again.."

She said, "Please? Besides, why should it matter now? You're already busted."

"True. But there are other penalties." He shuddered.

"Okay, fine. So don't break any more rules on my behalf, then. Just give me a hint. You've done that before."

"Also true." He thought for a moment.

"All right. Listen carefully." He spoke quietly. "Names, real names I mean, True Names, have power. Incredible power. Once you address someone or something by its True Name, you own that thing, in a sense. By that I mean you can control it, affect it, manipulate it.*10 Technically it has to do with something called Gödelization, but I won't bore you with the mathematics."

"Whatever. So, to beat Number Three I simply need to know her True Name."

"Essentially, yes."

"But you can't just tell me."

Heartseed sighed, "No, I cannot."

Then he added, "I do want to help you. It is because I dislike Number Three. Very much so."

"Why do you dislike her so much?"

"Because I always play fair; she does not. She plays dirty. She misled and deceived you. I admire you, Inaba, and I do wish to help you, but simply telling you her True Name is very much against the rules."

"Please?"

He considered her request. No, it was forbidden.

But perhaps a little hint?

Heartseed looked around, then he approached her.

He leaned forward and whispered in her ear, "Remember how I described Rina? The number? She's a demon. Think about it." He stepped back and waited.

Inaba recalled that Heartseed had told her that Number Three was a hive mind that consisted of approximately 5000 distinct individuals. That number tickled her mind. Why was that number significant? It was something historical. Something western..

Inaba closed her eyes tightly as she tried to recall her college class on Western History and Literature. It included a basic study of the Roman Empire. It also included some of the Bible's better known stories. She shut her eyes tighter and concentrated as she tried to remember...

She remembered. Inaba's eyes opened again, then she made a nasty smile.

"Thank you."

Inaba was standing on a glass of white. She was all alone.

She yelled, "Oh Riiiinnaaaa! Woo hoo!"

Nothing.

"Come out, come out where ever you are!"

She waited some more. Nothing.

"Don't you want to gloat? Don't you want to brag?"

Nothing.

"You coward! Feh, you're such a loser. Heartseed told me you were pathetic. I can see why."

That did it. There there was a rumble as the ground shook, then there was a crack in the glassy white floor. Something dark and evil emerged from the plane of white. It was an irregular stalagmite, a wide and misshapen inverted cone, jutting right out of the glassy floor. It was slimy, wrinkled, and black, with no face or any other discernible human features.

A voice emitted from it, oily and low. It reverberated like the sound of many voices speaking in unison.

It said, "Hello, my dear."

"Wow, you're ugly."

"I told you that you would never see me with Rina's face again."

"Yuk. You stink too. Boy, you are such a skank."

The voice sounded churlish. "Really now.."

Then it added, "Pity you are dying right now. I so much wanted to play with your friends' lives. I'm rather creative that way, you see. It would have been so entertaining for me."

Inaba was resolute. "Guess what? I decided that I am keeping my baby."

The voice sounded even more amused. "Oh? But you are dying, my dear."

"That's right. But I changed my mind. I want to live. I want to be with my husband again. Heck, I'll even listen to his Christian preaching at me all day and night. I'm sure he'll be insufferable but I'll deal with it. He and I are going to have a child."

"Assuming you survive this stroke."

"Yes."

Number Three sounded pleased with herself. "Ooh, I do hope you do. And so fools rush in where angels fear to tread. Yes, I do hope you live... it would be so much more fun that way. But aren't you afraid? Afraid of me? You should be."

Inaba held her ground. She confessed, "Yes, I admit that I am afraid of you. But I decided that, regardless of whether I live or die, I am going down swinging. That's my style. So I'm taking you down with me."

The voice chortled, "Oh really? Do go on."

"You see, Heartseed no longer has any power over me. And so neither do you."

"Come now, my dear.."

"It is just like the story of Rumpelstiltskin. For you see, I figured out your True Name, so I know exactly who you are. Heartseed is only a spirit living inside my mind. Now that I recognize him and know who he really is, I am able to defeat him. He is now powerless."

"But, dear, you are forgetting that you and I have a blood contract. That's different."

"Is it? You're exactly the same thing as him, right? Just another spirit trying to mess with my head, tempting me, making bargains with me? Oh c'mon, it's obvious to me who you are now. Want me to tell you?" Then she added, "Oh, and by the way I want to give you fair warning, I took a semester in Latin."

For the first time the voice wavered. "Please, wait. Listen.."

Inaba ignored the plea.

And then Inaba revealed her trademark nasty grin as she spoke the name of her Enemy aloud.

"You are the the demon of Gadarenes. Legio mihi nomen est, quia multi sumus." *11

Then she added, "So screw you, you ugly bitch."

And then Inaba heard 5000 voices scream in unison, "No!"

The stalagmite shuddered. Then a crack appeared at the base. The crack grew, moving upwards along the length of the irregular black cone. The voices were breaking up too. Inaba now heard several different distinct voices yelling at different pitches and octaves.

They were all yelling the same thing: "The devil has told you that! The devil has told you that!"

Inaba re-folded her arms. "That's kind of ironic coming from you, isn't it?"

Number Three's reaction was violent. The voices kept repeating, "The devil has told you that! The devil has told you that!" And then, in its anger, the right half of the splitting cone plunged so deep into the glassy white floor that its whole side went in, and then in its rage it pulled at its left side so hard that it tore itself in two.

The two halves shook and then fragmented into four pieces. And then those pieces fragmented into eight. Then 16, 32, ... And again. And again. And again. Soon there were five thousand little black pieces laying on the ground like small bits of charcoal, powerless and impotent.

Then the black pieces dried up and blew away

Inaba wiped her hands off. "Well, that was fun."

She turned around. The image of Iori had returned.

Heartseed said, "Well done."

Inaba bowed. "Thank you."

Silence.

Then Inaba looked down. "I'm still dying, aren't I.."

"Sadly, yes. But it appears that someone outside is praying for you very hard right now. Hmm. Let me check. Yes, it seems to be working."

"It is?"

"Yes. The humans have actually done formal scientific studies on the effect of prayer on people who are ill in hospitals. The researchers kept shaking their heads, trying to factor out any biases, doing the studies over again, but it kept on happening. They found it very annoying."

"I can imagine."

Heartseed came to the point. "Inaba, do you want to live?"

She said simply, "Yes, I do."

"All right. Then I will tell you another secret: There is a strong psychosomatic component in the body with regard to its healing, the so-called 'will to live.' It's a very real phenomenon. Just close your eyes. Think about your life, what you still want to accomplish. Think of Taichi praying for you. Think of Him. Think of your loved ones, your friends."

"All right, I'm going to try." She closed her eyes,

Heartseed turned and began to walk away into the white nothingness.

Then she opened her eyes again. "But wait. Will I ever see you again?"

He turned and said simply, "No. Goodbye."

Then Inaba looked down at the white floor. With her head down she said something that surprised herself. "Then, thank you. Thank you for making us who we are. I just wanted you to know that before you left."

She looked up at him again.

It was too late. He was gone.

She re-closed her eyes and squeezed them tightly.

Taichi, pray for me. I want to learn this secret you discovered. I want to come back. I want to live.

"Inaban! Wake up! I believe you! You're not crazy!"

Inaba slowly opened her eyes. She smiled weakly. "You believe me.."

Iori smiled, "Yeah, I do."

Taichi was cradling her head. "How do you feel?"

Inaba sat up unsteadily, then she rubbed her sore neck. She had a pounding headache. "I feel like I was in a ten round WWE knock-down drag-out title fight."

Taichi chuckled. He looked up at the others. "I think she's going to be okay."

Inaba looked around. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"So what happened?"

"Well, I kicked Number Three's ass for good. I ripped up her stupid contract. She's gone. We're safe." Then she added uncertainly, "Uh, you do believe all that, right?"

Taichi smiled. "Yes. We do."

"You do? Really?"

Taichi said, "Iori explained it to us. We really do believe you. And I'm not patronizing you or anything like that. Heartseed came back. He was just working on us at another level. Messing with all of us. Through you."

Inaba stared at the tombstone. "So you don't think I'm crazy.."

Taichi hugged her. "No. And I love you even if you are. Yeah, you're always wonderfully crazy: impulsive, hyper, totally unpredictable, with huge anger management issues..."

She gave him a dirty look.

"It's what I love about you, heh. I guess I'm a sucker for tsunderes."

"Very funny."

"Sorry, my love. You're not crazy. I mean, I believe that Heartseed was definitely real and he was working within your mind. I don't believe you are schizo or anything. He was in there, inside your head. It was him. I believe that. I believe you."

Inaba shook her head at him. "Actually, you're wrong. I am mentally ill. I really am. I'm an undiagnosed paranoid schizophrenic, just like the psychiatrist said."

"But Inaba, wait. I believe that there are higher powers in the world, spiritual ones, that we cannot see or touch, and yet they are very real. Like the ones that were in you..."

She interrupted him. "Yeah. And you're right. Heartseed and Number Three were real." She looked down. "But I still know I'm schizophrenic. It's just how they manifested. They took advantage of my illness, that's all. I know I need professional psychiatric help."

Taichi asked, "You think so?"

"Yeah. But it's going to be okay now because I'll get treatment for it."

She then leaned forward and looked into his soft brown eyes. "I love you so much. I don't deserve you at all."

He smiled at his wife. "No, you don't."

"Hey!" Inaba's eyes flashed in anger and she pushed him away.

Taichi tried to explain. "Relax. I am talking about grace. Grace is something we don't deserve. That's why I prayed for a miracle, for you. You don't deserve one, and I don't deserve one either."

Then he added, "And I don't deserve you. I don't deserve such a firey, energetic, dynamic, outgoing, impulsive, unpredictable, manic, crazy, sexy, beautiful woman who likes to rip the clothes off her husband once in a while." He smiled.

Everyone was watching. Inaba blushed in embarrassment and turned away.

Then she turned back. She grabbed his shirt in her fist. She was wearing her patented Inaba Nasty Grin. "Careful. I might jump you right here in front of everybody."

Now it was Taichi's turn to blush. He nervously tugged at the collar of his buttoned shirt. "Yeah, like you would ever do that."

Aoki got alarmed, "Dude! Don't push her buttons! She'll do it!"

Yui grinned, "He's right, Taichi, you're really asking for it. Tee hee." She looked at her paramour.

Aoki said, "Should I go fetch some popcorn?"

Yui replied, "Good idea. Bring extra."

Inaba let go of her husband's shirt, then she turned to face her teasing friends.

"You clowns just stop it!"

And they all laughed.

We still have long lives ahead of us, and I'm sure we'll get lost, or run into obstacles. But we will continue to walk on the path that we've chosen - connecting our hearts in the process. *12

Ten years later

Inaba was reading some printed reports in her main office at the back of the Sakuraba mansion. Over the years various extensions were added for new sections and work areas. The building was now the center of a major corporate campus with over 300 staff.

She was wearing her wire-rimmed glasses, which were hooked to a small silver chain around her neck. She used them for reading. And for intimidation. She had a small spotlight installed in the ceiling that was carefully aimed at her desk so that she could lean forward and the lenses would turn shiny white. She would then do the famous 'Gendo Ikari pose' and clasp her fingers together under her nose as she intimidated her nervous prey. It worked like a charm every time.

A few minutes earlier, Inaba had closed the holographic Zoom window on her desk infocomp, having just finished a pleasant conversation with Iori, who was still living in Texas.

It was because five years earlier, Iori's mother, Reika Nagase, was diagnosed with a rare form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Iori had taken her to the Mayo Clinic in the United States to receive a highly experimental cancer treatment. There Reika was at last able to bond with her daughter as they finally reconciled their estranged relationship. Reika told her daughter how much she had regretted her serial relationships with Iori's many step-fathers that had driven Iori into creating her false personas to protect both her mother and herself. They apologized to each other in a teary confession as they bonded together as mother and daughter.

Rekia's cancer went into remission. Iori had told Inaba that she intended to remain in America after her mother returned home. She soon got a job as a Japanese-language instructor at a prep school in Texas. In their most recent conversation, Iori was gushing about the oil wildcatter she had met at a rodeo show.

Miyabi quietly entered the office. Inaba saw that her gray hair was tied in a bun, and she was wearing a traditional handmade Hanabishi-Sakuraba kimono. The kimono's color was bluer than indigo*13.

Inaba jumped up.

"Mom!"

Inaba rushed and hugged her adoptive mother and former business mentor, now retired.

Miyabi Inaba hugged back her daughter. "My dear tora koneko *14, how are you this morning?"

"I'm announcing a hostile takeover of Levi-Strauss later today."

"That's nice, dear. Please have some tea." She poured a cup for her daughter.

"Oh, thank you." Inaba sipped it.

Miyabi said, "Another takeover? And so soon. My, your late father would have been proud."

"I'm daddy's little girl all right, heh heh." Then Inaba looked down. "I still miss him."

Miyabi touched her daughter's head. "I know. Your father was a wonderful man. I miss him too. I loved him very much."

Nine years earlier, Inaba's father had moved into the Sakuraba mansion and made it his new home and business headquarters. Inaba and Taichi were already living there permanently, having moved from their small apartment shortly after Inaba's diagnosis of her paranoid schizophrenia. And in that mansion Inaba worked side-by-side with her business mentor, Miyabi Sakuraba, as Daiskue Inaba's daughter gradually assumed his duties and took over the daily operation of Inaba Textiles and Trading.

Inaba never saw her socialite step-mother again, a woman who never lived even one night at the new family home. She instead continued to jetset across Europe. One day she ran off with a young chef in Paris.

And so, over the years, Miyabi had gradually became Inaba's de facto mother as well as her business mentor. It wasn't planned that way. It just happened. Miyabi was visiting the mansion so often that she finally moved in with them. She rejoiced that she was living again in the old mansion that held so many wonderful memories for her when she was younger.

It was Inaba herself who, with Iori's help, had conspired and maneuvered behind the scenes to bring Miyabi and her father together. It took years of plotting and conniving, during which a tumultuous (and sometimes very amusing) courtship ensued, but the secret match-makers were ultimately successful.

And so Inaba finally had what she wanted her whole life: a real family. She had a mother and a father who both cared for her and loved her. And she loved them in return.

Taichi was sitting in a comfortable chair near the sunlit window of the office. He put down his copy of the Asahi Shimbun. The headline at the top of the business section read, The Asian Tigress Roars Again: Wall Street Runs in Terror.

Inaba walked over with her cup of tea and glanced down at the paper. She tsk-tsked the news article. "That headline is silly. Taichi, I'm not a tigress, am I?"

He stood up and embraced her. "Oh yes. I share my bed every night with a wild tiger. It's a miracle I've survived this long."

While still in their embrace she said, "Growl." Then she kissed him.

Meanwhile, the office door opened. It was Yoshifumi Aoki. Young Kouki was riding on his broad shoulders. They were followed by Noa and Yui.

Inaba saw that Kouki was playing with a model helicopter, while Yui Aoki was cradling little Akio in her arms.

Kouki jumped down from Yoshifumi's shoulders and ran to her mother. "Mom! Look what I made!" He showed Inaba his scale-model CH-35M Stallion helicopter.

She bent over and looked at it. "Ooh, it looks very nice. My, you built that model from a kit all by yourself?"

"Yeah!"

Taichi frowned a bit. "Now look here, Kouki Yaegashi, don't fib to your mother. Uncle Aoki helped you assemble that kit."

"Aw, he hardly did anything. He's such a klutz."

Aoki yelled, "Hey!" Everyone laughed.

Meanwhile, Yui brought little Akio over and handed the bundle to Inaba, who held it and cooed at the adorable infant.

"Yui, your daughter is beautiful."

Yoshi piped up, "And she looks like the spitting image of her mother, don't you think?"

"She certainly does."

Taichi said, "I still can't believe you named her Akio Aoki. I mean, really?"

Yoshifumi smiled. "I know. It has a nice ring to it, don't you think?"

"Dude, you're gonna make her dyslexic."

Then Inaba looked around. "Wait, where is Noa?"

The shy little girl was hiding behind Taichi's legs. Inaba knelt down. "It's okay. Come out."

The little girl slowly came out, took one look at Yoshi, and ran to her mother and hid behind her legs. Inaba returned Akio to her own mother, then turned and gently picked up Noa. The little girl buried her head in her mother's arms. Her mother held her, rocking back and forth, as she softly sang.

What is holding our hearts back?

I wonder if we can set them free

Let's find the truth together

Through the open door, we'll head out and never look back

We'll be able to see beyond the universe

As we soar over the rainbow

I can hear our new beginning *15

Meanwhile Taichi approached Yoshi and whispered to him, "It's okay. Noa is just really shy. It's not you."

He said sadly, "Yeah, I know."

Taichi looked at their youngest daughter, who was so shy with everyone around her. Noa rarely played with her older brothers, or with any other children for that matter, despite their parents' gentle encouragement. Instead, she loved to play outside all by herself. She would often run into into the woods behind the mansion and play make-believe, with one or both parents or a nanny watching discreetly.

There she would come alive. She imagined she was a woodland princess who was swept away into a fantastical realm full of magic and wonder. She saw the birds singing to her in the trees, and so she talked back to them. Then one day she found a squirrel and adopted it, feeding it nuts every day. She named it Daiki and said it was her best friend.

Inaba put her back down on the floor. She quickly ran out of the room as fast as her little legs could carry her.

Taichi went after her. "Noa, hey, come back here!"

Inaba sat down again. "Well, I do need to get back to work."

The others followed Taichi out.

Inaba was now sitting alone in her office. She got up and closed the door, then walked back to stand by her desk.

She continued to look at the closed door, seemingly lost in thought.

Mr. Go was standing right next to her.

"It all turned out for the best, don't you think?"

Inaba replied, "I'm still worried about Noa. "

Heartseed said, "She takes after you."

"Yes, she does. That's what worries me."

He turned and looked at her. "Her intelligence is remarkable. Playing the piano, reading books at the 6th grade level, all at age 5. She is a genius. She's surpassing even you at that age."

She smiled. "Yes, she is."

"And some day you will need a successor, after all.."

She turned. "So you will help her, then?"

"Come now, you know I'm not real. I'm only a hallucination. You just need to up your med dosage."

"Still.."

He turned to look back at the closed door. "One day she will receive her own help from Above as she fights her own battles, both spiritual and physical - the same as you did."

"Yes.."

Inaba looked thoughtful as she remembered the past. She knew that the generations would roll on. Perhaps one day her youngest daughter and Aoki's eldest son, who were the same age, might attend Yamaboshi Academy together. And perhaps they will both decide to join the Student Cultural Society. And then?

".. she will."

My name is Himeko Inaba Yaegashi.

I have been clinically diagnosed with having bipolar disorder and paranoid schizophrenia.

I am mentally ill.

I am crazy.

The irony is that I was first correctly diagnosed by a girl who was, in her own way, just as crazy as I am.

And I don't care.

Now, by that I don't mean that I deny it. Oh no. I take my daily dosage of lithium, clonazepam, and risperidone (and Taichi makes sure I do), and it does help. But it doesn't change who I am deep down inside.

I really am like my father now: ruthless in the world of business and high finance, merciless and unforgiving, wheeling and dealing while pitting myself against rival businessmen twice my age. All for the best possible cause.

Taichi is the official chairman of the Yaegashi Charitable Fund. The business skills that I inherited from my father have doubled the size of the fund in less than five years to over 162 billion yen.

Taichi will use the fortune of my keiretsu on humanitarian missions: Against AIDS, against malaria, for Christian outreach, and to spread God's Word to the world, using every resource at our disposal.

Now, I am not sure I believe all that stuff myself yet, but he believes it, so perhaps one day I will as well. I do know that there exist things in this world that are invisible, powerful, and far beyond our comprehension.

Meanwhile, I will continue to use my business acumen to maneuver, plot, wheel and deal. Ultimately I hope to amass a fortune that will one day rival Bill Gates.

For I am the terror of the business world.

And all my enemies flee before me.

That is who I am: The Asian Tiger.

I am a vicious bitch.

I am an utterly vicious bitch.

Because I am insane...

... but not with hate.

With love.

The End

A/N:

* An even larger version of the CH-53, the CH-53K King Stallion, is currently under development as of this writing.

** Psalm 19:1

*** My ex-Navy SO requires that I make the following disclaimer: The captain of the USNS Mercy in this story is a purely 100% fictional character who was invented only for story purposes. She bears no relationship whatsoever to the actual captain of the Mercy in any way, shape, or form. I am certain the real captain of the Mercy is an outstanding leader of such a fine vessel and is a credit to the service and the uniform. (Please don't hurt me.)

*4 Ps 23, NASB. (Usually I recommend NIV, but I think the NASB translation is better here.)

*5 1 Th 5:17

*6 1 Jn 5:14

*7 Jn 15:7, Jn 14:13

*8 Jeremiah 33:3

*9 Ro 8:26-27

*10 See the SF novella, True Names...and Other Dangers, by Vernor Vinge. The title refers to the fact that if the Feds ever discover your real name and address, your life as a hacker is essentially over. (Much of my detective work for certain agencies was to track down the hackers' True Names.) I think it is one of the best SF novellas ever written. Vinge wrote it way back in 1981 (!) and yet it completely nailed the hacker cowboy culture and the recent militarization of cyberspace by the Chinese, the North Koreans, and now the new US Cyber Command. It underscores just how vulnerable our infrastructure is to this kind of attack. The novella has been out of print for years, however it has recently reappeared at Amazon. It has a forward written by Marvin Minsky. Highly recommended.

*11 Number Three's name is Legion. Mk 5:9, Lk 8:30

*12 Episode 17 final narrative (Taichi speaking)

*13 The title of the anime Ai Yori Aoshi translates to English as 'Bluer Than Indigo'. It refers to the fact that the fabric of an indigo kimono gradually turns blue over time due to the reaction of the dyes with the ultraviolet light in sunlight. It is a metaphor for how love deepens over time as the kimono gradually changes color from indigo to blue. (In Japan love is traditionally represented by the color blue, not red. The latter color appears only in western-influenced traditions like Valentine's Day.)

*14 Translation: 'tiger-kitty'

*15 From Paradigm, the first opening theme of the anime.