DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters from the Ouran High School Host Club. Also, all other characters are fictional and are not intentional references to any existing persons. All are entirely coincidental. All racial/politically incorrect statements are not the sentiments of the author, but are used for historical accuracy and literary devices. This fanfiction is not intended to offend.
Please review! Reviews give me the incentive to keep writing quickly.
"Fujioka Hideaki!"
"Hai, Nakamura-san!"
"Anata no shimei ha, kyuu nippongun no uragirimono o mosaku suru koto desu. Rikai, Fujioka-San?"
"Hai, Nakamura-san!"
Haruhi Fujioka returned to the bunker she shared with five men, biting her lip in thought.
"Hideaki Fujioka!"
"Yessir!"
"Your mission is to find any traitors in the Imperial Japanese Army! Understand, Mr. Fujioka?"
"Yessir!"
Her warden, a man who went by Orochi Nakamura, didn't even know the half of it. How could he ever know? When she laid it all out on the table, things grew complicated. One thing was certain, however. She herself was a traitor to the Imperial Army. Hideaki Fujioka was instead Haruhi Fujioka, an intelligent 22-year-old, who was in fact a Japanese-American working under America's Office of Strategic Services.
One month previous,
"Tamaki-"
Haruhi Fujioka sat up slowly in the bed, rubbing her eyes free of the dredges of sleep. She looked to her left where the still-sleeping form of a handsome blond man lay in a small patch of stray sunlight. Smiling, she put a small hand on his shoulder and shook gently.
"Hm?"
The man made a small noise as he, too, arose and woke.
"Ah. Good morning, Haruhi." The man smiled kindly at Haruhi, the corner of his mouth rising in reminiscence of their night together. .
She gave him an encouraging look in response - yet she knew her heart wasn't in it.
"Good morning, Tama-… I mean, René."
The man named René Tamaki Suou Grantaine grinned.
"Why so formal? Haruhi, you don't have to call me René Grantaine. With you, I am Tamaki."
Haruhi had no formidable response, so she settled for lying back down beside him. . Her thoughts raced as she remembered the last night's events…The heat, René's smoldering blue eyes, his thrilling touch. Surely, she had enjoyed it. But she wasn't sure about how she felt about René altogether - especiallyin the long-term.
"We've both a lot of work to do today, don't we?" René's voice was merry, though they both knew that the path ahead of them was grim. "You will be receiving your assignment today, right? I wonder where that will take you. I know it will be difficult, as others only see you and think of you as another Japanese, but I have every confidence that your loyalty will be proven through your performance."
Her face turned away, Haruhi set her jaw. 'HAH!' she thought. 'Easy for you to say. Withblue eyes, blond hair and French name, none of the commanders question YOUR loyalty to the States.'
But this was neither the time nor place to bring up what irked her. Haruhi kept her spiteful thoughts to herself and sat up again, peering down at Admiral René Grantaine of the Allied fleet. He was one of the most handsome leaders among the eligible Allied men, and he of all people was her lover. Of sorts.
"René; er, Tamaki… Aren't you preparing some of your Officers to sail from California to Hawaii, to reinforce the fleet?" Haruhi did her best to sound sincere and hide the discomfort in her voice. "When are you leaving?"
"Do you want me away so soon?" René-Tamaki chuckled. "We will be departing the Long Beach harbor in around 3 to 4 weeks. Hopefully, you will be able to sail with us, if that is what your mission requires." He looked up at Haruhi earnestly.
Haruhi, however, was distracted.
"Haruhi?" Tamaki shifter closer, his bare chest coming into Haruhi's glazed view. "Haruhi…"
The last thing she felt before surrendering to emotion were Tamaki's lips on her neck and his gentle touch on her leg.
That day had certainly not been a day for romantic trysts in the California sun, but then again - no day was during that time. For weeks, the entirety of Catalina Island had been a flurry of activity, with the Maritime Services, Coast Guard, and the Office of Strategic Services all scrambling to revise strategy in the aftermath of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Resources needed to be mobilized. No, it was certainly not the time for relaxing and pleasurable mornings.
Still, Haruhi knew that her assignment would not allow her to stay on the island much longer, and it was she who kept pulling Tamaki back into bed, although perhaps with a sense of finality.
After it seemed the two could no longer be absent from their very dire circumstances and duties, they dressed in uniform and parted ways - Tamaki to his office, Haruhi to her superior's.
A short walk from Tamaki's boudoir was an outpost of the OSS, where Haruhi had been spending her days translating documents from Japanese to English. It was an odd sort of environment - Catalina just a few years prior had been a vacation space, abundant with hotels, clubs, and beautiful ocean landscapes. The landscapes stuck around, but the colorful signage of prewar happiness were now nothing but faint memories and scrubbed-away paint., Passing security clearance, Haruhi eventually came to her intended destination: the office of her supervisor in the department of Pacific Intelligence. Opening the door slowly, she slinked into the room.
"Fujioka, you're late again," came a flat voice from behind a massive desk. "You're getting your assignment today. Can't you show more enthusiasm for your job? The environment isn't right for leaving any room for doubt as to your allegiance. You don't want to be sent back to the Long Beach camp, right?""
The slight mention of the internment camp where her humble family had been rounded up irked her - but he was right. She was lucky to be considered 'useful,' and to be hired (and paid!) as Japanese-American at a time like this.
"No, David." She spoke through gritted teeth.
David Jefferson, a mid-level leader in the department, sighed - in part because the stubborn girl refused to refer to him as 'sir' when others weren't around (highly dangerous for her), and in part because he partially felt guilt for American transgressions towards any visibly Asiatic Americans. "Fujioka, I trust you. You're a highly intelligent individual, and you know how to get yourself out of a sticky situation. Except this one.
You're one of the few Japanese-American people we've got in this entire damn building - hell, even the entire OSS!. The more apathy you show towards this job, the more our superious will think you're a traitor."
David must have noticed Haruhi start and attempt to open her mouth, and cut her off with a gentle raise of his hand.
"I know you're not, but we live in unfortunate times. I'm already in hot water for marrying a Japanese woman - of course, a decision I will never regret - but we're not in a position to let anyone less than trust us. These are delicate matters, Fujioka. If you don't prove your loyalty, they'll never see it." Jefferson shuffled through the pile of papers on his desk to search for Haruhi's assignment dossier. With a heavier sigh, he admitted - "I can't find it. They may not have dropped it off when they told me they would, so let me call in. Go wait in the hallway or something and come back in 30.""
"Yes, sir." The resignation on David's face made it apparent that now was not a time to be openly defiant, so with more polite words, Haruhi slipped away as quietly as she had come.
The basement of the hotel-turned-operations basewas considered "Employee Lounge Number 2," where all the Japanese-Americans working in the Catalina office took their breaks. This of course meant the total of three permanent workers, and the occasional non-Asian who would come in with an apologetic, sympathetic air.
Haruhi had made an exceptionally close comrade in another female operative called Renge Hoshakuji. Renge was a cheerful woman, albeit perhaps overly so. The same age as Haruhi, she wasn't too experienced in her job as one of the interpreters for the Japanese codes, but her extreme sense of patriotism towards America helped most, if not all, of the other office members get along with her well. Her story was a happier one than most - her family had come in a spirit of prosperity, not in search of farm labor. Her education and wealth (and very American upbringing) had been difficult in light of racial differences, but still allowed her to share many cultural bonding tenets with other staff. Her exceptionally girlish looks also helped her, no doubt - especially with hot-blooded young men of the Coast Guard.
Haruhi scanned the musty basement, searching for the brunette.
"Ah! Haruhi!" Renge bounced up to Haruhi, her skirts rustling and hair bouncing. "I heard that you were getting your mission today. I know, I know, I'm not allowed to figure out your Top-Secret assignment, but surely you can give me an idea of what you're doing?"
Haruhi rolled her eyes. Renge was also a huge gossip - and unfortunately a very good one.
"Actually, Renge, I haven't received my orders yet. Jefferson is looking for them right now."
"Oh. So, you haven't-"
"OI! Fujioka!" Jefferson's voice boomed from the top of the stairs to the basement.
"Sorry, Renge. Yes!" Haruhi hurried up the steps to where he was waiting. It didn't take her long to read the weary look on his face to know that her assignment was either highly dangerous.
"I can't believe it's come to this level. If any of us had a choice, I wouldn't let you do this."" He handed her a manila folder with her name marked on the tab.
With a question in her eyes, she took the folder from him and opened it. A cover sheet prevented her from immediately seeing her assignment. Haruhi lifted a hand to turn the page, but Jefferson's voice cut through.
"I briefly looked in." he sighed. "I think you'd better come with me to my office."
Worried, Haruhi threw a glance over her shoulder down at Renge, who was watching fearfully from the bottom of the stairs.
In his office, David slumped into his chair, his head in his hands and his voice grim. This whole war mystified him - hadn't humanity learned from the first one? Hadn't it learned to cut the clandestine crap and prioritize human life? It seemed, to David, that humanity was as clueless as ever - and more deluded than he'd thought.
"David?" Haruhi tried to break the silence. Her superior heaved a sigh, opened the folder, and turned to the first page of her mission.
"It astounds me that the OSS is this desperate - I would never have imagined that they'd pull a translator for a stunt like this. Your assignment, it seems, was designed after excruciating scrutiny of how you live, work, love, look - everything." When Haruhi started to protest, David held up a hand again. "This erroneous breach in privacy means only one thing - there is something very important that the OSS is in dire need of, and it can only be retrieved after diving head-first into the heart of political intricacies.
"This is the short of your unfortunate assignment: by now you've guessed that you're going to Japan. This is correct.
"You will be enrolled in their Imperial Army as a male intelligence officer, collecting and translating intel on the Allied Forces. Your intel will be a combination of verified information and some red herrings, all forwarded to you by our contacts in Tokyo. This must be convincing - it seems you were selected because of your short hair.
"This is the part I disagree with most: while in Tokyo, you will be playing another role: the daughter of a dignitary and the fiancée to Hideki Tojo's pet projects:
the Naval Lieutenant General Kyouya Ootori."
Notes:
-The OSS was real, and it was the predecessor to the CIA. However, the OSS office very loosely based on fact; there was an OSS outpost on Catalina Island in California, but it's unlikely that a naval admiral was there as well. Similarly, the OSS actually did very little in terms of collecting intelligence for the Pacific theater - other US/Allied departments had that covered.
-Yes, Tamaki is René. Since (in this fic) he is an Allied admiral, he must hide his Japanese name to be allowed to hold a high position. However, despite hiding his Japanese origins, he is extremely loyal to America and the French Freed Forces.
-Sorry for the long chapter. I hope it entertained all the way through! Stay posted for more chapters.