Friday noon, April 22nd – Tokushima University Cafeteria
Until this last week, Noto had never been called to the university staff offices. Usually, something of that nature was cause for a student to feel alarm since it invariably had something to do with some kind of insufficiency. Either the student was behind on their tuition payments, their grades were lacking, attendance was lacking, or they had committed some kind of misdemeanor that could cause them some academic unpleasantness.
However, this wasn't always the case. The fashion designer, Hellivin's visit in the previous week – and his interest in a particular student, had created a stir of questions around Nanako… and Noto. It was only natural that Nanako should be the center of attention when a fashion world sensation flies all the way to Tokushima on his private jet, just to talk to her… or at least that was what the rumors were saying. But Noto had made himself dizzy trying to figure out how any of that had dragged him into the spotlight.
Hisako had done the best of anyone at simplifying it and explaining it to Noto in a way that he could understand. He had followed her logic as she showed him the chain of connections that started with Hellivin, went to Nanako, and then connected to him because...
This is where Noto lost it.
"… she is your woman." Hisako had said with a perfectly logical voice.
"She's my WHAT?" Noto gasped.
"Your woman." Hisako repeated.
"I'm married to Maya! Who in their right mind thinks that I have a relationship with Nanako?" Noto balked.
"Lots of people, actually." Maya replied while concentrating on her calculus homework.
"Why… why would anybody think that?" Noto was stunned that his own wife seemed to be taking this rather calmly.
"She goes to school with you. She see's you on breaks and at meals. She goes home with you. I'm sure the rumors have made it around the school by now that she lives with you too." Maya explained.
"But… she just lives at the same place. That doesn't mean that we are in any kind of relationship." Noto sputtered.
"True, but what is and what appears to be aren't always the same thing. I'm pretty sure most of the school has already made the assumption that she is your plaything on the side." Hisako said with a shrug.
"Then… I'll tell everyone the truth. I'll end the misunderstanding." Noto swore.
"Oh, please don't do that." Nanako pouted, "No-one is hitting on me because they believe I'm taken. If they find out that I'm not your little love puppet, then… it will be very inconvenient for me."
"Please… don't say things like 'love puppet' again." Noto begged while fighting the impulse to hide his blushing face. Then, turning to Hisako he asked, "Nanako is your girlfriend. Don't you have a problem with this?"
"No. I know you would never do anything to hurt my Nanako-chan. And, since I am not yet a student at the university, I would not be able to protect her myself. So, I have no qualms with rumors like that if it is you, Noto-sama." Hisako said bluntly.
Noto stared at her in disbelief for a moment then turned to his wife, "What about you, Maya-chan? Surely this must be an embarrassment for you?"
"I actually find comfort in it." Maya replied without looking up from her textbook, "Everyone at our university knows who you are and what family you are from. Sure, they know you're married and already have kids, but you're a huge prize. If some high society girl set her sights on you because she thought I was a pushover, it would cause all kinds of trouble. But having multiple women that would have to be pushed out of the way… it's sort of a deterrent."
"…" Noto was stunned beyond words. He had been thinking that his wife would become unhinged with rage at such a rumor.
"Besides, Nanako has been my dear friend for a very long time. So, if you are going to have a sex kitten, I would rather it be Nanako than some girl I don't know or trust."
"S… s… sex k… kitten?" Noto stammered in shock.
"Well, you said you didn't like 'love puppet' so…" Maya replied.
"I don't like sex kitten either!" Noto shouted.
"Noto-sama, why are you raising your voice at your wife? I had thought this was a very civil conversation until now." Shinako admonished.
"Sorry." Noto said with gritted teeth. He knew he had been the only one to lose his cool in the conversation, but the subject matter was just too… too much for him.
"If love puppet and sex kitten are out, I guess I could be his lust toy?" Nanako suggested.
"No, I will be using the title of Noto's lust toy when I am admitted to the university and can join your group." Hisako replied.
Maya had to keep her focus on her math text book to avoid bursting into laughter. These little tests that Shinako came up with for her cousin weren't so bad… when she was in on the test. Shinako had briefed her on what they would be doing just that morning and this group lunch had been the perfect opportunity.
Suddenly, a military marching band sound came from Noto's pocket.
"What is that?" Maya said as she finally looked up from her notebook.
"That's the tone for the administration office." Noto said as he looked at the message, "Yep… they are calling me to come see them… again."
"Again?" Shinako asked in concern.
"I've been called down there two or three times a day ever since Hellivin-san's visit." Noto moaned as he got to his feet.
"He left to go back to Australia yesterday, didn't he?" Shinako asked.
"Yes… he did." Nanako answered.
"Does it say what it is about?" Maya asked.
"No… but it never does." Noto replied as he bent over to give his wife a kiss on her forehead. Then he turned to leave for the administration buildings.
"What? No goodbye kiss for your concubine?" Nanako pouted.
"Con…!" Noto reacted, but he caught himself. He had tired of this game and decided to end it on his own terms. Turning to Hisako he asked, "You're going to be one of my… women, some day. Right?"
"Yes, Noto-sama." Hisako answered the odd question.
"Then this is my command. Kiss her goodbye for me." Noto decreed.
"Yes, Noto-sama!" Hisako quickly uncoiled from her seat and headed for her girlfriend as Noto left the semi-private eating area they had occupied.
.
Noto was quickly shown into a room where a few older men and several students seemed to be waiting for him.
"Ah, Hisamitsu-san! Good to see you." an elderly man took Noto's hand and shook it in a western style greeting. Noto recognized him as one of the business professors that usually handled the advanced courses. Courses that he planned to attend in his third and fourth years.
"Hakase, it is a pleasure to meet you." Noto replied with a slight bow to accentuate his respect on top of the handshake.
"As I understand it, you have already had a bit of experience with disaster management, have you not?" the professor asked.
"Wha… oh, are you referring to the recent work in Sendai?" Noto asked.
"Indeed! Could you tell us a little about it?" the professor gestured to the others in the room.
The other adult had an expression of evaluation on his face as if Noto were here to perform for a test. The other students in the room had reactions that varied from mild curiosity to boredom. But by now, Noto was adept at responding to tests like this.
"Very well. If you have a few minutes, I will outline the events, my decisions, and the reactions to those decisions."
Noto explained the events of March 11th as they affected him. Without getting into too many details, he spoke of establishing a base of operations in a chaotic environment, securing communications and manpower, interacting with local governments and other business entities, and finally, the handover to professionals. During his talk, the other students were moved to surprise. The smiling professor was practically bobbing up and down with excitement. The other adult in the room nodded his head and seemed to accept or agree to something that had been discussed before Noto had arrived in the room.
"Excellent! Excellent! Excellent, my boy!" the old professor cheered then excitedly asked, "So, er… do you have any plans for Golden Week?"
"Yes, hakase. I will be at my family retreat with my Obāsama." Noto replied. Everyone in the business school knew that Tokushima's famous Hisamitsu family was ruled by a matriarch, so there was no need for Noto to go into any further explanation.
"Ah, I see." the professor scratched his head and was obviously trying to come up with another plan since Noto had just countered whatever he had been thinking. "How about… the week leading up to Golden Week?"
"Hakase… this is the week leading up to Golden Week." Noto reminded the old professor.
"So it is. So it is." the professor seemed to make a decision and pushed forward with it, "I would like you to take these students of mine up to Sendai and give them a boots-on-the-ground experience. They are graduate students and I believe your recent experience and insights will be priceless to them."
"Hakase…" Noto groaned inside. Although he had to agree that it would be a very good experience, the problem was the students themselves. They were all his 'senpais' and that kind of an environment would always have it's pitfalls. Indeed, he could already get a feeling from two of them that they couldn't wait to get away from the university where Noto would become their errand monkey and pack mule.
"Now listen boys," the professor charged ahead as if Noto had already consented, "I've already made arrangements with the dean of the school for a special dispensation regarding this little exercise. Hisamitsu-san will have an honorary professorial rank in respect to anyone going on this field trip. He will essentially be standing in for me. When it is over, he will give me his impression of your observation and contribution. I will use that as a pass / fail performance score in the course you are taking from me. Is that understood?"
"But hakase, he is a junior to us." one of the students pointed out.
"In your careers, you may end up working for someone that is younger than you, has less experience than you, or maybe less education than you. The corporate world is not always fair, you see. What will you do then, insist that your boss calls you senpai? Hmm?" the old man asked his students.
"That's something else entirely. This is an academic environment where the rules are different." the student objected.
"Do not be so hidebound about social rules, or you will unnecessarily limit yourselves in your careers, and in life." the professor lectured, "Who do you think this young man is, that stands before you? If you are from Tokushima, you have no doubt heard of the Hisamitsu family. Hisamitsu Noto is none other than the heir apparent to that family. My advice to you boys is to treat Noto-sama as a potential employer. Not to do so would be… foolish."
Noto could see the re-evaluation taking place now. None of these advanced students were so hidebound or stupid that they didn't take the professor's words of wisdom to heart. And, because of that, Noto changed his mind about the professor's request.
"We will need to fly… or take a ferry." Noto told the people in the room, "The Tohoku Shinkansen isn't scheduled to start running again until Golden Week."
"We can take care of that, as well as notifications and exemptions to all of your classes." the professor asked, "How soon can you be ready to go?"
"One hour." Noto replied quickly.
"One hour?" the student who had been objecting to Noto's social rank promotion squawked.
"I always have a ready bag and am ready to leave in one hour." Noto replied to the students, then told the professor, "I will need another ticket for my assistant. The assistant and I can share the same room, but I will not be able to go without her due to family requirements."
"This isn't really your family business we are sending you on, you know." the other adult in the room challenged.
"I am already well known in Sendai now. If I am seen there, I will be representing Hisamitsu Heavy Industry if only by my presence. I'm afraid this is not negotiable." Noto told them. He was okay either way. The trip would be a hassle, so if they decided not to include Shinako, then…
"Not a problem, Hisamitsu-sensei." the professor said with a smile, then turned to his students with excitement, "Do you see? Do you see how he has already taken charge of the negotiations? You must not think that you have nothing to learn from him because he is your junior. All of you have much to learn from his example. I am expecting good things from this field trip!"
"Yes hakase!" the students bowed and started to leave to get ready for the trip that would be happening a lot sooner than they had thought.
"Just a moment," Noto stopped them before they left the room, "Just as I will be representing my family business, you will need to have a professional appearance or my assistant will not allow you to be seen with me. Just so you understand… I call her my assistant, but she reports directly to the matriarch."
"Yes, Hisamitsu… sensei." the students replied before leaving the room.
"Do you really have a one hour ready bag?" the professor asked after all of his students were gone.
"I do, but I suppose we will need more time than that. Two of them needed haircuts and who knows if all of them have appropriate clothes. If they call and ask for time, give it to them. But please let me know the final departure time." Noto replied.
"We will… and thank you for doing this for me, Hisamitsu-sensei." the professor bowed.
"You're welcome. And hakase, I look forward to taking your advanced classes in the coming years." Noto replied and made his own respectful bow.
.
After school, Nanako went to find Maya when she had finished with the Tea Ceremony club. Although both of them had joined the club, their senpai's were giving them individualized instruction on alternate days. So, this would be a day when Nanako would find Maya in the stables or the equestrian practice grounds.
Not finding her in the stables, Nanako moved out to the dressage practice arena. There were two people out there on horses already. One seemed to move and flow as gracefully as the horse she was riding. The way their movements were synchronized, it almost seemed that they were one being.
And then there was Maya. Her form was stiff and unnatural. She seemed constantly on the verge of falling off her horse.
"It's the boobs." one of the young men said as he leaned on the white wooden gate while watching the two riders in the arena.
"Yeah, she's never going to be able to loosen up like that." the other young man said wistfully.
Nanako decided that they weren't picking on her friend. Despite sounding like sexual harassment, there had been no cruelty or malicious tone in their comments. Nanako asked them, "Are they really so large that she can't learn to ride a horse?"
"Crap!" the taller one gasped when he heard Nanako.
"Our apologies. You are Hisamitsu-san's friend, aren't you?" the shorter student asked.
"Yes." Nanako looked past the boys at Maya struggling to get into the proper position as her horse trotted across the arena. She tried to let them know that she wasn't offended by casually talking with them, "I didn't think she was so hugely endowed that she couldn't ride a horse. Is it really a problem?"
"Do you see how she is leaning forward in the saddle?" the taller one pointed out.
"And how her back is bent instead of straight?" the shorter one added.
"She is obviously in pain, and if she takes a jump like that…" the taller one worried.
"What?" Nanako didn't like the worry that she heard.
"She could hurt herself pretty badly." the taller one answered.
"I see." Nanako observed her friend for a few minutes and decided that the boys' observations were correct. Maya was obviously in pain. She really should give this up if there is a chance of getting injured. But… I also know how much she wants to do this. She really got excited when she saw Taiga riding… Taiga? Like the boys were saying, Taiga doesn't have any breasts and she didn't have any problems. Then again… I didn't see her taking any jumps like this other person is doing. I wonder… "Maya-chan!"
Maya noticed her purple haired friend waving at her from the arena entrance gate and guided her horse to walk over to her. She was a bit winded as she asked, "Nanako! Is your club… already over?"
"Yes, and so is yours. It's time to go home." Nanako said.
"I just want to make one more jump…" Maya started to move off but Nanako was oddly insistent.
"No. You need to stop now and come in." Nanako nodded to one of the boys and he reached out and took the reins near the horses bridle.
"Nanako?" Maya was confused with Nanako who wasn't usually this forceful.
"Maya-chan… you're leaking." Nanako said softly.
"Leaking?" Maya's confusion persisted until she noticed that both of the boys were stiffly looking away from her. With growing embarrassment, she raised her hand to her chest and felt a soggy squish. "Noooo…"
"Shush," Nanako offered her hand to Maya as she dismounted, "there is nothing to be ashamed of. This is nothing more than a normal function of motherhood. Right boys?"
"Yes!" the short one answered while still steadfastly looking away.
"We'll take care of the horse, Hisamitsu-san." the taller boy added.
"Thank you for your understanding." Nanako replied for her friend who was too embarrassed to speak at the moment.
A few minutes later, Maya was in the showers where no-one else could see her slumped against the wall and crying. Nanako had known Maya for a long time and had anticipated how hard she would be taking this. Having stripped in the locker room, she walked into the showers and hugged Maya from behind.
"Eep!" Maya squeaked in surprise but she relaxed again when she realized who it was that was embracing her. In a sobbing voice, she told her friend, "I'll be okay."
"Of course you will. But I want you to promise me something." Nanako said softly as she laid her head on her friend's back.
"What?" Maya asked while reveling in the comfort of her friend's closeness.
"I'm going to make you a riding corset. I don't think your sport's bra is giving you enough support. So, no more jumps until I have the corset ready for you, okay?" Nanako insisted.
"But, the riding classes…" Maya objected.
"Surely there are other things you can concentrate on besides the jumps? After all, when Taiga was showing off, it wasn't the jumps that excited you the most, right?" Nanako pushed.
"Oh yeah." Maya remembered that surprising day when Taiga mounted the huge black and white horse and started doing amazing things with it. The fancy trot, walking sideways, and the stunning pirouette… those were the things that had fascinated her. "Do… do you really think it will help? The corset I mean?"
"I've looked up some reviews. Some love it and some hate it. But, it's worth a try. I just… can't stand to see you in pain like this." Nanako replied
"Thanks." Maya put her hand over Nanako's and sighed with happiness. The calming words and warm embrace from behind with the hot water from the shower spraying on her chest… was just what she needed.
.
Sunday late morning, April 24th – The Kawashima Residence in Tokyo
Taiga was sitting on one side of the couch with little Tatsuya peacefully drinking from a bottle. Yasuko was on the other side and, like the infant that Taiga was holding, seemed to be nodding off. Ami's uncle was seated between the two of them and was the only person in the room who was watching the video with his full attention.
This was the video presentation that Deena had come to Japan with. It was supposed to reshape the popular opinion and get the fan-base back for Red Black and Blue. Everyone but Ami's uncle had seen the thing several times by now and were just waiting for it to finish so they could get his take on it's value.
"It's a good start." Ojisan said when the video finished.
With just those four words, he confirmed what Ami and Ryuuji suspected. It may have been well made for an Australian audience, but there were a few touchy cultural factors that would need to be taken into account before they showed it to a general audience in Japan.
It had gone over well at the school… at least to the students. A few of the teachers expressed some concern however. And Deena had to admit that they were right. She wished DFAT had consulted her before they turned the presentation into a finished product. With only her otaku-foreigner knowledge, she had picked out a few cringe-worthy mistakes. The school faculty, Ryuuji, and Ami had picked out a few more.
"What if we use the footage and put in our own voice track?" Ryuuji suggested.
"That… that would work." Ojisan said as he stood up from the couch. "There weren't any mistakes in the videography. All we have to do is…"
Taiga lost all track of the conversation as something more monumental happened on the couch that the Ojisan had left behind. To Taiga, it seemed to happen in slow motion. Without the old man seated between them, Yasuko's body slowly fell over onto the vacated couch. Seeing her body coming, Taiga only had enough time to lift little Tatsuya out of the way before the fluffy blond hair landed in her lap.
Minori saw it happening too and made her own move. Just as Taiga lifted the baby out of the way, Minori swooped in and took Tatsuya out of Taiga's hands. Taiga gave her a shocked look as if she had been betrayed, but Minori quietly replied, "Yasuko or Tatsuya. You can't have them both." And with that, she walked away toward the nursery with the yawning infant.
Taiga was left behind on the couch with Yasuko's sleeping head in her lap. Her resting face didn't have the thousand watt smile when she was asleep, but it wasn't unpleasant either. In fact, Taiga was surprised at the childlike cuteness of the face that rested on her thighs. Surrounded by a cloud of light blond hair, the face looked like that of a young girl. A thought crossed Taiga's mind as she looked down at Yasuko's peaceful face, If she had her thumb in her mouth she would totally look like a child.
Yasuko moved on in her sleep at that moment. Her body actually seemed to snuggle in closer to Taiga and her hand moved toward her mouth.
Oh no! She's not really gonna put her thumb in her mouth, is she? That would be a cuteness overload!
The hand stopped moving and Yasuko took a deep breath in her sleep, as if she were awake and smelling a delicious hot pot cooking.
I wonder what she's smelling in her dream? Taiga wondered.
"Taiga." Yasuko sighed. It was a happy sound and barely audible, but it was clearly Taiga's name that she called out.
"Ya… chan?" Taiga answered softly. She couldn't tell whether the blond child-like adult was waking up or talking in her sleep.
"Taiga." Yasuko repeated but this time differently. It was spoken more clearly, but both the face and the voice seemed to be in pain. A tear formed around the closed eyelid as she mumbled one more word, "Why?"
"Why? I don't know anymore Ya-chan. I'm sorry. I didn't mean… I didn't think… I was so stupid and no… all I can do is tell you I'm sorry." Taiga said as she wiped away the tear on Yasuko's cheek.
"I'm so sorry." Taiga brushed her fingers across Yasuko's forehead to brush the curls of blond hair out of the way.
Yasuko felt a tear running down her cheek, but that wasn't unusual. Crying in her sleep and waking up with tears in her eyes from bad dreams hadn't been that uncommon for her, but the feeling of warm tears falling onto her face was different. She opened her eyes to see Taiga's face over hers. Her eyes were closed tight but the tears made their way through nonetheless. And between the tears and sobs, Taiga kept whispering the same thing over and over again.
"I'm so sorry, Ya-chan. I'm so sorry." Taiga stopped when she felt a hand grasp the one that was brushing through the locks of blond hair. Opening her eyes, she wiped the tears away with her other hand and saw that Yasuko was awake and looking back up at her. "Ya-chan?"
Yasuko wasn't sure if this was reality, or a realistic dream. She didn't remember going to sleep in Taiga's lap but it sure felt real. But then, there had been dreams like this too. And nightmares. Taiga was happy or playful in the dreams, but when the dreams turned scary… Yasuko shuddered at some of the fearsome nightmares that her subconscious had assaulted her with. But a crying sad Taiga? I don't remember having this dream before. How odd.
Taiga saw a strange expression on Yasuko's face as the blond woman reached up and caressed her cheek. Her hand was soft, gentle, and warm. Taiga pushed her face into that kind caress.
Whether this was real or an apparition, Yasuko felt that this was the moment she needed to say what needed to be said, to stop the painful torment of her heart. "Taiga… I don't want to be afraid of you anymore. I don't want to hate you and I don't want you to hate me."
"Ya-chan, I never hated you!" Taiga clasped the woman's hand against her cheek and let the tears spill. "I'm so sorry for my thoughtlessness. Please forgive me. Please…"
Yasuko's body shuddered when she fully realized that this was no dream. The impact of what she had just said to little Taiga made her feel sick with shame.
I don't want to hate you and I don't want you to hate me.
Oh my gods! I just admitted to her that I hated her. "Taiga!" Yasuko wrapped her arms around Taiga's waist and held on as if the greater concern was that the diminutive girl would suddenly run away.
"Ack!" Taiga felt the crushing grapple and realized that she couldn't take a breath.
"Promise me you won't run away again! You have to promise me that!" Yasuko yelled into the fabric of Taiga's shirt.
"I… promise!" Taiga had hoped that her acquiescence to Yasuko's demand would get her to release the vice like grip, but it actually seemed to get tighter.
"You better mean it. If you make me go through that again, I will never forgive you. Never!" Yasuko could feel Taiga struggling in her grasp but her whole being was urging her not to lose this battle.
"Ya-chan… Taiga… can't… breathe." a blueish looking Taiga gasped out the words with her last breath.
"Huh?" Yasuko released the withering girl immediately and struggled up to sit next to her on the couch. "Oh Taiga-chan, I'm sorry. Sometimes I just don't know my own strength."
Taiga made a wheezing sound as the air was finally able to fill her lungs again. The dark patches where her vision was starting to fail cleared up and she realized that she was now getting hugged by Ya-chan… but much more tenderly. And… softly. Her face was pressed against a pair of soft warm pillows.
Pillows? Taiga made an exasperated sigh. Yes, of course. Why does everything have to come around to reminding me that I don't… own any pillows like that. Dammit.
.
Ami walked into the nursery to find Minori slowly rocking with a sleeping Tatsuya.
"You know," Ami said softly as she picked the infant up from Maya's lap and moved him over to his crib, "we're paying Taiga to do the babysitting. Not you."
"Aw, don't be like that. I just wanted to give Taiga a chance to make some headway with Onee-chan." Minorin whispered.
"So, even you call her Onee-chan?" Ami's eyebrow went up as she asked.
"Well… I'm friends with Umeko, who's sister is…" Maya started into a long explanation but Ami put her fingers over the pink haired girl's lips and gestured for her to leave the nursery.
"I know who her sister is… obviously." Ami, once again, thought about how difficult it was to talk with this scatterbrained girl. Then she remembered that she had started the conversation with something completely unrelated to what she wanted to talk about. "Forget about all of that. I need to show you something."
"Huh?" Minori watched as Ami pulled out her smartphone and called up a video. "If it's the video that Deena brought, I've already seen it."
"No… it's better than that. The audio isn't so good, but I think you'll get the gist of it." Amy said with a sly smile.
Minori watched the screen and saw the couch in the other room with Yasuko laying her head in Taiga's lap. Ami had been right about the audio, but Minori's eyes opened up wider when she saw Yasuko reach up and caress Taiga's cheek. She held her breath and felt the excitement surge as the two of them seemed to be making up.
Ami remembered something crucial a moment to late. She suddenly recalled all the times when the silly muscle-head would spontaneously combust into cheerleader mode.
"Yes!" Minori jumped into the air. When she landed, she executed a burst of rapid fire followups, "Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!" But her cheering stopped as if frozen by an ice cold waterfall as her cheers echoed back to her as an entirely different kind of sound.
"Aaaaand, you woke the baby." Ami grimaced.
"Sorry Amin, I'll go back and…" Minori started to open the nursery door but Ami stopped her.
"No, he's probably hungry this time. Besides, the Palm Top Tiger might need you for moral support about now." Ami said as she slipped into the nursery.
Moral support? Why did I say that? If anything, Taiga may need first aid after getting crushed by Yasuko. Whatever… she'll figure it out. Ami turned the light on the table lamp up. It was too late for Tatsuya to take a nap now. After she got him cleaned up, it would be time for his stroll around the neighborhood.
.
Monday late morning, April 25th – Sendai Reclamation Area
Noto stood back and let the gentlemen from the reclamation company explain how their efforts were helping to reduce the chaos of the devastation that had been done to the city near the Nanakita river. He had only planned on being here for a few hours, but the administrator had been unexpectedly helpful. It seemed as if he had been planning for just such a presentation to explain the importance of proper reclamation, rather than trying to dispose of the mountains of debris by normal means.
Then it occurred to Noto that he probably had been making this pitch to the local, prefectural, and national governments all along. Not bad. His company is actually doing a civic and ecological service and, if he's lucky, the government entities will learn this lesson and endorse his company's service as the new standard.
"What are you thinking, Noto-sama?" Shinako asked when she saw his thoughtful expression.
"I was just realizing how lucky I am that I can still feel my arm after the way you were squeezing it on that last flight." Noto joked.
"Noto-sama…" Shinako looked at her cousin testily.
"I was thinking that we should invest in that reclamation company… or acquire it." then he turned back to his cousin to fish for her feedback and asked, "What are you thinking?"
"I am thinking that we should have arranged for two rooms. I am certain that all of your senpai's believe that I am… your woman." Shinako said as her face tinged a bit from the embarrassment of having to admit that to her younger cousin.
"I was talking about Hisamitsu Industries acquiring a promising business, not something trivial." Noto admonished.
"Something trivial!" Shinako felt a little anger with her shock at her cousin's brusque reply.
"Well, it was a trivial thing the other day when students erroneously thought that Nanako was my woman. Or, are you saying that it is okay for people to have those kinds of thoughts about Nanako, but not you?" Noto challenged.
"Well played, Noto-sama." Shinako took a deep breath. She didn't want to admit that she hadn't been paying attention to the presentation going on just a few meters away, so she asked, "Tell me why you think it is a good investment."
"Usable land in Japan has always been at a premium. Most of our country is covered in mountains. With a disaster of this magnitude, there is nowhere to dispose of the debris without causing an ecological disaster… if we were to use conventional means. This reclamation project will not take care of the piles of debris as fast as other methods, but it will be more sustainable and have a far smaller ecological impact." Noto summarized what the administrator had been telling the visiting students.
"And how does this make it a good investment for the future?" Shinako asked.
"After doing the right thing now, I believe future politicians will find it difficult to return to the old ways." Noto replied.
"Well said." Shinako agreed as she looked over at a group of workers that were getting started on the pile nearest them, "I do hope it isn't as labor intensive in the future. It will be easy for a politician to kill it off if it is too costly."
"I don't think…" Noto's train of thought completely derailed as he looked over at the group of workers and realized that he knew one of them.
"Noto-sama?" Shinako grew concerned as her cousin abruptly stopped talking and started walking over to the group of workers. She was about to call out to him again when she recognized one of the workers. She had seen him before. It had been here in Sendai, and not that long ago. And fortunately, he looked to be in a lot better shape this time. Well… most of him did. He didn't look or smell like a body that had been washed up on the shore with a bunch of dead fish. And, although filthy from his labors, he was wearing proper work clothes for the task he was performing. But, his face was haggard and haunted… more than a recent high school graduate should be allowed to be. To Shinako, he looked like the shell of a person who had entirely given up, but whose responsibilities didn't allow him to die… just yet.
"Haruta." Noto called out as he drew near. With no reaction, he tried again, "Koji-san."
Haruta stopped pulling at the thing that was stuck in the pile of debris and stiffened.
"Haruta." Noto tried again when it seemed that his friend had frozen up.
Turning slowly, Haruta's expression began to change as his eyes found Noto a few meters away. At first he seemed confused by what he was looking at, but he soon recognized his old friend. "Oh, hey Noto. Have you been here all this time?"
"No, I just came back yesterday for a school trip." Noto noticed that the name on the worker coveralls that his friend was wearing, didn't match Haruta's. Considering all the chaos around them, Noto decided not to say anything about something so trivial.
"A school trip?" Shouldn't you have gone to Okinawa? You're really not seeing Sendai at it's best." Haruta said with a flat voice and very little expression. If it had been anyone else, they wouldn't have known whether he was being critical of funny. Fortunately, Noto was one of the people that knew.
"Ha ha. The class trip is to observe disaster response. But what about you? I thought you would be in Misawa by now." Noto asked. He had been the one to tell Haruta that his missing wife was in a hospital in that northern city after all.
"Yeah… I made it to Misawa." Haruta looked away as the memories of his reunion with his wife played back through his mind's eye. "She thinks this is all my fault."
"What… what is all your fault?" Noto asked.
"Everything. The tsunami. All the dead." Haruta's voice wandered off.
Noto was stunned that anyone would say such a thing.
"How much of her family did she lose?" Shinako asked from where she stood just behind Noto.
"Huh?" Haruta hadn't noticed the woman standing with Noto until she spoke.
"Sorry, I am Noto-sama's assistant. Please call me Shinako-san."
"Hisamitsu Shinako?" Haruta tilted his head as if to help the memories move about inside his brain. "I remember. You were the onee-chan that watched over us when we went out on the lake in the paddle-boats."
"Eh?" Shinako was taken aback for a moment. There was a time when she was tasked to be a babysitter for many of her young cousins but she didn't remember…
"His family used to join ours for summer vacations… when we were kids." Noto recalled.
"You wore a bright yellow swimsuit and I thought you were the most beautiful thing in the world." Haruta's memories of the better times of his youth brought a smile to his troubled face. For a moment, he was close to resembling the happy and cheerful boy that Noto remembered.
"Eh?" Shinako was rocked by that memory – but in quite a different way. Her mother had forced her to wear that outlandish swimsuit. It had been far too revealing for Shinako's tastes and she had hoped that no-one would remember it. But now… seeing the moment of happiness that the memory of it brought Haruta, well…
"My wife lost her entire family. I lost my uncle, grandparents, and a few cousins." Haruta's demeanor returned to the previous sadness as he got around to answering Shinako's question.
"It's shock, Koji-san." Shinako shook off the blush from the yellow swimsuit memories and also returned to where she was trying to lead Noto's friend. "That's all it is. When the rational mind cannot accept reality, it will retreat into the irrational. But it won't last forever."
"Yeah, the doctors told me that too." Haruta sighed, "But, it still hurts when she looks at me with such… hatred."
"Did you guys split up?" Noto asked.
"No. She still needs someone to take care of her and… she doesn't have anyone left besides me." Haruta looked away at the overcast horizon and added, "Besides… even if she hates me, I still love her. I keep hoping that… hoping."
"Noto-sama, do you want to save him?" Shinako asked quietly.
Noto knew that Shinako had a plan. The phrasing would have been different if she wanted to know what he was going to do about his friend's situation. Noto also knew that Haruta had been beaten down pretty hard by many difficult circumstances, but he still had some pride left. He was still on his feet and hadn't walked away from troublesome responsibilities. He had a momentary urge to warn Shinako about this side of Haruta, but he was pretty sure she already knew. He nodded his head in reply and hoped that she would be able to convince Haruta that he could accept some help with his burden for a little while.
"Koji-san, you say that you love your wife. From what you have said, I can assume that the doctors have told you that she is suffering from mental and emotional crisis. Yes?"
"Um, yeah." Haruta was a little confused by Shinako's change of tone. She no longer sounded as compassionate as she had been. Just now she seemed more like a lecturing onee-san.
"Do you want her to get better, or are you okay with her like this?" Shinako pushed.
"What? Of course I want her to get better!" Haruta replied as if her question had been an accusation.
"Then you have to get her away from here for a while. You have to quit this job and come back to Tokushima with us. You will be instructed on the proper care that you must do to save your wife. That is… if you think you can handle it?"
"I can do it!" Haruta demanded. He could feel Shinako's eyes on him and felt as if he were being evaluated as a human being by an angel… or maybe a demon.
"Very well." Shinako pulled out a small notepad and quickly jotted something down before ripping the page off and handing it to Haruta, "This is the time and place that you and your wife must be. That is my phone number. Do you have any questions?"
Haruta looked over the note. His anger at being questioned so roughly shattered when he realized what all this meant. He had spent days working with death and debris. At night, he returned to the shelter to take care of an unresponsive wife that hated him and refused to eat. Everywhere he looked were shattered reminders of what his life had become. And now… she was taking him away from all of this… well, most of this. At least now, he would have the opportunity to focus on his wife.
Noto and Shinako watched in shock as the tall haggard man in front of them sank to his knees and bowed respectfully.
"Thank you onee-sama." Haruta desperately wanted to say something meaningful at a moment like this, but memorable speeches and great literature had never been one of his assets. In a flash of insight, he turned to the only form of literature that he was familiar with and recited a line from a manga, "I will do my best so that you will not regret this kindness."
"Haruta, I know this might sound a little callous," Noto said after his friend got back to his feet, "but you need to bring only a suitcase each. We'll be flying back to Tokushima."
"Heh," Haruta winced at the unintended insult, "that won't be a problem. We don't have a suitcase of stuff between us."
Noto and Shinako watched Haruta walk away to return to the reclamation job for the moment. He didn't seem as beaten as he had when they arrived. Noto knew that his friend was still hurting pretty badly though. There was a tell, or a sign that Noto had been looking for. If he saw it, he would know that Haruta was truly on a path to recovery… but he hadn't seen it yet.
"Do not despair, Noto-sama. This is only a start. I am sure that your friend will get better." Shinako assured him.
Several meters away, the administrator had finished his presentation and the students had been heading back to Noto when they saw the taller person kneel and give a respectful bow.
"Crap! Who does this guy think he is?" one of them grated quietly, "He makes his older cousin call him 'sama' and he has his upper classmates calling him 'sensei' … just how big is his ego?"
Two of the others shushed him as they drew near the Hisamitsu cousins. One of the other's asked, "Who was that guy?"
"A childhood friend of mine. We went to high school together." Noto said as he headed over to the small bus that would be taking them to the next venue.
"Tsk." the student that had complained shook his head. "So you even make your friends bow to you?"
"A moment." Shinako stopped the students and waited until Noto had returned to their shuttle bus before speaking. "There are a few things that I would like to clear up before we go any further. I call him Noto-sama as a show of respect for someone who has earned it. It was the professor who insisted that you call him sensei. And finally, the young man who you saw just now was bowing to me, not Noto-sama."
Most of the students seemed to reflect on her words. One still seemed defiant, however.
"I just recently met your little group, but I have known him most of his life and I can tell you that he is not the one with the ego problem." Shinako met all of their eyes as she lectured them.
There were a few gasps as they realized that this onee-chan had particularly good hearing. It was apparently good enough to know exactly who had made the comment as she stared at the recalcitrant one in their group.
"Is your pride wounded because someone is not calling you by an honorific that you think you deserve? Sen-pai is it?" Shinako took a step toward the insolent upperclassman. She looked at him as if he were a contaminated lab specimen and said, "Very well then. If it will make you feel better, I will do it… sen-pai." She waited for a moment to see if he had any response at all, before turning toward the shuttle bus and calling out, "Come along sen-pai, don't dawdle."
The other students quailed each time Shinako spoke the word that usually signified a position of honor. She had somehow been able to use the same word to convey a feeling of absolute disgust. Worse than merely being lowered to the level of an unliked person, he had been reduced to something that needed to be scraped off the bottom of her shoe.
"Does anyone else want to be called senpai?" Shinako asked before she stepped into the bus to join her cousin.
"No… no thank you, onee-sama." one of the students replied quickly and the others followed that example.
.
Thursday afternoon, April 28th – The Hisamitsu Estate in Tokushima
Haruta stood on the steps of the wide porch that led into the sprawling estate. He watched as a few of the Hisamitsu servants helped his wife inside. It wasn't that he didn't want to help her himself. In fact, he wanted very much to help her in any way that he could. But no-one questioned his distance from her after they arrived at the Hisamitsu estate. All they had to do was see the woman's eyes and they would understand.
Unfeeling, hopeless, cold eyes stared off into nothingness most of the time. But the moment her husband came into view, her lifeless eyes were filled with the fires of hatred, anger, and contempt.
Haruta looked away so he wouldn't have to see her ire if she happened to glance toward him. He held onto the handle of the ratty old suitcase that held both of their belongings with one hand. His face was in his other hand both to try and push back the pain behind his eyes, and to hide the tears that wouldn't come.
"Haruta-kun."
An elegant voice called out to him softly. It reminded him of warm summer days in years past. He wondered if he had really heard it or if it was the yearning of his heart for a return to better times. But the voice came to him again as he felt someone taking the suitcase from him.
"Child, let me see you." Obāsama had descended the stairs to see the boy that had spent many a summer vacation with Noto at this mountain home, or one of the other places that the Hisamitsu family spent their summers.
Haruta looked up, but not as far up as he used to, to see the old woman's face.
"Oh, look how tall you've become! And your shoulders… so broad and strong." Obāsama had placed her hands on his shoulders but moved them now to his cheeks as she looked into his eyes. "But this face… it hasn't changed so much. I still see that energetic young boy, ready to run across the field chasing all the horses around."
"Obāsama…" Haruta could feel his eyes getting wet again as he felt the ancient but warm hands of the old woman caress his cheeks like she did when he was a child. Every year that he could remember of his youth in grade school and middle school, the summer vacation didn't really start until he and Noto arrived to hear Obāsama strictly lay down the law. She had always seemed scary when she spoke to them with her warnings and rules. But she was also forgiving when he broke those rules. And she was always gentle when he got hurt. Whether they were scrapes, twists, sprains, or sunburns, she was always there to coddle him until he felt better. And, it seemed that she was sharing the same memories.
"Come now Haruta-kun, who is it that you always come to when you are hurt?" Obāsama asked as she pulled the grown boy closer.
"Obāsama… I've missed you so much." Haruta didn't try to hide his pain when he was in her embrace. He lowered his head to her shoulder and let the tears come.
"I've missed you too." Obāsama softly replied as she patted his head. "You know I'm always here for my dear little boys. Tell me, why didn't you come sooner?"
"I didn't want to come with something so… troublesome. This is so lame." Haruta replied as he wiped his tears.
"Don't worry about that any more. I have someone coming out tomorrow that will be a help… probably." Obāsama tried to assure him. She had a lot of faith in the young woman, but she wondered if relying on her to help with this matter, might be asking too much.
.
Friday morning, April 29th - Waseda University, Tokyo Japan
First Day of Golden Week – Showa Day
Deena had jumped at the opportunity to dress up in one of the Shrine Maiden outfits and be one of Taiga's support staff. Unfortunately, the university did not have anything that would fit her.
The whole time, Taiga had been snickering at how much fun it would be to have the ridiculously tall Australian as her servant… and what Deena's reactions would be when she found out exactly what she had been tricked into. That was… until she saw how heartbroken the blond amazon became when they all realized that it wasn't to be.
Resigned to watching the event from the audience seats, she was at least sitting with all of her friends.
"Hey, don't sweat it. It may not be today, but you can still have a chance, you know." Ami said.
"I can?" Deena's attitude became hopeful once again.
"Sure. We're all friends with Nanako-chan, right?" Ami suggested, "Next time we see her, just tell her that you need a Shrine Maiden costume and she'll make you one."
"My own… Shrine Maiden… costume!" Deena groaned in near ecstasy at the thought.
Yasuko turned Aiko-chan's face away from Deena so the young girl wouldn't see such a lecherous look on her dear Deena's face. To try and break the blond Aussie hussy out of her fevered dream she asked, "Isn't Yuri-chan coming?"
"Not this time." Suzume replied, "She and The Major left for Tokushima yesterday with little Ryan. The Major wanted to beat the rush and Yuri-sensei said something about wanting to see about one of her old students."
"Hey, the match is starting." Ryuuji told them as the referees took their positions around the contestants. He was glad for the chance to kill the conversation there. He had seen the email from Noto and he knew which student their former teacher was wanting to see, and what his situation was. It wasn't good, and it wasn't something he wanted everyone talking about just yet. Later on the train would be a better time and place for what they would need to discuss before they got to Tokushima. For now, he wanted them to all enjoy the competition they had come to see.
The first match was between two equally sized boys. In their armor, they looked like they could be twins of each other. Their movement changed that opinion though. The one with the red banner was certainly more aggressive and confident in both his footwork and his swordsmanship. The first blow came so quickly that the referee had barely told them to start when he had to tell them to stop.
"Wow, I didn't know it was so fast!" Deena gasped.
"That's why they have those big screens. They replay the winning move once in real time, then again for us to see what happened in slow motion." Yasuko explained.
"Ami-senpai, are you going to get the DVD again?" Aiko-chan asked from where she sat between Yasuko and Deena.
"Already pre-ordered." Ami said with a victorious grin. She had discovered that Taiga had made a big stink about her purchase of the prior event. Enough so that the Audio Video club was reticent to sell them this time. However, their reluctance evaporated when Ami sweetened the deal by offering them a DVD of Red Black, and Blue's Australian concert performances.
"I'm not sure which one of us looks scarier right now." Ryuuji said aloud as he caught the cunning expression on Ami's face.
"Taiga does." Aiko-chan replied. She was the first to see Taiga and her assistants approach the floor. Already decked out in most of her gear, she was not yet wearing her gloves or helmet. Her hair had been tied back so it was easy to see the dangerously predatory expression on her face.
"She really lives up to her nickname, doesn't she?" Ami's comment reminded everyone of the diminutive girl's moniker as The Palm Top Tiger. Her dangerous appearance might have been accentuated since she was positioned between two composed assistants in Shrine Maiden costumes.
"Your sister isn't helping this time?" Ryuuji asked Suzume when he realized that he recognized Minori at Taiga's right, but didn't know the girl on her left.
"No, the Tohoku Shinkansen reopens today, so…" Suzume started to explain but was cut off by the beginning of the ceremonial inspection down on the floor.
"She looks so tiny." Aiko-chan said in amazement as she looked at the two contestants in their ready positions.
"Don't tell her that." Yasuko giggled.
But Aiko-chan was right. The opponent was thirty centimeters taller and the height contrast made her look monstrously larger than the diminutive Taiga. But, as the crowd was about to see, overwhelming size did not always have the advantage in a sport that relied more on dexterity and finesse, than raw strength.
Every event where Taiga competed, and every practice that she attended – she was always paired up against someone taller than her. However, other than the students on her own team, not many competitors had any experience with an opponent that was so small. The confidence that they believed their height gave them was usually shattered after Taiga quickly took the first point. And in a sport that only has three points to offer, losing that initial opportunity so quickly is not easy to recover from.
In this case, it had been impossible. The next bout was over in a few heartbeats. Taiga cried out 'KOTE!', and a second later all three referees were holding out red flags as Taiga quickly spun around her opponent and guardedly backed away. The slow motion replay showed the end of her shinai deftly slip past the attempted block and strike across the wrist parts of her opponent's heavily padded gloves.
Seeing Deena's rapturous face while she watched the replay on the big screen, Ami leaned over to her and asked, "Is it everything you thought it would be? The Kendo match, I mean?"
"Yes!" Deena squeaked as she took Ami's hands and pleaded, "I want a copy too!"
"Already purchased." Ami smiled at the delight from her tall blond friend.
.
Friday morning, April 29th – Hisamitsu Estate, Tokushima
"You must be Koji Haruta." The Major said as he watched the tall young man enter the room where he was finishing breakfast. He was disheveled and gaunt, just as The Major had been warned.
"Yes." Haruta's eyes slowly tracked over to the Japanese speaking westerner. A corner of the darkness that surrounded his heart brightened for a moment at the strangeness of the scene before him. Deep in the mountains of a remote part of Japan, in an old Heian style house, I find a westerner wearing a Yukata, speaking Japanese, and eating a traditional Japanese breakfast. This is actually kinda funny. Haruta tilted his head and asked, "You're the dude that married my sensei?"
"Yup. It seems that we've both heard something of each other." The Major said as he reached for his coffee.
"I guess. Uh… what have you heard of me?" Haruta wondered. He suspected it would be something about his recent losses of family members, or how his wife had turned against him.
"You were in the same graduating class with Ryuuji, Ami, Noto, Maya, and Nanako." The Major recalled what he knew of the young man and told him bluntly, "You were one of the most entertaining students to watch, but you were Yuri's greatest disappointment."
"Huh?" Haruta was stunned. He hadn't expected to hear something like that, and he had never expected it either.
"I heard about the play that you put together. I don't think it would ever win any awards, but it was certainly creative and well planned. Something like that takes intelligence. It isn't something that just anyone can do." The Major told him.
"So… how does that make me a disappointment?" Haruta asked.
"For a teacher, the greatest joy is watching your students accomplishments. For students that have a hard time with their studies, just being able to pass the class is a joy. For the brighter students, the joy comes from watching them do their best, explore their horizons, get themselves ready for the wide world that awaits them." The Major looked at the youth to see if he had already grasped the meaning in the message. Unfortunately, he was only getting a weathered blank stare and he couldn't read the young man at all.
"The potential pain comes from the ones that show promise… the ones that have gifts and capabilities. When they accept their challenges and do their best, it makes their teacher feel like she could fly. But the pain hits hard when all they do is skate by, accepting the lowest passing grades, and uncaring about their education. Sure, they may be having fun in their student life, but to see so much raw talent wasted…" The Major took a deep breath.
"Yuri-sensei… hates me?" Haruta felt a new crush of guilt added to his existing burdens.
"No. There is a vast difference between disappointment and hatred. In fact, as one of her former students, she has a great deal of compassion for you." The Major replied.
"I… never knew. I'm sorry." Haruta said as he hung his head.
"Are you really… sorry, I mean?" The Major asked in a voice of simple curiosity. There was no intended insult to the question.
"Dude! How much guilt are you trying to lay on me?" Haruta countered.
"I don't know. How much guilt do you need?" The Major asked simply.
"Huh?" Haruta hadn't expected a response like that, but this foreigner was really starting to piss him off.
"Are you ready to stop screwing around and doing just the minimum to get by? Right now, your sensei is disappointed with you and your wife hates you. Are you ready to do whatever it takes to turn all of that around, or do you just want to keep plodding through life one day at a time?" The Major demanded.
"You… I…" Haruta was immensely confused with his own feelings. Angry at what this man was saying to him, he couldn't honestly dispute any of it. Sure, he wanted to change everything. He wanted to go back in time before that terrible flood washed his life away and work in the ceramics industry with his uncle. But that was impossible. I want my life back! That's all I want. I just want it back the way it was. Why does this bastard have to make me feel like shit all over again? What the hell is his problem?
"I have come here to help you get your life back. But I will only work with you if I get your total commitment. If you want to go at this halfheartedly, there is nothing I can do for you." The Major told him.
"Total commitment, huh?" Haruta closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Being honest with himself, he was only ever fully committed to having fun. Commit to serious stuff, huh? Aw dude, how do I even do that?
"Koji-san," The Major asked with his open hand extended to Haruta, "what is your answer?"