Thus the Old Man Spoke 3 - (Cyberpunk AUrunners/2077, Arasaka Saburo!SI)
2076, Coronado City, California, USNA
Sasha recoiled a bit as she finished recording and listening to what the old man had to say.
She had a few pages of Wikipedia up and what she found was both clashing with this version of events but also... suspiciously inaccurate. While it was correct that Hatoyama Ichiro had taken over Japan as Prime Minister in early 1944 and won the ensuing elections, there was nothing that suggested that the old Arasaka had served as PM for less than a year.
Yet... it was also true that there was a dissonance between who was PM between Tojo Hideki and Hatoyama Ichiro, with the neutral 'Military Junta' being used to define the small 'transition period of power'. A quick look into Saburo's page also added another shroud of mystery: he had been in Tokyo as a Major around the time, but then his service was interrupted right by the month he mentioned and... then he returned to work with his father.
There was a case of 'missing data' that was craftily replaced by seemingly harmless 'neutral terms' such as 'Military Junta', 'Transitional Government' and other similar terms.
What the fuck did I discover!?
"Mr. Arasaka, the wiki pages-"
"Moderators are easy to bribe with enough money and threats," Saburo remarked calmly despite the confession he just gave of having done something quite illicit. "The truth would have to come out eventually, but I wonder if you will be the one to admit it or not."
...Was that a threat? Sasha felt slightly nervous as she tensed up around the man but he merely smiled.
"Hm? You think I am warning you? No, no. I would give you a direct threat if I wished. What I meant is... will you have the guts to unravel the mystery?"
"W-What do you mean with-"
"Sasha, you sound like a dispassioned journalist," Saburo sighed tiredly. "You find it easy to shitpost and be a brat. But, let's be honest here, you have yet to find yourself within a challenge. This one here doesn't truly threaten you in a physical way- it's all about wanting to 'mature up' or, how we oldies would say, git gud at living."
She flinched at the cringey early 2020s memery in display, but Sasha was unsure of what she was hearing. Was she supposed to... 'grow up'? Is that what the cool grandpa was telling her?
"I am an adult."
"Physically, maybe mentally too, but far from responsibly, I am afraid" The elder rebuked flatly. "After all, you are still questioning if you should put this piece out or not. What sort of journalist hesitates in those situations? It's an easy big hit."
"W-What if I get attacked for-"
"If you put it out, you will not be attacked. If that was my intent, I would have held back from telling you. What's the point of telling you this much if not for 'coming out'?"
Her mouth opened and yet Sasha had no answer to it. Instead, the old man shook his head and walked away.
"Tomorrow, same hour at the bar. The interview is not over yet."
...Uh?
Sasha was about to call the man out but... he just disappeared from sight as soon as he turned the closest corner.
HOW?!
Her jaw hit the floor with how suddenly the old man disappeared and... she was also awed. That was indeed a cool grandpa- one that she was to interview again tomorrow from the looks of it. Did Maine knew this? She was definitely passing by the office tomorrow but... it was getting late.
Swinging away, Sasha felt the yawns coming to her as it had gotten right about time to make it back to her flat and catch a nap. Despite trying her hardest to not be a cat in those aspects, her 'kittish personality' made her extremely prone to find times to fall asleep.
And as she spent twenty minutes making it back to her place, she was surprised to find someone already waiting there.
"Took you long enough, choom!" Rebecca whined as she lied by her bed, elbows sustaining her head by the chin while her feet kicked by. Not much clothes on her but her underwear.
Dayum.
"So, how did it go?"
"Smooth, but he is crazy- I like him?"
"Hm? Don't tell me you are into male GILFs."
"What? No. In fact, he even offered to adopt mom so he could be my grandpa."
"Creepy," Rebecca huffed, "And?"
"And it was a good first... day of interview since he wants me to be at the same place tomorrow."
Becca frowned, glancing at Sasha as she undressed a bit and settled by the bed with her.
"So, he wants a two-piece or-"
"I really don't know," The taller girl admitted. "Like, I don't even know if Maine set me up for it but... girl, he is such a cool dude. A bit on the cringe side since his humor is a bit stuck to the 2020s and 2040s, but he is 'understandable'."
"Sound fun," Rebecca admitted flatly. "Still, you got stuff out of him? Anything juicy?"
"He served as the Prime Minister in Japan and ended WW2 in the Pacific."
...
"You kidding me."
"Nope, I have the recording and..." Sasha paused, frowning as she recalled the last bit of their conversation. "And, kind of unrelated, do I look a bit too immature?"
"You are immature, but I am not too far from that either," Rebecca rebuked giddily, pulling Sasha down for some cuddling. "Plus, love makes people dumb."
"Yeah but... what if I am a bit too dumb around others. Like, I am afraid of making big jumps."
"...Then you are on your way to improve, yeah? What would Maine say? 'You are growing up' or something like that, Choom."
"...I guess that's true," The girl hummed, deciding to cuddle up with his girlfriend some more time in bed.
Cuddles and then maybe some scissoring.
Nothing new in the horizon, just... doubts of the future.
Impatience was her middle name - or should have been that as Arasaka Michiko mirrored what she knew was her grandma's unique 'flaw' when around her grandpa.
To say that she had been worried someone got to kill her old fart in her own turf would be a massive understatement. She had been rattled by the notion of the Coronado News possibly going with 'Breaking News, Arasaka Saburo caught lacking with a sniper' or something of the kind.
She was a tough woman, but family was precious. And her grandpa was, as much as it pained her to admit, the best bit of it all. And also the worst when he wanted.
"Michiko-tan," The old man greeted lovingly as he entered her office and-
"You're late!" She growled, hands slamming and cracking her desk a bit. "It was supposed to be a simple interview."
"Got lost in the detail. Miss Yakovleva was a good listener, I approve of her."
Rolling her eyes, Michiko scoffed. "So, you are really going to speak with her again for the entire week?"
"I have to get someone beyond our family to frame my tale. Can't always rely on 'maybe' stories."
"I know they are real, dad and aunt Hanako knows too."
"Same for your grandmothers as they were around to live through the story," Saburo added with a jovial nod. "But that's not the point, isn't it."
Michiko sat down. "No."
Saburo nodded and walked up to take a seat. Not even a moment of peace and Michiko resumed her inquiry.
"What about your guard? Is it one of those low-life scum or-"
"He is at the bar, but I am not telling you which bar," The old man assessed, cleverly noticing how his granddaughter knew who was protecting him. "I told you that you should take it slowly."
Michiko huffed, arms wrapping by her chest. "I get it, but how would I known that a few 'tiny' changes would have made him so unwilling to be close to me."
...
"Michiko-tan, pearl of my eye, you are a terrible liar of stuff we know is important. Those implants to entertain women are-"
"Wrong?" She asked, curious to actually get a proper review from her grandpa on the matter.
While many would be weirded out of talking of kinky stuff around relatives, especially with those as old as Saburo, there was something unique about that sort of commentary. Possibly because Saburo had three wives who he 'loved equally and at the same time'.
Tales of intense foursomes behind closed Japanese door were known to anyone with ears and interest to dig around, and Michiko could tell that the Granny which she was the namesake of was both the strictest and possibly the sluttiest.
"More like 'sudden'. You know, Johnny- he loves you, but a threat to a straight man's butt is still a threat, no matter how sweet the one with the hard shaft."
...
"You could have just said 'you were too sudden' and nothing else. I don't like those details."
"You asked," Saburo argued giddily. "And you definitely found it amusing too."
Damn that smile, and damn my smile!
"So... what else?"
"Talk with him through the phone, resolve this slowly, and also don't tease about pegging him or you will lose him forever."
She snorted at that last bit. Then Michiko saw how serious Saburo looked as she glanced at her and she bowed her head.
"F-Fine, it's not like I even though of that."
"Bad jokes do exist and come up in the worst time. Like the time I told Khrushxhev that I would have stuffed maize up his butt if he kept on nagging me about corn this and corn that."
...
"You really did that?" Michiko asked and Saburo smirked giddily. "You're nasty, grandpa."
"I am not the one that decided to go 'futas are the future' and install a full-packaged cock and balls together with your cunt, Michiko-tan."
A bit of embarrassment roused within Michiko, but she admitted to have said those words, in private, and that she did find the implants worth the hassle of having random boners at times.
"Had you said something like that when you were younger, you sure would have been put over my knee and spanked. Now? I don't want to ruin my kimono."
Michiko groaned as she planted her face on the desk and used her hands to hide her ashamed look. "Grandpaaaaaa."
He chuckled.
The banter was, indeed, unique within the Arasaka Family.
AN
Yes, as it is mentioned in the second half of the chapter:
1) Johnny and Michiko (Jr.) are dating;
2) but she got a dick-n-cunt going on that made 'Silverhand' get out of dodge for a while. Johnny is, however, a loyal rocker to 'Samurai Boss';
Will Futa!Michiko see some action in this story? In an omake or two, maybe, but it's not relevant.
Also, next time will see another 'present' chapter. This time it will be about... Keanu himself!