Author's Note: So just a small error concerning time-tables here - in Chapter 10 for Asuma's part I mistakenly put down the date "Nov. 28th", instead of the 27th. I've updated the chapter and fixed the gaff, but figured I'd let you all know.

Also, the Addendums...

Nice world building pieces, or do they detract from the main story? I think of them as nice additions to help flesh out other characters for now, sorta mimicking how our campaign went, but if you guys feel they're too distracting let me know in the comments.

Cheers!

FoD Deux: 2-0-6-4 Addendum

Subjects: First Lieutenant Itami Yoji/Sargeant First Class Kuribayashi Shino

JSDF Outpost 772 - Ginza Station

11/29/1963

JSDF outposts normally don't see a lot of action.

Not at Ginza station anyway.

Here, nothing happens out of place.

Besides the usual drilling and milling, getting your three hots when you got time in their sad little mess; skip, trip, and diddly-bop your way about the town, this little intersection between three major players - the US Sixth, Tokyo Metro, and the Reds of Fuji - was oddly quiet. Business here was boring, and so were the folk. They got up, conducted their morning ablutions, prepped their families for the day, and caught the Blue Line heading to the city.

Then they'd do it all over again like clockwork.

Till the next day, and the next day, and the next day.

Shit, Itami could put it all on a timer.

Around 0530, Ishikawa-san would go on his morning bike ride before the roads became busy with traffic; at eighty-seven years old, all the power to the old papa-san still having the gumption to be out and about. At 0700 Miss Mishima would usher out her children -all five of them - into the morning chill. Giving them each a small peck on the head, she'd hand them paper bags filled with egg sandwich omelets, rice balls with the plum jelly, and small carton of milk; all to wait for the school monitor to come and pick them up. An hour after that, the bumbling young lord Tadaka - everyone calls him such for his expensive business suits, yet affably good humor - rushes out the door of his newly acquired home; he'd woken up late again, and spent too much time doting on his newly wedded, and kindhearted wife.

Life went on casually here, peaceful-like, exactly the way Yoji Itami preferred; he didn't need a reason to keep acting First Lieutenant of Third Recon - that was his job. He'd much rather sit back, relax,enjoy the little patio outside their red-bricked outpost building. The coming and going of the passing trains each morning became an enjoyable routine to him. As he sipped his coffee - French Vanilla, dark, with four sugars, and only a little almond milk, took in the view of all these patient maples clothed in their autumn colors of oranges, yellows, and reds.

And enjoy the latest chapter of his Gate series.

This month's issue was about to get good: Lelei la Lelena had just escaped the village right after the dragon attack, and just met up with Rory Mercury. With the Empire's Order of the Rose Knights hot on each of their respective heels, finally he'll be able to see just what Lelei's been transporting, and what it's ties to Rory are -

"First Lieutenant!"

"Wha-Huh? Yes!" The shout nearly causes him to jump from his seat. Coffee is spit from his mouth, he removes his glasses, and quickly shuts the manga closed; the petite, yet impactful, figure of Sergeant First Class Kuribayashi Shino was blocking his light. Ever one for action, again she's caught him lazing about. Reading. one of his "shag-rags" no less. A terrible feeling his morning was about to be thoroughly ruined immediately dampened mood.

"I'm not interrupting you again, am I?" She asks innocently enough, though he knew it was all bullshit.

He stumbles to collect himself under her intense gaze, and offers her quick nod. "No no, of course you weren't, Kuribayashi-san. I was only-"

"'Sergeant First Class' Kuribayashi, First Lieutenant. We're both on duty, so I'd prefer to be addressed accordingly."

"Yeah, of course you would. Okay, fine. Apologies, First Sargea-"

"What is this about all the extra movement in our sector?"

Ugh...yep.

Definitely: his morning was about to be ruined.

"Speaking of movement in the sector." Itami says, getting himself off the chair.

"Oh no you don't, get back here!"

This had been a recurring act he and "Sargeant First Class Kuribayashi played out for the last two week, and no matter how many excuses he gave, for whatever reason she wasn't about putting it to bed. All of it has been accounted for, he'd tell her, but no: "None of it makes sense." To which he would repudiate her with a staunch, it didn't need to make sense for her, because she was ONLY a Sergeant First Class. If she were a Master Sergeant maybe. If she were a Captain, well, she wouldn't need to constantly hound him. And if she were his Major in the division, he'd just straight up and resign; being such a taskmaster now, she'd be utterly implacable if Shino ever rose up in rank.

Thankfully, her temperament would ever consign her to First Class. Which she should be grateful for: the higher you rise in the military pecking order, the more information gets passed to you. And the more you know, only made you want to grab the nearest "shag-rag" to help your forget.

A routine as common for Itami as the changing of the maples, or the trains leaving Ginza, or relieving Sergeant Takeo Kurata from his watch duty.

"Ah, see, Takeo." Yoji notes, with the pestering Shino nipping at his heels. "This is what a shift change looks like when it arrives on time."

"Y-Yes, First Lieutenant!" Takeo Kurata says, saluting, though stifling back a yawn.

Yoji hits him with a knowing look, before pressing the edition of Bungei Shuts into his chest. "Here, knock yourself out. BUT!...No spoilers when I see you later. That's an order." Takeo smiles, nods, salutes again awkwardly before being dismissed down the platform. He soon gets lost in the press as commuters clog around the corrals. Today, again, was the usual mix: housewives with their young children, day drinkers, students, a few American GI's on day leaves; a few papa-sans and mama-sans, too, heading into Tokyo for their usual haunts along the Bay area.

All according to plan, Yoji figured.

But of course, not so much to his diminutive officer.

"Fifteen M113's came up by truck earlier this morning at 0500 hrs on Route 223. Day before that was the same thing. Along with..." Flipping through her notebook, Shino recounts the massive arsenal she'd seen traipse on through this sleepy little site; he couldn't blame her, she was recon. Her entire job was to look at stuff and jot them down. "Six Lockheed T-33 jets, ten Pershing tanks, a dozen or so Shermans, twenty artillery pieces, including a reserve batch of Type 91 howitzers with Osaka Arsenal stamps on their barrels. That's not a small number of equipment being transported, sir."

"No it is not, Kuribayashi-san." Itami nods.

"Sergeant First Class, sir." Shino corrects, emphasizing "sir" with a hard edge.

Yoji leans against one of the concrete pillars, looking here, there, and anywhere else but at the woman in front of him. A few people were out waiting already for the 11 o' clock train. Not so suspicious - nothing ever happens in Ginza, but it gave Itami an excuse to not give his full-attention to Kuribayashi-san. Good thing she was was so short, too; didn't even need to stand on his toes to get a good look of the area.

"Not to mention the increased amount of traffic for non-American military coming in and out of Metro has tripled, sir." Shino says, looking up at him.

"Which has been expected, Sargeant First Class Kuribayashi-san."

"Expected? By who? I've received no word for any such authorized movement of men or material coming through our sector at all."

"The orders weren't relayed to you, Sergeant First Class Kuribayashi-san, as you are not the one whose authority determines whether or not any such movement of men or material is authorized." Yoji tells her flatly.

"Then how am I expected to do my job?"

"You're job as Third Recon is to sit, observe, and report. Considering this is our fourth-"

"Fifth."

"Ah, thank you, 'fifth' time having this conversation. I would say you have been doing your job quite admirably. I commend you for your service."

Cheeks puffed out and flushed red, brown hair disheveled neath that small green cap of hers; easy for everyone to see Shino's temper was rising. Yoji should know well-enough by now that patronizing were was only going to wind up with him flat on his beck - either on the hard concrete here, or in the training mats back at post HQ. First time Yoji figured he'd deserved it - he'd trained with Shino enough to know her buttons didn't like to be pushed. Second time, he thought, may have crossed the line; judo-throwing him in the middle of the street in front of all those school children shivved his pride a little. And the third time was straight up her just not liking being told it was "none of her business".

It wasn't.

Not yet, at least.

And when the time comes, he promised, she'd be the first one to know.

But not a moment before.

"Soldiers don't get the benefit of knowing the 'why's', 'how's', or 'what for's'." He tells her - again - what she's so far failed to understand: no one in the military gets the benefit of information. A sad holdover from the IJA days: soldiers who think too much waste time. If they waste time, they're liabilities; if you're a liability, you were made not to be so. Though he doubted he could make Kuribayashi anything she didn't want to be. "I only know as much as they were willing to tell, and frankly, it's not a lot. This is Ginza - a cushy little gig, with not much going for it. Yes, equipment is on the move. That's as far as I'm willing to go on this, Sergeant First Class Kuribayashi Shino."

She looks at him as a miffed dog with an empty bowl: expectant, annoyed, and if not a little resigned to her owner's ineptitude. "That doesn't help me do my job."

"Your job isn't to question, Sergeant." Yoji states firmly now, voice cutting through the din of the station.

Yes, Shino was smart - had to be to thrive as a grunt in the Defense Forces. When Itami was earning his first commission, she was one of the first batches of female recruits allowed into the services by the Zen'in Act. Naturally, she faced her fair share of troubles. But with the bulk of their military going north, and what remained being decimated in the south, the South's man shortage needed remedying.

By the influx of women.

"There is no better mold for a soldier found than in figure of a woman. Who am I to obstruct such patriots from devoting their lives to the cause, and picking up the means to win such a glorious victory, to be shared by man and woman all! Taken direct from the memoirs of the "Noble One" Sanzo Nosaka himself. Itami read them back when he was a trainee in basic, and before they became outlawed by the Southern government during the Red Scare. "[A]ny who would repeat or hold true the words of the rebel Nosaka Sanzo will be tried as a traitor and punished to the highest extent of the law."

Meaning a fast trial and a long sentence.

Still, most all Internationale nations implemented women soldiers for nigh twenty years. The Democratic People's Republic of Japan, used to the employ of kunoichi and onna-musha brigades, was no stranger to the idea of "equality among the sexes". So as to not lose the pissing contest on the moral high ground, the South followed suit. In a perfect "anything you can do, I can do better" move. Thus allowing Kuribayashi-san to stand before him, unmoved, and implacable.

Reminding him a lot of his failed marriage.

"My job," she reiterates, not backing down. "Is to report odd movement along the wire."

"Not our wire. Their's." Yoji nods over to the long, looming cement divider between North and South; In a place where nothing happens out of turn, where all came to pass like the small ticking of a watch's arms, The Wall was Third Recon's sole priority.

"Its exactly for that reason why I want to know," she insists. "And it's not just me: everyone is wondering if some operation is about to go down. Are we about to pick. fight with the commies or something?"

"No," Yoji responds curtly.

"We being reassigned? Where are we headed? Osaka, again?" Shino presses, her curiosity stifling.

"No." Yoji says, putting his sunglasses back on; it's a tell, one Shino promptly picks up on.

She narrows her eyes. "There's so many foreign personnel coming in...Isn't this going to send a off warning bells to the Northies? I should get everyone ready in case they retaliate along The Wall. Kuroda did say there were a few weak spots hidden along tracts 9,10, and 16 which could pose a problem. I'll organize searches."

"Enough, Sergeant!" Yoji cuts her off, his voice rising above the din of the bustling station. For a second the intensity of his tone silences the bustle of platforms patrons, but he quickly laughs it off. Everything is fine, he says. Still, they were unappreciative of the outburst. Anything taking away from their peaceful monotony was frowned on. "You will not organize anything without my say so. That is not your duty, nor is it to pester me every damn time something untoward crosses your path. And definitely not mine to bend over backwards filling you in on details I'm not privy to. All you need to know, you've already been briefed the moment we: Ginza is the mission. It's protection our priority. So long as we're here, our focus is on this town, this train, and the people who get on and off it. No more, no less."

He's leaning over her, voice low and in a demanding whisper.

The rhythmic sounds of the station pulses around them, as automated messages come in loud over the speakers. They tell the jostling commuters to sit tight, remain patient, the next train will be arriving shortly. Lieutenant Yoji Itami stands firm, shouldering his rifle, and looks back down at his watch. Almost 10:30. Right on schedule and as expected.

Like most things here in Ginza.

Expected, scheduled, and nothing out of the ordinary.

For what was transpiring at the Sixth Army base wasn't Itami's business - not at the moment. When the attaching division gets sent, and their colors will ride along with them, then, yes, it will be his business. But for now he'd just wanted to enjoy the few moments of respite in this little hovel of a town before he was expected to put his rank to use. Shino will learn eventually, there were going to be plenty of times to prove yourself. No point in losing sleep over the things beyond your reach at the moment, because patience will always bring you there eventually.

But, of course, that "eventually" became today...

A collective gasp from the crowd catches his attention. Both officers turn and were shocked at what they saw. A woman has just staggered onto the platform. Not unusual. She was a looker - not simply because of the exotic way she dressed, fishnets stockings and beige trench coat could be a style somewhere, but that she was bleeding. Badly. Her face a contorted mask of pain and desperation.

"O-Oh my...Lieu-Lieutenant, sir. She...Somebody is-" Kurbiayashi stumbled over her words, the gravity of the sight silencing her once defiant mood.

"Get Kurosawa here on the double, Sergeant. Now!" Itami yells, catching the woman just as she was about to collapse. The urgency in his voice brooked no argument, as he cradles Anko's head in his lap.

Shino rushes through past the crowd before it begins to thicken, but as more red begins to gush from Anko's wounds, more murmurs of shock ripple through the onlookers. Anko's eyes were wild, desperation etched on her feats as she reaches out, trembling hands pawing at Itami's uniform. "Ge-...Get..." Her voice was hoarse, barely a whisper as her strength began to fade. "Get everyone...off the pla...platform."

"Save your strength, help is on the way," Itami reassures, though doubt creeps into his head; he was no doctor, but it looked like this poor woman was put through a wood chipper. Bullet holes raked up and down her body, her arm a mangled mess. Just what the hell could have done this to her?

But Anko laughs through bloody teeth - a short, bitter sound echoing with resignation, and causing her to cough up more sputum. "It is...I'm here," she smiles, closing her eyes for just a moment. Then opening them up wide again, as the last bits of adrenaline and chakra push out one more gasp. She reaches out with her good hand and grabs Itami's collar. With surprising strength, she pulls him in and shouts. "Get everyone out! GET EVERYONE OUT OF THE TRAIN STATION NOW!"

The loudspeakers sound off once more, reminding everyone to sit tight, remain patient, "...the next train is pulling into the station now."

A not so far-off call is heard bellowing from down the tracks, as in the distance a small black speck is getting in close.