Chapter 6

Los Angeles, California

4:30 PM

The bus lurched to a stop and he hopped off the second the doors opened, eyeing the Kanji advertisements on shops and buildings.

Little Tokyo...

He ignored the glances from the people walking down the street and pushed on with a gait in his step. He slightly adjusted the collar on his Service Alphas, not really caring about the rucksack on his back as he gave a polite smile to the curious looks from the descendants of Japanese immigrants. Segregation in California had been practically eliminated by the previous decade, so even if his presence might bring discomfort to some, he knew it wasn’t enough to get him into any real trouble.

Not here, at least.

He approached the area he remembered, passing by some shops as he reached the homes.

“Kore o kireina yuka to yonde imasu ka? Watashi wa anata ni nonbiri suru tame ni okane o haratte imasen!”

He paused, turning towards the berating voice.

The shopkeeper and several other men were standing around, practically lording over, a kid that looked way too young to be wearing the shop’s apron.

The kid bowed, apologetically, causing the older man to slap the top of his head.

“Kono yōna machigai wa anata ni okane o kaseganai, anata wa rikai shimasu ka? Anata no ryōshin wa anata o oidashi, dare mo anata o tsurete ikanaideshou. Anata no shigoto o kichinto yari nasai!”

He felt some anger flare up ever so slightly, his free hand balling into a fist, his mind plotting a possible course of action if they caused trouble, but he forced it all down with a breath.

You’re a Marine, Hilaire... don’t bother with these guys... control... control...

“Huh?” the old man called suddenly.

He didn’t notice he’d been staring.

Damn...

Quickly he began to walk away.

“Hey, is that...?” the second man in the shop said a little too loudly.

Isaac Hilaire gripped the straps on his rucksack as the nearby voices changed the topic to him. He picked up the pace as he approached the home, of course, but as neighboring homes closed the doors and blinds, he knew what was about to happen.

“Hilaire? Isaac Hilaire?!”

“Hey! Come here, boy!”

Just ignore them, Marine... just ignore them...

“Don’t ignore us boy!!!”

God Damn it!

The voice was now closer. Too close. His dress shoes had just made contact with the not-yet-cut lawn when he felt the hand on his shoulder.

“How've you been, kid? What’s with the getup?”

He forced the deceptively friendly hand away, not speaking for a moment and trying not to look at them.

What do I say? What do I say? Uh...

“You have the wrong man.” He muttered, hoping his voice didn’t crack.

“Man, he says! You even seventeen yet? Why are you wearing a Navy uniform?” the Japanese man laughed just as Isaac felt the hand on his shoulder again.

He whirled around violently this time, getting loose from the man’s grip. Both were older than him by a lot, both had a threatening smile on their faces.

He didn’t have to look at the shop owner across the street to know he was armed with a bat. Isaac slowly straightened his posture, calmed down, and said “I’m just here to say hi to-”

“The Kuribayashi's aren’t here anymore. You should go back to your neighborhood.”

Isaac kept his mouth shut, not disagreeing but not budging, either.

Just as the third man began to walk across the street, the door behind him swung open and a short girl waltzed out; a wooden staff in hand. She pointed it at the men as though it were a sword and yelled at them as she took a step onto the stone pathway on the yard.

“Get off the lawn, Mister Yoshikawa, Mister Koizumi! You know my dad’s rules!”

The oldest of the two yelled back “Anata wa kono otoko o kyoka shimasuga, anata no nakama no nihonjin wa kyoka shimasen ka?”

The girl yelled back, even louder, “Watashi wa amerikahito de, anata to onajide, kare to onajidesu! Hanarete kudasai.”

The men chortled, the younger of the two saying “Her pronunciation is better than mine.”

“Oh, hush.” then, to Isaac, “Watch yourself, kid. Don’t do anything stupid, you hear?”

Isaac didn’t reply, staring as the men crossed the street. He nervously sucked in a shaky breath and turned around to the girl. Her hands were on her hips now, and he couldn’t deny she’d grown a bit since he last saw her. But her glare said this wasn’t about to be the warm welcome he’d somewhat hoped for.

Still, he tipped his cap and smiled.

She began storming over to him, her eyes on his own. Was that passion in them? Hope? Relief?

Maybe the welcome wouldn’t be as cold as he-

The wooden staff crashed into his forehead and ended the thought as she chided him.

“Dumbass.”

She poked his chest with the staff.

“Moron.”

She hit his thigh.

“Idiot.”

Forehead again, but he stopped her as she moved to hit the side of his head, taking the staff in his hand.

“Stop, you’ll ruin my-”

“Your dumb Class As? Dumb... class... As... shiny but still stupid on a stupid person like your stupid self.” she muttered.

“Service Alphas!” he corrected; a touch indignant as he added, “You’re really going to greet me that way after so long?”

“How am I supposed to greet you, exactly?”

“Well, I can think of a few ways.” He said, letting go of her weapon and eyeing her blouse.

“Pervert.”

“You know me so well.” Isaac replied, taking a step closer to her, which she quickly stopped by placing her hand up.

She groaned, muttering “Do you really want to make the older men angry? They’re not exactly happy after a black kid robbed Mister Koizumi’s shop.”

“Good thing I’m not black then.”

“You are!”

“No, I’m brown. There’s a difference. Plus, I’m not breaking any laws, am I?”

“They’re going to lynch you.”

“That’s illegal. They wouldn’t want to break the law, now, would they?”

“Baka.”

“Hey, I know that word!”

She didn’t reply, grabbing his hand and leading him inside, her frustrated expression never relaxing as she kept looking over her shoulder.

Once inside the small home, the door closed behind them, Isaac stretched and let out a breath. He glanced at the pictures on the wall, the flowery ornaments for the frames appeared pristine and well maintained. His gaze paused on a black and white photograph of a Japanese American soldier standing a little shorter than the tall black soldier to his left. Both had wide grins. Both had similar gear, though the black soldier’s Buffalo patch was a touch more distinct in the image. The dusty road they stood on and the stretching fields in the background behind them could’ve been taken anywhere, but the written letters just a touch to their right clearly read “Tuscany, 1944”.

Dad...

Sheena Kuribayashi moved past him, saying “My parents won’t be home until later. Some kind of emergency happened, so people are being told to stay indoors.”

Isaac blinked, the words ripping him out of his thoughts.

“I hadn’t heard anything.”

The girl let out a tired breath as she reached for something on the kitchen cupboard, seemingly unable to grab it due to her short height.

But she continued talking.

“Me neither. I was on the way home from school, and then I heard some news on the radio. I think something happened in Dallas but I don’t know what, cause things are pretty quiet here. How are your folks doing?”

Isaac rubbed the back of his head, shifting in place.

“Isaac?”

“Sheena?”

Without turning to him and her ever-present frown deepening, she said “They still don’t know you joined the Marine Corps. The least you could do is go visit them.”

“Hey, I send them the money I can. And I write. But we both know, that if I show my face around there, Mom’s going to beat me white, Dad'll probably kill me, and I really can’t afford that right now. And if the Corps finds out I’m turning sixteen...” he gripped his cap, eyeing the eagle, globe, and anchor.

“Aw, you’d get discharged and have to come back here, to rotten old Los Angeles.” She muttered, now on the tips of her shoes as she tried reaching the cupboard.

“And I’d be broke. Finding a job here is getting harder. It’s-”

“Not as hard as you think.” she interrupted, adding “You can work at my dad’s place.”

“With all those... Japanese?”

“I’m Japanese!”

“You’re nice to me. The way Mister Koizumi gripped my shoulder, it felt like he would've chopped it up and sold it as some exotic meat, and he’s old. Your dad’s guys would probably be worse than boot camp, and... uh... You need help with that?”

She only huffed, finally grabbing the pot of coffee, before turning back to him.

“You want any?" She asked, grabbing some water that had already been heating on the stove.

“Yes, please. I’m beat, but... you know, it’s not so bad. Money's good. Met a guy from Yugoslavia, the sarge can be quite polite when he’s in a good mood. Bus ride wasn’t too bad, either, aside from the odd looks. More importantly, maybe we’ll be able to head to Japan sooner if not later.”

“I don’t buy that for a second. Have you even gone out of the country?”

“Uh... no, not yet. There’s talk about shipping to Japan, though. Okinawa. And if I ship to Japan, then maybe-”

“Japan and not Vietnam? That’s where everyone’s going, I hear.”

“Uh... well... We’re not sure yet, it’s all rumors, really.”

“Uh huh... like when you going into the Marines was just an idea?”

Isaac said nothing.

“You could’ve at least told me in person.”

Isaac shifted in place slightly, painfully aware of how she was keeping her gaze away from him. He eyed her straight hair, flowing to her shoulders. Her slender form as she began delicately pouring the coffee into separate cups was eerily misleading of her ability to hurt people that bothered her. Not entirely unlike how his height was misleading of his own weakness.

Still, he couldn’t blame her.

He’d essentially vanished after all.Moving quickly, he reached into his rucksack.Just as Sheena poured in the second cup, he called out.

“Hey, Sheena, smile!”

The *click* of the camera made her freeze up, her eyes went wide as she turned to glare at him.

*click*

Another photo.

“Bastard... give me that camera!”

Isaac immediately lifted it up above his head, grinning as he added “Sorry, property of Uncle Sam now.”

She eyed the camera now out of reach like a kid eyeing a balloon lost to the sky. Her face hardened as she turned to him again.

“You better get rid of those photos, Isaac Hilaire.”

“No way, I want something to remember you by!”

She pouted, “Attitude like that will get you killed, you know.”

“Aw come on, you just want to keep your pretty features to yourself.”

“Yes!”

“But I need to practice! I’m a combat cameraman, you know.”

“If a journalist spent his time taking pictures of young women instead of the story he’d be fired.”

“Combat camera, not... journalist. We take pictures of the battlefields. Journalists just write about them.”

“Well, if you haven’t noticed, you're not on a battlefield.”

“No, but you’re so gorgeous, journalists would be lining up to write about you.”

She hid her reddening face, turning back to the coffee without a word, though he could hear her grumbling internally and his smile only widened.

Anyone else would’ve probably already gotten a broken nose.

But not him.

Perhaps there was some poetic line that could describe the pair. The fiery short Japanese girl that frightened most at school, the tall dark-skinned American. A gentle giant and a feisty shorty. A pair of opposites that somehow attracted the other. A couple of-

“Here.” She said, derailing his train of thought, and perhaps ending the topic about his next destination for the moment.

“Thanks... radio?”

“Dad got us a TV actually.”

“Really?”

“Yup. I was about to check the news.”

“News? Come on, don’t you watch Tom and Jerry?”

“Brat.” she sighed, walking to the living room, Isaac walking in step behind her.

“Come on! I leave for a year and-”

“Yeah, yeah. Regardless of your absence, some of us have to be informed if we wish to get into a good university. I wouldn’t be surprised if I have to be the one providing for you once you get discharged.”

“Sounds great! You’re going to propose, too?”

“S-shut up.” She growled, her cheeks reddening as she began flipping the television on.

Isaac eyed her as she did so, taking a sip of his coffee, wondering exactly if he could save enough money to provide for them both. Oh, surely both their parents may not fully be on board, but that didn’t really matter in the end, did it? They would take care of each other and take care of their parents in turn. Like any other family. Her coffee was delicious, and even if she was a bit abrasive, was it not a testament to him that he could make a girl like that fall for him?

A confidence boost if there ever was.

As he considered this, the TV’s screen went from black to white, the noise coming on slowly at first, just like the image, taking him out of his thoughts. She hadn’t had to switch the channels, it seemed.

Oh well, maybe they’ll show a movie later.

Sheena straightened and stretched slightly, eyeing him without a word. Something in her eyes made him think she wanted to say something, that there was a question she wanted to ask as the TV screen began to glow.

Then the words hit them both.

“...attacked the crowds in Dallas. Deaths originally estimated in the thousands were confirmed to have been in the low hundreds in large part due to police efforts and armed civilians, as well as the size of the attacking enemy force.”

Wait, what?

“Wait, enemy force? What on earth are they...?” she mumbled, moving next to him so she could see the grainy black and white footage.

“So far, the attackers have been confirmed to appear Roman in attire. Metal armor, swords, bows and arrows, spears...”

Isaac leaned in as if it would give him a better view of the reporter in Dallas, soldiers standing behind him, moving around in orderly lines despite the apparent chaos.

“Allegedly they set some shops on fire and attempted to kidnap civilians. These efforts were confirmed to have been thwarted, and it is believed that no American prisoners have been taken.”

“I... I don’t understand. Is this some insane stunt by-?”

She was interrupted when the reporter suddenly said “O-over there... it seems soldiers are escorting a... a prisoner of sorts? Get the camera on them!”

The camera turned and they both winced at the brief image, Isaac’s jaw going slack.

Two soldiers were carrying a woman that appeared to be injured. She was on a stretcher, surrounded by men that were obstructing the camera’s view of course, and an ambulance was driving up to them, but the camera caught some of her details. A blanket covered her body, but it was her head that was truly striking.

Wolf-like ears which were perked up as she looked slowly around, almost hidden by her dark hair, which as she moved revealed there were no human ears on the side of her head. Isaac and Sheena both stared wide-eyed, not hearing the reporter’s speculations, simply waiting for whatever explanation could be given.

“Concerns over the exact nature of the attack have resulted in various states declaring a state of emergency as the authorities scramble to understand what has happened. We know that according to eyewitnesses this attacking army marched from some kind of portal that opened in the Dealy Plaza, but too many questions remain. While all we can do is speculate...”

Isaac did his best not to let her worried glance affect him. But now he knew he was likely not going to deploy to Vietnam or Japan or Asia.

Not necessarily.

Not anymore.

If what was being shown on the television was true, then his deployment had been decided.