Sonoko nearly gasped as the young girl from the photo entered the room, having to hold a hand to her mouth to cover her emotions.
Sonoko was having a hard time controlling herself, she had thought that she would just be happy to see the girl in person and talk to her for a bit. She did not anticipate the sudden and nearly uncontrollable urge to pick up the poor cute little thing and tie her into an onbuhimu on her back.
She shook the irrational thought from her head, the girl was much too old to be swaddled and carried around on the back anymore. No, her mind latched onto another avenue for bonding nearly instantly.
When her granddaughter had walked into the room, she had at first solely focused on her, ignoring the other young woman who accompanied her, now however, Sonoko found herself struck with a wave of both adorableness and jealousy while looking at the matching outfits the two girls had on.
Had it not been for her little Tanya’s black hair, the two might have passed for sisters with their pale skin and light-colored eyes.
Sonoko very much wanted to get herself a matching outfit now as well, she could even see it in her mind’s eye, walking down the market in matching outfits with her granddaughter, all the while greeting her acquaintances both left and right.
Focusing on the here and now, she noticed the rigidity of her granddaughter’s speech as well as her lack of using the family name and self-blame for not contacting them sooner. As if she had a choice.
Sonoko couldn’t take it anymore and reached over to Seiji, tapping his leg to shake him from his thoughts. They had already made the poor girl feel awkward by not responding to her apology, now they needed to clear the air quickly to recover lost ground. She didn’t want the girl to feel like they were rejecting her for even a moment longer.
After getting her husband’s attention, she shared a silent conversation, urging him to speak as the head of the family. After one last nod in confirmation, Seiji finally did speak, and Sonoko nearly slapped him for his chosen words and tone. They were far too stiff and the tone far too domineering and formal, what if he scared her little angel.
“Miss Degurechaff? You go by your mother’s name? You do not wish to be associated with your father?”
“I did not want to be presumptuous in assuming I would be welcomed in doing so, after all the circumstances of my birth are by no means reputable. I of course would be happy to be allowed to use the name Kaizaki with your permission.”
~
Seiji listened as his granddaughter spoke, her words made sense and were both polite and humble, but he kept getting the feeling that that’s all they were, words.
Her face was a blank mask of professionalism, much like the one he had trained his own son to use over the years. Her eyes however, shared that same subtle mocking gaze his late son had.
While she spoke of not wishing to presume herself a Kaizaki without permission, the story given by both the police and the shelter’s care worker told a different story. She had been using every possible means to associate herself with the family name, likely to try and claim legal rights to her inheritance. Clever girl, he thought, a smile slipping from behind his mask for a moment.
Suddenly he felt a sharp pinch at his waist, damn that woman! What’s gotten into her all the sudden? He griped internally, ever since they had seen that photo it’s as if a completely different woman then the one he’d lived with all these years had taken over his wife’s body.
Even now, he could see her struggling to prevent herself from pinching those cute little cheeks. Mentally shaking his head, he proceeded with the ceremony officially welcoming their granddaughter into the family.
“Kaizaki Tanya, we acknowledge you as the daughter of our son Soto, and as our granddaughter! Please feel free to greet us as your grandparents.”
Seiji was surprised at the emotion the words brought out in him, for a moment he felt a great pressure well up inside him and it was all he could do to keep his voice firm and prevent it from cracking at the end.
He felt a great sense of contentment as his only grandchild acknowledged them as her elders and family. Standing proudly, back ramrod straight, before suddenly letting out a umph! From the speed at which his wife lost all dignity and launched herself into the poor young thing.
He had to fight to ignore his own jealousy and let them have their moment, he would get his time with her soon, no doubt. Idly, he wondered if she had any interest in history or the subtleties of law and legal studies.
Seiji smiled as he pictured the two of them seated in his library drinking tea side by side discussing legal precedent and whether cases decided in a higher court had more “weight” at setting such precedent. With a fond smile he watched on, as his silly wife made a fool of herself while his granddaughter looked around for help. Don’t look at me little one, I’m not foolish enough to get between a dog and its bone.
~
Visha was trying very hard not to do something she felt she absolutely must do. Currently she was weighing the risk reward factors in her head.
Just as she slowly began reaching to activate her Type 97, the matter was taken out of her hands as the old woman stood back up and held Tanya by the shoulders, speaking to her rapidly.
Visha was more focused on the tears that were just starting to form in her friend’s eyes than the words, she felt happy for her friend, happy that she was able to express her feelings in such a way.
Watching the scene made Visha think of her own parents, she had been avoiding thinking of them ever since her “death,” but now, with the scene in front of her, she found it hard to do so.
They had most likely already received her missing in action report, although, due to their unit being considered a national asset for boosting morale and propaganda, in all likelihood their deaths were being kept secret.
She hadn’t had time to fully process the fact that she would never see them again. That they thought her dead and there was no body for them to burry.
Visha had to stamp down hard on those feelings for the moment however, as she wasn’t so selfish of a person that she would ruin her friend’s happy moment with her own troubles.
Tanya turned back towards her and speaking in German explained a little of the situation and asked Visha to introduce herself like they had practiced.
Shortly after Visha introduced herself, she felt the mood of the room shift ever so slightly, the joy and nervousness were still there, but now there was an air of confusion and frustration mixed into everyone’s tone of voice.
While Visha knew that somehow, she was the cause, she felt no guilt or anxiety whatsoever, Tanya would handle it, whatever the problem was.
Although, she didn’t like the looks the old lady kept shooting her way, it was like Visha owed her money or something, and she kept glancing her up and down as if weighing her.
It went on like this for a while as the three had a conversation back and forth. Each time Tanya would speak she got her grandmothers undivided attention, but when it was her husband speaking, Visha would often catch the woman looking between her and Tanya with a strange look…wait, she recognized that look from Tanya, was that jealousy?
Visha came to the sudden realization and moved to test her theory, catching the old woman’s eye and running her hands up and down the shoulder straps of her overalls using her thumbs to pull them out, before letting them snap back.
Watching as the old woman’s eyes narrowed while remaining locked onto her, Visha smiled to herself and stepped up to stand beside Tanya before striking a pose that emphasized the fact that they were wearing matching outfits.
The old woman’s eyebrow rose at the blatant provocation, but Visha defused the situation, turning to her fledgling Japanese skills and her superb memory she leaned towards Tanya’s grandmother and spoke softly and slowly.
“Buy one get one free, I know location to buy, you want one, yes?”
~
Sonoko nearly hugged the annoying foreign girl as she made her peace offering in what could very generously be called Japanese. Sniffing aloud to show her contempt, she nevertheless nodded her head in agreement to the offer.
From what her husband and granddaughter had been arguing about, it appeared that she resolutely refused to leave her friend here alone. Sonoko felt a swelling of pride at her Granddaughter’s loyalty to her friend, she just wished it didn’t make it so that they couldn’t take her home with them sooner rather than later.
Who was this girl that had inspired so much loyalty from her little Tanya. She looked much older than her granddaughter, and Tanya had said that the two had taken care of each other and been through a lot together.
In fact, she noticed that Tanya seemed to take comfort in the fact that her friend had come to stand at her side. Did she see her as an onee-chan?
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Perhaps they owed this Serbry, Serebnov?... Visha, a debt of gratitude for protecting their Grandchild while she had been held captive.
She had to keep reminding herself that her granddaughter was much older than she looked, and that the two were apparently much closer in age than she kept envisioning. No matter, she just needed to get her angel back home and get herself back in her kitchen, then she could get her precious hime-chan all the nutrition she needed.
Refocusing on the argument between her two family members, Sonoko came to a decision. This talk was getting them nowhere and Seiji was hogging all of Tanya’s attention.
Deciding to put her foot down after hearing Tanya’s final declaration of how important her friend was to her and that she would not be leaving her no matter what, Sonoko grabbed her husband’s arm and interrupted him before he could respond.
“Ok Tanya-chan, you can stay here for now, we will discuss this more another day, we wouldn’t be able to take you with us today anyways, so we should drop it for now, right Husband?”
“Ye, yes dear.”
“Now Tanya dear, why don’t we take a walk outside and try to get to know each other a little more, you can introduce me to your friend some more as well?”
“Yes, alright, that sounds good, there happens to be a garden around the back of the building, Visha and I have been maintaining it a little while we are here.”
“That sounds like a nice place to start, shall we.”
~ A Few Moments Ago. ~
Visha felt like she had made some headway with the old woman as she noticed her perk up after hearing her offer to take her shopping with Tanya. Truly the two of them together would be able to launch a much more successful offensive if they attacked in tandem. From what Visha had learned in her language studies, this culture revered their elders even more then her own. This put the old woman in the advantageous position of being able to dictate Tanya’s dress code nearly as much as the army’s rules and regulations had.
Visha had to hide the truly vicious, victorious smile that threatened to split her face from ear to ear, after all the Colonel had cautioned not to get drunk off the sweet nectar of victory one too many times for Visha to begin counting her eggs quite yet.
Turning her attention back to the conversation between Tanya and her grandfather, she noticed it was getting more heated.
Tanya’s fists were clenched, and her telltale sign of distress was already making itself apparent on her neck and cheeks, flushing them a rather fetching shade of red. It warmed her heart that her friend was getting so defensive on her behalf.
Then Visha heard Tanya say a phrase that seemed to silence the old man and even made her grandmother perk up as she looked over at Visha with renewed interest.
Visha didn’t understand anything that was said, but she did catch the word kenzoku being emphasized by Tanya and made a mental note to look it up later. Hopefully she would be able to phonetically spell it out. Whatever was said, it seemed to end the argument, as Tanya’s grandmother stepped in and spoke softly for little bit before taking Tanya’s arm in hers and turning towards the door.
Visha quickly occupied Tanya’s other side and the three made their way out of the room as Tanya began explaining where they were headed to Visha.
~
Seiji held back a sigh as he watched the three women walk arm in arm from the room, his presence all but forgotten. As he made to follow after them his mind kept replaying the conversation he had been having with his granddaughter.
It had truly been quite the verbal spar, her arguments and counter points were well reasoned and had few holes he could exploit to counterattack. He often found himself of the back foot whenever he tried arguing from a reason standpoint.
When he had turned to using an appeal to emotion, his fallacy had not been immediately called out as he had planned, instead she had counter attacked with that same fallacy, using it to finish the argument and deliver the final coup de grace.
Smiling to himself, he thought that his little granddaughter would make a fine lawyer if she wished. Catching up to them as they were changing their shoes, he made to bend over and change his as well but was stopped by his wife.
“Grandpa why don’t you find a place for us to go to dinner later to celebrate, make whatever preparations are necessary for the four of us to go out together.”
“Five.”
Tanya interrupted, as the two grandparents looked at their grandchild, she explained further, turning a cute shade of red in embarrassment at her interruption.
“Sorry grandfather, could you make it for five people, we have a roommate, a friend who has been abandoned by her family and we don’t want her to feel like we are doing the same. Plus, from a practical standpoint it will give Visha someone to talk to while we discuss matters between us.”
Seiji opened his mouth to agree but was beat to the punch by his wife.
“Of course dear, that will be no problem, do you have any food that you would prefer? Would you like something more traditional or do you prefer more western style?”
“Perhaps just a normal family style restaurant, I think everyone would feel more comfortable there and it lends itself well to conversation. Would that be alright Grandmother?”
“Oh, Tanya-chan please just call me grandma, and yes that’s just fine. What’s you roommates name? So grandpa can make arrangement for her as well."
“Thank you, Obaachan, her names Yamamoto Momo.”
Tanya turned towards Seiji and gave him a half bow as thanks as well, making him smile at her polite manners, before finishing with her shoes and exiting the building with his wife and her friend.
Sighing he dropped the shoe that was still dangling from his hand and turned back towards the interior of the building looking for one of the care workers to see if there was any necessary paperwork in order to take the girls on an outing.
~
It turned out that there was indeed paperwork that must be filled out for even family members to temporarily check one of the residents out of the shelter, and yet more paperwork when it involved residents who weren’t related to the visiting party.
No stranger to bureaucracy and red tape, Seiji made quick work of each of the forms, as well as contacting and reserving a semiprivate booth at a nearby restaurant. Checking his watch and noting the time, he made to find the Matron of this establishment and find out more about what his precious granddaughter had been up to.
~
Tanya had thought the garden walk had been going well, she had been able to speak more casually with her grandmother and helped Visha chime in every once in a while. Unfortunately, that had led to the current situation.
upon noticing her refusal to translate something Visha had suggested her grandmother had dug in her heels and forced Tanya to interpret every last one of Visha’s words.
That was how Tanya now found herself standing in front of a scenic koi pond posing with her grandmother while Visha took pictures using the very same Fujitsu Arrows z camera phone he had bought her for Mother’s Day the previous May. The irony of the situation did nothing to brighten her mood.
Nor did the happy smile on Visha’s face as she switched places with Tanya’s grandmother and began striking her own poses that Tanya was forced to go along with. She remembered well the consequences of ruining one of his mother’s family portraits by “fooling around,” during picture taking.
In the end she patiently held still and allowed multiple pictures to be taken at various locations in between conversations about favorite foods, books, movies and other light topics you’d expect a grandmother to ask her grandchild about. Tanya noted that so far both her grandmother and grandfather had avoided talking about her supposed captivity and early life.
In fact her grandfather had barely begun to pick at her and Visha’s relationship and attachment to each other, but had quickly backed down as Tanya had explained her reasoning and thought process on the matter.
The sky was turning shades of pink and orange by the time they made it back to the shelter. Grandfather was there waiting for them as well as the Matron and a very excited Momo.
After a stern lecture to behave themselves and to be back before curfew, the Matron waved them off to board the car grandfather had called.
Sitting in the car between Visha and her grandmother, Tanya was subjected to a heated back and forth between the two as they passed the phone to and fro discussing the pictures. Momo the little traitor, was chipping in as well. Tanya closed her eyes and just hoped that it would all end soon.
~
Sonoko paused mid discussion with Visha-chan, as she felt a soft weight settle against her side. Catching her breath as she looked down to see that her beloved little granddaughter had fallen asleep and was now leaning on her. A soft smile graced her face as she reached over to gently brush the hair from her face, only for her hand to be gently but firmly grasped by Visha-chan. Confused and slightly annoyed she looked over at the young woman, who just slowly shook her head in the negative and mimed opening her eyes wide in surprise.
“Tanya is a very light sleeper, if you touch her, she will wake up instantly, I found out the hard way once, and that was enough for me.”
Momo-chan explained on Visha’s behalf, as she rubbed awkwardly at her ribs, meanwhile Visha released the hold on her hand.
“I’m surprised she fell asleep on you, normally she’s only ever that comfortable around Visha.”
Momo continued, with a smile in a slightly jealous tone.
Sonoko nodded in thanks to Visha-chan and continued to stare at her granddaughter. She felt a light stirring in her heart that slowly built up the more she thought about the connection they shared. This was her sons only posterity, she was the last of their family. Her heart felt full tell nearly bursting at the thought that she had been given a second chance from out of nowhere.
After Soto’s death she had cursed the Gods with all her heart, demanding to know why her son had been taken from her. Now she felt a sudden need to visit a shrine and offer her eternal gratitude for this unexpected blessing that had come into their lives.
Kamisama no kiseki ni kansha shimasu, she cried out in her heart, as she turned her face upwards and closed her eyes in prayer.
Glossary chapter 20
- Kamisama no kiseki ni kansha shimasu: I thank God for His miracles.
- "Hime-chan" (姫ちゃん) is a Japanese term translating to "little princess" or "Princess [Name]," combining the noun hime (princess) with the affectionate, cutesy suffix -chan. It is often used as a nickname for a girl to signify she is treated like a princess, is young, or is exceptionally cute.
- "Onee-chan" (お姉ちゃん) is a Japanese term for "older sister," combining onee (older sister) with the affectionate suffix -chan. It is commonly used by children or younger siblings to show affection, or informally to address older female friends/acquaintances.
- Onbuhimo (おんぶひも) is a traditional Japanese baby carrier that translates to "back carrying strap" or "piggyback strap". Derived from onbu (carrying on the back/piggyback) and himo (strap/string), it refers to a waist-less, high-back carrier designed to keep infants and toddlers close to the caregiver.
- Kenzoku (眷属) is a Japanese term translating to "family," "dependents," or "household". Beyond literal blood ties, it refers to a deep, chosen, and loyal friendship, often described as "the family you
choose for yourself". It represents a profound connection with people who share the same life story.
- Obaachan (おばあちゃん) is the Japanese term for "grandma" or "grandmother," often used by children or to show affection. It signifies a warm, familiar relationship with an elderly woman, usually 60 or older, and is distinguished from obaasan (polite/formal) or obasan (aunt/middle-aged woman).
- coup de grace
/?ko?o d? ?ɡr?s/ Noun, a final blow or shot given to kill a person or animal.
"he administered the coup de grace with a knife"
an action or event that serves as the of a bad or situation."
the epidemic has been the coup de grace for the airline crisis"
Amor Natus ex Amore: Love born from love; The concept that love can be had, found, or created from an already existing love. Such as love for grandchildren coming from love of one’s children. As well as the love for one’s son or daughter-in-law coming from love of one’s child. Another phrase for this is “when you truly love someone, you love all that comes with them even the crows on their roof.
Authors note. This is how you foreshadow Boyz!