Chapter 21. Dinner With the Devil.

  Tanya woke up as she felt the car decelerate and come to a stop. Wiping her mouth surreptitiously to check for drool, she was pleased to find that she had refrained from embarrassing herself any further.

  Stepping out of the vehicle with everyone else, Tanya allowed her grandfather to take point while she took the middle of the formation with her grandmother, Visha hanging back as their rearguard with Momo.

  It was only a short walk to the restaurant and the members of their group slowly relaxed and began to intermingle, talking and laughing with one another. Tanya found herself enjoying Momo’s dry sense of humor more and more as she spent time with the girl.

  Blinking as she looked around the group, Tanya suddenly found herself realizing that this was almost exactly the quiet, relaxing life she had been looking and fighting for for so long. The thought brought a small smile to her face as she looked up at the twilight sky and breathed out a cloud of fog into the cold evening air.

  ~

  Sonoko was having a very good time, it had been quite a while since she had gone on a happy evening walk with her husband. And now she was surrounded by the smiles and giggles of young girls as well.

  Her eyes kept seeking out her granddaughter and she exalted in the easy smile that now graced her little one’s lips. Everything was going so well, until she heard the sound of a gunshot.

  The sound startled her for sure, but she thought nothing of it, when suddenly she felt a small hand grip her jacket and pull her towards the ground with surprising strength, as a strange harsh shout reached her ears.

  “DECKUNG!”

  Looking down, she saw her granddaughters tiny fist clenched around her jacket, and her eyes traced said fist back to the arm, shoulder, and face it was connected to. A face that she found nearly unrecognizable.

  Her precious little angel’s face was twisted into a vicious snarl, as she stood half-crouched protectively over the squatting form of Momo-chan, with one hand still on her shoulder. Her cold gray eyes flashed silver in the lights of the city, seeming to reflect the light, like a cat’s eyes, as she surveyed their surroundings.

  Following her example, Sonoko looked around and noticed that Visha stood behind the three of them, her back facing them, as she too swept her head left and right in the opposite directions Tanya was looking. It was strange to see; the two looked almost robotically in sync with each other. Tanya would turn her head to her right, and at the same time Visha would also look to her own right, like two heads with one neck.

  She found it both eerie and fascinatingly beautiful at the same time. The two moved with a fluid grace as they slowly stood after Tanya pointed out the culprit of the loud noise. Speaking a short guttural phrase to Visha before talking to the rest of them in a very commanding tone.

  “It was just a burst tire from that motor scooter over there, nothing to worry about false alarm.”

  Sonoko, straightening back up, moved over to her husband’s side, before looking back at the three girls. She was surprised at how quickly her granddaughter and her friend seemed to switch from the frighteningly intense figures that had been standing protectively over them back to the silly young girls who were now joking and laughing together in their foreign language. Even now they acted as if they had done nothing strange at all.

  She opened her mouth to ask what that had been about, when she felt her arm get gently squeezed. Looking towards the culprit, she saw her husband firmly shake his head, before softly muttering to her.

  “Don’t mention it.”

  After that their walk resumed, Sonoko found herself looking at her little princess with new eyes and worrying about what could have caused her to react that way so naturally.

  Momo for the most part seemed to take the whole experience in stride and shortly began participating in the joking and laughter of the other two. This act, seemed to bring back the atmosphere from earlier and Sonoko felt herself relax and she was almost able to forget the whole experience, almost.

  ~

  Tanya relaxed once she realized that it was only a burst tire, signaling the all clear, she realized she had habitually given it in German and switched to Japanese.

  “It was just a burst tire from that motor scooter over there, nothing to worry about false alarm.”

  Looking over at Visha, Tanya joked with her old buddy, finding humor in the situation.

  “A couple of Ace of Aces hitting the deck at a popped bike tire, what would the men say if they saw us now.”

  “Oh, I’m sure they would be too frightened to say anything Ma’am, this is you we are talking about after all.”

  Visha responded, playfully punching Tanya’s arm.

  “None of them would ever dare to disrespect their terrifying chibi commander after all.”

  She continued with a smirk and a laugh, while patting the top of Tanya’s head condescendingly.

  Tanya was at first frozen in confusion at Visha’s turn of phrase, having to mentally wrap her head around the Japanese word mashed in with the German. Then she felt a hand pat her head like a child, and only a single thought ran through her head, the words strangely enough being in American English.

  “THIS. BITCH!”

  Visha had to step back rapidly in order to dodge Tanya’s retaliatory blows. Giggling and laughing while chanting.

  “Chibi Colonel! Chibi Colonel! Ahh!”

  “I’m going to throttle you when I catch you, and them I’m going to fry whoever it was that taught you that word!”

  Tanya shouted, as she chased her friend back and forth.

  “Hey you two, what’s going on here?

  Just then, Momo made her presence known and Tanya suddenly found the culprit for her current woes.

  “It was you! That’s it, you’re dead!”

  Tanya shouted, before jumping at Momo.

  “Kyaa! No! Save me Visha-chan!”

  Momo squealed trying to hide behind Visha.

  ~

  The restaurant was quite quaint and cozy in Tanya’s opinion, but none of that mattered to her because currently there was a menu in front of her with an entire section dedicated to deep fried foods.

  She felt drool try to escape from her mouth as she looked at the wondrous image of chicken karaage that seemed to almost jump off the page before her. Her only regret was the fact that the alcohol menu was off limits to her and would remain so for many more years. Tanya smirked to herself remembering that while Visha knew that she was currently underage and thus couldn’t drink. She had no idea what the actual legal drinking age was.

  Tanya couldn’t wait to see the look on her face when she realized that no, she didn’t need to only wait just one more year to be allowed to start drinking again, but that she wouldn’t be allowed until she turned twenty.

  Heh, serves her right, chibi Colonel my ass.

  Tanya smiled to herself, failing to notice how she was happily kicking her feet back and forth freely under the table.

  After everyone had ordered their food, Tanya made polite conversation with her grandparents for a bit before finally broaching a topic they needed to discuss.

  “You mentioned wanting me to come home with you, did you mean that to be permanent or until you could find somewhere else for us to stay?

  “Tanya-chan of course we want you to stay how could you ever think…”

  Her grandmother was cut off however before she could finish her sentence, by her grandfather of all people.

  “Wait Grandma, she’s not being callous. She just wants the facts of her situation. Isn’t that right Tanya?”

  “Yes Grandfather.”

  Tanya said nodding her head, grateful that at least her grandfather was acting more like the man she remembered, for the moment at least.

  “Allow me to lay out the facts as I see them and my preliminary plan going forward then. Firstly, we have acknowledged you as our granddaughter but still need to file the necessary paperwork to legalize that fact. And while we may have been permitted to take you home, in a few days once it was submitted, you are correct that, for now, you will continue staying at the shelter so long as your friend lacks a visa and you insist on staying with her.

  “As for your living situation after that, we of course wish for you to come home to live with us for as long as you desire. But I expect you will wish to attend school and college and may need to relocate in the future. As for your friend.”

  “If I may interrupt?”

  Tanya paused waiting for her grandfather, who nodded his permission for her to continue.

  “I believe I made myself clear earlier, but please allow me to reiterate, Visha will be staying with me. She goes where I go. I owe her too much to cut her adrift in this world to find her own way. Please Grandfather allow her to stay with us.”

  Tanya’s voice turned brittle and nearly frantic at the end of her heartfelt plea, as she bowed low over the table, her head nearly touching its surface.

  “You called her your comrade and named her kenzoku. I will not go against you on this issue; she is welcome in our home. It’s not like we are hurting for space in the old home.”

  “Thank you, Grandfather, I promise we won’t become a burden to you and Grandmother.”

  “It is nothing to worry about, again it’s not like we are hurting for space and what else am I to do, leave my only granddaughter to fend for herself while we grow old, and die surrounded by wealth we cannot take with us? No, your grandmother and I will be perfectly happy to provide for the two of you. But Tanya, have you given any thought to your future? What are your plans for schooling? What level of education do the two of you possess, if you don’t mind me asking?”

  “You’ve hit the crux of the matter, Grandfather. I would consider myself to easily be at the high school level in some areas and reaching into college level in others. Unfortunately, I have no certifications to prove so. Visha on the other hand is a more difficult matter, she is very intelligent and was educated in her local village school in Russia, but that hardly matters here. Her math and science skills are top notch, though, I can attest to that our main problem will be getting her language skills up to par and getting her brushed up on history.

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  “I have been researching our options and there are placement tests we can take to determine what year level we could enter. I was planning on studying with Visha for the next several months and taking the exams before the start of term in August. This should give us some time to get Visha ready and see where we both are education wise.”

  “That sound’s like a good plan; I take it you have started Visha’s immigration paperwork already?”

  Her grandfather asked his voice sounding mildly impressed.

  “Yes, it was one of the first things I did once I got access to a computer. For now, she is being allowed to stay at the shelter while they process her request, but my initial probe did seem positive, especially if I can get a reputable citizen to sponsor her.”

  “I’ll admit I’m not too familiar with our immigration system other than knowing it can be obtuse and difficult. Email me what information you have and I’ll ask around the firm to see if anyone has a connection that might lend us a hand.”

  Tanya’s eyes went wide at hearing her grandfather’s casual declaration of assistance. It felt strange, just a few hours ago they were arguing about Tanya staying behind and insisting Visha stay with her. Now, however, he was offering to cash in social favors just to help her friend out. Truly she had been wrong in thinking that her grandfather was acting like the man who had raised him. Who were these two and what had they done with his parents?

  Opening her mouth to express her gratitude, she was quickly waved off by her grandfather as the waiter brought over their food.

  “Don’t mention it we are family after all, this easily falls well within my expected duties, enough talk for now. Let’s eat!”

  And with that the discussion was over, as everyone passed the plates around to who they belonged to before tucking into the food.

  Tanya was making her way through her own meal, giving appreciative little sounds of enjoyment every now and then, when she noticed her grandmother pausing to look between her and Visha every once in a while. Looking over, Tanya found that her old friend had a nearly euphoric look on her face as she methodically devoured the hamburger she had ordered at Momo’s suggestion.

  Tanya felt herself smile at the sight of her friend enjoying her meal. Turning, she caught her grandmother’s eye and smiled to show her appreciation. The action seemed to set something off in the old woman, because she then became teary eyed and much to Tanya’s shame reached over with her napkin and wiped some oil from her cheek.

  “There you go my Hime-chan all clean now.”

  Tanya found herself with no possible response to regain her dignity and simply buried her head in her food, hoping to forget the whole thing in the joys of her meal. She may have heard a hickuped giggle that was quickly stifled from Momo, though she couldn’t be sure the girl wasn’t just choking on her water. Tanya refused to look up to check, she couldn’t bring herself to meet eyes with anyone at the moment.

  Throughout the rest of the meal, Tanya often found herself at the receiving end of her grandmother’s… ministrations. Were she a normal little girl she would likely be pleased to receive so much of her grandmother’s attention and favor. For Tanya however, it was one of the more insidious forms of torture she could conceive of.

  “Would the little Hime-sama like to try a bite of some of Grandma’s shrimp tempura? Go on, say ah.”

  Tanya felt truly humiliated by the treatment, but at the same time her grandmother was acting the way you would expect an elder to act around a child of Tanya’s size, if not her age. What was truly aggravating was the fact that she really did want a bite. She had been debating whether to pick between the tempura and karaage and had finally chosen the latter.

  Remembering that she was on a mission to ingratiate herself with her grandparents, and resigning herself to the act, she leaned forward opening her mouth to accept the offered food.

  Goddamn it! Why did it have to be so good, now she wanted another bite.

  Feeling incredibly reluctant, nevertheless her stomach demanded it, so Tanya turned her pitiable eyes back towards her grandmother.

  “Oh, does Hime-sama want another bite? Ok, one more time, say ah.”

  Just as Tanya had yet again resigned herself to the act, her grandfather swooped in and came to her rescue, pulling her plate towards him and sliding several pieces of the fried shrimp from his wife’s plate onto hers before sliding it back to Tanya, simply stating,

  “Here child.”

  Turning to his wife, he met her stormy eyes saying.

  “Dear we’re in public, save your antics for when we are at home.”

  Before returning to his meal.

  Tanya nearly had to wipe a tear of gratitude from her eye at his timely rescue. She reminded herself to get him something nice as a gift sometime in the future, just not a camera phone.

  Turning back to her meal and shooting Visha a smug look at the amount of food on her plate while subtly nodding at the empty plate in front of Visha. Tanya wiggled her shoulders in satisfaction as she took bite after bite of the savory food. Pausing to dip it into some of the different sauces available.

  ~

  Visha, meanwhile, contented herself with stealing fried potatoes from Momo’s plate, casting jealous glances at Tanya’s.

  She still couldn’t believe her hard assed commander, the celebrated war hero of the Empire, and bloody villain of so many nations, was currently seated in a booster seat, and had been cutely begging for bites from her grandmother’s plate.

  If anyone had seen this not knowing the Colonel as she did, they would have thought nothing of it, just another old couple indulging their cute granddaughter, is what she would have thought. But she knew better, and she had to restrain herself from busting out in laughter at the inner conflict Tanya must be having.

  Between wanting to maintain a shred of dignity and her desire to reexperience the taste of delicious food, Visha didn’t blame her friend for the choice she had made, but she certainly would be teasing her about it later.

  Leaning in towards Momo’s ear, Visha asked her a question in Japanese, using one of the first phrases of the language she had learned.

  “Momo, what does Hime-sama mean?”

  “Huh?”

  Momo asked, waving her hand for Visha to say the words again.

  “What does Hime-sama mean?”

  “Oh, Hime-sama, it means princess.”

  Visha didn’t recognize the word, and so just stared at Momo in confusion. Realizing her mistake, Momo tried to say the word in English but unlike Reimu-chan her English skills were poor, though she was getting better thanks to Tanya-sama’s…training.

  Listening to Momo’s English explanation left Visha even more confused, what was a “Dishney princesso?”

  Frustrated, Momo tried to explain a few more times before giving up and borrowing Sonoko-san’s phone and looking up an image online. Showing several pictures of royal princesses, both fictional and real. Eventually Visha understood what she was getting at and had to stop herself from dying on the spot.

  Pointing at Tanya and then using her hands and fingers to mimic a crown Visha repeated the word.

  “Hime-sama?”

  Momo sighed, and raised her hands one palm down and the other palm up facing each other, creating a large gap between the two she repeated the word.

  “Hime-sama”

  Then she moved her hands close together and spoke.

  “Hime-chan.”

  Thinking she understood, Visha mimicked rocking a baby in her arms and asked.

  “Hime-chan?”

  Momo smiled and nodded, but repeated both versions of the word, emphasizing raising her voice an octave higher when saying hime-chan.

  Visha nodded to herself happily as she stuffed another ketchup smothered fry into her mouth. She had been trained that it was always important to, plan and prepare ahead of time before committing to any action. It had been pounded into her over and over to make sure she had enough ammunition and supplies on hand before launching any attack or offensive.

  With her ammo belt full to bursting, Visha took a long drink of her cola, wondering if the nectar of her impending victory would taste just as sweet.

  ~

  Tanya stuffed another bite of batter fried shrimp into her mouth, tasting the delicate umami flavor that came from the sauce she had dipped it in. Wonderful, she thought. Closing her eyes to better enjoy the flavors she missed so much, she pushed all other distractions out of her mind, completely ignoring Momo and Visha’s mutterings and gestures to one another.

  Some time later the food came to an end and the plates were cleared from the table. While her grandparents and Momo ordered tea for after the meal, Tanya and Visha stuck with coffee.

  Looking at the black liquid, as steam swirled from its center, she let a smile of satisfaction escape her lips as she leaned forward and inhaled a breath of the rich scent.

  Completely managing to ignore the disapproving look her grandmother was casting towards her beloved beverage, Tanya almost reverently lifted the cup to her lips and took a sip.

  Swirling the scalding liquid around her tongue she had only one thought.

  Disappointing.

  She needed to get some beans of her own and get Visha a grinder asap. Ugh! If only she had her stuff from her apartment, she knew the old her had a very nice French press and grinder stored there. Hold that thought, she thought.

  But how to approach this topic delicately she wondered? Better to ask the old man. Setting her mug down, Tanya broached the subject in her most soft, calm voice. Dredging up memories of that time she convinced the then Captain Ugar to give up on front line service.

  “Grandfather?”

  “Yes, Tanya?”

  “My father, before, before he died, he used to bring me educational books, often on subjects like the economy, management styles, or history. Do you know if any of those books got packed away and are still around or were they all recycled?”

  Tanya noted how each of her grandparents paused, before looking toward one another and sharing another one of their silent conversations. Her grandmother’s voice cracked as she began to speak and quickly held her hand to her mouth. Grandfather took the opportunity to answer in her stead.

  “His possessions are all still in his apartment, we haven’t gotten around to cleaning it out yet.”

  Tanya noticed the pained tone in her grandfather’s voice as he admitted that, before he quickly changed the subject, surprising her with a question of his own.

  “He gave you books? We didn’t know he had such a connection with you. Sorry the police barely told us anything of the relationship between you two, they focused more on warning us what you had been through…never mind. We had assumed that he was unaware of your existence. He contacted you? You knew him?

  There was both surprise and excitement in her grandfather’s voice as he asked her.

  “Of, of course, I won’t go into the details of our situation here, but my father knew about me, we were able to meet many times. We talked about his work, and I would give him updates on what I had been learning, he was the primary reason why I ended up with any form of education at all. He would give me books and even bought learning programs for me to do on my computer. I owe him so much. His efforts helped keep me sane whenever the world would go crazy. I wouldn’t be who I am today if it wasn’t for his influence.

  “I know for you it must feel like he died just yesterday, but for me it feels like so much longer, so much has happened since his death, but even still, I often find myself missing the times from before he died, and I miss him.”

  Tanya bowed her head at the end of her little speech, going quiet. Waiting for her grandparents to respond and take the bait.

  “Oh, Tanya dear, I’m so sorry, we weren’t there for you. You remind me so much of Soto, he was such a strong, serious young boy. I’m sure he would be happy and proud that we found each other and that you are still working towards making your own future.”

  Her grandmother spoke, but rather than breaking down in tears, each word seemed to only make her voice stronger and more assured. By the time she finished speaking the sad forlorn look she had worn when Tanya had been speaking was gone, replaced by the proud visage that now beamed a smile at Tanya.

  “Grandma’s right Tanya, you look so much like him, your smile, the light in your eyes. It all reminds me of my clever son. You talk like him, I guess I should have know from that alone that you two had spent time together, I miss him as well.”

  Her grandfather reached over and patted her head affectionately, while also saying,

  “I’m glad we finally got to meet you as well.”

  Tanya felt happy that her plan had worked and that they accepted her so much, but despite her best efforts to reason it away, she also felt a tinge of guilt for manipulating them. To be fair, she reasoned, she really did miss her old life and self quite often, but she was finding the pain of that loss hurt less and less each day. Looking over at Visha, Tanya thought to herself that this life wasn’t turning out so bad after all.

  Refocusing on her grandparents and her purpose for opening up the still raw wounds, Tanya guiltily soldiered on.

  “You said you still had his apartment and that his things are still there. Would it be alright to go there together sometime? I want to see the place again, even if it’s for the last time, I want to revisit some memories and there was a book there. Father promised he would lend it to me after I finished the last one he gave me. We were supposed to discuss it together. Well, I suppose it doesn’t matter now.”

  “We, we can do that. We’ll go together I’ll arrange it in a few days and let you know ahead of time.”

  “Tanya-chan, could you, could you tell us about him? About what you remember he was like, how he acted around you, any stories you can remember of the time you spent together. Not here of course, another time, but if it’s not too upsetting for you, we would both love to hear more about our son from you. After all, you’re all we have left of him,”

  Her grandmother spoke softly, her pleading tone sending waves of sorrow through Tanya’s heart.

  “Grandma, yes, don’t worry about me, of course I’ll share with you, but you need to promise me you will also share your stories of him with me, ok?”

  Tanya kept her tone solemn and serious. Whatever guilt she might have felt was swept away in her determination to clear every last bit of that hollow look from his mother eyes. If she had to spin a thousand tales she would do so, if it meant she never had to see her grandmother look so frail ever again. This was her solemn duty and determination, and she would see it through, whatever it takes.

  ~

  They left the restaurant in a much more somber mood than they had arrived. After boarding the car and settling in, Tanya made the conscious decision to put her commitments into action. Leaning over she lay down placing her head and shoulders on her grandma’s lap and held still. Slowly, hesitantly, her grandma began to run her aged fingers through Tanya’s hair. A few minutes later her other hand found Tanya’s back and began rubbing in small circles as she sang a familiar lullaby softly for just the two of them.

  A tear leaked from Tanya’s eye as she silently apologized for the last time. I’m sorry Mother.

  Chapter 21 Glossary

  DECKUNG!

  Cover,

  as in take cover! or duck and cover!

  Chibi

  Chibi is a Japanese term for "small" or "short," commonly used in anime and manga to describe a popular art style featuring characters with exaggerated, cute proportions—large heads, tiny bodies, and big eyes. It represents a "super deformed" (SD) style, focusing on creating adorable, baby-like figures.

  "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.

  Hime-sama Usage: Hime-sama is a very respectful and formal way to refer to a princess, sometimes considered more formal than hime or himegimi.