Chapter 18
Subashiri Police Koban, Subashiri, Oyama, Sunto District, Shizuoka
May 12, 2013
9:38 A.M.
Ohta Ichigo
Moments after Major Suzumoto stated that we needed to talk, I quickly grabbed chairs for all four of us and then placed them around one of the four desks in the first floor of the koban. Kurumi and Suzumoto seated themselves in two of those chairs afterwards, while I placed Ao on the chair between me and Kurumi as gently as I can, and quickly told her to just watch and listen.
“Ichigo, Ms. Kurumi,” Suzumoto said as I sat on my chair. “I’m going straight to the point. Are you two still opposed to the idea of letting your daughter use her powers for the sake of Japan?”
Kurumi and I traded looks with each other for a few moments, then I gave her a nod. We then turned back to Suzumoto.
“Major, regarding that issue, may I please discuss things first with my fiance? There are new developments that we still haven’t discussed with each other about,” Kurumi said
Major Suzumoto nodded slowly upon hearing that. And then he spoke up some more.
“If that is the case, then I also have more developments that I dearly hope you two would consider in your decision.”
“Go on,” I said, wanting to hear more information.
“Confirmation of news that almost all the Prefectural capitals of Japan had been captured came in as of thirty minutes ago. And as of an hour ago, we could only make contact with two Self Defense Forces installations out of...more than a hundred.”
My heart fell into the cold abyss of despair upon hearing that information, but I kept up a stoic look on my face for the sake of my wife and daughter beside me.
“Major Suzumoto, how could the Self Defense Forces be broken just like that?” Kurumi asked in a disbelieving tone.
“We aren’t broken,” Suzumoto snapped back in an instant. “The reservists hadn’t been called up yet. And there are units around to form up on.”
“Which units? The ones in the two installations?” I asked.
“Among many others. Zentsuji garrison in Kagawa Prefecture is untouched, but the city itself is currently under siege by Skinchangers and Lighteaters. Izumo garrison in Shimane Prefecture is also in the same predicament.”
“Zentsuji...that is the 14th Brigade’s Headquarters."
"Along with the 15th Infantry Regiment, 14thReconnaisance Company and some others,” Suzumoto quickly added.
“And Izumo...who is at Izumo?” I asked.
I had only memorized which area of Japan is under the responsibility of which division or brigade of the JGSDF, and that includes memorizing the location of the headquarters of each unit. I didn’t bother to remember all of the garrisons, since I thought I’ll learn if that was even something that must be remembered once I joined the Self Defense Forces.
“13thReconnaisance Company. And then there’s all the Self Defense Forces who were on the move when yesterday happened.”
My despair started to lighten up when he mentioned that there were people on the road yesterday. That meant more members of the Self Defense Forces who were still alive and able to bring the fight to the Skinchangers and Lighteaters.
“Any idea how many?” I quickly asked.
The shrug that Suzumoto replied with dismayed me.
“The only one I know of was 13th regiment, the one your father was part of. The higher ups in the Ministry of Defense decided to move the survivors to Camp Fuji because of reasons. And as of my last cellphone call to them thirty minutes ago, they had just passed the border between Shizuoka and Nagano prefectures.”
“That’s...several hours of driving. Through possibly occupied territory,” I slowly said, while wincing at the riskiness of what Suzumoto had just said the 13th regiment was currently doing.
“Something they had already taken account of, but won’t tell me how.”
“Major Suzumoto, something about what you said earlier doesn’t make sense,” Kurumi asked in a hesitant manner.
“Was there? Go on, ask.”
“Zentsuji and Izumo aren’t Prefectural capitals. And you said you can only contact those two bases and the 13th regiment. So what is this about not all the Prefectural capitals getting captured by the magical alien soldiers?”
“Ah. Tokyo...is for all intents and purposes captured. It’s only the Tokyo Imperial Palace that’s holding out, defended by the Imperial Guard. And then there’s Nara.”
“What happened to Nara?” I asked.
“Nothing,” Suzumoto said in a completely befuddled manner. “Nothing happened to Nara. Osaka and Kyoto had a sudden invasion of thousands of Skinchangers and Lighteaters, and Nara was mysteriously left alone. And no one has any idea as to why.”
“No one? Not even Izanami?” I asked.
Suzumoto looked at me for a few seconds, and then slowly covered his face with his right hand and started massaging the temple of his forehead.
His action prompted me to take a closer look at the man.
His Type 2 uniform was wrinkled, and had stains all over the place. He smelled of dried sweat and gunpowder. And his skin was dry, rough and pale.
“Major Suzumoto, have you taken any sleep since yesterday?” I asked in concern for his wellbeing.
“I haven’t slept since yesterday morning. I haven’t had any coffee either,” he confessed in a steady tone of voice.
“Major Suzumoto, what were you doing that rendered you unable to take a brief nap for more than twenty four hours?” Kurumi asked.
Before I was able to explain to Kurumi, Suzumoto took his hand off his face and preempted me by explaining it himself.
“I learned that I am the most senior officer still alive in the area, and that is already dismaying because there used to be a Lieutenant General, several Major Generals, Colonels and so on and so forth in Camp Fuji, Camp Kita-Fuji, Camp Takigahara, Camp Komakado and Camp Itazuma yesterday morning. That meant I’m now in charge of making everyone still alive move.”
Suzumoto stopped for a few moments to take a deep breath. And then he continued.
“So my first order is to find out how many of us are still alive. And frankly...Camp Fuji, the Camp Fuji Regional Hospital staff and half of the 105th Supply Batallion. And your Father, if he could still serve. Out of nine different units based in there.”
I only had a few moments to feel the icy tentacles of horror wrap around me when Suzumoto continued.
“Camp Kita-Fuji...six men from the 1st Artillery Unit. Out of hundreds of men from seven different units in Kita-Fuji. And from Takigahara...thanks to Izanami, all the ten units based there survived, with only around half of the members dead or wounded.”
“How about the Americans in Camp Fuji? Or Camp Komakado and Camp Itazuma?” I asked.
“Not one American left alive in Camp Fuji. Or Self Defense Forces personnel in Komakado and Itazuma. We checked.”
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Subashiri Police Koban, Subashiri, Oyama, Sunto District, Shizuoka
May 12, 2013
9:39 A.M.
Ikeda Kurumi
“What happened Major Suzumoto?” I asked in dismay at everything he reported to us. “Why was...”
“Why did we take that many casualties?” Suzumoto said in a self mocking tone.
When I nodded, Suzumoto sighed.
“At its most basic it was because of four things. Magic, surprise, chemical weapons and friendly fire.”
“Friendly fire?! From who?!” Ichigo suddenly cut in.
“From the idiot spewing out lava from the top of Mt. Fuji.”
“Konohanasakuya-hime?” I asked incredulously.
“Yes. Her fancy artillery attack was very indiscriminate and insanely destructive even by modern military standards. I personally estimate she was the one responsible for one fourth to half of all our KIA.”
“KIA?” I asked, having never encountered that term before.
“KIA stands for killed in action,” Ichigo quickly answered in a horror filled voice, an emotion that I was starting to feel myself.
It was one thing to die fighting for your homeland and your people. It was another thing to die because someone who was supposed to be your ally wasn’t looking at where they were shooting...or maybe just plainly didn’t care if their ally got in the line of fire.
“Well, I had now informed you two of all the recent developments that happened. I’m now going to leave you two to your discussion and go back to...my command post. I truly, deeply hope that you two would let Ao help us with her powers of seeing the future.”
After saying that Suzumoto stood up, and then suddenly swayed in place.
“Major, you alright?” Ichigo asked as he quickly stood up and placed his hand on Suzumoto’s shoulder to steady the older man.
After a few moments of silent blinking on his end, Major Suzumoto asked Ichigo to assist him in getting back to the makeshift command post.
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“I’m back,” my beloved fiance said as he returned some time later, and stood in the middle of the doorway.
“How’s Major Suzumoto?” I asked as Ao cuddled with me.
“Asleep on an office chair that his new subordinates scrounged up from somewhere.”
“Papa, did you bring any food? I'm hungry,” Ao asked.
Ichigo smiled at us, and then he stepped aside, to reveal the very welcome sight of Papa holding a plastic bag filled with a pack of sliced bread, a jar of mayonnaise, a jar of pickled cucumber, a pack of plastic spoons, and three bottles of distilled water.
"Lolo!" Ao screamed in glee. "Is that food for us?!"
"Yes it is. Now, what's the next thing you should say?" Papa teased, waving his groceries while wearing his blue jacket, black shirt and pants from the other day.
"Thank you for the food!" my daughter replied to her grandfather in glee.
After Ao said that, Papa quickly walked in and put the food items on top of the table with a smile on his face.
"So Ao, how is the food?" Papa asked as my daughter, my boyfriend and I were finishing breakfast by drinking the bottles of water.
"Uhm...I'm full," Ao stated.
"Not delicious?" Papa asked with a raised eyebrow.
"...it's delicious?"
"Ao?" It was my turn to ask. "Just say what you really think. We're not going to get angry if you say it doesn't taste good."
After a moment of looking at me, and then at Papa and Ichigo, Ao finally told the truth with a big pout on her face.
"The food tasted weird. But I'm hungry so I just ate even if I don't want to."
"I bet it was the combination of pickled cucumber and mayonnaise that made the taste weird." Ichigo commented. "Why did you buy pickled cucumber in the first place Father?"
"You guys need your vegetables? Also they are on sale because there is no electricity to keep them cold and fresh."
Papa's weird reply prompted Ichigo to grab the packaging of the sliced bread and the mayonnaise and inspect them. He then looked back at Papa after a few moments and replied that according to the packaging's nutritional content we had just gotten around a quarter of our daily nutritional intake with only bread and mayonnaise.
"Ri-i-ight. To be honest, Magdalena and I don't trust everything written in a food product's label. If only we could cook and buy the ingredients..."
"We are currently at war..." I reminded Papa, to which he replied with a shrug.
"Speaking of Mother, where's Mom and Dad and Mother?" Ichigo asked.
"About that...I have good news and bad news regarding Kentaro."
"Dad's awake?" Ichigo asked as he stood up from his chair, with a hopeful tone of voice. Ao and I quickly gave him our emotional support by squeezing his right hand with our left hands, to which he replied by squeezing back.
"That is the good news. The bad news is..."
Papa trailed off and started looking everywhere but us.
"Papa?" I asked in a worried tone.
"Brain damage confirmed."
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Subashiri Police Koban, Subashiri, Oyama, Sunto District, Shizuoka
May 12, 2013
10:26 P.M.
Ohta Ichigo
The words Kentaro said took all the strength in my legs, and left me sitting down in my chair, silent in shock and dismay.
"Papa, how bad is it?" my wife asked in my place.
"Well…there is the noticeable pause it takes for him to respond to one single question or to make a verbal reaction. Thankfully it’s only two or three seconds but it wasn’t like that before now. And then there is how he talks. He is…slower than before, but not too much. Just noticeable. And some words aren’t pronounced right."
While I winced involuntarily at hearing Dad’s symptoms, Kentaro continued talking.
“And then there is the slight shakiness in his limbs when he tried to walk.”
"Dad can still walk, right?" I hoarsely let out of my mouth the instant I heard that.
“He can. He can. And I believe Hayato when he said he can walk by himself, he even tried testing his reflexes out in a controlled manner. But Yuki was so spooked by that shakiness that…”
“What did Mom do?”
“Yuki made him sit down, and started hugging him once he was convinced to do so. In public."
Everything was as quiet as a cemetery for several moments after that. And it seemed like it would go on forever if Ao didn't suddenly broke the silence.
"Lolo, when you left Grandpa how is he feeling? Is he sad? Maybe we could help comfort him?"
“…I don’t think I should tell you. You’re too young,” Kentaro replied with a frown at Ao.
While I felt bothered by the words that Kentaro had just said, my daughter pressed onwards despite Kentaro's frown in a surprising manner.
"Uhm…Lolo, I could use my powers to see the answer if I want to, but I’m not doing that because Mama told me to ask for permission first or she will get mad at me.”
A moment or two of shocked silence passed after those words. I only saw Kentaro’s reaction, which was to repeatedly blink at the threat that came out of nowhere, because Kurumi was beside me and out of my field of view. As for me, I was left wondering if this was a prelude of her teenage years to come.
I only remembered I'm supposed to react as Ao’s father when my daughter asked Kentaro if something was wrong.
"Ao, don’t ever talk that way to your parents or grandparents again. Or else I will get angry and punish you,” I scolded her.
"Ichigo, calm down," Kurumi quickly intervened. And then she aimed a stern look at our naughty daughter. "Ao, threatening to do something that disregards what your parents and your grandparents want without a good reason is a bad thing. Apologize to Papa.”
After a few seconds, Ao nodded and apologized to Kentaro. While that happened I aimed a disbelieving stare at my wife because of what she just said.
‘Good reason? You think Ao can explain or reason out a genuinely logical good reason at the age of four? Seriously Kurumi?’
My wife caught the stare I’m aiming at her, and briefly stared back with a wait hand sign that was just as brief as the stare she gave me before returning her attention to Ao and Kentaro.
‘Alright. I’ll wait.’
"…why is it bad to learn some things when I am young?" Ao said with a pout.
"If you are too young to learn something, then you can’t know about it. That’s final," I firmly stated in a tone that brooked no dissent.
I relaxed upon seeing Ao meekly nod in acceptance of my judgment. And then I noticed Kurumi looking at me.
It was then that I remembered that we were supposed to discuss how to proceed from now onwards.
“Kurumi, what do you say to including Father here in the discussion?”
As Kentaro raised an eyebrow at my question, Kurumi pondered my question. Moments passed, then she finally made a decision.
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Subashiri Police Koban, Subashiri, Oyama, Sunto District, Shizuoka
May 12, 2013
10:27 P.M.
Ikeda Kurumi
“Papa, please look after Ao for some time. Ichigo and I need to discuss something upstairs.”
Papa instantly reacted as I stood up from my chair, quickly followed by Ichigo himself.
“And what are you two going to discuss by yourselves?”
“Deciding how we should take the offer of paying Ao to use her abilities for the Self Defense Forces,” I replied.
Papa spent a few moments blinking, opened his mouth to say something, and then closed his mouth again with a thoughtful look on his face.
“Papa?”
“Kurumi, last night Yuki and your mother told me something ridiculous. Apparently...someone rich from the land of the magical aliens wanted you, Ichigo and Ao dead and is willing to pay the equivalent of hundreds of millions of Yen for that.”
“It’s true!” Ao insisted. “I saw it when I’m looking into the future. The book that I can read in my mind explained that the Lighteater that Papa killed back home was a son of one of the richest and most powerful noble families of their world.”
“And because those new uniforms of theirs supposedly also transmits audiovisual records...” Papa trailed off with a very bitter look on his face.
After several seconds of silence passed, Ichigo spoke up.
“Father, you see how bad our situation is. We don’t have much of a choice other than, to put it vulgarly, see how much we could get from the Self Defense Forces.”
Papa gave out a weary sigh before replying.
“I see it. I get it...you’ve grown so much Kurumi.”
The wistful melancholy in Papa’s voice prompted my boyfriend and I to exchange meaningful looks before sitting back down into the chairs we had just vacated.
"Papa, what's wrong?"
"Kurumi...it's only been five years since you were still my little girl. And now, when your former classmates and best friends are only worrying about school or boyfriends or both, I'm watching you make life changing decisions with your husband to be for your own family...we really skipped a lot of things didn’t we, Kurumi?"
All was silent for several seconds. I sat there, blinking and silent because I needed to think of how to answer Papa. Ichigo sat silently in his chair, most probably because he was half the reason why Papa missed a lot of Father-Child activities. Any verbal mistake on his part might irritate Papa. And Ao was silent because she most likely doesn't know what to do.
"Papa," I finally spoke after putting my thoughts and feelings in order. "I also feel sad that I can no longer go back to our house every day, or always eat Mama's food, or just spend more time with you and Mama. But...we still had happy memories, right?"
“Less than I would have liked. Kurumi...last week Hayato told me in secret that if I wanted to, he would convince you and Ichigo to move back to Yokohama, live at our house for your last year of high school.”
I looked at Papa in incredulity over what he said, because Father was one of the reasons I permanently moved in with the Ohta family.
Back when Ichigo and I announced my pregnancy four years ago, almost all our angry parents immediately took their stances.
Mother and Papa wanted me to abort the baby. But they were pointing fingers at each other, demanding that the other party be the ones to pay for the medical expenses. Mama wanted to let me to give birth to the baby, but she was torn between taking care of the baby ourselves or giving the baby up for adoption. And Father...glared at me and kept his opinion to himself.
After two days of discussion in my bedroom, something that only happened because Mother staged a sit in inside our home to force Papa to pay the medical bills, Ichigo and I decided to sit Father and Mama down in a quiet family restaurant in our neighborhood and sincerely talked with them.
We told them we wanted to take responsibility for our baby with our parent’s help, and we wanted to be given the chance to learn if the two of us can be together as partners in life. We begged them to help us convince Papa and Mother to let us have the baby.
Mama quickly agreed, because Ichigo was trying to take responsibility for me and our baby. That was something she was going to demand of Ichigo, she told me later that year. And then Father blindsided us.
He said that he would only let the baby be born if his family possesses the right of parenthood and custody of my baby from the moment I gave birth.
Mama didn’t argue against the idea itself, because with Ichigo as the baby’s father and my future husband the baby really does belong to the Ohta family. What she protested was him forcing the state that would eventually be reached once Ichigo and I marry to happen right now, and his notable lack of any reference to myself with what he said.
Father’s reply was that his preference was for me to have no place in his family. That panicked me into begging him to let me have a place in the life of my baby and boyfriend, while Ichigo tried to get me to stop kneeling. His reply was that he would allow it if I moved in with their family as Ichigo’s wife to be.
The look on his face later on when I arrived at the doorstep of the Ohta residence at the time, accompanied by Mama, Papa, my bag of clothes, and an incredulous Mother, suggested that everything went exactly as he wanted.
‘And now Father said that to Papa? What?’
“I know, I know,” Papa said as several seconds passed and I didn’t stop staring at him. “It was Hayato who forced the issue in the first place. But he eventually started to feel guilty for cutting off all the time Magdalena and I could have spent with you, Kurumi.”
“...Papa, what do you want?”
“Come back. Bring your family and live with us for your last year of High School. We miss you.”
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Subashiri Police Koban, Subashiri, Oyama, Sunto District, Shizuoka
May 12, 2013
10:27 P.M.
Ohta Ichigo
“Father, what about my parents?” I quickly asked barely a second after Kentaro finished saying what he wanted. “Dad is...crippled.”
“Bring them along too! Magdalena and I don’t have a problem with that.”
I looked at Kurumi hoping to catch her eye, and saw her sigh.
“Papa, could Ichigo and I discuss how to accept the Self Defense Force’s offer first? I’m sorry but I can’t deliberate on two separate things at the same time.”
“Sure, sure. Go upstairs. I’ll stay here and keep Ao company,” Kentaro replied with a smile, while waving his hand at us.
As Kurumi and I stood from our chairs, Ao also joined Kentaro in waving at us. The two of them quickly went out of sight as we turned the corner and walked upstairs.
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“I can’t believe the nerve of your father, Ichigo,” Kurumi stated as I closed the door after us.
“And I’m sorry for that, Kurumi,” I said as I turned away from the door, to see my wife in the middle of the room. There she took off her slippers and sat down on the floor with her knees together, facing the door. And then she started to pat her thighs while looking at me.
“Really?” I asked, my eyebrows raising up my forehead.
“Really,” my wife answered with a faint smile.
“Really, really?”
“Do you want a lap pillow or not?”
Within moments I was lying on the floor, with my head resting on Kurumi’s thighs and looking up at her smiling face.
“You know, if there’s anyone who needs a lap pillow at this moment it’s you. Why are you giving me one instead of asking one from me?” I asked her in honest curiosity.
“Because I don’t want to get distracted by something hard, hot, and long,” Kurumi candidly answered, poking my right cheek with her finger at the same time.
I chuckled a few seconds after hearing her joke, which in turn made her giggle.
“Kurumi, now is not the time for anything lewd. Come on.”
“Says the man who has a tendency to suddenly ask for sex at the most awkward places and times,” Kurumi retorted.
“I always listen when you say no,” I pointed out.
“I only say no half the time. In the other half of all those times I end up happy, sweating, and smelling of you.”
I wasn’t able to reply, because what she said was true. So I...
“I give up. You win. So...let’s talk about Ao?”
“Ok.,” my wife replied as her giggles slowly ended. "So, where do we start?"
"Let’s start with ‘unless there is a good reason.’ Why did you say that? You are already giving Ao a good lecture on obeying her elders, and then you suddenly undermine that by telling her she can disobey us and our parents if there is a good reason?”
Kurumi blinked down at me before giving her reply.
“We’re not perfect. Neither are our parents. If we really are doing something wrong then I would be proud if she can discern what’s right and wrong and act on it.”
“...if she’s at the same age as us when we made Ao. But right now Ao is only about to become five years old. Are you sure she knows what’s right or wrong at that age?”
“Our daughter is smart for her years. And she can review her choices in writing thanks to her psychic power. Of course she can recognize right or wrong at that age,” Kurumi proudly boasted of our daughter.”
“Well then I hope she proves me wrong,” I say in the face of my wife’s positivity. “Let’s now move on to the Self Defense Forces. What do you think we should ask?”
“…Ichigo, is demanding one million yen per month as salary too greedy for us?”
I blinked several times while thinking about it, shook my head, and quickly adjusted the pirate style monocle I was forced to wear since yesterday due to movement.
“That's...not a good idea,” I answered.
"You really should have that monocle replaced."
"Using what money? And where do I get it replaced?"
"...oh. I didn’t think of that...won’t you try not wearing that in the first place?”
“Kurumi, these are dangerous times we are living in now. I can’t afford to have farsighted vision during these times. So this stupid thing would have to stay for the time being.”
“Promise me you will replace that thing as soon as possible.”
“Yes dear, I promise I’m throwing this ridiculous thing away the instant I find a replacement.”
Seeing Kurumi give me a smile of satisfaction, I decided to find a replacement as soon as possible, to spare myself all the headaches this monocle was bringing me.
“Thank you love. Now, where were we again?” Kurumi asked me.
“You said one million yen a month. I don’t think that’s a good idea because of the inflation this war will bring.”
“...exactly how high do you think the prices of everything would become?” Kurumi asked me with this wary expression on her face.
I reluctantly answered her question with three words.
“World War Two.”
I was tense, worrying about how my wife would react to that news when I saw that I had nothing to worry about.
Kurumi merely let off a sigh, muttered something inaudible, and then asked me if I was thinking of payment in kind.
“Definitely. This is the government we’re talking with here. They should be able to pay us in kind.”
“No money whatsoever?"
"Well...we can't eat coins and paper."
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Subashiri Police Koban, Subashiri, Oyama, Sunto District, Shizuoka
May 12, 2013
10: 32 P.M.
Ikeda Kurumi
"Ichigo, that's going too far. Even during World War Two money still had value here in Japan, and we certainly are going to need money whenever the war ends," I said to my fiance.
"Kurumi, we can get paid with a lifetime supply of food rations for us and our parents. We can get paid with free housing, free health care, free utilities. We might even get a free ride to college graduation if we do things right."
"Without money you can't buy a replacement for your eyeglasses. Without money we can't buy school supplies for that free ride you were talking about. Without money we can't buy cleaning supplies for that house we could get paid with. Without money we couldn't buy clothes to keep us warm...Ichigo, are you expecting the government to pay us in those things too?"
"...maybe?" Ichigo said in an uncertain tone. "The government is doing all that for Self Defense Forces recruits in the barracks...then again Ao could most likely be classified as a civilian contractor...I'm not sure. I'll check with Major Suzumoto."
For several moments all was silent in the room as my boyfriend and I stewed with our own thoughts. And then all of a sudden Ichigo said something crazy.
"Oh yeah. The condoms."
"What the fuck?! How are condoms related to what we are talking about now?" I asked, feeling a blush and hysterical disbelief spread throughout my body.
"I can't think of any way to convince the government to also include a free supply of condoms for us."
"And that's yet another thing we need money for. If we don't have condoms I might get pregnant again, no matter the withdrawals and safe days and sixty nines that we do."
The only response that Ichigo gave after what I said was a frown directed at the ceiling.
A dozen seconds passed before I realized that my boyfriend was lost in thought, so I interrupted it.
"Ichigo, are you asleep?"
"No I'm not. I'm just...this is a really bad time to bring a baby into the world, right?"
"Correct."
"Alright," Ichigo sighed out. "What is your proposal for how much they should pay us?"
"...the condoms are what convinced you to include money in Ao's compensation?"
Ichigo shrugged before replying in all honesty.
"Of course. No condoms means you will eventually get pregnant. And...I remembered the time when you were pregnant with Ao."
I wasn't able to stop a wistful smile from blossoming on my face, something my fiance reciprocated.
That time was a time of significant discoveries and pain for both me and Ichigo. And by the month I gave birth, we had both concluded we can live with each other.
"And what did you conclude when you remembered that time?"
"That we're not ready to give Ao a little brother or sister any time soon."
And that was that.
"With that settled, what do you propose now?"
"...free housing, free healthcare for us and our parents, a free ride for any school and college for us and our daughter, and one hundred thousand yen per month."
"Three hundred thousand."
"Kurumi, the free things I'm are asking as compensation are already quite heavy demands. Asking for more money in addition is very unseemly of us."
"Then let's make the freebies somewhat smaller. Only Ao gets a free ride to any college she wants. I don't need a free ride, remember the plan Ichigo. You go to the JSDF, I’ll take part time jobs related to cooking and sewing while studying for a related degree in the Open University of Japan.”
"...Kurumi, this might literally be the last time you have a chance to go to college without concerning yourself with working at the same time. Are you sure you want to give up on the convenience?"
I was touched by his concern, so I answered him with a smile.
"Ichigo, I’m already both mother and student. Adding work to that is not hard, especially if my part time job adds credits to my courses But before all that we have to deal with this war currently happening."
Ichigo looked at me for several seconds, and then looked away in the direction of the door.
“Two hundred fifty thousand yen a month. Please settle for that Kurumi, because I don’t think I can face Dad after he learns we fleeced the Self Defense Forces in its time of need. As it is we are nearing that point.”
“Alright. Two hundred fifty thousand,” I conceded after several seconds of thought on the matter.
Ichigo was right. We were almost fleecing the Self Defense Forces Father was a member of with the two hundred fifty thousand yen per month, free housing, healthcare and Ao’s free ride.
Also, Ichigo did try to meet me halfway by raising the money we want to ask as compensation, so I would concede to his will.
"Now, want to talk about what Dad said to Father?"
“...I’m still not in the mood to think about that. Let’s talk about it tomorrow.”