The Surprise Guest

Four Weeks Later…

BANG! BANG! BUZZZZZTTT!

I’m startled awake, heart stuttering like a frightened puppy inside my chest. I take a breath in through my mouth, hold it for four seconds, and then release…

Everything is fine, Hadassah. Everything is—

BANG! BANG! BANG!

“God above!” I hiss as I toss aside the too-thin duvet I had swaddled myself in. “Do they have to do the repairs first thing in the morning?” I groan, wipe my eyes heavy with sleep, and stagger to the washroom.

The other cadets stir in their beds, but don’t wake. I stifle a laugh at how my friends can sleep through all this noise and not wake. We had a long six-day stretch of training from: hand-to-hand combat, firearm training, sprint-drag-carry, and then we ended on the sixth day with a college-level placement exam. 

Sergeant Solomon will deliver our results at 9 a.m., which, according to the digital clock in the washroom, reads 7:14 a.m.

With the time I have left to prepare myself for whatever Sergeant Solomon will throw us into today, I allow myself to luxuriate in the hot mist swirling through the washroom as the shower hisses with streams of water.

Once I’m all cleaned and wide awake, I don my pink camouflage uniform, fluff my damp curls, and head out of the washroom to the entrance flap.

“Ossu.” Nobu greets me with a wink, and my face flushes with warmth so pleasing that I forget where I am for a few fleeting moments.

“G-good morning.” I bow, attempting to hide my too-wide smile from him. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

Nobu waves his hand. “You didn’t wake me—” his eye twitches as more construction noise booms inside the tent “—that woke me.”

“I still can’t believe the Gorgons wrecked nearly half of the dome.”

“Yeah. Me neither.” Nobu stretches his muscular arms, veins visible through his skin. With a yawn, he departs from his bed to stand before me.

I keep my eyes on his chest—his bare chest, thick with curling ash-gray strands that trail down, down to—

“My eyes are up here.” Nobu playfully glares at me.

“Sorry.”

He snorts. “It’s alright. I know I’m a fine slab of juicy, tender meat.”

“And I just turned vegan.” I grin as my eyes finally glide to his green eyes, vibrant and so stunning like a lush forest I long to explore. Long to find myself playfully lost in.

Nobuyuki and I have grown close. More than friends, kind of close. I didn’t come here intending to meet someone like him. Hell, I didn’t intend to have my life upended on this route. But, my goodness, I am pleased to know someone so thoughtful and compassionate like Nobuyuki.

Since Hisoka died, Nobuyuki has done everything he can to make sure Haru is healthy and feeling good. Haru received permission to leave Camp Watanabe to mourn her brother's death with her family. Haru was also given the right to forgo her new life as a future cadet. But she declined.

Nobu, Melokuhle, Momo, and I united to become Haru’s adoptive siblings. Haru had been against the idea because no one could ever replace her twin brother. It took two weeks for Haru to let her guard down, to smile again, to breathe again.

“It’s all because of Nobu,” Haru had said over dinner a few days ago. “That meditation stuff really works. Thank you, Nobu.”

“Not a problem,” Nobu responded. He was glowing from the inside out.

“Where did you learn all that breathwork from?” Haru asked.

“My Ojichan.”

Haru chuckled. “Was he a wizened, blind old man?”

“Nah.” Nobuyuki smirked.

“D-Did you g-grow up with your grandfather?” Momo questioned.

“Uh… no,” Nobu said. “After Melo kicked my ass, I was expelled. Then my mother was…” He shook his head. Melokuhle patted him on the back as I watched something shift within the big man. A flicker of deep sadness flashed across his features before Nobu came back. “Anyhow, you’re welcome, Haru. I did what I could.”

Nobu squeezes me in a bear hug, kisses the top of my head, before his arms fall away. “I guess I’ll hit the showers and pray we finally get a day off for God’s sake.”

“I don’t think the Sergeant believes in days off.” I shake my head and sigh.

“When we’re finally finished with training,” Nobu says, biting his lower lip, “I’d like to take you out on a proper date. Perhaps we’ll have time to go to Shibuya?”

“I’d love that—”

“You g-guys are so cute,” Momo squeals like a pig. “Shibuya is, l-like, so awesome.”

“Any recommendations?” Nobu raises a brow. “I was thinking about taking Hadassah to a cat café.”

“Aww, that’s so r-romantic.” Momo claps her hands together. “Humans in love. So m-magical.”

I shrug my shoulders at the suggestion. “Cats are okay, I guess.”

“Don’t tell me you’re a dog person?” Nobu pouts.

Palming his cheek, I admit, “I’m more of a kaiju type of girl.”

***

“Line up, maggots!”

Sergeant Solomon stands before the five of us future wannabes with his arms crossed, and his permanent frown that slips into a halfway smile. Or perhaps a toothy snarl. One can never tell what this old man is feeling because he’s only shown one emotion: anger.

Suddenly, that perma-anger vanishes as Sergeant Solomon turns his head toward me. Now, I can’t tell if he’s looking directly at me or Momo, who’s standing beside me, because of his reflective sunglasses. All I can discern from his softening posture and the swelling in his cheeks from his once-in-a-lifetime smile is that the man is happy.

Melokuhle and Nobu whisper something to one another, and the men snort with restrained laughter.

“I heard that!” Sergeant Solomon barks, yet doesn’t immediately reprimand Melokuhle or Nobu with a demand for them to hold a plank position for thirty minutes. “Lucky for you two knuckleheads, I am on cloud eleven.”

“Cloud eleven?” I cock my head to one side.

“Yes, Hadassah,” the Sergeant says, “cloud eleven. And do you know why?”

I shrug. “I dunno.”

“Because of you, Hadassah!”

“Me?”

“Yes!” Sergeant Solomon summons me to his side, waving me away from Momo. “Ladies, gentlemen, and the nonbinary one—” He nods his respects at Haru “— my favorite maggot, Hadassah Kawaguchi, is the only recruitee in Camp Watanabe to have passed her exam with a score of ninety-seven!”

“Way to go, Hadassah!” Melokuhle cheers, pumping his fist.

“Congrats!” Haru shoots me a thumbs-up.

Nobu winks at me; and Momo jumps for joy, all the while squealing.

“Because of her success,” the Sergeant continues, “today, Hadassah will have her pick of Mecha’s—”

“Woah!” I gasp, shocked by this news. “I-I thought that during graduation we’d pick our Mech’s. You’re telling me I get to pick a Mech today?”

“Did I stutter?”

“No, sir!”

“Also!” The Sergeant lifts his sunglasses just to glare at everyone. “A special guest will be visiting Hadassah, and I will need all of you to be on your best behavior while we accompany her to the super-secret underground location where the Mechs are housed. I’ve asked our special guest to make room for the rest of you because of how tight-knit you all are. You’ll all have brunch with this special guest, and I must ask that you take any opportunity to make a lasting impression on our special guest.”

“Sir…” Nobu rubs his temples with his thumbs in slow, circular motions. “I’ll do anything for you to stop saying ‘special guest’.”

Sergeant Solomon flares his nostrils. “Nobuyuki, your score was a seventy-three, which means you aren't too far off from being a complete dunce. And so, after graduation, you’ll be transferred immediately to the Nagasaki branch.”

“Naga… saki?” Nobu’s eyes flit to mine, worry glistening behind them. “Sir, I-I assumed I'd receive a little time off for personal matters. Like visiting family… or going on a date.”

“There won’t be much time for anything when the Gorgons return to kill innocents.”

Nobu wipes a hand down his saddened face and deflates. Our future together has been deterred in the worst way possible. Maybe… Maybe I’ll be in Nagasaki with him?

“Sir?” I say.

“Hadassah?”

“Will I be going to Nagasaki also?”

The Sergeant doesn’t answer as a masculine voice trails inside the tent.

“That’s a negative, Hadassah Kawaguchi.”

Sergeant Solomon yips in equal parts excitement and anxiety as he drops to his knees in a low bow. “I am not worthy!” comes the Sergeant’s muffled voice through the gravel.

Junpei Tokudaji, the president of Fujin-Oya Corp. himself, waltzes inside the modular tent, flanked by sharply dressed men in suits and one oddball garbed in Harajuku streetwear.

My voice catches in my throat as I recognize the oddball who so happens to be the son of Junpei—the son who knocked the wind out of me when he tackled me whilst I tried to escape his father’s home.

“Pleased to finally meet you in person, Hadassah.” Captain Junpei Tokudaji extends his hand to me.

Shaking his hand, I say, “Likewise, Captain. Thank you for this opportunity to… to redeem myself.”

“And redeem yourself, you have.” The Captain smiles at me, nodding his head as he assesses me, then my friends. "Greetings to you all. I am Junpei Tokudaji, Captain of Star Force and President of Funjin-Oya corporation. But I’m sure you all knew that.”

“It’s an honor.” Haru salutes, tears pricking her eyes, her breathing uneven.

Melokuhle and Nobu salute the Captain, their postures ramrod straight.

“No need for the formalities.” Captain Junpei bashfully smirks, impressed by how respectful my friends are. That is, until he fixates his attention on Momo, who neither salutes nor bows.

“Show some damn respect, girl!” Captain Junpei’s son growls, marches toward Momo, before his father's hand shoots out to block him.

“It’s alright, Genjiro.” Captain Junpei stares down his nose at Momo as if he’s disgusted by her. There’s a slight hint of something hateful and rotten that sends a chill through me as the Captain and Momo glare at one another. “This one isn’t a fan of mine, I can see that very much.”

“Blasphemous!” Sergeant Solomon’s voice comes from below as he maintains his bow. “Utterly ludicrous!”

Captain Junpei’s wristwatch chirps. “We should all get a move on, then,” he says. “If the five of you are ready, my private jet awaits us all.”