The Child Inside Me

"We will transfer his body to Japan with a special plane." said Shin. Takahiro was inspecting the documents Taki left behind.

"So his funeral gotta wait a while."

"We don't even have time to mourn, huh?"

"It's the world we're living in. Life had never been easy on us in this job."

Takahiro kept his focus on the documents. Taki had delayed the weapon transport to the Russian border; most of their facilities were in China. Of course they still had weapons but it wasn't enough for them to get started any time soon.

"Anything about Grizzly?"

"Not much, even Taki didn't know who he really is. Iron Fist seperated them all this time. We only know he's the man in charge in the Russian border. But there's something more interesting than Grizzly."

"What is it?"

"They're funded by some people in USA. Their identities are unknown but all the money they had came from there."

"Could it be the USA government?"

"Everything could be. It's just where the money came from, anybody could be responsible for this plan. Maybe Russia or China, or it could be any other country."

"Let's just focus on what we have, if we can stop their plans then there's nothing to worry about. We can investigate who's responsible for it later."

"Yeah you're right, but it still terrifies me. They've been working on this plan for years and still no country has noticed it. And until we find out who's responsible for it, we can't carry this problem to the United Nations." said Takahiro while rubbing his chin. He realised his beard had started to grow.

After two days, Takahiro and others were finally ready to get going.

"There are 12 active soldier on the field right now. We know Grizzly is somewhere in Blagoveshchensk. We're searching where Iron Fist is. For now, we'll split into squads. Four of us will stay inside the Chinese border and deal with the warehouses and weapons. Rest will be going to Russia. We'll be searching Grizzly, JGSA is responsible from the Iron Fist, Takao Yuuichi. I believe I don't have to remind that but if you find Grizzly, don't go after him. We'll attack them with all our strength together. Everything clear?"

"Yessir!"

"Good. Now get yourselves prepared. We'll be moving in 30 minutes." Takahiro took a deep breath, last few days were really stressful.

As the night came, they started moving. Takahiro and Gina were in the same squad again, but mood in the air was.. weird.

Takahiro devoted his whole life to his work. He lost his family when he was a kid, and his grandmother raised him for a long time. He had never been interested in anything related to love, but what happened between him and Gina was...

Weird might be the wrong word, but it definitely was. It was the first time Takahiro had done something like that. Maybe that was why they were quiet on the road.

But still, it was hard to stand in this mood. They were riding to Heihe, a border city that is 600 km away from Mohe. So they can get a chance to go to Blagoveshchensk and look for Grizzly. Those two cities were literally built next to each other, there was only a river between them.

Takahiro was riding a pickup truck again, but this one was different than the one they found at the factory. Finally, he decided to talk.

"You can sleep if you want. We have a long ride ahead."

"I'm ok."

Well, that didn't change anything. The mood in the air was still weird, and Takahiro didn't know what to talk about. He tried another chance.

"Do you want some music, then?"

"It might be a good idea."

It was better than nothing. Takahiro turned the car radio on and started looking for some music. He chose one that he thought felt refreshing. He knew it was harder for Gina. She didn't see her brother for a long while, even before his death. And Takahiro saw clearly that she was blaming herself for what happened back at the sawmill. In fact, it wasn't really her fault, but talking about that wouldn't change anything.

So Takahiro decided to leave her alone with the music. He also tried to relax a bit, this kind of times were really important in the battlefield. He was trying not to think about what happened to Taki, he had to focus on the mission he had. There wasn't much time left and he had no idea what to see in Blagoveshchensk. If they fail to find Grizzly, then the whole operation will fail, simple math.

After an hour, Takahiro realised Gina felt asleep. He pulled to car over on the highway, and took a blanket from the trunk. Then he gently laid the blanket over her. It was really cold outside and both of them were still slightly injured.

As the sun started rising, Gina woke up. They were close to Heihe.

"Good morning, Gina."

Gina yawned a bit before speaking.

"Good morning, Lieutenant."

Takahiro wasn't sure if she was putting some distance between them or if she was being formal because they were in the middle of a mission. But he had to admit that it made him a bit sad, at least after what happened in the tent.

"Thanks for the blanket."

"You're welcome."

"So, what's the plan this time?"

"We'll find a loaded truck, not a pickup but the big ones. There's a bridge connecting two cities, but it's only available for freight traffic. So that will be our disguise."

"And then we'll start looking for Grizzly."

"Well, it's a big city and I don't think it'll be easy, but we probably have 3 days or so."

They finally saw the city entrance. Takahiro didn't get much sleep, but he was used to being awake for days. All he needed was some coffee.

"Do you want some coffee?" asked Gina.

"Oh, did you read my mind?"

"I can just see how much you need it."

Gina poured some coffee into a cup from Takahiro's famous thermos.

"Thanks."

"I should be the one thanking."

"For what?"

"Well, everything. For everything you've done for me so far."

"I'd do it all again whenever you needed it."

"Including what you did in the tent?"

"Including what I did in the tent..."

It became silent for a moment. But then Takahiro continued talking.

"...psychological support."

"I meant the hug."

"Hugging is what psychological support is."

"It's easier to say hug."

"But it's less embarassing like this."

Gina laughed.

"Sometimes I think there's a child living inside you, Lieutenant. I thought that you're always a tough person."

"I thought the same too, and then I discovered the child inside me. Is it bad?"

"No, not at all. It was just surprising to see that side of yours."

Takahiro was really changed. He could live a peaceful life together with Gina. But to achieve that, he had to finish the job first.