Poston

Chapter sixteen : The Draft

Yusuke's body was brought back to the states where his parents got to choose what they wanted to do with his remains. They decided to have him cremated, as was custom in Japan, and they were given his ashes about a week later so that they could hold onto him to wait and bury him when the camp eventually shut down.

Sho chose to do the same thing with Mai, and a week after she was taken to Phoenix, her ashes came back in a beautiful silver urn where Sho held onto them. "When Aiba-san gets back," he told Nino. "He can keep the ashes and do what he wishes with them. Until then, she will stay with us."

Despite everything that had happened in just a short time span of three weeks, life went on. School continued for the children, everyone continued on with work and afternoon activities. January merged into February, and all the children seemed to be talking about was Valentines' Day and making their valentines for their class.

Nino, on the other hand, had a bigger problem besides Valentines' Day to worry about. News was spreading that camps all over the country had started doing a lot of intercamp baseball tournaments, and after Gila River had already come to Poston to play against them, Nino wanted nothing more than to get his team out of Poston and go play against someone else.

"Mr. Ninomiya, doing something like that is very difficult to get approved," Mr. Howard, one of the military generals assigned to Poston, told him. "Getting Gila River here was an undertaking. To get you any further than that would be hard."

"Mr. Howard, please," Nino pleaded. "This team has barely set foot out of the fence. They have no one to play against, and going back and forth to Gila River isn't exactly an adventure anymore. Isn't there another camp we could go to play?"

Mr. Howard sighed. "I'll have to see what I can do," he answered. "I'll talk around to other places, see who is doing baseball and then I'll get back to you."

Nino could hardly contain his excitement. "Thank you, sir! Please do your best!"

When Nino got home that night, Satoshi smiled with him as he wrapped his arms around him. "Sounds like you'll be going away soon then," he said.

"Only for a few days," Nino answered. "And that's if they can find a camp. But I wouldn't be gone long. It's not like I'm going to war or anything."

"That's true," Satoshi agreed. "It's only a few days, if that. Just as long as you always come home to me."

The next few days were really nerve wrecking. Nino was on edge, always waiting for an answer even if he knew it would take a while to hear any news. "You need to just relax," Jun said. "And if you're going to pace back and forth, at least hold Koharu while I hold Katsurou."

"How do we know if we want them to be called their English name or Japanese name?" Nino asked as he took the small baby girl into his arms as he fed her a bottle of milk. "Masaki didn't really specify did he?"

"Does it matter?" Jun asked. "Just as long as we call them one of their names."

Yuki sat up from her bed. "Mr. Nino, I actually wanted to ask you if you had any pictures of Uncle Masaki. We're doing a school project where we introduce our families, but I don't have a picture of him, and Papa said the photos from Aunt Mai's wedding didn't turn out good the first time so he's trying to have them be redeveloped."

"My aunt and uncle might," Nino told her. "Even my mother might. After I feed Lillian, we'll go over and take a look if you want."

"Okay!" Yuki beamed.

"Koharu."

Nino looked over at Jun. "Huh?"

"Her name is also Koharu," Jun told him.

Nino tsked. "Same thing."

--

"Hmm," Mrs. Aiba thought after she was approached by her nephew. "Let me check. I should have at least one in my photo book."

"I'll check mine too," Natsumi offered as she grabbed a thick black photo album from their trunk. "We're bound to have some pictures. Yuki-chan, I might even have one of Kazu from when he was a baby!"

"There's no need to—" Nino began.

"I want to see!" Yuki exclaimed as she sat next to Natsumi.

Nino sighed but joined his sister. "Where's Mama?"

"She went to go do laundry," his sister answered. She turned page after page, but her face frowned into confusion. "I must have grabbed the wrong album. I don't recognize any of these pictures."

Nino looked over at some of the black and white pictures. "Well here's Uncle Tarou and Dad out at the farm. Look at how young they are!"

"Who's the other fellow with them?" Natsumi asked. "He looks just like you, Kazu!"

Mrs. Aiba came over and peaked. "Oh, that's Katsuhiko-san, your father's brother. He came and worked out at the farm for a bit with Shouta-san. They moved to America together after all."

"Dad had a brother? No one ever talked about him."

"Of course not. He and his wife died when Kazunari was just a baby."

"What happened to them?"

"If I recall, they had dropped Kazunari off at your mother and father's house and came out to the farm to talk about getting more work at the farm. Katsuhiko was working to be a preacher, but still needed money for schooling. That night, they were ran off the road and never made it home. Your father and uncle were so devastated. They blamed themselves for the longest time after that. But thank God Kazunari was safe!"

Nino listened but somehow seemed to get lost. "Wait a moment, why would they drop me off at Mama and Dad's house?"

"They dropped you off because they didn't want my loud and boisterous baby Masaki to wake you up," Mrs. Aiba answered. "You were only a year old then I think, and Masaki always got into everything and terrorized the entire house when I wasn't looking. He always fell asleep late too which made it worse."

Nino and Natsumi looked over at each other, both confused. "But why did they have me in the first place?"

Mrs. Aiba was about to say something when she seemed to realize what she had just said. "Oh... Chiyo-san never told you...."

"Tell me what?!" Nino asked as he stood up. He wasn't trying to get defensive, but he had no idea what was going on.

"Kazunari."

Nino stopped and looked at the door where his mother stood.

It took Nino all but half a second to realize himself what had just happened. "Wait," he said. "They dropped me off, left me at Mama and Dad's, and Mama never told me...." Nino looked over at his mother in shock as he tried to find the right words. Mama just stood there, not saying a word as she let him figure it out. "I'm not really your son?"

"Of course you are my son!" Mama argued. "I raised you, changed you, fed you, fixed your injuries and made sure you weren't getting into any trouble!"

"But I didn't start out as yours, did I?"

Mama stood in silence.

"This Katsuhiko Ninomiya, Dad's brother, is he my real father? Please tell me I'm overreacting."

Mama straightened her back. "I didn't want you to find out this way, but I guess I'll have to tell you. No, Kazunari, you are not my real son. Your real parents are Katsuhiko and Kazuko Ninomiya, who died when you were a baby. After they died, you became me and Shouta-san's son."

Of all the things he expected her to say, Nino didn't actually believe that she would tell him that. He had hoped, even prayed that it wasn't true. "So I've been living a lie this whole time?" he asked.

"You are still my son—" Mama started.

"Then why would you lie to me about this?!" Nino snapped. "I'm going to be twenty-five years old, Mama! You never once thought this would be fucking important to mention?!"

"Kazu, stop," Natsumi said gently, rubbing her hands on her brother's shoulders. "Please don't yell."

Nino didn't yell. Instead, he just shook his head and walked out, unable to comprehend or even believe it.

--

That night, Satoshi and Nino had a long talk. "I understand you're upset," Satoshi whispered to Nino's back after everyone had gone to sleep. "But Kazu, you don't need to get so angry. Your mother had her reasons."

"I don't like being lied to," Nino answered.

"She did it to protect you. She didn't want you to lose yourself. Finding out you have different parents is hard enough."

Nino turned around and faced Satoshi. "Do you think I overreacted?"

"Yes!" Satoshi responded. "You were too dramatic. Besides, you were too shocked and surprised to really think about the important issue here."

"And what is that?"

"Now that you know the truth, does it change who you are or does it make you any less proud of where you come from?"

Nino looked up at his boyfriend as he thought about it. "I still consider her my mother. And I'm still a Ninomiya."

"Kazunari," Satoshi whispered. "You have to remember something. I lost my parents because they wouldn't accept me. Don't lose yours because of something as minor as this. They are still your parents."

When Satoshi put it that way, it made more sense. "Okay," he said. "Thank you."

Satoshi smiled and kissed Nino's nose before holding him closer. "I love you."

"I love you too."

--

"We got it!" Nino called as he raced to the baseball field to meet with the team. "We got it!"

"Got what, Coach?" Ryosuke asked for the group.

"We get to go back to Gila River for a baseball tournament—"

"Coach!" Yuto complained. "We've been to Gila River!"

"Can I finish please?" Nino asked. When no one spoke up, Nino continued. "What's going to happen is the first ever inter-camp baseball tournament! We get to go to Gila River for the first game of the tournament, then the winners go to Heart Mountain in Wyoming and play against them there."

"We can go to a different camp?!" Players began to ask excitedly.

"Finally some new teams!" others smiled.

Nino couldn't help but join in his teams' excitement. "But all of this won't start until June, so we still need to practice and get into top shape if we're going to make it all the way to Wyoming."

"Yes sir!" the group cried out.

And as Nino got back to his barrack, he could hardly stop jumping up and down. "We did it!" he said as soon as he walked in. "We might get the chance to go to Heart Mountain! Can you believe it? Our team could be so good that they grant us permission to go into a whole other state! Oh, you should have seen the look on all those kid's faces today when I told them!" Then Nino finally noticed the look on his roommates' faces and saw how grim they were. "What happened?"

Sho stood up. "We're going to go hang out with Mr. and Mrs. Aiba," he announced as he picked up a baby. Jun picked up the second one and ushered his children out. "Let us know when it's safe to come back."

"What the—?" Nino asked as everyone but him and Satoshi left. After the door was closed, he looked back at his bed. "What just happened?"

"Kazu, sit down," Satoshi said. It was in a tone that was hardly used by the older man, and it always meant business when it was used. Nino did as he was told and sat on the bed across from him. Finally, Satoshi looked up. "Kazu, you know I love you, right?"

Nino could feel his heart pounding hard. "Yes, I know," he answered.

"And sometimes we have to do things we may not like but we have to do them anyway, right?"

"Satoshi, just say it."

Nervously, Satoshi held out a white envelope and gave it to Nino. Just by looking at the address, Nino's heart stopped. Shaking, he took the envelope and opened it, praying that he was wrong. Praying that he was so very wrong. But when he opened up the official letter and read those words, he felt like his world was starting to collapse.

"I have my physical here before they send me out," Satoshi explained. "I'll probably be sent to Europe. They won't trust a Jap into Pacific territory."

"No," Nino said. "No. This... this is a mistake.... You're not drafted. This letter is wrong. There has to be another Satoshi Samuel Ohno here at Poston. You're not going. You can't be—"

Satoshi grabbed Nino's hands gently. "Kazu I know this is scary but—"

"YOU ARE NOT GOING!" Nino yelled, anger and pain boiling inside him. "The same army that just drafted you is the same army that is holding you here in this God-fucking desert for no fucking reason! And they want you to go fight?! How logical is that?!"

"Kazunari, please just—"

"You don't understand! How can they ask you to go?! The army and this government are the same people who put you into this camp with no trial, no rights, and took you away from everything you ever had! And you're just going to obey them and go fight for a war you don't believe in?!"

This time, Satoshi shot back. "Who said I don't believe in this war?!"

"You never volunteered to go the first time!"

"That doesn't mean that I don't believe in what we're fighting for! Kazu, in order to fight for freedom for everyone, this war is necessary!"

"NECESSARY?!" Nino stood up, too angry to really control what he was doing. "My cousin's death was NECESSARY?! Yusuke's death by a German bullet was needed?! Explain how his death is okay!"

"He was fighting for something he believed in!" Satoshi said, standing up with Nino so that they were on a level playing field. "The Germans are killing innocent people because of their race! If that person isn't white, they are better off dead! What if the United States did the same thing in this country with the Blacks? Or us? We are the same race as the people that bombed Hawaii! To most of the country, we might as well be dead to them! But we aren't. This country, despite its flaws in morals and equality, is kind and just. We aren't dead. We're alive. And I'm an American citizen who has the opportunity to kill a few Germans to make sure that nobody else gets killed!"

Nino furiously shook his head and turned around, not wanting to show Satoshi just how upset he was. He hadn't even realized tears had started to fall until he put a hand up to his face. "What about you?" he asked finally. "Is your death going to be necessary to free all those people?"

A beat passed before he felt a pair of strong arms wrap themselves around him, trying to hold himself together. "I'm not dead," Satoshi said gently. "And I'm not going to be. Please, Kazunari, don't think the worst."

"I can't help it. I don't want to lose you."

"You won't. I promise you with every fiber of my being that I will come home to you."

Nino turned around to bury his face in Satoshi's shirt, trying to remember his scent before he forgot. "I don't want you to come home in an urn, Satoshi. I don't think I could bear it."

Satoshi lay a gentle hand on his face, wiping away some tears before leaning down to lay a tender kiss on Nino's lips. "I promise," he swore. "I will come home. I will do whatever it takes to come home to you."

--

Satoshi passed his physical. He was given his brown suit and a new haircut and was told that he would leave in two days. Nobody really took the news well, least of all Nino and Satoshi's sister, Ayumi. She was just as scared and furious as Nino, but she preferred to just cry about it than actual yell and rant about it. Jun refused to even talk about it and couldn't even stay in the same room when Satoshi tried on his suit.

The night before he left, Nino was woken up with warm, sweet kisses. "Satoshi," he said. "Can't I just lay here peacefully in your arms before you go without really thinking about you leaving?"

Satoshi ignored him and continued to decorate him in kisses before he began to move Nino's shirt up.

"Wait," Nino stopped him. "Satoshi, this—"

"Let me," Satoshi pleaded, looking up at him. "Please. Before I go, please let me make love to the person I care about the most in this world. In case I never come home, I don't want to have any regrets."

Nino looked back, his heart breaking again before he nodded. He sat up, helping Satoshi take off his shirt before removing his own. "No regrets," he breathed as Satoshi leaned in to capture his lips in a passionate kiss. This kiss felt different than any of the kisses they had shared before. This one was needy, lustful, yet loving and gentle at the same time. It gave Nino goosebumps even after Satoshi pulled away to remove both his and Nino's underwear.

"Roll over," Nino said, pushing Satoshi onto his side. Satoshi did as he was told as Nino grabbed his aching hard member and started to pump it slowly before taking it into his mouth.

"Kazu!" Satoshi exclaimed quietly so he didn't wake anyone else up.

Nino smiled and let him go. "You still aren't used to this, old man?"

"No because you're so good!" Satoshi answered as Nino took him back into his hot mouth. Nino bobbed his head slowly, just the way he knew his boyfriend liked it. He let go of him with a pop only to trace the underside of his cock with his tongue before taking the tip back into his mouth to give him a particularly hard suck, making Satoshi curse despite himself.

"You're awfully loud tonight," Nino teased some more, moving his way up. "We don't want to wake anyone up now, do we?"

Forcefully, Satoshi grabbed Nino's shoulders and pulled him down onto the bed so he was back on top. "I wouldn't be so loud if you weren't such a goddamn tease."

"Admit it. You'll miss my sexy teasing."

"Oh, more than you can imagine."

Nino suddenly felt a finger enter him, making him hide a gasp in his elbow. Satoshi grabbed his wrist and put it down as he entered the second finger, fucking him with his fingers as he let Nino get used to him. "Satoshi, I want you."

Satoshi leaned down and kissed Nino's neck, thrusting his hand back into him. "Want me to do what, Kazu?"

Nino swore. "I want you inside me. Please. I want to remember what you feel like before you leave."

Satoshi let go of him and removed himself from him before angling his cock at Nino's entrance. "As you wish." And before Nino could breath, he was inside, determined to be deep into Nino than ever before.

"Ohh," Nino moaned against Satoshi's collarbone. "Shit, Satoshi."

"Kazunari," Satoshi breathed as he began to thrust in and out of Nino's tight hole. "God, Kazunari, you are always so tight."

"Just for you, baby," Nino smiled as he hung on, giving Satoshi the signal to move faster. He gasped as he felt him already hit his sweet spot. He leaned forward as Satoshi continued to hit it. "Shit! Oh god!"

Suddenly, Satoshi stopped and looked up at Nino. "Promise me that you'll wait here for me."

Nino groaned. "Now isn't really the—"

"Promise me, Kazu," Satoshi said. "No matter what happens to me, promise me that you'll always wait here for me to return. I can't leave without knowing that you'll always be here to welcome me home."

Nino smiled and leaned up to kiss Satoshi. "I promise. No matter how long it takes. I'll stay in this goddman barrack in the middle of the desert until your cute ass comes home to me and only me. I'll do whatever it takes for you to come back to me."

Satoshi watched him for a moment before smiling and hiding his smile in the crook of Nino's neck. He began thrusting again, immediately hitting that spot inside Nino that made him whine. Finally, Nino came in between their stomachs and allowed Satoshi to cum inside him as well.

"Aishiteru," Satoshi whispered into Nino's ears. "Itsumo, itsumo aishiteru."

Nino felt his heart jump as the words hit him. He felt tears starting to well up again, and he didn't try to hide them this time. "Itsumo aishiteru. Please come home to me."

Satoshi nodded and kissed him again as he began to cry too. "I promise I'll always come home."

--

When Nino woke up the next morning, the first thing he noticed was how cold the space next to him was. When he opened his eyes, he found Satoshi standing next to the bed as he finished putting on his brown jacket. "Leaving without saying goodbye?"
Satoshi turned and looked at him, surprised he was awake. "I was trying to make this less difficult than it has to be. How are you feeling? I didn't hurt you much, did I?"

Nino shook his head as the memories of all their love making came back to him. "No, last night was perfect. Thank you. I just hope it won't be the last."

"It won't be," Satoshi assured him, sitting down next to him. "Don't think like that. Everything's going to be fine."

"I hope so," Nino answered. He sat up and leaned into Satoshi's hand as it cupped his face. "Somehow I feel like we've done this before. One of us has gone away, leaving the other one behind."

"It'll only be for a while. Hopefully within a year, the war will be over and I can come home. I'll come home to you no matter what, Kazunari."

Nino nodded, but his heart was still breaking. "I know you will," he said. "You've always kept your promises."

Satoshi leaned in for a sweet and gentle kiss, capturing Nino's lips in a way that made his heart beat faster than it already was. "I love you."

"I love you too." Nino reached over and carefully fixed Satoshi's brown tie so that it was straight. "Now, Army man, be safe. If you don't come home safely, I'll kick your ass in the afterlife."

They laughed despite themselves, but Satoshi nodded. "Yes, sir. I'll take that as your promise."

--

Nino didn't join everyone down at the entrance of the camp. He was barely able to hold it together that morning when they said their goodbyes, so he knew that saying goodbye as Satoshi got on that bus would be a bad idea. Instead, he stayed back in the barrack and, for the first time in a long time, began to write and strum his guitar. He began to write a song about longing, gentleness, and he wrote it in a way that it was like Satoshi was giving him strength to go on instead of the other way around.

That night while everyone else was at dinner, Nino stopped by to see Ayumi and to see how she was doing. He walked in and saw her writing a letter. "Sorry, I'll come back—" he began.

Ayumi turned around. "No, it's okay," she answered. "You can come in. I was just writing a letter to my parents."

"You still write to them?" Nino asked, still too sad to care.

Ayumi nodded. "Not as much as I used to. This is the first letter I've written in over six months. I was just telling them that Satoshi was sent to the front lines." She looked up at Nino with tears in her eyes. "If my brother dies, I hope they don't give a damn. They obviously didn't give a damn about him before they left, so I hope they don't feel bad if he never comes home to them."

Nino frowned. "You don't really want that, do you?"

"They made the decision to throw my brother out like he was a piece of shit. I hope they rot in hell for that. And I really hope they won't care about this news, but I thought they might want to know in case a telegram comes to them."

"He'll come home, Ayumi-san," Nino said as he took her hands in his. "Your brother is the strongest man I've ever met. He promised that he would come home safely. Satoshi doesn't break his promises and you know that."

After a moment, Ayumi nodded and looked up at him with tears coming down. "I might need you for my strength," she said. "I don't know if I can bear this."

"Believe me," Nino replied. "I might need you as well. But he'll come home. Satoshi promised."

And for the first time, Nino actually believed his words.