Poston

Chapter eighteen : Christmas 1944

For the rest of the summer, the Poston 'All-Stars', as everyone started calling them, took a break from the heat and instead enjoyed the endless amount of cool ice treats and ice cream that the kitchen provided. Everyone considered them to be a great distraction from the dismal life, but even it was becoming less dismal as news of the end of the war got closer and closer.

D-Day was being called 'The Beginning of the End.' Every day, it seemed like Allied Forces were taking more and more of Europe back, and everyone had begun to say how the Nazis would have to give up sooner or later. "We're taking back Europe!" people would exclaim. "We're showing our might! Hitler will have to surrender at this point!"

But Hitler had not surrendered by December 1944. Instead, Christmas was right around the corner, and excitement over the now-annual New Years' Talent Show was at an all-time high. People were signing up left and right to participate, and everywhere Nino looked, he saw people preparing their voices or their instruments or whatever talent they had.

"I don't even remember who won last year," Nino told Sho as they stood in line for breakfast. "Some girl if I remember."

"Miss Hikaru Utada won," Sho told him. "She's been called the Japanese Dinah Shore ever since she won singing 'He Wears A Pair of Silver Wings' last year. She's an amazing singer!"

"Oh, that's right," Nino said as they sat down to eat. "Everyone was excited about it. Wasn't she trying to get a record deal in Hollywood when the war broke out?"

"She's originally from New York City, but you're right. She was in California when the Exclusion Order was released. If she had been in New York, she wouldn't have been interned."

"Hey, Nino!" Jun exclaimed sitting down. "Why don't you enter the talent show? You've written a few songs! If we went in and sang it with you as a group, I bet we could win that prize. Did you hear the prize? Twenty five dollars for the grand winner!"

Nino and Sho stopped and stared in shock. "Twenty five dollars?!" they asked in disbelief.

"That's a shit ton of money!" Nino said.

"And Masaki will be back any day now!" Sho added. "He could help us too! We could split the money four ways!"

"It's at least six dollars a person! Still a good amount of money!"

Nino froze, remembering how Masaki would be home soon. Then he felt his heart drop as the realization of Satoshi not coming home for Christmas was starting to sink in. Unlike Masaki, Satoshi was on the frontlines in Europe. He wasn't allowed the time off Masaki was, and if he was given any leave at all, most of it would be spent traveling to his destination anyway. There was no way Nino was going to see his beloved for Christmas.

Sho and Jun seemed to notice this and they immediately got quiet. "They're saying the war will be over soon," Jun told him gently. "That means Satoshi will be home soon."

Nino nodded, unsure as to what else to say. "Yeah," he said. "I hope so." Then, he got up and walked outside, determined to get his sudden headache under control before going to work on his song for the contest.

--

"Mr. Nino?"

Nino looked up from his notebook and saw Yuki sitting next to him, watching him curiously as he wrote down lyric ideas. "What is it, Yuki?"

Yuki looked up at him and bowed her head slightly. "I like watching you write," she told him. "That's Japanese, right? Papa won't let me learn to read or write in Japanese."

This surprised Nino. "Why not?" he asked. "Your papa was born in Japan, wasn't he?"

Yuki nodded. "He says it's unnecessary. He says that unless I go to Japan, I won't need it."

Nino sighed and put down his pen. "I know you like to read," he said. "Go grab your favorite book in Japanese."

Yuki quickly went over and grabbed an old book of poems and handed it to Nino. He pulled her onto his lap and opened up a random page. "Let's see," he muttered before pointing to a character. "What's this character?"

Yuki shrugged. "I don't know."

"You don't know?! This is your name! This is 'yuki', or 'snow'. It's made of the character for rain, which is 'ame', and what looks like a backwards capital 'E' underneath. It's to signify that it falls like rain, but stays on the ground."

"Okay," Yuki responded as she looked at it. "What does 'rain' look like?"

Nino turned to another page and found the character. "It kind of looks like rain falling on a window. See, there's the line on top for the roof, then it looks like two doors or windows with the rain pouring down."

"It does!"

They continued on like this for about ten more minutes before Nino carefully wrote down a list of hiragana characters for Yuki to write and practice. "Truth is your Uncle Masaki reads and writes a lot better in Japanese than I do," Nino told her. "That's why he has a very important job reading documents all day. However, until he gets back on leave, you can ask me anything you want to. I'll try to help the best I can."

Yuki nodded and smiled brightly. "Thank you, Mr. Nino!"

--

"I don't see what the big deal is about Christmas anymore," Jun told Nino one day as they walked back from work. "Being in a camp like this, it's not really that special is it?"

Nino shrugged. "Maybe we've just been here too long," he answered. "Hopefully we'll be back in Los Angeles next year."

"That reminds me," Jun turned to Nino. "When we get out of this camp, are you going to go back to Los Angeles? Or are you going somewhere else?"

"Depends on what Satoshi wants," Nino said as they turned a corner onto Block Three. "If we would like to go back to Los Angeles, then I don't see why I wouldn't go with him."

"What about his parents?"

"What about them?"

"Aren't you afraid that you would run into trouble with them when you get back?"

"Please, Jun, if I was afraid of his demon father, we wouldn't be having this conversation."

"KAZU!"

Nino looked up and groaned when he saw his sister running towards him. "What is it?" he asked when Natsumi approached him.

"Have you heard?" Natsumi asked. "There's a man going around at night sneaking into barracks and stealing things and he even stabbed someone last night!"

"He actually hurt someone?!" Jun asked in shock. "We had heard of him, but he actually did such a thing?"

"We don't know who he is! No one can find him!" She grabbed Nino's arm. "Can you stay with us for a few days? It's a barrack full of girls and two old men! If someone were to try to steal something or hurt us and we woke up to fight him, Uncle Tarou and Pastor Inoue couldn't take him on! You're younger! You can stay with us for a while and look after us, right?"

"Why don't you and Mao-chan fight him off?" Nino asked.

Jun glared at him. "Don't even think about getting my girl involved in some serial stabber!"

Sighing, Nino nodded. "Okay, fine! I'll help guard your precious barrack."

"YAY!" Natsumi screamed hugging her brother. "THANK YOU!"

"GET OFF ME! NEE-CHAN!"

That night, Nino came prepared with an extra set of clothes and Satoshi's baseball bat. "I can't believe you convinced me into this," he complained to his sister that night as they got into their futons.

"I'm happy you're here, Kazunari," Mama smiled. "I miss having you around sometimes."

"It's just for a little while."

"But it is good you are here," Uncle Tarou answered. "With my back the way it is, I don't want to be the one fighting off the bad guys."

"Let's pray it doesn't come to that," Pastor Inoue added. "But for now, let's pray the Lord that we make it through tonight. Good night, everyone."

"Good night."

--

Nino had to admit that sleeping back in 2B was a strange experience. The last time he spent the night there was the night before Satoshi's family officially disowned him. Sometimes, even just stepping inside the barrack during the day was enough to bring back painful memories.

"YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO SPEAK! You allowed our son to partake in such sinful behavior? I'm gone for only a few months and you let him get out of control?!"

"We never should have come to this country, Seiran. If we were still in Japan, maybe we would still be in our own house and our son wouldn't be such a shame and disgrace to the family name."

Now knowing who Nino's true parents were, sometimes he wondered if his real parents would approve of his lifestyle and if they would approve of Satoshi or not. Or would they have dishonored him the same way Satoshi's parents did? Would his uncle, the man who raised him, approve? He would like to think so, but he was such a stubborn and hard-set man. Nino couldn't help but feel the guilt and pain of not knowing if he would ever truly be accepted by those who loved him. His mother claimed to not care, but she wanted grandchildren and the opportunity to pass on the family name. That was never going to happen now because of him.

Groaning, Nino turned over onto his side, back to the door and his back to his sister so that if she woke up, she wouldn't see him cry silently. It was times like these where he needed Satoshi. He needed those arms around him to reassure him that it was okay. There was nothing to worry about because he was there to always protect Nino. Out of everyone, Satoshi had been broken the most, yet he still hung onto Nino for dear life to make sure that nothing would ever get to him. Satoshi had been disowned, which was the worst thing you could possibly do, but he stood anway. He stood proud and strong, just like he had when he fought off that rattlesnake.

As if on cue, he suddenly heard the creak of the door as it opened slowly. Nino's blood ran cold and froze, unable to move except to grab his baseball bat next to his futon. In the dark, the culprit wouldn't be able to see him, especially as he set down his large bag next to the door.

Nino felt his sister's hand grab a hold of his nightshirt, shaking from fear. "Don't panic," he hissed as quietly as he could. He held his breath, squeezing the handle of the bat harder with a sudden determination to keep his sister and his mother safe.

He heard the culprit moving around the barrack, trying to be quiet as he fumbled around with his bag. Silently, Nino moved to the edge of his futon until he was almost out of his blanket. Nino held his breath as he placed his hand on the oil lamp, waiting until the perfect moment. When he heard the culprit start walking towards him a little bit, the light came on and Nino screamed as he ran towards the man with his bat ready to go.

However, the scream also made the other man scream and cower in fear, which then led to everyone in the barrack waking up and screaming out of surprise and fear, and it took Nino all but two seconds to realize who it was that his bat was ready for.

"MASAKI?!"

The said man looked up, his arms still covering his face as he stopped screaming and stared at Nino in shock. "Eh? N-Nino?! What are you doing here?!"

Nino lowered his bat. "I could ask you that! Aren't you supposed to be in Australia?!"

"I got a couple of days extra for leave. I thought I would surprise everyone by suddenly waking up with you all tomorrow."

"Masaki!" Natsumi exclaimed as she went over to hit her cousin. "God dammit! Don't scare us like that again!"

Quickly, Mr. and Mrs. Aiba rushed over and embraced their son. "We're so glad to have you home!" they told him. "You being home and safe is all we ask for!"

"I'm glad to be home," Masaki smiled before he looked back at Nino. "I'm sorry to scare you like that. Can I at least get a welcome home hug?"

Nino pouted and threw his bat on the futon. "You big idiot," he said. "Of course you can, but next time don't ever scare me like that again!"

Beaming, Masaki went over and held onto Nino as tightly as he could, and for once Nino didn't mind it.

--

"So that's why you almost attacked me last night!" Masaki said as he was trying to feed Katsurou and Koharu breakfast the next morning.

Nino nodded as everyone sat around the two of them as they listened to what happened the night before. "Thank goodness you weren't the thief."

"And at least you didn't actually kill him last night!" Jun said laughing. "That would have been the worst thing in the world!"

"It's not funny!" Sho told him. "He could have really have gotten hurt! And you need to finish your breakfast before work."

"You are such a mother," Jun said.

Nino glared at Jun before he went and sat next to Masaki. "Ne... Have you heard anything about...?"

Masaki swallowed his eggs before looking up. "He was originally part of the 442nd Combat Team, but he was transferred to a subdivision of it called the 522nd. He's in France now, and the fighting isn't as heavy there as it has been. I'm sure he's fine, Nino."

"Why was he transferred?" Nino asked.

"Probably just to be an extra hand. The 522nd is a field artillery battalion, which means he is right on the front lines. Not a lot of casualties, though, so I think he'll be okay until they enter Germany."

"He's going into Germany?!" Nino felt his blood run cold as he thought about Satoshi in such a place.

Masaki waved his hand. "Eventually," he said. "Don't worry about it! His whole squadron is a group of super smart guys. They look after each other. He'll be fine."

"Isn't it bad to be speaking about things like that?" Sho asked, leaning forward to talk to them.

"It's alright," Masaki said. "Most of this is common knowledge. I don't know their exact location, and even if I knew that part I would never tell. Besides, if your lover was overseas fighting for his life, you would want to know that they're okay too." After it slipped, Masaki and Sho exchanged an awkward look before they both looked down. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

Sho shook his head. "No. It's... it's alright. I need to get to work anyway." After he stood up and kissed his daughter goodbye, Nino hit his cousin as soon as Sho was out of earshot.

"What?!" Masaki asked.

"You screwed it up. Nice going."

--

"Nino! Come out here!"

Nino groaned out loud, looking up from his notebook before yelling out the door. "I'm trying to get this song done before the talent contest, Sakurai!"

"Just get out here!"

Closing his notebook, Nino stood up and walked outside. "This better be—" he started before he found himself catching a long wooden kendo stick. "Woah, what the hell?"

"My daughter has started complaining to me that I'm not showing her or teaching her the ways of our homeland," Sho answered him, also holding a kendo stick. "The Kendo club here has graciously allowed me to borrow two of their practice sticks to help teach my daughter about something her father is actually pretty good at."

Nino laughed. "Kendo? You? The nerd from Tokyo can fight like a samurai?"

Sho stood up straighter as Nino came down the stairs to meet him. "The Sakurai family comes from a long line of samurais, as well as political men to protect the emperor. While I am the first Sakurai son to publically say I have no loyalties to the emperor, I cannot deny that having the knowledge of kendo is something precious and useful. Especially if you are going to help protect your family these next few weeks, you might need something more than a baseball bat to help you."

"So if you're supposed to be teaching Yuki this, how do I come into play?" Nino asked.

Sho only smiled. "You're my student and opponent, of course."

The younger man raised an eyebrow. "Opponent? I don't know kendo."

"But you will soon." Sho took a few steps back, rolled up the sleeves of his dress shirt, and got into a fighting position with his kendo stick straight in front of him. "Copy my position, Kazunari-san."

Nino groaned before following Sho's instructions. "Don't you think your daughter should be here first?" he complained before getting into his fighting stance.

"She'll be home any minute from school. For now, I would like some practice."

"You are so wei—WOAH!" Nino yelled the second Sho started coming at him as he hit Nino's stick almost out of his hand. "You almost slugged me!"

"Well I wouldn't have if you had been looking out for me!"

"This isn't teaching me anything!"

"Because you're not paying attention!"

"You've officially gone bonkers, Sho-chan." Nino got back into his position and held his stick up to try and dodge any more attacks. This time, when Sho tried to hit him, Nino dodged it with his stick.

"Good!" Sho smiled. "You're finally paying attention."

"Only because I don't want to get hit again," Nino replied as he avoided another attack. "I may be small, but I'm smart."

"Glad you think so," the two men heard a voice say next to them. Nino looked up to see Jun and the kids sitting on the steps watching them with smiles on their faces in awe. "Because I was just asked today if you would be interested in teaching in high school."

"What?!" Nino exclaimed before he found himself get jabbed in the stomach. "OW! Shit! Sho-chan!"

Sho lowered his stick. "That's what I mean by focus," he answered. "You left a perfect opportunity for somebody to come and stab you. Never give an enemy an opportunity or it could be the end of your life."

--

"What do you mean they want me to be a teacher?"

Jun sighed as he grabbed his food and led Nino to a table to sit down for dinner. "Mr. Takayama is looking for a teacher to take the place of someone else up there. She just had a baby and is going to be out for a few months. They're in need of a teacher, and he suggested you."

"But why me?" Nino asked, trying not to spill his miso soup as he sat down.

"He's seen how you've been with the baseball team," Jun said. "He sees how well you are with the kids, and he thought you might enjoy actually teaching them. It would be an English class, so it would be something you're sort of good at."

The thought of actually teaching made Nino nervous. He had never done anything like that before, and it scared him to think of himself in front of a group of high school kids teaching something to them that they probably could care less about. Nino remembered his own high school experience, and he knew that these kids were really getting a raw deal getting their education out of an internment camp.

"So? What do you think?" Jun asked after a moment.

Nino swallowed, a rock landing in his stomach before finally answering. "When do they need me?"

"After New Year. Nino, you don't have to decide right now. You have until then to make your final decision."

Nino nodded. "Thank you. Please allow me to think about it."

--

"So it's done!" Masaki smiled as he came inside the barrack. "We are officially signed up for the talent show! Are we doing an original song or a cover?"

"My song isn't done yet," Nino answered when Masaki sat down on his bed. "I'm afraid that with my writer's block, it won't get done in time."

Jun and Sho came and sat down on the bed next to Nino's. "Well, if Miss Utada can win with a cover, then so can we. Do we know what she's singing?"

"Some people are hearing her practice her French," Sho answered Jun. "They're thinking she's singing 'Hymne a l'amour'."

"But that will work!" Nino exclaimed. "Most people don't know French! If we sing something in English, chances are most people will understand or recognize the song. It could give us an edge."

"A tiny edge, but one none the less."

Yuki got off her bed and came up to Sho before tugging on his shirt sleeve. "Papa?" she asked. "Is it okay if I enter the contest as well?"

Sho turned to his daughter. "But you hate singing in front of other people," he said.

Yuki stood up straighter. "If Uncle Masaki and Papa can be brave, then I want to be brave too."

Everyone couldn't help but smile. Sho hugged Yuki tightly before kissing her forehead. "Okay. Let's go down and get you signed up."

--

Christmas fell on a Monday in 1944, which upset Nino because he was worried that his letter to Satoshi wasn't going to make it in time. He had yet to receive his letter from Satoshi, and the longer he went without a letter the more anxious he became. When Christmas morning came and Nino still didn't have a letter, he couldn't help but hide his disappointment as everyone from both his barrack and his family's barrack came to open gifts together this year. This was the twins' first Christmas, and Masaki's parents as well as Nino's mother wanted to be a big part of it.

Finally, after everyone had opened up their gifts of clothing, pens, and candy, Jun cleared his voice and stood up. "Actually, I have one more package left to pass out to everyone."

Everyone looked around curiously as Jun brought out a large brown paper wrapped package from under the bed, and as he opened it, Mao was the first to notice the postage. "Paris? Who do we know in Paris?"

Nino's head snapped up, and he felt his heart about to beat out of his chest as Jun opened the box. "These little packages are for the kids," Jun answered as he passed out individually wrapped boxes with everyone's names on it. "This one is for Sho-san, this one is for Ayumi-san, this is for Masaki and the twins, this one is mine, and this one," he responded handing Nino the largest box. "This one is Nino's."

Quickly, everyone opened their boxes and got excited as they saw what they got. Everyone got their own thing of Parisian stationary, but they also got something else.

"A real aviator's scarf!" Charlie exclaimed. "It has the RAF logo on it and everything!"

"Real Parisian silk scarves!" Mao smiled with the two younger girls who got the same thing. "See how light it is? And the beautiful designs on them? We each got a different design!"

"Mao-chan, look!" Ayumi said showing her friend her purple bottle. "Real perfume from Paris! How on earth did he afford all this?"

"Toys and an outfit for the twins!" Masaki beamed. "They needed new clothes! They're getting so big!"

Jun and Sho looked at each other as they realized they received the same book. "'The Little Prince'?" Sho read the cover. "Is it any good?"

Jun shrugged. "We'll find out. Nino, what did you get?"

Nino could only stare in shock and longing before finally picking up his silver picture frame out of the box. But it wasn't so much the frame that got his attention. It was the sepia picture of the man he loved the most in his Army uniform that made it hard to breathe. Nino held it like it was a precious jewel and couldn't take his eyes off of it. Satoshi had never looked so handsome before, and seeing his face for the first time in almost a year made it impossible to hold in his tears.

"Kazu?" Natsumi asked, gently rubbing her brother's arm as he wiped away his tears.

Nino shook his head and put the frame back in the box before he dropped it. "I'm fine," he assured her. "Really. I'm fine. It's just.... I'm surprised." To stop himself from embarrassing himself, Nino stood up with his letter and went outside into the chilly December air. Sitting on the steps, Nino finally opened up his letter and cried at just the first words.


December 15th, 1944

My dearest Kazunari,
Christmas without you this year is perhaps the most lonely and hardest thing I've ever had to do. I was given a few days of leave for Christmas, so I'm in Paris as I write. It's so strange to be here. It's the first time in a long time I've been surrounded by white people who aren't trying to kill me. Instead, everyone here seems to give me more respect than I think I deserve. It could be worse, I guess.

There are no words to describe how much I miss you. I miss waking up to you in my arms, and some mornings it actually brings me to tears. I know that you're the same way because Jun has told me. He knows how much you are hurting and how hard it must be for you. In a way, that's how I know that you still love me. There have been many soldiers here who have been dumped by their lovers in a 'Dear John' letter. Sometimes I doubt if you're really waiting for me or if you really have moved on from me. It's unfair of me to doubt you, but sometimes I can't help it. But when Jun tells me that you're still there, waiting anxiously every day for my letters, I cry but also know with an unsurmountable feeling certainty, bravery, and courage that I will get home to you. I have to live through this. I have to survive. If I don't, what will become of you?

That was also a part of the reason why I had my picture taken. It occurred to me a few weeks ago that you didn't have a photograph of me, and I was afraid that you may have forgotten what I looked like. Sometimes, I'm afraid that I've completely forgotten what you look like. I never want you to forget me, Kazunari, even if I perish from this earth and never make it home to you. If I die, please promise me that you will find happiness again. But also promise me that you won't forget about me. It pains me to write this, but I have to. I love you with every part of me, but it hurts me even more to know the uncertainty of what will happen to me and what will happen to you if something happens to me.

Dear Kazunari, please do not forget me. When I return home to you, please be sitting on the front steps of that hot, stinky barrack ready to bounce into my arms. Please have a smile on your face, and please never let me go.

Merry Christmas. And until our arms can be around each other again, know that I love you.

As long as there is snow on the peaks, I will always love you.

Satoshi