Chapter 52: Okaerinasai

The Phantom had landed on a secret carrier in a 'friendlies' zone of the Tsushima Strait near Izuhara.

The carrier was unmarked, masquerading as a merchant vehicle for Germans. So, it had been stricken off as a non-enemy threat by the Imperial Navy's register. Eiji was nervous about what else had slipped under the radar and into his country unsuspectingly this way.

They boarded a commercial seaplane, leaving the carrier with a full cover of German prosthetic salesmen for a company called Wiesmen that had sold automotive products in Japan before it faced a trade embargo in 1939. US Intelligence had caught on about the company's recent trade agreement signing with a government-funded project based in the Hiroshima and Nagasaki prefectures for medical technologies. It had given the US an opening to take advantage.

The cognitive dissonance of the Americans pretending to be Germans didn't sit well with Eiji. He was determined not to make them aware, keeping his concerns to himself and poker face on at all times. All he could do was shadow their work. He prayed that whatever the Americans were planning to do to his country didn't involve mass genocide to his people. He had to rely on Tyne's good faith about rebuilding peace and seeing to this war as honorable adversaries as they had been at Iwo Jima.

His heart thumped with trepidation as he felt a brisk breeze to his skin as soon as he walked off the plane with Tyne and the Kitsune-san, and entered a cleared field somewhere in Hamada-shi, which was apparently a new town. So, it yet had the infrastructure to detect, let alone, deal with enemy/non-enemy planes.

"Sirs, I'll be taking off," said the pilot from the plane's cockpit. Tyne acknowledged the goodbye with a wave of his hand.

The three of them strolled down a cleared path, away from the plane that was driving down a strip of the clear field behind them and doing a take-off.

The scent of wildflowers and musk graced Eiji's senses with a welcome home feeling.

"I'm home?" His voice croaked, still in disbelief that his feet were touching the mainlands' soil.

"Okaerinasai." Tyne soberly whispered to Eiji.

"How do you know this greeting?" Eiji kept a level tone to his voice, but his heart was pounding with annoyance.

"I told you, I majored in languages. My teachers taught us the basic courtesies." Tyne soberly answered.

Eiji stared dubiously at the man who was definitely passing off the German businessman look with his dried gray suit and fedora hat. Tyne held a briefcase in one hand and an agitated Tama in a soft handwoven wicker basket in the other. She had, fortunately, survived the phantom plane trip, although it made her a bit wobbly upon landing and took her time to readjust her senses. Tyne had managed to locate the basket on the carrier ship along with a blanket for her.

"Okaeri!" Kitsune-san cheerfully repeated the greeting. He added in Deutsch, "Welcome home Takaki-san."

Eiji cocked his head to one side and faced the man who was grinning at him from ear to ear. Like Tyne, he also looked German in his gray suit and carrying his Weismen Company regulated briefcase.

"What do I call you?"

"You haven't introduced yourself?" Tyne asked, surprised.

"Good question. Well, for now, call me Hans Mueller," said Hans, formerly known as Kitsune-san.

"Probably for the best. Make sure you call me Karl Weber from now on," said Tyne.

"Let me guess, I'm still Takaki-san." Eiji sighed, annoyed by this spy game they were playing for their country.

"Bingo." Hans cheerfully slapped Eiji on the back, ignoring the glare Eiji was giving him.

"Tama's still Tama." Tyne drew everyone's attention to the cute kitty who had finally dozed off in the snug basket. "We're to meet with our informant who will dummy up some papers for you."

Eiji tensed at the terms 'dummy up' and 'informant'. He did his best to push aside his worries by absorbing the scenery of his home country he once thought he would never see again.

They continued walking the path across the field towards the main road, which led to a handful of buildings in the distance. The morning sun was beginning to burn down on them with its spring warmth.

Eiji sighed blissfully at the delicate chirping of birds and the rhythmic humming of crickets. His hunger was making his indigestion aggravate the healed wound at his stomach. He had healed with a nasty scar, and every, so often a pinching pain would occur whenever he hadn't eaten for hours.

"Ugh." He accidentally let out, drawing Tyne's attention to him.

"Here." Tyne paused to hand Tama over to Eiji. He fished through briefcase and casually threw him a wrapped piece of bread. "Can't have you collapsing and causing unwanted attention to blow our cover."

Eiji frowned as he held Tama tight and ripped open the wrapper with his teeth, gobbling the slices in one go. He sighed with the realization that the bread was his first meal back in the country. It did the trick to stop his stomach ache.

He pocketed the wrapper waste as they approached the newly established town.