Grandpa had always been like that then. Tough on the exterior. Trying to act as if he wasn’t something or didn’t feel something. But she knew he did feel. He knew then that he indeed loved her. But Grandma was right. He had too much pride… too much ego to admit it. It was something that could never be. Something that never should have happened. Of course, the admittance of his feelings would threaten everything for him, wouldn’t it? 

    “Sami?” Looking up from the journal entry, she found Mere smiling down at her. 

    “Hm?”

    “Reading that book again?” Smiling to herself, she put it down. 

    “Yeah, it’s one you can’t put down.” 

    “What’s it about?” 

    “Oh, just some old war stories and memoirs and stuff.”

    “It looks like a real journal, wow. Whoever published that did a heck of a job.” Agreeing, she tucked the journal away from her into the side of the couch. 

    “Summer’s coming to a close soon. Can you believe it?” Mere sat back against the couch with a sigh. 

    “Summers here are never that long anyway. And now we’re in for a brutal winter.” 

    “Hm.” 

    “Hey, Sami?”

    “Hm?”

    “Are you sad?” Grandpa. Swallowing, she tried her best to answer as lighthearted as she could. 

    “Do you think Grandpa is sad?”

    “I don’t know… I mean… if I only had six weeks to live I’d be trying to get out here and go do stuff.” 

    “Yeah but he’s done a lot. Maybe he wants to be at home and relax ya know?” 

    “I guess.” 

    “Grandpa’s his usual self and as long as he’s okay then I’ll be okay.” Accepting the answer, Mere pat her leg. 

    “I’m gonna make some watermelon skewers.”

    “Ooh, yummy.” 

    “Call ya when lunch is done.”

    “‘Kay Mere. Thanks!” Laying her head back against the couch, she closed her eyes. It tore her up inside. To know that her grandpa was dying a death that he thought he deserved. It broke her heart that he felt so alone. But then, it brought her the tiniest bit of comfort knowing that in the way of fate, soon they would be reunited. 

*** 

1945 

Early February

Mukden 

    The sound of a scraping knife sounded in the quiet room. There, he sat in a chair, head leaned back against her chest. The scraping had produced a melody of sorts and after a while, it would stop before the stainless steel blade was taken away and dipped in cold water. And like that the blade would cut the growing scruff away from his face. He sat with his eyes closed, body language one of contentment and of being lax. But she, however, was stiff, her muscles locked. It had been two weeks since the incident at the Captain’s manor and things hadn’t much improved. She didn’t speak to him unless spoken to and all but refused to bathe with him. She ate her meals during the scheduled times and oftentimes felt guilty because of it… being full. She had requested that she be allowed to see Ruby and he had agreed. 

    It had broken her heart to learn that Ruby had been taken to Unit 100 not long after she’d been taken to Ichiro’s quarters. He’d escorted her inside and stood by her the entire time as she and her friend tried to catch up, hand resting lightly on his weapon. 

*** 

    “Ruby! My God….” The beautiful woman she’d once planted seeds with was now unrecognizable. It was obvious that she was pregnant and her hair had been shorn. At her voice, she looked up from her spot on the cold concrete. 

    “Bea?” Tears welled up in her eyes and she nodded, slipping her hands in between the bars towards her. Ruby was weak but she managed to get on all fours. Slowly, she made her way towards her until their hands intertwined. She had signs of a recent battering, her eyes still slightly puffy. Her lips smiled though and she even showed her teeth. 

    “My sweet sister…you look well.” She complimented, letting her eyes fall on him who stood next to her. 

    “Looks like the bastard is taking care of you.” He moved not and said nothing, eyes just drifting down to look at her. 

    “Ruby…how the hell did you end up in here…” She breathed, clutching her hands tight. 

    “Some Jap son of a bitch wanted me to suck his cock and I refused him. So, he brought me here.” At that, his eyes resumed their view of the wall behind her. 

    “They did a number on me Bea. I ain’t gon lie to you. They beat me real bad and all of em had a turn on me.” 

    “My God in Heaven…”

    “I was in here with three other girls. They killed every last one of em. Now, I’m the last one.” Shaking her hands, she vehemently disagreed, her voice full of anger and disbelief. 

    “No. Not you Ruby. Not you. You ain’t gon die in here like this…” She appreciated her friend’s passion but her eyes had grown resigned. 

    “I miss my husband anyhow Bea. God told me they killed him long ago. Wouldn’t I be a bad wife not to wanna be with him?” To that, she couldn’t speak and hung her head, tears sliding down her cheeks. 

    “Hey now, don’t cry now sister.” 

    “R-Rub…” 

    “It’s alright. I’m tired of living in this hellhole.”

    “What about the baby?” She asked, grieved. 

    “Figure my baby and me both be set free.” As she wept, Ruby lifted eyes to the soldier standing next to her. 

    “Hey. Jap bastard.” Now she had his attention. 

    “Don’t let her get in here. If you do, I’m going to haunt you for the rest of your days you hear me?” He said nothing but the two of them seemed to reach some kind of agreement in the silence. Extending thin arms out, she hugged her friend. 

    “Do what you must to survive, Bea. If you gotta fuck him, do it. If you gotta suck his dick, do it. Play with him, make him love you… just find a way to survive this place…you hear me?” She whispered into her ear before letting her go. 

    “You ain’t meant to die in here, Bea.” Gripping her hands, she smiled once more and nodded at the kiss she pressed against them. Taking her hands, she put them on her belly for a little while before the animal in clothes told her it was time to go. 

*** 

    The next day, Ruby had been murdered. She’d been taken to a surgical room, surrounded by a group of new medical interns. She’d been brought in naked, notes and observations written in journals about her form, her body, her distended pregnant belly. Ordered to lie on the table, she for a moment looked at all the young faces, surrounded by old heads, some of them that had inflicted torture upon torture on her. 

    “Before I die, let me say that each and every one of you miserable shits are going straight to hell when you die. I hope you all burn for eternity.” Then, she obeyed, laying on the table. At first, it was quiet, and she looked up at the blinding white light until tears began to slip down the sides of her face. When a man came forward and began to suit up, she watched him and others speak for a while. The old son of a bitch shoved a rag into her mouth and ordered two of the interns to grab her legs and arms. Her heart began to pound in her chest as he reached down to pick up a thin metal blade. 

    At the first initial slice into her flesh, a scream bubbled up out of her that no human should have ever made and she began to thrash and he continued to cut her open, slicing from her sternum down across and under her belly. Taking hands, the surgeon ripped open the chest cavity and further down, split open her stomach, revealing a bloody heap of what appeared to be a child inside. Her screams of agony soon stopped and she fell limp, her blood soaking the sheet underneath her and dribbling out across the floor. 

    *** 

    Dipping the blade into the water once more, she turned her eyes down at him who waited patiently. It was time now for the neck, his cheeks and shadow of mustache gone. Lifting the small brush, she applied shaving cream to his neck. Tightening fingers on the handle, she tilted his head slightly to the side and began to shave his flesh.

     After hearing about Ruby’s murder, she’d all but shut down. It was like losing her brother all over again. She’d been an innocent woman taken from her husband, her children…and all of them had been viciously murdered at the hands of the Japanese. It enraged her to the point where every time she saw him, thoughts of murder ran through her mind, God help her. Minding how careful she was shaving his jugular, she moved his head to the center. Dipping and cleaning the hair and cream away from the blade, she’d moved it back and was about to shave him but his hand reaching to stop her startled her. Jumping, her eyes widened slightly. He opened his eyes and looked up dead at her. 

    “Your friend. I’m sorry.” 

    “No, you’re not. Don’t pretend you care.”

    “You want to kill me.” It was a simple observed fact and the calm almost casual way he said it infuriated her even more. 

    “If I could, I’d kill every last one of you for taking Ruby away from me. Murdering my brother…you all deserve to die.” He took in her anger and let go of her hand, calmly resting his hands on his lap. 

    “I don’t disagree with you.” The response made her look down at him. 

    “I’ve done a lot of things in this war. Some I’m proud of. Others, I’m not proud of. Things that have made me question my humanity.”

    “You’re not human… you’re an animal.” She hissed, pressing the blade flush up against his Adam’s apple. 

    “I’ll allow you this one time. This one opportunity. It won’t come again.” For the briefest of moments, she entertained the thought of slicing open his neck and letting his blood spill out all over him. 

    “You know what would happen to me. Killing you wouldn’t even be worth it in the end. It wouldn’t bring me my freedom.”

    “Depends on what you classify as freedom.” He said with a sigh and a careful swallow. With a loud sigh, she took hold of his chin and forced his head back right where she wanted it. 

    “Hush and let me finish shaving you.” Clean swipes of the blade now and dip and repeat. 

*** 

    I knew she wanted to kill me. And at that moment, I couldn’t say that I didn’t deserve it. The whole time, my heart had been pounding and the very real reality that she could in fact slit my throat turned my skin cold. I’d never been to Unit 100 and after visiting Bea’s friend and seeing the misery of the other caged humans I hoped that I never again stepped foot inside.

     Bea’s depression after her friend’s death ignited something inside of me and I hated myself for the way I wanted to cheer her up. I was a walking contradiction. It annoyed me but it didn’t prevent me from doing something anyway. I wanted just for one night to let my guard down again…I wanted to go back to the Oriental Pearl…where inside I was simply Ichiro and she was simply Beatrice. 

*** 

    When she returned from the crematorium, he watched as she laid the small clay pot of Ruby’s ashes on her nightstand. Standing still, he observed her as she sat and knelt to take off her shoes. 

    “I’ll take my dinner later. I’m not hungry right now.” She said, rubbing her foot. 

    “Accepted.” Sighing, she laid back flat on her bed and stared up at the ceiling. 

    “When is this damn war going to end…” She said out loud, closing her eyes. But just as soon as she’d closed them, she opened them wide as she felt a leg brush against hers. There he stood at the side of her bed, one of his legs in between hers. The bold position of his body made her sweat. 

    Do what you have to do to survive, Bea. In the full month that she’d been brought here, he’d never been physical with her and she couldn’t lie and say she hadn’t wondered why. The desires of sweaty passionate sessions behind the door of her dressing room had all but passed and now she looked up at him, going back and forth on if it would be worth it to sell him a fantasy. After all, he did admit that he had wanted to rumble and fumble with her back then too. He wanted the same thing I did…he felt the same way I did. 

    In her silence, she’d run it over in her mind.  Seducing him…making him fall in love with her body…and then…then just as he could orgasm, she’d smother him with a pillow… or stab him in the heart. 

    “What are you thinking about so intensely?” He asked, so tall that as he leaned down to hover over her, it appeared as though he was floating. 

    “N-nothing…” She could hear her heartbeat pump into her ears and there it was, a teasing little smirk that set her heart on fire. God, she hated him….hated everything about him. 

    “Don’t lie, Bea.” He breathed, pressing his lips against her temple. One of her reveries started like this…. and it was crazy how smooth it was happening… just like it was meant to be. Licking her lips, she swallowed and lifted her hands upward to his chest and slipped them up around his neck. 

    “It’s… embarrassing. I don’t wanna tell you.” There, the heat of desire darkened his gaze almost immediately and if she were a dog, she’d be panting at the mouth. He moved his leg a little, making her legs come open just a little more. 

    “I’ll keep it safe.” He hushed against her ear lobe, lips poking out to press a light little kiss against it.  

    “I was thinking about our nights at the Oriental Pearl…”

    “Mmhm…” 

    “I miss it…” His nose nudged her own and he withdrew slightly, just enough to look at her. 

    “Good then. We’re going out tonight.” With one last little smirk, he lifted up off of her, leaving her stunned and sweating.