You're not sure where you're going, exactly. The car is rumbling along through the bustling streets, leaving behind your neighborhood full of cheap students and working-class families and turning onto one of the fantastical boulevards full of new, modern, Western-style buildings and bedecked in electric streetlights.
Then, to your surprise, you turned off the main thoroughfare and down a smaller side street that lead deeper into the heart of the city. You marvelled at the clean modern apartments , some three, four, even five stories tall, interspersed with sprawling traditional walled homes, the paved streets and overflowing, professionally-maintained gardens. You saw two other cars, one driving by carrying a very fancy looking lady, and the other parked in an alley while you waited for an army truck to pass at an intersection. The house it was parked next to possessed a large, open glass-plate window dotted with interesting equipment, weather instruments and such, and you almost wished you could get out and take a closer look.
Then you noticed the scene in the doorway. A policewoman was standing against the wall, looking apprehensive, with two men dressed both richly and flamboyantly. They were moving away as a third man emerged and started out onto the street, the policewoman disappearing inside.
"What's going on there…" Lord Arisukawa leaned past you to take a look, then his face lit up with recognition and he popped the door open.
"Mr. Kaiji! Fancy meeting you here!"
The man and his compatriots bowed quickly.
"Lord Arisukawa! What are the chances?" The man said, quite at ease. He looked at you in a way that utterly skeeved you out. You blushed and ducked back a little further into your seat in an attempt to avoid his gaze. "You trading up, huh? Even younger than the last one."
"Of course not, I'm not
that much of a lecher!" He and the other man both laughed together for a moment. "To tell the truth, she's connected to my daughter. Anyway, is our appointment still set for the 27th?"
"Wouldn't miss it. Have fun!"
The intersection cleared and the car rolled out, and the cheery smile fled Lord Arisukawa's face.
"I hate dealing with that man. I wouldn't, except he's got so many people in his pocket that it's faster going through him than around him, if you understand." He said, frowning. "My apologies."
Finally, you came to a stop in front of an unassuming traditional building with a grand, arched gateway. You glanced at Arisukawa in some mild confusion, but he only smiled as he stepped out of the car. The chauffeur bowed slightly to you and then you were gently directed into the front entrance. It was like stepping back in time fifty, sixty, a hundred years! This had once been some merchant's residence, no doubt. There was a small (no doubt artificial) stream, a pond full of carp, and the man and three women who greeted you were dressed to the nines in traditional garb. All of them bowed deeply to Arisukawa as the pair of you walked up the front step, but only the man spoke.
"Lord Arisukawa, it is an honor to have you patronize our humble establishment again. Will you be meeting anyone else tonight?"
"It is a pleasure to be back, Mister Obara. It will just be me and my companion tonight, though. Have you seen the Prince Tayasu lately?"
What. The Tayasu family had been the ruling military dictators for hundreds of years before the restoration of the Empress and of course now they were just powerful nobility and businessman but apparently
he knew them?
"I believe he is here tonight, sir. Shall I ask him to come see you?"
"Oh, no, I don't want to bother him, I was just curious, since I think he's been making excuses. In any case, I don't know about my young friend here, but I'm quite hungry."
"Of course, sir. Manami will show you in." Inside, the restaurant wasn't quite like what you were expecting. It was a completely traditional set up, though instead of a common dining room, it seemed that the outer edge of the building was dotted with small private dining spaces that looked out onto the gardens. Perfect for private and clandestine dining.
There weren't prices on the menu, but you could imagine it was far outside your budget. The menu itself wasn't even something you
chose from, just a slip of expensive cardstock listing tonight's courses.
"This place does some of the best tofu I've ever had--of course, I think the
real best I had was in Jingshi in this tiny shop. Simply divine," he said with a bright smile. That was the Cathayan capital, right? "Lovely people, too. Very hospitable. Do you want something to drink?"
"I…" You were overwhelmed by the question. What did rich people even
drink? "Why were in you Jingshi? Your job?" You asked instead, to put the question off.
"Oh, no, I'm Minister of
Interior Development, not Ex-terior. This was, wow, sixteen years ago?" He said, seemingly surprised by the passage of time himself. "With the Navy after the last war, token occupation while the treaties got finalized."
"You were in the Navy too, then?" You asked.
"Yes, it was the thing to do. Only did six years, I had politics to get onto, you know. Made some good friends and went to some truly wonderful places. I recommend the tea, by the way, it's quite lovely. Besides, cold drinks with a hot dinner is just a recipe for indigestion. Or hot sake, if that's more your preference? No?"
You agreed to the tea unthinkingly, trusting the man's taste. Without anyone seeming to have actually
asked for your drink orders, a steaming pot of tea and a pair of tea cups were brought into the room and set on the table, then what was presumably your first course--a soft tofu mixed with sesame paste and a firmer tofu served with a small mix of seasonal summer vegetables. Both looked delicious and also in small portions. As you picked up your chopsticks, Lord Arisukawa continued speaking.
"I usually prefer traditional food, honestly. Western cuisine is all well and good but there's nothing like an Akitsukuni chef. Nothing! One of the things Rin-hime and I could never agree on, unfortunately." It took a moment for you to realize he was talking about Haruna's mother. You hesitated, unsure of how much you could pry, then gathered your courage.
"You don't get along, then, Lord Arisukawa?"
"It's not that we don't get along, more that we have different ways of looking at the world. And we're in private, you can call me Mister Arisukawa, Miss Kishimoto. No need to be so formal." He took a careful bit of his first course and sighed happily before continuing. "I do care for Rin, you know. She took me when she had her pick of husbands, for one thing, and she's always wanted to do what she thinks is best for the children. You know?"
You nodded, frantic to agree with him.
"That reminds me of my mum and dad," you blurted before you could make yourself shut the fuck up. He looked at you, as if expecting elaboration, and the words kept spilling forth in a nervous rush.
"I mean, they definitely love each other and they've always been there for all of us but you should have heard the way mum and dad argued about things. He never wanted to be too extravagant with money and sometimes it was like listening to someone trying to pull an angry cat's teeth when she tried to convince him that it wasn't too ostentatious to buy new uniforms at the beginning of each school year or that yes, having electricity installed was a good idea." You had to laugh, remembering that. "
How are the children supposed to study without lights?" You quipped, imitating your mother. "
Trying to read by candlelight is bad for their eyes!"
Lord… er, Mister Arisukawa laughed in turn, pulling the small monocle from his suit pocket.
"There might be truth to that, you know! Can't read a thing without it anymore. Besides…" He placed it up to his eye and smiled. "... I think it looks dashing, don't you agree?"
You swallowed nervously, and decided speaking too much was the wrong approach. Maybe speak less. A lot less.
"Yes." You said flatly.
"Come now. You shouldn't encourage an old man's vanity," he said with a chuckle. Really though he didn't
look that old. Not more than 60. Maybe even younger. About the same age as your dad, actually, but where he looked dynamic and trim and exuberant, your father just looked tired all the time. You wondered how much of that was wealth and how much of that was your father's dour attitude and (extremely punishing) work ethic etching itself into his face.
"Sorry." You replied reflexively, and he sighed, clearly a bit exasperated.
"No need! You sure you don't want some of that sake? You truly do look like you need to relax."
Would refusing look bad? You couldn't tell. You
did kind of want a drink though, you really didn't have the budget for it anymore and-
"I think you're right." You agreed. Moments later, as if by magic, there was a tiny cup in front of you.
"So, I've heard a few things about you. Engineering student, from Shimazu, something to do with electricity? Brother in the navy, another studying law... Haruna's mother had some lovely things to say about you, in her own way."
What did that mean aaaaaaaaa-
"Yes. I'm studying at Horonai University and beginning a specialty into electrical engineering." You repeated by rote. "I'm particularly interested in communication systems, telephones and telegraphs and such."
"Excellent! A surprising amount of my job involves such things. Getting as much of the country in direct contact with the trans-Pacific telegraph service as possible, of course."
"Lady Arisukawa said you were working on the express line between Tokei and Seto?" You recalled. At Haruna's recommendation, you'd taken notes of the conversations with her mother.
"Spirits, yes. It's been my pet project the last few years. Finally, all the red tape seems to be cut and the construction is going like, ah, what is the Alleghanian saying?
Like greased lightning."
"You must be very happy about that."
"Very much! So, I'm curious. Are you and my daughter planning on getting married anytime soon?" He asked. This, at least, was a question you were expecting.
"I don't know. I think that'd be sort of rushing into things." You replied honestly.
"Rushing in? It's been what… at least six months?"
"Nine and a bit." You replied.
"I know young people these days like to stretch out their engagements, but even then, that's considerable." He said, shaking his head.
"Well, sir, I'm afraid… She's always away on deployment. We don't get to spend much of that time together."
"Ah. That's something I can relate to." He said sadly.
"I…" You hesitated for a moment, not sure how to say what you wanted to, but then another cup of sake entered your peripheral vision as it was set down quickly on the table. At the same time, your previous course was whisked away and the next deposited. You reached over and took a hurried sip.
"I got the impression that Lady Arisukawa doesn't want us to be that serious," you said finally. "Even if we were talking about it yet, which we're not. We've been dating for nearly a year, yes, but… I think I've seen her less than a month total in that time. At best."
"I understand. Unfortunately, I had to watch her grow up in snippets, a day or two every other month, so I know the feeling. For somebody who is so important to you to be so…
distant."
He sipped his cup, elegantly, but in a fashion that made you think he might have drank it all in one go.
"It isn't easy, is it?"
"No."
You finished your cup too. He was quiet for a moment, covering for what must have been a moment of deep thought by digging into the next course.
"Truly, I don't wish you to get the wrong impression. I care for Rin. And I love my children very much. She and I want what is best for both of them."
"You just don't always agree on what that is." You could read what he wasn't saying aloud pretty clearly. Especially if
he was asking about you two getting married when Lady Arisukawa had seemed absolutely against any such thing. Normally, you'd be worried of offending by being so direct but… he seemed like the sort of person who appreciated directness, at least in this circumstance.
"No, we don't. All I really want is for them to be happy. Once Haru-chan started primary school, that was it for
my input in most things. She didn't think Haru could be a strong woman if she had her father too close by to rely on."
You stayed quiet, not sure how to respond to that. It did track with what you'd seen of Haruna's mother.
"I respected her wishes. Though now...I am beginning to regret that I did not try harder to get her to appreciate my point of view." He frowned a little, then shook his head. "But, ah… don't let me be too melancholy. Tell me about your brother. The Naval officer. I know he's posted to the cruiser
Azuma, but I don't know much else about him personally." You blinked.
"...You know where my brother is posted? He hasn't told me a thing because of the censor. I've been wanting to ask, but I worry that might be taken as, you know... " Subversive. Not that you said that part out loud.
"Oh, yes, '
the censor'. It's easy enough to find these things when you know who to ask." He chuckled. "Besides, I have to keep an eye on what's happening to my daughter, too."
"You know where
Haruna is?" You asked, even more incredulous. The only thing you knew was that she was in a battle a few months ago, where that
incredible photograph of her sleeveless and fighting a fire was taken.
"Oh? Yes. She's captaining some little torpedo boat on some nowhere island, ah… Habomai, that was the place. Nowhere near danger, for the most part. Really, the most worrisome thing there would be finding enough to do."
"...Truly?" How would a place where she was in no danger turn Haruna into an alcoholic? The idea struck you as ludicrous. At least at first. Then again… Haruna was the sort of person who always needed something to do, wasn't she?
"Truly. Just between you and me, I have a suspicion she was put there because they didn't know what else to do with her and figured it'd be best to put her on the shelf for the rest of the war. About half the Admiralty is worried she'll earn more medals, and the other half is worried she'll get herself killed and be a martyr for women's rights. I doubt she'll be in any danger for the foreseeable future. She's been so… well, if you ask her father,
amazing that they need to put the brakes on her career." He preened just a little, positively glowing with pride that his child was doing so well that someone was trying to sabotage her career. Or maybe that was just a glass half-empty way of seeing it.
Either way, he apparently had no idea she'd become an alcoholic over the summer. It wasn't your place to tell him, so you kept quiet on that particular sticky subject.
"I'm glad she's safe, then. I worry about her constantly," you said instead.
"So do I. She's… well, she's always been headstrong. When she was about three she got one of the family swords off its stand and we found her swinging it around pretending she was a warrior-princess. Ha! It was adorable in hindsight but at the time I was terrified she'd manage to chop her own head off."
"That sounds like Haruna," you said, unable to stop yourself from bursting into giggles. "When I first met her, she told me that she wanted to, you know… be like one of the warrior-princesses from the old stories. Some things don't change, I guess."
"No, they don't. Well, they do…" Arisukawa sighed, then looked across the table at you with an earnest expression. "At least I hope they do. One thing I want to change is my absence in her life, Miss Kishimoto. She's nearly died at least twice that I know of now and… I couldn't bear the thought of losing her. Especially if I failed to be there for her while I could."
You nodded, understanding.
"I hope I meet your standards, Mister Arisukawa."
"Meet my...? Miss Kishimoto, you and my daughter are both adults, you don't need
my approval. It's the twenty-sixth century, isn't it?" He laughed.
"The, ah, modern age." You replied.
"Exactly. Look, I know Rin probably made it
very clear that she doesn't approve of the relationship. She thinks that if an Imperial princess is involved with a commoner that it will be a scandal. To be honest, she's probably right on that much. But it was also a scandal when she was admitted to the Imperial Naval Academy. I don't think it's Haruna's destiny to get through life free of scandal."
"I don't think she could if she wanted to." You said fondly. If you understood anything about Haruna, it was that she was not the type of person to shrink from adversity and challenge.
"Quite. I think what is more important here is whether or not you are the sort of person who will be able to weather the storms she's going to face with her and not be scared off by the idea of having your name in the gossip rags," he continued. "You are an intelligent young woman, you have a good head on your shoulders, she
likes you. If it makes her happy to be with you, I don't have a reason to oppose such a thing. It would be a fool's errand to try and stop you both."
"I'm glad to hear it." You said. Even if he didn't think his standards mattered, it seemed to meet them.
"The country is changing. Perhaps in the future, there will not even
be nobility, or we will be supplanted by people like your father--people who worked to get what they have rather than being born into it. I hope they'll wait until I shuffle off stage before replacing me, though." He smiled. "In any case, I'm very glad to have met you. I see why Haruna likes you, and I hope they give her enough time for the two of you to reconnect."
"Um, if it's not too much to say, I hope for the same for you, Mister Arisukawa."
"You're far too kind. As long as I get an invitation to the wedding, I think I would be able to be happy enough," he said with a wink.
---
The rest of dinner was pleasant and you managed to move away from heavy topics--turned out Arisukawa followed one of the local Tokei baseball teams and you ended up spending a good amount of time discussing the game and the quality of the supper he had so graciously bought for you. Then you were back in the car and whisked back home with a pleasant buzz in your head from the good food and good sake. You said your 'good nights' as you left the car and made your way back into the house as quietly as you could--it was late and most people were probably trying to sleep by now.
That most people didn't include Mai, apparently. She practically ambushed you as you stumbled into your shared room.
"Aiko,
you're dating a princess? No, I mean,
the princess? In the Navy?" She hissed in a violent whisper, waving the business card you had left with one hand. She must have recognized the name.
"Not so loud--" You insisted.
"I'm
whispering," she said.
"Look, yes, I'm dating her but we're trying to keep it private."
"Spirits, it all makes sense now. How she's always far away and you're always worried about her--I saw that picture of her with the sleeves gone. I thought you just thought she was hot!"
"I mean…"
"
Why are you keeping this a secret??? If I was dating a princess… prince, whatever, if I was dating royalty I'd tell
everyone!"
"It's complicated. I don't want to create trouble for her." You explained.
"So you're just going to keep it secret forever? That seems like a lot of trouble for
you!"
… yeah. It did. Not that you wanted to get into that whole argument right now.
"Mai, I am going to
sleep I have a morning class.
Do not tell anyone."
"Okay, okay, fine. But…" She looked around as if checking for somebody else in the room. ".. a
princess! That's so cool!"
"It's SO cool. Also, give me back that business card."
---
The next few days made your head spin. You had to take some time to digest Haruna's letter, the whole dinner thing, and your own feelings on the matter. With Mister Arisukawa being supportive, wouldn't that make being open about your relationship much easier? It seemed like that would be the case, anyhow. You got a little note on expensive paper later in the week, a thank you note from Arisukawa which said how charming he found you and expressed his hope to get to see you again in the future. Left unsaid, no doubt, was that he hoped it would be with his daughter.
Once things had settled in your mind, it left you peering at your latest letter back to Haruna and trying to decide what all these new developments meant and how to address them.
---
[ ] Write to Haruna about the nice dinner with her dad, but don't talk about going public. You don't want to add any more complications while she was recovering, but she deserves to know her dad wants to reconnect.
[ ] Write to Haruna about the nice dinner with her dad and see if she might consider making your relationship public. This is important and you felt like starting the discussion now instead of blindsiding her when she gets home. Whenever that might be.
[ ] Write to Haruna and ignore the whole situation. Her dad can deal with his side, you just need to try and be supportive after that whole alcoholism confession. Your stuff can wait.
