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Teruko bounces around the table while the rest of The Hunting Dogs are eating dinner.
“What are you doing, ma’am?” Tachihara asks, setting his spoon down.
Jouno just continues eating while Tecchou plays with his soup broth.
“I am burning energy. If I don’t do that before dinner, then I end up bothering everyone. Normally I go for a hike, but I didn’t have time, because of all of these ridiculous amounts of paperwork. They’re really not happy with us right now. Did you know that it was half the paperwork for the whole base?”
Tachihara raises one eyebrow.
“No, I actually didn’t. I can’t believe they’re still blaming us for what happened with the Commander.”
Jouno puts his spoon down before saying, “Can we just stop talking about this? I’m done with talking about him.”
All of them get quiet, the rest of dinner being eaten in silence. Teruko continues to run around the table instead of eating. Dinner started at seven thirty, and at eight on the dot, a uniformed officer walks in.
“Alright, time to get back to work.”
“And how late are we working tonight?” Teruko asks, stopping herself with the back of Jouno’s chair.
The chair almost shoots to the side, but Jouno manages to grab the table to stop him and his chair from toppling to the side.
“Until you’re done with everything that needs to be turned in before tomorrow morning.”
“Nice, got it. Have you managed to get copies of anything in Braille that Jouno can work on?”
“Nope, he’s going to be working with the night shift crew on base until you guys are done.”
Jouno stands with a huff.
“Come with me. The rest of you should have your dinner cleaned up and be back at work within the next fifteen minutes.”
Jouno walks out with him, not even caring to rearrange his uniform that’s wrinkled from sitting.
“Ugh, this is so stupid,” Teruko says.
She grabs her full bowl and Jouno’s half empty one. Within ten minutes they’re back in the conference room with their large piles of paperwork.
A couple of hours later, Tachihara says, “I wonder what Jouno is doing.”
“Probably manual labor while the night crew is harassing him,” Tecchou says.
“Why would you say that?” Tachihara demands.
“That’s a bad way to think,” Teruko says.
“He told me that was what they’ve been doing since we got back to work last week. They tried to trip him, then kicked him when that didn’t work. Then they also played really loud music to mess with his ears, and also messed with his uniform right as their boss was coming around so he would get fussed at. Apparently he barely refrained himself from hitting one of them yesterday.”
Teruko stands with a growl. Tachihara has to grab her arm.
“Wait, stop. You can’t do anything. It’s only going to make things worse!”
Teruko pauses, taking a breath.
“This is probably why he didn’t say anything to us.”
“We should just finish our paperwork as fast as possible, and talk to him about it before crashing tonight.”
She plops down in front of her papers again with an angry look on her face.
“No wonder he’s been so irritable,” she mutters.
They get their work done faster than they’ve any other night. It’s only one a.m. by the time Teruko calls the main desk.
“They said that they’re going to send Jouno down here, and we’re just supposed to sleep in this conference room,” she says, dropping back into her chair.
“Seriously, again?”
“They still haven’t managed to find accommodations for us in this huge base.”
It’s roughly ten minutes after that when Jouno slips through the door.
“Hey,” he greets, dropping into a chair.
“We need to talk,” Teruko says.
“Really? I thought we were going to get some extra sleep. I’m exhausted.”
“Well it’s important,” Teruko insists.
“Alright, hit me.”
“Tecchou told us what you told him the other night.”
Jouno stills, sighing after a moment of silence.
“Alright, and?”
“What do you mean? This is bad, and I need to know all of the details. Including who’s been involved, exactly what happened, and when.”
“I suddenly don’t think we’re talking about the same thing,” Jouno says, sitting up straighter.
“She’s talking about the night shift harassing you,” Tecchou says, rolling his chair closer to Jouno’s.
“I didn’t tell you about that.”
“Yes you did. It was yesterday when you were running a slight fever from heat exhaustion and you were still half asleep.”
Jouno pinches the bridge of his nose.
“Wait, what were you talking about?” Teruko asks.
“Nothing.”
“It was something, just tell me.”
“I just thought you were going to make fun of me about what happened when I left base for a supply run. I was propositioned by every prostitute on the street, and there were quite a few of them.”
Jouno’s face is dusted light pink. Teruko snickers.
“It’s not funny, Commander.”
“I told him that maybe they just thought he was really cute in his civilian clothes. Most people say he’s a lot less intimidating when he’s not wearing his uniform,” Tecchou says seriously.
“Shut up, and what I was wearing was not cute. It didn’t scream money either, so I don’t know why all of them tried to stop me!”
Teruko covers her mouth while Tachihara bites his lip to stop himself from laughing.
“What were you wearing?” she asks breathlessly.
“A hoodie and those jeans you got me.”
“Maybe it was the color of the hoodie,” Tecchou suggests.
“I don’t know. What’s the color of the hoodie that I have that has all of the cigarette holes in it?”
“Red.”
“Ok, can we get back on topic now? No one knew about the prostitutes. I want to talk about the night staff.”
“Oh, yeah, that. It’s not that big of a deal. It’s just been some pranks here and there.”
“He already told us a lot more than that. If you don’t want me to cause a problem with all of the night staff, you might at least tell me who it was.”
“I mean, it’s been all of them, so nothing wrong there. What are you going to do anyway?”
“I don’t know yet, but I’m done. I’m going to throw a fit, or start causing more problems.”
Jouno stands.
“This isn’t going to help. You can do whatever you want, but I’m going to go for a walk.”
After he walks out, Teruko drops her head into her arms.
“I don’t know what to do.”
Neither of the other two respond, and the rest of the night is quiet. Jouno doesn’t come back by the time the rest of them fall asleep, though it doesn’t really take long. Despite how upset they all are, they’re exhausted. They’re all asleep within a half hour. It’s early when the door slams open. The same man from yesterday walks in. Teruko is on her feet in a second, her years and years in the military forcing her up at the loud noise.
“What the heck?” she demands.
“Get up. It’s time for P.T.”
“Where’s Jouno?” Tecchou asks.
“He’s already on his way there. I found him pacing the hallway.”
“Oh, ok.”
“Now get a move on.”
The day is long with them all working together for the first half. They’re run ragged until lunch after which they’re told to go back to paperwork in the conference. Teruko tries to bring up the way Jouno is being treated, but she’s shut down immediately.
“Nothing is happening. We’ll send him your way with dinner later. You’re going to work until he gets there. Then you can have thirty minutes for dinner.”
Teruko growls as she storms away. However it gets later and later without any sign of Jouno. Eventually nine passes, then ten. Once the clock hits ten thirty, Tachihara clears his throat.
“I wonder what’s taking so long. We’ve gotten all of the paperwork left over from yesterday done, and we’re at least half way through the other stuff that needs to be done tonight.”
“I don’t know, but I don’t want to wait here to find out,” Tecchou says.
Teruko stands, stretching. A very timid looking man walks in. His eyes are downcast and he’s wringing his hands.
“What is it?” Teruko asks, marching over.
She stands in front of him with her hands on her hips.
“I don’t know all of the details, I’m not even supposed to be here, but something happened with your other member.”
All of them are alert immediately upon hearing that.
“They weren’t going to tell you what happened, but I feel really bad. He was working an hour earlier, and everyone was making fun of him about his hair. I don’t know what they thought was wrong with it, but they had some issue with it. They kept telling him he needed to cut it, and he ignored them. They ended up restraining him with ability proof cuffs and they tried to cut his hair with a pair of shears.”
“What the hell?!?” Teruko demands.
The guy flinches with raised hands.
“I had nothing to do with it. I’m sorry, but I didn’t know they were going to do that.”
“Is he ok?” Tachihara asks, standing up too.
“He’s in the infirmary. Apparently they ended up cutting his neck too. I don’t know how bad it was, but some guys were just talking about it. That’s all I know.”
Teruko slips past him.
“Thank you,” she calls as she rushes out the door.
Tachihara and Tecchou are right behind her. No one dares to say anything to stop Teruko as she storms through the halls. She makes a beeline to the infirmary. The infirmary is quiet. There’s one woman and Jouno, who is sitting on a bed with his legs dangling over the side. He has thick bandages wrapped around his neck and his hair is chopped short in a few different spots. He has one arm wrapped around his midsection and the other one is tapping anxiously against his thigh. Even as they walk in, he reaches up to brush his hair aside.
“Jouno, are you alright?” Teruko asks, rushing over to him.
“Ma’am,” the nurse says, but Teruko’s fiery glare is enough to immediately shut her up.
Jouno takes a deep breath, his fists clenching.
“I don’t know,” he says, sounding breathless even though he was just regulating his breathing.
“Your hair causing sensory issues?”
He nods, motioning to the bandages around his neck.
“Those too. Ok, well, would it help if I put your hair up, or would that feel worse?”
“Better I think.”
Tecchou walks over, grabbing Jouno’s hand that’s tapping his thigh. He doesn’t say anything, just holds his gloved hand in his own. Teruko puts Jouno’s hair up as best she can with the uneven and short length.
“I’ll cut it shorter later. Is your neck ok?”
“Yes, none of the cuts were too deep. Though the bandages make me feel itchy.”
Teruko makes a face.
“Alright, I’m going to handle everything, I promise. Tachihara and Tecchou are going to stay here with you in the meantime. I’ll be back soon.”
Tachihara perks up at his name.
“Yeah, I’m here too.”
The corner of Jouno’s mouth turns up slightly.
“I know that, Tachihara.”
Tachihara turns red, looking down.
“Sorry.”
Jouno wraps his other arm around himself tighter, his smile disappearing.
“It’s fine.”
“If they don’t get fired, I’ll make sure that we go for criminal charges,” Tecchou says.
Jouno pulls his hand away, sitting up straighter.
“I’m fine, just a little shaken up. I haven’t been restrained since-”
He drops his head, his hand reaching up to his hair. Tecchou sighs.
“I know, but all we have left is each other. We’re not going to let anyone get away with hurting you. Now that we’re lower than trash and the Commander is gone, we have to stick together.”
“Our situation can get better. We just have to stay positive and stick together,” Tachihara says, stepping forward to stand closer to them.
Jouno sighs.
“I know, but right now sucks. I never thought we’d be here, not in a million years.”
“When you were a kid, did you ever think that you would be in the military?” Tecchou asks.
Both of them smirk.
“No,” Tachihara says.
“Not even a little. This is better than anything else I imagined for myself when I was a child,” Jouno says, letting Tecchou take his hand back.
“Really? Kind of low standards, don’t you think?” Tachihara asks.
Jouno laughs.
“Not at all.”
“He has us,” Tecchou says with a knowing nod.
Jouno smiles. Tachihara tentatively taps Jouno’s arm.
“Can I hug you?”
Jouno looks taken aback, but after a moment, he nods. Tachihara gently hugs Jouno, squeezing him lightly. Tecchou joins in on the hug, smushing them both.
“Tecchou! You are being too aggressive,” Jouno complains.
Tecchou ignores him completely. Teruko comes back half an hour later to find all of them curled up on the bed together. Jouno has his back to the headboard. Tachihara is curled up, pressed against Jouno’s legs. Tecchou is lying with his back against the footboard, one hand resting partly against Jouno’s leg and Tachihara’s head. She smiles, looking over them fondly.
In her hand rests their reassignment orders. Somewhere that they still have good ties. Somewhere that they can take a step back and figure out how to heal from everything that’s happened. She sits down in a chair next to the bed. The nurse is nowhere to be seen, and Teruko figures she isn’t coming back anytime soon. Jouno moves for the first time since she walks in. He inclines his head slightly towards her, and holds out his hand. She grabs it, settling their intertwined hands on the edge of the bed.
“It’s going to be ok. We’re going to be fine,” she whispers to him.
He smiles.
“I know.”