2014.09.12 - Identity Crisis, Volume 8

The flight was long, to say the least. Thanks to the small crafts autopilot they were able to get some sleep. Logan brought along various snacks. A first class flight would have provided better, but he wasn't able to cook an in flight meal so various boxed and packaged goodies would have to do. The vehicle was big enough for six, so there was some room to stretch out or lay back, but not much beyond. At least there was a working toilet. This small plane was meant for long flights, but didn't require the amount of fuel as the Blackbird. Plus the Blackbird acted as one-part stealth ship, and one-part drop ship for a squadron of X-men.

As they flew over the island Logan would have gotten Jane's attention, "Look familiar?" The thing about Okinawa was its uncanny ability to look like many places all rolled into one. From a distance its shores had a beach resort quality along with crystal blue colored waters. Anyone could have been shown a random photo of the Island and could have guessed it was Hawaii.

Turning the controls back on Logan landed the plane in a hangar at the airport. Jane would have noticed the island resort feeling drastically changed as they moved inland. Now they were in a concrete jungle with lots of traffic, buildings, signs, it was like Chinatown except on a larger, nicer, cleaner scale and in a different language. "Stay close," Logan said in English before getting off the plane.

As they made it into the airport he looked at her, "Hungry? They think we're a delivery company. We've got some time, but not a lot kid." There were plenty of places to eat in the actual airport. Like all the other international ones every restaurant and its mother had some type of kiosk, or shop front. He would have preferred they eat here because it was just one less distraction before making it on the road.

For Jane Spartan meals and junkfood were usual, and actually more the rule than the exception. But that came with being almost homeless and living in motels and from the hand to the mouth. Most of the flight it seemed she would sleep, cuddling with her backpack on her lap, but in fact she was using the laptop in it to read a couple books in some sort of trance, her mind residing in the computer's storage. By the time they reached the Japanese Airspace however she took a snack, the batteries of the laptop drained and needing a recharge.

An Hour later Logan asked her for the familiarity, but all she could do was a shrug "I know the geography of the whole world from satellite photos. Google Earth for the win. So familiar as a shape. Okinawa Island." With a sigh she returned to eat some of the junkfood - instant ramen or what it was called on the label.

As Jane followed Logan through Naha airport, she shrugged. "Whatever you want, but I'm not a kid. The epiphyseal gaps in my wrist are closed and my carpal bones have gaps of less than 2 mm so no child for sure." Looking around over the relatively small Naha airport - Tokio and JFK where at least triple it's size, but it was the biggest Okinawa had - she just pointed to an Udon shop "Noodles sound like a snack for the way."

Logan nodded and went toward the Udon shop. Sitting down he gestured for Jane to sit. "Whatever ya need," Logan pulled out multi-colored bills with kanji and different individuals on them. As the shop worker approached them Logan ordered his meal then let Jane go forward. After getting their noodles he opened his chopsticks then at them like a pro, even slurping his noodles as was the custom to let the chef know the food was good.

Taking a pause from eating he looked at her, "We gotta go to Urasoe. It's north, gonna need a cab then pedal to the dojo. We'll stay there fer the night then head back here in the morning," Logan said informing her of the plan the makeshift itinerary.

Jane peered at the noodles and the disposable chopsticks a moment, then pulled them from the wrapper, searching for the right position of them in her hand a bit. In NYC you get the one-use oval stuff to break apart. China style. The shorter, more pointed and sharply cornered ones here were handled a tad different, but she managed it after she sorted them in the hand a few moments. Folding the hands, she bowed a tad to the cook, offering "itadakimasu". The actual eating of the noodles comes much more natural than the searching for the right position of the chopsticks, pulling some noodles out of the bowl and slurping them up to get the full taste of the noodle in its fish soup.

As Logan Paused, she gave him a single eye look from the corner of her left one, nodding quietly. Setting down the bowl, she folded her tissue and placed the sticks over it. "You know the rules of engagement," Jane told a tad cold, pulling her shoulders back before resuming to her noodle bowl, emptying it as it was still hot and the Udon was still in its shape and did not fall apart in its soup.

"Ain't gonna try nothin'. We leave in the morning. If ya wanna go somewhere else speak now or hold yer piece," Logan said. The noodles met his lips and he kept slurping. When finished he kept the bowl where it was. Leaving the airport with his bomber jacket over his frame, and his black-tshirt and jeans told everyone he was a gaijin. Going to the outside he moved to the nearest train station. Paying for two tickets he handed one to Jane. When the train, ones that went several hundreds of miles per hour, stopped people got on and off. Logan made sure him and Jane had a spot on the departing one. His eyes went to Jane making sure she was comfortable.

The city scape changed as they went from Naha into Urasoe. Where Logan told the driver to go was a bicycle rental business. People walked and biked everywhere in Japan. These places weren't uncommon. Paying the driver with a sizeable tip he looked at Jane, "Know how to ride one of those?" he gestured to a picture of a bike.

Jane did take the time to re-sheath the used chopsticks to their paper wrapper after she finished her bowl before she followed him, her backpack with the Laptop strapped tightly, even if it only had left enough charge to operate it for half an hour.

The Shuttle Train was cold at the doors, but quick, taking about an hour for the tour. The Bus might have been faster if it didn't had to stop at every milk can, but the trains had one bonus: you were above the area and could see something of the cities which almost blended into each other.

As they arrived at the Bike-renter, Jane shrugged with a grin, "If not I'm gonna learn it quick."

"Yep," Logan smirked and went to rent two bikes. Carrying one with one hand and guiding the second bike to Jane with his hand Logan nodded to her. "Watch me," after setting down his bike Logan straddled it. Putting his cowboy boots into the pedal he started to move slowly. "Turn by doing this," he moved the handle bar to the left and right. Once he saw that she was comfortable Logan moved slowly through the village. His eyes took in all of the sights. It was sad that he couldn't be out here longer. Today's visit was more business rather than pleasure. He looked back to make sure Jane was still following.

Eventually Logan moved his leg away from the bike. The wheels slowed and he walked with the bike. Logan grabbed the bike and carried it inside.

There was a practicing class going through motions with precision. The second Logan stepped in everyone stopped and looked at him. Setting down the bike, he bowed to a familiar master. "I came here for a visit and I brought someone with me, Sensai," Logan bowed low, respectfully. Then he gestured to Jane.

Even if the instructions were not necessary - it proved that Jane was not too bad at it - they were at least something to smirk about. Urasoe was a pretty big town by itself, the coast somewhat occupied by the military base and thus it was a pretty good way to the Dojo in the outer areas of the town.

The building they had stopped at was a rather modern build, the face of it proving it had been erected within the last two years. The hallway where all the bikes where parked was stuffed with those of the pupils, the stairway upwards to the training room was covered with posters that were all not elder than a year, most of them advertizing either classes in the dojo or competitions in the area.

As Logan entered the dojo itself, the sensei peered at him, then at the japanese flag opposite to the entry, then at Logan again. Instead of the old man he might have waited for, it was a man in the late 40s who wore a simple training attire, just as his pupils. For sure not the Sensei Jane had trained under, and not his son. He waited for the bowing of Logan, but Jane did give the greeting to the flag - the books she had read on the flight were travel guides.

The Sensei eventually broke the silence "And who might you be?" The old Dojo had burned down two and a half years ago, and now was re-erected under a new ownership as it seemed...

Logan bowed to the flag and looked at the sensei, "What happened to the grand master prior to two years ago?" Logan asked trying to be respectful. "I was a student of his and wanted to show my young friend the master that had trained me," he embellished a little bit just to keep Jane safe. His eyes remained level on the new master. How far this organization went to keep Jane a secret made him wonder who exactly did Jane anger.

The teacher nodded slowly "He retired after the fire destroyed his dojo and almost killed his son. I think he is living in one of the outskirts. If you want to show your respect to him, I can look up the adress for you." he offered. "It was a sad accident after one of the smaller quakes. A gas leak which went unnoticed and burnt the building to the ground."

Jane stayed silent on the revelations. The organization she had angered was a yakuza gumi, but noone remembering anything of the incident had remained because all people who had known anything of her involvement with it had their memories completely wiped - the yakuza bosses as well as Jane.

"Thank you," Logan said respectfully. He waited to get the address. Anything about Jane Logan heled closer to the chest. It was up to Jane to divulge more. His eyes remained steady on the new master. He wondered if the new master was on it. Logan didn't believe that the old dojo didn't go up as part of an accident. Guilty or not, Logan just watched the new master.

The pupils returned to training as the sensei told them to before he went to search for the address. Meanwhile Jane just waited at the door, halfway behind Logan. The class was new, two of them exchanging a few words about those two gaijin at the door, falling silent when the eyes of Jane fell upon them. She did understood it pretty well.

The address was in the suburbs, some hour down the lanes on bicycle, but it would be doable before dusk.

Logan went back out with the address, "C'mon." Taking off on the bike he was heading toward the old sensei. Something didn't feel right about this still. Honestly, Logan wouldn’t have been surprised if the sensei was dead tonight because Jane and Logan were just asking some questions. He looked back to make sure Jane was catching up. "We ain't got much time, darlin'" he warned her.

"Not much time because of what?" Jane asked as she followed Logan panting as the ride went up the hills most of the time. The buildings gradually became flatter, from medium high buildings to two-story apartments without a garden and finally to those that actually had a garden. As the odd pair eventually came close to the small fruit farm on the edge to the next county, the small wall around the compound came into view too. It had one entryway, ending on a small parking lot, which was occupied by an old white Honda transporter, a slim, blue Nissan city car for the Japanese market and another white car, the boxy buildup and painting on the side easily marking it as an ambulance van.

Logan just kept pedaling even as the buildings came into view. He saw the cars and they only pushed into go harder. When he stepped off the bike it was still going. His eyes shot around trying to figure out what was happening. Remembering where to go exactly he took off in that direction, "Try to keep up!" he was taking anything with strides until he made it to the door. Deep down he hoped they weren't too late. The ambulance made him worry that maybe the organization that made Jane a ghost was more thorough than Department H.

The ambulance's engine had cooled down since it came here, proving that it was here since some time, and as Logan ripped open the door almost, the ERT almost collided with him on the way out, jumping out of the way. "Excuse me..." the young man told, lifting the hands "May I ask to be a tad less loud?" It wasn't really a question in his tune, but he had a polite smile.

The door to the living room was open, the feet of a futon visible through it. When Logan entered, it became obvious a man was laying there, but only on second glance it became obvious that it was not the old sensei laying there for he was too young. From the kitchen counter a woman in the forties glanced towards the door, a teakettle in the left, and an armchair in the far, dim lit corner, eventually showed the frail figure of an old man.

Jane did follow about two minutes later, much more silent, giving the EMT an apologizing smile.

Bowing to the younger folk, "Apologies," he spoke in Japanese. His gaze went to the figure of the old man in the corner, "I was told my old Sensai was here. I had questions for him. The sight of the ambulance made me worry about his health," Logan bowed low in apologies to everyone and anyone he moved have spooked just by coming in. Deep down he wished Japan was simple like Madipoor. Sure, it was much more dangerous but everything was straight forward. People hated Logan and wanted him dead. There wasn't much mystery to that.

Adventuring with Jane everything felt wrong. It felt like he was trying to track down parts of himself. The difference being some of Logan's files were so old there was no need to actively bury them. Time had taken care of most of the work. With Jane it felt like something was actively turning her into a ghost.

The woman nodded slowly, eying to the old man who turned the head towards the voice, then she made an inviting gesture towards him. "You are welcome, but his eyesight is dwin..." "I hear well enough, Yuriko, and now please take care of my son's head again, will you?" The voice of the sensei had become harsh and slightly shaking in the years, his eyes obviously dulled by a cataract. As Yuriko had been told to care for his son, she sighed, moving to the laying man's side, carefully petting his hand "The Doctor was just here, Oji-san. He said he will be ok, but he needs..." "And I told you, you shall care for him!" That there was not too much to be taken care of still was obvious, the head in a slightly reddish cover on the red of his head. "He will be ok, Oji-san. He was lucky not to lose an eye in the accident." "Then make me and that man a tea, whoever he may be."

Jane moved a tad from foot to foot as she stood there a bit awkwardly, silent as she tried to gather her breath fully before carefully knocking against the doorframe. "Excuse me..." her Voice was too silent to catch the attention of the old man, but Yuriko turned the head, looking at her, than Logan and finally standing up to prepare the tea.

Nodding to the woman Logan gestured for Jane to follow him. Approaching the old man slowly Logan sat on his knees then bowed low, "I am Logan-san, a Gaijin you once mentored. This is a former student of yours. A native Gaijin," Logan looked at Jane and tried to gesture for her to mimic his motions.

They were sitting close enough to the old man where he should have recognized them even with the bad eyesight, which was deliberate on Logan's part. He looked over at the ailing one, "What happened?" his eyes narrowed on the head wondering how the injury came to be.

The old man looked into Jane's direction, but the nature of a cataract is pretty much to kill away the inner area of whatever you see, so you can't see anything you try to focus on. As both sat in small angle to him, he could not even see one of them if looking at the other. "I remember you, Logan-san. There are little people who have claws that need to get dulled at times and I can do that still if I would have to..." A moment he coughs, then looking back to where he realized Jane would be, but not saw too much due to the eye illness. "But I don't recognize your friend. I had too much natives and Gaijins. American, Chinese, Japanese... Most of them were bad students, in contrast to you. You took what I could give like an empty bucket... and emty you were..." A snicker from his mouth became a cough quickly, then Yuriko came with the tea, helping him to grab the cup.

Jane sighed a bit, then peered at Logan a moment. "He did insist to come here..." but then Yuriko came and handed her and Logan their cups. The middle aged woman answered instead of the old man "He was tending the plum trees when he fell of the ladder and it upon his head. The doctor said he would be back up in a few days."

He smirked at being an empty bucket. The memories of training when he was young and looking for a path came to mind. "Least I took to it," Logan countered the comemnts and gave a small smirk.

"She was called Jeshika Sakamoto. Young thing. Dark hair. Ring any bells?" Logan asked. Deep down he was hoping this would have worked. Maybe someone out in this planet could have remembered her if only briefly. Knowing she had another life out there could have changed Jane for better or worse. His eyes remained on his master for a moment.

Then the tea came. Rising up he took anything to help his Master's relative. "Hang in there, you'll bounce back," Logan spoke softly to the injured relative. He was lucky it was just a head injury and nothing worse.

Moments long the halfway useless eyes of the old man stayed focussed on Logan, then he shook the head "I don't remember many names from my students sadly. And you should open your eyes... most Japanese are dark haired, Logan-san."

Sighing slightly, Jane peered into Logan's neck, then she finally spoke up a tad louder "You did insist on it, but it seems to no avail."

"Most Gaijin are not dark haired," Logan said. In reality he hated being defeated. Unfortunately it felt like even fight was against him. His eyes closed for a moment then he nodded to Jane. "I am sorry we couldn't find something about your past Sakamoto," there was a heavy sigh that came from his lips. "Thank you for your time, Master," Logan bowed to elderly Japanese man.

"Thank you for the visit, Logan-san... It was a good sign to have heard from at least one student." The elderly man caughed again, putting down the cup to hold his mouth. "But an old man needs rest. Fare well."

Jane gave Logan a peering look, shaking the head slightly, but then she bowed to the sensei in farewell before leaving his house with Logan. "Look, even if you think I am that Jeshika Sakamoto I don't seem to be. That person hasn't even existed according to databases. For all it is worth, I am Jane Roe."

"Yer a Jane Doe that became something else 'cept yer not missin' kid," Logan said when they were outside. "We'll get a room, separate beds. Nothin' funny, head home in the morning," Logan wanted to know who exactly did Sakamoto piss off and how. For a moment he felt sorry for her, "Maybe one day you'll believe me, but it ain't gonna be today. Sorry fer draggin' ya here."

"Seems like so. That sooo is worth a journal entry - if I would write one. So let's hit the hay, the day had been long and we still beed to get the bikes to that rental." Jane told, stretching her shoulderd. "Maybe one da you can find real proof and not someone who can barely se anymore."