Silent Honor Read Online Free PDF

least she was alive, and so was their baby, and she was smiling.
    “You have a son,” she said victoriously. At what price glory.
    “I know.” He smiled at her. “I have a wife too.” To him that was far more important. “You frightened me very badly, little one. No more of your old ideas. It's too dangerous to be so old-fashioned.” He had realized more than ever that day how much he loved her.
    “We'll have the next one here,” she said amiably, and he didn't contradict her. It was still too soon to tell her everything that had happened. But having only two children was no tragedy to him. They had a boy and a girl, she had done her duty by him, and she could retire with honor.
    “I have enough with you, and Hiroko, and Yuji.” It felt sweet saying his name. He was so new to them, but it felt good to include him.
    “Who does he look like?” she asked softly, clinging to Masao's hand, unaware of how close to death she had come. But he was well aware of it and he knew he would never forget the terrors of the night before and that morning.
    “He looks like a little samurai, like my father,” Masao said, grateful again that they had both been spared.
    “He must be handsome and wise like you, Masao-san,” she said, drifting slowly back to sleep, still holding on to him, very gently.
    “And sweet and kind like his mother,” Masao whispered, smiling at her. He knew that he would cherish her forever.
    “You must teach him English,” she said softly, and he smiled, laughing at himself for once. “And we will take him to California to visit his cousin,” she went on, woozy from the drugs, but busily planning their son's future.
    “Maybe hell go to college there,” he said, playing the game with her. “Or maybe Hiroko will…. Well send her to Takeo at Stanford.” But this time Hidemi smiled as her eyes fluttered open again.
    “She's only a girl….” Hidemi corrected him. “You have a son now.”
    “She's a modern girl,” he whispered as he bent close to his wife. “She will do everything Yuji can,” he said, with eyes filled with dreams, and she laughed at him. He was so crazy with his modern ideas and plans for all of them, but she knew just how much she loved him.
    “Thank you very much, Masao-san,” Hidemi said awkwardly in English as she drifted off to sleep, holding her husband's hand.
    “You're welcome, little one,” he answered her more fluently, and settled down in a chair to watch her.

Chapter 3
    N O!' HIDEMI said forcefully. It was an old argument between them, and one she absolutely refused to give in on. “She's a girl, not a man. She belongs here, with us. What good will it do to send her to California?” Hidemi adamantly refused to send her daughter away to college.
    “She's almost eighteen years old,” Masao explained patiently for the thousandth time in a year. “She speaks English very well, but she will benefit enormously from at least a year in the States, if not longer.” He wanted her to do all four years of college there, but he knew that for the moment, Hidemi was not ready to let her do it. “It will improve her education, open up her ideas, broaden her horizons. And my cousin and his wife will take good care of her.” They had three children of their own, and lived in Palo Alto. But Hidemi knew all of that, and she still didn't want to do it.
    “Send Yuji next year,” she said stubbornly, as he looked at her, wondering if he'd ever win the argument. It was really something that he wanted for Hiroko. She was very shy, and very traditional, in spite of her father's revolutionary ideas, and he thought it would do her good to leave Japan for a while. It was Yuji who really wanted to go, who was dying to spread his wings, and who was so much like him.
    “We can send Yuji too, but this would be an unforgettable experience for Hiroko. She'll be safe there, she'll be in good hands. And think of all that she'd learn.”
    “A lot of wild American habits,” Hidemi said