Banana Fish/Death Note Crossover, 2031-2032
Title: "Love Letters"
Fandom: Mainly Banana Fish
Characters: Ash, Eiji, Sing, mentions of other BF/DN characters and OCs
Spoilers: All of BF, light spoilers for DN and DN-Bodyverse
Warnings/Rating: References to physical and sexual violence, swearing, R for angst in this section.
Summary: Sing faces deportation. Eiji is pissed.
A/N: I feel somewhat guilty posting a plotline that takes a negative view of future!Japan in light the current crisis there. It should go without saying that I created this plotline for dramatic effect and not as a commentary on how I think Japan will conduct its affairs in the 2030s (moreover, all countries sometimes do things that are stupid). I intend nothing but support for the nation in its time of need and always.
Teaser: Eiji: "Damn Anti-Immigrant &&@*$"
Letters 1987-1990 and Author's Notes
Letters 1994-1998
Letters 2003-2004
Letters 2006-2010
Letters 2020
Letters 2025-2026
"Letters 2031-2032"
To: Don Smith
From: Eiri Tanaka
Subject: Re. American Maid
Sent: 08.03.2031, 8:20 p.m.
Hi Ash,
Just finished first day at the Tokyo conference. I had dinner with a lady who is a professor of gender studies Dongduk U, and I told her my daughter is a graduate student in gender studies at Aichi Shu, and we talked about it, and she said Ming should apply for a fellowship for a year at DU because her studies look perfectly for the work on family structures they are doing there! When I called Ming, she was very excited. This could be a great qualification for her.
Excitedly,
E.
***
To: Eiri Tanaka
From: Don Smith
Subject: Re. American Maid
Sent: 09.03.2031, 11:57 p.m.
Hey Eiji,
Good luck to Ming! Sounds like a great opportunity. I'm not surprised she's studying family structures, given her own. Let me know how it goes. Hope the rest of the conference goes well.
Long day here, so I'm going to curl up with The Old Man and the Sea, well, the old man anyway. Curling up with the sea can be a drowning hazard. Yes, I really am that tired.
A
***
To: Don Smith
From: Eiri Tanaka
Subject: Damn Anti-Immigrant &&@*$
Sent: 14.03.2031, 6:19 p.m.
Hi Ash,
Are you still in Sevastopol? I hope the weather is still nice. You should take as long on a vacation as you can because you never know when a rug will be pulled out.
Speaking of which, we have an issue here. You know about anti-immigrant reforms I told you about and that Sing had to have an extensive background check? Well, we thought it was ok because nothing happened in two months, but now they say that found criminal record--of course. So today, he gets notice that he will be deported. It's a "zero tolerance" thing. I am so angry. We will fight in court, but meanwhile he loses his job.
It is ridiculous. Japan says we need more people but only Japanese people. Forget all the starving people in overpopulated world. No, they cannot come here.
love,
E.
***
To: Eiri Tanaka
From: Don Smith
Subject: Re. Damn Anti-Immigrant &&@*$
Sent: 15.03.2031, 10:48 p.m.
Hey Eiji,
Yeah, it is ridiculous. But if anyone can fight it, you can. If anyone deserves to stay in Japan, it's Sing: he's got a kid there, a half-Japanese kid. He's been a widely published professor for 30 years. So you go be righteous-Eiji and don't let them push him around.
Meanwhile, will he be back in NY?
I took one more day in Sevastopol. So nice to see the sun again. Got mail from Vadim and Boris. They may be back from Kazakhstan soon. I'm surprised how much I'm looking forward to that.
Keep me posted on Sing.
love,
A
***
To: Don Smith
From: Eiri Tanaka
Subject: Re. Damn Anti-Immigrant &&@*$
Sent: 16.03.2031, 11:12 p.m.
Hi Ash,
Glad you're getting a break and V and B will be back.
Sing and I will go to the US for now so he will not get threats. It is because he is Chinese, you know. Very anti-Chinese feeling right now. Ming is so angry; she will speak at big protest on campus. I will speak, too, then follow Sing to America.
I wish I wouldn't leave my father still in hospital, but once Sing is settled, I will come back to check on him. My mother and sister are there meanwhile. Timing is really bad.
Mail may be sporadic. Take care. I will keep you posted.
love,
E.
***
To: Eiri Tanaka
From: Don Smith
Subject: Re. Damn Anti-Immigrant &&@*$
Sent: 17.03.2031, 2:19 p.m.
Hey Eiji,
Is your dad still stable? He's 94, right? I hope this thing with Sing isn't a shock to his system. Don't worry about keeping with mail. Just let me know what's up when you can.
Is Sing still in touch with YL? Don't know how YL could help, but he's got all sorts of improbable connections. I can contact him if you'd like.
love,
A
***
To: Don Smith
From: Eiri Tanaka
Subject: Back in NY
Sent: 22.03.2031, 11:34 p.m.
Hi Ash,
Thanks for kind wishes. Sing is still in touch with YL, and this is part of the problem. Sing's record shows mafia contact. No contact on his official record is from since 1986, but if they keep checking his background, they may find that connection is still there. YL is not an asset now.
I am worried they'll search my background too. I was also arrested in the '80s. This won't be good for Sing, maybe bad for my career too, though that is not very important.
Are Vadim and Boris back?
love,
E.
***
To: Eiri Tanaka
From: Don Smith
Subject: Re. Damn Anti-Immigrant &&@*$
Sent: 24.03.2031, 11:46 p.m.
Hey Eiji,
So can I take it your dad's okay? I hate to think of your record being dragged out. Hate to think of you having a record at all; it's only because you dared to be friends with JDs like us. I take your point about YL.
V&B should be back next week. We're starting a new project--not an especially dangerous one. Some hackery (B) and a lot of research (V). (Me, a bit of both.)
How are you holding up?
love,
A
***
To: Don Smith
From: Eiri Tanaka
Subject: Back in NY
Sent: 28.03.2031, 7:10 p.m.
Hi Ash,
Yeah, my dad's ok, sorry I forgot to mention. He is not too sure what's going on. My mother tells him I went to America for extended assignment.
Well, yesterday Sing and I got married. It was not such a romantic wedding like every girl dreams of. It is under American law, but we want to use this to argue spousal privilege so that I don't testify about the many, many things I know that Sing did as teenager. Nadia was witness. She said to send best wishes to you.
I'm glad your new project is not dangerous. Be careful anyway.
love,
E.
***
To: Eiri Tanaka
From: Don Smith
Subject: Re. Back in NY
Sent: 30.03.2031, 3:09 p.m.
Hey Eiji,
Congratulations to you and Sing. I wish it were under better circumstances. That was a smart move: not only from the perspective of spousal privilege but also for solidifying Sing's claim to Japanese citizenship.
Give my regards to Nadia too.
Let me know how things go in court. Fingers crossed.
A
***
***
***
To: Don Smith
From: Eiri Tanaka
Subject: Living on a hillside
Sent: 17.01.2032, 8:56 p.m.
Hi Ash,
Well, we finally have most stuff moved into the apartment. It's the smallest place Sing and I ever lived together; I think we'll get on each other's nerves. But once we are settled, I will probably travel part of the year. Then, I will be gone so much, I will be happy to be back with Sing.
It's a puzzle: we came to Hawaii to be closer to Japan but also we are on an island and, therefore, close to nothing. If we can't afford air travel--and we really can't--I will probably make one trip per year for work: a long time on ship. As for the rest, I'll telecon. Maybe we will go to Japan once per year, or every other year and in other years, family members will come visit us.
The hardest part is being far from Ming. She and Sing had a phone fight the other day about whether to keep on with legal battles. When she was little, he would often scold her in Mandarin, I think because his mother did. So from then, they often fight in Mandarin. My Mandarin sucks, so I can't understand too well, but it's kind of amusing. It's a good language for sounding angry.
I am still steamed that Sing can barely find work. As an adjunct for Manoa, he makes about 1/4 what he did at Akita. We don't really need money. We are better off than 95% of people in the world, but it's the first time in many years we pinch pennies, and it makes me realize how much of the world works so hard and has so little security. Also I'm not used to being the main bread winner. I never really thought about money from my work until now.
Still, there's an upside. Waikiki is very pretty, though hot for me. We live on a hill with many ferns and there is a kind of red orchid I am trying to get good pictures of. It's also a good place to be a Japanese. I don't feel like a racial minority, and I will not get out of practice in Japanese.
I feel like this is a long mail, mostly complaining. How are you? Are you safe?
love,
Eiji
To: Don Smith
From: Eiri Tanaka
Subject: Living on a hillside
Sent: 17.01.2032, 10:13 p.m.
I don't know what to do about these niboshi (little dried fishies). Sing got them for miso, but we only used them twice. Why did we bring them all the way to Waikiki so they just sit on a shelf? I don't like how I can feel their eyes when I eat them. It's kind of disgusting.
***
To: Eiri Tanaka
From: Don Smith
Subject: Re. Living on a hillside
Sent: 19.01.2032, 11:22 p.m.
Hey Eiji,
Glad you're getting settled. If money would help, I could send you something, if you don't mind it being a little shady--maybe best that Sing stays away from that though, huh?
I'm doing fine, still working on the ecoterrorism stuff. Funny how I seem to be on both sides of that in Kiev. 'Cause a lot of the ETs are crazy. At the same time, when you look at the way ecological mismanagement is destroying the basic fabric of the region: for people, ecosystems, endangered species, you-name-it, you can't help but be on their side a little. A couple months ago, I went to Chernobyl. It's like they all say: it's really beautiful, almost alien, like a paradise for plants that's poison for people.
Boris got me into a show called Varvara. <-- Link to subbed version. I really recommend it. It's about the KGB, and it's got this mix of surprisingly free-wheeling social criticism and wit that reminds me of MASH. Like MASH, it's got the social crit. couched in the past, but it works.
A
P.S. Did Eiji Okumura just say Japanese cuisine was disgusting? Let us observe a moment of silence.
***
To: Don Smith
From: Eiri Tanaka
Subject: Re. Living on a hillside
Sent: 21.01.2032, 7:43 p.m.
Hi Ash,
Thanks for Varvara. We watched the first episode; it is pretty good. I like the sham marriage of Vanya and Svetlana. You also inspired me to watch MASH again. I had not seen an episode for decades. I wish I could speak English as accentlessly as those Korean people.
Last month, we started to watch a show called 皆 that I become very fond of. It is a little surreal, but I think the reveal will be that it's set in a space ship that is a zoo. In this ship are humans and many other animals and also aliens. The humans live in a region with other apes. Everyone is naked, but not in a porn way. On the contrary, they actually cast some people who do not look like idols (and some who do, of course). And no one shaves any hair, except men have clipped beards. I wonder how they got actors to agree to not shave, or if it's makeup. I think a message is that everyone is not so different: races, sexes, ages, species: when we do not hide under clothes and houses, etc., we are so alike. That is why it's called, "Everyone," ne?
Yes, I do feel kind of settled. Right now, I feel like putting feet up on the deck and not moving for a long time.
love,
Eiji
P.S. Thanks for the offer to help with expenses. Not needed, but thanks.
***
To: Eiri Tanaka
From: Don Smith
Subject: Re. Living on a hillside
Sent: 25.01.2032, 1:03 a.m.
Hey Eiji,
Mina kicks ass; thanks for the rec. The characters are dumbasses (I guess they're meant to be all docile), but the setting makes up for it. It is surreal. It's like it's a dream you once had but can't remember, and it means something your mind doesn't know. I think this is where God comes from.
Boris likes Vanya and Svetlana's marriage too. He says it makes him think of his marriage.
Had lunch with Yelena yesterday. It was surprisingly friendly, given how I nearly got her assassinated by mercenaries. Blanca sent her the cash to visit him in Jamaica: her and Pyotr and Yula and the grandkids. I hope Blanca knows what he's in for.
Letters 2036
A
Fandom: Mainly Banana Fish
Characters: Ash, Eiji, Sing, mentions of other BF/DN characters and OCs
Spoilers: All of BF, light spoilers for DN and DN-Bodyverse
Warnings/Rating: References to physical and sexual violence, swearing, R for angst in this section.
Summary: Sing faces deportation. Eiji is pissed.
A/N: I feel somewhat guilty posting a plotline that takes a negative view of future!Japan in light the current crisis there. It should go without saying that I created this plotline for dramatic effect and not as a commentary on how I think Japan will conduct its affairs in the 2030s (moreover, all countries sometimes do things that are stupid). I intend nothing but support for the nation in its time of need and always.
Teaser: Eiji: "Damn Anti-Immigrant &&@*$"
Letters 1987-1990 and Author's Notes
Letters 1994-1998
Letters 2003-2004
Letters 2006-2010
Letters 2020
Letters 2025-2026
"Letters 2031-2032"
To: Don Smith
From: Eiri Tanaka
Subject: Re. American Maid
Sent: 08.03.2031, 8:20 p.m.
Hi Ash,
Just finished first day at the Tokyo conference. I had dinner with a lady who is a professor of gender studies Dongduk U, and I told her my daughter is a graduate student in gender studies at Aichi Shu, and we talked about it, and she said Ming should apply for a fellowship for a year at DU because her studies look perfectly for the work on family structures they are doing there! When I called Ming, she was very excited. This could be a great qualification for her.
Excitedly,
E.
***
To: Eiri Tanaka
From: Don Smith
Subject: Re. American Maid
Sent: 09.03.2031, 11:57 p.m.
Hey Eiji,
Good luck to Ming! Sounds like a great opportunity. I'm not surprised she's studying family structures, given her own. Let me know how it goes. Hope the rest of the conference goes well.
Long day here, so I'm going to curl up with The Old Man and the Sea, well, the old man anyway. Curling up with the sea can be a drowning hazard. Yes, I really am that tired.
A
***
To: Don Smith
From: Eiri Tanaka
Subject: Damn Anti-Immigrant &&@*$
Sent: 14.03.2031, 6:19 p.m.
Hi Ash,
Are you still in Sevastopol? I hope the weather is still nice. You should take as long on a vacation as you can because you never know when a rug will be pulled out.
Speaking of which, we have an issue here. You know about anti-immigrant reforms I told you about and that Sing had to have an extensive background check? Well, we thought it was ok because nothing happened in two months, but now they say that found criminal record--of course. So today, he gets notice that he will be deported. It's a "zero tolerance" thing. I am so angry. We will fight in court, but meanwhile he loses his job.
It is ridiculous. Japan says we need more people but only Japanese people. Forget all the starving people in overpopulated world. No, they cannot come here.
love,
E.
***
To: Eiri Tanaka
From: Don Smith
Subject: Re. Damn Anti-Immigrant &&@*$
Sent: 15.03.2031, 10:48 p.m.
Hey Eiji,
Yeah, it is ridiculous. But if anyone can fight it, you can. If anyone deserves to stay in Japan, it's Sing: he's got a kid there, a half-Japanese kid. He's been a widely published professor for 30 years. So you go be righteous-Eiji and don't let them push him around.
Meanwhile, will he be back in NY?
I took one more day in Sevastopol. So nice to see the sun again. Got mail from Vadim and Boris. They may be back from Kazakhstan soon. I'm surprised how much I'm looking forward to that.
Keep me posted on Sing.
love,
A
***
To: Don Smith
From: Eiri Tanaka
Subject: Re. Damn Anti-Immigrant &&@*$
Sent: 16.03.2031, 11:12 p.m.
Hi Ash,
Glad you're getting a break and V and B will be back.
Sing and I will go to the US for now so he will not get threats. It is because he is Chinese, you know. Very anti-Chinese feeling right now. Ming is so angry; she will speak at big protest on campus. I will speak, too, then follow Sing to America.
I wish I wouldn't leave my father still in hospital, but once Sing is settled, I will come back to check on him. My mother and sister are there meanwhile. Timing is really bad.
Mail may be sporadic. Take care. I will keep you posted.
love,
E.
***
To: Eiri Tanaka
From: Don Smith
Subject: Re. Damn Anti-Immigrant &&@*$
Sent: 17.03.2031, 2:19 p.m.
Hey Eiji,
Is your dad still stable? He's 94, right? I hope this thing with Sing isn't a shock to his system. Don't worry about keeping with mail. Just let me know what's up when you can.
Is Sing still in touch with YL? Don't know how YL could help, but he's got all sorts of improbable connections. I can contact him if you'd like.
love,
A
***
To: Don Smith
From: Eiri Tanaka
Subject: Back in NY
Sent: 22.03.2031, 11:34 p.m.
Hi Ash,
Thanks for kind wishes. Sing is still in touch with YL, and this is part of the problem. Sing's record shows mafia contact. No contact on his official record is from since 1986, but if they keep checking his background, they may find that connection is still there. YL is not an asset now.
I am worried they'll search my background too. I was also arrested in the '80s. This won't be good for Sing, maybe bad for my career too, though that is not very important.
Are Vadim and Boris back?
love,
E.
***
To: Eiri Tanaka
From: Don Smith
Subject: Re. Damn Anti-Immigrant &&@*$
Sent: 24.03.2031, 11:46 p.m.
Hey Eiji,
So can I take it your dad's okay? I hate to think of your record being dragged out. Hate to think of you having a record at all; it's only because you dared to be friends with JDs like us. I take your point about YL.
V&B should be back next week. We're starting a new project--not an especially dangerous one. Some hackery (B) and a lot of research (V). (Me, a bit of both.)
How are you holding up?
love,
A
***
To: Don Smith
From: Eiri Tanaka
Subject: Back in NY
Sent: 28.03.2031, 7:10 p.m.
Hi Ash,
Yeah, my dad's ok, sorry I forgot to mention. He is not too sure what's going on. My mother tells him I went to America for extended assignment.
Well, yesterday Sing and I got married. It was not such a romantic wedding like every girl dreams of. It is under American law, but we want to use this to argue spousal privilege so that I don't testify about the many, many things I know that Sing did as teenager. Nadia was witness. She said to send best wishes to you.
I'm glad your new project is not dangerous. Be careful anyway.
love,
E.
***
To: Eiri Tanaka
From: Don Smith
Subject: Re. Back in NY
Sent: 30.03.2031, 3:09 p.m.
Hey Eiji,
Congratulations to you and Sing. I wish it were under better circumstances. That was a smart move: not only from the perspective of spousal privilege but also for solidifying Sing's claim to Japanese citizenship.
Give my regards to Nadia too.
Let me know how things go in court. Fingers crossed.
A
***
***
***
To: Don Smith
From: Eiri Tanaka
Subject: Living on a hillside
Sent: 17.01.2032, 8:56 p.m.
Hi Ash,
Well, we finally have most stuff moved into the apartment. It's the smallest place Sing and I ever lived together; I think we'll get on each other's nerves. But once we are settled, I will probably travel part of the year. Then, I will be gone so much, I will be happy to be back with Sing.
It's a puzzle: we came to Hawaii to be closer to Japan but also we are on an island and, therefore, close to nothing. If we can't afford air travel--and we really can't--I will probably make one trip per year for work: a long time on ship. As for the rest, I'll telecon. Maybe we will go to Japan once per year, or every other year and in other years, family members will come visit us.
The hardest part is being far from Ming. She and Sing had a phone fight the other day about whether to keep on with legal battles. When she was little, he would often scold her in Mandarin, I think because his mother did. So from then, they often fight in Mandarin. My Mandarin sucks, so I can't understand too well, but it's kind of amusing. It's a good language for sounding angry.
I am still steamed that Sing can barely find work. As an adjunct for Manoa, he makes about 1/4 what he did at Akita. We don't really need money. We are better off than 95% of people in the world, but it's the first time in many years we pinch pennies, and it makes me realize how much of the world works so hard and has so little security. Also I'm not used to being the main bread winner. I never really thought about money from my work until now.
Still, there's an upside. Waikiki is very pretty, though hot for me. We live on a hill with many ferns and there is a kind of red orchid I am trying to get good pictures of. It's also a good place to be a Japanese. I don't feel like a racial minority, and I will not get out of practice in Japanese.
I feel like this is a long mail, mostly complaining. How are you? Are you safe?
love,
Eiji
To: Don Smith
From: Eiri Tanaka
Subject: Living on a hillside
Sent: 17.01.2032, 10:13 p.m.
I don't know what to do about these niboshi (little dried fishies). Sing got them for miso, but we only used them twice. Why did we bring them all the way to Waikiki so they just sit on a shelf? I don't like how I can feel their eyes when I eat them. It's kind of disgusting.
***
To: Eiri Tanaka
From: Don Smith
Subject: Re. Living on a hillside
Sent: 19.01.2032, 11:22 p.m.
Hey Eiji,
Glad you're getting settled. If money would help, I could send you something, if you don't mind it being a little shady--maybe best that Sing stays away from that though, huh?
I'm doing fine, still working on the ecoterrorism stuff. Funny how I seem to be on both sides of that in Kiev. 'Cause a lot of the ETs are crazy. At the same time, when you look at the way ecological mismanagement is destroying the basic fabric of the region: for people, ecosystems, endangered species, you-name-it, you can't help but be on their side a little. A couple months ago, I went to Chernobyl. It's like they all say: it's really beautiful, almost alien, like a paradise for plants that's poison for people.
Boris got me into a show called Varvara. <-- Link to subbed version. I really recommend it. It's about the KGB, and it's got this mix of surprisingly free-wheeling social criticism and wit that reminds me of MASH. Like MASH, it's got the social crit. couched in the past, but it works.
A
P.S. Did Eiji Okumura just say Japanese cuisine was disgusting? Let us observe a moment of silence.
***
To: Don Smith
From: Eiri Tanaka
Subject: Re. Living on a hillside
Sent: 21.01.2032, 7:43 p.m.
Hi Ash,
Thanks for Varvara. We watched the first episode; it is pretty good. I like the sham marriage of Vanya and Svetlana. You also inspired me to watch MASH again. I had not seen an episode for decades. I wish I could speak English as accentlessly as those Korean people.
Last month, we started to watch a show called 皆 that I become very fond of. It is a little surreal, but I think the reveal will be that it's set in a space ship that is a zoo. In this ship are humans and many other animals and also aliens. The humans live in a region with other apes. Everyone is naked, but not in a porn way. On the contrary, they actually cast some people who do not look like idols (and some who do, of course). And no one shaves any hair, except men have clipped beards. I wonder how they got actors to agree to not shave, or if it's makeup. I think a message is that everyone is not so different: races, sexes, ages, species: when we do not hide under clothes and houses, etc., we are so alike. That is why it's called, "Everyone," ne?
Yes, I do feel kind of settled. Right now, I feel like putting feet up on the deck and not moving for a long time.
love,
Eiji
P.S. Thanks for the offer to help with expenses. Not needed, but thanks.
***
To: Eiri Tanaka
From: Don Smith
Subject: Re. Living on a hillside
Sent: 25.01.2032, 1:03 a.m.
Hey Eiji,
Mina kicks ass; thanks for the rec. The characters are dumbasses (I guess they're meant to be all docile), but the setting makes up for it. It is surreal. It's like it's a dream you once had but can't remember, and it means something your mind doesn't know. I think this is where God comes from.
Boris likes Vanya and Svetlana's marriage too. He says it makes him think of his marriage.
Had lunch with Yelena yesterday. It was surprisingly friendly, given how I nearly got her assassinated by mercenaries. Blanca sent her the cash to visit him in Jamaica: her and Pyotr and Yula and the grandkids. I hope Blanca knows what he's in for.
Letters 2036
A