"I remember, how I could ever forget...so many lives...so many families...so many of my people...gone, in just few minutes...just minutes, enough to take away more than one thousand lives..." starts saying a young man with short black hair, pale skin and a black Japanese uniform, , were right now a bit sad, he hold a Japanese lamp on his hands, it looked like if he made it himself and right now was giving the final details, but then he stopped and then he looked to the sky through the window of his home with a serious and emotionless look in his brown eyes.
"It was still the second war...Germany and Italy were already taken down, but there was still me...Japan." he said as he then closed his eyes, "Even if has been passed so many years, it was if it was just yesterday…" he murmured as he soon remember himself in a training camp, he looked serious as he walked there.
"We were ready to give it all, every single piece of us, every single hope and soul..." then he went to the military, who looked to Japan and showed respect and then turned his look to a group of young Japanese pilots and then began to yell out.
"Listen all of you, all came here as nothing but simple and single men, but from now, all of you are heroes, you must make our nation proud!" he yelled as he pointed Japan, who stood there with a serious expression as he looked the young soldiers who looked him in silence, but there was that admiration in their eyes. "You must do anything, anything in your hands to make this war a victory for our nation and our Emperor!" he yelled, soon all the young soldiers looked serious, "Are you ready to give it all?! Are you ready to never come back, but be remembering as always as heroes?! Are you ready to make your ancestors, your nation, family and Emperor proud?!" soon everyone nodded and yelled.
"Yes Sr!" but the mayor continued.
"Are you ready to become a samurai of the sky?!"
"Yes sr!"
"We can´t hear you!"
"YES SR!" the young soldiers yelled with all the air of their lungs, the mayor smiled at this, while Japan hold sad eyes but then looked down and keep his serious and cold expression before he murmured.
"Let´s the training to start." soon everyone nodded and went to work and prepare their selves, but then all returns to Japan, in now days, as he leaved his house, yet his cat followed in total silence and with a sadly but still serious expression, then Japan´s voice sound again.
"Kamikazes..." he murmurs, "That was their name, so many life were lost, all those young soldiers knew that they weren´t going to come back, that they were going to die, by using their selves as projectiles...so one waited for it, no one ever excepted that..." then he walked silently as the cat keeps follow in silence his owner, while Japan then looks to the lamb.
"America looked this with horror in his eyes, no understanding their reasons, those days his huge ships burn in a lot of flames because my young pilots' sacrifice...yet..." then he stops a second, the cat did so too and turned to his owner with silence as he looked up to him, Japan then sighed and turned black but his voice was still heard.
"After the Pearl Harbor attack, everything change...America change..." then he sighed, "We were told that if he blew up that place, America would lose all his ships, yet...he lose more people than ships..." but then he opened his eyes, the sadness could be look in his emotionless eyes.
"Yet, after that, America got mad, really mad and even...insane, he wanted to take us back, he wanted us to suffer like he did...I understand his pain...yet what he did then, it doesn't have any name to describe it, but...maybe...like a extermination...a sick experiment that some of his scientists wanted to taste and took advantage of America´s wrath to use it..." then he keeps walking again, holding the fire lamp in his hands, his cat sighed but also followed.
Yet, while he walked he remember that day, he was using his military uniform, he in those days of the war, walking in a city, Hiroshima, Japan walked silently as he studied the city until, a pair of kids approached to him, soon a boy´s voice was heard.
"Japan-sama, Japan-sama!" he yelled, yet still respectfully, soon Japan turned to him, the little kid was a Japanese kid, he was wearing some usual clothes but also a helmet for protection, yet he had a smile on his face, with him was his little sister, a little girl with an orange kimono, a bit simple but beautiful and she also and long black hair, tied up like a nice braiding, she looked more shy but still gave a little smile to the nation.
"I heard you are leaving...why?" the boy asked as he looked Japan now a bit worried and sad.
"I must go and check the military camps." he replied seriously.
"Awww, already?" the kid asked a bit disappointed but really sad, "But you haven´t been here too much, please come with us, mom has prepare a delicious dinner and it would be an honor if you come with us..." the little kid offered with hope in his eyes, the innocence was written in his face, Japan saw this and smiled softly as he patted the head of the kid.
"Maybe latter, but not today...what about when I return from the military camp?" He offered as he smiled a bit to the boy, who soon smiled brightly and nodded.
"Yes, thank you Japan-sama." the kid said respectfully but with a smile, but then he turned to the girl, who keep silence and blushed deeply as she looked to Japan, "Also, she is my little sister, Mitsu."
"Hi there little one." Japan said serious but with a little warm smile, the girl blushed even more as she then just raised a piece of paper, "What is this?"
"Heh, Mitsu-chan is just very shy Japan-sama, but she is a very good at drawings, even for her age, she made this one for you." Japan blinked as he looked the draw, it was a draw of a Japanese house, a mother, a father and two kids, yet there was also him, the kids were holding each hand of Japan in the drawing, as there were small letters that pointed who was each one.
It was true, it wasn´t a prefect drawing, but really well done, Japan smiled warmly with a blush of delight with the drawing, he then turned to see the kids, one more time, while the boy blushed.
"I hope when you return we can do the same thing in the drawing." The boy said yet with a smile, but still a blush, Japan chuckled a bit as he checked the drawing a bit more, then he replied to him.
"Sure thing Hiro." Japan said as he read the name on the bellow of the brother in the drawing of Mitsu, Hiro smiled.
"Is it a promise?"
"It is." Japan assured, while the little Mitsu smiled to him and giggled yet still looked shy as she then murmured, with a sweet and very softly and show voice.
"We…we will be waiting, Japan-sama…" Japan smiled back to her, but then a soldier yelled.
"AIRPLANE!" Soon Japan gasped as he hold the two kids, to even protect them with his body if it was possible and everyone went to hide, but then the plane just went away, Japan sighed in relief, it was just a false alarm, he then turned to the kids, who also were in relief, but then a soldier spoke.
"Japan-sama, we must go, the military camp can´t wait forever." Japan nodded.
"Understand." but then he patted softly the heads of the two kids.
"Until then, and I promise we will play a lot of games together, like in your drawing Mitsu." the kids smiled and then Japan leaved.
Then all turned black.
"I could never image the terrible horror that would fall from the sky that very day, that very day to that city, a city that took care of the ones that were injure of the wars, families, with kids, trying to live their lives and trying to don´t think of the horror of the war, but there was no really an escape."
Soon Japan was leaving in a car, so he moved fast, he was in the jungle part, he was looking the small drawing of Mitsu with a smile, before he took it and placed under his uniform, but then they heard another airplane, Japan blinked as the soldiers were ready to protect him, yet he frowned as he looked up to the sky...how the plane passed and then drop a small projectile, this fall, and fall with no stop, as Japan and the other soldiers looked confuse, why just one projectile? That confused them, but soon Japan widens his eyes.
"And then I see it by first time..." soon there was a huge and terrible explosion, a explosion that made the jungle to blend, pushed Japan´s soldiers, Japan himself and his car to other side, it was just too powerful, yet Japan took out his samurai sword, to keep himself firm on the floor, but then looked up, soon there was horror written in his face.
"The mushroom cloud..." he then stand up, just to realize that his soldiers were dead, his uniform was even a bit broke, the drawing of Mitsu was on the floor, a bit burn on the sides, but still able to see the drawing, yet Japan´s attention was on the boom.
"It was like if the Hell had just open in front of us, I couldn´t believe it myself, so much destruction, so much fire, and just in few minutes...but then, when my eyes placed on the small and innocent drawing, I knew I should come back, my people needed, those kids needed me, everyone in that city!" he then took the drawing and placed it on one pocket, his face saw a bit dark, by the smoke the explosion hit on his face, yet he ran as fast as he could back of the city, just to find it all destroy and in chaos.
"Dead could be smell on the air..." Japan looked shock as he then walked through the city, which was on fire, some buildings destroyed, a lot of people, burning, screaming or trying to move but with their broken bodies, but was useless, Japan then gulped but frowned as he then began to help the survivors.
"I tried to do my best, to protect my people...but so many died in my arms..." but then Japan´s eyes focused on a house, he slowly moved there, it looked like the drawing, Japan soon widen his eyes as he ran there as he yelled with all his forces.
"HIRO! MITSU!" he then got inside the house, but it was in fire, he saw something that looked like a woman, but was already dead, with most of the belongings crushing on her broken body, that woman was the mother of the kids, Japan gulped but then got more worried for the kids.
"HIRO, MITSU!" he yelled more despair, but then he saw something, he approached to it, there was a boy, most of his body was burn, yet was alive, breathing heavily, he was hugging a little girl, Mitsu, yet her life was already taken away, she had most of her bones broken, probably by the impact, on one hand of the girl was a small brush, a brush that she used to draw, Japan looked this with teared eyes.
"No..." he murmured as he tried to touch Hiro´s head, "Hi-Hiro...we better go..."
"NO!" the little burn child yelled, about 75% of his body was burn, he was in such terrible pain, yet he keep hugging the dead body of his little sister.
"We need to go, you need to take care of your injures, Hiro!" ye yelled, yet tears didn´t stop to fall from his eyes.
"NO, I WILL NOT LEAVE HER HERE ALONE!" the child yelled as tears, tears were falling from his eyes, "SHE HATES TO BE ALONE, SHE WILL NEVER FORGIVE ME IF I LEAVE HER HERE!" the child yelled as he hugged her and trembled and then sniffed silently.
Japan looked this with sad eyes, until someone else got in the house, a soldier that was helping the survives of the explosion, he saw the kid; he sighed but took it away from the corpse of the little girl.
"NO, NO, LEAVE ME ALONE! MITSU! MITSU!" the kid yelled as he got separate from her, "LET ME GO, LET ME GO!" the child yelled as he was taken away, Japan trembled silently as he then turned to Mitsu, her dead body, he touched her forehead and he couldn´t stop, but remember that sweet and shy girl that gave him that beautiful drawing, Japan then slowly took her and hugged her in deep silence as tears keep falling...then there could be just heard.
"I´m sorry...I´m sorry..." from Japan who keep holding her close to him, as Mitsu body didn´t move at all.
Then all finally turned black as the smoke covered everything...
"It was just one day, one simple shot...and so many lives; so many innocent died that day..." Japan´s voice said as then it returns another day, the next day.
"Not even the sunlight could make this hell to look better, so many were going to die, and the nurses and doctors knew if for sure, Hiro, my little enthusiastic friend was on a bed, not moving a single muscle, just there, as most of his body had bandages..." Japan then sighed as he approached to him, but then all turns black, really black.
"Hiro...he didn´t made it, but not by the burned skin, which gave him so much pain...he began to throw off so much, and his vomit was black, one of the side effects the bomb came to it, he lose all his hair too, he tried to keep alive, he fought through his pain, yet he died just the next few days..." but then was heard a sigh, "Yet…I can still remember his last words…the very last words he said before he died…"
Back to those painful days, Hiro was lying on his bed, he coughed as he then saw how his vomit looked black, he then sniffed a bit as he turned his eyes to Japan´s face.
"Am…am I going to die Japan-sama?" he murmured with a broken voice Japan heard him and keep silence, yet he looked sad, the kid saw him but then smiled a little, "Don´t be sad Japan-sama…I will be fine…I…I will see my mom again…and Mitsu, she has must miss me a lot…" then a tear fall from the boy´s eyes, "I…I hope she is not angry with me by leaving her alone…" the boy then closed his eyes, but Japan then touched his hairless head.
"I…I´m sure she is not angry to you…she must be waiting for you with her kind smile…" yet tears were falling from the eyes of the nation too, but in silence, Hiro then smiled a bit more.
"Yeah…it sounds like her…" Japan looked down but then, he felt how his little hand got his hand, "Ple-please…Japan-sama…don´t go now…I…" but Japan nodded.
"Don´t worry…I´m not going anywhere…" the kid sighed in relief and then relaxed a bit.
"Thank you…" as then a more peaceful smile was shown, "I will see you soon…Mitsu…" Soon, Japan could feel how the hand of the little boy loses force and then this just began to feel a bit colder, Japan sniffed silently as he murmured.
"Goodbye Hiro…" yet he then closed his eyes as more tears fell, "Go and say hello to Mitsu and your parents from me…" soon Japan cried in silence as a nurse just confirmed his dead and all turned black as the nurse placed the white blanked on his face.
Then finally Japans it seen next a river, next to him was his cat, but also with him there are a lot of people, then everyone placed the same lanterns that Japan has in his hand on the river, soon there were a lot of lights floating in the river, each light represents a person that died in the atomic bomb, yet then Japan placed his handmade lantern on the river too, he watched it in silence, there could be notice that were a drawing, it was a drawing of Hiro and his sister, Mistu, smiling happily, innocently and calmly just like Japan liked to remember them, just how they looked before the bomb fall, Japans watched his lantern to go, to let the current of the river to take it away and mix with other lanterns.
Japan sees this in silence before he gets something from his uniform, Mitsu drawing, the drawing of the wonderful dinner that never came, while his cat looked him with sad and solemnly eyes.
"I...I guess I could never make my promise true..." then Japan looks down as a tear fall from his eyes and then looks up. "And I´m really sorry about it...Hiro...Mitsu...at last you are not in pain anymore." He closed his eyes as he remember both of the kids, Hiro smiling and waving to him as Mitsu was closer his brother with a shy and sweet smile but then both just turned away and leaved, with the lantern, together to join with their family, becoming just one of Japan´s memories.
The end
