GONE

Those eyes, whose eyes are they? Gentle brown eyes ablaze with the light of battle, eyes that would never lose their spark.

World War II. With the streets ablaze with flames, the young Japanese soldier, Kiku, stumbled through the streets, dazed and confused. Another rumble shook the earth and a wave of hot air was blasted at him. Kiku looked up and saw, to his horror, a wall of fire engulfing everything in its path – and it was headed straight for him. Rooted to the ground, he could only watch as the wall of fire got closer and closer to him – and the young soldier woke up, screaming.

Panting heavily, Kiku blinked his brown eyes. When he had finally calmed down, he put on his uniform, grabbed his gun and crawled out of the makeshift tent. Kiku was greeted by the sight of his fellow soldiers huddled in small groups, discussing what the Emperor might do next. He stood up and patted his hair, trying to make it lie down flat so that he would look smart, at the same time, walking towards the food distribution table. For the last few months, Kiku and his fellow soldiers had been fighting in the World War II and there were no mistakes. Everything was fine.

A few hours later, Kiku and some other soldiers were doing some drill practices when the alarm call sounded. The young soldier's heart skipped a beat. The call only meant one thing – assemble and defend, enemy invasion of camp. He grabbed his rifle and started to run in the direction where everyone seemed to be heading.

"Honda-kun!"

He turned and saw his instructor.

"Don't forget to look behind you, little boy!"

That was the last thing he heard before plunging into the heat of the battle.

Soldiers grappling with each other, and soon the ground was stained with blood. Friend or foe, he could not tell… Kiku roared as he shot another enemy soldier down. He was raising his rifle when he felt an excruciating pain slice through his body.

Look behind you, Honda-kun.

Too late. he looked numbly at the bayonet tip emerging from his abdomen. The blonde boy, barely out of his teens, removed the bayonet from Kiku's body. A hard look formed on his face.

"You're too early for you to beat me."

The Japanese soldier crumpled to the ground as his world turned black.

Eventually the day will end and so those shining eyes soon dull, gazing unseeingly into the distance.