Hi! My name is Kikuchi Yoshihiro. Well, I guess my name was Kikuchi Yoshihiro. It means 'widespread goodness'. My mommy and dad named me that because they wanted me to be real good. They named me that, too, cuz they named Azami after thistle flowers. They said that they wanted to make sure she had somebody to keep her happy, and when they had me, she was real happy, so...that's what they named me. Oh, and I guess they wanted me to be real nice and kind when I grew up. Anyhow...I didn't get the chance. A real big ninja...he killed me. It hurt pretty bad, but I didn't notice much, 'cuz I died right after. He coulda made it hurt super bad, but he didn't. I guess he coulda just wanted to hurry up, but...he mighta actually did it on purpose. I don't know, though. Anyways, Azami was real sad, I'm sure. She tried to save me, and she did real good for a while, but that one was too sneaky. She was real scary when she protected me from the other three, though. You know that sound that big dogs make right before they bark? Not a growl, but that sound they make when they growl with their mouths open? That's what my sister sounded like when she saved me the first time. The other guys were real scared 'cuz they backed away super fast, but the one was real sneaky and got me from behind my sister. I know she tried her hardest. I hope she knows I still love her.
Yoshihiro is...
Yoshi was my brother. He was younger than me, too. I was fifteen when he died...and he was seven. That's right. That bastard that killed him...he murdered a little boy, in cold blood. A seven-year-old boy, with hopes, dreams, desires, and the rest of his life to live...gone. It's not the people's deaths that harm us the most, although we do miss them. When young children die, we mourn the loss of dreams. Children, in all cultures of the world, represent the future. When Yoshihiro died, so did his future. Some woman lost her husband, but she doesn't know it. And my nieces and nephews won't be born now. Because this one boy died, thousands of children over tens of generations won't have the chance to live. I haven't met them yet...but that's not the problem. Every time a child dies, the world mourns because of, not just that child's death, but the death of the children that would have been.
And it's my fault.
I couldn't protect him.
I couldn't save him.