The words resounded inside the black haired man. Hiro sat in the dim room, his eyes unblinking, his mind, lost in a trance.
"Father." Hiro whispered to himself.
The black haired man delved deeper into his memories, his sea green eyes closing for a moment.
"Daddy, where are you going?" A small black haired child tugged on his father's flektarn clothes.
"Well, Hiro, I'm going to Russia." The taller man turned and kneeled down. "Very cold."
"Why are you going to Russia?" Young Hiro asked his father.
"I can show you." Hiro's father picked the small boy up and walked towards the back yard.
Hiro's father put Hiro down and went to grab his Howa Type 89. As Hiro waited, he sat on the bench, kicking his feet up happily. His father walked out of the house with the large rifle and smiled at Hiro. The tall man set up four targets, all of different sizes.
"Watch closely Hiro." His father spoke, lifting his gun and aiming down the sights.
With multiple pulls of the trigger, a set of three bursts entered three targets, then the rest of the magazine was use to decimate the last. Hiro looked in awe, however his ears ringing from the noise of the gunfire. The time was cut short as a green Ural pulled up, and two flektarn men waving Hiro's father down
"Sorry, Hiro, I have to go now." His father patted and ruffled Hiro's head and walked towards the Ural, taking one last look before entering the military vehicle.
Hiro stood there, watching as the car drove off into the distance. Four years later, Hiro's aunt answered to knocking on the wooden door. Loud sobbing was heard as Hiro shimmied towards the doorway, overhearing the conversation.
"I'm sorry for your loss Ms. Uemura. Your brother was a great man. We would like to see his son however." The massive soldier spoke.
"H-Hiro!" Hiro's aunt called out to him, only to have him stumble out of the side room.
"Y-Yes Auntie?" Hiro replied, unsure of what else to say.
"These... These men would like to... talk..." The grieving woman broke into even more tears.
The large man walked over to Hiro and kneeling down, his partner standing beside him.
"Son, your father... He's..." The man stopped to cough, clearly having a hard time trying to tell a child. "Your father isn't with us anymore."
"W-What?" Hiro's last shreds of innocence no longer existed.
The next day he remembers walking around in the halls of his elementary school. He was quite popular, infact had his own group of friends, namely Ichigo, Goro and a young boy named Mitsuru. Hiro stumbled around the halls, all the teachers that he walked by, whispering and look worried. Hiro's dead eyes staring at the ground, ignoring everything, even his friends. Mitsuru however depended on Hiro the most as his life felt like it was crumbling down on him and he needed to be near someone so they could help him up. However his crutch was ignoring him, his friend was acting as if he didn't exist.
"Hiro!" Mitsuru yelled at him. "Aren't we friends!? Why won't you reply!"
Hiro turned his head slowly. "What?"
"You promised me! You promised that you'd be with me forever!" The angry child screamed at Hiro, his infuriation causes tears.
Hiro turned away, his dead eyes unblinking, and walked away from Mitsuru. The encounter left Mitsuru speechless. It left Mitsuru with a hole that could never be filled by anything other then revenge.
Hiro slowly became distant from everyone he knew, and only the ones with the most hope for him stuck around. Years grew on him until he met someone that changed him, the hole of his father within his heart was changed. It wasn't filled in, but instead refurnished. Her words, her ideals, they had the power to change Hiro. The once empty hole was changed into a beautiful canvas which would only be changed more and more. However, the hole was never filled. It still kept Hiro wondering, what happend of his father.
Hiro's eyes darted open to his phone's notification ping. He lifted his phone and his eyes widened. He read it closely to make sure he wasn't hallucinating.
"The japanese government is continuing the assault on Russia... Retired personel will be re-enlisted..."