Chapter II: First, Do no harm.

1830hrs, 15 May 2015, Tokyo, Japan.

"I will respect the privacy of my patients, for their problems are not disclosed to me that the world may know. Most especially must I tread with care in matters of life and death. If it is given to me to save a life, all thanks. But it may also be within my power to take a life; this awesome responsibility must be faced with great humbleness and awareness of my own frailty. Above all, I must not play at God."

Modern Day translation of the Hippocratic Oath

When the first panicked emergency calls went out to the first response units, the calls were also relayed to a nondescript building near the Ministry of Defense. Lieutenant Yumiko "Luna" (was her callsign) Kitsune of the Air Self Defense Force was stationed in that building, listening in on the frantic radio transmissions. What she heard stayed with her for the rest of her life. But she had also been told to call her commanding officer if a certain "situation" came up. This was that situation.

"What do you have for me?" her CO, Colonel Iwasaki said, briskly entering the windowless room where all the transmissions were delivered.

"Sir," Luna replied, taking off the huge headphones she used to listen to communications. "A massive explosion near Hikawa shrine has just occurred." She was doing all her best not to cry. "I have the emergency calls here." She put them on speaker.

"Dispatch, this is Unit 64, we're at the scene of the explosion! It's a war zone down here!"

"Roger 64, are there any casualties?"

"Affirmative! Five causalities, all in their teens. It's…it's…"

"Calm down 64, Fire Brigade and Ambulance units are on the way, ETA, two minutes."

"Oh god…they're all burned…I've got one here holding her guts in her lap…Yamada! Get the First Aid kit from the squad car! Hurry! Those blankets too!"

"Affirmative 64. All units in the area, respond to an explosion at Hikawa shrine, extensive causalities and property damage. Cordon off the area and evacuate all citizens in the general vicinity."

In the background, there was high pitched screaming coming from the wounded. Somebody was saying a prayer loudly, while others cried out in pain, for help, for their mommies, for somebody, anybody.

"Which hospital are they going to?" Iwasaki asked.

"Uh…" Luna flipped through her notes. "Senpo Hospital, near Takanawadai."

"Thank you, I'll take those." Iwasaki snapped the notes out of her hand and took off. "Return to your post," were his parting words.

Luna sank down into her chair, tears streaming from her eyes. What was going on? She thought to herself before putting on her headphones again.

It was chaos at Senpo Hospital.

Orderlies, nurses, and doctors ran about, treating the wounded. There were others besides the five girls caught in the explosion. So it wasn't a surprise when a platoon of JSDF soldiers marched into the hospital and commandeered the place.

"What are those guys doing here?" asked Dr. Tina Ruiz to a Japanese doctor. She was visiting from South Texas, where she was the residency director of family medicine for Corpus Christi Medical Center Hospital. As a doctor, she was obligated to help everyone that was hurt or needed medical care. Not that she would have refused anyway.

"Ah…they…they are…" the doctor responded in broken English. "They…they take over."

"Okay," Dr. Ruiz replied. It made sense to her. If such a thing had happened in Texas, the National Guard might be called out, but mostly civilian emergency personnel would take care of the problem. The NatGuard was only a last resort option anyway, and while she was a reservist, by law the military proper could not intervene in domestic affairs. Then again, this wasn't the United States. Ruiz turned back to treating a young child that had a piece of wood poking in her leg, tears streaming down her face as the good doctor pulled it out.

Colonel Iwasaki was asking for the five girls that had been brought in. They were the most wounded out of everyone that had been brought in. Despite the explosion, it had been mostly a ball of fire that had less impact on people in buildings, and shielded others from the debris. The five girls were out in the street and had borne the brunt of the explosion; they were being held in the ICU, undergoing treatment.

"I'm sorry Colonel," the lead doctor said. His nametag read "Koyama". "They are undergoing emergency treatment and we cannot let anyone in at the time."

"This is a matter of national importance," was his reply. "Let me through or I will be forced to shoot you."

Dr. Koyama was taken aback.

"National importance…? How do five wounded and now crippled girls constitute "'National importance?'"

"Maybe you should stop asking questions," Iwasaki snarled at him. "Let me through."

He saw the concern on Koyama's face. "We won't stop the operations, if it makes you feel any better."

Koyama glared back, but there wasn't anything he could do. He stepped aside and let the JSDF troops through.

"Damn," he muttered to himself. He rushed to the nearest landline and started making calls.

Colonel Iwasaki wouldn't let anyone in after that, no matter who needed to be treated or cared for in the ICU. They had to be sent elsewhere. They let Dr. Koyama back in for a status report every hour or so, but no more patients could be let in. The rest of the ICU staff did their work, desperately trying to save the lives of these five girls.

Finally, Koyama went out to one of the waiting rooms, hours later with the parents of the children. There was one family missing: Lita's family was not there, of course, due to them perishing in a plane crash some time ago.

"Doctor…" Ikuko Tsukino, Serena's mother was completely in shock. How could this be happening…I scolded her for taking the doughnuts. I didn't even say I loved her…

"The prognosis is…not good," Koyama replied, in complete understatement. "We are doing everything we can. But I'm afraid there's nothing much more I can tell…"

"How could this have happened?" Dr. Saeko Mizuno, Amy's mother asked. She had just come from a shift at another hospital, treating ironically, burn victims. The worst part of it all, she was a doctor herself but couldn't do anything to help. That wrenched her stomach. She was taking a break from all that studying…now she might not even live to go to college.

Koyama simply shook his head. There was nothing to explain. Except for the JSDF troops, which the parents had not seen come in.

The doors leading to the ICU opened up. There was an audible gasp from the group of parents there.

It was just one of the ICU nurses.
"Dr. Koyama," she said to him.

"Yes, what is it?"

She leaned over to him. "Iwasaki wants to see you."

"Alright." He turned and faced the crowd of parents. "I have to go back into the ICU. I'll try to get more news for you all."

He disappeared into the ICU with the nurse.

Instead of finding the patents there, he found only Iwasaki. His face looked grim and tired, just like Koyama's.

"I'm sorry to say…"

That was all that Koyama needed to hear.

"Not even one…?"

Iwasaki shook his head. "All of them."

"Where are the bodies then?"

"We are taking care of this now." The tone that Iwasaki was using made Dr. Koyama suspicious, but the death of all five of those girls now weighed on his mind.

"They will of course, be returned to the parents through this hospital, after autopsies are performed."

Koyama could only nod his head in reply. There were so many things not adding up, but there was simply nothing he could do about it. Mumbling a quiet "Yes," he walked toward those two doors that led to the waiting room.

The wails of the four mourning families could be heard throughout the entire hospital that night.