War Is Over

Ch. 8

"HAJIME, NO!"

The voice was familiar, but unexpected. Kazuki took advantage of Hajimes hesitation and leapt forward, putting his arm in between the knife and Hajimes neck. He took the knife and threw it to the other side of the room. Then he tightly grabbed Hajime, and sat down on the bed, Hajime more or less on his knees. Hajime did not even have the strength to resist him. He only saw Kaito standing at the door, shocked, his hand still reaching out to where Hajime just stood. Seeing him safe now, Kaito sat down on the floor and burst into tears. It was as if that was the last push Hajime needed. All those years, even the last few moments, in all his nightmares, his screams, his guilt, he never once shed a tear. Not anymore. But now it was like something broke inside. He cried. Like a little kid on his fathers lap, he cried. And Kazuki just sat there, held him tightly, did not say a word. He just let him cry. After what seemed like an eternity, when his tears dried up and his voice was gone, Kazuki gently led him to lay down on the bed. "Come, lay down and rest. We will talk tomorrow." He turned around to Kaito, who had just sat there all this time. "Please stay with him, Kaito. He needs someone to be here." Kaito just nodded, took the desk chair, put it next to the bed, and sat down. "Wait, Kazuki, you are bleeding..." "Yeah, I will let Mirai take a look, do not worry, it is not a deep cut." Kazuki left the room and went downstairs, where Kaito heard him talk to Mirai about what happened. He looked down on Hajime, who had already fallen asleep. His face was white from exhaustion, his eyes swollen from crying. He took the wet towel Mirai left earlier and put it on Hajimes forehead. And then he just sat there, tears still slowly rolling down his cheeks.

When Kazuki came up half an hour later, he found them in that exact position, Hajime sleeping, Kaito besides him, holding his right hand, also fallen asleep, his face still wet with tears. Kazuki took a blanket, and gently put it around Kaitos shoulders. He stood there for a while, looking at the two young men, and sighed. They were just two more young people who were wounded in one way or another by the war. Kaitos mother was killed in an air raid of his village, his brother was severely injured while fighting, and was sent home where he developed severe PTSD and eventually killed himself. Running the hospital here with his father was tough for him, since a lot of the patients there were currently also soldiers. But he tried his best to help them all. He clearly became very fond of Hajime, and Kazuki was glad he told Mirai to call him. Although he did not expect an escalation like this, he suspected it would be better to let Kaito talk to him. His heart ached when his thoughts shifted to Yoshima. She lost her mother when she was only two, and her father died in the army two years ago. She found her peace in music, and loved to share the joy of it with others. When she got the invitation to play for the generals that night, Kazuki had been against it, but she insisted on going. When the news came of the raid, and later that she died, he was devastated. Although it later became clear that it had been the decisive battle to end the war, a day did not go by without him cursing himself for not stopping her. And then a few weeks later they found this boy, on the brink of death, just in time to save him. "We were meant to be there" Mirai had said. Kazuki could not help but think of those words now. Maybe they were indeed the only ones that could save this young man from himself.

He was pulled back from his thoughts by Mirai, who had come upstairs and put a hand on his arm. "Let them be for a while" she said. "Come, I have made tea, and we need to talk." They sat down at the garden table, a strangely peaceful place in this afternoons light. "Let me see your arm." Kazuki smiled. "Come on, you just bandaged it half an hour ago." "Yeah, I know, but just to make sure the bleeding stopped." He pulled up his sleeve to show the still perfectly white bandage. "Here, see? I am alright." Mirai sighed, and started crying. "What in the world happened to you? And to Hajime?" When Kazuki came down to get bandaged, he did not take the time to tell anything else. He looked down at the table. "I am sorry I did not talk to you right away, I just wanted to check on them as soon as possible. It all happened very fast, I did not even process it completely myself." But then he told her everything Hajime told him about Yoshima and the night she died. And what happened after, and how Kaito had come just in time. When he stopped talking, they just sat there quietly for a while, each with their own thoughts. Kazuki was the first to break the silence. "He is not dangerous. Only to himself. We should find him the help he needs." Mirai nodded. "Kazuki... I know he is... I do not know... I do not know if I can just forgive him. I feel so stupid, after seeing him like that, he is still so young and... but.." Kazuki took her hand in his. "I know. I do not think you should, I do not even think Hajime can accept that anytime soon. But you said it before. There is a reason he came here. Maybe we are the only ones that can save him. And I think..." he swallowed back his tears, "I think the best way to honour Yoshima is to help heal the people who's life has been destroyed by the war she helped to end."