War Is Over

Ch. 9

The concert hall was buzzing with the sound of people whispering, stumbling to find their seats, rattling their chairs, flipping through their programme. The atmosphere was full of excitement. It had been years since there had last been a concert. Everyone felt like this was truly the sign the war had finally come to an end, and a new life had begun. Suddenly all off the chatter and rustling fell silent. A man had entered the stage. He walked a bit stiff and used a crutch, he still was in the process of getting used to his prosthetic leg. He uncomfortably bowed at the audience, answered by a wave of applause which died down the moment he sat down at the piano. After him two people carrying a violin entered the stage. More applause followed. After a brief moment of tuning, the concert started. The musicians started with playing a familiar piece, people were quietly humming along, some discreetly wiping away a tear or two with a handkerchief. When the piece ended, an applause rose up from the audience. The musicians bowed. An announcer made some brief remarks on the piece and the playing, and encouraged people to come to the hallway to get some refreshments in the following break. 

Backstage, Hajime took a sip of his water while nervously tapping his foot. Mirai laid her hand on his shoulder. "Still nervous? It went so well though!". Hajime let out a tense chuckle. "Yeah, that's not it". He briskly rose from his chair, and gestured at Tadano, the announcer, who just came back from the stage, attending the people the concert was about to resume. They walked away a bit from the other people. "Can I borrow you microphone later?". Tadano gave him a confused gaze. "I would like to introduce the next piece myself". Tadano's eyes lit up. "Ah! You composed it yourself, yes?" Hajime nodded. "So I think it would be nice if I could tell the people a bit about it, if that is okay with you?" "But of course!" Tadano seemed delighted at the idea, and immediately showed Hajime how his microphone worked. When they walked back on stage a couple of minutes later, greeted by an applause, Tadano pushed his microphone in Hajime's hands and whispered "Good luck" before disappearing backstage again, leaving Hajime slightly bewildered in the middle of the stage. Mirai and Kazuki looked at Hajime, he could see the confusion in their eyes. He swallowed, wiped his hands sweaty hands on his jacket, and stepped forward. 

"A very good evening to you all" he started, a bit startled by the sudden sound of his own voice from the hall. "Before we play the next piece, I would like to tell you a bit more about how this piece came to be." He felt how all eyes of the audience were on him, and tried not to think about it too much. "About one and a half years ago, I was in this same concert hall." Hajime saw a bunch of people looking at each other and whispering. Of course they would remember what happened here then. "But I was not here as a musician, but as a soldier. That night, we were told we were the ones that would bring an end to the war." Now the whole audience knew exactly what he was talking about. A couple of people even cheered. "But even though we did that, we did a lot more. I know there are people here who lost family, friends, colleagues, and neighbours that night." The people fell completely silent now. Almost everyone knew someone who died then. Fathers of school buddies, friendly neighbours, friends that just happened to be enemies by name, sisters who were dating with officers. They had all lived together for so long here in the city, the distance between them had grown smaller with every year. "And that is how we get to the piece we will perform shortly. The girl who wrote half of this piece was there too, performing for those officers and their friends." Hajime closed his eyes. "The girl I killed". 

The silence in the audience was so heavy you could hear the buzzing of the lights high in the ceiling. Hajime felt two hands on his shoulders. He did not tell Mirai and Kazuki he would tell all this tonight. They were probably as stunned as the audience was right now. "A few weeks after that fateful night, our squad was hit by a stray bomb, and that is why I am here as I am now." Hajime pointed at his leg and held up his scarred hands. "These kind people," he pointed behind him, "took me, as useless and penniless as I was, in and cared for me. They only asked on thing in return. To finish the piece their daughter was working on before she died." Hajime felt his hands shaking. Kazuki reassuringly tightened his grip on Hajime's shoulder. "But even after I told them what I did, they did not kick me out. I did not know what to do, I hated myself, and they did not." Hajime swallowed back his tears, and took a deep breath. "But yet they saved me again. And here we are. Performing together, the piece Yoshima composed, the piece I finished. It is a piece about war, but mostly about reconciliation. The peace Yoshima dreamed to see, a wish I hoped to grant but also took from her in the process. This is a piece for all of you who are like Mirai and Kazuki, who lost loved ones, and people like me, who still struggle everyday with what they did or did not do. A piece to show that despite our pain and differences, we can all unite in our longing for peace and a new, hopeful future for all of us. To unite us through the one thing we all love, the one language we can all understand, through music."

Hajime walked to the piano without looking at Mirai and Kazuki. He sat down at the piano, and positioned his shaking, scarred hands on the keys. He closed his eyes. "Yoshima, if you can see me, wherever you are, I hope you can hear this. The war is over. Forgive me for taking this peace from you. Allow me to show the people your dream."