The Story of the Seven

CHAPTER 17 - Wild Adventures With Amane

I woke up to a warm and fuzzy feeling on my lap. Turns out Amane was using me as a pillow. I took a glance at the window, where I saw the sun gleaming brightly, the Atomic Bomb Dome in the background. We've arrived at Hiroshima.

"Hey Amane, we've arrived."

I softly whispered as a shook her awake.

"Hwa-"

Amane yawned as she woke up.

"We seriously ditched school, didn't we?"

"Yeah, we did."

We sat next to each other calmly, as we waited for the train to stop. We quietly departed the train, and were thrusted into the bustling city.

"Did you really come here for no reason, Amane?"

"Well, actually, my great-grandfather died here during WWII, so I figured I should come here at least once if my life."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, seriously. I've actually been here a couple of times when I was little, but I was so little I don't really remember anything. And since my family's busy recently, we don't come here anymore."

"It's so far from Tokyo, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it really is."

We absentmindedly chatted while we walked over to the peace memorial. I found it jarring that high schoolers, apparently on a school trip, we laughing and playing around in this solemn location.

For a couple of hours, we walked around the museum. In silence, we read and absorbed the knowledge written on the informative plaques. Testimonies of the survivors, the impact of the black rain on civilians, we even saw some artifacts scorched from the bomb.

"Do you think the child who was eating from this died?" Amane asked, referring to a scorched bento box in front of me that had once belonged to an elementary school student. Her usual vigor and optimism had dissipated into the serious atmosphere.

"Possibly," I replied, thinking of how much suffering these survivors had gone through.

Walking one way or the other for hours, we finally exited the museum and ended up in a little alleyway leading to a small cluster of trees.

"Where is this, Amane?"

"My great-grandfather's grave. He was a good man; the guy who started the tavern my mother's currently running."

With no words to say, I quietly knelt and prayed, lighting an incense candle as I did so.

"Don't you think this is so meaningful?" (Amane)

"What?"

"I mean, didn't you learn a lot more important stuff than we would've learned at school?"

"Yeah, I did. Guess school doesn't teach you everything."

"Look, school is very important. I get that. But it's also important to do these kinds of things. Do you follow me?"

"I think I'm finally getting to understand you."

"Thanks. Well, let's get going, we can't be standing around here forever."

"Right."

With that, we stood up and headed over to the center of town.

"So what's the schedule?" (Haruto)

"What do you mean?"

"When are we going to go back?"