War Is Over

Ch. 6

Two weeks went by, in which Hajime mostly slept. He still became tired very quickly, after doing his daily exercises, he needed a nap, after having lunch, and so on. Besides that, he rarely slept well at night, he woke up screaming on many occasions, and Mirai made him ask Kaito for sleeping medication. Although reluctantly, he agreed on taking them, and obviously (Mirai's words when he told her that) felt much better in the morning. He now woke up from the smell of coffee instead of his own screams. He stumbled down the stairs, where Mirai, who heard the noise, called him from the kitchen. "Good morning Hajime! Just in time for breakfast. Did you sleep well?" "Yes, thank you." He started to walk to the kitchen, but Kazuki called him from the garden. "Come on outside Hajime! We can have breakfast here, the weather is great!" They sat down at the table and Mirai came shortly after that, carrying a pot of coffee, and a plate with some fruit and freshly baked bread. During breakfast Hajime asked Kazuki about the night they found him. They had not talked about it in much detail. Hajime only knew what Kaito had told him, and they avoided the topic after that because of his nightmares. "It was like we were meant to be there. We were just taking a walk to clear our heads for a bit when we heard the explosion. Kaito told us you would have probably died if we found you any later." Hajime nodded. "Yes, Kaito told me that. But I cannot help but wonder if it would be better if you had not found me. I mean, all my comrades died that night. I have done the same terrible things as they did. Why would only I have the right to live on after that?" He looked down at the table. "Oh, I am sorry, I should not bother you with that. It is not that I am not grateful to you of course" he added hastily. But Kazuki stopped him. "That is not what we want to hear Hajime. As far as I am concerned, the fact that we found you means you still needed to be here. There still is a purpose for you in this world. And we hope to be here for you and help you find that purpose." Mirai nodded. "That would be enough thanks for us." Hajime looked up at the two people across the table. He had only known them for such a short time, but they treated him so..... he could not really give words to it. "Thank you. I shall try... But I do admit I feel redundant at the moment. I am not fit for any labor or anything yet. If I will ever be again. .." he looked down at his leg.

Kazuki looked up from his bread. "I understand... This household does not really need much of you either. But if you want something to keep you occupied, you play the piano right?" Hajime nodded. "Yes... I did..." Mirai sensed the hesitation in his voice. "Be careful not to force him to do anything Kazuki. But I would not mind if you played Hajime. It has been a while since our piano made a proper sound." "Well, it has been a long time since I last played..... but maybe I can..." The enthusiasm of the two people made Hajime a little uncomfortable, he had decided a long time ago he could never touch the piano again, but then he also felt like it was something that could bring him relief.

After breakfast Kazuki took him to a room Hajime had not seen before. The most prominent piece of furniture was a piano, but there were also two music stands, two violin cases, a bookshelf full of music books, and in the corner a small desk. Hajime stood there, looking at the familiar sight of the instruments before him. Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder. Kazuki looked up at him. "Mirai and I will do the dishes first, feel free to play around a bit. You have not played for a long time after all". He left Hajime alone in the room and went outside. Hajime sat at the piano and stared at the keys. How long had it been since he played? He placed his hands on the keyboard. They looked out of place, his scarred, hard hands on the pure and white keys. He hesitantly played a soft chord. The piano was well tuned, it had a nice and clear sound. His hands were slow and stiff in their movement at first, but it was like they started to move on their own. After a few scales they started to remember all the movements they had made so many times in the past. Before he knew it he started to play one of his favourite pieces. He closed his eyes and everything besides the music faded from his thoughts. 

Suddenly the sound of a violin mixed with the piano. It was the violin part of the piece, played perfectly on time and in tune. Hajime only noticed it subconsciously, played on, to the end of the piece. When the last note faded, he slowly opened his eyes, a little disoriented. Kazuki stood besides him, still holding his violin. Mirai stood in the doorway, smiling. "That was beautiful guys". Hajime felt like a weight was lifted from his heart. How could he ever think of not playing the piano anymore? This feeling was not something he wanted to loose ever again. "You play very good, Kazuki" he said, "it was perfect". Kazuki laughed. "Now you clearly never heard Mirai play. She is much better than me." Mirai stroked a flock of hair out of her face, clearly a bit embarrassed. "But I wish you could have heard Yoshima play" her face suddenly became soft, a lingering sadness in her eyes became visible. Kazuki sighed. "Yeah, she was totally sparkling when she played. I guess we are too old to have that kind of emotion and freedom in our music." Hajime looked at the couple, wanting to ask who they were talking about, but also feeling like he should not ask. Mirai noticed his hesitation. "Ah I am sorry, Yoshima is.... was our granddaughter. She also played the violin. She learned from us, but she quickly became even better than we are." Kazuki nodded. "When the war came, we found peace in playing together. We got through it because of our music. We survived all of it until..." his voice cracked. Mirai came to stand next to him and laid her arm around him. "She died a couple of weeks before the war ended." Hajime looked down at the piano. "I am sorry to hear that, I should not have brought it up..." "Oh no, please, that does not matter. We do not want to forget about her after all. Luckily we also still have her music. She used to write pieces herself you know." Kazuki nodded at Hajime. "Yeah those pieces you found in your room upstairs, they are all hers." "Wait, can you also write music?" Mirai walked over to the piano. "I used to, sometimes... But I am not very good with it though." Hajime saw Mirai grabbing a stack of sheet music from a drawer. "Yeah well, we have this piece she wrote, a duet for violin and piano, but only the violin part has been finished. Both Kazuki and I do not know how to play the piano so we are not able to finish it... If you feel like it, could you give it a try?" Hajime took the music from her, and scanned through the pages. "Well, it does not look too complicated, if this is something I can do for you, I will definitely give it a try."