𝐌𝐄𝐄𝐓 𝐌𝐄 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐍. ʜᴀɴᴀꜱʜɪʀᴏ

0 7 : 倒れた兵士

Fallen Soldiers

—

Two blond men stood in front of them, both of them, having a look of curiousity and uneasiness in their eyes. They wore something like camouflage uniforms, as Nene could make out, apart from the dried blood that has been attached to their clothes. They looked like brothers, she thought as she stares into their ocean blue eyes.

"H-Hey, you can see my arm, right?" The younger looking one suddenly asks as he hesitantly looks back at Hanako and to his left arm. "Can you?"

Hanako glanced at Nene awkwardly before replying with a slow, "Yeah."

"They can see it, too," he whips his head towards the taller one with a relieved expression, that somehow left Nene feeling weird. What was the deal with his arm, anyway? The blond boy looks back at them again and asks, "May we ask what this place is?"

Hanako and Nene looked at each other, a knowing look written on their face; for some reason, she felt really kind of surprised and then in awe as she realizes that they are just like them. Nene stands up from her seat and goes by Hanako's side to give them some space to sit on in front of them, "Please sit here, then."

They both sat down on their respective seats. The taller one smiles at them kindly and says with a soft voice, although it strangely matched with his appearance, "I'm Teru Minamoto. He's my brother, Kou," he gestures towards the person beside him who acted as if he was just cut off from his daze while looking outside, fascinated by the scenery, "We're soldiers from a war."

"Nice to meet you," Hanako mirrors his smile, holding out his hand, to which Teru shakes it gently, as well as Kou's. "If you please, then I must explain later to you as to where you are and why you are here."

"That's nice of you," he says as both sides retracted their hands. Teru turns  towards the cream-haired and Nene couldn't help but feel a bit tense and nervous as she feels his eyes on her. He tilts his head to the side a bit and also smiles at her, politely saying, "To the lovely lass over here, nice to meet you too. May I know your name?"

Nene's cheeks burned red as she felt her legs all wobbly and like noodles as she stutters out, "I-I'm Nene Yashiro! It's a pleasure to meet you, too!"

Teru looked like a total prince; judging by his features that included his pale skin, attractive blue eyes, and his spiky blond hair. Kou and him didn't really differ to each other—it looked like he was even a younger version of his brother. Nene would've thought that they're twins, if Kou was also as tall as him.

But among all of these observations, Nene found it rather odd that the both of them are quite collected, at peace and composed.

As if they were never from war.

She almost felt embarassed, remembering the first time she arrived when she made a fuss and cried in front of Hanako.

Hanako was currently explaining them everything about the train and the situation they're in. Nene felt a bit jealous about how unwavering their understanding were. As Teru and Hanako exchanged conversations, she timidly peeks up at Kou who was just staring now outside. He was in awe and his eyes spoke about how amazed he is at the beautiful scenery outside. He's almost like me, at the least, she sighs in relief for a bit.

"I love this meadow outside," Kou speaks to her, although still not looking. He had a grin on his face. "Don't you?"

"I do, too," she feels a bit happy when he talked to her. Maybe he wasn't someone mean after all, although they're soldiers who were trained till they bled and felt pain. Ah, she remembers what he said earlier and decides to ask about it. "About what you said earlier, what do you mean when you asked if we can see your arm?"

Instead of Kou answering her question, she felt a slight jab to her arm which made her look at Hanako and hiss. He glared at her and whispered sternly, "I told you before to be careful with your words, didn't I?"

What was his deal? She became a bit irritated and glared back at him, saying, "I was only asking him!"

"I lost my arm in the war," Kou speaks up, immediately making the two stop bickering and fall silent as they looked at him, incredulous. And then, as if ignoring their looks, he chuckles awkwardly, placing a hand on his nape. "I'm sorry if I acted weirdly that I made you uncomfortable. I just felt really relieved to see and use it again."

"I-I'm sorry!" Nene stood up and bowed deeply, shutting her eyes close. Oh, good heavens. This was embarassing and she felt remorse for what she just did. She doesn't know how to even make it up to him and maybe a hundred of apologies may never even be enough. "I didn't knew you lost it! I was being really stupid and insensitive!"

"P-Please don't say that!" Kou countered, nervously trying to calm her down and make her sit back. He also felt embarrassed. "I-It's also my fault for being like that, I'm sorry!"

Nene finally sits back down after, although the guilt inside her still won't melt away that easily. Hanako tutts at her, "I told you so."

"Shut up." Nene wished that the ground would just eat her up so she could just disappear and be forgotten forever and ever, as if a bubble being bursted.

"It's fine, Miss Yashiro," Teru kindly tells her. "Kou isn't someone who's easy to anger. My brother's really kind!"

The younger male frowns at him as a blush appears on his cheeks, "It's embarassing. I'm not really that kind—"

And then, he abruptly stopped as if he was interrupted. Kou's breath hitched as his expression changes from an embarrassed to a frantic one. No one besides him ever knew what was going inside his mind right now.

He just looked down and fell silent.

Kou remembered the day he first acknowledged himself as a proud soldier — and if you are a soldier, you have to fight for what is right. Or mostly, what you think is right. Fight.

And kill the people that will go your way.