𝐌𝐄𝐄𝐓 𝐌𝐄 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐍. ʜᴀɴᴀꜱʜɪʀᴏ

0 8 : 戦争の思い出

Memories Of War

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Warning: this chapter may contain bloody scenes, and if you aren't one for them, feel free to skip it.

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He had to find him.

But everywhere he looked, all his eyes could see was something that the word disaster could only describe. Several houses were burned down, women and children were taken away roughly and massive lifeless bodies were laying down everywhere. It was such a horrible sight that he couldn't help but feel his stomach churning inside him as he looks down and closes his eyes for awhile, trying to calm the banging of his heart.

It felt dark and lonely.

So this is what war is.

His hands were trembling as he continued to trudge on, terribly limping. He kept his eyes' attention straight ahead as he walks at a valley of massive bodies, on top of each other, waiting to be set on fire until there were only ashes left.

He swallows a lump in his throat as his mind makes him think that one wrong move can easily make him one of those bodies, barely alive, and just waiting for death to arrive upon them. And it ate his mind whole as he tried to muster up all of his courage and bravery again to swat those thoughts away.

Kou wanted to go home.

And with that only hope left in him, he was able to absentmindedly cross the valley and arrive at a place which had more trees than buildings and dead people. Although it made him calm a bit down somehow, the anxiety and pressure in him wasn't gone yet.
He continued to walk down the path and soon enough, he heard an unfamiliar voice, which made him automatically hide behind a trunk, tense and alert.

Kou peeks from his hiding place, and his heart almost dropped at what he saw — Teru was on his knees, terribly wounded, in front of an enemy who has a bayonet pointed at his throat.

His breath hitched as a surge of various emotions hit him inside, mostly that of anger, fear, dread and hopelessness. And when people are feeling like that, they tend to go in a daze and do things absentmindedly.

And then at the next moment, his mind went blank and all he could feel was the blood splattering across his pale face.

Kou shut his eyes closed as he heard the dreadful sound of a body falling down onto the ground roughly, dead and cold. He didn't know as to why, what or when did that even happen. Like everything just went black, and when he regained complete consciousness again, the enemy was gone and dead.

That was it, until he looked down and his eyes widened in fear and remorse — his quivering hands were gripped onto the trigger of his rifle, and it didn't even took him a second to realize that he was the one who killed the enemy.

And in all honesty, it was the worst thing he has ever seen.

"I-I...!" He gasped sharply as the weapon dropped to the ground. His hands didn't stop from trembling as he took a few steps backwards, staring at his brother with wide and fearful eyes. "... I'm sorry..."

Teru felt like he was paralyzed right there and then at the ground with his eyes as wide as his brother's. It felt as if his heart got stuck in his throat, still in a daze after hearing the loudest shot he has ever heard in his whole life. Which was still ringing in his ears.

Kou felt as if he was going crazy as he falls onto his knees, his hands on his face. He began to sob and pray repeatedly for forgiveness as he cried and cried. His hands were getting cold as his body begins to fill up with nothing but deep remorse and guilt.

Ah, yes. This was the reason why he hated war.

He felt warm arms wrap him into a big hug and it felt nothing but home. It was the only thing he needed the most and so he melted in Teru's hug, crying uncontrollably. Maybe it was because he couldn't hold everything any longer that's why he broke down. Or maybe it was because he was slowly losing his sanity and was turning shell-schocked after absorbing everything that has happened.

"I never wanted to be here," he sobbed. "I want to see Tiara again. I don't want to die here, too."

Teru felt deep pity for the both of them as he rubbed his back and whispered, "Me too."

It was hard to let go from a warm hug that made you calm — but it was too late as they heard the several hurried footsteps of unknown people and the next thing they knew was they were captured and enslaved as war prisoners who surrendered to the enemy.

They were sent to a place where the opposing side gathered everyone they captured, and then, although they couldn't understand the foreign language they were communicating to them with, they started to move forward, walking towards somewhere  uncertain. They walked and walked —even though the sun is high out, glaring with its intense heat or even if the rain was pouring hard, they could barely breath from the cold.

But that wasn't all; the other captives were either beaten, shot, bayoneted and in many cases, beheaded. They were deprived from eating and others have soon died from starvation before they could even reach the destination.

And so, they named the infamous trek, "The Death March."

Kou stares up ahead, in a daze and still limping. It felt like he could no longer feel pain from his arm after getting attacked and it, ended up being torn. He felt numb and everything just felt surreal as he ignored the rumbling of his stomach, knowing that even if he begged, he will never even get at least a piece of something to eat.

He slowly glanced at the others who are falling onto their knees, weak and dying. They were being tortured and he didn't know when this will nightmare end. He just wanted to go back home and see Tiara again, but his eyes could no longer produce tears as they were already tired and dried up from crying.

Maybe he should just end it now and die.

"Are you okay?" He hears the voice of his brother from behind him; although his voice sounded dry and tired, he managed to let out those words sound fine and comforting. Which was the only thing that has been keeping him alive. "Kou?"

"I am, as long as you are." He forces a smile as he looks over his shoulder. It honestly hurt when he smiled because it felt like it's been a century ever since he had moved his facial muscles.

And then, he goes back to staring up ahead. It was hot and humid and he couldn't help but feel limp and tired. Very tired that he just closed his eyes and continued to trudge on.

Please give me a sign if I should continue on.

Kou ended up having to shot his eyes open as he feels an enemy soldier hit him, saying something like he should keep his eyes on the road. They continued to walk and reached a place with steep paths. Some were unfortunate enough to fall into the cliffs. Everything was going well and quiet, until a bomb loudly exploded near them, making everyone alarmed and alert.

And that was when Kou understood the sign.

As another chaos broke out which made them uneasy and tense, he wasted no time and grabbed Teru's hand and fell into a cliff.