klnothincomin
Kyogre ate Leafeon.
This is the same WWII fanfic I have posted a while ago just with a different name and slightly edited plot. I hope you all will enjoy it ^^
Rating: G
Cranes
Power. Greed. Hatred. All elements that lead to unhappiness and discontent, the essentials that leads to the path of destruction. War is an intolerable solution to solve these issues, for war also leads to more conflicts and troubles. Thousands of deaths occur, and in the end, all that remains is a damaged country and a huge loss of money. Because of that, because of one problem, awe crashes down upon everyone’s heart and innocent souls are lost within the chaos. Families separate, friends parting, and no longer will the warmth of one hand touch another with grace and happiness. Because of war…because of a conflict between countries…because of hatred…power…and greed…it was brutal hell. Because of an urge to end war, because of that one bomb, I had lost everything. I should have never left them, I should have never been so ignorant, and I should have never been so selfish to my family. I was the only one who survived, I was the only one that was so lucky, I was the one who endured all of that I had lost and all that I loved. From the moment my teacup shattered down to the ground, I knew what had happened…my family in Nagasaki…my friends…my brother…
Chapter 1: 1939-Nagasaki
Nagasaki, a very beautiful small island off the coast of the archipelago Japan filled with glorious scenery of bright cerulean mountains, verdant grass，rich vivid flowers, and a large city of tall structures， shrines, and buildings. Usually, the weather is sunny, with immense, white, fluffy clouds soaring in the atmosphere, and fresh air with a slight breeze wafting past the trees. The city was crowded with many people, causing populace traffic in the streets. Many rode bikes, numerous cars drove, and every other person preferred the Japanese express. I preferred to walk with my friend, and this morning, Miyako Kanata and I strolled down the sidewalk heading toward school. I was in the tenth grade, and Miyako was my classmate at Nagasaki High School. She and I were friends ever since middle school and we lived only one block away from each other. However, neither one of us could comprehend what would happen later on in Nagasaki.
Ring!! The bell rang and we hurried up to our first class of the daybreak as we were greeted by many teachers. Before class, free time was given every morning to help us study, talk, or do whatever we fancy. I walked quietly into the classroom which was filled with people. The desks were lined up in four straight lines with six desks in each row. I sat in my assigned seat, near the big glass windows on the left of the room, which was the third desk in row one. Everyday during this time, I would take out a sheet of origami paper and fold one crane. At the end of school, I would always run home and put it in my drawer full of many other cranes. In my culture, an origami crane is worth one wish, and if you wish upon it, it would come true. My goal is to fold a thousand cranes, worth thousand wishes, and the one I am folding today is my two hundred and thirty-eighth crane. After creasing my last pleat, I made a wish on the crane and slipped it into my pencil pouch. At that moment, Miyako tapped my left shoulder to get my attention. She was sitting in the seat behind me.
Miyako handed me a worksheet and asked, “How do you do number twelve on our homework? What do I do with the fraction and the variable?” The problem had many erased pencil marks under it and a written question mark next to the number. Without any trouble, I swiftly explained how to answer the equation and solved it within a flash of light. Miyako nodded in understand and was amazed at how quick it took for me to simplify the equation.
“Did you study for the math exam we have today, Miyako?” I asked.
She responded, “Yeah, I studied all night at home, looking all over my notes and redoing all my worksheets,” she giggled, “I doubt the exam would be any trouble to you, Kigama, you are the smartest student in class.”
Yes, it is true, a high school girl such as I, Kigama Kyoto, had always gotten an A+, never failed an assessment, and spoke English very clearly better than anyone. I was very popular at my school; I don’t believe there is a single soul that does not recognize me. Many often approach me for advice or help in their homework; others envy me because of my intelligence. People akin to me are especially rare like a four-petal clover in a patch of thousands of three-leafed clovers. I suppose I am pleased to be born with such talent, but it usually gets in the way sometimes and is really annoying when others surround me for my guidance. I am glad to even sit around for an hour undisturbed by anyone. If I could ever have a wish, it is to be a normal person, a person that is like everyone else, a single three-leaf clover of a patch of identical clovers. Lost in my daydream, I was almost immediately awakened by the sound of the bell to our first class.
My first period was Japanese Mathematics, an important subject in High School and a necessary area of intelligence needed to be successful. Like I mentioned earlier, we are having an exam today, and to be honest, I don’t believe anyone is ready. The quiz was on Algebra, Quadratic Relationships. We had only been introduced to the chapter, and we’ve worked on it for about three days. In no time at all, we have been given a quiz on it the day after. Taking high school in Japan is not easy as many think; even I have issues in science and social studies class. Everyone seemed rather nervous for this assessment, and they all took their time wisely to study while our teacher was not in attendance at the moment. In a brief instant, the door to the right of our classroom creaked open and Tenaka Sensei (teacher) walked in. She put her bag next to her desk in front of the room and obtained her attendance sheet from her cabinet behind.
“Ok, looks like everyone is here in class today,” she said, “Very good, no one will miss our math exam today. We should presume without ado, books off the tables and have out a pencil and a sheet of loose-leaf paper. If you had done the extra-credit worksheet I handed out yesterday, please have that out also, I am collecting them.”
Everyone had completed the extra-credit worksheet for they knew that it would be helpful to raise their exam grade. Sensei walked around and collected the sheets while passing out the exam. She handed me the quiz and I flipped through the packet of paper. It was three pages long, front and back, with a bonus question at the end. I began solving the first problem immediately with haste so I would finish before the time is up. Forty minutes was all we had to complete the exam, thirty-five problems, about a minute on each. The time seemed to speed up each moments pass, a minute to a second, a second to a nanosecond, a nanosecond to the instant of light. Only twenty-seven minutes and twelve seconds left. I was on problem twenty-two. Fifteen minutes. Problem twenty-nine. Five minutes. Problem thirty-five. Only thirty seconds left, and I was working the on bonus. Sweat droplets poured down my cheek. The bonus question was difficult, much difficult than the rest.
“Should I not worry about it?” I thought, “It is optional, but it may boost up my grade if I correctly solve it.”
Ten seconds remain. Staring at the problem, I quickly wrote down an answer. Clock was ticking simultaneously with speed. Five seconds remain…four…three....two…one. Time was up, and Tanaka Sensei ordered everyone to stop writing and to pass up their exams to the front desk in each row. I glanced around. Only four students, including me, finished, seventeen were still working and almost to completion, and three were asleep and were awoken by Tenaka’s raging temper. Those four were eventually reported to the principle’s office. Things around the Japanese schools are taken very seriously and strictly, and if you fall asleep, you would literally be beaten by the teacher and the principle with a ruler. I rested down into my seat and sighed with relief. Another exam finished and over with.
Our next unit-Calculus. One of the most complex and sophisticated areas in math we are required to learn and exceed. I had given an attempt at learning calculus, but at the time, I was learning pre-algebra. Even though being the most popular and depended, calculus is not something I could study and master in one lesson. I grabbed my heavy mathematic textbook and turned to page five hundred and eighty-one as our sensei instructed. As usual, the first day of learning something completely new and difficult was always dull and inappreciative. Students were already exhausted and weary of the exam, and paid no attention to our sensei’s lecture. Even I didn’t follow along in our book and was reading between the lines of the passage. I couldn’t hear sensei’s voice at all in my mind anymore. I could only see her gesturing with her hands and writing on the blackboard with white chalk. My eyes were drowsy and heavy from all the staring at the numbers and letters. I was a slight subsequent second close to falling asleep until I was awoken by Tenaka Sensei’s voice.
“Kigama, please calculate problem number three,” she insisted.
I glanced around with alarm; all eyes were penetrating at me. For the first time, I was completely lost in thought. I read the board and then gazed at my book. Everyone looked at me as if I had finally lost my mind. Tenaka Sensei was getting impatient and irritated.
“The class is waiting, Kigama, we don’t have all day.”
My eyes were wide and became scarlet red. My hands grew cold and my head felt heavy. I blinked my eyelids and looked away from the black board. A poster with swirling symbols and numbers caught my attention. I shouted the first numeral I spotted, “Uhh..seveeen..”
To my surprise, she replied, “It is actually six, you were close, Kigama. Impressive, no one understands calculus in their first lesson, no matter how simple the problem is.”
So fortunate, if there was one thing you would never want to have, it would be a smack from sensei’s ruler and an hour lecture by our principal. It would really affect my reputation if I had been sent to the office for the first time…I…don’t understand what was with me at that moment. I had never fallen asleep or dreamt during a lesson before…despite its tediousness. At these times, lord must have been offering a sign to us…perhaps even a warning. In Japan, we have a belief in good luck and bad luck, and if an unfortunate event was near, god would deliver us an indication. Hopefully my origami cranes would ward off the misfortune; destiny could not be changed as such without hope and effort by others. Dreaming in class is not the least of my further worries; the next would be later on around the world…
The echo of the school bell resonance concluded our day rendering students scampering back home. I also departed; ready for a few hours in a quality restaurant to eat something much better than the dull school cafeteria’s so-called “gourmet”. Leisurely walking on the sidewalk, a car decelerated alongside me. The car was not excellent; it was old, with a grayish dark navy blue coating, and scratched windows. However, it runs just as smooth as any other car and in good condition for a drive. The back seat window facing me rolled down, allowing vision within the vehicle. A familiar voice called out to me and I recognized it as my friend Miyako.
“Want a lift Kigama? I certainly need a person to accompany me in this old auto.”
I couldn’t resist her; after all, it was loutish to leave a friend, especially a lonely only child. “Sure, I was also in need of someone to speak to lately.” I went around to the opposite side of the car, opened the door, and climbed in. Miyako’s mother was in the front driving the car. The seats were not as comfortable, semi-durable, somewhat feeling like thick leather. I tried to endure them and avoided leaning too far back. “Where are you going Miyako?”
“I was thinking of going to a restaurant, perhaps a Café? A nice drink would be nice; the blazing blistering weather lately is really causing mild thirst.” Motioning her head around, Miyako stretched her hair band and tied her black hair into a pony-tail.
I wafted back strands of my black hair and pondered, fiddling my fingers upon my blouse, “I was preparing to visit the most popular sushi restaurant that sells the freshest rolls Hikari and Sushi dishes, The Hikari House. Their quenching cup of lemon herbal tea with a side of California Sushi rolls sound satisfying. I’m also curious of how my boss, Kashi, is doing there, ever since I have been in school, I have not assisted him in a long time.”
“You could work there in the weekends, can’t you? All you do there is make sushi and serve dishes.”
“I help around when I can; I sometimes even sweep the floors and feed his huge dog leftover rice and meat. That was during the summer, now that school has started, my help is hard to come by. And Kashi’s generosity is also wasted without me.”
“Well, I am certain he is fine, I imagine he would be ecstatic to see you after all these months.” Miyako softened her voice and lowered her chin down slightly. Preoccupied in her thoughts, she quietly spoke with awe, “Kigama, I have something important to tell you regarding my parents…and myself…”
After a faint mumble of words nearly to the silence of a whisper, I could have wished more than to refuse to believe in what I have thought those lips of hers had pronounced. Despair crushed my very heart as I seated with distress and alarm in the car. The immense and overwhelming news would have nearly brought the vehicle crushed to the pavement road if it were solid mass. I tried to hide my brisk tears ever so, but even if I did succeed, my heart was still in pain and depression. I pretended as if I didn’t‘t hear Miyako and asked, “I…what did you say? Your uttering made no sense to me.”
Miyako understood that I had heard her the very first time for she noticed my rosy cheeks instantly desaturate to a pale white hue. She glanced over at her mother driving the car. She was continuously glaring at the mirror to observe what we were doing. Miyako hesitated to repeat herself in front of her mother’s watch, but nevertheless she sighed and clearly spoke, “My parents and I are moving to the other world next week, not for a short visit, perhaps forever…”
My lips had finally deceived me; there was no hesitating to speak, “For what reason? You know you are my only real trusted companion I ever had in life. Is it not perfect here in Nagasaki?”
“I have no other choice, my parents are not making enough money in Nagasaki and Japan is too populated to provide possible open jobs for them.” A face between a scowl and a slight angry snarl formed on Miyako as her fingers clenched into tight fists.
“But why do you have to follow them to the Americas also? You don’t need a job just yet…you may stay here with my family if you wanted.”
“I want to stay here, but…my family has to make a living, life is not just about love and friendship, we must consider our family members. And besides, your family is not in a good condition either. Your mother works in a fabric and sewing store and your father works in a factory making weapons, it is hardly enough to earn much money for you, your older brother Kisuke, your mother, and father.” Miyako subsequently closed her eyes, seemingly pitying Kigama.
“Then…what about the communication with the other people? Surely you don’t expect yourself to fully understand English in one flight. You need more experience with the language, ask your parents if you could stay for a month longer before leaving.”
“It’s okay Kigama, I will be fine. With your encouragement, even a dictionary would seem less convenient. I will get used to the other world, don’t worry. Maybe I would even discover new friends that are also Japanese.”
I knew I couldn’t come back with a good counter argument at this point. Not a word I say could bring back Miyako or change the mind of hers. “Please call me once you arrive there, if not, I would be very lonely.”
“The other world is around the opposite side of the planet, phone calls may not reach, sorry. We could still mail each other by letter, it is easy and free…I believe.” Miyako’s voice became choppy and sobs broke through her breath. Tears burst through my eyes and I collapsed into Miyako’s arms for a brief hug. “I will really miss you Kigama…love you.” She whispered three small words softly to me that I would never forget, miss you, and farewell.
Rating: G
Cranes
Power. Greed. Hatred. All elements that lead to unhappiness and discontent, the essentials that leads to the path of destruction. War is an intolerable solution to solve these issues, for war also leads to more conflicts and troubles. Thousands of deaths occur, and in the end, all that remains is a damaged country and a huge loss of money. Because of that, because of one problem, awe crashes down upon everyone’s heart and innocent souls are lost within the chaos. Families separate, friends parting, and no longer will the warmth of one hand touch another with grace and happiness. Because of war…because of a conflict between countries…because of hatred…power…and greed…it was brutal hell. Because of an urge to end war, because of that one bomb, I had lost everything. I should have never left them, I should have never been so ignorant, and I should have never been so selfish to my family. I was the only one who survived, I was the only one that was so lucky, I was the one who endured all of that I had lost and all that I loved. From the moment my teacup shattered down to the ground, I knew what had happened…my family in Nagasaki…my friends…my brother…
Chapter 1: 1939-Nagasaki
Nagasaki, a very beautiful small island off the coast of the archipelago Japan filled with glorious scenery of bright cerulean mountains, verdant grass，rich vivid flowers, and a large city of tall structures， shrines, and buildings. Usually, the weather is sunny, with immense, white, fluffy clouds soaring in the atmosphere, and fresh air with a slight breeze wafting past the trees. The city was crowded with many people, causing populace traffic in the streets. Many rode bikes, numerous cars drove, and every other person preferred the Japanese express. I preferred to walk with my friend, and this morning, Miyako Kanata and I strolled down the sidewalk heading toward school. I was in the tenth grade, and Miyako was my classmate at Nagasaki High School. She and I were friends ever since middle school and we lived only one block away from each other. However, neither one of us could comprehend what would happen later on in Nagasaki.
Ring!! The bell rang and we hurried up to our first class of the daybreak as we were greeted by many teachers. Before class, free time was given every morning to help us study, talk, or do whatever we fancy. I walked quietly into the classroom which was filled with people. The desks were lined up in four straight lines with six desks in each row. I sat in my assigned seat, near the big glass windows on the left of the room, which was the third desk in row one. Everyday during this time, I would take out a sheet of origami paper and fold one crane. At the end of school, I would always run home and put it in my drawer full of many other cranes. In my culture, an origami crane is worth one wish, and if you wish upon it, it would come true. My goal is to fold a thousand cranes, worth thousand wishes, and the one I am folding today is my two hundred and thirty-eighth crane. After creasing my last pleat, I made a wish on the crane and slipped it into my pencil pouch. At that moment, Miyako tapped my left shoulder to get my attention. She was sitting in the seat behind me.
Miyako handed me a worksheet and asked, “How do you do number twelve on our homework? What do I do with the fraction and the variable?” The problem had many erased pencil marks under it and a written question mark next to the number. Without any trouble, I swiftly explained how to answer the equation and solved it within a flash of light. Miyako nodded in understand and was amazed at how quick it took for me to simplify the equation.
“Did you study for the math exam we have today, Miyako?” I asked.
She responded, “Yeah, I studied all night at home, looking all over my notes and redoing all my worksheets,” she giggled, “I doubt the exam would be any trouble to you, Kigama, you are the smartest student in class.”
Yes, it is true, a high school girl such as I, Kigama Kyoto, had always gotten an A+, never failed an assessment, and spoke English very clearly better than anyone. I was very popular at my school; I don’t believe there is a single soul that does not recognize me. Many often approach me for advice or help in their homework; others envy me because of my intelligence. People akin to me are especially rare like a four-petal clover in a patch of thousands of three-leafed clovers. I suppose I am pleased to be born with such talent, but it usually gets in the way sometimes and is really annoying when others surround me for my guidance. I am glad to even sit around for an hour undisturbed by anyone. If I could ever have a wish, it is to be a normal person, a person that is like everyone else, a single three-leaf clover of a patch of identical clovers. Lost in my daydream, I was almost immediately awakened by the sound of the bell to our first class.
My first period was Japanese Mathematics, an important subject in High School and a necessary area of intelligence needed to be successful. Like I mentioned earlier, we are having an exam today, and to be honest, I don’t believe anyone is ready. The quiz was on Algebra, Quadratic Relationships. We had only been introduced to the chapter, and we’ve worked on it for about three days. In no time at all, we have been given a quiz on it the day after. Taking high school in Japan is not easy as many think; even I have issues in science and social studies class. Everyone seemed rather nervous for this assessment, and they all took their time wisely to study while our teacher was not in attendance at the moment. In a brief instant, the door to the right of our classroom creaked open and Tenaka Sensei (teacher) walked in. She put her bag next to her desk in front of the room and obtained her attendance sheet from her cabinet behind.
“Ok, looks like everyone is here in class today,” she said, “Very good, no one will miss our math exam today. We should presume without ado, books off the tables and have out a pencil and a sheet of loose-leaf paper. If you had done the extra-credit worksheet I handed out yesterday, please have that out also, I am collecting them.”
Everyone had completed the extra-credit worksheet for they knew that it would be helpful to raise their exam grade. Sensei walked around and collected the sheets while passing out the exam. She handed me the quiz and I flipped through the packet of paper. It was three pages long, front and back, with a bonus question at the end. I began solving the first problem immediately with haste so I would finish before the time is up. Forty minutes was all we had to complete the exam, thirty-five problems, about a minute on each. The time seemed to speed up each moments pass, a minute to a second, a second to a nanosecond, a nanosecond to the instant of light. Only twenty-seven minutes and twelve seconds left. I was on problem twenty-two. Fifteen minutes. Problem twenty-nine. Five minutes. Problem thirty-five. Only thirty seconds left, and I was working the on bonus. Sweat droplets poured down my cheek. The bonus question was difficult, much difficult than the rest.
“Should I not worry about it?” I thought, “It is optional, but it may boost up my grade if I correctly solve it.”
Ten seconds remain. Staring at the problem, I quickly wrote down an answer. Clock was ticking simultaneously with speed. Five seconds remain…four…three....two…one. Time was up, and Tanaka Sensei ordered everyone to stop writing and to pass up their exams to the front desk in each row. I glanced around. Only four students, including me, finished, seventeen were still working and almost to completion, and three were asleep and were awoken by Tenaka’s raging temper. Those four were eventually reported to the principle’s office. Things around the Japanese schools are taken very seriously and strictly, and if you fall asleep, you would literally be beaten by the teacher and the principle with a ruler. I rested down into my seat and sighed with relief. Another exam finished and over with.
Our next unit-Calculus. One of the most complex and sophisticated areas in math we are required to learn and exceed. I had given an attempt at learning calculus, but at the time, I was learning pre-algebra. Even though being the most popular and depended, calculus is not something I could study and master in one lesson. I grabbed my heavy mathematic textbook and turned to page five hundred and eighty-one as our sensei instructed. As usual, the first day of learning something completely new and difficult was always dull and inappreciative. Students were already exhausted and weary of the exam, and paid no attention to our sensei’s lecture. Even I didn’t follow along in our book and was reading between the lines of the passage. I couldn’t hear sensei’s voice at all in my mind anymore. I could only see her gesturing with her hands and writing on the blackboard with white chalk. My eyes were drowsy and heavy from all the staring at the numbers and letters. I was a slight subsequent second close to falling asleep until I was awoken by Tenaka Sensei’s voice.
“Kigama, please calculate problem number three,” she insisted.
I glanced around with alarm; all eyes were penetrating at me. For the first time, I was completely lost in thought. I read the board and then gazed at my book. Everyone looked at me as if I had finally lost my mind. Tenaka Sensei was getting impatient and irritated.
“The class is waiting, Kigama, we don’t have all day.”
My eyes were wide and became scarlet red. My hands grew cold and my head felt heavy. I blinked my eyelids and looked away from the black board. A poster with swirling symbols and numbers caught my attention. I shouted the first numeral I spotted, “Uhh..seveeen..”
To my surprise, she replied, “It is actually six, you were close, Kigama. Impressive, no one understands calculus in their first lesson, no matter how simple the problem is.”
So fortunate, if there was one thing you would never want to have, it would be a smack from sensei’s ruler and an hour lecture by our principal. It would really affect my reputation if I had been sent to the office for the first time…I…don’t understand what was with me at that moment. I had never fallen asleep or dreamt during a lesson before…despite its tediousness. At these times, lord must have been offering a sign to us…perhaps even a warning. In Japan, we have a belief in good luck and bad luck, and if an unfortunate event was near, god would deliver us an indication. Hopefully my origami cranes would ward off the misfortune; destiny could not be changed as such without hope and effort by others. Dreaming in class is not the least of my further worries; the next would be later on around the world…
The echo of the school bell resonance concluded our day rendering students scampering back home. I also departed; ready for a few hours in a quality restaurant to eat something much better than the dull school cafeteria’s so-called “gourmet”. Leisurely walking on the sidewalk, a car decelerated alongside me. The car was not excellent; it was old, with a grayish dark navy blue coating, and scratched windows. However, it runs just as smooth as any other car and in good condition for a drive. The back seat window facing me rolled down, allowing vision within the vehicle. A familiar voice called out to me and I recognized it as my friend Miyako.
“Want a lift Kigama? I certainly need a person to accompany me in this old auto.”
I couldn’t resist her; after all, it was loutish to leave a friend, especially a lonely only child. “Sure, I was also in need of someone to speak to lately.” I went around to the opposite side of the car, opened the door, and climbed in. Miyako’s mother was in the front driving the car. The seats were not as comfortable, semi-durable, somewhat feeling like thick leather. I tried to endure them and avoided leaning too far back. “Where are you going Miyako?”
“I was thinking of going to a restaurant, perhaps a Café? A nice drink would be nice; the blazing blistering weather lately is really causing mild thirst.” Motioning her head around, Miyako stretched her hair band and tied her black hair into a pony-tail.
I wafted back strands of my black hair and pondered, fiddling my fingers upon my blouse, “I was preparing to visit the most popular sushi restaurant that sells the freshest rolls Hikari and Sushi dishes, The Hikari House. Their quenching cup of lemon herbal tea with a side of California Sushi rolls sound satisfying. I’m also curious of how my boss, Kashi, is doing there, ever since I have been in school, I have not assisted him in a long time.”
“You could work there in the weekends, can’t you? All you do there is make sushi and serve dishes.”
“I help around when I can; I sometimes even sweep the floors and feed his huge dog leftover rice and meat. That was during the summer, now that school has started, my help is hard to come by. And Kashi’s generosity is also wasted without me.”
“Well, I am certain he is fine, I imagine he would be ecstatic to see you after all these months.” Miyako softened her voice and lowered her chin down slightly. Preoccupied in her thoughts, she quietly spoke with awe, “Kigama, I have something important to tell you regarding my parents…and myself…”
After a faint mumble of words nearly to the silence of a whisper, I could have wished more than to refuse to believe in what I have thought those lips of hers had pronounced. Despair crushed my very heart as I seated with distress and alarm in the car. The immense and overwhelming news would have nearly brought the vehicle crushed to the pavement road if it were solid mass. I tried to hide my brisk tears ever so, but even if I did succeed, my heart was still in pain and depression. I pretended as if I didn’t‘t hear Miyako and asked, “I…what did you say? Your uttering made no sense to me.”
Miyako understood that I had heard her the very first time for she noticed my rosy cheeks instantly desaturate to a pale white hue. She glanced over at her mother driving the car. She was continuously glaring at the mirror to observe what we were doing. Miyako hesitated to repeat herself in front of her mother’s watch, but nevertheless she sighed and clearly spoke, “My parents and I are moving to the other world next week, not for a short visit, perhaps forever…”
My lips had finally deceived me; there was no hesitating to speak, “For what reason? You know you are my only real trusted companion I ever had in life. Is it not perfect here in Nagasaki?”
“I have no other choice, my parents are not making enough money in Nagasaki and Japan is too populated to provide possible open jobs for them.” A face between a scowl and a slight angry snarl formed on Miyako as her fingers clenched into tight fists.
“But why do you have to follow them to the Americas also? You don’t need a job just yet…you may stay here with my family if you wanted.”
“I want to stay here, but…my family has to make a living, life is not just about love and friendship, we must consider our family members. And besides, your family is not in a good condition either. Your mother works in a fabric and sewing store and your father works in a factory making weapons, it is hardly enough to earn much money for you, your older brother Kisuke, your mother, and father.” Miyako subsequently closed her eyes, seemingly pitying Kigama.
“Then…what about the communication with the other people? Surely you don’t expect yourself to fully understand English in one flight. You need more experience with the language, ask your parents if you could stay for a month longer before leaving.”
“It’s okay Kigama, I will be fine. With your encouragement, even a dictionary would seem less convenient. I will get used to the other world, don’t worry. Maybe I would even discover new friends that are also Japanese.”
I knew I couldn’t come back with a good counter argument at this point. Not a word I say could bring back Miyako or change the mind of hers. “Please call me once you arrive there, if not, I would be very lonely.”
“The other world is around the opposite side of the planet, phone calls may not reach, sorry. We could still mail each other by letter, it is easy and free…I believe.” Miyako’s voice became choppy and sobs broke through her breath. Tears burst through my eyes and I collapsed into Miyako’s arms for a brief hug. “I will really miss you Kigama…love you.” She whispered three small words softly to me that I would never forget, miss you, and farewell.
238 cranes.
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