I heard a groan escape from his gritted teeth. His eyes were tightly shut, his face grimacing as though it was taking everything he had to try to endure the pain.
“Akira…” I whimpered. “I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…”
This was all my fault. He’d only gotten hurt because he was trying to protect me. All because I just couldn’t keep my stupid mouth shut.
Biting my lip with regret, I lifted my head to see the police officer towering over me, looking back and forth between Akira on the ground and his still-clenched fist as if even he couldn’t believe what he’d just done. He seemed downright baffled by the fact that he’d lost control of his emotions so badly, he had struck a kamikaze pilot in a fit of rage.
“Apologize,” I said—my voice a husky growl. “Apologize to him right now!”
Akira was still on his knees, covering his face with both hands. Behind him, Tsuru was looking down at him with concern, still clutching her own shoulder in pain from when she’d been hit. I could feel a fiery rage beginning to bubble in my chest, swirling and billowing like a raging storm. I was livid with this man, beyond belief.
“You make me sick…” I said. “Apologize to both of these people, right this instant! You scum of the Earth!”
The officer winced in pain as though my words had physically cut him.
“…Yuri…”
Suddenly, I felt a tug on my wrist from below. I looked down to see Akira gazing up at me, his face battered and pale.
“It’s okay, Yuri…” he said. “I just had my bell rung a bit… I’m fine now…”
He staggered shakily to his feet, and I followed suit. But when I looked up to get a better look at him, my heart skipped a beat. There was blood trickling down his face.
“A…Akira, you’re bleeding…!” I said, my voice trembling in horror.
He smiled weakly at me and placed his hand on top of my head.
“I’m fine,” he said. “It’s nothing. Just a little scratch, that’s all.”
“No it’s not!” I said. “Just look how much blood there is!”
“Like I said, it’s fine. Look, the bleeding’s already stopped.”
Akira wiped his brow with his sleeve—and to be sure, there was no more blood trickling out from the wound. That was a bit of a relief, at least.
“…Sorry, Yuri,” he said, gently rubbing my head. “Didn’t mean to worry you.”
His soft, reassuring voice made my throat tighten up, and my vision started to blur.
“D-don’t look at me that way…” said the officer. “I didn’t do anything wrong… I’m just doing my job, okay… Don’t blame me…”
He repeated the same sentiment over and over, as though he were trying to convince himself more than anyone else, before stumbling off on unsteady legs. After watching him go, I turned my gaze back to Akira and Tsuru.
“…Are you two okay?” I asked, my voice still trembling with anxiety.
They both nodded, smiling gently even after they’d each taken a beating on my behalf. I couldn’t hold it in any longer; I broke down and started to cry.
“I’m so sorry…” I sobbed. “It’s all my fault… Please, you two… Forgive me…”
I covered my face with my palms, but it made little difference. I could feel the tears trickling through the gaps between my fingers and down the backs of my hands.
Akira chuckled softly.
“Wow,” he said. “Didn’t know you were such a crybaby, Yuri.”
He wrapped his arms around my head and ran his fingers through my hair.
I clung tightly to him and started weeping uncontrollably into his chest.
“I’d better go tell Takano-san what happened,” said Tsuru, walking away. “I’m sure she must be worried about us.”
“You don’t have to apologize, Yuri,” said Akira. “You didn’t do anything wrong. It was all that police officer’s fault.”
“…I know,” I said.
Pressing my ear against his chest, I could hear his heartbeat, slow and steady.
He’s alive, I thought to myself. He’s right here with me.
I could feel the raging torrent of emotions that had been swirling across my chest slowly beginning to calm.
“Maybe it’s not even the officer who’s ultimately to blame,” said Akira. “Maybe it’s something deeper than that… Whatever it was that made him that way…”
Every time he spoke, I could feel his chest quake against my cheek. It felt comfortable, just resting my head against him like this, so I closed my eyes for a bit.
Eventually, I pulled myself away and looked up at him.
“By the way, Akira…” I said. “What were you even doing all the way out here?”
For a moment, Akira looked at me, eyes wide, before bursting out laughing.
“Funny—I was about to ask you the exact same question!” he said. “This isn’t anywhere near your usual neck of the woods, Yuri. I can’t believe we ran into each other in this part of town.”
“Oh… Right. Well, you see…” I began. “I was out running errands with Tsuru-san, and she had to swing by an old friend’s house… They live out here.”
“Ah, that makes sense. Me, I just happened to be walking by when I heard people chattering away about some sort of ruckus nearby, so I thought I’d take a look.”
“What? A ruckus?”
“Yeah—I figured it was probably just a couple of drunks who’d gotten into a tussle over something or other, in which case I figured I could step in and help break it all up. Little did I know I’d find you here picking a fight with a police officer! Now that was unexpected!”
“Hey!” I said, pouting. “I wasn’t picking a fight!”
“You sure about that? You didn’t give him a dirty look or anything?”
“No! Who do you think I am?!”
“Ah ha ha ha!”
At least Akira was getting a hearty laugh out of all this.
It annoyed me to be teased over a traumatic experience like this, but simply hearing Akira’s laughter was enough to light a warm, cozy fire in my chest and allow me to brush past it.
Just then, someone walked right past us, and I quickly pulled myself away from Akira, embarrassed to be seen clinging to him like a small child. Next, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a vivid green glint on the ground—the leafy remnants of the vegetable I’d given the little boy earlier. Thinking back on that starving, emaciated child was all it took to make my spirits sink into the doldrums once again.
“Well… Can I ask you what did happen, then?” said Akira, apparently noticing the sudden tinge of glumness in my expression.
I nodded and proceeded to tell him everything that had happened. In the process, I could feel myself getting worked up all over again—and by the end of the story, I was on the verge of sobbing for what must have been the dozenth time today.
“It’s not right…” I said. “There’s something wrong with this country, I tell you…”
The words just spilled out from between my lips.
I knew I probably shouldn’t be saying that. Not in this time period.
But I thought that maybe, just maybe, Akira would understand.
If there was anyone in 1945 who’d be willing to hear me out, it was him.
“How messed up is it that there are little boys like him, left all alone to starve to death out on the streets?” I said. “How cruel is it to be beaten senseless like that, just for saying you oppose the war…? It’s not okay… If that’s what this war is doing to us, then there’s no way we’re doing the right thing by fighting it. There’s something deeply wrong with this country… With the Empire… A society like this should not be allowed to exist…”
My emotions were on the verge of bursting out of me uncontrollably. I couldn’t stop myself from saying exactly how I felt. I knew if anyone else were to hear this, I’d be branded a traitor to Japan all over again. Akira, though… He just listened quietly and attentively until I was finished speaking.
When at last he opened his mouth to speak, he looked me straight in the eye.
“Yuri, are you…” he began—but then stopped short.
I stared right back at him, waiting for him to finish his thought.
“You’re not suggesting that…that…”
Again, he cut himself short.
Not suggesting what? I was about to ask him to stop beating around the bush—when all of a sudden, Tsuru emerged from Takano’s house.
“Well, then… I suppose I’d best be on my way too,” said Akira, pivoting abruptly as he turned to leave. “I’ll see you later, Yuri.”
As he started walking off down the road, I wanted nothing more than to chase after him. Unfortunately, I needed to explain everything to Tsuru as well, plus I still had to apologize for giving some of her precious vegetables to that boy without asking. In the end, I just stood there and watched him go—his silhouette growing smaller and smaller, until eventually, he turned the corner and disappeared from my sight.