(character used for posting stories, not for chatting, and I use google translate) EPISODE 18: “MY CHILD!"

🌸 SCENE 1: UNDER THE CHERRY BLOSSOM

The three kids are sitting by the riverbank, the cherry blossoms are flying like the opening scene of some anime... but it's so peaceful that it's a bit wrong.

Kid 1 (eyes shining as if he just discovered an ideal):

“Hey, those soldiers the other day are so cool! The fascist ideology that our country pursues... is also cool, right? Putting the nation above all else. So cool.”

Kid 2 (nodding like a 7-year-old philosopher):

“Yeah. The nation is everything. Don't you think so?”

Kid 3 (holding hands tightly, eyes dreamy as if he sees a future wearing a soldier's uniform):

“Yeah! I'll be a soldier later! To be as cool as those guys!”

🌸 Cut scene. Cherry blossoms are still falling.

🎖️ SCENE 2: OAHU BATTLEFIELD, HAWAII TERRITORY

The siren sounds. Planes hover like angry bees.

Amidst the smoke and screams, we see the Boy from 3 years ago - now a young man in Japanese military uniform. His face is no longer innocent, but full of pride.

He shouts:

“For the Emperor! For the great cause of the nation!”

Gunpowder smoke, gunshots, fire... all blend into a symphony of blood and iron.

🌃 SCENE 3: A PEACEFUL CITY

A small city, children are playing, adults are trading, birds are flying, the wind is blowing...

💣 And then — the sky darkens.

A deafening screech.

A blinding light.

A giant mushroom rose from the ground.

Not a shiitake mushroom. A nuclear mushroom.

A mother ran over from afar, clutching her chest:

“Yamato-chan!!! My child!!!”

The screen faded, leaving only the echoes of crying, explosions, and the aftertaste of a dream burning to ashes.

|JAPAN, HIROSHIMA-August 6, 1945|