Days of Gold Gone By: Ep.Ten

Days of Gold Gone By: A Serial

Authors Note: Episode 10! Celebration! Woohoo. I released a bonus episode to celebrate also. You can find it here: http://www.youngwriterssociety.com/work.php?id=106272 . Also there is some music mentioned in this episode. If you are interested in hearing them here are the links.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-ue69sF3Co
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BoozeA5D9g

Episode Ten: The Music of War

Session#3

‘You’re silent today June. Shall we start then. --- Is it working?’

‘Yes.’

‘I thought it might be broken, you are barely flinching. Maybe I’m not having it set high enough... let me... see here.’

‘AHHHRGHHH!’

‘June? June? Are you alright.’

‘Wake up your senses son. Shino, don’t be afraid to slap him if you have to.’

‘I...hate...you.’

~~~

I am blind to the war and its heroes. All of this time I have been existing with no consideration or comprehension to the events. As I was born into a time like this, it has become the ordinary, yet I have discovered so many things that have been kept from me. I increasingly worry for June’s family in particular. The more time I spend in the community the more I hear them being badmouthed by the citizenry. Just spending time with June in public subjects me to stares and suspicious glances. If June didn’t have it bad enough, his father almost never leaves the house. June thinks it is miraculous how his family has managed to survive all of this time without being subjected to military confinement, though he seems very headstrong about it, attributing it to their wealth and previous social power and in particular the support of my own father, who was an officer in war. When I inquire he tells me it is not rare for military personal to come to their house every now and then; when this happens June is quite pleased at his devised plan to have his father play a bedridden man, hiding out in a dimly lit room behind musty curtains while he and his mother take it at face value. The guise seems to ridiculous to me, I am surprised that it has worked.

It is beginning, or end, of a new year; 1944. The news of Misaki’s death has been and gone, the valiant event of his own death and sacrifice grace no-one’s tongues. Misaki had left many symbols behind him; some of which we had to give back. A man with a message had arrived to collect a parcel the day my family shipped away the news of his death among other things. My mother had carefully folded Misakis old gifted uniform into the box which she then bound tightly with scraps of tape, and handed it to that same messenger. I had been sure it was the uniform; the one I had found haunting my closet. But when I returned to check the hanging ghost was still there, sleeping in the dark as if it was never awake at all. With the vanish of the news of Misaki so did my father; returning to his post to work avidly on the plans of war.

Everyone is so much more happy now- in fact no-one ever even seems to mention him. I had once asked if Misaki had died yet and was shot down with disbelief on how I could say something like that. I find it ironic because those who died in war are heroes. They are looked up upon, prayed upon, even sung for. The fact that Misaki died fighting was a source of pride! If anything it makes me feel so much ashamed that I am not at battle also. June is also not at battle, which raises even more controversy around him as a citizen. To him it goes against his heritage, being born half of British and half of Japanese, it is a true dilemma. He says that he is on the side of Japan, but feels he cannot fight because he has English cousins who fight against him. He could not kill his own blood.

I happen to be present at one such encounter when officials come to Junes door; being exposed to it so immediately frightens me. Myself, Kaho, and my mother are all present at June’s place that day. The mothers and Kaho spend the day practising at tea while I watch June busy sketching the shape of the back of his house. After a while we get up and go through the house to the front door. June stops me against the wall just before we arrive. He presses over with his arm, looking down on me, looming over me, menacing.

“What the heck were you thinking? Don’t tell me you are so easily swayed by that propaganda of earlier?”

I turn my face away. I hate the feeling of his sharp eyes digging so close into me.

“That made me look bad, but even worse, I can’t believe you would ever consider getting into that again. Especially in your state and what happened last time. Do you know how lucky you are that you have a medical excuse?”

I hate it. I want him to move. He is too close. Too piecing. I feel myself not even listening to him. I despise the fact that he is taller than me, stronger than me. It makes me feel helpless. June moves away and angrily swings open the door with a force, sending it flying back in his hand. A smartly uniformed man is standing there with a clipboard in his hand. He nods briefly then salutes. June leans casually against the door frame.

“I assure you sir, I only turn seventeen...” Liar. “I’ll look into it but I assure you my family has legitimate reasons you see my father is a sick old man, and so is this person. He is most certainly delusional.”

“The Japanese army requires young men such as you to fight for your nation. It is shameless-” The smartly dressed man starts before he had gotten interrupted by June. The words catch my ears. I don’t hesitate for a moment. I step forward.

“Me.”

“You aren’t registered at this household, are you of age also?”

“Akira!” June snaps in anger just as I begin to speak.

“I live here in Shizouka. I am twenty years, I think I am worthy, I can run, and I can drive, and I can read and-” The man is nodding.

“I want to join the army! I want to fight for Japan.” My words were true and passionate. I wanted to be a hero. I wanted to join in the conflict, protect my people. Destroy the enemy. I wanted to destroy the people who had killed Misaki, killed Hikari, killed me. Now I was doing nothing. I was pathetic. I was even learning the language of the enemy! If only I had known. I would never attend those classes again... but then again, I had done it for June. But still- it could wait!

“Write it down!” I say quickly. I am about to start a new sentence when June slams his hand over my mouth, muffling my words. I shove his hand away and spit out the rest of my sentence, only managing to get in the first word.

“My name is Kozuki Aki--” June shoves me backward and starts talking to the man without me.

“Are you Henidesan Jun-?” The man asks, pronouncing the English name of in his Japanese accent, “I have it written here that you are registered as fit and are conscripted but you haven’t taken any action in all of these years or joined when you are summoned, you do know in some cases this could be considered a crime against the nation?” June is cut off short but the neat quick cut speech.

“Look, I know why you are here.” June started. “I don’t-” He stares at the man slowly for a few seconds as I try to push past him then slowly closes the door. I hear a knock and yank it back open. The man stands there surprised, fist in mid-air. June frustratedly makes me push it shut again before dragging me with him back out to the back where I struggle.

“I want to join!” I yell. “I want to stop being useless.”

“What are you talking about?” June asks, sounding bored. I give up. It’s not use. Even if I signed up I would only be signing up for a future that I don’t have. I will never be a hero.

~

We wander in on Kaho sitting alone in the living room. She is playing with a folded origami doll on her lap, running her fingers along its creases then putting it on her fingers like a puppet. I slump down in the seat beside her, tipping my head back and whining. June picks up an instrument that seems to be a banjo from the corner of the room and plucks a few strings one by one.

“June! Stop making so much noise, I can hear you from the other side of the house.” My mother peers around the corner and complains. The way she snaps at June is like her own child. “What’s going on in here? How old are you? Ten? No, you are almost double that.” She departs and June lets of an ear to ear grin, and starts marching around the room in circles, humming out a tune and he mimics a trumpet with his free hand. He is grinning at Kaho in particular; I think he is trying to impress her with the childish act. Kaho soon jumps up and and starts marching around, following him in circles.

“Aww don’t be sour Akira.” Kaho says as she grabs me by my wrists and pulls me up. As they march dramatically on the spot they start to chant a valiant tune.

I look to the evening glow on the south sky,

The first plane does not come back yet.

At first I find myself laughing at them, but eventually I try to join in, catching onto how the words of one of the phrases go.

You and I are the sakura, of the same season.

Bloom in the yard of the same military school.

Eventually Kaho stops singing and starts to giggle as June continues on his own, using the banjo to pluck out a beat.

“No, Doki no Sakura!” Kaho exclaims to me, poking out her tongue.

“Sakura?” I ask, thinking of the trees.

“Sakura!.. Doki no...” Kaho calls out again in response to June’s loud words. He suddenly changes to strumming on the instrument as Kaho comments again.

“Hmm, maybe something more patriotic then.” June says in a charm.

“We’ll get in trouble, if this wasn’t your house.”

“Kaho you are such a kid, why be afraid of trouble?” I say, taking on the mood, “After all, we are mature adults.”

“It’s pretty but it’s against the law!” Kaho contradicts.

June begins to sing words. At first I think they are in English, but I find I can’t understand them at all. They sound complicated and impossible. Kaho takes my hand and uses me to twirl around like a dancer while June continues with the song. I watch him and he watches me, holding my gaze steady and firm.

Connu la joie connu la peine

Sans espoir parceque sans amour.

Kaho stops twirling. Her voice is bright an excited. “Is that French? That’s even more banned! Do you know French?”

“Mmm, a little” June hums in the midst of singing.

Au jour le jour

Ma vie traine comme une chaine--

“That’s banned!” Kaho snaps at him as she sits down. “Don’t you know tango and west music is against the law! It’s illegal!” I sit down beside her.

The words revert to humming, and then simply June playing the chords, waltzing around like he was an emperor of disaster. Music against the law? It seems like something so frivolous, but in a time of war it did represent the enemy. I think back to the first song that June and Kaho were singing together. It was about Japanese heroes who died for their country. Wasn’t June just scolding me for that? He seemed like he was mocking the song more than anything.

June eventually calms down and neatly lays the banjo on a shelf, grinning wildly.

“My father has an ‘illicit’ record collection.” He explains, accenting the word of negative connotation. “He gets them shipped over as if it was bootleg.” June slumps down beside Kaho and she beams at him as he takes the paper doll out of her hands. He begins running his fingers over its edges, the paper uncreasing in their wake, then slowly and carefully unfolding each flap. I watch him mesmerized for a while at how the slender hands work to manipulate the paper before I say anything.

“So June, have you been to France then?” is my question.

June laughs and rubs his chin, “France? Yeah, I went when you went. Don’t you remember? But if you’re asking about the other times then I went every time I went to England as well.”

France? Not bad. I watch June flatten out the paper until it is now a folded square. He makes a sudden manoeuvre which turns it into a normal piece of flat paper in one go. I’m going to France. I’ll look forward to that. June places the pristine paper down in a pile of paper napkins.

Kaho sighs a voiceless ‘oh’ as June tenses up and lets an exhausted breath.

“I just want you to know we will be coming back to Japan as soon as the war is over. So don’t worry.” He says, “It’s predicted not to be long now anyway.”

“You’re coming back right?” Kaho sounds quite nervous; I don’t know what has gotten into her. June just bought light news on the war.

“I know it’s going to be a dodgy trip because of the war, but hopefully we will be all right. It involves many detours to make sure we are allowed access to the country.” June explains, “We are stopping in Southeast Asia, then going Australia. We may stay there for a while depending on current events.”

I knock my head back against the cushion of the sofa, thinking. This must have been the trip that June returned from when I first met him. I already knew he had been planning on going to England.

“I am really suspicious of it. I feel like he got wind on some war activity so now I don’t know why but nothing I say can convince him otherwise.” Junes next statement catches my attention. War activity? The subject was naturally exiting to me. June claps his hands together.

“Right, you two, listen up. I just got news from my father that we are leaving for England sometime before July.” Almost as soon as he is done speaking Kaho bounces up and off her comfortable seat and hurries out of the room. June must have been pretty eager to share that news.

“I want to talk to you.” I say to June sternly, letting him know I mean business.

“Your father wants to leave Japan, does it have anything to do with bombings?”

In response to this June leans forward, lowering his voice to a hiss.

“Has he been telling you things? I don’t know the reasons but he might be trying to intimidate you.”

June stands up and pauses for a moment before stepping backward firmly.

“Yes.” He says, “Yes you are a child.”

“No!” I contradict, “I’m not a child. I know what I am talking about.” Does June realise that I know his future and he knows my past? I want him to know. I want him to know so that he won’t die. So that Kaho won’t die. So that I won’t die.

“But how could you possibly really know that!” He sounds spiteful, yet sceptical of his own words. His face irons itself out and his eyes widen. “You have mentioned that before...”

“There are going to be bombs. On this city. The 19th.” My voice too is now low. “They kill people, destroy the city.” I shake my head vigorously and look at him as sternly as I can.

“You have to trust me.”