Be Careful What You Wish For
Peace Has A Price
- Sapporo; a city on Hokkaido, a northern Japanese island. August 5th, 1945 -
Toya Inuka stared into his glass of whisky blankly. The bar was dim and dank, as was his mood. The radio in the corner whispered softly of the advancing U.S fleet in the Pacific. Battles past, both good and bad raced through Toya’s mind. His brother died at Midway over three years ago and his mourning had never ceased. Everyone shared in the glum. The Americans had been winning battle after battle with the British. The Allies, just months earlier, had defeated the Germans at Berlin, ultimately securing their victory in Europe.
Toya wondered what had changed since Yamamoto’s surprise attack at Pearl Harbor. Perhaps the Admiral was right, and they had simply awakened a sleeping giant. One thing was for certain, the death toll was exorbitant on both sides of the conflict, and everyone was wondering when it would end. The Japanese government wanted to press on, but citizens like Toya knew an invasion was eminent. How many lives would that cost? Thousands? Millions?
I wish we could just have peace. This war has dragged on long enough.” A cold wind blew into the bar as Toya finished his sentence. He twisted around in his bar stool glancing at the door. A man walked in huddled in robes. It was an unusually cold night in Sapporo for the beginning of August. The man scurried into the bar in an odd fashion, with his back hunched over and his face covered. Taking a stool beside Toya the strange man ordered a drink in fluent Japanese.
“Konnichiwa. Cold outside?” Toya commented to the newcomer, pointing at his hooded overcoat.
“Hai. Very.” The man turned to Toya and smiled. It was all Toya could do to choke back a gasp. The man had extremely bright yellow eyes. “Hontou gomenasai. I’m sorry if my eyes scare you, they do most people.”
“No, no, it’s okay; I’m sorry if I offended you.” Toya stared back into his mug for a few moments before continuing on. “How…did you come to have yellow eyes? Were you born with them?”
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