Download App
39.49% To My Sunflower / Chapter 47: Proof of Life

Chapter 47: Proof of Life

Eiji was confined to the prison office. Tyne had been called away for his duties, leaving him to care for Tama with his own army's military rations that was found on site.

He knew he was both fortunate and cursed to be in his solitary confinement, and there wasn't much he could do about. The patched up hole in his stomach was seeping again and close to infection. If gunfire or bomb blasts weren't going to kill him, gangrene would.

If only he was able to learn something of the enemy that could tip the tables for his country. The room was too far removed from the main fight. He was isolated and too well confined.

"If alive, do not suffer the disgrace of becoming a prisoner; in death, do not leave behind a name soiled by misdeeds..." Eiji chanted from the Senjinkun he had memorized. His voice trembled on the words, causing a mess of troubled thoughts in his mind.

"I'm disgracing both. I don't understand. Okamisama, please, what's to become of me?"

His solace was in comforting Tama whenever her nap was broken by sounds of brutal gunfire and bombings that shook the room. He would hold her trembling body to his chest and gently stroke her to calm her down. He could relax when he saw her body curled up asleep on his lap.

"It's okay Tama. It'll be okay." He would fall asleep as he calmly whispered those reassuring words to her slumbering body with loving pats.

Time went by with the sounds of war receding in the distance. Tama frequently slept on his lap. He counted time through her nap patterns and had estimated he had been confined for almost twenty days. Eiji was dumbfounded as to why he wasn't sent to the POW camp. Why keep him confined for so long?

A few times Tyne returned with their military doctor to redress his wounds. Of course, no one said anything to him when Tama's litter was cleaned out and more rations were left for them. Eiji gave the rations to Tama, hoping it would help her grow and be strong enough to survive.

"You have to eat too, you're loosing body fat." Tyne scolded Eiji when he returned alone and saw he wasn't eating and moving around the room.

Eiji chuckled at Tyne's display of concern. He was a complicated person to try to understand.

"Tama gets the food because she's more important than any of us here."

Tyne sighed and dropped his arguments on the matter.

"March 16th is tomorrow. It's likely we'll have complete control of this island. Regardless, too much blood has been spilled on these shores." Tyne commented absent-mindlessly, his voice lost to his troubled thoughts.

Eiji finally realized their common ground other than Tama.

"Continue to rub salt in my dishonor. You won't even give me the chance to redeem myself."

"Goddamn it, man! I have! Death is not the only way to reclaim your honor!" Tyne yelled.

Eiji gasped with concern when Tama was crudely taken from his lap and awoken by Tyne's abrupt hold on her.

"Nya! Nya!" The black kitten desperately mewed and struggled under Tyne's tight hold.

"Tama is proof of life! Can't she be your reclaim to honor?!"

Eiji reached out his hands to Tama's frightened body, wanting to soothe away her fears.

Tyne let her go. Tama fled them both to hide under the chair. She was shaking like a leaf.

Eiji's arms flopped to his sides. Tears slid down from his eyes as he felt his whole situation a lost, hopeless cause. His mind was a confused mess of honor, dishonor and his longing to be with Hinata. Why would countries war? Soldiers weren't alien monsters. They were people. Normal, every day, people. Sure he fought for his country, but it was his love for Hinata that kept him fighting on. Otherwise, he would've dropped his guns and died a long time ago.

"I'm tired. I don't get anything anymore."

Tyne heaved a weary sigh and slumped down next to Eiji, staring out to Tama with hope that she would return to him.

"Then tell me your name. Almost a month and I don't know it."

"Not telling." Eiji stubbornly answered.

"Well, I'm relieved to see you haven't let go of your stubborn streak."

"Why are you keeping me? I'm no one important. I'm just a radio operator."

Tyne lowered his eyes to the floor, taking time with his response.

"It was the sound of your voice. I had hit the beach when I heard you speak in the radio before the charge."

"Eh?" Eiji stared at him with perplexed frown.

"I studied languages at college before coming to war. I can tell when a man knows other languages by the sound of his voice. Yours carries a roundness unnatural to a lot of Japanese voices I've heard."

Eiji frowned, not convinced by his bizarre explanation. Nevertheless, there was no point in dissecting the matter further. It did confirm his suspicions on Tyne's ability to being fluent in Japanese. He realized they had another thing in common. Although, his ability for language was learned by adapting to situations in the field rather than out of a book. He was fortunate he had been able to study properly when he had been living with Hinata.

"Hinata's your purpose for fighting isn't she?"

The question threw Eiji for a loop. He cursed the obvious expression of surprise on his face. His instincts were telling him to stop slipping up and stay on his guard.

Tyne sighed and faced Eiji squarely.

"There's no shame in fighting this war for a different reason."

Eiji spat at his face. To think he was starting to believe the hope this man gave him. He realized that he was being taken for a fool the whole time. This man dared to use his lover's name as an advantage point. Of course, damaged done in war wasn't all from gunfire and bombings.

"You do not dictate my honor!"

Tyne slowly rose to his feet and stared down on Eiji. "One day, you'll come to see that I wasn't being mean with my words."

He left the room.


CREATORS' THOUGHTS
Veronica8 Veronica8

Thank you very much for reading to this point.

Cheers.

next chapter

Chapter 48: March 16th A Day for Ceasefire

Tyne returned to Eiji occasionally and briefly to give him updates of America's winnings; nothing that would be considered meaningful intelligence, but it was enough to show Eiji his place in the war.

Another form of psychological warfare Eiji had presumed. Especially when it was clear that his country had no recourse for success.

The foreign forces relentlessly attacked the island with greater firepower, rolling in reinforcements day in and day out. Eiji's fellow soldiers were being forced deeper into the tunnels and caves towards the north-west. He cringed as he recalled his brief experience in them; those tunnels were dry, stuffy and unforgiving terrain. He was worried his people wouldn't be able to survive a siege.

He was finally let out of the office prison by two young US soldiers who threatened to harm Tama if he so much as tried to escape. For Tama's sake, he complied.

"Stay with me Tama." He pleaded to the cat in his own language when she was secured within his shirt.

He held her tight as they stepped outside and headed down a dirt slop, towards enemy tents pitched on cleared ground next to their landed planes. Hot gusty winds whipped their skin, as they trudged through ash-soil to enter the military camp. The soldier escorts pressed the muzzle of their rifles, hard into his sides, as he walked their pace towards a large tent, set farthest from the air strip.

He kept his face expressionless and posture strong as he copped vehement and filthy stares from all the foreign soldiers he passed.

"Bloody Nip! Rot in hell you bastard!" A solider shouted and spat at his face.

This outburst initiated a frenzy of cat calls and abusive attention that his escorts were not bothering to protect him from. Eiji kept his cool and protection over Tama, as the men shoved and punched him, allowing their emotions to override their composure. His only thought was to make sure the innocent kitten wasn't being hurt.

"STAND DOWN SOLDIERS! STAND DOWN NOW!" Tyne's voice bellowed over the frenzied crowd as he pushed his way towards Eiji and dragged him away from the excited mob.

"ALL OF YOU ARE ON DUTY RIGHT NOW! YOU HAVE TEN MINUTES TO GEAR UP OR FACE DISCIPLINARY ACTION!" He shouted to the men again that dispersed the crowd with a heavy grumble and crude accusations of Tyne being a 'yellow loving bastard'.

Eiji checked on Tama and sighed when he saw her wide eyes looking back at him from within his shirt. Her body was trembling unharmed. The experience had left her too scared to move.

"Is Tama okay?" Tyne whispered.

Eiji nodded.

Tyne sighed with relief and offered his apologizes.

"What do you expect when dangle bait before sharks?" Eiji growled at Tyne as he reclaimed some of his strength with a few deep breaths.

He dropped his annoyance with a sigh, ignoring his fresh pains and focused his attention on Tama who was gradually relaxing.

The men walked in silence to the tent flapping in the acrid winds. Distant sounds of sporadic explosions and rapid firing surrounded them. A stench of gasoline from the roaming G503 off-road jeeps, fresh iron fillings and sweat wafted up Eiji's nose as he neared the tent's opening. His heart raced with longing as he looked toward the flashing lights and smoke rising from the high terrain in the distance.

"This is the POW?" A firm voice intruded on his thoughts.

"Major Schmidt." Tyne saluted a hardened middle-aged soldier of rank.

The man's stiff peak cap bore the insignia of a US army major. He stood out with his pristine khaki uniform button tight over his lean torso. His boots looked way too clean to have suffered some heavy ground. Eiji suspected the man was a recent arrival from a reinforcement convoy.

"We've taken control of the bases, but General Kuribayashi continues to hold out underground. Even with their surprise attacks on us, they're not able to gain ground. They're running out of firepower. I don't see them holding out much longer. Now is the time for a ceasefire negotiation." Tyne soberly reported.

Major Schimdt coolly sized up Eiji to determine what type of threat he would end up being to them. "I'm taking a risk here Lieutenant. You think these Japs will surrender?"

He's conversation was directed to Tyne, but his eyes were dead-set on Eiji. No doubt assessing his reaction.

"Major, sir, they've lost a lot of men and firepower to us. The Japanese are outnumbered and outgunned. They know this. I think it's worth the shot. We don't have anything to lose by trying it." Tyne carefully reassured his superior.

Eiji sighed realizing what they wanted from him. Of course, terms of surrender were better fed from one of your own. If they didn't like the message, there was no harm in shooting down the messenger for effect.

"You have ten minutes to gain your general's surrender." Major Schimdt directed his final words to Eiji. He left the tent to attend other military business.

Tyne and his armed escorts led Eiji into a jeep, where he was driven to the front-lines. Tama was taken from him by Tyne with his promises of keeping her safe.

The armed escorts nudged Eiji through the barricades, past medics making do with supplies to bandage damaged soldiers and armed squads fighting his people from sandbag and barbed wire barricades. It was a strange feeling watching your own men being fired on from behind enemy lines.

All eyes cautiously watched Tyne and Eiji's procession with looks of confusion, vehemence and concern. Neither stopped their approach towards the barbed wire blockade and secured entrance to the central tunnels where Eiji suspected a squad of marines from Okinawa were defending with all their might.

"Ittōhei Takaki, Eiji reporting!" Eiji clearly shouted out his name and rank through the smoke and blaring gunfire. "I'm forced to carry a message for our general!"

A moment of miraculous silence and stilled gunfire occurred on both sides as Eiji slowly stepped before his comrades, holding back his emotions. He made his presence obvious, so they could see he was a prisoner of war under a pretence of delivering a message from the enemy.

"What is the meaning of this Takaki?!" Questioned the highest ranking officer on the field.

Eiji relayed the message to the young sergeant. "The Americans have claimed the bases and secured the outer areas of the island. They have complete control except here. They propose a ceasefire under conditions for our surrender."

Tears slipped from his eyes as he soberly finished relaying the message. He smiled when every single one of his countrymen raised their guns to resume their fight. If he was shot down at this moment, he felt his honor would be restored. At least he told the truth of the situation, so his general could adapt his strategies.

"Takaki. A prisoner of war can no longer speak for our country. But, you can tell these Americans this, we will never surrender! I speak for our good general and country. JAPAN WILL NEVER SURRENDER!" The young sergeant valiantly answered in place of their general.

Eiji smiled proudly, knowing this was the answer they were going to give. He bowed low then moved out of the path of fire that had resumed.

"That's disappointing." Tyne heaved with a weary sigh.

"What do you expect from the country with kamikaze? Japan will valiantly hold out to the end." Eiji reaffirmed.

"Right now, you should be worried about yourself," Tyne solemnly said. "As of now, I'm no longer responsible for you."

Eiji laughed. "Yeah, I figured as much. Take me to the POW camp, but I'll selfishly demand one thing Lieutenant America."

He surprised Tyne when he bowed low and spoke to him in Japanese. "Please protect Tama and make sure she's safe as the lone civilian on this island."

"I'm not a monster Takaki-san. You can count on it.' Tyne promised.

Eiji was escorted back to the jeep. It kicked up clouds of ash soil as it drove off for the POW camp near Mount Suribachi.


CREATORS' THOUGHTS
Veronica8 Veronica8

A hard chapter to write because of the facts I had to dance around. Obviously no ceasefire was tried on March 16th, but it would’ve been the ideal day for it. Articles note that out of tens of thousands that battled from 19/02– 26/03 only 216 Japanese POW survived due to being captured unconscious or disabled in the field.

Load failed, please RETRY

Gifts

Gift -- Gift received

    Weekly Power Status

    Batch unlock chapters

    Table of Contents

    Display Options

    Background

    Font

    Size

    Chapter comments

    Write a review Reading Status: C47
    Fail to post. Please try again
    • Writing Quality
    • Stability of Updates
    • Story Development
    • Character Design
    • World Background

    The total score 0.0

    Review posted successfully! Read more reviews
    Vote with Power Stone
    Rank 200+ Power Ranking
    Stone 0 Power Stone
    Report inappropriate content
    error Tip

    Report abuse

    Paragraph comments

    Login

    tip Paragraph comment

    Paragraph comment feature is now on the Web! Move mouse over any paragraph and click the icon to add your comment.

    Also, you can always turn it off/on in Settings.

    GOT IT