Looking for Them

“Yes, impudent Americans! They can never beat us!” The students cheered pompously and stridently when they had heard the exciting news about the attack on Pearl Harbor. It had only been several short hours since the attack on the American fleet in Hawaii.

All of the students of a small school in Nagasaki, Japan had been gathered around a large desk at the front of the desk of grade eight, room 3, pushing each other to be able to hear the static sounds of a small metal radio plopped in the middle of the wooden desk. They pushed forward inching closer and closer for details of the attack, as the noise became further inaudible. When they had heard of their country’s victory, the cheered wildly, throwing papers in the air as they proudly praised their country.

In the back corner of the joyful classroom, in a small wooden desk, sat a very quiet girl; she sat alone, her head propped delicately on her dainty ivory hands, her long hair covering her large brown eyes. She was staring distantly out of the window at a falling snowflake as the war lecture continued. She did not show any signs of interest as the other students had, and was very still. She was indifferent about the victory and did not wish to act wildly as the other students.

So, 19 ships were hit and 2,300 Americans were killed? What’s so great about murder? The war will still go on so what is the cheer about? The small girl thought quietly to herself as the voices on the radio continued to describe the glorious victory of the Japanese.

As everyone laughed and cheered, the bell rang, silencing the happy students. As the students settled into their seats, a young woman in a long blue dress in her twenties entered the classroom. Behind her, a very small young girl followed. She was very small, and had very pale ivory skin. Her hair was cut short to her neck, fashioned to make her look like a very delicate Japanese doll.

After the students greeted their teacher, they sat quietly, waiting as their curiosity led their eyes to the small girl who was now next to the teacher, smiling brightly. “Okay everyone. Today we have a new friend joining us today. Please be nice to her.” She turned to the girl next to her and said, “Please introduce yourself to everyone.”

The young girl smiled and bowed to her new classmates and exclaimed excitedly, “hello everyone! My name is Takahashi Sachiko; I like puppies, ice cream, and friends. Please take care of me!”
Everyone clapped enthusiastically, joyful for their new bubbly friend. They could not wait to get to know their new friend.

The teacher shushed the students, “okay everyone! Sachiko-chan, why don’t you sit over there next to Yoshiko-chan?” When the students heard “Yoshiko” they all went quiet and turned around to stare at the girl who was still staring out the window pointlessly. “Yoshiko-chan? Watanabe-san!” the teacher exclaimed as she tried to grab the attention of the daydreaming girl.

“Maeda-sensei, Yoshiko is not listening again!” a student exclaimed accusingly.

“Arg! She never listens. All she ever does is stare at whatever is outside that window and never does anything else. She is such a weird freak!” exclaimed a second student, in a voice of disgust.Yoshiko did not seem to be listening as the others got louder and louder with insults directed towards her. Unfazed, Sachiko motioned toward her desk, indifferent towards the remarks made to her new neighbor. She sat down, still smiling largely.

Sachiko turned to her new desk neighbor, who was still distant but had started turning forward, sighing deeply during the process, and greeted the quiet, odd girl, “hi, my name is Sachiko.”

Yoshiko was not listening and did not show any sign of notice. She only sat still and dozed off, drool flowing down her chin. Sachiko did not seem bothered and continued to speak cheerfully to the girl, hoping that she was listening.

♀♂

As soon as the last school bell rang, Yoshiko was already out the door, dashing to get to her almost solitary home. As she walked home undisturbed, she thought about the new girl, Takahashi Sachiko. Unknowingly, she popped into her head, smiling and happy as a little kid in a candy store.

“That girl is so odd. Puppies?” Yoshiko said under her breath. All day, the girl had gone on and on about odd things like puppies and flavors of ice cream. Although she was weird, Yoshiko knew she was different from everyone else. She was kinder.

When Yoshiko was finally home, she silently slipped through the door, hiding her footsteps carefully with no prevail. Unfortunately, the two people she had been trying to avoid were now charging toward her with no mercy.

“Onee-chan!” two little students exclaimed excitedly as they saw their returning sister at the door. They sprinted to her side, each holding onto a leg each as she tried to escape their grasp.

The two students were twins, one a girl and the other a boy. They were only about six years of age and were very blissful at most times. The two were inseparable and were very close, but they are the opposites of each other. The boy, Kano, was very disobedient and easygoing, while the girl, Kana, was very obedient and uptight.

The two twins hung tight to Yoshiko’s legs as they were being dragged up the stairs to her room where her room was. The stairs seemed endless as she breathlessly trudged up the stairs. After what seemed like an eternity, Yoshiko finally arrived at her room.

In her room, Yoshiko, the twins still glued to her leg giggling happily, slid to her desk. She opened the upper right drawer where she kept a bag of hard candy, took two, and threw them out the door. The weight on her legs instantly vanished as the twins raced to the candies.

Yoshiko walked to her bed, panting, and sat down at the edge of her light blue bed. Her room was not that of an ordinary girl’s room. It was plain and simple with mostly blue colored items. Her walls were naked. Her room had one window only, and it was covered in a heavy black cloth to block any light from going out when it is dark.

Yoshiko laid back and closed her eyes. For a while, she stayed unmoved until she finally opened her eyes. With a sigh, she rose to her feet and walked to her closet. She took off her school uniform and put on a light blue silk outfit.

After she finished changing, she slipped down the stairs quietly, trying to avoid catching the attention of her parents. Although Yoshiko knew that her parents were not home, she still kept her guard up. If her parents saw a flaw with Yoshiko, they would scold her, no matter how small the flaw is.

Yoshiko’s father was a colonel of the Japanese military and a great contributor to the war. He was a brute and truly believed this war was the best for his beautiful country. He was very strict on Yoshiko and was very coldhearted to her feelings. Because he was hoping for the best out of the war, he made sure his students thought so too, and because Yoshiko was the eldest, she was the one with the highest expectation to teach the twins the same.

Yoshiko’s mother was a kinder figure, but she was still very strict. With more men going to war, women became an important part of the Japanese industry. Where more women took on the labor roles, Yoshiko’s mother became a bigger part of the country’s labor force. She was a woman with brains and leadership skills. She was very confident and ambitious about the country’s victory. Yoshiko’s mother became the brains behind the war strategies and stood behind her husband.

With both of her parents gone, Yoshiko rarely saw either of them and when she did, they were always too tired to talk to her or were too busy and were leaving straight away. The twins did not really remember either of their parents so they were not very affected by their lack of presence but Yoshiko missed the times before the war where they were all together and having fun.

Discretely, Yoshiko snuck to the snack room, still alert incase her parents were to walk into the room. Yoshiko escaped safely with a small bag of rice crackers and rushed to her room. When she was safely in her room, Yoshiko shut the door behind her and took out a cracker. She placed it into her mouth and began to fall into her thoughts as she chewed slowly.

♀♂

The next day, Yoshiko trudged to her classroom, ready for another day of useless air raid drills and war lectures. When she arrived at the classroom, she heard loud whispers. She had thought it was another attack on her but to her surprise, they had not been gossiping about her at all. When she looked at whom everyone had occasionally glanced at and showed faces of disgust, she realized that the new girl had been pitted for the class’ gossip sessions.

As she walked slowly to her desk, she realized that the girl, Sachiko, was sitting up straight with a bright smile on her face as if she was unaware of the surrounding whispers and finger pointing.
Yoshiko had heard multiple pieces of the story about the girl as she passed multiple students.

“She is so stupid!” exclaimed a student in the front.

“She’s a traitor! Did you see the way she –” Yoshiko heard from across the room.

“She is so dead. I feel bad for her and her family,” said another student.

“I thought she was nice too,” whispered a frowning student.

With the multiple whispers, Yoshiko was still unsure about what had happened but she knew it was not good. The big blow to the truth was when someone had screamed out the words.

“You’re an enemy of Japan! How dare you step foot here in this country?” the student had exclaimed. Everyone stared first at the angered student and then they turned their heads to glare at Sachiko, who had not moved from her smiling spot. In return to their frozen glare, she only smiled at them as if they had complimented her.

Yoshiko was surprised at the sudden outburst but she was even more surprised at the reaction Sachiko had shown. She was calm and mature, as if she had already known that this was coming.

When the school bell rang, everyone settled down and sat down, but everyone’s eyes were still on Sachiko.

♀♂

When the lunch bell finally rang, Sachiko was already out the door. When she ran for the main doors, hoping to get some fresh air, she rounded a corner bumping into something soft. Sachiko fell backwards and landed with a thud. When she looked up to see what she had bumped into, she was already being lifted up by a strong hand.

“Well aren’t you cute? Are you new here you small pixie?” the stranger said casually and cheerfully. The boy was a head and a half taller than Sachiko and was very well built for a high school boy. He had a very handsome face with large brown eyes and long lashes, a straight nose, and a wide grin that could melt the hearts of anyone.

Sachiko quickly bowed and apologized, “I am so sorry! I didn’t mean to bump into you.”

“No way, it’s my honor to bump into a nice pixie. It’s not every day you meet a pretty little pink pixie,” the boy said, brushing hair away from Sachiko’s face. “The name’s Takuya. Sato Takuya, Takuya the Great Magnificent, or Tak-chan. I prefer the latter two,” he’d said confidently.

“My name is Takahashi Sachiko and I like ice cream,” Sachiko said happily. She was happy that someone was not disgusted with her.

Takuya looked at Sachiko debatably, expecting her from head to toe. “So you’re the traitor I’ve been hearing about,” he said finally in a serious tone that ran chills down Sachiko’s neck.

Sachiko’s heart dropped immediately.

“Well then, welcome to my club!” Takuya exclaimed proudly s if it was an honor to be recruited by him.

Sachiko only looked at him, speechless. She was shocked and was questioning if she heard him right. When he saw the question on her face, Takuya laughed.

“Don’t look at me like that! I’m like you; I’m against the bloodshed too,” he said in a matter-of-factly tone. “So Sach-chan, are you in?” he asked expectedly.

“O – Okay, Tak-chan,” Sachiko agreed.

♀♂

When Sachiko returned to the classroom, with Takuya following, Yoshiko was in an embarrassing situation.

The other students had gotten bored and were already ready to cause trouble. When Yoshiko was finished with her lunch and was walking to the waste bin, a foot had stuck out in front of her and tripped her. She fell head first and landed painfully on her stomach. All of the students surrounded the fallen Yoshiko and were now glaring at her with evil grins plastered similarly on each of their faces.

Yoshiko searched for a quick escape between the cracks of the legs surrounding her. When she finally spotted those pitying eyes that were staring at her, she ducked her head down in shame. She did not need the pity of some traitor and was not about to show any notice of her.

Sachiko became worried as the students started to surround Yoshiko. She turned around to her new friend. He did not see her worried eyes. He was already walking past her and towards the crowd. Sachiko followed him, knowing exactly what he was about to do.

The two of them pushed people aside. One by one, the students lessened to create a path of disgust as the two passed by. When they reached Yoshiko, they each grabbed an arm and dragged her to her feet.

Yoshiko was surprised by the sudden tug when Sachiko and a boy she did not know, jerked her to her feet. In a swift lift, the two carried her away from the crowd and into the hallway. There they continued down the hallway away from the classroom.

As soon as she was thinking again, Yoshiko wrenched her arms from the grasp of the two traitors.
Takuya and Sachiko both looked at each other, shrugged, and walked off smiling.

Behind them, they heard a meek “thank you”. They turned around towards Yoshiko and saw that she was running the opposite way, tripping when she got to the door. The two snickered and walked away.

♀♂

When Yoshiko was in bed daydreaming, Sachiko again popped into her thoughts, but this time, the boy that was with Sachiko was also in her thoughts. She immediately sat up.

“Why am I thinking about them?” she asked herself.

“Because you want nice friends fool!” a deep voice said in the back of her mind.

“But they’re traitors of Japan,” another, more angelic voice said. Yoshiko thought to herself about whether or not they are good people. Since young, her parents repeatedly said to her that disobedience is intolerable, so traitors of her country should be bad people, but they had helped her in a time of need.

“That’s right! They helped you but you repaid them by acting as if they’re germs!” exclaimed the deep voice.

“They are germs! They should think about their actions before they put their beautiful country in jeopardy,” argued the soft voice.

“Think of it this way: no one else was nice enough to help you. They can’t be bad at all if they were willing to help the Japanese military’s colonel’s daughter, could they?” the deep voice argued back.
Getting a headache from the argument that was taking place in her head, Yoshiko swept the two voices away, confused.

♀♂

For the next few weeks, every time Yoshiko saw either Sachiko or Takuya, she would hide and think about the time they had helped her. After a month of hiding and thinking, Yoshiko finally decided on whether or not to try to be friends with the “Japanese traitor siblings” as they were called after a period of time.

During lunch, Yoshiko secretly followed Sachiko as she walked to her usual meeting place where she meets Takuya every day. When they were at the roof, Yoshiko took a deep breath.

“Um – hello,” Yoshiko said timidly. To her surprise, the two turned around and greeted her with a smile.

“Yoshiko-san,” Sachiko exclaimed. Takuya looked first at Sachiko and then at Yoshiko.

“Yo-chan, we welcome you to our humble abroad!” Takuya welcomed excitedly. The two of them waved at Yoshiko enthusiastically to come sit with them. They motioned toward an empty spot between them.

Suddenly, Yoshiko’s head was in between Takuya’s bosom and arm.

“Ah! She’s a cute little pixie too! A water pixie is what you are you little thing, you!” Takuya exclaimed with a squeamish squeal. Sachiko only sat and laughed at the situation as Yoshiko tried to escape the grip of the strong Takuya.

“Oh, that’s right. You don’t know my name yet,” Takuya said suddenly, Yoshiko’s head still in between his arm and chest. “The name’s Takuya. Sato Takuya, Takuya the Great Magnificent, or Tak-chan. I prefer the latter two,” he’d repeated to Yoshiko. He then took her face in his hands and started to examine her facial features. “Yup, definitely a pixie,” he declared seriously.

“Oh, don’t mind him Yo-chan. He just loves fairies, despite his tough guy act. I think it’s something about facial shape?” Sachiko explained.

“Sach-chan, I do not!” Takuya exclaimed defensively.

As Takuya continued on about nonsense topics, Sachiko and Yoshiko laughed, Yoshiko laughing timidly, and Sachiko delicately but hysterically.

♀♂

Every day, Yoshiko would slip out of class unnoticed and join Takuya and Sachiko for lunch on the roof, where no one bothered them. They would all joke and laugh and Yoshiko would begin to open up a little more each time. Every day was always something new with them. It was either Takuya was running away from another teacher, Takuya found another “pixie”, Sachiko discovered another ice cream flavor, or Sachiko met a new dog named Kimchi.

Weeks passed then months passed. Every day was filled with laughter and smiles.

♀♂

One day, when Yoshiko walked into her house, Yoshiko was surprised to see her parents home. The twins did not rush to meet her that day, and everything was very tense in the house. Her parents were waiting patiently on the couch in the living room. When they saw that Yoshiko was home, they motioned for her to come and sit. Yoshiko knew that they had something very serious to say. Nervous, she took her seat opposite of her parents.

“Yoshiko, you understand that my line of work is to help win this war and claim victory for this country, but you also know that not everyone thinks the way we do, right?” her father said in a voice so grave, it brought chills to the afterlife. Yoshiko nodded. “Well, as you should know, there are some of those people even in our great nation, and they are stopping us from winning this war,” he claimed forcefully.

Yoshiko gulped silently. Her first thoughts were her friends’ faces. They were Japanese traitors and she still tolerated them. Her worst thought was that her father had found out. Her mother continued.

“Honey, I know your friends are dear to you, but I think it’s time that you look for new friends.” Yoshiko stiffened.

“My work requires us to leave so I think it is best that you say goodbye to your friends soon. Our forces in the Guadalcanal are not strong enough to fight off the American forces so I need to relocate and meet with other officers to discuss our tactics,” her father explained. Yoshiko looked up in surprise. Her parents had not been talking about Takuya and Sachiko!

She breathed a sigh of relief, but then she realized that she would be leaving her friends. They were the friends she finally had courage to ask for, and she was now expected to leave them.

However, she could not argue with her parents. Sullenly, Yoshiko excused herself and ran to her room where she let her tears flow down her pale ivory cheeks.

♀♂

The next day, Yoshiko walked into school with puffy red eyes. When Sachiko say her blood shot eyes, she wrote a note and asked her what had happened. Too afraid to end their friendship, Yoshiko wrote back that she would explain later at lunch.

When the lunch bell finally rang, the two girls sped to the roof separately. When they finally met up with Takuya, Sachiko demanded an answer from that morning’s note. When Takuya saw Yoshiko’s eyes, he cupped his hands around her face and demanded an explanation for the “destruction of his pixie’s face”. When the demanding two finally settled down, Yoshiko explained her situation hesitantly.

“I’m leaving in two days,” Yoshiko said regretfully. Takuya and Sachiko stared at Yoshiko, dumbfounded.

“You’re not joking with us, are you?” Takuya asked submissively, hoping that this was all a cruel, sick joke. Yoshiko looked down regrettably. A tear rolled down her cheek. All of them went quiet.
Sachiko moved closer to Yoshiko and started to cry as they hugged tightly together. Takuya fought his tears as the girls sobbed quietly.

♀♂

After what seemed like a lifelong friendship, Yoshiko was finally leaving her friends’ sides. She told herself not to cry as she left for Osaka, Japan.

In Osaka, Yoshiko had reverted back to her shy, quiet self. Every day, she thought of her friends in Nagasaki. As the months passed, then years, Yoshiko’s longing for her friends grew larger.

When news from Emperor Hirohito about the rejection of the Potsdam Declaration was released, everyone grew worrisome of the consequences. Yoshiko grew uneasy and fretful about what was about to come.

It was now 1945, and August 6th was like any other day. When everyone was advised to listen to the news on the radio, many of the students in Yoshiko’s class became devastated. Hiroshima had been hit by an atomic bomb and 70,000–80,000 people had been killed immediately. Yoshiko became terrified for her country. She knew that the Americans would not just stop at Hiroshima.
Every one cried for their country and for their lives.

The next day, Yoshiko was allowed to remain at home due to the hit in Hiroshima. While at home, she listened to the news as it explained the details of the bomb. Since the explosion, many that were injured had passed away due to burns that were cause by the horrid blast.

Yoshiko became horrified that bomb could be dropped on Osaka. She prayed for the safety of those she loved and for her country. For the rest of the day, Yoshiko tried to settle her heart, with no prevail. She felt uneasy and unsettled as her daydreaming kicked into overdrive. Silently, she cried to herself until the she finally fell asleep.

When Yoshiko woke up, it was already noon, and the radio had still been playing next to her. In a daze, she barely heard the horrible news.

“Today, at 11:01, a bomb was dropped over Nagasaki. 40,000 to 75,000 people were immediately killed during the impact and many injured,” said the reporter. Realizing what the man had said, Yoshiko sat up shocked senseless. Her hometown had been bombed. Her home where Takuya and Sachiko were. Her home where she prayed all night for its safety.

A tear rolled down her face as she thought about the bodies of her friends. She knew that it was almost impossible to survive the bomb according to the reporter who had announced the bomb drop of Hiroshima. In her mind, the bodies of her dear friends burned. She did not know what to do. She was afraid she could not see her friends ever again.

Yoshiko sat motionless as she thought about her friends, and wondered whether if they were alive or not. Her mother rushed into the room, tears streaking her face. She rushed over to Yoshiko when she saw that her face too was tear streaked. She put an arm around her daughter and wept silently together. She whispered words of comfort to her daughter whose friends were in Nagasaki.

♀♂

After Japan’s surrender from the war, Yoshiko decided to go to Nagasaki to look for her friends. With her parents and sibling, Yoshiko flew to Nagasaki in a war plane. When they landed, Yoshiko went straight for the school she and her friends attended. The school was in ruins and there were multiple people still under fallen buildings.

The sight was gruesome. Although her heart sank deeper at every body part she saw, she knew she needed to search for her friends. Although she had no clue as to where to start searching, she decided to start at the school, where their memories together were the strongest. As she approached the horrid scene, her tears overflowed, falling one by one down her pale face.

As she stood there, she felt horror rush through her body as a hand wrapped around her neck. With tears flowing, Yoshiko froze as the grip around her neck tightened.

“Yo-chan,” a deep quivering voice said. Yoshiko whipped around to see an older Takuya, crying as he tried to get a hold onto Yoshiko.

“Takuya, what’s wrong?” Yoshiko asked alert.

“Yo-chan, she’s gone. My pixie’s gone. Our pixie is gone!” Takuya exclaimed, devasted.

Realizing what Takuya was talking about, Yoshiko slumped to her knees. She looked up at the weeping Takuya, and felt a sense of lose as she thought about her friend. Takuya slumped to his knees, leveling himself to Yoshiko’s level. They both cried for their friend.

“Takeya, why are you not hurt?” Yoshiko asked between sobs, noticing that he was unscathed.

“I went to Hiroshima after the first bomb was dropped. I wanted to help them clean up the mess because most of the residents there were too injured,” Takuya explained slowly. “I shouldn’t have let her stay here. I should have taken her with me to Hiroshima to help the people there, but she was worried about her family. I should have insisted she went with me,” Takuya explained as they sat embraced as they wept loudly.

For hours, they sobbed as they remembered the smiles that Sachiko had shared with them. She had been a bubbly girl with a small tinkling laugh. they wept as they realized that that laugh was now gone from the world. All of this time, Yoshiko had been looking for them, but when she finally found her friends, she loses what she held dear to her heart.

The End