Banzai! For the Emperor!

HIMO YAMASHURI
PROLOGUE

It is another warm day in Tokyo. People walk from place to place, and crowd the forever busy streets. I sit on a bench in a train station, waiting on the number 9. It should be coming in ten minutes. I rest my walking stick on the side of the bench and listen to the people talking. So peaceful and quiet. Although back in the war, it seemed it would just be noise. For the rest of our lives, just noise. The talking suddenly fades out. I hear an almost complete silence, and then my hand starts to twitch. I feel my heart sink as my after affect of the war comes into play. I start trembling from head to foot, and I can barely move. People begin to notice. Someone tries to talk to me. It’s a shame I cannot hear his voice. But I can hear another’s.

“Himo! Himo!” The voice is very familiar. “Himo, get up!” The sound of Thunder, of rain. And of bombs fills my ears, and suddenly, I’m thrust back into the jungles.

Himo!” I blinked my eyes, clearing the blurriness from them. I was looking up at a ceiling made of dirt. A small light bulb swung around above me. A thud echoed through the small bunker, and a trickle of dirt fell onto my face. I coughed and spat some of it out. I could hear the rain and the Thunder outside, and the sound of guns. “Himo, what are you doing? Up! Get up now!” I turned my head and there was my friend, Takemi. He was looking back at me with a slightly worried face. Dirt plastered his uniform and I guessed I didn’t look any better. He held a Type 100 Submachine gun. “Himo, please get up! If Henko sees us here, he’ll kill us for cowardice!” That got me in gear. I sat up, and rubbed me eyes. I looked around for my rifle, and I finally found it in the dirt. I picked it up and pulled the bolt back, it gave a satisfying click. I stood and walked over to the door.

I looked out and saw flashes on the horizon. But whether they were from Artillery or Lightning was anyone’s guess. “Takemi, where is the rest of the army?”
“They have moved on without us, the barrage drove them back to the Town. We moved into here for shelter and you were knocked out by the blast.”
The Town will take us about an hour… Do you think the Chinese are out there?”
“I do, but we should be able to fight them. They are poorly equipped and will die easily.”
“Okay, should we move now?” A bomb exploded in the distance.
“Yes, let’s go Himo! Fix your bayonet and don’t try and engage them!”
“Takemi! That is without honour! We should kill all we see!”
“Don’t be stupid, the Emperor may want us to die for him, but we will be better off for his cause if we live.” I thought about that for a second and gave a nod
“Hai!” We ran out into the pouring rain. It dripped from the rim of my helmet and I quickly lost all warmth I had retained in the bunker.

“TAKEMI! OVER HERE!” I yelled to him and he sprinted over. A bomb exploded close to us and we fell over into the mud. “HIMO! HIMO! Help me Himo!” I turned to see Takemi on the ground. He had a lot of shrapnel stuck into his stomach. The blood that flowed out was washed swiftly away by the downpour. I rolled him over to stop the mud from getting in his wounds. “You’ll be Okay Takemi! I won’t let anything happen to you Takemi! Stay awake! Keep awake, focus on your family!” Tears welled up in my eyes, and I desperately shook Takemi as he closed his eyes. “Stay with me! TAKEMI!”

The young man was talking on a mobile phone. The shaking abruptly stops, and I am back in the Train Station. The crowd were all looking at me. I raise, and signal to the man that I am fine. He looks at me and continues to talk down the phone. “No, he has got up, he is fine. He just stopped… Yes, I know… Hai.” He puts down the phone and grabs hold of my arm. “Are you Okay?” I shrug him off.
“I am fine; it’s just an after affect of the war. Shell Shock.”
“But you’re crying! Did it hurt you? Are you sure you don’t need to go to the Hospital?” I suddenly realise that tears are forming in my eyes, and trickling down my face. I wipe them away.
“I am fine, but thank you for trying to help…” The train suddenly appears, slowing to a stop at the station. “Ah, this is my train, if you’ll excuse me.” I walk through the doors, and as I sit on a seat, the face of Takemi comes into my mind. Blood stained, and rain dripping from it. Lying in the mud. And I cry even harder.





CHAPTER ONE: TAIWAN PART ONE


On the Train, people stare at me. I don’t care. What would they know? I was only one of the brave men of Japan who served through the war and helped win in China, Vietnam and the Korean lands. Plus many other places, including the Russian War, the war that almost cost Japan, China. This world had a lot to owe to soldiers like me, and yet I was stared at as though I were a freak. As though I were a sick dog. In the war, I was looked upon by my comrades. But I felt pride, for they saw me as a comrade, a friend. A soldier. And nothing more, nothing less. Sometimes I feel like I deserved some kind of recognition. I do hold the record for the longest serving soldier. Going from 1938, when I was 17, right up until 1964 when I was 43. I look at a little boy on the train. Probably no more than five. And he doesn’t look at me like the others on the train do. He looks at me as though I am a person. For this, I smile as his colourful stripy shirt helps it along a little. It will be a while until my stop, and I feel tired. I rest me head back against the glass of the window. Cool and refreshing on my cheek. My eyes close, and I am asleep.

“TAKEMI! Wake up please, Takemi! Your mother will want to see you back home!” I slapped Takemi’s face. Mud splashed off and it just lolled to the side. I yelled into the sky. My voice lost almost instantly among the pounding rain, the Thunder, the Lightning, the howling wind. And the sound of battle. I placed my head on his chest, it steadily rose. I gave a shriek of relief and tried to wake him up. All my efforts were pointless. Rain continued to pour down on us, and in the total darkness, we would be illuminated in the dark by the flashes of lightning. And if a Chinese soldier had wondered over here, he would have seen, in that quick flash of lightning, two men. One lying on his back, his head to one side and another man on his knees, crying over the fallen soldier. That’s what one would have seen. The whole time, being drenched by the uncaring rains of China. But, a Chinese soldier didn’t come by. No, a Japanese one did. I heard a very distant voice. I sat up and quickly turned my head, hand wandering near my rifle. In a flash of lightning, I could see him. His face flashed in that instant. He wore an Officers cap. That wasn’t especially a good thing. I knew this Officer. A very nasty man. Called Henko. He would execute a soldier on the spot for hesitating during a fight. He was relentless. And he would surely see this as an act of cowardice or them trying to flee the army. I rose to my feet quite slowly, and shakily. He shouted again, a little clearer this time. “STAND UP! NAME YOUR SIDE!” He didn’t know who we were. Good, that was one advantage we had. I had a choice, for he would surely kill us. He would execute us both here for what he would see as a desertion attempt. I grabbed hold of my rifle, and dragged it through the mud towards me. It was too dark for him to see, and he shouted once more. “I WILL NOT ASK AGAIN, STATE YOUR SIDE! OR I WILL KILL YOU!” I grabbed the rifle and lifted it up. In one swift motion, I fell backwards, and fired. Another gunshot sounded, and the lethal projectile zoomed past where my head had been milliseconds before.

The lightning flashed again, and in that brief instant, I could see him stumbling back, clutching his chest. My heart beat frantically… What had I just done? I had killed an Officer. I felt a deep resentment and hate towards myself, but a small part of me told me it was the right thing to do. I got back up and walked over to Henko. He was examining his hand, which was covered in blood. He looked towards me with a very scared and confused look. I closed my eyes as I thrust the bayonet into him.

After I had dragged his body into the bunker, I had to carry Takemi. He was over my shoulder like an animal I had just hunted, however I carried him with devotion. I would not let him die, and the town wasn’t far off. With every step, my feet sank deep into the mud, and my long boots were no match against the cold slime. Every step was an agony, and a nuisance, but he was my friend, and he would live to see a Japanese flag flying over this Island. So, I pressed on. I came across a small hut on the way to the town. Lights were on inside. I put Takemi down on the side of the road which we had reached. He blended in perfectly with the night. I ran over to the side of the hut, soaking, dripping wet and covered in dirt and mud. Pressing myself against the wall, I peeked into one of the windows. A group of Chinese soldiers were sitting around a table. One drank a cup of tea, while the others were talking and laughing. I prepped a grenade from my belt. Ripping off the pin, and slamming the top of it into my head to start the timer, I lobbed it through the open window. There was a shout in Chinese, the scrape of chairs being moved or pushed back, and then. BOOM! The curtains blew outward, and so did a mixture of glass and wood. I sidestepped into view of the window, and could see blood all over the walls. One soldier frantically grabbed his intestines and tried to shove them back in through the wound. He opened his mouth to gasp, and a large amount of blood flowed out, staining his uniform even more. I shot him in the head.

The others had all been killed. Most had lost body parts. I ran inside and gathered ammo and whatever else I could find on the corpses. I ran back outside and saw a host of Japanese men standing over Takemi. One was slapping him to wake him up, the other shouted angrily into a radio. I shouted to them. One looked at me and ran over. “Private Himo, am I correct Private?” I nodded in reply. He looked behind me towards the hut. “What’s in there?” He asked with a slight hint of curiosity in his voice.
“Nothing Sir, just dead Chinese.” He sighed and led me back to the group. You’d better get ready, we’ll take care of your friend, and you are to go with the main group. Henko should be ahead, he scouted out the area. I froze at the mention of the name. I bit my tongue and pretended to listen; all the while guilt rose up inside me.

My eyes opened. The train was coming to a stop. I looked out the window, and I could see the sign. It read, “Kyoto.” I stood slowly and waited for the train to stop, when it did, I walked off with the aid of my walking stick, and left the chrome coloured transportation to speed off once more. On my way home now, back to Heryisan.

oh...dear... OB you didn't...

Lol. It's only Japan. At least I ain't going crazy with it

i guess so, and it was a good read.

Offensive Bias wrote:Lol. It's only Japan. At least I ain't going crazy with it

It's Japan.

THAT IS GOING CRAZY WITH IT!

hey Pie, could you tell me why you hate Japan?

Because he is a patriot and hates Asians. Damn patriots.

Offensive Bias wrote:Because he is a patriot and hates Asians. Damn patriots.

You guys are still getting it wrong.

Reason?

Because he's a racist.

(and was raped by tentacles as a child)

Tentacles you say?

ah ob your FF's never ever get boring. I did read what you said about me back on halowars.com
For that no cookies for a whole week! lol

Lol, hey, you had said you were leaving.

Um...

A new paragraph when a new person starts speaking would make this more appealing.