"We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Wherever men and women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must - at that moment - become the center of the universe."

― Elie Wiesel, philosopher and Holocaust survivor.

1500 hours JST; August 22nd, 2025; Numazu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Imperial State of Japan

Saki Arima was tending the garden along with a couple of other local women around her age. Many had their own children or family in the Imperial Defense Forces, helpful for her to not feel alone when Takahiko was patrolling with the Maritime Guard or when she were not playing her piano.

Then a couple of neighbors that she recognized as her fellow member of the local neighbourhood association paid a visit and told everyone present. "Everyone, go look at the news. Our forces did it!"

"Really?"

Some ran as quickly to their homes, but most pulled out their phones.

From their screens, a newscaster from NHK announced. "We interrupted our programming to bring you the recent news from the frontline. Japanese-lead IPSDC/NATO forces half an hour ago received the official Chinese surrender of Shunan City and Shimonoseki. Remnants are still fighting in both Kyushu and Honshu..."

It's certain too that the international arm of NHK would broadcast the similar announcement as well as rebroadcasts from friendly allied networks.

The image changed to a footage Shunan City, exactly to it's industrial area, and Saki gasped as she saw familiar faces in a scene of tank crewmembers disembarking, then further into a group of Japanese soldiers with surrendering Chinese personnel.

"My son..." she whispered. "You're there."

"Here we see a unit from the 1st Division's 5th Brigade is taking up guarding position in preparation for the symbolic passage of Chinese soldiers into their ships as part of the honours of war granted to the surrendering Chinese."

One woman reacted immediately? "What are our army thinking, giving the Chinese a kid's glove?"

"I have no idea" replied another as the screen showed unarmed Chinese soldiers marching in front of the victorious Japanese as well as their allies, primarily the Americans. "But maybe as we had little room left to keep them."

Another woman added "I believe, however, some will still remain here to face trial."

The news footage zoomed in at the group of triumphant looking Japanese and allied soldiers and officers as they covered the procession.

A huge smile spread across her face as she saw her daughter-in-law amongst the crowd. Tired and ragged, but their happiness was unprecedented.

The piano teacher and composer was aware on some others who won't saw their sons or daughters back, but she couldn't do anything but smile before looking at the sky.

"Takahiko, we shall celebrate this moment. Our son is coming home." she muttered.

The same time, in Nerima Ward, Tokyo.
Ma Fille

"God's providence worked in many ways. Amen, and itadakimasu!" muttered Mr. Miyazono as he opened the dinner time; referring to government checks and other source of revenue that allowed Ma Fille to stay afloat - especially as it had switched it's operations from specialty cakes to common bread and even hardtack (kanpan) making for the Coalition forces - all while under the always present threat of Chinese missiles or drone swarms.

For Kenji, it's yet another time for refuge after several weeks on alert in National Guard uniform around the ward and the capital as a whole, to the point that he's not different than his sister - he had picked up a rifle and in the process, a life has been taken.

Multiple, notwithstanding many attempts of the Reds to sow chaos in Shuto-ken.

"Dad, mum, look!" shouted Kenji.

There, on the television screen that Yoshiyuki had turned it on for sometime - with reduced hour in respect of the electricity conservation program - the small family watched as reporters were confirming what they had heard from some of their neighbors and even the neighborhood-level police officer (Kouban) on duty.

"...Kaori..." whispered the family patriarch, as the unmistakable face of their eldest daughter was visible, even if it's only for a couple of seconds, while dirty but jovial, in contrast of the largely ruined landscape of a town showed on the news description somewhere in Yamaguchi Prefecture.

"Will onee-chan go home, mum, dad?" Kenji asked.

"She will go home, one way or another." Mrs. Miyazono replied.

1/LT Kousei Arima

Finally a fresh air time, as the last of the occupiers had boarded ships back to their land, Hopefully they would never return. But we knew better, as speakers continue to blare instructions in Chinese and Japanese and one or two Chinese who weren't able to join their comrades and instead were under our custody.

For reorganization, the 11th Tank Regimental Combat Team has been assigned a rally point near the city's main concert hall.

"Surrender instruction, sir." Watari pointed out at me.

"Some of those bastards are still here, especially in the outskirts, trying to keep their asses low." my gunner stated, MP7 on his hand, meanwhile I was still holding the QBZ-192 with a spare mag that I took from Iwakuni.

I passed the crew of tank number 13; Minato's.

"Banzai, sir!" he saluted.

"You distinguished yourselves, Sergeant."

"Thanks to you, sir. Everyone did what had to be done." the older NCO looked with a smile at me, my crew, and then his own crew; Staff Sergeant Takeo Kuribayashi the gunner, and Sergeant Taro Aso who was the driver, no relation to a recently passed-away ex-prime minister.

"Anyone see Lieutenant Arima?" A familiar voice.

And to my surprise, a few steps away from my platoon sergeant and his crew, was Lieutenant Arashi from 31st Infantry and some of his soldiers, two out of them including the said lieutenant proceed to blow some smoke and somehow managed to get some laugh in between.

"Glad to see you guys are okay."

"You people are a godsend. Even, the truth is, one of my squads were gone." Arashi replied.

Silence reigned, as the grim reality set in.

"I'm sorry to hear about that. They knew what they did and won't regret things... like some of the Team Kirin's."

"Anyway, Kousei-kun, where's your wife?"

"A couple of blocks west." I answered.

"Also, Kousei-kun, have you heard the news from Tokyo? When we're still duking it out with those Reds here in Shunan, the Reds somehow managed to slip away enough forces into Tokyo once more?"

"Really, Lieutenant?" Instead of me, it was Watari who answered.

"Yeah, look at this."

Immediately after the declaration of this city being secured, privileges had started popping out, especially the fact that our phones had been returned, another courtesy and efficiency of our quartermaster folks at work. Lt. Arashi was one of the first officers to got his phone back, and that's when he showed us a video from Akihabara dated August 17th - independence day for one of our trade partners turned miltary ally from South East Asia.

"Damn, you say that the Chinese had mercenaries now?" I gasped as the video showed what looked like dead soldiers as well as drone wreckages littering the streets of Akiba.

Arashi responded "It's been long time that the Chinese were building their own private force, to accommodate many former PLA soldiers who was retired or discharged due to reorganizations at the start of this century... Back to the topic, here you can see their patch in Mandarin that means "Worldwide Presence" My cousin, an open source junkie, know which group used it... Frontier Services Group, founded by ex Blackwater boss, curse him... Those mercs did not know what's waiting for them. They think they can kill our PM or even His Majesty and the Imperial Family... he said that it won't be the last of these jokers - the most concerning things were reports that Russian contractors had started appearing up there in Korea."

"Oh dear Kami-sama" Watari muttered. "some of those poor bastards... look, they're in pieces."

"Those mercs had nothing to lose and Tokyo's guardsmen learned it on the fly." Arashi continued. "They were expected to die by hand grenade rather than captured."

"Our heroic 1st National Guard Brigade supported by Metropolitan Police and elements of regular Defense Forces had repelled the saboteurs, but with high cost to pay..."

Our faces ashened, and in case of myself and Kaori, I hope Kenji was okay.

"Remember their names... as Heroes never die!" the narrator in the video continued. "They laid their lives not just for Japan or Free Asia... but for the entire civilized world."

To Arashi's horror, a name renowned in the entertainment industry appeared among the fallen. "Private Hanayo Tetsuhara (better known as Hanayo Koizumi), Retired idol, mother of two... Once member of school idol group "Muse", Love Live champion." Silence.

"Don't make her death to be in vain."

"Easy for you to say that, Kousei-kun!" His lashing out was a surprise, but I held my horses. "Did you remember how I have crush on her once when she 's still active (as a professional idol)?"

Now I flashed back to our days in the Ground Force OCS. Arashi, just like Lieutenant Toyosaki of the 3rd Tank Platoon was one out of many regular NDA alumnus who underwent the accelerated Ground Force OCS thanks to his graduation was when the crisis began to brew up to the point of no return.

"I was inspired by her (being an idol despite her timidness) to pursue what I dreamed of, being an officer! Despite my mother's disapproval!"

Then I decided to brought things to an end, with my hands went around him. "Don't do anything stupid. The troopers are looking at us. Our superiors as well."

A hug, just like what I often do with Kaori during officer training - reassurance that everything will be okay in the end. From the next corner, came an older sergeant first class who turned out to be Arashi's platoon sergeant, who also hugged him.

"Control yourselves, sir." he whispered.

Then my helmet mounted headset crackled to live. "Eagle 6 to all Eagle callsign, division command had ordered us to stand for the moment of silence followed by the national anthem."

"Remember her, and everyone here who did not make it back" I told him, as the solemn tune of Kimigayo blared across the city.

Hands rose in salute as multiple flags of Japan went up at various points of the city.

I couldn't hold the urge to sing for others - my tank platoon - to follow...

"May your reign
Continue for a thousand, eight thousand generations,
Until the tiny pebbles
Grow into massive boulders
Lush with moss"

Finished with the formalities, it's obvious what I must do; to be exact; I have to reunite with someone right now. Before that, however, my eyes went wide as out of nowhere, people - certainly civilians who remained - came over with smile and tears on their faces - men, women, and children alike.

"Why so long?" asked one of the grieving but grateful woman who hugged me. "But now you're here. Thank you." before I let her go.

More "Thank you" from the inhabitants, a couple of happy tears, most of them.

But also, listening to the grim reality of being occupied by the enemy.

"They killed Maruko-chan when she tried to fetch us some water!"

"Mr. Hatamoto was nowhere to be seen - those Chicoms dragged him away because he shouted Banzai"

"Every night I cannot sleep, as I listened to screams (of tortured people) "

"Tell me, will the Chinese return?"

I finally got my chance to get away from them, and from all the ruins and deaths. It was right a couple of meters away from the hall - an element of the 32nd Infantry Regt. recognizable by their orange armbands, that has her.

"Kousei!"

No more hesitations, passion overtook us and soon our lips were soon made contact with each other.

"Glad that you made it" I told her.

"You too, camera voy-- Oops! My bad!"

"Kaori" I chuckled "The troopers are looking at us." Too late...

Without much ado, suddenly Kaori dragged me away.

"What's the meaning of this?"

She answered "I have a surprise for you."

As it turned out, a couple of meters away, there's Tokuyama High School, which also turned out to be one of the 32nd Regiment's tactical command post.

"Lieutenant Arima, why are you bringing your husband here?" It was Captain Hirasawa, Kaori's parent company commander. "You want to have a duet with him?"

"Yes, Captain. It's good for everyone to see."

"Very well, glad that the piano and violin there are still intact - even with the roofings are gone." said the company commander. "Everybody know that you two are the whole Fighting Fifth Brigade's best musicians, and as I am about to record this, I'll say this; give our people something to remember as we celebrate this moment!" Hirasawa beamed.

I gripped my wife's hand as she guided me to the said room. God I hope my playing is not getting rusty, as the familiar jittery sensation began to creep in. Not for long, through, as I proceed to sat on the stool.

"I hope the students will soon return" I told her, and her gray eyes pierced my heart, in agreement.

First, we render the honor to play the National Anthem, followed by the marching version of the anthem titled "Kimigayo Koushinkyoku", literally Kimigayo March, hastily arranged in a duet.



Unlike in combat, when accuracy was a must with our lives at stake, freedom was the name of the game at this moment. Our heart yearned for more, so we switched from patriotic marches that we picked on our free time back in OCS into other Japanese folk songs that we know followed by some popular titles.

"Can you feel it? Will it reach them?"

As the duet continue to flow, Kaori asked the same, inside, I could feel it too, as well as the captain who was recording our little concourse.

When we hit the final chord, we faced Captain Hirasawa.... and a bunch of civilians and soldiers alike!

"Sir?" Kaori asked at her superior.

"You two can see it by yourself" Not gonna lie, I could see some of the 11th Tanks crew as well, especially Captain Kawashima who was fighting his tears, Tsubaki and her squad as well as Watari were there too, as well. I decided to hug my wife for the umpteenth time since the start of the war.

"Our kids will learn how we did this." I whispered at her. "Honestly, it took some time for me to get back to my old playings... How much everything changed. isn't it?"

Kaori grinned. "My tank lieutenant, that's okay, you know..."

"Anyway, where is Colonel Okazaki?"

Kawashima was the first to answer to my question. "Well son - he's currently moving the whole command node; we cannot take risks with Red drone swarms can still attack at any time."

Then, in the sudden a familiar shake. My phone. Somehow Kaori managed to got our mobiles back before I rendezvoused with her not far from the town hall.

.............................................................................

PFC. Watari Ryouta

What a masterpiece.

No wonder his and his wife's popularity with their students are high, and how often they showed it in churches around the big Tokyo... I thought to myself with the fact on how much the little concert managed to put me and many more to silence, even our superiors.

I won't doubt that even the Prime Minister or His Majesty himself won't be affected by it.

On the other hand; am I a good friend for them, and also truly a good subordinate to Lieutenant Kousei, the one that I teased a couple of times when I went on dates back during middle and high school? Sure, I did my part, Tsubaki too. But... their last playing, it tore through me like an armor-piercing dart.

Tsubaki tapped my behind. "We did our part, Watari-kun. But... those who don't came back. I guess... what will be their fate?"

Looking at that side of hers, I answered "I hope most of them worth eternal rest in Heaven or being reincarnated to a much better state of life..."

"I guess..." Tsubaki replied at me. "We can only remember them wherever we are going to fight, sweetheart."

We went to embrace each other, away from the rest of the troopers and officers - it's our own moment to let each other be comforted, in light of the devastations all around us and the loss of our comrades, but also gratitude to the heavens for so far, the safety of our families we left behind.

We went back to reality when Kousei and Kaori faced us - and we immediately stood at attention.

"Yasume!" (At ease) responded both officers at us.

With what was left of my guts. I asked my commander. "Sir" I smiled inwardly with the realization that I am since been used to call my best friend properly just like Tsubaki with Kaori. "Who was calling you?"

He answered. "Takeshi, or right now, Lieutenant Takeshi Aiza. Maritime Force' Amphibious Ranger (Division). He's kind of pissed that his batch of amphib ranger course that he was piped into along with Emi upon Navy OCS missed the action in Kyushu; remember, he got the draft letter a couple of weeks after ours; but the consolation was that their regiment would basically be to lock down the islands close to the occupied Taiwan to relieve an American littoral combat team there, Remember, US 3rd Marine Division has been badly mauled and are close to being combat ineffective as one of the first who were engaged..."

"Damn, no wonder they were close to grab the entire Kyushu Island - which in the process will isolate Okinawa, sir." I told him.

"Something like that, Watari" Kousei answered me.

And so we then separated as our commanders were going to reorganize us as well as to prepare for relief units to take over our duty.

............................................................................

A/N: And so be it, I decided to show reference to Takeshi for the first time! Hope you enjoy!