The Eternal Zero Page #3

Docking at Yokosuka

was strictly top-secret.

Where's Kiyoko?

So you're Kiyoko, huh?

Look, Kiyo-chan, look...

It's your father.

She's so tiny.

Kiyoko...

How's the temperature?

Matsuno, help me!

What's the matter?

Not to worry...

Pooping in the bath shows character, eh?

She's obviously at ease with you.

Isn't that right, Kiyo-chan?

Is it nice to bathe with Dad?

All right, then...

I'll see you soon.

Please,

take good care.

Matsuno...

I'll be back.

I promise.

Even if I lose an arm,

or lose my legs, I'll be back.

Even if I die,

I'll still come back to you.

Even if I have to be reborn,

I'll be back by your side, without fail.

That's a promise.

I've got terminal cancer.

Half a year ago,

the doc gave me three months.

For some reason,

here I am, still hanging on.

Why has it been this long?

Now I finally get it.

It was so I could talk to you.

To tell you all about the Chief.

Chief...

Your grand kids are here.

Chief...

Can you see us?

You know...

I want to find out more.

Yeah.

I need to know everything...

Yes.

"To return to my wife and child,."

"I must survive no matter what."

To know he said that

is more than enough.

But then to find out we actually met...

But

it doesn't make sense.

Why would he become a Kamikaze?

Takanori Takeda,

War Veteran & Self-Made Millionaire.

May I talk with you, sir?

You again? I told you he's busy.

I'm researching the life of Kyuzo Miyabe!

Please behave yourself.

Kyuzo Miyabe?

Hold everything...

My morning meetings are canceled.

Thank you.

You remind me of him.

I remember him very well.

He was our ight instructor

in the cadet reserves.

It was 1945

and the war was going terribly.

Students had been exempted

from military service.

But they roped us in

with their "Student Mobilization Act."

We were physically fit

and used to studying

so we were ideal fodder for their plan.

So we began intensive flight instruction

in order to become naval aviators.

But there was no training

in air-to-air combat.

Can you guess why?

From the very start, we were

only being trained as Kamikaze.

Of course we had no way of knowing that.

But at the end of the course,

just before deployment,

we all got Kamikaze volunteer forms.

The shock of holding those in our hands

was beyond imagination.

but Within a few days

all of us had volunteered.

No - Yes Takanori Takeda.

Actually...

Kamikaze Special Attack Squadron.

Nearly half

of the 4,400 Kamikaze fatalities

were officers

of the student reserve like me.

Yes, sir!

Watch out for crosswinds on landing.

Yes, sir!

That's it. Dismissed!

Salute!

At ease.

To your planes.

Instructor Miyabe, sir.

Will I be passed today?

You failed.

How come?

My dive practice went perfectly today...

I was surprised. You did really well.

Then why don't I pass? Please explain!

You failed.

Failed, failed, failed.

When the hell will he pass me?

At this rate we'll never get to war.

From what I heard,

he used to flee the dogfights,

completely useless.

So that's why he was sent to the rear?

What a nuisance...

I heard a rumor

that in the Philippines,

he refused to join the Kamikaze.

This gets worse and worse...

In other words, he's a damn coward.

Yet he has the nerve to fail us.

He can't abide us being better than him.

Is that Kamikaze claim true?

Who knows?

It'd be typical of a coward like him.

No. 38, diving!

No. 51, diving!

It's Ito.

Here he goes.

The dead reserve officer

was lacking in warrior spirit.

How dare he wreck a precious plane?

Throwing your life away before combat

is disgraceful and disloyal

to our military.

Lieutenant Commander.

That's not correct.

Ensign Ito was an excellent cadet.

He was not a disgrace to the service.

Goddamn you...

Ensign Ito was an excellent cadet!

What gives a rat like you

the right to say that?

I heard the rumors.

You purposely fail these boys.

Don't want them to be Kamikaze, eh?

A fine attitude

when our nation's survival is at stake.

You're a disgrace!

Getup...

Getup, damn you!

Instructor Miyabe, sir?

Are you all right?

It was pretty tough.

Enemy at 3 o'clock!

Scatter!

Hang in there!

Are you safe?

Why were you so foolish?

You're important to Japan.

You mustn't die.

No, it's you who must survive.

To live and do good work

for the sake of Japan.

It was my negligence...

I completely understood

that cadet's motivation.

Soon after, I was sent

to the Tomitaka Base in Kyushu

and I never saw Miyabe-san again.

When I heard he'd died as a Kamikaze,

I was distraught.

He was one person

who should have survived.

Why did he become a Kamikaze?

I don't know.

The anguish of the Kamikaze

is only known to those

who went on the final missions.

Between us reserve pilots

and those who didn't return,

there's a vast gulf in the mental ordeal

we went through.

But

I clearly remember the feeling,

as we stood watching our friends go.

Try though I might,

I'll never be able to forget it.

Are you working now?

I keep trying for the Bar.

But I'm ashamed to say I'm a bit lost...

Don't you worry.

You've got Miyabe's blood in your veins.

You'll find a great job.

Live life to the fullest, for his sake.

I never imagined I'd see the day

that I'd meet the instructor's grandson.

Maybe he ditched on some island...

Why did you volunteer?

Kyuzo-san...

You're me. Buddy. Where are you?

It's not a school field trip.

What about Saipan, then?

Don't be cheap. To impress

the chicks, it's gotta be Hawaii.

Hawaii, yeah, perfect.

We'll go to Hawaii.

Was I supposed to dress smart?

We invited girls,

you can't look like that.

No way!

We're discussing which resort

to take them to.

Be a team player, don't let us down.

Resort?

Saipan or Okinawa...

Or Hawaii!

Sorry to be late.

Please, sit down.

Nice to meet you...

Kamikaze?

Not ancient history again...

Can you afford to waste time on that?

Whatever. To each his own.

Goes to show suicide bombers

aren't a new thing.

Do we have to talk about this?

Pardon me, but don't equate

terrorists with Kamikaze.

They're the same, all brainwashed.

That's not right.

Kamikaze targeted aircraft carriers,

powerful military weapons.

Totally different from terrorists

targeting innocent citizens.

It's not exactly our kind of conversation.

You're nitpicking details.

I mean the basic concept

of throwing life away for an ideal.

From a foreign perspective,

Kamikaze and suicide bombers are the same.

They were just nationalist fanatics.

Now, wait a minute...

Listen, I've read a bunch

of Kamikaze books.

They took pride in just wasting

their lives for their country.

It was a romanticized form of heroism.

No. That's exactly where you're wrong.

It's okay, we understand.

You lost touch with yourself

after failing the Bar.

This is your escape

to solve your identity crisis.

You're completely wrong!

What the hell?

Don't get so worked up.

Terrorists or not,

it has nothing to do with us.

Exactly. We're here to have fun. Drink up.

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