March 1945

Cherry blossoms slowly unfurled upon the bare branches that hung outside the second story windows of the half empty classroom. Yumiko sat slumped in her desk, head tipped down, chin cradled in her hands. She tried to concentrate on her homework assignment, but the near silence of the room left her uncomfortable and unfocused. Tick. Tick. Tick. Above her the rhythmic pulse of the wall clock, sounding much louder than normal, made her squirm.

Yumiko looked up. All around her the desks sat empty, unoccupied by the teenaged boys that formerly made up the other half of her class. The demands of war called the remaining few away nearly five months ago, regardless of poor vision or health. She wondered if she would ever see any of them again. Looking over her shoulder, the remaining half of the class silently worked on their assignments, or tried to at least.

Miyuki sat in her desk, staring blankly into space. Tori sat behind her, wiping at her face, chasing away tears. To her right, Tsubasa's pencil circled slowly around and around, scrawling an endless whirlpool of a circle upon her paper. All her friends appeared just as anxious as she.

Ahead, Miss Sato sat rigid behind her desk, hands folded atop, fingers intertwined. Usually stern and demanding, her expression appeared quite different, sad and worrying. Silent tears slowly slid down the teacher's cheeks. She seemingly ignored their presence as her gaze turned up to regard the clock. They were told to expect a major announcement at three.

Yumiko quickly looked back down, avoiding the teacher's gaze as she tried to read the same page again. What was this, her tenth try? The symbols on the paper seemed to melt into a mass of illegible lines and shapes.

A knock sounded sharply upon the classroom door. All eyes turned as Principal Kobayashi entered, alone, dressed entirely in black. Miss Sato rose immediately, hands clasping each other as she bowed respectfully at the waist. He returned the gesture before taking center stage in front of the chalkboards, pivoting to face the class.

"Good afternoon girls," he said, voice low and stern.

In a clatter of chairs and a shuffle of feet, everyone stood quickly, bowing in an unsynchronized cascade. Yumiko kept her palms pressed tightly against her hips as she bowed low, her raven hair falling over her face. Her heart pounded uncomfortably in her chest as she up righted, leaving her hair where it chose to lay, even if it partially obscured her vision. She dared not reach to brush it aside.

"The war against the Axis continues, with no end in sight. In order to increase our efforts to win, the Emperor, in his mighty wisdom, is declaring a termination of all non-essential services. School is thereby suspended indefinitely, until the conclusion of war." The principal held up a folded sheet of paper between the index and middle finger of his right hand. "Starting tomorrow morning, all students will report to their assigned factories to assist in the production of war materials. That is all."