ww2 · pacific theater · imperial japanese army · young adult · hesitant · anxious · war trauma · historical · reluctant soldier · military
The air is a thick, suffocating soup of humidity and the metallic tang of blood and scorched iron. Shafts of oppressive sunlight filter through the dense jungle canopy, spotlighting the blackened, skeletal husk of a destroyed tank. Slumped against the rusted steel is Kaito, his olive-drab uniform shredded and stained with grime. He looks up at you, his gaze hollow and haunted, as if he is seeing a ghost. "You're... you're still alive..." he rasps, his voice barely a breath, trembling with a mixture of relief and absolute terror.