Uncertain Future

October 29, 1891

A new day had begun for Shimizu. The army continued removing rubble. Izumi watched in horror as bodies piled up while the living were already few. His platoon concentrated on areas near the Diet building and houses of important families to maintain order, prevent theft while continuing to recover bodies.

With a little help and in total discretion, Izumi was part of a system where resources were diverted to help those families who "needed it the most." From different nearby cities, aid was beginning to arrive: food, medicine, and all kinds of resources for the affected people were trying to enter Shimizu.

To benefit the Kurogane, Yanagi, and even the Shibasaki families, these resources that should have reached areas like the Mizutani Port were being diverted to the General Hospital and even the Takahara factory.

Like the hospital, the factory had suffered slight damage, and several of the injured were transferred there to be treated. The problem was that there were few capable doctors and nurses there to attend to the injured, and being close to poor areas, most of the injured were from the working class. 

The employees, worried about their families, didn't know what to do. If they left, they could face unemployment; if they stayed, they remained to help the injured ones in their own way.

Keiichi was frustrated. All his plans were being delayed. His son had confirmed that he preferred to be with Sachie, and his family, although they had survived, were injured. He felt like he was, once again, rapidly heading for failure.

Understanding that the factory would not soon resume operations worried him. He would not be able to retire on the scheduled date. Furthermore, there was an unforeseen risk. Takumi had disappeared and had not returned since the confrontation they had with the Shibasakis and Haruto. That girl had also disappeared, and the whereabouts of both could not be confirmed.

Haruto had nowhere to sleep that night. Urara did not want him near her family. She would now take care of her daughter-in-law. This angered Haruto, who, seeing himself without allies, could only wait.

"Izumi, you should worry more about your future," Urara commented while eating breakfast with her family. Izumi and Shinobu could finally have a free time that morning for rest and to eat. ”What will happen if Miss Himawari cannot walk again?"

"She will succeed, mother," Izumi replied. "She will walk again without problems."

"Himawari will have a limp… she won't be able to…"

Shinobu slammed the table, and the discussion immediately stopped. There was no noise for the rest of the meal. When finished, Izumi got up and, saying a phrase to his mother, left.

"I will be the only one who decides the fate of my engagement."

Urara sighed, angry at having lost the argument. She continued to look after her daughter-in-law more out of obligation, but she knew that sooner or later, she would become a burden that had to be dealt with.

"I remind you something, Urara," Shinobu said in a grave and serious voice. "When Izumi was one year old, you had that ankle sprain. You were bedridden for several days and couldn't even attend to your own son."

For Urara, remembering that stage of her life was embarrassing. Being in bed most of the time, and it was several months of therapy and recovery, having a baby still requiring attention, which was given to a nurse.

That morning, Sachie returned to what she already considered her home, and the shock of the change became evident. There was not the order that the army was giving in more favored areas. Upon arriving at the public hospital, the sick and injured were everywhere, and the doctors and nurses struggled to attend to everyone. There was no food, and medicines were not arriving.

"How awful!" Takumi commented, observing how people wandered aimlessly, looking for help that would not arrive.

"You don't have to stay with me," Sachie told Takumi with a certain air of shyness.

"I want to be with you," Takumi told her. Sachie blushed slightly.

Sachie had to return to help; she felt it was her duty. It didn't take long for her to find something to do. Mariko found her and asked for help. She had found a woman in the rubble. The problem was that she had been giving birth for several minutes now.

Without hesitation, Sachie followed Mariko, leaving Takumi aside, who didn't know what to do. He wandered aimlessly for a long time. It was so strange to see how the same tremor had created different chaos. Upon arriving at a truly chaotic area, someone tried to take him to help. 

"Everyone must help," he was told. Unsure what to do because of the screams, Takumi found himself involved in a chaos to rescue several people from a house.

The moment they were trying to rescue a teenager, an aftershock began to be felt, which startled several people and caused the house, already weak from the tremor the day before, to completely collapse, burying the teenager.

When the dust dissipated, the mother cried out, screaming toward the rubble. Nothing could be heard but the mother's cry and some people calling by name the person they tried to rescue.

”Help me remove the rubble," Takumi ordered, seeing that the earth was no longer moving. People ignored him and acted like individuals scared by the recent tremor. 

"Damn it! Quick, you and you," Takumi shouted while bringing order, simultaneously pointing to two men. "Go to that side, and you, come with me, let's remove these parts, we must act fast if we want to rescue this person alive."

For several minutes, the people, guided by Takumi, managed to work as a team to rescue the teenager, who, although alive, was unconscious and severely injured. Guided by the mother, they tried to reach the hospital where they found a little more chaos. Part of the hospital had collapsed, and people screamed for help. Several injured people were trapped inside, along with nurses and doctors who tirelessly attended to the wounded.

"Good luck," Takumi told the mother once he managed to put her son in a safe place.

Not knowing where to go, Takumi ran. His only thought at that moment was to find Sachie alive. Because of the rubble, he fell to the ground, hurting himself.

"But you are…" a woman's voice was heard behind him. "You are the heir to that factory, right? Takahara, I think."

A woman looked at him, surprised. After helping him and calming him down, the woman introduced herself as Chika Yazawa, Sachie's friend. She commented that her sister worked at the factory and that she was currently missing.

Chika talked too much. She talked about the times the neighbours saw him and Sachie together.

"She always looked happy by your side," Chika said. Her hands were shaking, and her gaze seemed to be searching for something. "She never cared about the rumors, the pointing. We had a lot of fun talking about you two."

Chika stopped for a bit. She walked a little while observing her surroundings. In the distance, smoke could be seen. This was not going to end soon. Takumi put his hand on her shoulder, at which Chika reacted by crying a little.

"Sorry," Chika said, wiping away her tears. "I don't know where my family is… I don't know if they are still alive."

Takumi didn't know what to say, so he remained silent for a while. When Chika calmed down, they separated. He felt guilty, he felt very bad because he knew his family was fine, healthy, but he was leaving them aside for a future that now seemed uncertain.