ジョルジュ キリコ || Kiriko George (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
and_above_all) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
niteo_nix2012-10-23 04:53 pm
and_above_all) wrote in niteo_nix2012-10-23 04:53 pm
13th Letter Home ✉ [Memory]
[There is muted screaming behind the walls. It is late into the night - still sharp in a dress shirt and vest and without a trace of his usual army green, Kiriko tiptoes through the hallway of his home and as he does the shouts grow louder. At the end of the hall sits a small girl, no older than eight, nearly identical to her brother if it weren't for her age. Kiriko quietly drops the suitcase he had been carrying and nudges her with his foot. The shouts are so loud he doesn't need to whisper.]
Go to bed, Yuri.
[The little girl shakes her head furiously. Kiriko sighs and picks her up, but when little Yuri makes a terrible fuss when he tries to take her to her room, he is forced to eavesdrop on the shouting with her. He takes a seat against the wall and the girl sits comfortably in his lap with her hands wrapped around his neck.
Beyond the corner, two adults are screaming at each other. Kiriko peers over - a short, plump moustached man in a lab coat with messy blond hair is being drowned out by the shouts of a tall, willowy Japanese woman. While the man seems to be a quiet, passive fellow, the woman is fiery and passionate. Mr. and Mrs. George, his parents.]
Be reasonable, Sayuri. Think of what good it will do for him.
"Good?!" Sending my son to kill other people is good?! You men and your wars! You've seen what the Americans say about the Vietnamese! They don't think of them as people, but like things! You might not care to listen, but I do! I have to! I get called the same things every damn day!
Calm down. Most of the boys his age left a long time ago. You're hysterical-
[The woman begins to weep angrily.]
They spit on me, Edward! And they would spit on our children if they didn't look like you! And now you think our son should become one of them?! One of those white soldiers who would murder and rape anyone who doesn't look like them? How dare you! And you think you deserve to live forever?! You think you have the right to decide who lives and dies?!
That isn't what we're talking about, Sayuri!
And what will you do when Kiriko comes back?! Reward his efforts with a dose of immortality, too? So he can be just like you! You promised him, didn't you? ...Didn't you?!
[She gives him an icy glare and folds her arms. There is an awkward pause.]
Dear. He is my son. He will succeed me-
[The woman explodes with rage.]
You bastard! You disgust me! I wish I never brought him here! Your work has ruined this family. We're going back-
[At this, Kiriko stands and rounds the corner with Yuri in his arms and an unimpressed glower.]
I think I can decide that for myself, mother.
[His father looks extremely apologetic, he doesn't make a habit of disturbing his children. Their mother, however, doesn't seem to care. In fact, she seems to have known they were there the entire time. She snarls.]
You'll do anything you're told if it means you get what you want, Kiriko! [She rounds on her husband.]
This is your fault! You put these ideas in his head! What next?! After my son gets shot, is my daughter going to become your next lab rat?! Are you going to bleed her like a pig the way you did to yourself?! Stick her with every drug you make, too?!
[This obviously upsets Yuri, who doesn't like the idea of being poked with needles and bleeding, and she bursts into tears. Like a good brother, Kiriko occupies himself with trying to calm her down. Dr. George looks appalled.]
Sayuri, my God...! What's gotten into you?!
[Kiriko's mother draws back her hand and slaps him square across the face, hard. While her husband is still in shock, she moves to tower over her own son. She thrusts a finger to his face.]
Put your sister down.
[Without a choice, Kiriko reluctantly does as he's told and braces himself. But instead of a slap, she cups his face gently with her fingers.]
It's too late for Edward. But maybe you can still understand. Don't go, my son. Whatever they've promised you, it isn't worth it...
[She stares at him long and hard. Kiriko meets her gaze for a moment, but finds himself looking to the floor.
The silence is painful and goes on forever.
The memory mercifully drains away. It settles on a new one - Kiriko sits in his army green, resting in the heat. A distance away, white American soldiers are harassing a clearly Asian soldier. They kick away the radio he had been fixing.]
"You damn Chinks shouldn't have bothered coming!"
"What if we mistake you for one of the gooks and shoot you? Will that be our fault?!"
[The Asian soldier does nothing but stare hard at the ground. One of the soldiers signals for Kiriko to come join. Not wanting to lose favour, he nears reluctantly. When one of the men nudges Kiriko's arm for him to say something, Kiriko finally sighs with disappointment.]
Come on, guys. Knock it off. It's not worth it.
[The insults go on for another minute until they grow bored and trickle away. Kiriko begins to pick up the parts of the radio guiltily.]
I'm sorry. They're really not so bad when you get to know them. What's your name?
[At first the man says nothing, but then raises his head. He is young and bespectacled, but his expression is fierce. He's almost a dead ringer for Yukio if it weren't for his dark brown eyes.]
Alan. Alan Yonoi.
You're Japanese? So am I. I'm Kiriko.
[Alan looks surprised. Kiriko cleans up the mess and offers him his hand in a handshake. As the other man takes it, the scene changes one last time. A Vietnamese child, six years old, raises her hand to lob a grenade at the American soldiers who have invaded their village. She only does what she has been told. The soldiers grab her in time and force the grenade away - the surrounding civilians seethe with anger, but are powerless. The Americans hold them at gunpoint.
There is a cry from their Captain.]
"Shoot her! Now!"
[No one moves. The soldiers shuffle awkwardly. And then Alan steps forward: he draws his handgun from its holster. Try as he might, Kiriko cannot look away. He watches on as this person he has grown to love, his best friend, coldly puts a bullet between the little girl's wide eyes. The little girl no older than his precious little sister...
The video cuts.]
Go to bed, Yuri.
[The little girl shakes her head furiously. Kiriko sighs and picks her up, but when little Yuri makes a terrible fuss when he tries to take her to her room, he is forced to eavesdrop on the shouting with her. He takes a seat against the wall and the girl sits comfortably in his lap with her hands wrapped around his neck.
Beyond the corner, two adults are screaming at each other. Kiriko peers over - a short, plump moustached man in a lab coat with messy blond hair is being drowned out by the shouts of a tall, willowy Japanese woman. While the man seems to be a quiet, passive fellow, the woman is fiery and passionate. Mr. and Mrs. George, his parents.]
Be reasonable, Sayuri. Think of what good it will do for him.
"Good?!" Sending my son to kill other people is good?! You men and your wars! You've seen what the Americans say about the Vietnamese! They don't think of them as people, but like things! You might not care to listen, but I do! I have to! I get called the same things every damn day!
Calm down. Most of the boys his age left a long time ago. You're hysterical-
[The woman begins to weep angrily.]
They spit on me, Edward! And they would spit on our children if they didn't look like you! And now you think our son should become one of them?! One of those white soldiers who would murder and rape anyone who doesn't look like them? How dare you! And you think you deserve to live forever?! You think you have the right to decide who lives and dies?!
That isn't what we're talking about, Sayuri!
And what will you do when Kiriko comes back?! Reward his efforts with a dose of immortality, too? So he can be just like you! You promised him, didn't you? ...Didn't you?!
[She gives him an icy glare and folds her arms. There is an awkward pause.]
Dear. He is my son. He will succeed me-
[The woman explodes with rage.]
You bastard! You disgust me! I wish I never brought him here! Your work has ruined this family. We're going back-
[At this, Kiriko stands and rounds the corner with Yuri in his arms and an unimpressed glower.]
I think I can decide that for myself, mother.
[His father looks extremely apologetic, he doesn't make a habit of disturbing his children. Their mother, however, doesn't seem to care. In fact, she seems to have known they were there the entire time. She snarls.]
You'll do anything you're told if it means you get what you want, Kiriko! [She rounds on her husband.]
This is your fault! You put these ideas in his head! What next?! After my son gets shot, is my daughter going to become your next lab rat?! Are you going to bleed her like a pig the way you did to yourself?! Stick her with every drug you make, too?!
[This obviously upsets Yuri, who doesn't like the idea of being poked with needles and bleeding, and she bursts into tears. Like a good brother, Kiriko occupies himself with trying to calm her down. Dr. George looks appalled.]
Sayuri, my God...! What's gotten into you?!
[Kiriko's mother draws back her hand and slaps him square across the face, hard. While her husband is still in shock, she moves to tower over her own son. She thrusts a finger to his face.]
Put your sister down.
[Without a choice, Kiriko reluctantly does as he's told and braces himself. But instead of a slap, she cups his face gently with her fingers.]
It's too late for Edward. But maybe you can still understand. Don't go, my son. Whatever they've promised you, it isn't worth it...
[She stares at him long and hard. Kiriko meets her gaze for a moment, but finds himself looking to the floor.
The silence is painful and goes on forever.
The memory mercifully drains away. It settles on a new one - Kiriko sits in his army green, resting in the heat. A distance away, white American soldiers are harassing a clearly Asian soldier. They kick away the radio he had been fixing.]
"You damn Chinks shouldn't have bothered coming!"
"What if we mistake you for one of the gooks and shoot you? Will that be our fault?!"
[The Asian soldier does nothing but stare hard at the ground. One of the soldiers signals for Kiriko to come join. Not wanting to lose favour, he nears reluctantly. When one of the men nudges Kiriko's arm for him to say something, Kiriko finally sighs with disappointment.]
Come on, guys. Knock it off. It's not worth it.
[The insults go on for another minute until they grow bored and trickle away. Kiriko begins to pick up the parts of the radio guiltily.]
I'm sorry. They're really not so bad when you get to know them. What's your name?
[At first the man says nothing, but then raises his head. He is young and bespectacled, but his expression is fierce. He's almost a dead ringer for Yukio if it weren't for his dark brown eyes.]
Alan. Alan Yonoi.
You're Japanese? So am I. I'm Kiriko.
[Alan looks surprised. Kiriko cleans up the mess and offers him his hand in a handshake. As the other man takes it, the scene changes one last time. A Vietnamese child, six years old, raises her hand to lob a grenade at the American soldiers who have invaded their village. She only does what she has been told. The soldiers grab her in time and force the grenade away - the surrounding civilians seethe with anger, but are powerless. The Americans hold them at gunpoint.
There is a cry from their Captain.]
"Shoot her! Now!"
[No one moves. The soldiers shuffle awkwardly. And then Alan steps forward: he draws his handgun from its holster. Try as he might, Kiriko cannot look away. He watches on as this person he has grown to love, his best friend, coldly puts a bullet between the little girl's wide eyes. The little girl no older than his precious little sister...
The video cuts.]