Skyhigh 20

SKY HIGH #20

tl by molokidan

197)
1: For how many weeks did we walk...? My body felt as heavy as lead.
2: I couldn't even turn back to look at my friends, screaming "Take me with you..."
3: I knew that tomorrow, I might be in their shoes.
4: This was "land's end." Everyone knew it.

198-199)
1: 1945, in Northern Manchuria.

200)
1: In 1936, Japan planned to send 5 million people to the puppet state of Manchuria in order to push forward the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. In 1937, they decided to migrate young men as agricultural laborers over to Manchuria in order to create the new nation they hoped for. They were known as the "Emigration Youth Troops to Manchuria." However, in 1945, Japan's situation worsened. When defeat became imminent, the Kwantung Army abandoned 3/4 of Manchuria and fled to the south...instantly changing the goal of the youth left behind from cultivation to war.
2: This is the gate of grudges.
2: I'm the gatekeeper, Izuko.

201)
1: Wada Yoshifumi-kun.
2: You were killed 65 years ago and became a spirit.
3: 65 years ago...

202)
1: What are you saying?!
2: More importantly, do you know the status of the war?
3: The war has ended...
4: The place were you died has been excavated, and your body was recovered.
5: You must pick one out of the following three paths...
6: The first is to accept your death, ascend into heaven, and watch to be reincarnated.
7: The second is to become a spirit in limbo and wander the material world.

203)
1: And the third
2: is to curse a single human to death.
3: However, those who kill humans will go to hell and suffer without any hope of reincarnation.
4: Those are your rights.
5: You have 12 days to make your decision.
6: Umm...
7: Can I ask a question?
8: Yes.

204)
1: I can't believe that I'm dead.
2: Alright then.
3: Allow me to show you
4: what happened that day.

206)
1: Wada.
2: Listen closely.
3: There's no one left who can carry you.
4: You'll have to stand on your own legs now.

207)
1: I'm sorry...commander.
2: I...can't stand anymore.
3: My body...feels so heavy. I can't walk.
4: Stop being a weakling!!
5: You can walk, Wada.
6: Don't you want to go back home?!
7: I can't.
8: Not when I'm this hungry.
9: Although,
10: I am afraid of being left in this vast land all alone.

208)
1: Please, commander.
2: Put me out of my misery.

210)
sfx: bang

211)
1-3: hah

212)
1: Sanpei...you look really tired.
2: Wear this.
3(2b): No, sir. I cannot steal your jacket, sir.
4: Just wear it!
5: No, sir!

213)
1: This isn't stealing.
2: I'm giving this to you.
3: Now wear it,
4: and return home.

214)
1: Did you remember now?
2: A man named Shigemune Morio killed you.
3: What happened to the commander?
4: Since he killed another human, he will go to hell.
5: To hell?

215)
1: But...
2: He's still alive,
3: in the material world.
4: The commander's alive?!

217)
1: Japan has changed so much.
2: It looks like 65 years really have passed.
3: Everyone's walking so fast.
4: These people
5: have probably never experienced hunger.
6: Fizz, boil, steam...
7: The town's full of full-stomach sounds.

218)
grave: Wada Family Grave
1: Father, mother...
grave 2: Feb. 14 1960
Feb. 14 1960
May 20 1948
2: Fumiko died too.

219)
1: The Wada family is no more.
2: It's all my fault.
3: I thought I could help my poor family,
4: so I took Commander Shigemune's offer.
5: Go to Manchura, become a landowner, and make your parents proud.

221)
1: I'm sorry.
2: I couldn't even feed my family a single rice ball.

222)
1: I'm moved.
2: You're quite a man, even though you're only 15.

223)
1: No I'm not...
2: I just listened to what the adults told me.
3: And look what happened.
4: There were no dreams to be had in Manchuria.
5: The country abandoned us,
6: and we were sent to the battlefield.
7: Hey, Izuko-san.
8: Tell me something.

224)
1: What should people like me have believed?
2: The only answer is inside yourself.
3: You have to decide what to believe in.

225)
1: Want to go see
2: what happened to the adult you believed in?
3: Yes.

226)
1: The Commander's here...?!
2: Yes.
3: Shigemune Morio returned to Nagano after he was picked up, and worked as a teacher.
4: He raised two sons and a daughter without trouble, and lived a happy life.
5: A happy...
6: life...
7: But since he killed me, he's going to hell.

227)
1: He only has 3 days left to live...
2: Then he'll go to hell.
3: ...3 days...

228)
1: Commander...

229)
1: Who's there?

230)
1: I don't care who you are.
2: But if you're there, then can I ask a favor of you...?
3: I can't stand, speak, or see anymore.
4: My body feels so heavy I can't move.
5: You may not be able to understand,
6: but this is a living hell.
7: So, please.
8: Can you push that switch for me?

231)
1: Put me out of my misery...

232)
1: How can you say something like that in such an abundant world?
2: You can't take your own life.

233)
1: Saying things like that will anger all your dead comrades.
2: You must live on until the end.
3: For us.

234)
1: Commander Shigemune!
2: Stand!!

235)
1: Izuko-san.

236)
1: If I say that I wasn't killed, can you keep the commander from going to hell?
2: That wasn't murder.
3: He was helping me.
4: It was during wartime.
5: The adults had it bad, too.
6: So please, save him.
7: To erase a grudge.

237)
1: Choice
2: confirmed.
3-6: hah

238)
1-5: hah
6: I won't give up.
7: I'll stand...for them.
8: Sh...
9: Shigemune-san!

239)
1: Walk! Back to the motherland!

240)
1(2b): If the commander hadn't given me his jacket then, I wouldn't have returned alive.
2: I, Sanpei Goro,
3: owe my life to my commander.

242-3)
1: ...Wa
2: Wada...?

244)
1: Commander!
2: I've been waiting.
3: Why
4: did you wait for me?
5: Because you took care of me when I was alive.
6: ...but...

245)
1: Commander!
2: Can you still walk?
3: We've got a long road ahead of us.

246)
1: Roger.
2: March on.
3: Yes sir!

248)
1: Go on, and live.