notes: i wrote this sometime last year. never really read over it until now and i edited it a bit and voilà.
notes 2: this is freeform i assume. i tried.

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you are young when it begins.

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flames arise.
you call out.
your teacher is gone.

one tiny thing causes so much strife.
a small mishap can set off wars.
if you stack them up, they collect themselves into something much more.
terrible things can happen when something goes out of line.

it takes one.
then it create more numbers, more people, solidarity.
hear the people riot in the streets.
civil unrest— riots, wars.

war.
a terrible thing to behold in this day and age,
invaders come, we fear things that we do not recognize.
people dirty their hands in the name of what they think is right.
what is wrong?
what is right?

there is no black and white. just gray.
there is no in-betweens in a war:
PICK THE SIDE AND FIGHT.
FIGHT.
FIGHT TO PROTECT WHAT IS YOURS.

stain your hands, the red never washes away.
use soap, bleach, lemon.
the red never goes away. it has scurried its way in.
red seeps— it bleeds. dark. deep.
it haunts you.

red staining your cheeks, a red that matches your eyes.
silver and ruby.
you see in gray and black, you see no colors.
except red.

white demon, what is it that you fight for?
white demon, tell us.
white demon, what did it feel like?

you couldn't save both.
a promise broken.
friends are gone.
vanished— left you behind to rot.

this is the solitude of pain.
the loneliness marinates in your lungs.
cold. cold. dead.
white demon, you devoured them.

it's your fault.
what is there left to protect?
nothing.

but this dirty sword can still swing.
still protect.
your soul is not lost.
a promise restored.
a home remade.

they come into your life.
slowly and then all at once.
this is what it means to love.
to embrace and to become new again.
the red is still cracked in your fingers.
it fades.
steady at first and then suddenly away.

shinpachi calls for you.
kagura waves.
sadaharu wags his tail.
you move forward.

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you are older when it ends.

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thanks for reading!