ToNE: |I'm Not Your Momotaro| (Amanita)

Itsuki was born in Kyoto in late 1928, named for the famous peach tree (“itsuki” meaning spring trees). He was often neglected by his parents; his father being a worker in the Japanese government and his mother assisting him, they had been caught up in the extreme nationalism that took hold of the country during this time and wished more to help the state than to care for their child. Furthermore, Itsuki was a strange child; no one around him could understand him, as he would often talk in weird ways and seemed a bit disassociative and forgetful, and his parents were a bit disgusted by this generally. Thus, the child was raised primarily by his older sister, who also did not care much for his wellbeing. She pushed him around quite a bit, and he listened to her most of the time, being a very docile child.

Due to his inadequate childhood, Itsuki grew to be an awkward youth. His peers shunned him and he was often left out of events, as he didn't fit in and often “messed things up” or caused events to become disorderly. This was a great source of depression for him, though he kept it bottled up and did not feel comfortable sharing it with anyone, having no close friends during this period.

Everything changed one day in 1939; war had broken out between Japan and China, and the former nation's consideration of national pride skyrocketed. Despite all of the stress of his condition and situation, Itsuki's studies showed that he sported unusual intelligence, performing exceptionally in all of his academics. He was removed from his school and family by the government and sent to live with a man by the name of Sugimoto Shigeru, a famed and highly respected professor who would push the boy's studies.

Shigeru was a very stern individual, and not very good with children; Itsuki was forced on several occasions to open up to his superior due to his strange behaviour (As he would often forget tasks due to his dissociative nature), and Shigeru would often get angry, telling the boy that no one cared about his feelings, that emotions were meant to be discarded for the higher good. Thus, Itsuki over time began to ingest this mindset, becoming even more uncomfortable sharing his feelings or thoughts, or even talking to anyone. He also became very paranoid and highly insecure, often “watching himself”. He was still very docile at this point but secretly disliked social situations or dealing too much with others, finding them to be confusing and these situations often humiliating.

The youth became relatively famed for his sharp mind throughout the land, and he was an amazing problem solver. As he grew older, Shigeru, deciding the boy would make a great impact if he were to serve in the ongoing War, began to train him to be a military strategist, despite the youth only being 12. Itsuki, however, had developed a mind of his own, and different interests than his master; over time, this gentle spirit began to feel uncomfortable with the prospect of the war; when he would go out into the streets, he was often horrified at the common things he would see. Also very tired of being pushed around, his stubbornness began to really show through; though he was harshly punished by Sugimoto whenever he would dare defy him (and it was often only minor defiances, as the boy would often find one course of action wiser than what his master had prepared and would bring it up to him politely), this did not discourage Itsuki and actually caused him to grow more determined. Itsuki was also becoming increasingly stressed due to the heavy expectations placed on him; he was often compared to momotaro, “peach boy”, a major symbol of Japanese nationalism. However, he felt he could never live up to expectations and on one occasion mentioned in a rage to Shigeru that he felt“he was not the greatly loved momotaro, sweet, serene and strong, but like a poisonous fungus spreading it's spores, hated by all”.

On one occasion, he became so furious at the directions Shigeru gave him that he was shut in a room for days without food. On the second day in isolation, Itsuki found a small and sharp twig left in the corner of the dark room, and ingeniously was ably to use it to pick the lock on the window and escape. He had made up his mind to escape Shigeru's wing and was happy to be free, however, this joy was soon dashed, as word of his rebelliousness had spread throughout the city of Kyoto. Unable to pass a street corner without being insulted or sneered at, he learned that he was considered an insult to his country, dishonourable, and not wanting Japan's war efforts to succeed.

Unable to bear these humiliations, Itsuki made up his mind to escape to an abandoned shrine a few miles outside Kyoto, in a thick forest. He had visited this site many times in his early childhood and he saw it as a place of serenity, of peace. However, he was unable to reach it peacefully. At the edge of the city, he was suddenly grabbed and attacked by an older boy. Though he struggled to escape, his small frame and frail nature held him back. A mob of children and teens soon surrounded the two boys, and viciously Itsuki was beaten by the mob. Due to the general anger at Itsuki the fight is not stopped right away, nor does it draw much attention. (it happening far from Shigeru's home, he is not aware of it, nor of the fact that his student has gone missing.) The frightening attack was ended when a nearby military officer, probably not wanting the boy to die as Japan would lose a sharp mind (however assumed unwilling), chased the assailants away. On seeing how wounded the 12 year old boy is, he is unsure of how to proceed to capture him, and thus gives the boy a chance to escape.

Making his way carefully to the shrine, Itsuki was traumatised severely. The child had escaped with countless cuts and broken bones. He had lost a lot of blood and furthermore was nearly paralysed by his trauma, so thinking he would die, he began to pray at the Shinto shrine. Suddenly he felt someone watching him, and painfully turning around he saw a woman, or what appeared to be; she looked more like light or a cloud. He could not move to stop her, and she began to carefully treat all of his major wounds, most notably wrapping his broken leg and sliced arm. He soon passed out from lack of blood and oxygen, as was bound to happen, but due to the wrappings did not lose any more and managed to survive. When he awoke, the woman was gone; thinking she was a great spirit, he became even more religiously fervent.

As the shrine was rather large, and abandoned, being far out of the minds of many commoners, he lived alone there for the next four years. Oftentimes soldiers would come by, usually on military exercises, and he would have to hide. Itsuki, having time to reflect, developed a strong sense of pride in his nation (though he detested modern Japanese values), and often ventured into the city to try and obtain books and other information for even higher learning. Though he often went at night, sometimes he would have to go during the light hours, and not wanting to be recognised he would wear a mask that obscured his identity. Though he had gone missing over a year prior to his visits to Kyoto, most people remembered him and referred to him derogatorively as “the recluse” or “the ghost”; and since he was only seen on occasion, citizens would even go as far as placing bets on who could see him, or trying to seek him out for the sake of fame.

In 1945, he felt that hatred toward him had died down, at least enough that he could venture outside permanently. He decided that he did not want to stay in Kyoto anymore but to try and venture to another near city, eventually settling on Hiroshima, because he remembered he supposedly had relatives in that city that possibly would show mercy and be willing to take him in.

Itsuki was extremely malnourished from his time living in the forest with very little food and having often to trek all the way to Kyoto, and furthermore, walked with a limp due to his broken leg which had never been completely healed or re-set; resulting, he moved quite slowly. Though it was quite risky for him, he decided that it would be more efficient to take a train to the Hiroshima.

However, while the train is en route to the city, it happened to be the fateful day when America bombed Hiroshima. The driver is notified of this he rapidly tries to turn the train around. However, word escaped to a passenger, and everyone in the train began to panic. Being a great distraction to the already frantic driver, he crashes the train.

Itsuki survived, though almost no one else had. Again traumatised, he realises he is also alone once more. Severely injured by the crash, having crushed his torso, and barely being able to move, he knew he did not have long. Desperately the young man tried to make his way back to civilisation. He knew it was hopeless due to being in the middle of no where, but he had had a life of trials and had become very stubborn. He had not gotten very far when he begins to suddenly feel extremely ill, figuring it must have something to do with the attack on Hiroshima due to his proximity to the city. Rapidly losing strength because of his already weak body, he collapses, immobile, into a bed of poison amanita mushrooms.

As he lay dying, looking back on his life, Itsuki makes one last vow – revenge on those who had hurt him, taken away his life, blamed him for crimes he had not committed. In a faraway world, his final words were certainly heard ...