My Story
I stood on deck, the hair whipped by the wind and salty spray against my cheeks. "Focus, Fusō!" my instructor yelled, wrenching me back down to earth. I let out a grin, the chemicals of adrenaline coursing through my veins. It was here-the Nagasaki Naval Training School with its roaring waves and relentless pursuit of knowledge.
Each day was an adventure to me as a freshman filled with laughter and occasionally some mishaps. A group of like-minded students, all fervent about the sea, had become my friends. We had trained very hard, celebrated victories, and supported each other through setbacks. I had quickly learned that our backbones were teamwork.
And there was my appearance-a detail that I always tried to push to the back of my mind. My hair was this weird color of blue and would shine whenever it reached the sun; although I had an average build, I would often get glances from my classmates. I'd laugh it off, focusing instead on my dreams of sailing the open waters.
It was just that day, lost in deep thought after an extenuating training session, when it happened. I remembered replaying our latest exercise over in my head when suddenly, a car horn broke my concentration. Everything around me went in slow motion as I turned, with the world cloudy enough to obscure everything. Then, nothing but darkness, but there is always something unexpected hidden in the darkness waiting to be revealed…