Story Synopsis

The story begins with the main character at school. His class is about to receive a new student. The new student is Japanese, and also becomes fast friends with the main character. The scene then changes to after school, as the main character returns home he is greeted by his grandfather. The conversation the main character has with his grandfather is ordinary, until the main character mentions his new friend. His grandfather becomes angered at the mere mention of Japan and angrily departs from the scene. This has the main character wondering what happened that made his grandfather so angry.

The next day at school, the main character starts to avoid his Japanese friend, wary of the episode his grandfather had yesterday. Confused, his Japanese friend confronts him and asks why he was being avoided. The main character tells him about what happened with his grandfather the other day. With his friend speechless, the main character assumes the worst, and doesn’t talk to his friend for the rest of the day. After school, he inquires to his grandfather what made him so angry about the mention of Japan. His grandfather tells the story of the Japanese Occupation during WWII, and his experiences in trying to free the country as a guerilla fighter. He also mentions of the killing of the main character’s great grandfather, great uncle, and great aunt done by the Japanese on the streets of Manila.

What his grandfather said makes the main character upset. And so, the main character develops a plan to give the Japanese retribution for what they did. After school on the next day, the main character approaches his friend. The main character calls him out to fight after class and declares that retribution will be made.

After school, his friend shows up for the fight. When they fight, his friend asks why they were fighting. The main character responds by explaining how bad it was when the Japanese invaded the Philippines. His friend retaliates by saying how bad it was to for the Japanese, how his family had suffered during the war. Shocked to hear what the other side was like, the main character flees the scene.

The next day, the main character approaches his friend and apologizes, saying he didn’t have a right to call him out to a fight. However, his friend also apologizes for what his home country did to the Philippines. The main character says that it’s not his friend’s fault for the occupation. He also declares that retribution is no longer needed, because he now understands that the many Japanese didn’t want the war at all. He thinks that since there are good people among Japanese, they are not bad people.