Thaw

Episode 4: The Night of the Compromise and Broken Dam

By March 1930, the arrival of spring in London brought no joy to the delegation; it felt like a countdown to an inevitable disaster.

Following exhaustive, agonizing negotiations between Ambassador Tsuneo Matsudaira and the American delegate, Senator Reed, a compromise was finally taking shape—the "Reed-Matsudaira Proposal." Though it fell short of the seventy-percent ratio demanded by Tokyo, it was a desperate attempt to maintain a realistic military balance. It was, by all accounts, the absolute limit of what could be achieved through diplomacy.

Yet, the moment this proposal was cabled back to Tokyo, the hardline factions centered around the Naval General Staff exploded with fury: “To agree to a fleet limitation without the consent of the Naval General Staff is a betrayal of the highest order, gravely threatening the security of the Empire!”

The non-stop telegrams from home were no longer diplomatic communications; they were threats demanding the immediate collapse of the conference, even if it meant the destruction of the delegates themselves.

Late at night in the embassy's dimly lit records room.

Kazuya stood powerlessly before a mountain of treaty drafts and a stack of condemning telegrams. The endless debates and the ceaseless vitriol from his own country had pushed him past his physical and mental limits. His vision blurred violently, and as Kazuya’s knees gave way, he began to collapse toward the floor—

"Kazuya!"

A pair of slender arms wrapped around him from behind, a small body desperately straining to catch his falling weight. It was Shizuko. Her delicate shoulders shook violently under Kazuya's weight. The moment he felt her warmth, the fragile dam holding back Kazuya's emotions shattered completely.

"You must stay away from me!" Kazuya cried out, coldbloodedly wrenching himself free from her grasp and forcing her away.

Documents scattered across the floor, fluttering like broken wings. As Shizuko stared at him with wide, shocked eyes, Kazuya unleashed a torrent of agonizing words. It was a brutal rejection, born entirely from the depth of his love for her.

"If this treaty is signed, I will be utterly isolated within the Navy! I have no idea what horrors await me when I return home. I will be branded a traitor, a villain, showered with every curse imaginable, and my career as a military man will be over! I cannot drag you into that nightmare. I cannot allow your life and your future to be ruined because of me!"

"Do not leave me behind to carry this all by yourself!"

Shizuko did not retreat even an inch. Instead, she turned her tear-streaked eyes directly upon him, her voice ringing with a fierce intensity that matched Kazuya's own.

"What do I care about my future or my career? That is not what I am trying to protect!"

"Shizuko..."

"If you are to bear the brand of a traitor, then I will bear it with you!"

Shizuko threw herself back into Kazuya’s chest. This time, she wrapped her arms tightly around his back, burying her face against him so fiercely that Kazuya could not push her away.

"You are not betraying your country. You are saving the lives of the future. If we choose war, countless people will die. If this treaty stops that, then I will gladly be branded a traitor alongside you. So please... do not cast me away."

All resistance drained from Kazuya's body.

Shizuko’s tears soaked through Kazuya's shirt. She was right. He was not fighting for the pride or vanity of the military. He was standing here to protect the "ordinary, everyday life" and the "future lives" he had sworn to defend on that sunny street corner.

"I'm sorry. I am so sorry, Shizuko."

Kazuya wrapped arms around her, pulling her close with an embrace filled with all the tenderness and desperation in his soul.

Outside the window, a bitter London wind howled through the night. But inside the dark records room, a silent, unbreakable vow had been lit between them—a promise to face whatever cruel destiny awaited them, together.

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🌐OriginalJapanese：https://note.com/juicy_laelia8513/n/n2c5a43094f8f

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