The classroom was completely still.

  The sound of chalk against the blackboard echoed in steady rhythm.

  Then, suddenly, the sound stopped.

  “Hey, Kenji. What are you spacing out for?”

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  The teacher’s voice called to me from the front of the room, breaking my daydream as I stared absently out the window.

  “You’ll never become the great doctor you talk about if you keep that up.

  Not like that Dr. Mary, anyway.”

  I froze.

  …Even my teacher knew about Dr. Mary.

  A name that doesn’t appear in any textbook,

  and yet—

  she lives on here, too.

  The End

  This is a work of fiction.

  All characters, organizations, and medical missions depicted are entirely the product of the author’s imagination, and bear no relation to real individuals or entities.

  However, certain elements—such as the state of postwar Japanese healthcare, the development of public medicine, and social conditions of the time—are inspired by historical reference.

  We hope you have enjoyed this story for what it is: a work of narrative fiction.