On April 1, 1945 with the battle of Okinawa beginning, fourteen-year-old native Okinawan Hideki, drafted into the Blood and Iron Student Corps, is handed two grenades and told to go kill American soldiers; small for his age Hideki does not really want to smash anyone else, he just wants to smash his stepmom, and his struggle across the island will finally bring him face-to-face with his dad, a marine in his very first battle--and the choice he makes then will change his life forever.