All You Need Is Kill

by Hiroshi Sakurazaka

“You ever hear the expression kiri-oboeru?” “What?” I asked, startled to hear the Japanese. “It’s an old samurai saying that means, ‘Strike down your enemy, and learn.’

Shasta smiled. “I’ve met soldiers who think they can follow in Rita’s footsteps and fail, and I’ve met some who recognize her for the prodigy she is and never even try to match her. But you’re the first person I’ve met who realizes the distance between themselves and Rita and yet is prepared to run it.”

Just because I had all the time in the world didn’t mean I had time to waste.

There were things I could do, and things I couldn’t. If I practiced, in time I could change some of those things I couldn’t do into things I could.