Tetsu Mizuhara shares a childhood bond with Suzu, forged through shared hardships. As a boy, he grappled with grief after his older brother—a student at the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy—drowned in a storm-sunk ferry. To soothe his anguish, Suzu drew *Sea Waves and White Rabbits*, transforming the sea’s menace into frolicking rabbits, reframing his trauma and cementing their connection while revealing his early emotional fragility.

During World War II, Tetsu enlisted in the Imperial Japanese Navy, serving aboard the heavy cruiser *Aoba*. On leave, he visited Suzu and her husband, Shūsaku, seeking temporary shelter. In a private moment, he confessed his enduring love for her, though she upheld her marital vows. His service ended when the *Aoba* was crippled in a U.S. air raid and sank in Kure Harbor, though he survived.

Postwar, he stands alone at a quay, gazing at the *Aoba*’s half-submerged wreck, oblivious to Suzu passing nearby—a scene echoing his unresolved ties to the ship and the silent burden of wartime scars. His arc intertwines unrequited love, resilience through loss, and the muted echoes of personal and collective trauma.

Schoolyard rebellion and a pattern of internalizing grief marked his youth, evident in his reaction to his brother’s death and his voluntary enlistment to avoid conscription. His lifelong dynamic with Suzu—from childhood solace to wartime reunion—frames him as a man shaped equally by private yearning and the relentless currents of history.