By volume seven, Gen has grown old enough to think about the legacy of the victims of the atomic bombing. Picking up from volume six, the story opens with Gen searching for a printer willing to publish an eyewitness account of the bombing written by 'Papa,' the journalist who serves as a father figure to Gen's war orphan friends. By hook and crook Gen and Ryuta manage to get the book printed and distributed, only to arouse the wrath of U.S. Army censors, who teach them a hard lesson about the politics of memory. Meanwhile, Gen's brother Koji returns home at last, only to find that their mother is on her deathbed.