Chapter 1: The City
Looking over the city at night had the tendency to put one in a reverie. The feeling of freedom, being able to do anything you wanted to was a one many sought after.
A lone figure stood watching over the city, lost in their thoughts, they had been doing so for some time, not moving an inch the entire time.
As though trying to comprehend an unfathomable truth they stood there in silent contemplation, oblivious to the passage of time.
A single word escaped the lips of the mysterious individual, uttered with suspiscious relief yet in an ominous tone.
"Meeden…"
The instant the word was uttered the person vanished, not a single thing could show that the person was just there. The night went on, the presence of the strange individual having no effect whatsoever on the city.
"Jun. You're spacing out again."
"Sorry." The girl apologized, smiling sheepishly. "Um, were you saying something?"
A look of sympathy flashed on the older girls face before she continued. "Finding a final member for our team."
"Oh." Jun said. "Yukio seems to know a lot of people here, can't he just invite one of his friends?"
"Most of them are already in teams, I guess." She groaned loudly, brushing both hands through her brown hair. "This would have been easier if we were still C-rank."
"Don't worry, Suzu-senpai, we still have three weeks till the beginning of the rank war season, enough time to find someone." Jun replied. "On the bright side, it means more time to learn more about being an Operator."
"I guess." The older girl, Suzu, agreed.
"What exactly are you looking for though?" Jun asked. "A Gunner, Shooter, Attacker?"
"I guess, ideally, a Shooter." Suzu answered, taking a seat beside Jun. "But at this point I'm willing to accept any competent agent, even a second sniper."
The girls were seated by the solo rank war booths, Jun being the only one watching though.
"How are you holding up?" Suzu asked Jun.
"I'm fine, everything's okay." Jun said, her eyes still focused on the screen.
"You're sure?"
"Yes, I'm okay." She chuckled a bit, the match she was watching had ended. She let out a sigh as she stood up.
"I have to be going now, it's getting late."
Suzu stood up too. "I'll accompany y-"
"I'm taking the bus, so there's no need for that, thank you though." Jun interrupted her.
"Oh," Suzu paused. "Well then, I'll see you tomorrow."
"See you later, bye-bye Suzu-senpai." She waved before walking off.
The brown haired girl waved back, sitting down after.
"How is she holding up?"
Suzu looked up to see the speaker. He was about her age, a year older perharps. His long black hair was tied in a pony tail at the back and left to fall freely at the sides.
"Oh, Ken. She seems to be handling it well, but you can tell she's not over it."
"Will she ever get over it?" Ken continued, seating next to the brunette. "If that had happened to me, I'm sure I would just leave. She's really strong though, I give her that, to be able to stay here even after the accident..."
Suzu smiled, resting her head on his shoulder. "It's my job to make sure she does."
Jun sat waiting for the bus, thinking, afterall that was all she could do, wasn't it.
The past year had been the worst of her life. At sixteen, this was far from what she had envisioned for her life, very far.
'It's all because of those n-'
"Young lady?"
A tap on her shoulder broke her out of her thoughts.
"Aren't you following this bus?" A woman asked.
Taking a quick look at the bus, Jun realized it was indeed her bus. "Yes I am, thank you."
"You seem to have a lot on your mind." The woman commented, following Jun
"Not really, school has just been really stressful." Jun replied, smiling.
"I hear that a lot these days." The woman said, taking the seat beside Jun.
The black haired girl frowned, though she a smile promptly replaced it when the woman gazed at her. The woman seemed to be in her mid to late-thirties, she probably had at least a child around her age, Jun assumed.
Though her face showed signs of aging, she didn't seem tired or worn out, instead she wore a smile on her face, a sort of sad but at the same time cheerful one. "My sons would always say the same thing." She continued. "Do you find it odd that despite all that has happened in this city, people still decide to stay here?"
"Not really." Jun answered, her smile fading. "Most of us have something that has bound us to this city, whether good or bad."
"Good or bad, huh."
The bus cruised slowly through the city. Lights were beginning to illuminate the creeping darkness of the night, the sun being reduced to distant rays of light slipping past the horizon.
"Isn't it something profound, the shadow of the base cast over the city, acting as a beacon of sorts, a source of hope perharps? That though embattled and rather dystopian, the city can prosper."
Jun raised an eyebrow, coughing a bit before speaking. "You sure have a way with words."
"Do I?" The woman chuckled. "Got into poetry recently, it's funny how one can confuse verbosity for eloquency though, makes you realize that there's so much more we really believe to be the same due to a percieved similarity."
"Only just recently?" Jun asked.
"Sort of." The woman answered. "My sons were into them for a while, apparently."
"They aren't anymore?"
The woman paused for a while, before continuing. "I'm afraid I must be going now, we've arrived at my stop. It was nice meeting you."
"Likewise." Jun replied as the woman left. 'What a weird woman.'
As the bus resumed moving she caught a glimpse of the woman going through the gates of her house. She was dressed simply, holding a bag of groceries as she continued to her house. She oddly seemed like the type of person that could have been a powerful orator, maybe in another time, another place.
Jun soon forgot about her encounter with the woman after she got back home. No one was at home, as she expected. She just laid on her bed staring at the cieling while lost in thought.
The accident had changed her, not just physically but mentally too, she supposed. Cutting her hair had just been the beginning, her formerly long black hair was now as short as the boys', she hadn't even bothered using make-up anymore.
She had to rethink her life choices after that day in march, much to her utter dismay. During her convalescence, she remembered wishing she had died instead upon realization of her situation. She really couldn't see her life moving on then, she didn't want it to.
She brought her hands to her eyes, wiping away the tears she wouldn't let loose. She wasn't supposed to cry, she wouldn't, when did crying ever solve anything?
She was past crying like a helpless little girl, she had be strong…
She was strong.
She stood up from her bed and, raising her shirt a bit, looked into the mirror, seeing her hand rubbing her bare back.
"I'm not weak." She brought her palms to her eyes again, her voice shaking. "I'm strong."
"I'm strong…"
Author's Notes
Well, I'm a blue-eyed rancor, apparently, and this is my World Trigger debut story. It's sort of acts like an introduction to both Jun the character and the alternate universe my -hopefully- consequential stories will be set in. There's not much combat in this story, it's more of a psychologically oriented story establishing a floor of sorts upon which to build.
There won't be much author notes like this, I'm only doing this since it's the first chapter, and if I ever do it again, it'll probably be to make some important announcement.
Feedback is always welcome, the readers are, partly, who we write for after all. Thank you for your time, and till next time.