Between the Lines….
For months…X, along with pretty much everyone who he has had contact with was curious on how Shonen became what she is, and how she could pretty much do anything that seems to be impossible to a normal human…
Late one night… X took it upon himself and decided that enough was enough… And question Shonen…
Rushing to her room, before his better judgment took over and forcefully knocked on the door…
Instantly, there was a reply…..
"Go away! It's three o'clock in the morning… what ever it is can wait until daybreak…"
Deeply X sighed.
"Shonen, open the door… we need to talk… and don't tell me to go away again… you've obviously have been up for a while… why else would you answer the door so quickly?"
On the other side of the door, X sworn he heard Shonen release a low growl, before she opened the door just enough to let him see her face and have a quick conversation.
"X… come on… I was just falling asleep…. You know how hard it's been for me to sleep with my shoulder all messed up…"
X lowered his eyes…
"I'm sorry… I almost forgot about that… but, I seriously need to talk to you…"
Shonen rolled her eyes while releasing a deep sigh.
"And this can't wait until morning? Huh?"
X shook his head…
Releasing another growl, Shonen opened the door and sarcastically invited X into her apartment, then made her way to the kitchen and made herself a cup of coffee….
X, slowly sat down on her couch, as he fidgeted with his hands, waiting for Shonen to join him in the living room….
…a minute or so later… Shonen joined him…
"..O.k. X… I will bite…. What the hell could be SO important to ask me that couldn't wait until later?" Shonen groaned as she sipped her coffee.
X lowered his head as he continued to twirl his fingers….
"…well…. There's been a lot of questions running around Hunter Tower… mostly about how you got your alchemy…."
Shone raised an eyebrow….
"…my… Alchemy? Why would there be questions about it? Isn't there a rule running around…you know… Don't ask, don't tell?"
"..Well…yea…." X began… "..But, you know how we are…"
Shonen released a deep sigh as she leaned back on the couch…
"Come on X… seriously?"
X looked up at Shonen…
"Well…" X replied in a questionable tone…
Shonen placed her cup on the floor then proceeded to get up off the couch.
"..I've been curious myself….especially since you haven't aged a day in over sixty years…. It's been kind of creeping the other hunters out…." he rebutted.
Shonen drew her arms around her stomach as she began to pace the floor….
"…X…. this is not an easy subject to explain…. It's kind of like explaining on the geometrics of reploid technology…. You know… Long, evolved and sometimes… mind numbing…."
X placed his hands on his lap….
"I'm sorry sis… but I was kind of told that I wouldn't be able to leave without some kind of explanation…."
Shonen whipped around…
"What do you mean 'you can't leave unless you got an explanation'? Who told you that?"
X shrugged his shoulders…
"Pretty much everyone who I've come in contact with…"
"..And that would be …. Everybody who resides in Hunter Tower, I would assume…."
X gave a short nod.
"Bingo…."
Shonen turned away once again, made her way to an open window, leaned up against the window sill, as her gaze focused out into the open…"
"….it was eighty years ago…. A week ago exactially…. When I was given a gift… that's been both a blessing… And a curse…." She began as her gaze remained transfixed out the window…. A cool breeze gently brew through her hair…. "My parents…. I was ten when they…." Shonen swallowed a lump in her throat… "… when they….um…."
Shonen's lip began to quiver… desperately fighting back unwanted tears.
X, got up from the couch, made his way over to Shonen, and placed his hand on her shoulder.
Shonen dropped her head slightly….
"It's o.k. Shonen…. If it's that painful to tell me… then I understand…I'm sorry that I caused you to cry…. It was stupid of me…. I'm really sorry…."
Shonen responded by shaking her head…
"No, X… it's not painful for me to tell… it's just, that one part…."
X leaned in closer….
"..Then… why don't you skip ahead… just tell me the part on when you received your alchemy…"
Shonen nodded as she returned her gaze towards the horizon…
"..Well, after that…. Incident…. I was broken inside… I knew deep in my heart, that it was evil that did it to me…. So… After a couple of years later… I was still holding that… pain inside…. And this man…. Comes up to me… in the middle of midtown, he said he could feel pain, anger, and loss in my heart…. I actually thought that he was just some crazy old man…. But he told me that he could help me get rid of all that, and be able to extinguish all evil… all around the world… that I could help the suffering, that I could be a champion to this city…. Of course… I thought that what he saying kind of make sense…. I really didn't want to hurt anymore…."
Shonen released a stuttered sigh as she continued…
"….he told me of this place where I could train… a place…. Where I would become…. Something greater… but…. Something that great, came with a price….the thing of the whole game… was that I had to give up something coercive something… an equivalent exchange…. At that point and time… I was willing to give up anything…. Just to stop the hurting…I was told to then close my eyes so he could perform the exchange…. At first I was scared… but he assured me that I would be fine… that no harm would come of me…."
"…you were trusting? Weren't you?" X questioned with a slight smirk on his face.
Shonen shrugged her shoulders…
"Hey, I was young…. What the hell did I know?" she replied, making X chuckle slightly.
"…anyway…." Shonen continued. "….as I closed my eyes… I felt this weird sensation flow around, and throughout my body… I felt… As if, my very soul was being drawn out of my body… I began to feel sick… But, I couldn't move my body neither…. After what seemed like hours, I felt like I was going to die, then… as if by some unheard request… I felt this warmth wash over my body… a renewing type of energy… it made me feel….. Happy…..I didn't hurt anymore…. The feeling… I didn't want it to end…. But… the energy began to fade… the light… with the warmth… just… Went away…. The man told me, that in order for me to use the gift I was given… I had to confirm what I gave as part of my exchange…."
X held her shoulder a bit harder, being careful on not to hold it too much.
"…. I told him that I would agree to anything… I wanted to keep what I was given… the man then told me… my part of the exchange… was my….." Shonen closed her eyes….as a tear slid down her cheek. "…my…..soul…."
X released a soft gasp….
"You're… Soul?"
Shonen nodded…
"That's the reason… on why I haven't aged… of how I'm able to performing greats acts….or…. How… you and I can create a new being…. Reploid and alchemic…. It's what I am…. It's been apart of me for a good portion of my life…..and to be God's honest with you…. Even though, I gave up something that I know I could never get back… something that has been a part of me for even before my birth…. I would do it again if time was to be reversed on me…."
X slowly shook his head….
"But Shonen… your soul? Just so you wouldn't hurt?" he asked in a soft whisper.
Shonen turned her head around slightly…
"You've done the same thing time and time again… please don't judge me on something that you have experienced in your life."
"..I'm sorry… I should have known better…" he whispered again.
Shonen smiled gently as she looked back out the window…
"Hey… the sun's coming up…."
X turned his eyes out the window….
"..Our first sunrise…." he replied with a smile as he held onto Shonen.
Shonen reached upon and held his arms….as she leaned back slightly, resting her head on his shoulder….
Both released a soft sigh, as the sun slowly rose up into the sky….
"…we're going to be on duty soon…. You want to just call in sick?"
Shonen shook her head…
"Nah…. It would be hard to pull that off…. Especially since I have unlimited powers…."
X chuckled as he slowly released Shonen, and then made his way out of her apartment…
"Yea… I guess you're right…"
Shonen chuckled in kind, as she followed X towards her door…