Retrograde Amnesia: a person's pre-existing memories are lost to conscious recollection, beyond an ordinary degree of forgetfulness. (source: )
Hello thar fellow monster! Before you ask, yes this is a oneshot.
Otto: Wow. This sucks for Wing.
Wing: Who's Wing? Who're you?
Otto: Fuck what?! WING!! WHYYYYY!!!!!! (faints)
Me: (grins) Okay, here's the Christmas picture of Shelby you wanted. Just drag him off.
Wing: Thank you.
Me: No, thank you.
I OWN NOTHING.
Warning, they get potty-mouthed here (like Otto did above)
Warning, there is very slight Otto/Wing and slight Laura/Otto.
Enjoy!
"Irrashaimase!"
A handsome young man greeted the guest in a black coat at the door of the restaurant. The employee grinned, and approached the stranger. The other workers smiled at the antics of their colleague, as he hugged the man like a little child.
"Nathaniel-kun! It's so nice to see you again." He said happily, pulling the man to his seat. The brunette grinned (1), removing his coat and hanging it over the seat of the booth they sat in.
"It's a pleasure to see you again as well, Tsubasa-kun. I hope you've been doing well." Nathaniel replied to the Japanese boy. Said adult grinned, pushing back his long black hair when it'd gone disarray.
"And what are you here for today? You usually don't just pop in like this." He said. "You have a date, hm?" Tsubasa asked, laughing a little. "I'm not looking for a girlfriend, Tsu-kun." Nathaniel said to the boy, using his nickname. "I'm just meeting with a friend of mine. We haven't seen each other in a while, and I wanted to bring her to the best restaurant in town."
"Of course you did. Just a friend?' Tsubasa asked, grinning. "Yes, just a friend." Nathaniel replied calmly.
"A-ano, Tsubasa-san?" a shy, brown-haired girl said, catching the attention of both men. "Tōya-san asked f-for you to come back to the counter, i-instead of just hanging around. I-it's a busy day, he said."
"Ah, I will, Shiba-chan, thank you for telling me." Tsubasa replied kindly. She blushed brightly, bowed quickly, and scurried off. Tsubasa and Nathaniel chuckled.
"You do realize that Shibata-chan likes you, right?" Nathaniel asked. "Of course I do. I just appreciate her as a good friend, though." Tsubasa replied. They laughed a little more, before Tsubasa stood up.
"Well, I really should go." He said, leaving his friend at the table. Nathaniel nodded, and his friend left for the counter.
After a few minutes, the bell of the pastry shop dinged, and a jacketed lady entered the store. When she removed her jacket and slung it on her arm, her eyes surveyed the place, them landing on Nathaniel. She brushed her red hair back, before sliding into the booth.
"Nice choice." She muttered sarcastically.
"Only the best for a pretty lady like you, Sally." Nathaniel replied with same enthusiasm. She glared.
"Interesting how you're friends with the staff." Sally said, looking at how the people in the restaurant were treating him. "I go here often. Is that a problem?" he asked.
It was as though a vein popped in her head. Sally almost stood up, before she regained her cover, so instead, she just landed her hands on the table.
"Do you not understand the concept of undercover, Nathaniel? You could be killed if you went here everyday! Heck, we could be killed by just staying here, out in the open? Don't you know about the conspiracy—?"
"Of course I do. Who wouldn't?" he asked calmly. "Sally, keep your cool. We won't die here in a pastry shop in Japan. Just let me explain." Sally calmed down. She slowly regained her cool.
"I reinforced the area with high-class traps for those who are obviously out to get us. For customers, they don't get bothered." Nathaniel said. "I haven't been bothered by any assassins yet, but it doesn't mean that I won't be. So my apartment building has been protected as well. Any areas I frequent are thoroughly cared for, and my being always carries an armory." He paused. "Are you happy now?"
Sally frowned.
"This is the first time I've been to this shop, so you can't have just protected it for my sakes. But you said 'us'. Who do you mean besides yourself?" She asked.
Nathaniel grinned, and looked to the counter. Sally saw the twenty-three year old manning the counter, greeting all the customers in the shop. Her eyes widened in recognition.
"Oh no." she muttered. "You didn't!"
Her exclamation almost caught the attention of other workers, until they saw the look on Nathaniel's face. Everyone just shrugged, and went back to work. After all, they all knew that when he smirked, nothing was wrong.
"The services GLOVE offered for his protection are waning, Sally. He could be attacked and he wouldn't know why. He wouldn't remember why. I've got to protect him myself." He said.
"But Ot—"
"Ssh!" he said, covering her mouth with his hand. She stopped, and Nathaniel took his mouth away.
"You shouldn't be doing this." Sally said, glowering. "I'm doing this for his betterment—"
"And his possible death, Otto." She said, finally saying his name. "Remember what Nero said about his case. And I know you're not doing this for him. You're doing this for yourself."
Otto's shoulders slumped. He bit his lip.
"I know, but I just want him back, even if it's just for a short while…" he said sadly. Sally shook her head, but placed a hand on his shoulder.
"He can't remember. He won't remember. I'm sorry, but it just can't go back to the way it was before."
"I know, Laura." He said. "I just…"
"Good afternoon, may I take your order?" someone asked, and when they looked to their waiter, Otto automatically grinned.
"Why of course you may." He said mockingly. Tsubasa grinned.
"And who is the pretty lady?" he asked. Laura smiled, and pretended to bow.
"The name's Sally McKenzie, from Scotland. I'm an old friend of Nathaniel's." she said happily. "Hm? And old friend? Are you sure?" Tsubasa teased, and the three of them laughed. "I'd just like a raspberry cheesecake." Laura said. "And I'll go for a cream puff." Otto added. Tsubasa nodded.
"Alright then, one raspberry cheesecake for the pretty lady, and one cream puff for Nathaniel-kun." He said.
"What, no 'handsome man'?" Otto asked.
"Well… no, not really." Tsubasa replied, laughing. "You're just Nathaniel-kun."
"You're so mean, Tsu-kun." Otto saod, and they all laughed again. Tsubasa waved a good-bye, as he went back to the counter.
Laura beamed.
"Who would've known that Wing would turn out so… lively." She said. Otto nodded.
"I know, right?" he replied. They had a small moment of peace, before they went down to business.
"Alright." Otto said. "What do you know about the changes in your apartment?" he asked. They couldn't outright talk about the conspiracy in GLOVE, so they had to code it.
"Well, they added red carpets, though they seem kind of deadening to me, instead of lively." Laura replied. Operatives have been killed off one by one, under orders from a faction which plans to 'beautify the world'.
"Ooh, really? I only heard about the walls they painted over. They're in green, right?" Otto asked. Isn't there supposed to be a new assassination group? I thought they were the best, unless Raven and Shelby didn't work to hard on them.
"Yeah, they're green. And they're pretty nice-looking too. They might just overcome the boring red carpets." Laura said, grinning. Don't worry. Raven and Shelby are probably destroying a few members of that crazy faction at this very moment. They may just destroy it in a few days.
"That's pretty cool. And do the computers have Wi-Fi yet?" Did the Tech department fix the virus hack?
"Heck yeah. I had to fix it up myself. I got paid pretty pounds for it too." Yeah. I got a few more zeroes in my bank account as well.
"That's good to hear." Otto said. Tsubasa came over, smiling.
"So how're the 'old friends'?" he asked. Otto grinned at his implication. "Haha. I told you, Tsu-kun. I'm not looking for women."
"He's gay, you see." Laura added bluntly.
"I am not!" Otto said defiantly, and Tsubasa laughed. "Really!" Otto added.
"Yeah, he's just in denial." Tsubasa said, and he and Laura began to laugh, as Otto's face reddened.
"Haha, very funny." He said. "I'm not gay."
"Whatever you say." Tsubasa said, putting down the cake and the cream puff. He waved goodbye to the two when he went back to the counter.
"So…" said Laura. "Can you tell me what happened to him? Since the accident?" she asked. Otto looked at her with a confused look.
"Oh don't be so innocent." She said. "I know that you've been watching over Wing like some guardian angel. Or maybe a crazed stalker."
"Very funny." He replied. Laura looked at him pointedly.
"Fine." He said.
The 'accident' was a mission that they all took as GLOVE operatives. It was their final mission, before they would all be promoted to different departments. In short, it was their last day together as a team.
"Target acquired?" Laura asked, from the safety of the mini-Shroud. Shelby gave a short 'affirmative', before calling Otto and Wing to link the hooks that seemed to come out of nowhere onto their loot. It rose into the air, before disappearing. Suddenly, a large explosion in the sky shook the ground, and the Shroud came into view.
"FUCK! Enemy attack, get in before you guys get hurt!" Laura hollered over the comms, before another shot hit the area. There were giant, bomb sized missiles raining the place. "Hurry, I can't hold the defenses up much longer."
A rope ladder fell down, hanging from the inside of the Shroud. Shelby began climbing, before pausing when another strike hit the area. She scurried up, Otto and Wing following.
"Hurry you two!" Shelby said, and she began reeling the rope ladder in Otto grunted, as a sharp pain hit his arm. He'd been caught in a very large crossfire just a bit before, and he hadn't healed just yet.
"Come on!" Shelby shouted. Otto willed the pain to go away, until—
"Shit!" Otto exclaimed when a tiny projectile hit the ladder. One side split apart, and the rungs above him ripped away. Wing, who had been below him the entire time, almost slipped off at the shock, until Otto grabbed him with his free arm. Unluckily enough, that was the injured arm.
He sucked in the air through his teeth, trying to ignore the burning pain in his shoulder. Wing was worse off. He had to take a few more hits than needed when they crossed the battlefield.
"Shel!" Otto exclaimed. "Gotcha!" she replied, reeling them both in. it was working well, until the rope began to uncurl.
When it began breaking, Otto considered throwing Wing up to the Shroud before pulling himself in. He inwardly slapped himself. There was a seven meter difference between them and the Shroud, and he was never able to carry Wing before.
"Wing." Otto said. "I'll sling you up the rope, and then you've got to get in the Shroud. I'll get up after you." The plan would have been fine, until the rope began to split apart again.
"Don't." Wing finally muttered. "What?" Otto asked, unbelieving. He was answered, however, when Wing began to purposely loosen the grip Otto had on him.
Automatically, Otto grabbed at his friend. "Hell no." he mumbled angrily. "We've gotten this far. There is no way I'm letting you down like this!"
"If you do not, we will both go down." Wing replied. His calm voice was betrayed by the flames in his eyes. "At least one of us has to—"
"No." Otto said firmly. "We can't. We've gone this far."
Wing shook his head, before slightly yanking on Otto's arm. He hissed in pain, his hand loosening somewhat. Wing took advantage of the situation, and let go.
"WING!" he exclaimed, but the Asian was already falling. Otto froze, before Shelby reeled him in. She stared at him, as though she were waiting for Wing to pop out behind him. Otto snapped out of his daze.
"Laura, how far are we from the nearest safe house?"He asked quickly. "Ten minutes. I can issue a search party now before we get there." She replied. She looked shocked and distressed, but she did her job. Moping wouldn't make the world go around.
"Shel…" Otto said, reaching a hand out to his friend. He placed it on her shoulder, in condolence.
"Don't worry." She said, seeming far away. "He's not dead. I can just feel it."
She looked confident with what she said. Shelby stood up and went to get the first aid box for Otto.
"He's not dead…"
After five hours of searching, the search party found Wing. He was in a comatose state, and he looked as dead he would be if he were. Apparently, he was very, very, very lucky. Sure, more than fifty percent of his bones were broken, and sure, he had slight brain damage and concussions, but he hadn't fallen all the way to the ground.
They were flying over a canyon when he fell. However, he'd fallen on many of the overhanging trees there, and Wing had landed on a thin ledge over the canyon's river. He was very, very lucky indeed.
But when he woke up, things were different.
"Where am I?" he asked first. Shelby and Laura smiled at him, and tried to hug him, but he automatically pushed them away.
"Who are you? Where am I?" he demanded harshly. The last thing he saw was the girls' shocked faces, when he was knocked out.
An hour later, Otto described the predicament.
"He can't remember a single thing." He said bluntly. However, inside his head he was going haywire. He was screaming in his head in denial and frustration and depression. It was though inner-Otto was crazy.
"Not his name, his age, nothing. If he can't remember anything, we have to let it stay that way. According to Nero, he's going to a couple in Japan who were former GLOVE operatives. They'll take him in as their son."
Shelby and Laura nodded. However, their expression looked horrified.
They may never see Wing as himself ever again.
"He got a job here three years ago, and I was stationed here two years ago. When I found out where he worked, I began going here for lunch and stuff. Tsubasa-kun referred to me as the 'quiet bastard on the corner', since I really was a quiet bastard to him then." Otto said. Laura laughed at that.
"But after a month or so, we became friends. And occasionally, we would take each other out for movies when we could. It was pretty fun."
"But have you told him yet?" Laura asked. He shook his head.
"I'm planning to take him out for one last night before transferring to Sacramento." He replied quietly. "I'm debating on whether I should tell him about the transfer or not."
"Don't." Laura said. "Of course you'd say that." Otto said, rolling his eyes. In truth, he was pretty depressed. Laura checked her watch, which at the moment was actually a tracker.
"Whoops. Looks like my man is nearby." She said. "See you sometime whenever." She waved goodbye, leaving enough money for her raspberry cheesecake. Otto waved goodbye as well.
"Going so soon?" Tsubasa asked, cleaning the table up and claiming the money.
"Yeah, she had to leave for an emergency meeting." He replied. "Aw, and you can't stay here?" the other asked, grinning. Otto smiled, shaking his head.
"Fine." Tsubasa said like a little child, and then they both laughed.
"But hey… would you like to go out with me to watch that new movie?" Otto asked. Tsubasa looked ecstatic.
"Sure! I'll come to your apartment after my shift." He said happily, and Otto smiled.
"See you later then." He said.
"Bye!" the taller boy said, waving to Otto as he left the pastry shop.
For the last time.
(1) This person's hair has been dyed to brown, by the way.
Aw, poor Otto. (laughs)
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