God, that took me too long. I really wish I had been able to post this—I had actually written about half of this before—but I didn't get to. Sorry. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it.
--
"He liked to observe emotions; they were like red lanterns strung along the dark unknown of another's personality, marking vulnerable points."
-Ayn Rand
Satsuto had watched helplessly as Oujou had screamed, had begun shaking, her mouth moving soundlessly. Now she sobbed against his chest, her eyes pressed tightly closed, sharp, pained gasps coming from her mouth.
Carefully, like she was a cracked piece of glass about to shatter at any second, he wound his arms around her, conscious of Sakiro's gaze boring into the two of them. Oujou whimpered, then raised her head slowly, her bloodshot eyes meeting Satsuto's through a tangle of her jet-black hair.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, her voice cracking. She looked so much younger, and yet so much older, with her guard down and her emotions allowed free.
Satsuto shook his head, stroking her hair lightly. "Don't apologize," he murmured. He tried to keep his emotions under control, his pity, his sorrow, to alleviate her burden even just a little. But it was difficult, and he knew he was fighting a losing battle.
Sakiro stepped forward towards them now, her expression carefully blank. "I do owe you an apology, however. I had no idea this would happen. I am truly sorry." Oujou nodded, a bit absentminded, almost like her mind had slipped away to the back of her head and she was acting purely on impulse, and on what her body remembered she was supposed to do.
She had retreated back inside herself.
"Days pass by," she began, her low voice halting. "Months pass by, years pass by. Time goes on. How? How can time pass, how can time still go on when you're already dead?" She paused, and they stared at her, stunned and speechless.
"How?"
She touched the corner of her mouth, and her lips parted just a little. She raised her head, moving out of Satsuto's grasp and back into the chair, slumping back. Satsuto moved his hand to touch her cheek, but she moved back infinitesimally, away from his fingers.
There was a knock on the door, and Sakiro and Satsuto jumped; Oujou didn't move, rather just staring blankly ahead.
Sakiro cleared herself, straightened her shirt out, and called, "Come in."
The door swung open, and a boy around Satsuto's age walked in, his icy blue eyes seeming to take in everything of the room at once. And then he turned to Sakiro. "There's a sniper firing at the hatch, and a few of the bullets almost broke through. The security team is wondering what to do."
Although he had flawless Japanese, a hint of a British accent colored his words. Satsuto turned around to stare at him for a second, then returned his gaze to Oujou.
Sakiro glanced over at Oujou and Satsuto for a moment. "Are you t—would you mind if I left for a little while?" Satsuto opened his mouth to answer, but instead Oujou stood up, walking around Satsuto to where Sakiro was standing.
"Imota-san, you can come as well." Satsuto stood up slowly, turning to face Sakiro.
"My father was Imota Samori. I don't use that name." Bowing his head stiffly, Satsuto headed over to Oujou and placed a hand on her shoulder. She flinched away from it.
"Forgive me. Well, shall we go?" The four of them headed out the door, and down the well-lit hallway; Sakiro led the way, and the blond, blue-eyed boy followed behind.
Satsuto turned his head to face the boy. "We're not going to attack you. You should know that."
The boy grinned and walked up next to Satsuto, who adjusted his body again to face him. "Oh, I know." He glanced at Oujou, and his eyes went blank for a moment. "Your girlfriend has issues."
"She can hear, you know," Satsuto hissed, his eyes darting back to Oujou for a second. She hadn't reacted.
The boy's expression grew serious. "She can hear, but she isn't listening." Satsuto looked like he wanted to respond, but he didn't get a chance. At that moment, they walked into the main cavern where they had come in from—the anti-alice shield seemed to be off at that point, so Oujou didn't even flinch passing through the door—and they came to a halt.
The metal on the top-right of the curved wall was closed, with dents all over it, all of them new, and more were coming, along with the sound of gunshots. A woman, looking harassed, walked over to the four of them.
"A sniper's firing at the door, but we can't kill him without either opening the door or killing anybody that may be on the other side of the door, which we can't risk." Sakiro bit her lip, thinking, but while she did that, Oujou walked up to the door, silently raising her arm to point her hand at it. The gunshots and denting slowed, then stopped altogether, and there was a thump from the other side of the door.
Oujou turned to look back at the group; everybody was staring at her. "Now he's dead," she mumbled, and then pressed her hand against a circuit on the wall. The lights flickered, then brightened again.
"What just happened?" Samori demanded, staring at Oujou, then Satsuto, then even the boy, who stepped forward to answer.
He told her, "Oujou-san killed the sniper by sensing his emotions and then draining all of his life force."
Satsuto stared at the boy. "Who are you? How do you know that?"
The boy turned his bright blue eyes on the headmaster, who stared back stubbornly. "My name is Jason Evans, and my Alices are Knowledge and Control."
For a moment, Satsuto just stared at him, but finally, he asked the question that he had been beating at his mind. "What Alices are those?"
Jason grinned. "This may not be the best place to tell you." He began to walk back towards the doorway, and Oujou and Satsuto followed close behind him. When they reached a door off of one of the hallways, Jason opened it and showed them in, switching on the light and closing the door behind him.
Inside was a neatly made bed, a desk, a dresser, two chairs, and not much else. The room looked bare, empty of all personal items—at least in sight.
"This is my room," Jason told them. "You can take a seat if you want." And then he turned and touched Oujou on the forehead with the fingertips of his right hand; Oujou froze, not even flinching away from his touch.
"Damn," he muttered, in English this time, his British accent more pronounced now. "What the hell did she do to her head?"
Satsuto took a step towards him, and Jason's head turned, his eyes blank and unseeing, the movement purely instinctive. "What are you doing to her?" Satsuto demanded.
Jason turned to look back at Oujou. "I'm trying to help her. Her mind—it's shut off from almost everything, and her Alice—her empathy—is going into overdrive. For one, her body can't handle it, and for two, her mind can't handle it, and for three, she needs to hear what's going on."
With that, he closed his eyes; Oujou's entire body twitched, then began to spasm violently, although she somehow regained on her feet. Jason grabbed her shoulders, holding her steady, shaking his head when Satsuto reached out to steady her as well.
Oujou finally stopped shaking, and just stood still, her eyes closed, her face completely blank. Jason touched one hand to her face, keeping the other hand on her shoulder, and gently asked, "Can you hear me?"
"Yes," Oujou replied softly, her eyes remaining closed.
Jason nodded, more to himself than her, it seemed, seeing as she couldn't see him, and then he spoke again. "Why don't you sit down?" Without waiting for a response, he carefully led her over to one of the chairs and pushed her down into it, removing his hands from her.
Slowly, she opened her eyes, staring at him. "How do you feel?" he asked her gently, staring her in the eye, bending down so their faces were level.
Oujou blinked a few times before answering. "I'm fine…I guess. What happened?"
Jason shook his head. "I don't have time to answer that right now. I'm not sure how long this is going to last, and I need to explain something to you before you…go back to how you were."
"What is it?" Oujou asked.
"You need to hear who I am."
--
Hope to post again soon. Not sure if I will be able to. Please review. Thanks.
