Tsugumi's confession

Funeral Parlour HQ, 3 hours before the awakening

The journey back to The Facility was quick and without any issues, though Shibungi couldn't shake the feeling that something was amiss. He wondered if Tsugumi was just like Gai, what if Shu had taken over her mind as well. When he arrived back at The Facility, he wasn't at all surprised to find it in shambles. Though that doesn't mean that it didn't hurt to see it in such a state, this was after all his home and place of work, plus seeing it in such a state left him feeling pessimistic about finding his friend alive.

"TSUGUMI!" Shibungi shouted. He searched every room in The Facility shouting her name until he finally found her, lying on the ground, she was barely breathing.

"Tsugumi!" He shouted, as he raced to pick her up off the stone-cold floor, and placed her on an operating table. Once he made sure she was comfortable, he left to get his surgery equipment, and blood packs to keep her alive long enough for him to extract the bullet, clean the wound and patch it up. But he would need to work fast, as it has been a long time since Ayase made that call, and she had already lost a lot of blood.

"Hold on Tsugumi." Shibungi commanded. He then sterilized his equipment then got to work. He began by carefully administrating some blood before removing the bullet, once that was complete, he rubbed alcohol into the wound to prevent any further infection. He then stitched it up, which was shortly followed by the administration of more blood in order to clean out any trace of Adam's influence.

14 hours later

It was a long and nerve wrecking wait, but Tsugumi finally woke, only to find herself chained to the post of her bed.

"So, you're finally awake." Shibungi said, looking rather pissed.

"What's going on? Why am I chained to a hospital bed?" Tsugumi questioned.

"You're chained to the bed because not long after I managed to extract the virus from your system, you started lashing out and almost cut yourself with the scalpel that I left on the bedside table. As for what's going on, I was hoping you'd tell me since you've been working for Adam this whole time!" Shibungi answered aggressively. Tsugumi was not at all surprised by this little revelation, she knew that they would soon discover her secret sooner or later.

"When did you figure out that I was under Adam's control."

"It was after the phone call that Ayase made, because I had a feeling that The Facility had been attacked and that everyone in there was dead. Imagine my surprise when I learnt that one of you was still alive. So, tell me why did he leave you alive?"

"I was supposed to deliver you a message, but I can't remember what it was, But I do remember everything else, I remember the day the weird kid with blonde hair broke into my house and abducted me. He tortured me for days on end, hoping that I'd be able to tell him where Shu was, and every time he asked, I kept telling him to go fuck himself."

"Why did Yuu abduct you?"

"Because, he thought that I would be easy to break, though I think the real question is how did he know that Funeral Parlour was involved with concealing Shu's location?" Tsugumi questioned.

"That was a good question, how did he know." Shibungi thought to himself, he then came to the conclusion that Gai must have leaked the information to them, which made sense since he was secretly working for them.

"Was there any other reason why Yuu would abduct you?"

"Yes, he said that he needed something from me, something called a void, which is said to be able to tell me a little bit about myself, and that he would be able to draw it out using something called the power of kings. He then reached into my chest and pulled out something that looked like a giant bubble blower, and had one of his goons step threw it, and to my surprise it was able to make a copy of him. That's how he was able to make clones of me and Shu, though when he made my clone it wasn't to make you believe that you had the upper-hand, it was to gather intelligence. And whilst that fake was living my life, and unknowingly suppling our enemy with information, like where our base of operations is located, I was turned into Adam's mind slave and practically forced to kiss the very ground he walked on!" Tsugumi roared.

"Okay, just one more question and then I'll let you rest." Shibungi declared.

"Shoot." Tsugumi responded.

"How long were you the GHQ's prisoner?"

"I was their prisoner for about six months, before I found myself becoming Adam's slave. God, the things he made me do to those poor children. They kept a handful of orphans who were sadly infected with that horrific virus, and used them to test either some horrible weapon or have them ingest more of the virus and turn them into devote followers of Adam and Eve. But Shu had other plans for them, he wanted to turn them into his personal attack dogs. Literally, he wanted them turned into actual dogs that would obey his every command. Well, his and his whore sister's whenever she returns, if she ever returns." Tsugumi claimed, as her face turned a shade whiter than normal.

"She has returned." Kenji stated. Ultimately making both his and Ayase's presence known.

"Hey doc, we brought you a couple more patients." Ayase announced, as she and Kenji unceremoniously dumped Haruka's and Shuichiro's limp bodies onto the floor.

"Holy shit what happened to them?" Tsugumi asked.

"Shu got into their heads, and tore them apart from the inside." Kenji summarised; his eyes were suddenly starting to tear up. Which came as a surprise to everyone since they never once saw him cry.

"Where's Gai?" Tsugumi interrogated.

"The last we saw him, he said that he stabbed Adam in the back right in front of his newly awakened Eve, after he was freed from his control." Ayase replied.

"That's right, I remember feeling as if some vail had suddenly been lifted off my mind, right before I passed out due to blood loss. He must have used up too much power, and seeing how he isn't strong enough to properly control his abilities, he has to give one up in order to use the other." Tsugumi remarked.

"How do you know that?" Ayase questioned.

"I was his obedient mind slave for three months; you don't think I would forget everything I learnt from watching him train with that creepy blonde kid." Tsugumi answered. She then turned to face Kenji who was still balling his eyes out.

"Kenji, what's the matter?" She asked politely.

"We were being deceived this whole time Tsugumi, not just by you and Shu, but by Gai as well." Kenji responded.

"I know, I've known about Gai this whole time. I know about the things he's done, and I can guess what's happening to him right now."

"What do you mean "what's happening to him right now"? He should be halfway across Tokyo right now!" Ayase boomed.

"No, he knew that Da'ath and Mana would find him no matter where he hid, so he stayed behind in order to face Divine Punishment." Tsugumi retorted.

"Divine Punishment?" Shibungi quizzed.

"It's a form of punishment that Shu sanctioned in order to deal with disobedient servants." Tsugumi answered.

"What does it entail Tsugumi?" Kenji probed. Tsugumi did not answer him, she just sat there staring at the wall in front of her. As she suddenly remembered all those who had suffered the Divine Punishment, most of them where completely innocent. Though that didn't seem to matter to Shu, and she doubted his sister would be any different. Still she had to remember or at least try to remember that they are also victims of the virus. Yet it's hard to remember that when you're listening to men, women and children scream in horrible agony. Or be forced to watch your closest friend die a death so slow and painful that you black-out, just so you no longer have to bare witness to their suffering.