~Tendō Security Service Corporation HQ~
Rentarō: "I solemnly apologize!" the boy bowed his head so low that his entire body formed a perfect right angle in front of his boss's desk. Kisara stood there, glaring at him with eyes cold enough that she would probably freeze the boy's blood in his own veins so that he would die instantly. It was because of those eyes that Rentarō decided to bow in the first place, simply because he knew that if he were to look directly into them even for a second during conversation, she would probably turn him to stone just out of sheer anger, not unlike how Medusa from ancient Greek mythology would be able to accomplish.
Kisara: "This time I'm afraid a simple apology won't get you out of trouble, Rentarō-kun!" he knew the situation was ungodly and truly sad if she would use the '-kun' honorific on his name. Kisara very rarely addressed him with honorifics, only reserving them for times when she would be mentally preparing herself for physically abusing the boy due to his negligence. "You have the nerve of not only taking too long to kill Enju and allowing the virus to completely morph her body, but also allowing the creature to escape? This is beyond what even simple incompetence can create. Not even once, in my entire life have I ever even heard of a single Promoter failing this miserably in handling his own Initiator's transforming into a Gastrea. You are the very first who managed to royally and grandiosely fuck this up in such a spectacular manner. Hell, I don't even know how you're able to show your face to me, right now!" she was cruel, even more cruel than she had ever been before. Kisara had always been very critical of Rentarō's performances in the past, that much was obvious. But that day she was being very venomous, and the boy couldn't really blame her for that. After all, even he was incredulous with his own incompetence when recalling everything that had transpired that day. He was ashamed of himself, as Kisara claimed he should be, but he was also very pissed and depressed because of Enju's death.
Rentarō: "If I may defend myself…." he began speaking queasily in an attempt at self defense to escape her verbal abuse. "If I didn't return to face the consequences for my own actions in front of you, I wouldn't be much of a man now, would I?" that reply didn't do him much good though as the girl immediately slammed her hands onto her desk in response to it.
Kisara: "You don't get to make smart-ass replies today, Rentarō! If you think I'll overlook your failure this time you are sorely mistaken! Even in the unlikely event that your negligence won't do our company in in the near future, I'll still take the liberty of castrating you with my bare hands!" she was like a bomb threatening to go off. Rentarō disliked seeing her like that and wished that if he could be anywhere else in the world at that point, he would take the chance. He didn't care even if he got instantly transported into a den with Level III Gastrea fully unarmed. At least they will give him a mercifully quick end. This woman goes beyond that and actively torments her victims before dealing the finishing blow.
Tina was in the corner of the room, casually eating nachos on a couch and enjoying the show in front of her, similarly to how a random spectator in the cinema eats popcorn while watching the movie being played. The fact that she wasn't disturbed by the sheer amounts of homicidal fury that her Promoter was emanating and, worse, was even finding it entertaining, made this situation even scarier for the boy in the room.
Rentarō: "Could you please not do that? I'll need my nether regions in the future…..for various purposes" he knew he wasn't helping his own case but when you're in his shoes and being screwed so badly, the most you can get out of that situation is trying to make smug comments every so often and seeing if he manages to find an opening in the ensuing quarrel for him to exploit.
Kisara: "NOT AFTER I'LL BE DONE WITH YOU!" the young woman then went for her sword and unsheathed it. It was at that moment when the boy in front of her gulped, realizing the sinister, almost cynical and sadistic smile that his employer was wearing.
Rentarō: "OK OK! I'll stop making any comments! Just put the sword down!" for a second he actually considered that she would actually go on a killing spree and behead him. Naturally she wouldn't get away with it and will probably get life imprisonment, but seeing her deranged look for only a second, it actually seemed like a plausible outcome.
Kisara, after taking in a deep breath and summoning whatever little shreds of sanity her brain still harbored, did as he had told her and sheathed her sword back. Even if she was furious with him, she had to keep her composure at least a little, if nothing else but for a sense of professionalism. The boy let out a very relieved sigh from deep within his lungs, praising whatever deity existed in that world for them saving his life.
After taking a minute to calm down and dissipate her rage, Kisara brushed her own forehead with her index fingers, trying to massage that region to release at least some steam.
Kisara: "Rentarō, I swear, you're becoming worse at this job with each passing day. What in the world compelled you to allow this to happen? How could you be so cruel, not even to the victims of that attack, but to Enju herself? How could you, her own Promoter, fail her so badly?!" the boy stood there, cursing under his breath and gritting his teeth, feeling like he was being ripped apart with each word she would say. The issue was that every single comment she was making was factual and he agreed with her 100%. It was because of that that this was so painful for him.
Rentarō: "I…..couldn't shoot her. She was lying there, begging me to kill her. She was so scared….how was I supposed to put the gun against her forehead at that moment and pull the trigger?! What sane man does that?!" was the only excuse he could come up with. Honestly, he had no logical argument for his blunder. Relaying his feelings to her was the only thing he felt he could do to realistically make her understand his actions.
Kisara: "A man that knows his job and his obligations to society! You knew since you signed that stupid contract with me that this day would come! I specifically warned you back then that this is what your role would entail! And you promised me that you were up to the task! Tell me, then, how well did you keep that promise, Satomi Rentarō?" he honestly hated being in un-winnable arguments. Those were all rhetorical questions, so how was he supposed to fight back? Obviously he wasn't meant to and he was simply meant to take them in and feel ashamed of himself. Still, this felt very one-sided.
Rentarō: "Listen, I'm not really good with murdering people! I never was! I know that what I did was a huge mistake. But….can you please at least understand my point? I knew at that moment what was going on and what I had to do! The point was…..I couldn't convince myself to actually do it!" that excuse was so comically badly formulated that it felt right out of a child trying to find a shitty excuse for their misbehavior.
Kisara: "It's not murder when you know it's necessary and there's no other way around it!" whatever he said, it didn't seem like she was willing on letting go of her accusations.
Rentarō: "I don't want to become someone who's comfortable with killing! And you're in no position of talking to me about the morality of taking one's life away!" the boy finally burst out and fought back, even if for just a second, to get back at her. He was obviously referencing Kisara's past and her murdering in cold blood one of her own brothers some time back. Obviously he knew that this was a very touchy subject to discuss with her, but he wasn't going to hold back against her if she wasn't going to do the same with him.
The girl was speechless for a second, not having expected that subject to be brought up. She had thought that there was an unspoken rule among them to never bring that back up unless it was necessary. Clearly, that rule went out the window then.
The girl glared at him scornfully but he didn't flinch. He stared right back at her in the eyes, letting her know that he was ready to go forward with that conversation.
Kisara: "You know Rentarō….you can say whatever you want about me and what I did in the past. When it's all said and done, I did what I had to do. Regardless of how horrible it was for me to do that, I still went forward with it and still look back at that moment without any shame. Can you truly say the same now about what you did?" this was becoming nasty.
Rentarō: "Just because you're not ashamed of having done it doesn't mean it's OK!"
Kisara: "The point is that I was strong enough to do my job! If you are in this field, you are expected to be able to do the same thing too! If you're too weak for it, you can't expect to be a Promoter in the first place! And it's always the weak ones that die in real life" he gulped. There was indeed no way for him to win that discussion. Hell, he himself didn't want to win since he knew he was clearly in the wrong. At that point he was only arguing just because it felt unjust for her to savagely attack him with such fervor.
Rentarō: "Even if you say that…..I still don't know how to do it when I'm in the heat of battle. It's just impossible!" it was then when Tina finally decided to intervene in their discussion, although she took it into a tangent that none of them wanted her to.
Tina: "It's not really impossible, onii-san!" came her cute reply, interrupting the two and making them stare at her in silence. "Whenever you're about to pull the trigger, all you have to do is think that the person you're targeting is a jelly filled doughnut with legs walking around and that, if you hit it, all the cranberry jam inside of it will burst out and you'll then be able to eat it afterwards!" that analogy was so strange and disturbing that the two teenagers stared at the ten year old girl having just said those words, in pure shock and disgust, looking at her like she was a homicidal maniac.
Rentarō: "Tina…..is that what they thought you when they trained you to become an assassin?" came the horrified voice of the boy. He looked at her as if she was truly insane even though the innocence with which she was talking felt so genuine that he considered that maybe all little girls of her age were naturally born assassins. He was now considering the possibility of him maybe switching sexual orientation.
Tina: "Yes, you would be surprised how many times it helped me!" the proud voice she used was nothing less than commendable.
Kisara: "Did…..did you ever actually go ahead and eat the….uh…..cranberry jam?" clearly she was way more disturbed by that analogy than Rentarō was, hilariously enough.
Tina: "What a silly question, Kisara-san. Of course I didn't, that would just be disgusting! You only think of it as a doughnut when you press the trigger. Afterwards, it becomes a dead body. That's when you run away so you won't get caught!" this explanation felt eerily professional, complete with her even calling her would be victim an 'it' as a sign of psychologically distancing herself from the target. Needless to say, Rentarō and Kisara were, thankfully, purged of any more anger and negative thoughts at that point, although they both mentally noted to take Tina to a child psychiatrist in the near future.
Rentarō: "What will this girl grow up into….?" the boy feared for his life but shook his head to get back to the original topic of conversation. "Anyways, Kisara-san, I-…."
Kisara: "That's President Kisara, you failure of an employee!" clearly she also got back to her original mood.
Rentarō: "(sigh) President Kisara, I know that I failed miserably! But can you please allow me to start looking for Enju? I can at least try to fix everything by hunting her down an-…." but that train of thought didn't last long because it was interrupted by the ringing of his phone. Again, the boy cursed under his breath, considering for a second if he should leave it ring and keep talking with his boss. Given the circumstances, though, he realized that it was a bad idea and he pulled it out and answered.
Rentarō: "Yes? Satomi Rentarō is answering!" he didn't immediately recognize the incoming caller's number so he was worried for a moment when realizing that there weren't many people that he didn't know that would call him, especially given the scary timing with the past events that had happened that day.
Principal: "Yes, this is Motsuzuki Shibaru. I believe we spoke before, Satomi-san. I am the head master at Enju Aihara's school!" the boy gasped at that moment, feeling enormous amounts of dread spontaneously filling up his body. He knew full well that Motsuzuki would very rarely contact him and Enju being absent one day at school wouldn't really account for him calling him at all. This meant that something truly serious must have happened at Enju's school that she was responsible for. And given what had happened that day, he could already guess what must have happened. "I'm calling you right now to request for your presence here. We…..we have some issues. I….don't even know how to explain this but we believe we saw Enju arrive at our school in…...a truly unfortunate state, if you don't mind me saying. I would like for you to-…."
Rentarō: "I'll be there in twenty minutes!" the boy's mind began rushing like crazy as adrenaline began to fill up his body. After closing the call, he promptly turned around and headed towards the exit, without even giving Kisara or Tina any explanations.
Kisara: "Wait! Where the hell do you think you're going?! What happened?" she anxiously tried to get as many answers out of the boy as she could before he would disappear by himself.
Rentarō: "It's Enju! She was spotted at her school!" was all he could say before dashing through the door and then leaving the two alone entirely without even closing it behind him.
Kisara: "WHAT?!" she yelled out of her lungs before jumping out of her chair and running after him. Tina, seeing her Promoter run out as well, decided to follow the two teens and see where this would take her.
~Enju's school, around 20 minutes later~
Rentarō: "This…..can't be" he was astonished to hear such news. He couldn't really accept what he had been told and, as such, his brain was parsing all of this new information as the result of some twisted sense of humor to be able to even acknowledge its existence. Despite this, the principal did not even smile to indicate that he was attempting a joke at all. "So….Enju was in a semi-human form?" the fact that there were so many teachers in that office with them, all of them displaying serious and stern faces meant that this couldn't possibly be a joke. And yet he was still rejecting all of this almost as if he was hearing a fairy tale being presented to him as real life.
Kisara: "Did you take any pictures of her by any chance?" the girl, being less incredulous than he was, asked. The older man nodded to them before grabbing his own phone and browsing the pictures on it.
Principal: "Well, it wasn't me or any of the staff. Luckily for us, one of our pupils had his phone out and began recording the incident. After that, I asked him to send me the clip to my personal smartphone. The quality isn't that good but I believe it's discernible!" he then proceeded to hand them his phone with the video beginning to play on it.
The scene that they were seeing left Kisara and Rentarō speechless. The video was shaky and the view would randomly get blocked by other children walking in front of the camera. But the overall content was clear enough and both teens got shivers on their skins when seeing what was now their precious Enju.
Rentarō gulped, feeling arguably the worst stomachache of his life as his intestines were turning when seeing the contorted creature. And the voice…..even with the low quality sound recorded from a distance he could still hear Enju's voice sodomized to such an incredible extent that he felt the urge to break in tears right there. It was like her body was fighting, trying to get out of that thing.
Tina, in the background, would only stare emotionless at the footage, not allowing any form of expression escape her. She maintained a professional composure although, deep down, she felt just as dreadful as her friends.
The video eventually came to a stop, leaving the room completely silent for a short while, time in which the teenagers were in deep thought, deeply scarred but also thinking about what to make of it.
Rentarō: "What….happened to her?" he was the first one to break the silence in the room, trying to address the obvious issue that was on everyone's mind there.
Kisara: "I…..don't know. I have never seen anything like this before. I never heard of a partial transformation like this. Are you certain that she fully morphed when you tried to kill her, Rentarō?"
Rentarō: "Yes…..although she acted weirdly. She began trembling and losing her equilibrium from time to time after I began shooting her. I've never seen a Gastrea do that before…." this was news. Kisara was now very curious. Clearly Enju wasn't in her Gastrea form at that point anymore. So the question was…..what happened to her after she ran way from Rentarō to revert back a little to her human form? That was incredibly strange.
The two pondered for some time on this topic while also inquiring the principal and the teachers there random questions to help piece together more information. Even so, the people there knew even less about what was going on than they did which made things all the more complicated.
After forty minutes of investigation and theorizing, the group eventually decided to agree that something strange was going on and they should probably return to their office to discuss more about that. When hearing that they wanted leave and once all the other teachers left, the principal requested Rentarō to remain there in his office with him to have a private talk with the man. He agreed and Kisara and Tina left the two alone to discuss.
Principal: "Rentarō-san, I understand your circumstances and I do believe that most of this situation was obviously an accident. I know that you meant no harm to our school but I have to say….I really wish I never would have agreed to your request!" came the surprising and out of nowhere remark from the older man.
Rentarō: "I'm sorry about everything! I never expected things to turn so badly. You have my sincerest apologies! I won't expect for Enju to continue being a student at this school…." this statement made the principal raise his eyebrow in surprise, as the older man realized that the boy had no idea of what was really going on there.
Principal: "Rentarō, you shouldn't expect for our school to be open at all from now on….."
Rentarō: "What….do you mean?" obviously the boy hadn't really grasped the seriousness of his blunder.
Principal: "Tell me, what do you think the parents of the children who have been psychologically scarred for life had to say to us once they found out that the thing that endangered their kids' lives was once a student at our school?" and it was then when Rentarō realized what this man was talking about.
Principal: "It was because Enju was a pupil at our school that she came running here for help in the first place! It was because of that that she came here and caused all this damage! If I hadn't agreed to allow Enju into our school, since she was a Cursed Child and it's obviously illegal for her to attend any school at all, none of this would have happened! It's because I agreed to your begging and desperate cries that all of this even happened to our pupils here!" of course, he knew he had to receive some scolding. Then again, this wasn't even something as minor as scolding, it was direct accusation.
Rentarō: "I am truly sorry…." knowing how much in the wrong he was, he had no other way of dealing with any of this besides repeatedly chanting 'I'm sorry' over and over again even though that did little to help anyone.
Principal: "I received calls from angry parents all day until you came here…..all promising to sue us for allowing that…..thing in our premises. They all guaranteed that our school would be shut down for what happened!"
Rentarō: "I…..just wanted Enju to have a normal life. There was no way for her to have one without going to school like any child her age should" he tried to gather some sympathy from the man in front of him although that was pointless.
Principal: "Well, now because of your actions, many children will also have to start looking for a new school. Not to mention that all the staff working here are going to lose their jobs too….all because of me agreeing to help Enju out and accept her into our school!" the principal was obviously not at fault, he was only a victim, Rentarō knew that. A victim for his own recklessness for having failed in terminating Enju at the right time. This would only add to Rentarō's consciousness.
Principal: "I'm…..an old man, Rentarō! For better or for worse, I have enough saved up to survive even with me losing my job. But if I were to go to jail for my decisions then my family would be devastated. Still, this is only a warning: if those angry parents are this aggressive towards me, imagine how they will be to you very soon!" that part didn't scare the boy as much, mostly because he had already been expecting severe vengeance from the family members of those who died at the hands of Enju's wrath. At that point, it wasn't a matter of if he will be brought into court, it was about how many would join in prosecuting him.
Rentarō: "Yes…..I am aware of the consequences"
~Underground complex~
Matsuzaki made his way across the barely lit tunnels of his bastion with a bowl of warm soup and a teaspoon in his hands and followed by a young girl of Enju's age. He approached a closed door and then knocked on it.
Matsuzaki: "Enju-chan, are you awake? Is it fine for me to enter?" came the soft and loving voice from the old man. No answer came from the other side. That wasn't really surprising for him. He waited for a minute to see if she would let him know of her presence in there, progressively knocking louder and louder in the meantime. Eventually he stopped and decided to move forward. "I'm coming in!" he declared as he slowly opened the door and peeked inside.
Much like he had been expecting, the girl was indeed inside, awake from a first glance and conscious. She was sitting on a chair next to a bed attached to the wall. The girl was wearing an old white dress that was a bit longer than her height and comically going past her feet and falling onto the floor. The girl was in her human form finally, having fully reverted back to her usual self although with some side effects from her previous transformations: all of her hair had fallen making her look like she was a patient who had been undertaking chemotherapy for a long time, her nails also missing and barely beginning to regrow back and her skin being awfully pale, almost like she was suffering from albinism.
Matsuzaki: "Oh, so you were here! You should at least answer me when I'm calling out. I might get worried if you stay quiet like that" the old man went ahead and closed the door behind himself after his companion also made her way in. He then approached Enju and placed the bowl of soup on a small, portable table, before pulling on the table and bringing it to her so she could eat from it. "I hope you like it. It's miso soup! Mirai-chan cooked it herself! It's my personal favorite!" he tried to encourage her to eat, as she had not ingested anything since she had arrived at his doorstep. He was worried because of her condition….hell, because of how she looked now, he hadn't even recognized her at first.
Sadly for him, though, the girl continued to remain silent, unresponsive to his attempts at persuasion. She stood there, still, quiet and staring into the floor, almost like she was possessed. Her lips were cracked because of their dryness. Seeing how she refused to comply, the old man sighed.
Matsuzaki: "Please, Enju! You need to eat! Your body needs to recover! You need to eat if you want to live!" finally, it was this statement when the girl finally began to react.
Enju: "I don't want to live!" she replied with a very low tone of voice. Her voice was so quiet, in fact, that it barely even registered to him. It felt like she didn't even have the power of speaking normally again. Her unusual behavior was worrying to everyone in that shelter. "I want to die! That would be a good thing!" came her finishing part. Matsuzaki and Mirai looked at each other for a couple of seconds, worry clear on both their faces and not really knowing how to continue given how much resistance they were meeting.
Mirai: "If you don't like miso soup, I can go cook some-…."
Enju: "That's not the issue!" finally, almost like on cue, she spoke up, with a normal tone this time. "I….shouldn't live! I can't live anymore…..not like this!" she turned to them, with tears forming in her eyes. What calmed Matsuzaki the most, at the sight of her eyes, was that they weren't as vibrantly red as they had been when she had arrived there. That must have meant that the virus was finally being suppressed by her body once again. This was at the very least a promising sign of recovery.
Matsuzaki: "There's nothing to worry about, Enju!" he tried to reassure her and calm her down with his soothing voice. "Your body has fully reverted back to its human form! It will take you a couple of months for your hair to grow back to how it probably was but that shouldn't concern you too much!" again, clearly they weren't focusing on the actual problem, which annoyed Enju the most.
Enju: "I don't care about how I look! I'm scared of turning back into that…..that…...thing!" she revealed, which made them both realize what her main worry was.
Matsuzaki: "Well, you turned back to your usual self. Shouldn't that mean that you're in the clear, at least for now?"
Enju: "I don't know" the girl responded with a lot of sorrow in her voice. "I don't know anything anymore….my body still feels very weird. I'm scared that at any point I can revert into that spider thing!" desperation was oozing from her voice as well as frustration on her face. She looked like she was at the end of her wits.
Matsuzaki: "(sighes) Enju, that's a natural part of being a Cursed Child. You never know when such a thing will happen again. That's just a reality you have to deal with!" he finally became serious and began speaking from his experience as the guardian of all the Cursed Children living with him in his shelter. "That is indeed a very heavy burden to bear. But….even with that, you can't live your life in fear like this! When it will happen, it will happen!" he didn't really have a real argument for her to calm down. The only thing which he could say and also be truthful was that. Unfortunately, that didn't really make Enju feel any better.
Enju: "YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" she suddenly yelled back at them. "I…..saw their faces…..the faces of my classmates. They all looked at me like I was a monster, like I was going to eat them alive! Many of them were crying, trembling. I even saw someone who fainted because they saw me!" she began to describe to them her memories of that incident. "Even my friend….she couldn't accept me. She was afraid of me. And I can't blame her! I even attacked two innocent people and infected them! I'm just a Gastrea that's in hibernation! I think I can even feel it, deep within me, waiting to come out at the worst time possible to attack as many as it can! I don't want this anymore…." tears started to run down her cheeks again and her voice began to break. "I can't live like this anymore! I'm a danger to everyone who's around me! I want to die so that no people are endangered!" obviously she wasn't being rational anymore. She was clearly going through a depressive phase. And Matsuzaki didn't really know how to help her.
Enju: "Please…..kill me! I beg you! I don't want to turn into a Spider Gastrea again! I don't want to do those unspeakable things anymore! Please!" she hopped off of her chair and began approaching the two, still crying and in histeria.
Matsuzaki: "I'm not going to kill you, Enju! And I guarantee you that nobody else in this place is going to do it either!" he stated, still not allowing himself to be dissuaded from his stance. He had no intention of fulfilling his wishes.
Enju: "Why?! I'm a danger to everyone living here! I can attack a-…."
Matsuzaki: "I've been living with all the Cursed Children you saw here, under this one roof, for many years. And during all that time, I never once killed any child, even when they knew they were about to turn into a Gastrea! I'm not about to change that policy just because you want me to!" this was one of the very few times during which Matsuzaki would be so stern and stubborn about anything. Normally he would be very flexible, especially when one of the girls came begging to him about something.
This was one of things that he could never compromise though, as it would violate his entire way of life. He had no intention of doing her any harm, even when it was specifically asked for by her.
Enju: "Then…..what happened to them?" came a suddenly surprising question. "What happened to the girls that transformed while they were here? If you never killed them, didn't they hurt anyone here?"
Matsuzaki: "Thankfully not!" came a rather unexpected response. "Every time a girl here was about to transform, she sensed it time. So just before she could transform she would run out of here and escape into the forest nearby. That's why I built this shelter right at the edge of Tokyo, so that they could run away in due time" that was a very fascinating answer.
Enju: "And….what happened to them?"
Matsuzaki: "I don't know honestly….I never went after them. I think that they never wanted me to follow anyway. To this day, I don't know where they are or if they're even still alive! I can only hope that they didn't suffer too much!" that sounded like a terrifying fate, to her at least. That was by no means a calming thing to learn and Enju didn't feel particularly well after it.
Seeing how no one would listen to her, she grabbed the bottom edge of her dress and ripped it apart in front of them.
Enju: "Then, I'll use this dress to hang myself! I can't go on like this! I need to die before that thing comes out again!" and just to prove her point she ripped another part of her now torn fabric in order to obtain a rope-like section of it.
Mirai, seeing how unstable she was, ran up to her before she could do anything that could actually harm her own body and immediately pulled her into a forced embrace.
Mirai: "Please, calm down! You aren't thinking straight! If you're this agitated, the adrenaline might trigger another transformation soon!" she tried to persuade her to stop but that only made the girl even more anxious.
Enju: "That's all the more reason to kill myself! LET GO OF ME!" she tried her best to fight against the embrace but couldn't manage it. Mirai, despite being of an even smaller and weaker constitution than Enju was, had a particularly useful advantage on her side: she had a Gastrea type of virus circulating in her blood, which conferred her enhanced strength across all of her body evenly. This made it impossible for the desperate creature struggling between her arms to escape. "Please…..I beg of you…." she finally fully broke down in tears when she realize she wasn't going to be able to break out of that restraint. "I don't want to go through that nightmare again…..I don't wanna suffer like that again….." but Mirai continued to keep her within her arms.
Mirai: "First, tell me: who do you trust the most in this world?" came a rather strange and unexpected question out of nowhere. Enju didn't really know what to make of that.
Enju: "Why does it matter? It's not impor-…."
Mirai: "I won't let go until you tell me!" that was a good enough reason in itself. Enju hated for being so weak but, in her frenzy, decided to let go since she had very little more to lose at that point.
Enju: "Rentarō…." she said almost in a whisper, barely even managing to pull the willpower necessary to utter that name anymore as the memories of her having had the urge to kill him were still fresh in her brain and haunting her.
Mirai: "Then…..imagine that I am him! Imagine that I'm Rentarō right now, holding you in my arms!" immediately the girl began flailing yet again, trying to break free from her un-welcomed embrace.
Enju: "I DON'T WANT TO! LET GO! I DON'T WANT TO IMAGINE THAT!" with each thrash that she was making, Mirai would only tighten her compression, trying to ensure that whatever was going to happen, she wouldn't be able to escape. Frankly speaking the girl was a danger to herself at that moment and couldn't be trusted to be free.
Mirai: "Imagine that I'm Rentarō and that I want you to calm down! Please! Listen to my voice! Listen to my heartbeats and relax! I'm here for you, Enju!" it was at that moment that something got triggered inside Enju's memories…..a memory of Rentarō having said a very similar line in the past. She remembered it…..she remembered that distant memory quite clearly as it was her brain that intentionally preserved that memory in a very polished state to that day.
Soon afterwards, the girl's own erratic behavior ceased and her thrashings stopped before they could continue to escalate. Seeking to take advantage of this momentary release of emotional restraint, Mirai then moved her hand to the girl's head and began patting her lightly in a calming manner.
Mirai: "Yes…..please calm down! Nothing bad is going to happen to you! Just listen to my breaths! Let my voice guide you out of your despair!" despite the relatively short outburst that Enju had, she calmed down immediately afterwards. The situation seems to have diffused.
Enju then embraced the idea that Rentarō was the one holding her and allowed herself to peacefully be in his arms. She listened to his heartbeats deep within his chest. Those small and precious heartbeats that she always liked listening to while he would sleep, the same heartbeats she always wished she could accelerate with her actions. She wanted to think that was actually Rentarō, because then she could actually feel secure and protected, like she always used to feel.
When seeing that this finally took a turn for the better, Matsuzaki smiled a warm smile, happy to witness such a heartwarming display of affection before conspicuously turning around, exiting the room and closing the door behind him, leaving to two girls to their privacy and hoping that Mirai would continue to assist in calming the girl down.
Hearing the door close, Enju was pulled out of her trance and remembered where she actually was. Realizing how awkward it was for both herself and for Mirai to be that close to each despite having been only mildly acquainted for a relatively short amount of time, she broke the silence:
Enju: "Uh, mind letting me go? I'm calm, I promise!" Mirai tried to listen to Enju's own heartbeats when hearing that by lowing her own head to her chest level. Her heart had slowed down with its pulsing, which meant that the girl allowed herself to calm down.
Mirai: "Fine!" came her reply. As promised, she did let go of her. Enju pulled back with a slight blush on her face, feeling embarrassed.
Enju: "Geez, you didn't have to squeeze me that hard! I could barely breathe!" she accused, still a little perturbed by what had happened.
Mirai laughed lightly at that.
Mirai: "I couldn't really let you go while you were like that. You could have done something which you later would have regretted!" she tried to defend her actions. "Then again, when you thought of me as Rentarō, you did squeeze me back a little….I was a bit surprised!" Enju didn't feel comfortable with this discussion but bit her lip and tried to ignore that comment since she had no intention of letting this topic continue.
Instead she approached her bed and hopped onto it. It was then when Mirai took notice and remembered the horrible state that her new dress was in.
Mirai: "You'll need a new dress to wear!" that much was obvious. It was torn up really badly, arguably in an un-salvageable way. She then grabbed the bowl of soup that Matsuzaki had left behind and offered it to Enju yet again.
The girl sighed, clearly not in the mood of eating. Still, she knew she couldn't continue to refuse food for much longer since these people were already very alarmed because of her condition so she gave in and accepted their kind offer.
Enju: "Thank you!" she let out before grabbing the bowl herself, filling her spoon with the soup and blowing on it to cool it a little. She then pulled the liquid into her mouth. She never liked miso soup that much. In fact, soup in general was not something which she particularly enjoyed.
Still, she tried to be as polite as possible and not be disrespectful towards Mirai's cooking efforts. In an attempt to get her mind off that dish and prevent any more awkward silence between them, Enju tried to spark a conversation again.
Enju: "Where did you learn how to do that?" she casually inquired the girl next to her. She cocked her head to the side, confused, in response.
Mirai: "Do what?"
Enju: "You know….the whole hugging and talking like you were someone I'm comfortable with thingy" she clarified.
Mirai: "Ah….that" she replied with a happy optimistic smile plastered on. "I learned it from my father! He used to do that to me when I was very young and would freak out" that was a very odd thing to hear. "I was prone to panic attacks and was weak when I was very young. So he always would use this to comfort me. It made me really happy" she remembered fondly while recalling her old memories.
Enju: "How come you had a good relationship with your father? I heard that almost all Cursed Children don't get along well with their parents, especially not the fathers!" she didn't realize how insensitive that question was although Mirai did not mind it that much.
Mirai: "I guess I was one of the lucky exceptions. Despite knowing of my condition, daddy still loved me. He protected me all his life, sheltering me from those who would do me harm! I really loved him" she admitted sorrowfully when remembering the last memories she had of her parental figure. "Sadly, he died while trying to keep me safe from a group of hooligans that tried to kill me. Since they ravaged our house and murdered him, I've been living here with Matsuzaki-san" that was an awfully depressing story although such unfortunate tragedies are a common back-story to Cursed Children. Their lives are inherently filled with suffering because of their very nature as mutants infected with the virus that humanity had a particular hatred towards.
Enju: "I'm…..so sorry to hear that" she now felt genuinely bad for this girl.
Mirai: "Don't worry, it's not your fault! I'm sure he would be happy now for me! After all, I've been able to make many friends since I moved here! Friends like you!" that only made Enju feel even worse but she tried to swallow it down along with the soup in her mouth.
Enju: "And your mother? What about her?" that was the next question to naturally follow. Mirai then frowned when hearing that.
Mirai: "She committed suicide soon after giving birth to me and finding out I was…..well, infected" of course, that was also a very common thing to hear. Now Enju regretted having asked such a question in the first place.
Enju: "Oh…." she didn't even know what the proper reaction to that was. After all, as a girl as young as herself, confronting such harsh realities and knowing how to react to them weren't really intuitive yet, despite living a life filled with tragedy as well.
Mirai: "What about you? How are your parents doing?" now it was her turn to reveal the sad memories. Enju didn't really enjoy talking about her past, especially not with strangers, or at the very least people she didn't know for a long time. But at the same time this girl was very nice and felt very patient with her. It would only be cruel to disrespect her cordial feelings of friendship by refusing to act like a friend at all.
Enju: "Well, my mother died when she gave birth to me apparently. I obviously don't remember that…." again, this topic felt very discomforting for her but she tried to ignore that as much as possible and just continue to talk about what she knew of her family. "And as for my father….I don't even know. Rentarō was the only one who read my family records when he became my Promoter and I don't remember him ever mentioning anything about my father. Now that I think about it, I never bothered asking him about it either after I heard that news about my mother. I guess I was always too scared to find out the truth about him as well. I never even saw a picture of him!" now that was a very interesting thing to realize. All her life she had been crying about how she had always been an orphan, yet she never actually explicitly asked about any information about her father specifically. This was now quite an interesting thought she had never had before.
Mirai: "Maybe he's still alive then? Have you never wondered about where he might be?" now that this topic was brought up, Enju was very surprised to realize that the answer to that question was a strict 'no'.
Enju: "I….don't know. I always assumed he died as well. Or at the very least that he never wanted to see me. During all my time that I spent incarcerated since soon after I was born until when Rentarō came to pick me up, I have never seen a single letter from him, nor even a visit. From what I heard, almost no fathers came to any of the girls at my facility at all, myself included" that was a sad reality that she had to eventually accept for herself although Mirai was a bit more optimistic about those types of things.
Mirai: "Maybe they were never allowed to come in contact with you! You shouldn't give up on him like that. To me, at least, daddy was the whole world! If he hadn't been there for me, I wouldn't even be here today! I really am glad that he was there for me to make me smile like he did, to hug me whenever I needed him the most. If you have the chance to meet up with him, you should definitely take it! Especially now when I think you need the support!" that was a little bit too honest from her part but Enju decided to ignore that comment. After all it was a very interesting thing to consider.
But she was scared at the same time. Even if her father was indeed alive, what would he think of her? Did she even have the courage to meet him, especially then after having gone through all that ordeal and running away from home?
Enju: "I don't know….I don't want him to see me when I'm like this! I'm scared that I might end up hurting him! I'm scared that he might hate me for the monster that I am!" she spoke her mind to the girl next to her, trying to convey her lack of confidence in herself.
Mirai: "Enju, it's because you're like this that you need him by your side now! I can only be here with you to support you. So can Matsuzaki-san as well, and all of the other girls living here with us too! But there's only so much that we can all do for you! When you get down to it, the people who can support you the most are the ones who are close to you and your heart. Is there anyone else who you are comfortable with, like Rentarō, who you would be able to run to right now?" at the hearing of that boy's name, Enju's face whitened immediately.
Enju: "No….there's no way I can return to Rentarō. I…..don't want to see him look at me like that…..I don't want to end up wanting to infect him again. I know he wouldn't run away from me even if I was to threaten him in my Gastrea form. It's exactly because of that that I can't be near him anymore….." she confessed with a depressed voice and dissipated willpower. "And besides, I don't want him to call me a monster! I know I deserve it, but if that were to happen, I would probably fully break!" she let out before bringing the final couple of spoonful mouths to her tongue and loweing the emptied bowl back onto the floor while Mirai continued to watch her.
Mirai: "Then at least give your father a chance! If everything else ends up badly and even if he won't like you, at least you saw him. Who knows, given your circumstances, this might be your last chance to see him before you…..uh…." she stopped not really sure if she wanted to continue although Enju obviously got the message quite clearly. Mirai was right. She didn't have much to lose at that point. She didn't trust her own body anymore and she didn't know if she was still infectious now or not. Most likely she was and the virus was still running rampant inside of her. She had no way of proving that and, frankly speaking, she had no desire of ever going to a doctor or a scientist to ask. Hell, she was sure that all of the city and Promoter-Enforcer pairs in Tokyo were probably now searching for her to terminate her before she would get the chance to infect any more unfortunate victims. That was only natural.
Given all of this, how she was now a publicly acknowledged enemy of humanity, this was her last home and the only place she could run to and that was her only chance of actually getting to know the people she had ignored all her life. Now that she didn't know how much she still had to live, she wanted to at least see what her father was like and mayb, if she could indulge herself in even a bit of selfishness, ask for at least a little comfort from him. After all, he had to be reminded of the fact that he had a daughter now while she was still alive, right?
Enju: "But….I don't even know my father's name…..much less his face or his house's address or phone number. How am I even going to find him?" was what she thought to herself then. Rentarō had never mentioned him at all, only having talked to her about her mother. "Wait….Of course! Rentarō read my family records because he was my Promoter! He got that information from the IISO database that recorded it when my parents handed it over when they gave me to that facility. If I can get back there I might be able to find out what I need from there!" yes, it definitely seemed doable now. Of course, that plan was very reckless and posed incredible risks, not only that but she also still harbored a lot of hatred towards that facility even though she had been out of it for almost two full years by then.
The painful memories of having lived as a prisoner in that colorless and depressing building were scarring to say the least for herself. Still she had to do it! And hopefully, the end results of her venture after she will succeed will be worth the effort!