Author's note: freakishdust1 Thanks again, for your review! Always a pleasure to see that someone is still reading this fic. Rentarō's change of heart wasn't really that big in the last chapter, though, as you will see here. He's still angry at her and his concern for her running away is more because he is afraid of losing his job, though, as I will highlight in this new chapter. I guess I should have done a better job at portraying the real reason for his distress at the end of last chapter. Oh well….this is exactly why reading reviews is important for an author! I get to better understand what my readers are thinking. Feedback is always welcome! :)
A glimpse into the past, part 5: this part of this fanfiction details events that had happened before the time series covered by the anime. Basically, this is a prequel, happening before the anime and before the non-"A glimpse into the past" chapters of this fanfiction as well.
~Random street in Tokyo, one year before current events~
Rentarō: "God dammit! I'm starting to get sick from all of this!" he felt incredibly tired from all the running around aimlessly, trying to find his now lost Initiator. Every step he took felt not only pointless, but almost like taking him even further in the wrong direction from his target. It wasn't really a rational feeling, since he had changed his directions multiple times and he still felt that dreadful sensation continuously, no matter where he was headed.
After about twenty minutes of fruitlessly running around in circles almost, he stopped next to a big building to catch his own breath.
Every fiber in him was already pushed to its maximum limit, considering how just an hour ago he had participated in that God forsaken training in which he had to single-handedly defeat that robot just to save Enju.
And now, as if that wasn't enough, he had to go find her after she had run away from him. His mechanical parts were still running optimally although his human muscles felt like they were screaming at his brain to just give up on her and stop. It's like his luck with his Initiator simply vanished all of a sudden in thin air.
Rentarō: "That damn little….." he couldn't even finish that train of thought, his mind becoming cloudy from all that effort exertion. To him, it felt like he was now playing an impossible game.
He didn't know where she went to. He didn't even think Enju knew anyone besides him in the outside world so he doubted she had anyone to rely on or stay at. Which meant that he had no immediate idea of where she could have ran to outside of just purely random locations. Not only that but he had no real means of tracking her, which made him feel like he was wasting his time.
He could just return home and forget about her and hope that she would simply return all by herself, without his intervention, but that felt awfully optimistic. Even worse, it was obviously a really big deal if a Promoter lost his Initiator and didn't know of her whereabouts.
While the I.I.S.O. did have procedures to follow in those circumstances, they all involved penalizing him heavily for his incompetence. If he would get lucky and not have his Promoter license outright revoked, he would still face a substantial increase of his IP rank by 25% of its current value. And given how high his rank already was because of previous failed training session, 25% wouldn't be an insignificant amount. If he was already considered the worst Promoter in Japan because of his current one, after that increase, he would probably end up as the worst Promoter in the entire world, literally forever tarnishing the Tendō Civil Security name; needless to say he wasn't that eager of reporting this situation to Kisara.
Rentarō: "If only there was an easy way of finding her….." he thought to himself. He wondered...what could he do to fix this?
He was pretty much against the wall also because Enju could, at the very least, cause trouble somewhere deep within Tokyo if she was unsupervised, which would probably warrant the attention of the police. And if police officers found her then things were bound to get ugly as soon as they would notice that she was a Cursed Child.
By that point, they would probably learn of her status as an Initiator as well and then, eventually, word will reach I.I.S.O. as well that he had fucked up.
Rentarō: "Wait…...the police!" he remembered a possible solution.
Without any hesitation, he pushed his hand into his pocket, brought out his phone and dialed a number from his contacts list that he very rarely soon afterwards, the other end accepted the call.
Miori: "Well well, what a lovely surprise! It's been a while since the last time you decided to take initiative and call me, Rentarō-kun!" a seemingly delighted and mischievous voice emerged. Rentarō felt very uncomfortable because of his circumstances.
Rentarō: "Good evening, Shiba-san! I'm sorry for calling you all of a sudden like this. But I'm doing this because I have an urgent favor to ask from you!" he tried to get straight to the point since he didn't feel that comfortable prolonging that conversation with that woman.
Miori: "You can drop the 'san' honorific! I already told you that at school! There's really no need to be so formal when you're talking with me, you know!" despite the apparently very casual tone that she was using when talking with him, Rentarō was very focused and defensive, knowing her well enough to understand that she was just fooling around and trying to play with him. "Just call me Miori, please!"
Rentarō: "(feeling very uneasy) Isn't that a bit too personal, though? What if other people overheard us and began getting the wrong idea?" he tried to sheepishly ask, prompting the girl on the other side to smirk.
Miori: "There's nothing wrong with two close friends being personal with each other, is there? After all, we're quite close to each other, aren't we?" and there was another attack from her part. He felt like this woman was growing bolder and bolder every time they talked with each other.
Rentarō: "You're…..only making things worse!" he did his best to deflect all her attempts at messing with him. It was way harder than he had considered and she didn't seem to want to make it any easier for him either. "Please stop doing that! You know how sensitive Kisara-san usually gets when she hears you talk like that to me! She always misunderstands and I usually get to pay for it! And it'll only become harder from this point on, considering that she's my employer now!" he begged, although he knew deep down that his cries were probably falling on deaf ears, considering how he suspected that Miori was most likely doing her flirting with him specifically because it was pissing Kisara off.
Miori: "Oh….about that: congratulations on getting your Promoter license! I heard you officially received it this week, right? I wanted to call you and congratulate you earlier but certain issues got in the way. I just wish you would have taken up my offer and applied to be hired in our Civil Security instead! After all, I promised that I would give you all the services a competent employee like you necessitated" the boy couldn't see it from his location but the girl had a very evil but feminine look on her face when saying that, although a chill did run down his spine when hearing that. "….and a bit extra, just from me!" yep, his creeped out state was warranted.
Rentarō: "(sighes) Thank you, I appreciate your support! But I already told you that I had a promise made to Kisara-san for a long time to apply to her company once I would acquire it! After all, given how much her family helped me in the past, it would only be fair for me to at least support her like this…." he felt bad to say that, mostly because Miori's own family had also lent him a hand on many occasions in the past, too. He didn't want to downplay that but, at the same time, if he had to choose between who had the most impact in his life, he would have had to go with the Tendō family.
Miori: "(sigh) Pity…..I would have really liked to work with you! Well, it's your choice!" the disappointment in her voice was obvious. He felt really bad because of that, although there was not much he could do about it. "Just know, though, that regardless of what happens, you will always be invited at Shiba Civil Security Corporation!" she reassured in a welcoming and friendly voice, dropping the feminine seductress persona and giving him an honest peace of mind. The boy appreciated that.
Rentarō: "Thanks! I'm really grateful to everything you've done for me! But I don't think you'd want to be associated with someone whose rank is in the hundred thousands!" he mentioned with a very depressed and sad voice, which invited an awkward moment of silence between the two.
Miori: "Oh….yeah, I read about your ranking too" she stated cautiously, not knowing what to say that would sound uplifting to him but also convincing and helpful. "W-well…..I'm sure they did a mistake there at some point! I'm confident that you are way better than that! You probably just had a bad day, today!" she said in a forced tone, obviously trying to cheer him up.
He was very concerned about how she was so interested in his abilities that she had ended up looking up his scores only hours after they had been published. For Kisara, that was a natural thing to do since she was his employer and the one who would be the most directly impacted given how her Corporation's reputation is directly tied to his performance. Then again, he just assumed that this was simply because Miori was a friend of his who was concerned and not attribute it any negative connotations.
Still, he now remembered why he had called her in the first place. He didn't have time for idle chitchat.
Rentarō: "A-anyways, Shiba-senpai, I want to-..." but he was cut off immediately.
Miori: "That's Miori, Rentarō-kun!" she tried to underline her request again to him.
Rentarō: "Miori…." he paused for a second because of how unnatural it felt for him to refer to her in such a weirdly inappropriate way. Even though him and Kisara had never crossed the friendship boundary in the past and had never gone to the next level (at least, not outside playing make-believe when they were children), he still felt like he was cheating on her for conceding to address Miori in such a personal way. He was a sinful man, indeed. "...I wanted to ask for your help! Right now…..my Initiator ran away from home and is lost somewhere in Tokyo. I remember that your father was on good terms with the head of the police department, right?" he suddenly inquired.
Miori: "Yes. Our family business provides a lot of the weapons and arsenal that the policemen in Tokyo use on a daily basis. It's only natural that they would be on good terms with each other!" she affirmed, letting the boy know that maybe he did have a chance with his plan.
Rentarō: "I imagine he has contacts that can give him access to the police radio system, right? You know, the system that allows police officers to talk to each other with their scanners from their cars!" now she was getting where he was hinting at.
Miori: "You mean…..you want us to eavesdrop on the radio communications from police officers all around the city? You do know that it's illegal for us to share with you such information, right? The radio communications that are within their frequency ranges are considered private by the law, and we could end up in a lot of trouble if it was ever found out that we shared them with a random person!" well, that didn't surprise him at all. Of course what he was asking for was unethical and illegal.
Rentarō: "I know that what I'm asking for isn't right! But, please, just this once, I need your help! If I won't find my Initiator soon, it's very likely that they'll revoke my license! Maybe even dissolve Kisara's company! I….need your help!" he begged, knowing how pathetic he probably sounded to her but showing her with all honesty the situation he was in.
Miyori: "…..you're in quite a lot of trouble, aren't you? It's very much unlike you to ask others for help; I don't even remember hearing you beg before!" that was a clear indication that he was at his wit's end. She was now genuinely worried. Then again, a Promoter having his Initiator run away from them is indeed a cause for concern, to say the least. "Fine….I'll help you out! Our company also makes the scanners that police use so we can tap into their transmissions. For obvious reasons, I won't be giving you the direct feed. But I'll listen on all frequencies myself and, if I hear any word about anyone finding a rogue Initiator in the upcoming hours, I'll contact you immediately and let you know!" she told him, making the boy less anxious, finally.
Rentarō: "Thank you! That's all I need! I'm looking for a Cursed Child with long red hair, dressed in a light blue dress! Her height is about less than 150 centimeters! She's….a bit feral, for lack of a better word" he tried to inform her, just so she could have a better description of what she was looking for.
Miyori: "Got it! I'll try to see what I can find! I'll call you back on this number as soon as I have any additional info. Oh, and one more thing!" she interrupted.
Rentarō: "What?"
Miyori: "(smiling deviously) You're going to take me out to Narisawa, sometime in the near future! And you're not allowed to bail out on me this time!" the boy froze at the hearing of that name. To be honest, he expected no less from someone who's living in the higher class of society.
Rentarō: "Please….have mercy! A single dinner there costs as much as I earn in an entire month! I can't possibly take you out there, of all places!" he felt like he was on the verge of crying.
Miyori: "Wow….Kisara isn't really paying you much, is she?" she remarked, not even sarcastically.
Rentarō: "Our company is just starting out! We have almost no funds to survive on!" he revealed.
Miyori: "Well, then it's your fault for choosing to get hired at her Corporation over mine! Now deal with the consequences! It's uncouthly for a man to complain about the prices of a restaurant he's taking his date to! Especially when the woman is the one who's making the invitation, in the first place!" well, he was screwed now.
Rentarō: "YOU'RE NOT INVITING, YOU'RE BARGAINING!" he mentally complained, trying to calm down and appease his suffering soul for what he was about to say next. "Fine….I'll be taking you out to Narisawa for one dinner! Just...please don't tell Kisara-san anything about this! If she finds out, she might fire me, if nothing else, at least to prevent me from affording to take you out there!" he felt so dirty for agreeing to all of that charade.
The muffled chuckling he was hearing from the other end signaled that Miyori was enjoying herself a lot.
Miyori: "Fine, this will be our little secret! Just remember, though: I want a date, not just a friendly night out! You better deliver on that!" clearly she inherited a lot from her father. She even got his impressive and dangerous negotiation skills. One thing was for sure though, he would never want to get on her bad side.
Rentarō: "I hate my life!"
~Half an hour later, random park in Tokyo~
The girl finally relaxed her muscles after having run for what was probably the longest marathon she had ever ran in her entire life.
She did one last check behind her to ensure that he hadn't somehow followed her there, confirming once and for all that she had lost him and that it would be very difficult for him to get back in touch with her.
Enju: "Ouch….that was a really bad idea!" she mentally complained after feeling her entire body burn at the intensity of her running.
After the previous training session and after having Varanium shrapnel injure her, the last thing her body needed was that sprint she took. Alas, now it didn't matter since, even though she currently looked like someone dumped boiling water over the right side of her body, it wasn't likely that anyone would necessarily try arresting her just because of that.
She was free now, with no one trying to control her anymore, for the time being. Obviously she knew full well, though, that it was only a matter of time until Rentarō will sound the alarm to his superiors and them starting a city-wide search for her. Consequently, she needed to move fast before anyone starts to actively hunt her down and try to capture her. After all, she was sure that if she gets caught from that point on, she would be gravely punished….probably with another session in The Room again. She would rather die than be forced into that chamber once again.
Enju: "Now…..I need to find someone who can help me out!" she said to herself, scanning the park for any potential helpful-looking person who wouldn't shun her. She analyzed carefully any people passing by casually, trying to see if any of them looked kind enough to support her. And she eventually came across a couple strolling around. She decided to approach them.
Enju: "Uh, good evening!" she yelled, very nervous towards them, feeling unsure of herself because this was the first time in her life she interacted with people in the outside world without Rentarō watching over her. "Uh, I need your help! I'm looking for-…." but she was interrupted when the two caught glimpse of her and noticed the intense burning red skin covering half of her.
Boyfriend: "Good God, what happened to you, you poor thing?!" he almost yelled when staring at her. He crouched to take a better look at her when she arrived next to him, checking her and becoming very concerned immediately when he noticed the full extent of her injuries. "Did someone hurt you?" he continued, with a lot of worry in his voice.
Enju: "No….not really. But that's not important! I want to find someone!" she tried to explain, trying not to get distracted because of this stranger.
Boyfriend: "No….you can't look for anyone while you're like this! You need to get to the hospital, right now!" he proposed, trying to think logically although not understanding the girl's circumstances at all.
Enju: "N-no….I don't want to go to a hospital! Listen to me! I ju-…." but she got interrupted by the man's partner.
Girlfriend: "Leave her alone, Yamada-kun!" came the rather intrusive order from her, making the man stop in his tracks.
Boyfriend: "(looking back confused at her) But, she's clearly injured! Why would I-…."
Girlfriend: "Take a look at her eyes!" she apparently noticed what should have been obvious from the very beginning: the girl had intense scarlet eyes, a clear indicator of her status as a Cursed Child.
The boy hadn't noticed this until she brought it up but now, now that he tried to focus on her a bit more, he finally came to the same conclusion as her.
Now, while being polite and helpful towards Cursed Children was not necessarily a crime in that city, they were generally looked upon with scorn and were seen as an invitation for trouble. Naturally, the boy didn't want anything to happen to him nor his girlfriend, so he understood quite well her point of simply leaving that child to fend for herself.
Boyfriend: "I….I'm sorry! We can't help you!" came the rather cold sudden reply from him. He decided to listen to his girlfriend's request and move on.
Enju, obviously, was angry at this new development, feeling cheated for not receiving any real help from them.
Enju: "Wait! I just want you to help me find someone! I'll be gone quickly afterwards!" she tried to reason but the two stopped listening to her and began walking away trying to ignore the obnoxious kid they were leaving behind.
Enju glared, feeling very annoyed at this. Apparently things didn't go as she had planned.
Enju: "This isn't going to be as easy as I thought it should…." she then redirected her attention towards another group of people nearby. She then decided to approach these ones too, hoping that things would become better. "Uh, excuse me! I'm looking for someone! Do you think you can answer me a couple of questions?" she tried to gain their attention, not realizing the hostility that many of them were displaying.
Random guy: "Get the hell out of here kid! This isn't a good place to be in!" one of them warned, trying to inform her that she had no place being there. The girl, after already having been ignored by the previous couple, didn't want to give up just yet, though.
Enju: "Please! I just need a couple of directions, that's all!" she tried to continue persuading them, but to no avail.
Another guy: "What you need is some makeup. Or maybe plastic surgery, from the way you look!" this one felt a bit more intimidating, not holding back on her just because of her age. "Beat it, kid! This is an adults' only area! If you know what's good for you, you'll leave us alone, now!" he threatened, informing her that they weren't gonna mess around for too long with her.
The girl stood there, thinking what she should do. They were radiating hostility towards her, that much was clear. If she would continue to bother them, she might end up in a bad place. Or…..would she?
Enju: "I already have my powers….it wouldn't be that hard to make them talk" she thought to herself, wondering if she should actually employ these measures. If Rentarō was there, he would have obviously told her to step down and make the proper decision of trying to find others for help. But, the fact of the matter was that Rentarō wasn't there and nor did she need to listen to him anymore.
Guy: "Hey! Aren't you listening?! I'm talking to you!" the intimidating dude rose up from the bench he was sitting on and began approaching her slowly, trying to scare her away, seeing how simply talking to her wasn't yielding any results.
The girl didn't take his tactic with kindness though.
When he was literally in front of her, she kicked his torso with one of her legs, effectively breaking two ribs inside and forcing him to spew blood out of his nostrils all of a sudden, while also making him fall on the ground.
The man fell to his side, with his face becoming pale in the span of just a couple of seconds, a pool of blood growing underneath him.
Another guy: "WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH THIS KID?!" one of them pulled out a knife and began approaching Enju, ready to stab her just so that she would stop.
The girl wasn't impressed, though, and easily dodged it before jumping high towards him with a lot of force and smashing her kneecap into his jaw, forcing him to fall backwards. After all those years she had spent in that accursed facility, she developed all the necessary skills to beat the crap out of adults, as well as avoid incoming blows of weapons. Now, all of those skills were going to be used to her advantage.
The last two aggressors just stood there, amazed. Neither of them had the courage to approach her, especially not after seeing how easily she had handled their friends. Despite her age and her small posture, she still packed a deadly punch, apparently.
Enju: "So….will you start talking now?!" she made a step towards the remaining two.
Guy: "FUCK THIS!" one of them then began to make a dash for it, while his partner remained in one spot, petrified. The one who began to run didn't manage to get far, though, as Enju sprinted after him as well, her speed far beyond what a normal human could ever achieve. In just seven seconds, she was already at his position. She launched a kick in his direction and succeeded in landing her foot on him, propelling him into a tree nearby. He fell down, unconscious, with a lot of blood starting to pour from his nose and into his mouth.
The girl then turned back towards the one who had remained stationary, only to discover that he had disappeared in the time that she had dealt with his cowardly friend.
Enju: "Man, everyone here isn't really friendly..." she thought to herself when looking around and seeing how everyone else in that park, after having witnessed all of that, began running away in various directions, scattering like ants running away from fire. Since she had no one else around to ask questions to, that meant that she was now alone to see for herself what she could do.
Enju: "I hate humans…." she began to think. However, what she was surprised about was the hearing of a police siren arriving from the distance. One of the bystanders in that park immediately called the police as soon as they had noticed her, a Cursed Child, starting to talk with those guys, which were clearly becoming very violent the more they were in contact with her. "Oh….great" she thought about running away now that the police appeared to arrive but she quickly banished that thought.
She knew she was going to become a wanted person very soon so she would become hunted in the near future. Given that, what really was the point of trying to run away from the police now? She might as well see if she could confront them.
Two police officers exited the vehicle, both taking notice of her eyes and realizing that she was a Cursed Child that had turned violent.
Officer 1: "Great….now we have to deal with this. Inform center that we have a violent Cursed Child on the loose here! Have them send backups now!" he ordered his partner. The second officer acknowledged his command and went back into the car to deliver that message via the radio system while the first one pulled out his gun and aimed at Enju. "This is the police! You are under arrest for assault! Lie down flat onto the ground with your arms spread, now!" he warned her.
It was now clear that she had angered society. Now it was her against everyone else.
Enju: "As long as I'm free, it doesn't really matter! I can fend for myself!" she said to herself before rapidly starting to approach the officer aiming at her. Her speed was clearly inhuman so the officer decided to neutralize her with his gunshots.
He fired a couple of bullets in her direction but she immediately changed her trajectory after she saw him pulling the safety on his gun, effectively dodging the bullets before he even shot. She ran into an arc around him while also closing in on him, trying to avoid his gunshots while he struggled to hit her.
Officer 1: "Dammit, she's fast!" even if he did shoot her, he doubted it would bring her down. After all, Cursed Children are well known for their extremely fast healing abilities. While several gunshots to the head would be enough to kill her, he needed to deliver them correctly.
The officer kept on aiming and shooting, each time missing her with just a bit of millimeters of leeway. The girl, finally, made a sharp turn and began running head-on towards her attacker. This time, the man had her right in his sights and, even though she was heading towards him at a blazing speed, he still had the necessary time to finally shoot at her head since she now abandoned all attempts at dodging just so she could attack him frontally. She did that just so she could get close enough to hit him, although she did leave herself open to being shot now. The officer had only a couple of seconds to properly aim his gun and shoot before she could land her hit, a chance that she allowed herself to take just so she could finish him off quickly.
Now, she still tried to perform a last second dodge when noticing that he did indeed have the necessary speed to orient his gun very quickly but, this time, it was less effective and the bullet did finally land on her body, despite missing her head which was its original target. However, it touched right in the same area where the previous Varanium shrapnel fragment had hit, causing immense pain to reverberate throughout her body.
The girl yelled very loudly, losing her momentum and falling over, right in front of the policeman, feeling her right arm paralyzed and trying to cover the open would with her left hand.
Officer 1: "I think you've done enough for today, you monster!" he yelled before forcing the barrel of his gun against her head. "Any last words?" he inquired at the creature on the ground beneath him. The girl didn't respond with anything, though.
Officer 2: "Wait! You're actually going to kill her?!" his partner inquired all of a sudden, after finally finishing his message to central and getting out of the car to assist.
Officer 1: "Of course! She's very dangerous! And besides, she's a Cursed Child! Nobody's going to complain if one of them dies. Especially not after the trouble she caused here!" he tried to reassure him, while still focusing intently on the child under him to make sure that she wouldn't make any sudden moves to escape.
Officer 2: "Are you sure, though? I don't think chief will be thrilled to hear about this in our report!" his partner still had his skepticism, trying to see if he could probably persuade him into stopping and preventing him from making any rash decisions.
Officer 1: "Listen: stop worrying about it! Many of us have dealt with these little troublemakers for years, now! The only way they will learn is through force! And sometimes, that implies deadly force!" Enju froze on the spot, right there, feeling the dread finally starting to build up in her. She didn't want to die….she had something she needed to do before dying. No way was she gonna allow that bastard to kill her there.
Officer 2: "Shouldn't we talk to her for a bit, first, though? Maybe we can learn something useful from her!" the other still persisted. His superior wasn't very pleased with that idea, but he also felt very bad being the only one of the duo who was advocating for their target's death. And, seeing how the second officer didn't seem ready to be convinced of the necessity of the killing, he eventually gave up on the idea.
The man removed the gun from the girl's head and rose back to his feet, since he had been kneeling that whole time to take a better look at her and ensure she had no weapons hidden in her clothes or anything.
Officer 1: "Get up!" he sternly ordered. The girl did as she was told to, rising to her feet as well. She had a very concerned and vicious look on her face. She was clearly very scared but was refusing to admit that, trying to put up a tough facade.
The officer still aimed his gun at her head, though, with the safety pulled and ready to fire if she would make any jarring movements.
Officer 1: "What's your name?" he asked in a very demanding and direct voice. He didn't even move his gun slightly when asking that, maintaining a proper stance and without trembling at all, despite holding the gun on her and visibly being prepared to shoot. Clearly he was a professional, so she shouldn't be messing around with him.
Enju: "Enju….Aihara!" she revealed, very lowly. She didn't know what to do now. He was aiming straight at her forehead, dead center. She simply didn't have the necessary speed to dodge the incoming bullet immediately if he were to shoot as soon as she began moving. And despite her having the resilience of surviving a single bullet, if it hit her brain, she would be knocked out instantaneously, which would allow them to easily finish her off afterwards. And even if she escaped that, she would have to later avoid both of them at the same time. She was in a lot of trouble now.
Officer 1: "Enju, huh? I wish there were some better circumstances under which we would have met. Do you understand what you did here, today, Enju?" he spoke with a very cold, almost robotic voice, like he had memorized a very old and time-tested procedure that he was now replaying from his memory. Clearly, this man had a lot of experience behind him.
Enju: "Yes...I do!" she responded, still clearly very scared.
Officer 1: "You injured a bunch of innocent people today! I hope you're ready to receive your punishments for what you did!" she gulped, feeling the weight of her actions crushing her right then. She obviously understood all of that, there was really no need for him to point it out to her.
Enju: "What….punishment are you planning?" she asked in a trembling voice.
The officer smirked at that.
Officer 1: "Well, it depends. You either calm down and allow us to escort you to the nearest Initiator Training facility….or we kill you now!" that was not a good choice for her. Basically, what these men wanted to do to her was what Rentarō had also planned on doing just before she ran away: send her back into the hands of the I.I.S.O.
Evidently, she didn't want that. After all those years, she was sure that if she returned there, they would punish her for her misdeeds, especially after all the injuries she had caused to those random civilians in the past hour. Not only that, but it was very unlikely that she will ever see freedom again if she were to be incarcerated back, since it would be highly unlikely that they will pair her with another Promoter after her and Rentarō's abysmal IP results from their training that day.
She simply couldn't afford to be locked up again. If she accepted to be escorted by them, it will be over. All her plans would be blown out the window and she won't ever see sunlight for the rest of her life. She…..hated to think about that.
Officer 1: "So….what will it be, Enju-chan?" he added that honorific at the end of her name sarcastically, even though he still didn't remove the gun from its initial position. Her life was clearly being threatened.
Enju: "I choose…..to be escorted!" she responded lightly. The two men then looked at each other, skeptical.
Officer 1: "Then, we better get going!" he motioned to his partner to put handcuffs on her. The second officer, seeing the signal, obeyed and began approaching her. Enju tensed at that. "Don't move!" he clarified very quickly. "If you make any sudden movements, I'll shoot!" there was no room for her to escape, or at least that was what they were thinking.
Her partner approached her cautiously, trying to avoid being in the line of fire from his superior but while also trying to put handcuffs on. Enju innocently brought her arms in front of her to make it look like she was awaiting him to finish his task. He approached them to put the cuffs on, only for her to suddenly grab the sleeve of his uniform and yank him towards her, practically forcing him into his partner's line of fire to use him as a human shield if his superior decided to shoot at her, as he had originally threatened in case she would try to escape.
Officer 1: "Dammit, you little..." he began charging at her. The girl quickly kicked his partner with her leg, using her strength to break his left leg. She then quickly dodged the first officer trying to hit her with his gun and jumped backwards to put some distance between them.
The officer aimed his gun at her again, shooting a couple of bullets in her general direction, accounting for her possible evasion movements when doing so. This strategy seemed to work better, since he started to read into her tactics. One of the bullets hit into her left leg as well, effectively preventing her from running away.
Enju: "Ow, it hurts!" she yelled before having another bullet hit her right leg, this time. She fell onto the ground, grabbing her legs in pain, feeling truly horrendous.
The officer who was still uninjured, approached her quickly before she could recover from the pain and smashed his leg into her face, forcing her back down onto the ground. He then began hitting her with his legs, specifically in her abdomen, trying to break her will.
Officer 1: "You worthless piece of-…." but he was interrupted by a yell coming from the distance.
Rentarō: "ENJU!" came the distant voice of an exhausted young man who was pedaling so fast and so intensely that he felt like he could faint at any moment due to his exhaustion. His voice interrupted the officer who was trying to beat the girl mercilessly.
It seemed like he was traveling on his bike with around thirty kilometers per hour, an impressive achievement given his young age and relatively lack of experience riding. Sweat was heavily dripping down from the top of his head down to his jaw, in big drops.
He arrived as quickly as he could, after having learned from Miyori of Enju's location. The fact that he had arrived this early was a miracle. Even he was impressed with himself.
He barely managed to stop his bike when he arrived at their location, his momentum being dangerously powerful enough to make him almost lose balance. Thankfully, he still managed to safely come to a halt, before getting off and dropping the bike and running to the scene of the conflict.
Rentarō: "Wait! Please! Don't kill her!" he yelled in desperation, running towards the girl shaking on the ground pathetically.
Officer 1: "(glaring at him) And who might you be?" he raised his voice in suspicion, although he refrained from doing anything rash towards the newcomer.
Rentarō: "Excuse me! I'm her Promoter! My name is Satomi Rentarō!" he clarified while bending down to look at her injuries, trying to analyze the girl's movements and make sure she was still alive. Thankfully for him, she was. And since she was a Cursed Child, it was very likely that she will fully heal from them in a couple of days, hopefully.
Officer 1: "Promoter? You?" he was a bit in disbelief. Clearly he was very young, so naturally the officer didn't really believe him at first. "Do you have your license with you?" so he had to confirm it with a valid document.
Rentarō quickly rose back up to retrieve his wallet from the left pocket of his pants and look for it in there. He quickly found it and handed his license to the police officer, already feeling dangerously bad because of this. The officer scanned it attentively, ensuring that it wasn't in any way forged. It looked genuine enough.
Once he confirmed the authenticity of those claims, he released a very heavy and annoyed sigh, before glaring even more intensely at the boy in front of him.
Officer 1: "You're in deep trouble, Satomi-san!" the boy could feel his stomach turn when he noticed the anger behind those words. It was clear that Enju did something horrific while she was away from him.
Rentarō: "I'm truly sorry! I'll take full responsibility for what my Initiator did in the last couple of hours!" he bowed his head as much as he could, trying to see if he could somehow make the officer forgive both him and Enju, although that was very unlikely to happen, by the look of things.
Officer 1: "Do you realize the extent of damage that your Initiator caused here? She injured many bystanders, caused property damage and also injured my partner and tried to escape arrest! At this point, I don't think there's anything you can say in her defense that will make things better for you two!" he gulped loudly. Yep, he was screwed. None of those charges were light and given this unfortunate turn of events, he will be lucky if he will get out of this with just the I.I.S.O. revoking his license.
Rentarō: "I….apologize sincerely!" he had nothing he could say, indeed. He couldn't think of any excuse to come up with. At this moment, he was glad that they haven't outright killed Enju yet.
Officer 1: "Apologies won't do you any good here, Satomi-san! Both you and your Initiator are under arrest! You have the right to remain silent! Anything you say from this point on can be used against you in-…." but he was interrupted once again, this time, by the walkie-talkie he kept in his holster on his belt.
Walkie-talkie: "Officer Okazaki….please respond! This is an urgent message!" came the unexpected message from his device. He was Okazaki, so he was the one who was supposed to respond.
Officer 1: "(sigh) Wait a moment, please!" he told Rentarō, before pulling out his scanner and answering the request. "This is officer Okazaki responding! Yes, chief?" seeing how Rentarō was there and the Initiator on the ground seemed calm now, he decided to respond for now, seeing how he was supposed to answer urgent messages on his walkie-talkie as soon as he was available.
Walkie-talkie: "Please report!" came a rather odd order in the middle of the day. Okazaki was confused, not yet sure why he had received such an odd request so abruptly and at such an inconvenient time, especially after his partner had already contacted central and informed them that they were in the middle of an arrest. That was rather unusual for an officer to be contacted like that and forced to report while they were clearly busy.
Okazaki: "I'm currently in Ueno Onshi Park, about half of a kilometer north of pond Shinobazunoike, in the process of arresting two individuals. The report concerning that Cursed Child causing trouble appears to be about a rogue Initiator. Her Promoter also arrived on the scene just now and I'm ready to take both of them into custody. Please contact the I.I.S.O. to alert them that one of their Initiators will be brought back in!" he tried to follow the order as diligently as possible. "The Initiator's name is Enju Aihara, and her Promoter is Satomi Rentarō. Once I'm done with arresting them, I should bring them to-…." but he was suddenly interrupted.
Walkie-talkie: "Please refrain from your arrest and immediately return to patrol!" came the rather unexpected order from his chief. The officer was confused at that, to say the least.
Okazaki: "Ex…..cuse me? But what am I supposed to do with the two perpetrators?" he was almost at a loss for words at that. He wasn't even capable of parsing that odd order.
Walkie-talkie: "You are to allow them to leave! For now, drop any charges concerning them too!" he couldn't believe his ears.
Okazaki: "But….sir….I…." he literally was stunned, unable to even provide a comeback. What was he supposed to do in such situations? Obviously, from the standpoint of the protocols he was supposed to follow, he would have needed to follow through with the arrest and take them to the station for further interrogation, as well as to restrain Enju in a facility that had the necessary equipment to keep her at bay. But, on the other hand, he was also always supposed to follow his superior's orders, regardless of how strange they are and no matter of the situation.
Walkie-talkie: "But what, Okazaki-san?" came a sterner intonation in the voice from the other end. Clearly that was the sign that he should stop, otherwise bad things will happen.
Okazaki: "I….uh…..hai! Order received! Okazaki, over!" he removed the walkie-talkie from his face and gently put it back in his holster, before glaring back at the teenage boy. Rentarō was too scared to say anything in response to his glare.
He then handed him his license back before going to retrieve his injured assistant and then making their way back to their car to leave the scene of that incident. He was still going to file a rather harsh report at the end of that day concerning his superiors, although it probably won't end up making too much of a difference.
Rentarō: "What….the hell was that all about?" the boy was left completely astonished, both thankful to whatever deity had been watching over him and protecting him but also in disbelief.
Afterwards, his cellphone vibrated a couple of times in his pocket, letting him know that he received a text message.
He brought it up, only to see what should have been obvious.
Text message from Miyori: "That will be one night at Narisawa, one night at Ryugin, one night at Nodaiwa, one night at the Mizutani Sushi Bar and one night at Aronia de Takazawa! One for each of the weekdays! Oh….and at least one romantic movie at the cinema together! I'll be waiting for your invitations, Rentarō-kun!" was all that was written in that message. Rentarō felt, at that moment, that, despite having escaped arrest only barely, he was still somehow incredibly unfortunate.
Rentarō: "This woman….has a truly scary amount of influence..." now he finally got a gist of how truly powerful his friend was. Needless to say, he was scared shitless, not only because of Miyori's display of control, but also at the fact that he was probably going to have to make a loan at a bank just so that he could afford to go to the places that she requested.
The boy let out another heavy sigh, the fourth one that day, before returning his gaze upon the entire cause of that whole calamity.
Enju was lying on the ground, covered in dirt and with blood flowing out of her nose and mouth. She was alive, that was clear, but after receiving a fragment of shrapnel Varanium, as well as bullets into both of her legs, her shoulder and then taking that amount of beating, her body, even with all its regenerative powers, was at its limit. She was still conscious, though.
Enju: "Ren-...tarō" she mumbled almost, seeing his face and recognizing him, despite the migraine that she was going through.
Rentarō: "You're….in for a lot of trouble!" to say that he was ready to make her suffer was an understatement. He finally felt the anger rise up in him now that the most immediate dangers were not there anymore. Now he was all alone with her, and he was going to give her a piece of his mind.
Enju: "I guess….you hate me now, don't you?" she rhetorically asked, with a weak smile on her face.
Rentarō: "I've hated you from the very beginning!" he spat. The girl then tried to rise back up on her feet, barely even managing to maintain a proper train of thought. Her mind was hazy from the immense quantity of pain that her brain was constantly being assaulted with. "What the hell did you do over here?! Do you have any idea in how much danger you put both me and you, as well?! Do you have any idea how much damage you could have caused me and Kisara if Shiba-san wasn't here to help us?!" he angrily questioned, finally starting to release some of the steam that had been building up inside of him after such a long time.
Enju: "I….don't even know who that is!" she tried to defend herself, although with little success.
Rentarō: "You're….going to get it this time! This is beyond just disobeying! I'm not gonna go easy on you, anymore!" he warned. The girl was worried again, although to a lesser extent this time since he wasn't going to kill her, at least. If she knew anything about him, he at least always seemed like the type who couldn't kill. Then again, you never know.
Enju: "I….don't wanna go back to that facility! I'm not an animal! You can't force me to-…."
Rentarō: "Oh really? So, what you did today, at this park, is something a normal human would do?" he interjected. The girl stopped at that. "Because, let me be honest, you do seem like you're an animal that's bent on destroying and attacking! And, sadly, I'm just not good enough to tame you!" now he understood the words of the guard that had handed Enju over to him back at the I.I.S.O. when he had first met her. Now he saw Enju's true face.
The girl looked onto the ground, ashamed of herself, although she didn't say anything in response.
Rentarō: "I never should have been this easy on you….Kisara-san was right, I'm an adult trying to blame a child for her actions. I never should have bothered to control you in the first place!" he commented very coldly, now looking down on her like she was a creature that had escaped from a zoo and had done a lot of damage to the people around it. "You're too dangerous to be outside! You need to be locked back up!" he commented without any empathy for her.
Enju: "No…." she began to grit her teeth, in defiance. "I'm not returning there! They'll put me back into that room! They'll hurt me again! I don't want that!" even after all of that, even after being told exactly what she had done, she was still going against his authority. That was his tipping point.
Rentarō, after everything that had happened, pulled out his gun and placed it against her forehead. This was the second time that day when someone was threatening her life in that way.
Rentarō: "Stay down! This gun has actual Varanium bullets in it! If you try to escape again, I'll shoot you! And this time, unlike the other bullets in your body right now, this should be fatal to you! After all, if a single shrapnel fragment made out of that metal was enough to cause this much inflammation on your body, imagine what an entire bullet can do to you!" he was done playing games with her. Disobedience was one thing but she had went way too far even for that.
Enju stared into his eyes, noticing how she had lost even the little sympathy he once had for her. He felt….detached….almost like he was psychologically ready on following on what he had said. He felt….at that exact moment, like he was indeed ready to end her life.
She was too weak now, incapable of running away since both of her legs had been shot. Even if she tried to escape without them, he was there ready to shoot her at any point. And in those moments, even she knew that if a single Varanium bullet would penetrate her, she would instantly die. Her body was just too injured at that point to survive that trauma too.
Enju: "I….don't want to….I don't want to" she was now realizing how cornered she was.
Rentarō: "I don't care…." he replied, in an emotionless tone.
Finally, after all the beating, all the abuse and after losing all hope and sympathy from her guardian, she finally cracked. She began crying in front of him, loud and desperately, losing all of her previous dignity.
Enju: "Please….don't send me back there! Please! I'll be good from now on!" he wasn't going to be fooled by her anymore. Even if her words seemed true, she was far too unstable for him to trust her again.
Rentarō: "That's not going to work on me anymore, Enju!" he ran out of patience for her. "Rise up!" he ordered. She still remained on her knees though.
Enju: "Please….they'll send me back into that room! I don't want to return there! I….won't be able to survive another session in there!" she begged, although he didn't show any response again.
Rentarō: "I don't care…." he didn't even know what she was talking about, although he had no interest left in himself to invest the energy of inquiring what this 'Room' was.
The girl began trembling, as tears began to mix with the blood coming out of her nose and mouth. She was a total mess, that much was certain. She wanted so badly to run away from him. She just had no more means of doing so.
Enju: "Please!" she still continued with her incessant cries but the boy, again, didn't respond kindly.
Rentarō: "I don't care, Enju! Now rise up! I'm done waiting for you!" it was over for her.
She didn't answer this time, though. She simply tried to rise back up, to follow his order before he would actually become violent, only to fall over because of her almost paralyzed legs. When falling, two pieces of plastic fell from the front pocket of her dress. That caught the boy's attention.
Rentarō: "What's this?" he then bent down to grab them. They were halves of what once was a single portrait picture of a young woman. "She looks…..familiar…." he thought to himself before remembering suddenly who that person was. "This is….the same picture that was in Enju's profile folder. Sakura Aihara….Enju's mother…." he recalled calmly. For whatever reason, the picture was torn and also stained on various bits. It looked old, although still in otherwise good shape.
Enju: "Please...give that back!" she immediately snatched those from his hands, grabbing them violently from him, afraid that he was going to take them away from her. Despite her previously docile and begging persona, she was still rather violent now when he took notice of them. Clearly they had a great significance to her.
Rentarō: "Why….do you carry that around with you?" he asked tactlessly, not realizing the obvious. Enju staggered for a second, not even sure what to say.
Enju: "That's….my mother. That's how she looked like!" she said, despite not really answering his question. That was information he already knew.
Rentarō: "I know that! I'm asking you why you have that on you now!" seeing how he was pressing her and how she didn't have a choice in the matter, the bumbling girl decided to just let go of all her reservations and blurt out the truth. At that point, what use was there in hiding it from him anymore?
Enju: "I….wanted to find her. I promised I would search for her as soon as I would be out of that facility! And I wanted to use this picture to search for her!" now he was even more confused than before. What the hell was this child talking about? Had she really gone fully insane now?
Rentarō: "What? This is the first time I hear about this, though? How were you planning on searching for her without telling me about it?!" he asked, indignant.
Enju: "I…..didn't have the courage, OK?!" she yelled all of a sudden, many tears still flowing from her eyes. "I tried to tell you, so many times. But I was afraid you'd take that picture away from me!" after her former best friend had teared it into half, she was naturally now very distrustful of anyone learning about that picture's existence. "You were always so mad at me….I didn't want you to know! I even thought you would try to stop me from finding her!" she felt angry, even though she was still a crying mess. "I….needed to find her! I really wanted to talk with her….at least once!" she almost lost it right there, her tears still covering a huge portion of her face.
Rentarō: "Is….that why you ran away from me once you found out I planned to send you back?" now every piece was falling into place since she was finally honest with him. He began to make all the connections internally in his mind.
The child nodded, placing the two halves very slowly and cautiously back into her pocket.
Enju: "Please...Rentarō! I don't care anymore if you send me back! Just….let me find her and talk to her! Even for five minutes! I….just want to see her! Please!" she discarded all of her dignity that moment in exchange for even a shred of mercy from him. After all, that was all she could ask for.
Rentarō: "Did nobody at that facility tell her the truth? They told her about her fate and how she will die soon but they didn't tell her about her mother? Did they just expect me to deal with this once she was going to get paired with me?!" he felt angry once again, although this time for an entirely different reason. How could she have been so ignorant all these years? "Enju…..your mother's dead!"