I'd be lying if I said that I'm completely unfazed right now.
"He mustn't die!" I heard someone yell, and then the telltale sound of a gun being shot exploded in my ears, leaving an annoying ringing in them. In that moment, I caught a glimpse of green hair, light and blood.
I saw her fall back. Her body was completely limp as she hit the ground with a "thump". I was frozen still, but not in shock. Nope. The shock would come in a few moments. For now, all I felt was a strange, unfamiliar numbness cloud my mind. The feeling got stronger when I saw an alarming amount of blood coming out from this girl's head.
"Oh? Well… our orders were to take her back dead or alive, anyways. We'll just say that she was shot by one of those Eleven monkeys. What do you think, schoolboy?" I heard snorts and laughs, but I didn't react, I think. My eyes stayed with the downed girl for another moment before I slowly looked up.
Men in military uniforms were standing parallel to me, holding up their guns at eye level and pointing forwards. One of them—the highest ranking one, if his uniform was anything to go by—had an amused expression on his face; a sadistic smirk.
"It's a shame, but she died in vain."
She must've heard that.
I'm sure she heard that.
Her soul must've stayed in this world even after her demise, for that man's words brought her to action once more. She shot her hand at me and caught my ankle in a vicious grip. I winced as I looked down again, and saw a sigil in her forehead glow a bright red.
And that's when the world just stopped making sense.
My name is Luke. I'm a twenty-three years old office worker (soulless corporative slave) and habit fan of all things anime. My favorite ones are probably "Code Geass", "Yu Yu Hakusho" and "Hajime no Ippo". I'd say that I'm a pretty laid-back, maybe even listless, person. I'm single and not quite ready to mingle. I'm not looking for a girlfriend, even though my family is quite eager to see me in a relationship with someone, anyone.
I'm just not good with people, y'know?
That's why I'm spending my Friday night alone, holed up in my room, being one comfy couch potato while watching Code Geass on Netflix.
I first saw this masterpiece several years ago, and I've watched it again at least five more times after that, this being the sixth time. There's something special about it that makes me want to watch it again and again, even though I hate Clamp's art style with unreasonable passion. Slenderman-lookin' characters just aren't my thing, and Code Geass' characters are no exception. Even so, I'm more than willing to tolerate it in favor of its story.
The movie is not included in that previous statement. I have nothing against it, really, but it's just not the same. Not to mention that it was completely unnecessary and kind of messed up one of greatest endings in the history of Japanese animation.
I have nothing against it though. Seriously.
I was watching the episode where the Black Knights betray Lulu when I, probably, triggered a flag.
"Boy, being Lulu sucks. He's, like, the one anime character I wouldn't want to be… Well, and Guts. I'd kill myself immediately if I woke up as Guts. Lulu at least had cool robots and C.C."
I'm a strong Lulu/C.C. supporter. Though Lulu/Kaguya also has its own unique charm, there's no winning against C.C.
"If I were him, I'd ask her out. Kallen is good and all, but I don't do short hair…"
And that's when I triggered the second flag, probably.
"But Lulu really is an idiot at times, huh. If I were him, I would've used the Geass on Suzaku the moment I found out about him being the Lancelot's pilot. Hell, I'd use it left and right on pretty much everyone just to make sure I don't get my back stabbed by my own Black Knights. He wasn't paranoid enough."
And that's three. I'm out.
Having an out-of-body experience feels like being submerged in cold water, completely naked. To put in simply, it sucks. You can't breath but you don't really need to, which feels really odd. Unnerving, I'd say.
Other than that, having an out-of-body experience is like having a really interesting trip, if y'know what I mean. Wink. Wink.
I feel like listening to Let the Sunshine In by The Fifth Dimension. I'm suddenly in a psychedelic mood like that.
My thoughts were interrupted when I heard a woman chuckle. That woman then spoke in an eerie voice that gave me goosebumps all over my body. "You have a reason for living, don't you?"
"Not really." I quickly said. I didn't intend for it, but my reply came out as a deadpan in spite, or maybe because of, the previous goosebumps.
The visions of evil spirits, cultists and planets that I've been having since I was pulled out of my body all halted at that point. Everything became white as a very naked woman suddenly popped into existence right in front of me.
"So you have no reason to live? What about your sister?" She asked, clearly taken aback.
"My sister?" Oh, I do have a sister. She's Satan's reincarnation and she's well and truly nuts. Never in my life have I met—Thank God!—someone as messed up as her. "My sister is basically all that's wrong with teenagers these days and then some. Also, I think she's a sociopath. I'm not saying that I don't care about her at all, but I really can't say that she's a reason for me to live. That'd be way too sad. Also, I think she wouldn't care if I died." I did a pause as I thought of something. "Actually, I think she'd be happy. She'd get to have all my things. Selfish, uncaring little… I'm giving everything to charity. Fuck it." I cursed under my breath.
The naked lady in front of me blinked a few times, clearly surprised, before shaking her head.
"Even if that's the case, I'm sure you have something worth living for?"
I feel like this girl is trying to make me care about my own life now.
"I mean… Nothing comes to mind?"
"..."
"..."
There was an uncomfortable silence that I spent looking at the empty… Sky? Ceiling? What do I call that thing? Up?
"So you want to die?"
"Huh? No, I guess. I mean, it's not like I'm suicidal or anything. It's more like… Oh shit, am I depressed?" I feel like I need some good memes to lift my spirits right about now.
The girl frowned, shrugged and then put on a confident smile as she stepped closer. The fact that she's naked was not forgotten. Not even for a second, so I kept my eyes on hers. I'm gentlemanly like that.
"What if you had power? Surely you could change things if only you had power…"
"What kind of power?" I reply, trying to be as casual as possible about this. What the hell is "this", anyways?
Her smile became a little sad when she replied. "The power of the King. This power will isolate you, and while you'll live on as a human, you'll be unlike any of them. A different logic… A different time… A different time life…"
She paused as she looked into the distance. She probably did it for dramatic effect.
"If you want it, then this shall be our contract: in exchange for my gift, you'll fulfill one wish of mine. Do you accept?"
I shrugged and nodded.
Some may say that that was rather stupid, others would simply call it anticlimactic, but I'm just not one to refuse supernatural powers from suspicious people while facing armed men, okay? I'm also rather straightforward, or so I've been told.
Moreover, I'm not dense enough not to see where this is going, as unbelievable as the whole situation might be.
Code Geass is one of my favorite animes, after all. Though I kind of feel like the lines are different…
Well, it's a dream. I'm sure it's just a dream, so I might as well enjoy while it's still nice and all. You can never know when the Asian Space Frog of Doom will show up.
Yes, I have weird dreams.
"Yeah, sure. I, Lelouch vii Britannia, accept the terms of the contract and yadda yadda."
She chuckled.
When the world regained its colors, I was back in the destroyed warehouse from mere moments ago. No time had passed, apparently.
The Britannian Soldiers were still there, smiling with sadistic glee.
"Die" I ordered. They happily complied.
I watched them kill themselves as the strange numbness slowly began to dissipate, courtesy of the slight warmth I felt in my left eye, I'm sure.
"Huh, neat."