Chapter 9
Sairo managed to get two hours of sleep before having to wake up. He assumed that Storme wouldn't want to talk about what happened last night, so he kept quiet. He couldn't, however, stop thinking about what he saw in her eyes. He decided he would eventually ask her, but for now there wasn't any time. He had to get ready for whatever happens today, and worry about his assigned partner later, right? He had breakfast then hit the gym to do more than he previously would've had. Storme went to the library, a rare occurrence, and started reading a book. Well, when I say reading, I mean thinking about previous events, in this case, last night. She thought about the things running through her head, the things she wanted to say, and the things she actually did. If she'd have told him, she may have been a little at ease. But Storme was already convinced that she had to deal with it herself. She sighed and got up to leave when her scouter crackled with the communication link,
"Hey, Storme, about last night, you looked a little-" Storme cut the line; she wasn't in the mood for this. Sairo frowned a little before sighing and going to the games room, where Luut and the others were. They were playing snooker and had space for one more. Sairo picked up a cue and joined in with no invitation. "So how's recent things been?" Luut, as jokey as ever talked about how he would always be above Sairo like he would always be 'above his mother'. Sairo laughed a harsh laugh before hitting the ball. After a bit of playing, he shoved his cue into M's hands and went to leave.
"Hey, why so moody?" Luut asked. "Is it because I talked about your mom?" Sairo stopped in the doorway. He answered with,
"1. No and 2. I don't know." Then he left. When he went to his quarters, Storme was there waiting for him whilst sharpening her machete. She quickly said,
"Tonight, same place." Sairo nodded before sitting on the floor and meditating. He imagined his body as a game, where he had to evenly spread his Ki across his whole body. He also had to attain an empty mind. After some while Sairo was confident that his random. He looked over at Storme who was now polishing her gun. Sairo then looked outside; it was nearly night time, so he prepared to 'sleep'. The other soldiers came through the door and prepared to sleep. Eventually Sairo got up, tapped Storme's shoulder and left. Storme got up and followed. They made their way to the empty land they were at the day before, the sky cloudless to give a clear view of the stars. Sairo folded his arms, waiting for Storme to talk.
"Sairo, I need to get something off my chest. I was holding this in and told no one else. It's about my past. I know it's a bit of a sob story but you don't need to care if you don't want to. I used to live in a farm, so naturally I would've had access to a gun, explaining why I'm so good at shooting." Storme smiled for a bit before her face darkened again. "Then, my family started dropping. My mother died when I was really young, she was killed by a bunch of bandits, who took all her belongings, so it was just my dad, me and my brother. Years later, we found my dad next to our car, wrecked. There was a crater nearby, and my dad was lying on the floor, holding his gun but somehow killed by his own bullet. That was days before I was kidnapped. I was taken by a group of rogues. I was used, I couldn't do anything as they tossed me between each other. When they were done with their sick pleasures, they kept me tied up, unclothed and waiting for the next round. Eventually I had the courage to kill them when one of them carelessly left me on the floor untied. I took this very machete," Storme flashed the machete, "And killed all of them one by one. Even though that's all behind me, I still remember the horrors, I just…" Sairo was listening intently, he saw Storme shed her tears. He was hurt by her story.
"You don't need to go on." He said. Storme was silent for a few moments before speaking up.
"Like I said before, I needed to get this off my chest, and tell someone I trust." Sairo was startled by the last line, but he didn't show this. He just let her continue. "Then I joined the army here with my brother. He had a special talent; he could make use of Ki like you. He was immediately taken to the infirmary to…," Storme didn't want to give any hints about what had happened to Sairo, "Be patched up a bit. But after a few days Hurecan thought that he was being used, his power abused even. He went rouge and nearly destroyed the whole facility, but he couldn't bring himself to kill his sister. He left me behind, the memories fresh as ever. He told me, 'One day, we will cross paths again, and either we come together, or one of us dies.' As you can see, it's the second option." Storme stared at the moon, in full agony from all the memories she held back, her ruthless façade down. Sairo was silent as well, then he said,
"I could never imagine someone could ever go through all that, but here you are. I could never empathise for you, but I can help you where I can." Storme acknowledged this and kept staring at the moon. Eventually she looked at Sairo and said,
"For some reason I trust you, a lot. Like I've said before I have never told anyone else, so you're the first. Just don't tell anyone I cry." She laughed and continued, "Sairo, do you remember when I said you caused me unhappiness?" Sairo responded,
"As clear as this night." Storme smirked,
"Well, I didn't mean that. To know you have someone to talk to about these issues is, special to me. And you seem to be that someone. I mean, why else would I give away my weaknesses if I didn't trust you greatly." Sairo was surprised, saying he felt over privileged, which made Storme laugh a bit. "Well, be privileged if that's how you think of it. I would say we're nearly equals. Nearly." Sairo grinned and saluted Storme. She laughed and saluted back. "Well, I think it's time we went, I have an assignment tomorrow, and I'm going to need some shut eye." Sairo nodded and was about to go when he remembered something he saw on T.V.
"Hey, Storme, ever heard of the Cell Games?" Storme looked offended. She said in an angry tone,
"Well duh! The Cell Games are all over the news now, they're going to start in a year, and loads of people are preparing to say goodbye. The leader is supposed to be the strongest being in the world, and there aren't actually people who can match up to his power." Sairo said that he may consider joining, to which Storme scoffed. "If you want to get killed go right ahead! No one's stopping you. You can't join in without some massive power boost." Sairo nodded and they went back to base. Sairo was thinking, what training could he do in a year? Hopefully enough to prove Storme wrong. And enough to survive. Or at least last for an hour…
