Fumiko left the building by herself, and before she crossed the street, she turned to take in the sight. It really did look complimentary to the White House, though there were minor differences. She would be working for Japan's district of Eden now. Her curiosity from the flight to this country that had occurred only a couple days ago resurfaced. How strong were these Code Breakers? Would she be able to ascend the ranks quickly, or would it be more of a challenge than it was overseas? Furthermore, why were two, now three, Code Breakers attending the same school, and why was one of them strongly attached to Sakurakouji? Maybe an assignment really was involved?

She shook her head and turned to face the street. A more pressing matter was presented to her. How was Fumiko going to get home? She wasn't familiar with the area at all.

Fumiko sighed. "Great."

"What's great?"

She turned around and was greeted by the sight of Ogami.

Fumiko only glared before turning back around, replying with a fierce, "Nothing," before digging through her bag for the slip of paper which contained her apartment's address.

Ogami appeared by her side and leaned forward just enough so he could see the profile of her face.

"You know, Matsushita, you can just hitch a ride in the truck back to your apartment," he said.

Fumiko pulled the paper out of her school bag before zipping it closed and looking across the street. The truck was still there.

"Are you being driven somewhere? Is that why you're saying I can join?" she asked, switching her gaze to his. He appeared disinterested as he shrugged and crossed the street, heading for the truck.

He's an odd one, Fumiko concluded before she followed him and got into the same side of the vehicle as she did last time. Ogami did the same.

"Is Heike being driven somewhere too?" Fumiko asked, wondering why Ogami didn't take the front seat.

"No, he can manage on his own," Ogami replied, his arms and legs were crossed as his head was lowered. His cold eyes were shut. "Where do you need to go?" he asked.

"Oh, uh, here," Fumiko answered as she held out the paper with her address on it to him.

He opened his eyes and took the slip of paper, handing it to the driver after tapping her on the shoulder numerous times. She had been sleeping, apparently, while they were having their meeting.

The car started, and the three of them took off.

"Oh, I was going to stop at the pharmacy before I went back to my apartment," Fumiko remembered aloud. "Oh well, I can do it tomorrow."

"The pharmacy?" Ogami inquired.

"I ran out of eye drops," she explained.

"Do you wear contacts?" Ogami asked.

"No," Fumiko answered. "I use them after I wake up and before I go to bed."

Ogami chuckled and stared out his window.

"What?" Fumiko asked, scowling at the dark blue haired Code Breaker.

"Nothing. You're just odd," he answered.

"Hmph!" Fumiko scoffed as she crossed her arms and stared out her window as well. "I could say the same about you!"

"Oh? How so?" he asked as he stared at Fumiko with a sly smile.

She turned to face him and was surprised. He was quite attractive when he smiled in such a way.

She pushed the thought aside and answered, "You act cold towards others, yet you try to help them. It's unusual. Why not just show your true intentions?"

His smile disappeared as he began to glare at Fumiko. Again, she was surprised. He could change expressions so easily and quickly. More so than she had seen anyone else do.

"It's none of your business," he said curtly as he turned back to the window on his side.

Fumiko stared at his figure for some time. He seemed to be wound up tight. Stressed out. He was an interesting fellow. Honestly, each Code Breaker in the world was intriguing in their own way. Fumiko probably was too; she just didn't see it in herself. All she saw were broken pieces that were sewn together in a mixed matched fashion to make up for the missing pieces that disappeared when she broke down.

She lowered her gaze before turning to her window and staring outside of it, watching the streetlights pass by as they provided light. She felt like there was only one streetlight on the inside of her. She was underneath it, desperately clinging to it's light, hoping that it would never go out and eventually bring her out of this darkness that she was surrounded by. How long had she been wishing for happiness and splendor to chase away her fears and pain?

A park whizzed by as the car passed. It wasn't the same one as before, but it reminded her of the glimpse of the memory that had erupted from the sight. Who had that girl been? Fumiko recalled a sandbox, and that the two of them were playing together in it. The other girl didn't seem amused. She always looked bored. Her expression had been blank. Her hair was purple and cut in a fashion that didn't really suit her. Fumiko remembered thinking that if she had longer hair then she'd look much more pretty. Tried as she might, however, she couldn't remember her face or her name.

"Matsushita, we're here."

Fumiko shot her head up and stared at Ogami. Then she looked outside his window and saw her apartment complex.

"Oh! Uh, thank you," she replied.

Ogami held out the slip of paper to her, and she took it, shoving it back in her bag before opening the truck door on her side.

"Matsushita?"

She looked over her shoulder. "Yes?"

"The incident in the elevator…-" Ogami began.

"Oh, that? Just forget about it. Pretend it never happened," Fumiko said with a light, nervous laugh. "Anyway, thanks for the ride. See you at school tomorrow."

She hastily jumped out of the truck and slammed the door, rushing towards the stairs.

(…)

There was a knock at the front door.

Fumiko's mother stood up, tossing aside the pot that had previously contained boiling hot water. Fumiko was slumped against the wall in the kitchen, her burns immediately beginning to blister. Her mother's words echoed over and over in her troubled mind.

"Useless child! You can never do anything right! You've driven your father and I apart, and you constantly want attention! You're always asking to see a doctor. Do you even know how much they cost? They're expensive! Just put up with your injuries, you weakling! Or better yet, why don't you just go die? We never wanted you anyway. You are a mistake!"

Her body should have been searing hot. She should have been able to feel the burns that covered her entire body, but she was numb. She couldn't even cry.

Fumiko had no one. She thought she could rely on her mother. She thought that one day she would rescue her from her father and take her someplace safe.

Her soul shattered. She didn't have the drive to stay alive.

Someone picked her up from the floor. In a daze, she looked up. A woman's face stared down at her with a kind of vulnerability that Fumiko had never seen before. Tears began to well in the woman's eyes as she hugged Fumiko close to her chest and began to cry.

Fumiko reached up and touched the woman's face and asked, "Miss, why are you crying?"

The woman was silent for a moment as she stared down at the child with wide eyes before bursting into uncontrollable sobbing as she carried Fumiko away.

Fumiko's eyes flittered open. She was tangled in her bed sheets and her hair was a mess. For a change, her throat didn't burn and her eyes weren't dry. Was it because of her dream?

She sat up and held her hand to her head as she rested her elbow upon her knee. She didn't recall the woman's features. She only remembered the type of expression she wore, and her blubbering. Yet, it seemed as though Fumiko had met her before she was taken away from her parents. She just didn't know when, or where, such an encounter could have taken place.

A pitiful laugh escaped her lips. "I must be losing my grip on reality," Fumiko said to herself as she climbed out of bed and went about her regular routine.

After she gathered herself and her things together, she left her apartment, closing and locking the door behind her. She had called the school to let them know that she'd be late for class this morning because she was visiting the pharmacy to pick up a prescription, though she was really only going to pick up those eye drops that she meant to grab last night. She briefly wondered when, and how, lying became so easy.

She had already looked up on her phone where the nearest pharmacy was, which was unfortunately located in the opposite direction of the school, and she carefully followed the path that her phone had laid out for her. As she did, her mind wandered back to the memories of abuse. She had often questioned why her parents had done what they did, but that was only after she had received such loving care from her aunt and uncle overseas. They really wanted the best for her. That was why when her ability began to show itself, they brought her to the authorities, and they took her away for some testing. However, after that, she never saw them again, and learned that she was alike to the other children at the facility that she was brought to. She did her schooling there with the other children and had befriended many of them somehow, but when the President himself came to visit… things changed.

Sometimes the children were pitted against each other so the researchers could examine their potential and skills. Fumiko often came out on top. It was rare when she didn't. The day the President came to visit was the same day that Fumiko's future changed, and the children who she had befriended had begun to treat her differently.

"Do you know why I requested to meet with you in person, Fumiko?" the President asked.

Fumiko and the much older man were sitting in one of the meeting rooms that the children normally weren't allowed to venture into, especially when multiple people were inside. All of the chairs were surrounding this large, round table, which Fumiko and the President were sitting at. The room was quite boring. Besides the table, numerous chairs, plants and picture frames for decoration, the projector and the projector screen, there wasn't much in the room.

"No," Fumiko replied as she fidgeted in her seat. She hadn't liked how the others reacted when the President had boldly called out her name and motioned her to come with him with his pointer finger. They had all stared with wide eyes and open mouths, suddenly keeping their distance and easily allowing her through the crowd so she could reach him freely. It had felt like she had done something incredibly wrong.

The President smiled as he leaned forward, his arms resting on the table. Fumiko looked up to meet his gaze. From his demeanor, it didn't seem like she was in trouble. Quite the opposite actually. It seemed as though she had done something very well and he was about to congratulate her personally on her achievement, though she didn't know what it was.

"I came to offer you a way to be released back into society," he said.

Fumiko's ears perked up, and she straightened her back, her fidgeting instantly ceasing. The President's smile only grew.

"I see I caught your interest. Would you like me to continue?" he asked.

Fumiko nodded vigorously.

The President chuckled before explaining, "You posses a great control over your special ability. You also posses much strength and determination to prove that you can beat your opponent, and demonstrate that you're the best among all the children at this facility. As a reward for your efforts, I would like to know if you are interested in becoming a Code Breaker."

"What's a Code Breaker?" Fumiko asked.

"A Code Breaker is a person who possesses a special ability who passes judgment on those who can't be judged by the law. They're like a hero of justice, if you will," he answered. "Do you remember what your parents did to you?"

Fumiko nodded.

"Well, they certainly escaped judgment when they shouldn't have been able to, correct? After all, it should have been obvious to the people around you that you were being severely abused, don't you think?"

Fumiko hesitated before nodding again.

"That's where a Code Breaker comes in. As an example, lets use your experience. Once Eden, the organization that catches wind of people like your parents, notices that justice is not being served, they'll send a Code Breaker to take care of the job. The Code Breaker kills the offender so they cannot break the law, and get away with it, ever again. The problem is solved, and then everyone lives happily ever after," he explained. "However, Code Breakers are a huge government secret. The general public doesn't know about them for their own safety. They'd be in a panic if they knew people with deadly special abilities existed, especially if they knew the government was using them. A Code Breaker's identity is kept secret. Their past is erased. They cannot be tracked by anyone other than the higher ups in the system. Technically, according to the public, a Code Breaker doesn't exist. Do you understand?"

"I think so…" Fumiko replied.

"In that case, would you like to become a Code Breaker? We will be providing all the training you'll need, and you'll have an agent with you as support when you first start out," the President added.

Fumiko thought it over. If she could destroy the kinds of people who were like her parents so that they couldn't harm anyone again, that would be great. She'd be able to help others, and save them from the same situation she was in. She could be that someone that she never had. Despite that…

"Would I be able to see my aunt and uncle again?" she asked.

The President's expression grew grim.

"Unfortunately, because you would be a Code Breaker, you would not be able to have any contact with any members of your family, or your friends that you made inside this facility."

Fumiko's heart grew heavy. It was a brutal cost to pay for all the good she would be doing for people who were victimized like her, but she didn't want to give up this opportunity. She wanted to be like that woman who saved her. She wanted to be someone's savior.

"I could give you time to think-"

"No!" Fumiko interrupted. "I'll do it."

It took a minute for the President to recover from his surprise, but when he did, he grinned from ear to ear and held out his hand to Fumiko.

"Then welcome to the team," he said.

Fumiko took his hand and shook it.

"Miss? Miss!"

Fumiko snapped out of her daze and looked around, confused as to where she was.

She was in the pharmacy at the front counter with five boxes of eye drops in her hands. She hadn't recalled walking into the pharmacy or grabbing what she needed, let alone heading to the front counter to pay for them.

"Are you going to pay for these or what?" asked the cashier. She had grown impatient, and Fumiko didn't blame her. She didn't even know how long she had spaced out for.

"Sorry! Yes, I am paying for these," she said as she placed the boxes on the counter before digging into her school bag for her wallet.

As the cashier scanned the items, she stared at Fumiko's wrists. She tried to ignore her gaze, but it was difficult. Especially when she kept looking like she wanted to say something.

"That'll be 3528 yen please," said the cashier.

Fumiko nodded, remembering her studies on the difference in currency here in Japan compared to overseas as she dug through her wallet, handing the exact amount over to the woman.

She nodded as she quickly counted the amount and shoved it into the cash register, handing Fumiko her items in a bag.

"Thank you," Fumiko said before leaving the pharmacy and heading in the direction of her school.

I hope you've enjoyed more insight on Fumiko :D! I'll get to something interesting soon enough that doesn't revolve around her past. Also, if you're thinking that she will be paired up with Ogami, that is not the case, so please don't misunderstand.

Anyways, thanks for reading :)!