Yay for codenames! I love Norse mythology, and there are reasons I picked these specific codenames, but, for future reference, here's a list for you guys.
Rin - Kára
Yuma - Loki
Kanon-Sol
Anon-Mani
Flower-Odin
Len- We learn next chapter :)
Enjoy!
"There are two wings to the base," Rin explained as I limped behind her. We had left the infirmary, where Anon was outfitting the table with a new, clean cloth. "Basically, there's the living side, and the training side."
Branching off of the main room, there were two hallways. One to my left, and one to my right. Between them was a wide staircase which, I assumed, led up to the surface.
"I'm showing you the living side first."
She didn't wait up for me. My leg ached a bit with every step, but at least I could still walk on it. And, thankfully, they had found one of their outfits in my size. To an outsider, I probably looked like I had been there forever. The tight clothes only added to my discomfort. A short sleeved shirt that clung to my form like it was trying to suffocate me, and a matching pair of pants that were equally constricting. How the fuck does Yuma wear this shit?
The rest of the base was decorated darker than the infirmary. There were no blinding white walls anymore, just darker, gray ones. The lights still shone brightly through the panels of the ceiling, reflecting off of the metallic floor and walls. Every step echoed through the hallway loudly. There was no way to be stealthy down here. I wondered if they did that on purpose.
The hallway led to a large, rectangular room that doubled as the living room and the kitchen. Stainless steel appliances stood against the wall, with matching marble counters in front of them. It looked like it had never been used before. The counter wrapped around the appliances, creating a bar area. A few tall stools littered the area. The living room, sitting only a few feet away, was made up of a large, L-shaped couch that seemed to call my name. Sleeping on a hard surface for two days was having its effects on my back. The couch looked like one giant black pillow. A coffee table sat in front of it, and a flat-screen hung on the wall. In the last corner of the room, bookshelves that reached from floor to ceiling ran along the wall, with a single reclining chair, matching the couch, in the middle of it. I couldn't help but grin at the small reading area. It looked like the one my Grandpa used to have.
"Here you are," Rin introduced, walking towards the kitchen. "The fridge is always stocked. If it's not, just let Flower know. TV is over there, but you probably won't be using it too often." Two more hallways stretched off of the room. She pointed to the one near the living room. "That's the bathroom and showers. And this-" she walked to the opposite one. It led to a long, narrow room with small cubbies cut into the wall. In each one, there was a small, single bed, and a large chest. The latch would have been lockable if it hadn't been broken off. "We sleep here. This is your bed." She pointed to the last cubby in the room on the left. Looking up, I noticed there were rods on the ceiling, no doubt to hang curtains for more privacy. Not a single bed had curtains hanging in front of it. Every cubby contained some personal items, such as different colored blankets, a stray piece of clothing outside of the chest, or anything else. I couldn't tell which bed belonged to which person, but I had the feeling they'd soon be easy to tell apart. The only bare cubby was mine.
At the end of the room, right next to my bed, a very large and very loud generator was running. That's gonna be a bitch to sleep next to.
I noticed there were exactly six beds. "Did someone have this room before me?"
Rin pursed her lips, staring down at the empty bed. "Come on." Without answering, she left the room.
The meager look of the room disappointed me. It was definitely a downgrade from my expensive Los Angeles apartment.
"Coming?" Rin asked, annoyed, from the hallway.
"Yeah," I followed her. "Yeah, I'm coming." The more I walked, the more obvious my limp.
She veered back into the hallway leading to the main room, where Kanon and Yuma sat at the table, talking. There were papers spread out along the table's glass surface.
"Hey, Len," Yuma called as we passed.
Rin stopped, her eyes betraying her displeasure at being interrupted.
"What's up?" I said, leaning against one of the chairs to take the weight off my leg.
"You said you got in a fight with your parents, right?"
"Uh, yeah."
"Did you fight with them a lot?"
This was a pretty personal conversation, coming out of nowhere, and yet all three of them waited patiently, expecting an answer. "Yeah," I finally answered. "Ever since I was a kid, really."
"Did your friends know about it?"
"Yeah."
Yuma and Kanon looked at each other. "Suicide," they said in unison.
"What?"
"We gotta fake your death. And that gives good evidence for a suicide," Kanon explained.
The absurdity of it baffled me. I was never that bothered by my family's rejection. "I would never-"
"It doesn't matter," Yuma waved a hand at me. "They won't question it. We won't have you write a note or anything. They'll be convinced."
All of my friends are going to think I killed myself, I thought with dismay.
"Plus, it's the easiest to fake. No witnesses needed, just one call to the police station and boom. Dead Len."
"Is there anything else you need?" Rin said, her voice ripe with impatience.
Yuma looked down at the official documents in his hands. "Uhh… I don't think so. But don't be surprised if I have to come find you."
"We'll be in the sparring room," she stated flatly. Then she turned towards the other hallway. "Come on."
Sparring room? I asked myself. I don't like the sound of that.
This wing was identical to the first in its layout. In the place of the kitchen was a huge array of workout machines, treadmills, and weights. I grinned. The gym had been my happy place before, and now, there were no lines. There were even speakers in the corners of the room. In one corner was a dark blue mat. Hanging on the wall above it was a line of wooden poles. They looked like the cue sticks next to the pool table back at Kaito's apartment.
Each time I thought of one of my friends, a pang of sadness shot through me. But I still wasn't entirely convinced of this place's legitimacy. Or maybe I just didn't realize the extent of the situation yet.
"You'll train here," she said, turning to me. I shifted uncomfortably as her eyes scanned me from head to toe. "You have one thing going for you," she said after a pause. "You're not like those other twenty-year-olds who just sit in their parent's basement and play video games all day."
That was probably the closest thing to a compliment I was ever going to get about her. I shrugged. "I like working out."
"Good. You'll be doing a lot of it from now on." She turned away from me, nodding towards the hallway to our right, which mirrored the cubbies on the other side of the base. This one was separated by another glass wall. On the other side, Flower kneeled on the ground, a gun similar to the one Rin had been using in her hands, shooting down the range with her back to us. She wore giant headphones over her ears.
"There's the range," she told me. Flower was completely oblivious to our presence. With every shot, a dull thud rang through the room. I knew guns were supposed to be loud, but hers sounded like someone gently tapping their hand against the wall. "It's soundproof," she said, reading my mind. "Down there," she pointed to the opposite side of the room. "Is the armory. All our guns, armor, gear, clothes. That's all down there."
The base was perfectly symmetrical and simple enough to not get lost in. "This place must have been… expensive," I thought, looking around the room.
She huffed. Her attempt at a laugh, I guess. "The bunker itself is a walk in the park. The hard part was building it, hooking it up with generators and running water, and still managing to keep it off the grid. Almost everything we do is nothing price-wise, except for the secrecy. Keeping the right people quiet can double the price, sometimes."
"You're never worried that anyone is gonna, like, run their mouth to the cops or anything?"
"Of course we are," she responded, walking towards the mat. "That's why we have emergency escapes. Routes to take. Rendezvous points. But you'll learn all that with Yuma. For now," she plucked two of the wooden poles from the wall and threw one at me. Not expecting it, I reached aimlessly for it, only for it to slip from my fingers and rattle against the ground.
"Psh," was Rin's response.
"Hey," I grumbled. "I'm injured."
"A poor excuse," she responded, standing confidently across the mat from me. "The person trying to kill you doesn't matter if you're injured or not." She lowered the wooden stick, parting her feet, preparing to strike. "Now, defend yourself."
I picked up the stick. "What? I don't know how to-"
Suddenly, like a flash of lightning, she darted from her spot, the pole balanced in her right hand, and swung it expertly at me, dislodging my own weapon from my hands and striking me in the side.
She flew past me in an instant, and I clutched at my side as the pole clattered against the mat once more.
"Um, Ow," I complained as she ground to a halt behind me. The poles were thin enough not to break any bones, but I was sure that was going to leave a bruise.
She let out another amused huff. "Dead."
"I don't know what I'm doing! How do you expect me to-"
"You want me to sit you down and pull out a little picture book filled with parries and blocks? The best way for you to learn is to do," she explained as she took her spot at the mat once more.
I picked the pole up once more. "Why do we even have to know this? We're not in the middle ages anymore. Isn't this why you have guns?"
"And what about when you don't have your gun? What happens when you run out of ammo? Or when it jams? Or when you're trying to be quiet? What happens then?"
I frowned, holding the pole tightly in my hands this time. "Wouldn't you just be, like, fist-fighting at that point-"
She jumped forward once again, cutting me off. I was a bit more prepared this time, sloppily angling my weapon to block her first attempt at dislodging the pole from my grip. The wood met with a loud crack that echoed through the room. Focusing only on dodging, and no striking, I released the wood in one hand, swinging it down to block the second attempt at my bruised side. It worked, but she spun around, swinging the pole with her, rapping me in the opposite side.
Now two bruises.
"You learn quick, too," she said, resting the pole on her shoulder as mine clattered against the ground for the third time. "Are you left-handed?"
I nodded.
Her eyes traveled down to my feet. "Are they glued there? Move."
I picked it up again.
She took her place once more. "Again." She paused, waiting. I felt myself tense, waiting for her unexpected strike.
And then it came.
"Enough," she finally said as my weapon was thrown out of my hands once more. I was drenched in sweat, my knee was hurting like a bitch, and my entire body ached from our match. Nearly every fight ended with my weapon on the ground, and I had come to loathe the sound of the wood falling against the soft mat. A few good blocks had come from our fight, but I hadn't even come close to retaliating any of Rin's strikes.
I was still trying to catch my breath when she picked up my pole, setting them both on the wall. I didn't know how long it had been. There were no windows in this place, and I found it suddenly disorienting now knowing whether the sun was up or down, whether it was breakfast or dinner, whether it was noon or midnight. A single clock sat above the hallway back to the main room. It told me it was five o'clock. AM or PM, I had no way of knowing.
"Go shower, and then meet Yuma in the main room." She stepped off the mat without another word and exited the room.
I looked over my shoulder to find the range empty. Flower must have snuck past us during the fight. The room was empty.
A frustrated sigh escaped me, my heart pounding in my chest and my entire body on fire. What the fuck am I doing here? I asked myself. What the fuck is this place?
In my misery, a shower did sound pretty nice. I willed my legs to move, wincing at my knee once more, and limped heavily out of the room.
Yuma and Kanon were still sitting together at the table. Beyond them, I could see Rin talking with Anon in the infirmary. Flower was nowhere to be found.
When he saw me, Yuma grinned. "She got you good, huh new kid?"
I grumbled my response, limping shamefully across the room, and entering the living area. There was Flower, sitting silently in the recliner chair of the office area, a book in her lap. She paid no attention to me as I entered the room and slowly made my way to the bathroom.
The showers were nothing but stalls. I was surprised to find that everyone shared a single bathroom, with the toilets being separated by stalls as well. Towels hung on the walls, an array of sinks sat against the wall, each with a mirror over them. One thing I was quickly learning, there was very little privacy here. Someone had already dropped off a clean outfit for me. The tight clothing sat on the edge of one of the sinks. Where do I put my dirty clothes? I looked over my shoulder to find a laundry basket near the door. Despite it being a glorified community shower, the room was surprisingly clean. I'm probably going to be scrubbing these toilets at some point, I thought with dismay.
I wanted to stay in that shower for the rest of my life, but I was more than a little afraid of Rin coming in to yell at me, so I hurried back into the clean clothes, tossing my old, awful smelling outfit in the bin. These were just as tight and uncomfortable as the other ones.
Walking through the living room, I found Flower exactly where I left her. I almost wanted to attempt conversation with her but found myself too shy to say anything. It was a weird, unfamiliar feeling. Talking with people had been no problem for me before. In my old life, I added remorsefully. But here, I felt my position so inferior to that of everyone else's and had no desire to intrude on anything I wasn't supposed to. Plus, out of all of them, she seemed the most introverted.
It'd be rude to interrupt her reading, anyway, I reasoned, walking past her. If she was aware of my presence, she made no hint of it.
"There he is," Yuma called when I came in the room. The girls were gone.
"Here I am," I muttered, pulling out the chair across from him. I glanced into the infirmary. It was empty.
"How'd it go?" He asked, a smug smile on his face.
"Psh. Do you have to ask?"
He laughed. "She kicked your ass."
"Yeah, I know."
He leaned back in his chair, stretching his arms over his head. "Don't worry," he joked. "I won't kick your ass as hard."
"I thought we were just going over papers and shit," I said. My mood had officially soured for the night.
"Oh no," he waved a finger at me. "First, we have to go through your first test. A test of pride. A test of strength. A test of wits."
Oh God. "What test?" I asked hesitantly. The last thing I wanted to do was add even more bruises to my new collection.
He sat tall in his chair. "A test as old as man itself." To my surprise, he lowered his elbow on the table. "Arm wrestle me, new kid."
It was with surprise that I realized he was trying to cheer me up. Despite the unending pain and soreness racking through my entire body, I smiled, mirroring my opponent's movement and grabbing his hand.
"Let's see if you're any better at this than you are at fighting, Mr. Muscle," Yuma joked. "Three, two, one-"
We both strained against the sudden tension. Honestly, I did not expect him to be this strong. Compared to me, he seemed almost scrawny. But our fists remained centered in the table, wavering slightly from left to the right in our battle.
"Curl your wrist and you forfeit, you dick," he laughed, his voice strained. I straightened my wrist and continued to push against his hand.
"What the fuck are you two doing?" Rin's voice sounded from the hallway leading to the weight room. My hand wavered a bit, and Yuma got some distance on me, but I recovered.
"Gotta… see… who's… stronger..." Yuma choked out, still grinning.
A few chuckles escaped me. I gained some distance on him. My shoulder was starting to ache.
"Great," Kanon spoke next to Rin. I couldn't see them in my concentration, but their voices were enough to tell me that they weren't nearly as amused as we were. "Another dude to challenge Yuma's masculinity," she told Rin sarcastically.
"It's a test of pride," I repeated Yuma's words from earlier quickly, not wanting to draw too much attention away from our ongoing battle. "Pride."
Yuma took in a deep breath, suddenly forcing my hand down onto the table.
"Dammit!" I cursed, leaning away from the table in defeat.
"I still got it," he grinned wildly.
Rin appeared behind the boy. "Can you two get back to what's important, now?"
Yuma held up a hand to her. "You girls just don't understand. I have just declared my dominance in this lion pack-"
"Yuma," she warned.
"Fine, fine. We'll get to work."
"Thank you." She walked through the room, entering the living room with Anon and Kanon behind her. I couldn't help but notice the small, amused grin shared between Yuma and Kanon as she passed.
"Okay," Yuma said, gathering some papers from the table once the girls left the room. "We're just gonna start by going over the exits."
I chuckled. "Like a flight attendant?"
"A flight attendant that just beat you at the most important contest known to man. Pay attention."
It felt good having at least one person who seemed to enjoy my company. A friendly face.
He explained the main exit, confirming my earlier suspicion, which stood at the top of the staircase behind me. He also explained the emergency exit hidden at the end of the gun range, a small winding staircase that led to a single tunnel leading away from the base in case of an attack. There was another exit hidden in the bedrooms leading to the same tunnel. He explained the alarms, the group's rendezvous points, and a bunch of other small things that could someday save my life.
"That's a lot to remember," I sighed, running my hands through my damp hair.
"You need to," he warned me gently. "This stuff is important. You need to have it ingrained in your mind at all times."
"Why are you telling me, like, all this top-secret stuff? I've been here for less than a day." I found it surprising they trusted me so easily.
Yuma sighed. "Well, you said you were in. And, to be completely honest, you're basically our bitch until we decide that you're trained enough to do your own contracts. If you try to leave without us, attempt to run away during a heist, or anything like that, we'll just have to kill you."
He said it so casually.
"Anyway, the armory is probably the most important part of the base-"
And then he just moved on like he didn't threaten my life a second earlier.
I didn't ask again.
Just when I felt like my head was going to explode from all the new information, Flower appeared in the doorway. "Lights out," was all she said, before turning back to the living room.
Yuma began gathering the papers. "Guess that's all for today."
"What time is it?"
He wore a watch on his wrist, but he didn't even look at it. "Lights out is at nine o'clock every night."
"It's weird having no windows," I told him as I began to help him gather the papers back into their folders.
"You get used to it. Plus, it's kinda nice being able to go to bed whenever you want." He smirked. "Well, except for you. That generator sucks."
My shoulders slumped at the thought of having to sleep next to that thing. "There's no way I'm getting any sleep with it running all night."
Yuma scooped up the last of the papers. "Oh, it won't be running. Rin has the bed next to yours, and she can't sleep with it on either, so she turned it off every night." He motioned to the lights above us. "Hence, 'Lights Out'."
"So if we aren't in bed by nine, we'll be blindly feeling our way to bed?" I reasoned, trying to imagine navigating this place with no lights.
"Exactly." He grinned again. I don't know why he found that amusing. With the folders in his arms, he started towards the living area. I followed him.
"Is she, like, the leader here?" I asked.
He chuckled. "No, not really. We're a team, not a democracy. Sometimes one person might take the head of a mission or two, but no one tells me what to do."
I was surprised by his answer, given the way Rim seemed to emanate authority.
We entered the sleeping area, only to find all the girls already spread out in their respective areas. Flower was the first bed on the right, Yuma took the one to her left. Past them, Anon was on the left, Kanon was on the right. Rin sat cross-legged on her bed with a book in her hands. They were all changed into pajamas that made them look like normal people.
Her gaze rose to me, and she scoffed. "You have five minutes to change in the bathroom before I turn the generator off. There are sweats on your bed."
I grabbed them, jogging out of the room. Being trapped in endless darkness until morning did not seem a pleasant thought to me.
When I came back, everyone was engaged in some sort of conversation that ceased the second I entered the room. I awkwardly stumbled to my bed, feeling the uncomfortable stares of five pairs of eyes as I crossed the room.
"How was your first day?" Anon chirped, breaking the uncomfortable silence.
"Painful."
Rin smirked from her bed but said nothing.
"Heh," Yuma chuckled from his bed. "You're gonna have lots of fun here."
I sat on the bed, pulling at the perfectly-folded sheets. Exhaustion had been sweeping over me all day, but now it was unbearable.
"Everyone in?" Rin asked, reaching for the generator. She could reach the off switch from her bed.
"Yup!" Yuma called.
"I'm good." Flower said softly.
"We're here," Anon and Kanon called.
Rin glanced at me as I pulled the thin sheets over myself. "Len?"
"Huh? Yeah, yeah, I'm good."
"You don't have to, like, pee or anything? You're not gonna be able to leave your bed until morning. There are no other lights down here."
"Yeah," I repeated. "I'm fine."
"Okay." She flipped a switch, and the generator whirled one final time before silencing. The room plunged into darkness so thick, I couldn't tell when my eyes were open and when they were closed.
What am I doing here? I asked myself once again. What is this place? When are they going to admit that this is just some stupid, elaborate joke?
I should have just gone straight to the Verizon store. By the time I got back to my apartment, their little assassination attempt would be long over, Rin would be long gone, and I'd be sleeping comfortably in my apartment without any scars or bruises. My biggest worry in the world would be getting up in time for work the next day. I would be spending my days living my life, the life I had been pretty pleased with, pretty content with. And now it was all gone.
I felt a rush of homesickness and suppressed a sigh. The room was dead silent, except for Yuma's soft snores across the room. The sudden urge to cry rose up in me.
No fucking way, I told myself. Don't you dare. The last thing I wanted was for smug Rin to hear that the pain from the bruises she had inflicted on me, my bandaged knee that I received from jumping after her, and the world she had quite literally pulled me into, had made me cry. Instead, I tried to focus on the room around me.
I wasn't afraid of the dark, or anything, but being completely unaware of your surroundings was more than a little unnerving, and it took me a few extra minutes before I finally fell into an uneasy sleep.
No announcements for today!
Thanks for reading :)
