"Okay you've given your eyes long enough to rest back to work before we forget to feed you tonight"

Obuchi knew that they would too because while that punishment was the rarest of punishments there were occasions where they didn't feed prisoners for whatever infraction that may have really happened or been invented

"Akeshi, what did you do for the eye punishment?"

"Don't want to talk about it" (thinks) "I'm going to have to do something tonight instead of tomorrow as I originally planned, Rescue Force is about to have another battle though they don't know it and I have to slow their enemies down somehow. I just hope I don't get caught I am really, really starting to hate the self assigned mission but since I was the only one to discover this I was the only one available, stupid Daen self deciding I didn't need help and wanting to destroy my enemies"

That night he was ordered to work on a few things for the enemy and he did a major sabotage job this time unlike normal. The reason it wasn't normal was because Obuchi had a routine down now that his sabotage was getting bigger and bigger each time, he would do something big either when they were going to face down Rescue Force or Rescue Fire and then keep things relatively small for a bit, or do something big at the base and not do anything to help the two teams for a bit but he had already done a major sabotage job at the base earlier that week and hadn't planned on doing anything until the next day late at night but with how big the attack on Rescue Force/Rescue Fire was expected to be he knew he had to do something that night to help the rescue teams survive

"Well all I can do now is wait and hope, it's not yet time to reveal myself but soon, very soon it will be"

Obuchi then went to sleep hoping not to catch the attention of his captors, Obuchi knew that he would have to reveal himself soon because as his plans got bigger and bigger the noose was tightening on him, his nerves were shot because of the self assigned mission and as such whenever he was working sometimes the sabotage wasn't even deliberate, it was him mentally exhausted wondering when he would be punished to the point of revealing his true identity. As it was he knew he would be permanently scarred because of the punishments but he also knew he would be able to keep working as a firefighter and Rescue Force member, once he was back in action. The next day his sabotage worked like a charm but unfortunately that meant everyone was watched closer than ever before and that made Obuchi's job much harder, as it was he hadn't reported in to the government in three months which was part of the deal he'd made, that to keep doing the undercover work and not have anyone know he had to make contact with the government at least once a month, and not contact through a police officer for whatever mundane reason but actual in person or by phone contact with a member of the government, police contact simply let them know he was still alive, government contact meant that he was safe, or as safe as could be in his situation if the contact loss lasted any longer he knew the truth would be revealed to his comrades in the fire department as well as Rescue Force

"Everyone you're allowed to go home for the day, tomorrow all of you have a lot of work to do so we're giving you a day of rest to prepare yourself"

Obuchi went to his temporary place and quickly made contact with the government explaining he had been forced to stay away from the apartment for three months but that he was still okay and going strong, which was a slight lie considering he currently had a shoulder injury and had extremely shot nerves being on his own and always fearing he would be discovered before he wanted to but he knew that with the time coming near he would simply have to deal with it on his own for now

"...I'll do my best to make contact sooner...bye"

Obuchi then went over to a picture that he wouldn't hide whenever he was in the apartment mainly because of the fact that there was very little risk of discovery if he was physically in the apartment

"Ishiguro, I'm coming home soon enough, I know you're going to be mad at me but I did have my reasons, but for now stay strong"

Obuchi rests for a few hours with just reading and doing other things. The last thing he did before going to bed for real was to lock up the dangerous picture once more and then the next day it was back to work sabotaging the enemy as best he could with a noose tightening around him

"Get to work before we punish you"

Obuchi continued to work and then did something when he thought no one was looking, he knew he had been getting bolder and bolder but this was the boldest yet and this time he was caught

"So we've finally found our saboteur, we knew someone was trying to take us down but we never suspected the mechanic who's practically blind when they're outside"

They beat Obuchi into unconsciousness and then put him in the Terra Resetter and had Rescue Force and Rescue Fire attack him. What they didn't know was that Obuchi wasn't unconscious as long as they thought and he had gone into Daen mode to survive which meant he was planning his escape plan as soon as he was awake and knew what was going on. The enemy themselves bragged that Rescue Force/Rescue Fire were essentially going to be his killers while they were attacking which forced them to stop the attack instantly

"Now what?"

"I have no clue, we need to stop them but not at the cost of a life"

"Okay, we need to back off and plan then"

"Right, let's hope it's a good one though"

Meanwhile Obuchi had decided to do his best to escape on his own not realizing the danger he was currently in because of his Daen mode and he actually escapes just as Rescue Fire gets inside and does their best to rescue the victim and they find Obuchi, not knowing it was him and grabbed him to help him get out seeing as how there were foot soldiers in the Terra Resetter and he was tired fighting all of them by himself

"Let me go I am not going to be your slaves again"

"Easy sir, we're with Rescue Fire"

Obuchi goes out of Daen mode and sees them as Rescue Fire, nods and simply allows them to help him escape his prison. Two minutes later he saw two Rescue Force teams fighting the enemy while Rescue Fire had completed the rescue

"Come on sir, let's get you out of the area"

"No, I am going to fight and I am going to take down the Terra Resetter even if it costs me several days of sleep afterwords, I owe the enemy that much"

"Sir you are a civilian and need to get to safety"

"Listen up Fire 1, my nerves are shot, I have been beaten, whipped, forced to work outside without anything to protect my eyes and almost drowned as punishments for various false infractions and my acts of sabotage once they discovered it was me for the past ten months. I am in desperate need of medical attention but first we need to do a Final Rescue on the Terra Resetter and then rescue my fellow captives which even though I am a member of Rescue Force I know I have to turn that part over to the rest of you. Now then you can either let me help willingly or I will force my way into helping, it's your choice"

"What do you mean you're a member of Rescue Force?"

"Special Rescue Force team R1 Obuchi Aobi reporting in after 13 months away, now then do you have a spare Rescue Commander or do I have to steal one from my comrades"

"Uh, just a moment"

Homura Tatsuya calls headquarters and explains that someone claiming to be presumed dead member Obuchi Aobi was the person needing rescue and that the rescue was complete and he was now asking to take part in taking down the Terra Resetter despite his injuries

"Get him back here for proof, otherwise he could simply be taking advantage of us"

Obuchi had heard that from Rescue Fire's Captain Taiga Riku and realized that seeing as how it had been a long time that he would be considered dead so he said the one code phrase that only Rescue Force/Rescue Fire personnel were taught in situations like this, something that had been introduced directly after his return to life for situations like this

"Rescue Souls burn hotter than any fire known to man"

That actually made Tatsuya faint and Taiga sit down in the chair hard

"Okay it's you alright, you have some explaining to do later"

"I know, my Rescue Commander?"

"On the way"

"Okay for now, time to get back in the fight"

"The Daen situation?"

"Got me out of the Terra Resetter for the most part and am currently phasing in and out at the moment so the others are going to have to be careful around me"

"Understood, again the Rescue Commander is on the way"

Obuchi quickly got back in the fight and soon enough the Rescue Commander was in his hands and he was back to being R1. A few minutes later they performed a Final Rescue and then everyone went back to base to hear Obuchi tell his story

"So how are you alive after what happened that day? I know for a fact that your Captain declared you missing in action afterwords"

"I managed to survive and then heard the enemies plans and as such left the scene in civilian clothing, making contact with the government soon afterwords and they've been covering for me since, though you guys would have found out soon enough if I had remained out of contact any longer and this hadn't happened per the agreement I made with the government in regards to maintaining contact with them"

"What name did you serve while with the enemy?"

"Akeshi Kazuhiko"

"Makes sense in a way, didn't you say you kept that name in case of extenuating circumstances?"

"Yep and this was one of those situations"

"What happened Obuchi?"

(Sighs) "I went through a lot once three months had passed, that's how long the enemy took to get comfortable enough to get slaves, which still need freed by the way"

"And we'll take care of that problem, you have injuries that are serious enough to sideline you for several weeks"

"I know, now then back to the story"

Ten months earlier after the first beating

"Since you are a mechanic you'll be asked to work on several pieces of equipment both inside and outside, since you apparently need sunglasses to work outside we'll make sure you have them on you when it's required but otherwise we have control over the sunglasses so turn them over now"

Obuchi wisely hands over the sunglasses not really all that surprised or hesitant due to how things worked back at home and he also knew that there was a chance that the sunglasses would be used against him as punishment but in all reality not only was he expecting that he knew how dangerous the enemy was and knew better than to fight them on any punishment given

"Now then get to work before we punish you"

Obuchi quickly starts working on the piece of machinery he was told to already making sabotage plans on the enemy that were to be used at the first opportunity that presented itself to him. Five minutes later he felt the whip and realized he was being punished either for something he had done wrong and unaware of it or for no real reason at all and he soon discovered they would always be told why they were being whipped

"You're taking too long on a simple piece of machinery, you have two minutes to fix it or the punishment will be worse"

Obuchi quickly finished the work having found the broken piece and replacing it within the time frame given

"Now then everyone is done for the night, since you're new here mister and we got you late you'll learn more about how this operation works tomorrow"

The next day Obuchi started to learn the various machines and also started his self assigned sabotage mission. Due to being part of Rescue Force and a firefighter he learned the ropes fast, one day he was doing good when all of a sudden one of the captors forced Obuchi outside without his sunglasses that he needed

"Get to work Akeshi, we want this thing fixed in two hours, and since you never showed up for kitchen duty plus did a shoddy job on a weld you're not going to get your sunglasses for this job"

Obuchi started to work and soon enough he started getting whipped for not working fast enough and this time he was also at one point forced away from the machinery and beaten pretty badly but still forced to work. Five hours later he finished and was brought back inside and told to work on a complex machine that was part of a Terra Resetter though he didn't know that yet and Obuchi wasn't working two minutes when he was stopped, and he quickly braced himself for another whipping or beating but instead was asked to stand up and turn around and face his captor

"Akeshi you are slower than ever and are actually acting like you can't see the tools"

"I can't, my vision is compromised and I need the sunglasses to work outside for any extended period of time but since I couldn't due to punishment I now can't work inside at all"

(Sighs) "OK, you get five minutes in absolute darkness to help your eyes recover but then you're back to work"

Five minutes later they discovered Akeshi's vision issue was severe enough that five minutes didn't do the trick, when he had fifteen minutes he was still having issues but they could tell he could see well enough to do the work if he was careful so they started forcing him to work and he was whipped a few times for being slow but not as much or severely as other times. This pattern would continue for the next ten months with Obuchi slowly doing more things to sabotage the enemy

"Man I am hoping I don't get discovered too soon"

Two months before his return to life he was doing a sabotage job and came extremely close to being discovered but fortunately he wasn't

"That was close"

Obuchi during this time had learned that due to shot nerves some of the problems were not deliberate but still wanted by him all the same then came the day they were allowed to go home for the first time in months and before that he got punished and it was severe enough that his shoulder was injured badly enough that he knew when he got back to his real job he would need medical treatment before being allowed on active duty and then after he got back he was discovered and beaten again and that's when he went into Daen mode to survive the escape to Terra Resetter

Present