Chapter 8

"Where the hell am I..." I sit up, aching all around. My arms are sore, my legs feel numb, and my entire mid-section is constantly cramping.
"Saul!" Shu calls, rushing towards my room. The hinges of the door proceed hurried footsteps towards the room I'm in. It's small. Comfy, though.

"Where's the rest?" I ask quietly. Voice isn't as strong as it could be.

"Everybody escaped. You were the only major casualty... be more careful next time!"
"Sorry, I just treated her wounds, and-"
"You were literally running in the fray, being sprayed with bullets until you made it out. You collapsed right then and there. Nobody thought you would live." Shu recalls. "Tsugumi was untouched though- you took every single hit for her." he winks. I roll my eyes.

"I don't remember any of that though. I just remember blacking out after stopping the bleeding, then..."
"Must've been your adrenaline."
"Maybe. I don't know."
"They say that when your subconscious kicks in, your true emotions are revealed." Shu says. "You definitely acted purely on instinct there, seeing how you don't remember any of it."
"I don't know what you're getting at." I say, laying back down. I'm gonna need more rest.

"Saul, are you in denial?"
"Denial as in, denying that my entire everything hurts, then yes, I'm in massive denial." I groan, trying to massage my shoulder.

"You're really dense."
"You're one to talk, confession-interceptor."

We both realize what we truly believe in at that moment. We're not too different. We're both in denial. I just don't want to admit it.

"Get some rest, bud." Shu starts to head out.

"Any news from the Undertakers?" I enquire.

"We're gonna be doing something, but not for a while. You'll be ready by then."
"Aight." I close my eyes and immediately feel the blackness surround me.

...

I think I owe all of you readers a backstory. Context, perhaps. I've kept you in the dark about my origins, so I think I'll have a go at it now, while I'm immobile at my current state.

South Korea? Know of it? Of course you do. That's were I was born.

I had a relatively happy and peaceful childhood up until Middle School. That's when my life turned for the worst. I came home from school, as I did everyday, to see my parent's corpses on my doorstep.

Bloody brilliant, innit? (note that I'm making this as concise as possible.)

The police came, took the bodies, gave me a funeral and dropped me off at an orphange. No 'I'm sorry for your loss,' no 'we're investigating the crime', no sympathy, only the routine check for orphaned children. At the orphanage, I had one goal in mind. I had no time to be sad, shocked, depressed by the murder, I only had time for anger, outrage, and revenge. From that day on, I spent hours, days, months at the local library, reading up on similar murders, using the computers and technology 24/7, as well as acquiring a job as a newspaper boy. I eventually saved up enough money for my own custom-built laptop, and from there I did my dirty work.

8th grade is when I found him. The dirty bastard who, for God knows what reason, slit my parent's throats in broad daylight and got away with it.

He's not relevant to you readers whatsoever. After I found his identity, it was only a matter of time before I enacted my revenge. I knew exactly what I wanted to do to him for a long time, and I acted it out without a hitch. To protect my image, I will never speak of what I did. Put me through torture, misery, the darkest, hottest depths of hell and I still won't give you a single word of the events that unfolded in the following month. And that's the end of it.

When I started High School, I could use technology better than any college-level professor could. I had acquired a set of skills thanks to my sheet devotion to the craft. So I dropped out and went to go look for a mentor. And I found one in Haruka Ouma, the stepmother of Shu Ouma. When I met this eccentric woman, she was wrapped up in some government business that I never knew of. Her skills in biological engineering and computer science made her my ideal teacher. And so, I asked for assistance. And I was rejected. And I asked again. And again. And again, until she couldn't refuse my plea.

We ended up becoming great friends, and I learned many, many things from this woman. Haruka was very well trained in the GHQ methods, so I adopted those skills and eventually found a way into the camera network, which I still have to this very day. Unfortunately, our classes, as I like to call it, were cut short due to a certain 'Lost Christmas'.

I survived Lost Christmas in the bunker. It was a bunker I made in Middle School, after the deaths of my parents. I could escape the orphanage and live as a non-citizen. A literal nobody. An MIA. Anonymous, that's how I lived throughout my life.

Haruka explained that her son attended a certain High School, and how I should attend, to perhaps make some friends. Maybe even a social group. At first, before Lost Christmas, I dismissed the idea. It seemed foolish, and I only wanted to gain more knowledge. Going to High School would be a step-down. However, after Lost Christmas, I didn't really have an aim. I didn't know anybody either. I was alone. Isolated. Lonely, and tired. Tired from all the shit I've been through. That's what made me go to school. Not for the friends, but so that I could relax. I could try to do something new, without the pressure of grades, or extra-cirriculars, or any of that jazz. And the first person I tried to befriend was Shu Ouma, the anti-social quiet-kid who sat in the back of the class.

From there, I'm fairly certain you know what happens.

...

Several weeks later.

...

Time to make an entrance.

"I'm back!" I yell, opening the doors to GHQ.

"Good to see you back." Gai says in his typical monotone. "I didn't expect you to live, in all honesty. But I'm glad you did."
"Welcome back!" I hug Argo and Oogumo simulatenously.
"You had some pretty bad injuries, how'd you live?" Oogumo asks me, inspecting my bandages.

"I don't know, magic? I survived, that's what counts, eh?" I smile. "By the way, where's Tsugumi?"
All of the members point to a room at the exact same time.

"I get the message guys." I say blankly, walking towards my old office. I haven't been here in forever...

I open the door, fully expecting a sarcastic Tsugumi saying something along the lines of 'Oh, you're back.' or 'So you lived. Neat.'

Instead, I got a half-crying girl genuinely worried about me.

WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS BULLSHIT!?
"I was..." she sniffs. "so... worried about you!" Tsugumi sobs between breaths.

"Why? I mean, it was my dumbass decision to run into the battle, and-"
"Don't give me that!" she embraces tighter. "You tried to save me, didn't you!?"
"I would do that for anyone, and-"
"Don't make me feel guilty about that!" she softly punches me, sobs ending.

I give in. She's too cute. "Yeah, yeah. Alright. I'll be more careful next time, alright?" I say, as sweetly as possible.

"Hmph. You better." she sits down in her chair, handing me a briefing. "The next mission. This is the big one. The one we've really been working for."
"Oh?"
"Most important one so far, so let's not fuck this up!" she says, launching a managing program.

"I'll try my best not to be useless." I laugh, reading. Back to normal. Just the way I like it.

...

"... and that's the plan. Any questions?" Gai asks, finishing his speech. That was boring. 20 minutes of just him talking about stuff we planned out. "Good."

I look at Shu. He's noticably shaken from something. Maybe the mission discontents him? It better not; the entire thing revolves around him and his genome.

"You alright ther, buddy? I ask, worried.

"Yeah... I'm good..." No you're not, you look like you're having flashbacks from Vietnam.

"Sort it out. Make sure you know the plan like the back of your head. I'm going to have constant communication with you, so don't be too pressured. Gai's mastermind should get us through this, too." I say convincingly.

"Ok..." he backs into a corner, slowly gnawing on a cookie, deep in thought.

"Hope he's ok..." I think, going towards the workroom.