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An old saying goes as such, "Time and Tide Waits for None". You could celebrate the birth of your children. Mourn the loss of a loved one. Yet they will only keep moving forward. For that is their purpose. Their reason for being. And as such, neither waited for the tragedy that had occurred hours prior.
A man, around his mid forties with graying hair looked around, scanning the area with a frown on his face. The seemingly endless sea of rubble and debris was all he saw. Along with smoke from dying out fires. The stench of dried blood and burnt human flesh reached his nostrils. His uniform was ruined from both ash and dust. "I need a few days off after this one." he muttered. He adjusted his hat and went back to work.
"Genji!" he heard a voice calling out to him. Turning around he came face to face with a man shorter than him by only two inches. Wearing the same firefighter uniform as him. The flashlight in his hand swung around to and fro. The moon above did not provide enough light to see everything they needed to see. "We've finished searching this entire area. Let's move on to the next."
The man, Genji, nodded at his younger brother. "Good. Have you found anymore survivors?" A sad sigh escapes Genji' lips when the shorter man silently shook his head, a frown present on his face. "Then let's get a move on, Keiji."
"Alright." Keiji nodded back at his older brother. The two rushed forward. On the way they were accompanied by four more firefighters.
"Captain!" one of them exclaimed. "Any updates on that help we were supposed to be getting from the nearby cities?"
"No. But they should be arriving any minute now." Genji replied. The person he replied to clicked his tongue in annoyance. Normally Genji would reprimand such behaviour, however this time he would let it slide. Every second wasted could be and should be spent on saving people that were barely clinging onto their lives. "Spread out! Groups of two just like last time!" The rest of the members of their station that were supposed to be on break today, were back in the fire truck. Dousing the flames that still remained.
Hours passed, the number of corpses they found still intact easily reached over a hundred. The reinforcement from nearby cities had finally arrived. And with the help of the police they managed to find almost thirty survivors. Nearly half of those were all children below the age of fifteen. The thought of such young minds having to witness such horrors first hand weighed on Genji' consciousness even though he had no way of stopping what had occurred. The police told them this was likely the result of some sort of gas explosion...
'A gas explosion?!' Genji wanted to punch the moron that came up with that idea. He would be damned if he believed such a... a... he couldn't even find the word to describe how stupid that sounded. He'd seen what a real gas explosion looked like. The damage a gas explosion could cause was nothing to scoff. But it was not something like this. Even terrorists don't go this far without getting something in return. Even the terrorist attack that destroyed the city's largest hotel a few days ago paled in comparison to this. Implying that this was a gas explosion would also imply gross negligence of multiple people and companies. Genji simply refused to believe that every single personnel working for the city at the time could have been stupid enough to let something like this happen. He picked up the dead body of a woman. Or at least what looked like a woman. He couldn't tell with the skin charred black and no cloths on her/him/it? The city officials wanted them to find as many bodies as they could. Genji could only hope it was in order to give them a proper burial. The corpse was light. Disturbingly so. He suspected her insides reflected her outsides as well. The thought of being burnt to the point of being turned to charcoal, inside and out, made his stomach churn. Subconsciously the grip he had on the body tightened causing one of it's limbs to just snap and fall from it's host. The blackened limb hit the ground and split into many more pieces. Genji winced before sighing. There shouldn't be much more left. He hoped there wasn't much more left because at this point, he just wanted to go home and spend time with his family. Besides, the sun should be coming up soon enough.
He placed the body next to many more. If Genji were to make a blind guess, this was likely to be far less than half of the actual death toll. They were all covered by large sheets of cloth. Many already had blood stains on them. Medical personnel along with some police were working together to tend to the few survivors they had found. A heart wrenching sight even to the veteran firefighter. One he hoped he would not witness again in his lifetime. The portable radio attached to his uniform produced static.
"Shouta here. I think I found a survivor. Two hundred feet to the south-west of the safe zone. But I need help." the person other end said. Genji rushed to the location his colleague had mentioned.
"Over here!"
Genji stopped. Suddenly light hit his eyes, temporarily blinding him before the light disappears. He looked at the direction the light came from, only to see the colleague that had contacted him seconds ago. Next to Shouta was another man named Kenta. The two were kneeling in front of the remains of a broken building and looking at something. They parted, giving Genji a better view of what they were looking at.
"Are you sure he's alive?" Genji questioned. By the looks of it, the entire building had collapsed on top of the child. There was no way anyone could survive that.
"He's alive. But barely." Kenta explained. Genji had no choice but to trust him. The three started pulling out pieces of debris around the boy to pull him out of the broken building easier.
"Egh." Keiji grimaced. The other two men mirrored his expression. They were unable to remove all of the rubble on top of the boy because some of the chunks of rubble had embedded themselves into the boy's skin. "Poor kid. He's probably gonna have to go through surgery for this."
A lone eye opened. A blurry mixture of blue and white came to view. The sound of something beeping was all that could be heard.
'W-wha-?' The other eye moved but it could not open. The sensation of something soft registered from the side of his head and front of his body. 'Where...?'
"You're awake!" a feminine voice exclaimed. A little too loudly. "I'll go get the doctor." The sound of footsteps rushing out could be heard. When the eye opened again it provided more clearer vision to it's owner. The owner of the eye, a young boy, turned his head and by doing so he was able to see with his other eye that was encased by the pillow under his head. He then tried to move his body.
Pain registered in his mind. His movement stopped. He wondered why his back was hurting. Then his head did the same. 'What... happened...?' The headache started to fade. He gasped for air.
"Hey." a deep male voice caught his attention. "How are you feeling, son?" his eyes shifted a little to see a tall old man. The man wore a white coat. A... doctor's uniform...?
The boy tried to speak, only to let out a tired groan. The man raised an eyebrow then kneels in front of the boy to get a better look at him. "Can you spe...ak?" The doctor's words got caught in his throat as he flinched after getting a better look at the boy's eyes. If the boy did not move then the doctor would have believed the boy was dead without a shred of doubt.
"What.. happened to... me?" The Boy's voice was barely above a whisper. If the good doctor wasn't so close to the boy he probably would have missed it.
"You're in a hospital. You were injured pretty badly. If anything, it's a miracle you survived." the doctor averted his eyes from The Boy's as he explained. The Boy simply gave the man a blank stare.
'Why did he look away?' The Boy wondered but did he lacked the strength to voice his curiosity.
"Tell me." the man spoke in a caring tone even though he avoided looking at The Boy in the eye by looking at a clipboard. "What's your name?"
"Hachi..."
Hachi... Hachi... Eight? Why did the number eight come up in his mind? The Boy doesn't understand. Come to think of it...
He blinked once. "I..." the boy replied through his tired lips. "... don't..."
The eyes of both the doctor and nurse widen before they frowned.
-The Next Day-
The Boy stared at the wall in front of him, there was nothing else to do. His expression remained the same as it was the day before. The doctor had said he would be transferred to another room today and he was kept in a private room yesterday only because all the normal ones were all full. Also something about interacting with others his own age? The boy didn't really understand that last part. It felt... alien to him.
"Are you ready?" a voice called out to him. It was the same female nurse from yesterday. He briefly nodded at her. Another nurse, male, came into the room then helped him onto another hospital bed and laid him on his stomach. This bed had wheels attached to it's legs. The doctor said that he was already capable of walking by himself but he should still 'take it easy' today so that his body would heal up faster. The male nurse pushed the mobile bed with him on it out of the private room.
The hospital halls were as busy as one could expect them to be. His eyes wandered around, taking in all in his field of vision. Men, women, children, instruments, doors, signs with complicated markings that he couldn't quite decipher were all he saw. He saw a bald woman being held by a man, both were crying. He saw two male nurses talking between themselves. He saw a young boy with red hair, probably younger than himself, walking alongside a much older man with a smile on his face. The Boy couldn't see the man's face from his current position of lying on his stomach. He wanted to imagine the man had a smile on his face similar to the one the red haired boy had. But for some reason he... couldn't. Maybe because he didn't get to look at the mans face? Yes, that's probably why.
He was pushed into a room. A room full of children around his age. At least he thought that to be the case. The doctor had speculated his age to be around nine to twelve. He said that speculation was made based on The Boy's height. After he was helped onto his new bed he laid down on his side. The boy whose bed was next to his eyed him curiously. One of the boy's eyes along with the upper half of his head was wrapped in a bandage. When he looked back the boy flinched and looked away. Just like the doctor from yesterday. It made The Boy curious. Why did he too-?
"Alright." the female nurse spoke a little louder. "Nurses will be checking in here every hour or so. But if anyone of you need help with something just speak up okay?"
He nods in response. The other children did the same. It was a simple question. One that did not require a worded answer. He saw the woman leave. Seconds later he felt the gazes of the other kids on him.
"Hey." someone called out. It was another boy. The boy had a crutch to help him stand up as his right leg was wrapped in a thick gauze. That leg was likely broken. "The name's Makita Rintaro. What's your name?" He noticed the boy had slightly tanned skin and very short hair. Aside that he couldn't find anything else noteworthy of the newcomer. Although, he guessed, this Makita Rintaro person did not flinch upon making eye contact with him. That was a first.
"Hachi..."
"I don't know." there it was again. The number eight. But numbers weren't names.
"How do you not know your own name?" Makita asked him with a confusion expression. Then he made a sound that The Boy could only assume as a sound of realization. "Ooh. I get it. You have amnesia like the other guy, don't you?"
'Other guy?' Now he was confused, even though his face failed to show it. "Who?"
"Oh right. He was adopted. You just missed him." Makita explained. "In fact, he was using the same bed you're using right now before he left. I guess this bed reserved for the amnesiacs huh?" The girls across from them giggled at that little joke.
The Boy felt a mild pang of... jealousy? That was jealousy right? He couldn't really place his finger on why though. Makita tried to talk to him some more. But ultimately gave up when The Boy kept giving short answers. The Boy turned to his other side. It was a difficult task to complete considering his injured back, and this time he was facing the window. Gray clouds littered the sky and released small droplets of rain. Yesterday he saw a similar sky on the TV in his previous room. But it was a scene from a drama. The scene about a mother and daughter attending the funeral of their dead husband/father. He idly wondered if there was another family out there that was doing the same thing those fictional characters did at this very moment. His eyelids grew heavy and minutes later, sleep took over.
When his eyes opened again he noticed the the curtains of the window were closed. There was no light coming from outside, leading The Boy to think the sun had gone down. He sat up. His body was still a little weak and his throat was dry.
'Water.' thankfully he spotted a pitcher with a glass on top of the desk next to his bed. He reached out, wincing a little when the skin of his back stretched out a little. The pitcher was heavy. He couldn't completely lift it so he had to position the glass in a manner that would allow him to get some water into it by just tilting the pitcher towards the glass. Yet even with that tactic he still ended up spilling some water. But his main objective was accomplished, the glass was halfway full with water. With the glass now on his hand he looked around. The lights were turned off. He could hear the sound of footsteps outside outside. The door to the room suddenly opened. A nurse entered and flipped on a light switch.
"Oh good morning. Well, evening actually." the female nurse laughed at her intentional mis-wording. When she noticed his expressionless face her own donned a nervous expression for a few seconds. "You're probably wondering where the other kids went."
The Boy looked around. He had noticed that the other beds weren't empty when he awoke minutes ago. But no, he had not wondered where they were even once. He just saw no point in doing such a thing. He looked back at the nurse who had came inside. Something told him she was going tell him anyway.
"They were sent to the local church where they would be cared for until they are adopted by a family." she explained. "You were supposed to go with them too but Yato-san, your doctor, insisted that you stay today. So you'll be going there tomorrow in the morning."
The Boy blinked then nodded. The woman was looking at one of the other beds. "Hey uh. Would you mind if we moved you to that bed closer to the door? A few new patients just got admitted and two of them really want to have the beds near the windows." She sighed in relief when the boy didn't voice any objections.
Time kept moving forward. The boy suddenly woke up. Due to sleeping nearly half the day away he couldn't really sleep at the current moment. His body just wouldn't allow him to do that. But there was nothing to do. He was told not to move as well. So all he could do was just lay there and do nothing.
"-fu-es -e." he heard someone say. The words were faint. He probably wouldn't have heard it if the voice was any lower. But at least the voice seemed to be getting clearer now. The soft sounds of footsteps reached his ears. "Didn't the government like give this hospital over twenty million yen for any medical help those kids might need?" it was the voice of a woman. The same woman that had informed him of his change of bedding arrangement earlier.
"I dunno." another voice replied to her. He recognized this as the woman from yesterday. The one that had greeted him when he first regained consciousness. "If you ask me, I think the board of directors just pocketed most of that money for themselves. Greedy bastards."
"I'm starting to think that too. But why did we have to give those kids to that man?"
"That guy just walked into the CEO's office and came out minutes later with permission. There isn't really much we nurses can do about it... But for a holy man though, I'm sure if we ask nicely he wouldn't object to some 'unholy' things if you catch my drift."
The sound of giggling reached his ears. "I know. I know. He still gave me the creeps though."
"You mean like that amnesiac kid?."
The other woman didn't disagree. At least he thought she didn't because of the lack of vocal disagreement on her part. Another giggling fit reached his ears. "How mean."
"I will admit one thing though. It's kinda weird how not a single one of those kids had any family outside o- t-e ci-y." their voices were becoming faint. He could only guess that they were walking away.
The Boy didn't know who this 'holy man' they were talking about was. But he was almost certain the 'amnesiac kid' they were talking about was himself. How? He did not know. But he was beginning to think this was about to become common. Now if only he could figure out why though. He tried to guess but nothing came to mind. The night pressed on along with his contemplating thoughts. Eventually he gave up and let sleep take him.
When his eyes opened once again. It was due to his body shaking from being moved by an outside force. His head turned, allowing him to see the face of the doctor from two days ago. The doctor smiled. Even though he was still a little drowsy from waking up he was able to detect the fakeness that smile held. His thoughts remained to himself as the doctor spoke.
"Hey." the doctor started. "You're going to be sent to the church in a couple of hours. Let's get some food in you first."
Breakfast was... acceptable. It lacked variety like all the other meals this hospital had to offer. But in his current state of being an orphan with no money of his own he couldn't complain without coming off as ungrateful. Not to mention he didn't really have any options to choose from in the first place. One of the nurses had taken him outside. This one he had yet to see before. He looked rather tired compared to the other nurses. But much like most of the others, he too avoided making eye contact with The Boy.
"Stupid shift changes." The Boy heard the nurse next to him mutter. "That's your ride kid. Best get going." The nurse left without saying another word. The Boy looked at the yellow vehicle in front of him. He walked towards it. It was just him. No luggage. Even the clothes on his body was given to him buy the hospital. A little too big on his skinny form but the purpose of clothing was to cover the wearer's body right? What else mattered?
The driver waited outside for him. The pudgy middle aged man yawned before he noticed The Boy. "You the kid I'm supposed to take to the church?"
The Boy nodded in response. The driver opened the door for him. Allowing him to enter. Upon entering the vehicle the smell of cigarettes hit his nose. The smell was so strong it was hard to breath. Thankfully the window was open and when the door was slammed shut he kept looking outside. With his nose closer to the window the stench of smoke wouldn't bother him so much. The sights he saw when the taxi moved to his destination was a nice bonus. The buildings now were much smaller than the ones he saw when the drive started at first. Trees started to come into visual distance. 'Is this church place in some sort of forest?'
The vehicle came to a stop. The taxi was gone seconds after he exited it. He turned to the building that he assumed was the church. It was big. The statue of a woman caught his curiosity. He stared at it. Trying to decipher who it was and its purpose for being here. He gave up then went closer to the door and knocked. He waited for it to open. Second pass till a full minute was gone. He contemplated whether he should knock again or not.
*C-CRREAAK*
The sound reached his ears. The door had opened ever so slightly. So he pushed it till it was wide enough for him to enter and then closed it. After turning he looked up, expecting to see whoever was in charge of the church would greet him. But there was no one there. He blinked twice before noticing a short haired man in blue deeper inside the church, right in front of an altar. Multiple steps were taken by him before he stood behind the man. The man was tall. Very tall. Not a single person he had seen in the entire hospital was this tall. He waited for the man to turn and the man did. Surely to greet The Boy as The Boy expected.
The man paused when he got a look at the boy. The boy too stood unmoving. They stared each other for many agonizingly slow seconds. Only one thought crossed their minds in near perfect unison.
'His eyes...'/'His eyes...'
Somehow, even though a single word had yet to be spoken between the two, A staring contest broke out between them. Seconds pass and eventually the seconds become minutes. But even now not a single word had been spoken. This entire time their expressions mirrored one another and remained unchanged. And then much to The Boy's surprise, the man smiled. This smile was... not like the ones he received from the staff and kids in the hospital to say the least.
"Welcome, boy." The man said with a smile. Something about that smile intrigued The Boy. "I am the Priest of this church."
"Hello." The boy nodded, unsure of what to say other than that.
"Come. Time is running short." The Priest said, taking a sharp right turn and walking forward. The Boy did not question why time was supposedly running short and followed the Priest without hesitation.
The room they entered had little to see aside from an open suitcase filled with clothes. The Boy wondered why the Priest had lead him into this place. The Priest then stopped in front of another door but did not open it. The Boy watched with a little bit of interest. The Priest glanced back at him briefly before opening the door. It revealed a barely lit staircase leading downwards. The Priest went in without hesitation, and The Boy did the same. Eventually there were no many stairs for them to take. The Priest stepped aside, letting The Boy enter.
The Boy scanned the room, a couple of things of things had grabbed his attention. The room was dimly lit. There were multiple large rectangular objects on the ground. They reminded him of something, what he could not remember. Judging by how they were laid out, he found himself thinking if these constructs were all here for a reason. His curiosity got the better of him as he stepped closer to the nearest one. Even though the room was dimly lit, he was able to see what...no... who was inside it.
It was Makita Rintaro. Lying down on his back, eyes closed and sporting a pained expression and by the looks of his stomach, possibly hungry even. Makita' eyes opened briefly to see The Boy staring down at him with his expressionless face. One of Makita's hands twitches, his lips part only for him to speak in a hoarse voice. "Help." Barely a whisper. But The Boy still heard it. He began to wonder if his hearing was a little better than others. Or was he was just that good at listening?
The Priest watched The Boy with a raised eyebrow, curious to see how The Boy would react after seeing this. His curiosity increased when The Boy remained as stoic as before. Perhaps there would be a verbal reaction?
The Boy turned back to the Priest. "What now?" The Priest raised an eyebrow when he heard that.
'No significant responses.' The Priest's face did not show it. He was quite disappointed by the outcome. He walked deeper into the room and The Boy followed. The Priest stopped in front of one of the rectangular constructs. But unlike the rest, this one was empty. "Get in. Lay down."
The Boy did as told and laid down. He squirmed when his weight pressed onto his injured back. But had gotten used to it quickly. He looked up at the black ceiling. There was even less light at this part of the room... No, this was the basement. He could barely see the face of the Priest as the Priest looked down on him. His expression remained the same as before.
The Priest could no longer hold his curiosity. "Boy." He saw The Boy's eyes shift to look at him without turning his head. A smile appeared on the Priest's face even though The Boy couldn't see it. "You are about to suffer a terrible fate. One that is almost as terrible as death, If not worse. Do you not fear for yourself?"
The Boy's eyes closed as he dug through his thoughts, trying to find the right choice of words. His eyes opened. He wasn't sure if these were the right words but it was the only way he could answer that question. "... If this is my purpose. Then I have no complaints."
The Priest froze in his spot. His mind raced a hundred miles a minute and his eyes widen. The Boy waited for The Priest to respond as he eyed the older man. The smile on the Priest's face faded. "Boy... What is your name?"
"Hachi..."
The Boy answered. "I do not know."
"You do not know?"
"I have no memories of before the fire." The doctor told him he was caught in a fire than had killed hundreds. That he was found trapped under a building "I have no memories of the fire itself."
"I see..." the Priest trailed. "So in a sense... You have been... born anew." The sheer weight behind His words gained The Boy's curiosity. "No... This is not your purpose... Arise."
The Boy began to do as told, releasing a minor grunt when his back brushed against against the concrete and stood up. This gained the Priest's attention.
"Take off your shirt." The Boy did as told, revealing his bandaged torso. The Priest knelled down to inspect The Boy's back then placed a hand on it. The Boy was unable to understand the words that came from the Priest's lips. But he did feel the pain of his back slowly fade till it was no longer there. The dull pain from his head also faded into nothing. It was a surprise. One that The Boy welcomed. The Priest stood up to full height and lead the boy out of the basement and back into the main prayer hall and then out of the church. The Boy looked up at the Priest who looked down on him. Literally speaking. A long silence ensued.
"Go." The Priest spoke. "Seek your purpose in this word, Boy. And if it is the will of The Lord, we shall meet again." With that the priest walked back into the church. 'I must prepare for the flight. But before that, I must explain my actions to him.'
The door to the church closed. Leaving The Boy outside. The Boy continued to watch the door. Half expecting them to open again. It didn't take long for him to realize it was not going to. He turned back and walked towards the outer entrance of the church. It provided a great view of the city. A city that was part of the vast world. A world that, as the Priest had implied, held his purpose.
Changes from the original: Some spelling errors were fixed.