The Green Light 4/6
Title: The Green Light part 4/6
Pairing: Sakumiya
Length: Divided into 6 parts
Genre: Sci-fic, romance, adventure, action
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I only borrowed their name for this fic
Summary: Nino was just an ordinary programmer who suddenly involved in a danger adventure. He woke up in a strange room and met a man who could produce fire by clicking his fingers. He was brought to a strange place and met the extraordinary people - without knowing the fact that he was targeted…
Warning: Character’s death, some aspects were taken from ‘One Piece’ and ‘Gantz’ but the story is original. The setting is in a fantasy world and I took the title from Arashi’s song, one of my favorite.
Beta reader:
ladygiggles, I can't thank you enough for betaing this for me, you're awesome. Thank you for enjoying the story as well, kiss and hugs for you ^_^
When Nino woke up a few hours later, Sho was nowhere to be seen. He slowly lifted his head from the cushion and yawned deeply. It had been ages since he slept on a soft surface, it was paradise compared to the hard and cold ground of the forest. Nino quickly took a shower, brushed his teeth (he found a pair of new toothbrushes in the drawer), and changed his clothes with a pair of jersey pants and a t-shirt he got from Sho’s closet.
He collected Sho’s dirty t-shirts from all over the room and tossed them into the washing machine. He threw the trash into the dust bin, wiped the desk, folded the blanket and returned the books to their shelves. The digital clock on Sho’s wall pointed to 8 in the evening when he finished and he began to feel hungry. He looked around the room and felt satisfied that the room was more livable now.
Nino pushed the red button, just like Sho told him. He wondered whether he could order dinner now. A woman picked up the phone on the first beep.
“Is there anything you need, Mr. Sakurai Sho?” she asked.
“My name is Ninomiya Kazunari and I’m calling on behalf of Sakurai Sho,” Nino replied.
“Okay Mr. Ninomiya, what can we do for you?”
Nino hesitated for a moment, he wondered whether this place had the same food as the usual world. “Can I have a hamburger, please.”
“Right away, Mr. Ninomiya. Anything else?” the woman asked.
Nino was delighted by the answer, he only hoped that the hamburger here was the same as what he expected. “A big plate of French fries,” he said. “Thank you.”
“Please wait for around 30 minutes, Sir,” the woman said and hung up.
Nino returned to the armchair and took one of Sho’s books to kill the time, but he couldn’t concentrate. He thought of his future, what would happen to him after this? How could he survive in the world without a phone and play station?
He took a few deep breaths and looked at the wall opposite him. Sho said that he was the last of his kind and he had two choices, fight or hide. Perhaps hiding wasn’t that bad if he could read his favorite comics each day on a lazy chair, but he would feel guilty for the rest of his life if he let Sho and the others risk their neck for his sake. No, he wouldn’t just hide like a coward, he would fight along with Sho, Jun, Ohno and Aiba.
The dinner came twenty minutes later and Nino was glad that it was as delicious as he imagined. He consumed the hamburger and the cola, trying hard not to hurry, it felt ages since he ate something this good. Nino finished the hamburger in no time, he put the dishes in the small box in front of the door and returned inside.
The clock pointed to midnight, but there was no sign that Sho would come back anytime soon. Nino yawned deeply and decided to sleep. He lay down on the bed and looked at the ceiling, thinking of what he would probably face on the next day. To be honest, he wanted to stay in this room and do nothing for the next two or three days in order to heal his physical body and give his psyche some time to adjust to the new situation.
It didn’t take a long time for him to fall asleep, he dreamt of Sho, wearing armor while riding a horse. The man held a sword in his right hand and was ready to fight the enemies before him. Nino was right behind Sho, but he was there to prevent the war from happening. He screamed, calling Sho’s name, telling him to stop, but Sho was already too far away from him and there was nothing Nino could do to stop him.
“Sho-chan!” Nino’s eyes opened, the cold sweat ran down his spine, he panted hard like somebody who had just finished running. He blinked a few times, only to see Sho’s face in front of him.
“Bad dream?” Sho asked calmly.
Nino nodded in embarrassment; perhaps Sho was here all along, watching him as he called the man’s name in his sleep over and over again.
“Go back to sleep, it’s still three in the morning,” Sho said.
“How about you?” Nino asked.
“I’m going to sleep too, unless you want me to stay awake in case you experience another bad dream,” Sho said, lying down beside Nino.
“Sorry,” Nino mumbled. It felt almost natural that they slept in the same bed, he thought that Sho would mind it and told Nino to sleep on the couch instead. But the man didn’t say anything about the sleeping arrangement and he didn’t protest when he found Nino on his bed, so Nino concluded it as an approval and he was glad about that.
“Have a nice dream, Sho-chan,” Nino whispered. Sho didn’t answer, but Nino knew he was listening.
***
Sho left early in the morning on the next day; he told Nino to wait for the time being, until everything settled and Sho could sponsor him to enter the junior troops. The thought made Nino uneasy since he didn’t want to separate from Sho. However, he knew that he had a long road ahead of him in order to join a troop of Sho’s kind and perhaps he needed to possess some super ability like what they had.
Nino read the books again as Sho left; they weren’t his favorite, but there was nothing else he could do to kill the time. He was about to order lunch when the door flew open; Sho stormed inside and told Nino something which made his heart fall to his stomach.
“Change your clothes, we’ll be attending Ohno san’s funeral,” Sho said with a trembling voice.
Nino froze for a few seconds, trying to grasp what Sho said, then the realization hit him like a sudden wave. There was no way Ohno could die, he was the captain, he had a super power, and he was one of the best fighters in the Green Light, just like Sho had told him.
“Soldiers die all the time,” Sho said, patting Nino’s shoulder. Nino knew those words were spoken not for Nino’s benefit, but for Sho himself.
Nino wore Sho’s black jacket above a simple white shirt. He followed Sho’s steps towards the main hall of the city. Jun and Aiba were already there; Jun seemed as if he had lost himself, he sat silently while looking down all the time, not even lifting his head when Sho and Nino approached.
“He deserves the highest medal,” Aiba mumbled. “We usually don’t hold a proper funeral for a soldier, but Ohno-san has done a lot for this state and we want to pay him a proper tribute,” he continued, looking at Nino with bloodshot eyes.
Sho was the only one who seemed to be not shedding tears for his captain, but Nino knew he was grieving in his own way. They sat side by side and listened to the General’s speech about Ohno. He described the captain as the bravest and strongest soldier, that Ohno’s soul would live forever among them and would give guidance to the new soldiers.
“It’s my fault,” Jun whispered from Nino’s left side. “He shouldn’t have died.”
Nino wished he could say something to distract Jun from his sadness, but he couldn’t. He took Jun’s hand and squished it softly. Nino didn’t know Ohno that much, but he felt the loss as well. He couldn’t imagine if the one who died was Sho. His feelings for Sho had grown stronger and he didn’t want to be apart from the man, he wouldn’t even mind if Sho trained him hard like he had before, as long as Nino could stay close to him.
“Can you accompany Jun tonight?” Aiba asked him when the funeral procession was over. “I don’t want to leave him alone at a time like this, but I have an important task tonight, would you do it on my behalf, Nino?”
“Sure, anything to make him feel better,” Nino nodded.
Sho was listening behind them, so Nino didn’t need to tell him. He approached Jun who still squatted beside Ohno’s gravestone. Jun wiped the tears on his cheeks and took a few deep breaths.
“He promised us that he’ll be fine,” Jun sobbed. “He was killed by his own power, he overdid it to give us enough time to reach the Green Light border,” he continued, another tear dropped from Jun’s pretty eyes.
“He died as a great captain,” Nino squatted beside Jun. “You should be proud of him.”
Jun gave no answer; he slowly rose off the ground and bowed to Ohno’s gravestone before leaving. Nino followed behind him.
“Can I stay with you?” Nino asked. “Sho-chan seems busy and Aiba said that…”
“Aiba kun told you to keep me company, right?” Jun mumbled.
“Er-, yeah,” Nino answered, not knowing how to lie.
“How sweet of him,” Jun sobbed. “Nino, do you want to drink some wine? Let’s go to my room,” Jun dragged Nino towards the city without waiting for his answer. They walked in silence through a hidden path which connected the city and the graveyard.
Jun’s private quarters was located in the same building as Sho, but it was easier to find. The room was the complete opposite from Sho’s; it was extremely clean and neat. Everything was in its place and there were a few living plants outside the window. Nino admired that the man still managed to clean his room in his grief.
Jun took a bottle of wine from the shelf and poured it into a glass. He pushed the glass towards Nino and gestured him to enjoy it. They drank a few glasses still without words. Jun seemed not to getting enough sleep these past few days, there were bags under his eyes and he looked like he would pass out anytime soon.
“To Ohno-san,” Jun mumbled, lifting his glass.
Nino lifted his glass as well and sipped the wine; his head was already heavy, but he tried to keep his eyes open and listened to Jun ramble about Ohno. How he trained with Ohno, how they went together for missions, how he ended up liking Ohno more than he should. Jun’s eyes were teary again before he fell asleep with his head bent in a weird position. Nino took the blanket from Jun’s bed and covered the man with it. He looked at Jun’s face, probably it would take some time for this man to overcome his loss and there was nothing he could do about it.
When Nino woke up the next morning, Jun was already in his uniform. The man greeted him good morning and told him to get ready.
“We’ll meet the high rank officials today, they will decide what to do in order to ensure your safety,” Jun said.
Nino slowly climbed off the bed, he had a light headache and wished he could spend another hour in bed.
“I told Sho-chan that I will fight,” Nino said.
“It will be decided later,” Jun answered weakly. He searched inside the pouch he was holding and handed something to Nino. “Ohno-san entrusted this to me and told me to hand it to the last Konseki we’re protecting.”
Nino took the simple necklace from Jun and looked at it; there was nothing special about it. He lifted his head and met Jun’s eyes. “Sho-chan told me I’m a kind of battery.”
A dark expression appeared across Jun’s face and Nino was sure it had nothing to do with his sadness. The man heaved a deep sigh and placed both of his hands to Nino’s shoulders.
“You’re a clone, Nino,” Jun said with a bitter expression on his handsome face.
If he heard those words in happier days, Nino would have said that Jun’s joke was very bad, but now, he wasn’t that surprised anymore.
“A researcher from this State developed something to create a weapon of mass destruction,” Jun continued. “In order to power it, we needed a huge amount of energy and we had to buy it from outside. The energy is very rare these days, that’s why the most capable Doctor came up with the idea of creating a human clone that we can use as a source of power.”
“The Doctor started the project and it resulted in a success. The first human clone was used to power a weapon. They were placed inside a black sphere until their energy ran out. At first, there was nothing wrong, until the other States knew what we were doing. It led the nations to another war, everyone wants to get the same human clones as their source of energy, but the Doctor wouldn’t make any more clones. He committed suicide; the remaining clones were taken away in secret from this State, but they barely survived the journey. We’ve been searching for survivors for so long and we found you, at last. Sho-kun did everything to find you and he was the one who asked for the mission to protect you.”
Jun took a deep breath after finishing his explanation.
“He treats me like a baggage, though,” Nino mumbled.
“It’s ironic, isn’t it?” Jun said, looking outside the window, to the plants which seemed half-dead. “He wants to protect the last clone his father created.”
“His father?” Nino asked.
“Yes,” Jun replied. “The Doctor who committed suicide is Sho-kun’s father.”
Nino swallowed, recalling how Sho looked at him with cold eyes, how Sho wanted to make him suffer, but at the same time, Sho also showed him kindness and protection.
He didn’t know how to face Sho when they met that morning. The man said that he was in charge of their troop now Ohno had gone. However, they couldn’t take any missions with only three people, which was why they needed to make a selection to decide a new member. Aiba cheerfully said to Nino that they would choose him, but Sho killed the idea by saying that Nino wasn’t skilled enough to join their squad.
The three of them left him in the hall where the newest recruits gathered. Most of them were like Nino, trying to grasp what was happening and hoping they could leave this place as soon as possible.
A middle-aged man stepped towards the podium and swept the hall with his sharp gaze. The hall fell into an intense silence, everyone’s eyes were on the man. Nino guessed that he was the general of the State, responsible for the security of this country.
“Welcome to you, the newly recruited of the Green Light State troop. I’m so glad to have you all here…”
Nino didn’t grasp the rest of the speech since he felt something cold inside the pocket of his shirt. He fished out the necklace Jun had given him; it glowed with a beautiful blue light and at the same instant Nino felt his fingers turned as cold as ice. He began to panic as a cold sensation spread up his arm, it immediately reminded him of Ohno’s special power.
He didn’t mean to make a scene on the first day he met the general, but what happened next was too fast. He swung his left hand to the front and a formed a thin line of ice, it was soon melted into cold water, he tried to control his hand, but another wave of ice appeared again, this time bigger than before.
A pair of strong hands slammed Nino to the cold floor and overpowered him, “What do you think you’re doing, kid!?” a voice said.
“It was an accident,” Nino replied, wincing painfully as the man twisted his hand.
“You’re the last clone Sho-kun has reported,” the man said. “The information mentioned that you are weak and just an ordinary kid,” he continued.
“The report is right, Sir,” Nino said, hoping that the man would let go of his hand. “I’m just an ordinary programmer, what I did just now was an accident, I didn’t mean it.”
“Bring him to my chamber, I need to interrogate him,” the general said.
The man pulled Nino to a standing position and dragged him away from the crowd; he could hear the whispers accompany his steps. The general’s chamber was located in the third floor above the city hall. It was huge with various flags from different nations, there were decoration cups which Nino never seen and a big framed painting of the general himself hung high on the wall.
“Sit,” the man told Nino. He finally released Nino’s hand, but stood close to him to anticipate any reckless movement.
The door opened and revealed Sho whose expression was very dark, it made Nino think that somebody must have died.
“Sho-kun, please sit down,” the man said, gesturing to Sho to take a seat beside Nino.
“Thank you, Matsuoka-san,” Sho said.
“He’s under your responsibility, right?” Matsuoka glanced at Nino. “It seems that he’s not as weak as you described him.”
“I’m sorry for the scene he had created, I will take the full responsibility,” Sho answered, refusing to look at Nino.
“The general will interview him and will ask you what to do. It appears to me that what he did this morning was an accident, but he needs to control that new ability or it will endanger him and everyone here,” Matsuoka said while rubbing his chin.
Nino looked at his left hand which produced the ice. This power was the same as Ohno’s, but how could he do something exactly the same as the late captain? Was it because of the necklace? A magic necklace just like he read in his bedtime stories. He stole a glance at Sho; the man was looking in a different direction, maybe he hadn’t thought of this happening, which was why he was rather surprised by the incident involving Nino.
TO BE CONTINUED
a.n: First four days in Tokyo, the cherry blossoms are awesome. I walked along the riverside with my husband every evening where the sakura trees lined up, not so bad for the free date site :)
Pairing: Sakumiya
Length: Divided into 6 parts
Genre: Sci-fic, romance, adventure, action
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I only borrowed their name for this fic
Summary: Nino was just an ordinary programmer who suddenly involved in a danger adventure. He woke up in a strange room and met a man who could produce fire by clicking his fingers. He was brought to a strange place and met the extraordinary people - without knowing the fact that he was targeted…
Warning: Character’s death, some aspects were taken from ‘One Piece’ and ‘Gantz’ but the story is original. The setting is in a fantasy world and I took the title from Arashi’s song, one of my favorite.
Beta reader:
ladygiggles, I can't thank you enough for betaing this for me, you're awesome. Thank you for enjoying the story as well, kiss and hugs for you ^_^
When Nino woke up a few hours later, Sho was nowhere to be seen. He slowly lifted his head from the cushion and yawned deeply. It had been ages since he slept on a soft surface, it was paradise compared to the hard and cold ground of the forest. Nino quickly took a shower, brushed his teeth (he found a pair of new toothbrushes in the drawer), and changed his clothes with a pair of jersey pants and a t-shirt he got from Sho’s closet.
He collected Sho’s dirty t-shirts from all over the room and tossed them into the washing machine. He threw the trash into the dust bin, wiped the desk, folded the blanket and returned the books to their shelves. The digital clock on Sho’s wall pointed to 8 in the evening when he finished and he began to feel hungry. He looked around the room and felt satisfied that the room was more livable now.
Nino pushed the red button, just like Sho told him. He wondered whether he could order dinner now. A woman picked up the phone on the first beep.
“Is there anything you need, Mr. Sakurai Sho?” she asked.
“My name is Ninomiya Kazunari and I’m calling on behalf of Sakurai Sho,” Nino replied.
“Okay Mr. Ninomiya, what can we do for you?”
Nino hesitated for a moment, he wondered whether this place had the same food as the usual world. “Can I have a hamburger, please.”
“Right away, Mr. Ninomiya. Anything else?” the woman asked.
Nino was delighted by the answer, he only hoped that the hamburger here was the same as what he expected. “A big plate of French fries,” he said. “Thank you.”
“Please wait for around 30 minutes, Sir,” the woman said and hung up.
Nino returned to the armchair and took one of Sho’s books to kill the time, but he couldn’t concentrate. He thought of his future, what would happen to him after this? How could he survive in the world without a phone and play station?
He took a few deep breaths and looked at the wall opposite him. Sho said that he was the last of his kind and he had two choices, fight or hide. Perhaps hiding wasn’t that bad if he could read his favorite comics each day on a lazy chair, but he would feel guilty for the rest of his life if he let Sho and the others risk their neck for his sake. No, he wouldn’t just hide like a coward, he would fight along with Sho, Jun, Ohno and Aiba.
The dinner came twenty minutes later and Nino was glad that it was as delicious as he imagined. He consumed the hamburger and the cola, trying hard not to hurry, it felt ages since he ate something this good. Nino finished the hamburger in no time, he put the dishes in the small box in front of the door and returned inside.
The clock pointed to midnight, but there was no sign that Sho would come back anytime soon. Nino yawned deeply and decided to sleep. He lay down on the bed and looked at the ceiling, thinking of what he would probably face on the next day. To be honest, he wanted to stay in this room and do nothing for the next two or three days in order to heal his physical body and give his psyche some time to adjust to the new situation.
It didn’t take a long time for him to fall asleep, he dreamt of Sho, wearing armor while riding a horse. The man held a sword in his right hand and was ready to fight the enemies before him. Nino was right behind Sho, but he was there to prevent the war from happening. He screamed, calling Sho’s name, telling him to stop, but Sho was already too far away from him and there was nothing Nino could do to stop him.
“Sho-chan!” Nino’s eyes opened, the cold sweat ran down his spine, he panted hard like somebody who had just finished running. He blinked a few times, only to see Sho’s face in front of him.
“Bad dream?” Sho asked calmly.
Nino nodded in embarrassment; perhaps Sho was here all along, watching him as he called the man’s name in his sleep over and over again.
“Go back to sleep, it’s still three in the morning,” Sho said.
“How about you?” Nino asked.
“I’m going to sleep too, unless you want me to stay awake in case you experience another bad dream,” Sho said, lying down beside Nino.
“Sorry,” Nino mumbled. It felt almost natural that they slept in the same bed, he thought that Sho would mind it and told Nino to sleep on the couch instead. But the man didn’t say anything about the sleeping arrangement and he didn’t protest when he found Nino on his bed, so Nino concluded it as an approval and he was glad about that.
“Have a nice dream, Sho-chan,” Nino whispered. Sho didn’t answer, but Nino knew he was listening.
***
Sho left early in the morning on the next day; he told Nino to wait for the time being, until everything settled and Sho could sponsor him to enter the junior troops. The thought made Nino uneasy since he didn’t want to separate from Sho. However, he knew that he had a long road ahead of him in order to join a troop of Sho’s kind and perhaps he needed to possess some super ability like what they had.
Nino read the books again as Sho left; they weren’t his favorite, but there was nothing else he could do to kill the time. He was about to order lunch when the door flew open; Sho stormed inside and told Nino something which made his heart fall to his stomach.
“Change your clothes, we’ll be attending Ohno san’s funeral,” Sho said with a trembling voice.
Nino froze for a few seconds, trying to grasp what Sho said, then the realization hit him like a sudden wave. There was no way Ohno could die, he was the captain, he had a super power, and he was one of the best fighters in the Green Light, just like Sho had told him.
“Soldiers die all the time,” Sho said, patting Nino’s shoulder. Nino knew those words were spoken not for Nino’s benefit, but for Sho himself.
Nino wore Sho’s black jacket above a simple white shirt. He followed Sho’s steps towards the main hall of the city. Jun and Aiba were already there; Jun seemed as if he had lost himself, he sat silently while looking down all the time, not even lifting his head when Sho and Nino approached.
“He deserves the highest medal,” Aiba mumbled. “We usually don’t hold a proper funeral for a soldier, but Ohno-san has done a lot for this state and we want to pay him a proper tribute,” he continued, looking at Nino with bloodshot eyes.
Sho was the only one who seemed to be not shedding tears for his captain, but Nino knew he was grieving in his own way. They sat side by side and listened to the General’s speech about Ohno. He described the captain as the bravest and strongest soldier, that Ohno’s soul would live forever among them and would give guidance to the new soldiers.
“It’s my fault,” Jun whispered from Nino’s left side. “He shouldn’t have died.”
Nino wished he could say something to distract Jun from his sadness, but he couldn’t. He took Jun’s hand and squished it softly. Nino didn’t know Ohno that much, but he felt the loss as well. He couldn’t imagine if the one who died was Sho. His feelings for Sho had grown stronger and he didn’t want to be apart from the man, he wouldn’t even mind if Sho trained him hard like he had before, as long as Nino could stay close to him.
“Can you accompany Jun tonight?” Aiba asked him when the funeral procession was over. “I don’t want to leave him alone at a time like this, but I have an important task tonight, would you do it on my behalf, Nino?”
“Sure, anything to make him feel better,” Nino nodded.
Sho was listening behind them, so Nino didn’t need to tell him. He approached Jun who still squatted beside Ohno’s gravestone. Jun wiped the tears on his cheeks and took a few deep breaths.
“He promised us that he’ll be fine,” Jun sobbed. “He was killed by his own power, he overdid it to give us enough time to reach the Green Light border,” he continued, another tear dropped from Jun’s pretty eyes.
“He died as a great captain,” Nino squatted beside Jun. “You should be proud of him.”
Jun gave no answer; he slowly rose off the ground and bowed to Ohno’s gravestone before leaving. Nino followed behind him.
“Can I stay with you?” Nino asked. “Sho-chan seems busy and Aiba said that…”
“Aiba kun told you to keep me company, right?” Jun mumbled.
“Er-, yeah,” Nino answered, not knowing how to lie.
“How sweet of him,” Jun sobbed. “Nino, do you want to drink some wine? Let’s go to my room,” Jun dragged Nino towards the city without waiting for his answer. They walked in silence through a hidden path which connected the city and the graveyard.
Jun’s private quarters was located in the same building as Sho, but it was easier to find. The room was the complete opposite from Sho’s; it was extremely clean and neat. Everything was in its place and there were a few living plants outside the window. Nino admired that the man still managed to clean his room in his grief.
Jun took a bottle of wine from the shelf and poured it into a glass. He pushed the glass towards Nino and gestured him to enjoy it. They drank a few glasses still without words. Jun seemed not to getting enough sleep these past few days, there were bags under his eyes and he looked like he would pass out anytime soon.
“To Ohno-san,” Jun mumbled, lifting his glass.
Nino lifted his glass as well and sipped the wine; his head was already heavy, but he tried to keep his eyes open and listened to Jun ramble about Ohno. How he trained with Ohno, how they went together for missions, how he ended up liking Ohno more than he should. Jun’s eyes were teary again before he fell asleep with his head bent in a weird position. Nino took the blanket from Jun’s bed and covered the man with it. He looked at Jun’s face, probably it would take some time for this man to overcome his loss and there was nothing he could do about it.
When Nino woke up the next morning, Jun was already in his uniform. The man greeted him good morning and told him to get ready.
“We’ll meet the high rank officials today, they will decide what to do in order to ensure your safety,” Jun said.
Nino slowly climbed off the bed, he had a light headache and wished he could spend another hour in bed.
“I told Sho-chan that I will fight,” Nino said.
“It will be decided later,” Jun answered weakly. He searched inside the pouch he was holding and handed something to Nino. “Ohno-san entrusted this to me and told me to hand it to the last Konseki we’re protecting.”
Nino took the simple necklace from Jun and looked at it; there was nothing special about it. He lifted his head and met Jun’s eyes. “Sho-chan told me I’m a kind of battery.”
A dark expression appeared across Jun’s face and Nino was sure it had nothing to do with his sadness. The man heaved a deep sigh and placed both of his hands to Nino’s shoulders.
“You’re a clone, Nino,” Jun said with a bitter expression on his handsome face.
If he heard those words in happier days, Nino would have said that Jun’s joke was very bad, but now, he wasn’t that surprised anymore.
“A researcher from this State developed something to create a weapon of mass destruction,” Jun continued. “In order to power it, we needed a huge amount of energy and we had to buy it from outside. The energy is very rare these days, that’s why the most capable Doctor came up with the idea of creating a human clone that we can use as a source of power.”
“The Doctor started the project and it resulted in a success. The first human clone was used to power a weapon. They were placed inside a black sphere until their energy ran out. At first, there was nothing wrong, until the other States knew what we were doing. It led the nations to another war, everyone wants to get the same human clones as their source of energy, but the Doctor wouldn’t make any more clones. He committed suicide; the remaining clones were taken away in secret from this State, but they barely survived the journey. We’ve been searching for survivors for so long and we found you, at last. Sho-kun did everything to find you and he was the one who asked for the mission to protect you.”
Jun took a deep breath after finishing his explanation.
“He treats me like a baggage, though,” Nino mumbled.
“It’s ironic, isn’t it?” Jun said, looking outside the window, to the plants which seemed half-dead. “He wants to protect the last clone his father created.”
“His father?” Nino asked.
“Yes,” Jun replied. “The Doctor who committed suicide is Sho-kun’s father.”
Nino swallowed, recalling how Sho looked at him with cold eyes, how Sho wanted to make him suffer, but at the same time, Sho also showed him kindness and protection.
He didn’t know how to face Sho when they met that morning. The man said that he was in charge of their troop now Ohno had gone. However, they couldn’t take any missions with only three people, which was why they needed to make a selection to decide a new member. Aiba cheerfully said to Nino that they would choose him, but Sho killed the idea by saying that Nino wasn’t skilled enough to join their squad.
The three of them left him in the hall where the newest recruits gathered. Most of them were like Nino, trying to grasp what was happening and hoping they could leave this place as soon as possible.
A middle-aged man stepped towards the podium and swept the hall with his sharp gaze. The hall fell into an intense silence, everyone’s eyes were on the man. Nino guessed that he was the general of the State, responsible for the security of this country.
“Welcome to you, the newly recruited of the Green Light State troop. I’m so glad to have you all here…”
Nino didn’t grasp the rest of the speech since he felt something cold inside the pocket of his shirt. He fished out the necklace Jun had given him; it glowed with a beautiful blue light and at the same instant Nino felt his fingers turned as cold as ice. He began to panic as a cold sensation spread up his arm, it immediately reminded him of Ohno’s special power.
He didn’t mean to make a scene on the first day he met the general, but what happened next was too fast. He swung his left hand to the front and a formed a thin line of ice, it was soon melted into cold water, he tried to control his hand, but another wave of ice appeared again, this time bigger than before.
A pair of strong hands slammed Nino to the cold floor and overpowered him, “What do you think you’re doing, kid!?” a voice said.
“It was an accident,” Nino replied, wincing painfully as the man twisted his hand.
“You’re the last clone Sho-kun has reported,” the man said. “The information mentioned that you are weak and just an ordinary kid,” he continued.
“The report is right, Sir,” Nino said, hoping that the man would let go of his hand. “I’m just an ordinary programmer, what I did just now was an accident, I didn’t mean it.”
“Bring him to my chamber, I need to interrogate him,” the general said.
The man pulled Nino to a standing position and dragged him away from the crowd; he could hear the whispers accompany his steps. The general’s chamber was located in the third floor above the city hall. It was huge with various flags from different nations, there were decoration cups which Nino never seen and a big framed painting of the general himself hung high on the wall.
“Sit,” the man told Nino. He finally released Nino’s hand, but stood close to him to anticipate any reckless movement.
The door opened and revealed Sho whose expression was very dark, it made Nino think that somebody must have died.
“Sho-kun, please sit down,” the man said, gesturing to Sho to take a seat beside Nino.
“Thank you, Matsuoka-san,” Sho said.
“He’s under your responsibility, right?” Matsuoka glanced at Nino. “It seems that he’s not as weak as you described him.”
“I’m sorry for the scene he had created, I will take the full responsibility,” Sho answered, refusing to look at Nino.
“The general will interview him and will ask you what to do. It appears to me that what he did this morning was an accident, but he needs to control that new ability or it will endanger him and everyone here,” Matsuoka said while rubbing his chin.
Nino looked at his left hand which produced the ice. This power was the same as Ohno’s, but how could he do something exactly the same as the late captain? Was it because of the necklace? A magic necklace just like he read in his bedtime stories. He stole a glance at Sho; the man was looking in a different direction, maybe he hadn’t thought of this happening, which was why he was rather surprised by the incident involving Nino.
TO BE CONTINUED
a.n: First four days in Tokyo, the cherry blossoms are awesome. I walked along the riverside with my husband every evening where the sakura trees lined up, not so bad for the free date site :)