THE BLACKLIGHT

"Here take it" Misaki comes from the kitchen with a plate from her hand. Hot steam went up when she dropped it on a table,

"Egg fried rice?" Akagi confusingly questioned, "Why you made me this?".

"This is your favourite dish, isn't it" Misaki replied, sits across him "Miss Amiya taught me how to cook it, remember"

"Oh?" Akagi reminded then takes a bite from the plate "You used little more pepper" he suggests while chewing,

Misaki narrow her eyes, scolding by saying, "I made dish only for you and that's you replied?"

Akagi quickly apologised, "Sorry, my bad, it's a bad habit, please continue with your story". He takes another bite continue his eating.

Misaki lean back, remembering, and "So where was I, oh! The truck".

While Akagi eating, she continues "Mikoto risked his life, for saving mine, the truck went off to its course, as I told earlier, they were many children alongside us, mostly humans, I was scared as a little girl should be but Mikoto alongside me, I felt little encourage".

"Truck stopped, when its door opened, I saw two armed guards wearing black mask pulled us off from the truck, they aren't from the Blackwatch that I could tell, but beyond that I didn't know anything. It took me a while realising where I was".

"A weapon manufacture factory and we were working as the manual labours"

"You were a labour!" Akagi asked, overly exclaimed,

Misaki hesitantly nods "We were 15 people in that truck, the armed guards sold us to a factory owner who supplied weapons for the Blackwatch, the guard's outfits were strange, wearing completely in black, some scaring looking f.u.c.ks what I described".

"I was forced to help build the weapon and explosive together with other slaves, working 14 hours every day, during my stay I acknowledge that we weren't captured just because we are Mutants, they picked random people as they served their purpose. I spent couple of months surrounded with children, lost child, orphans or like us, separated from their parents.

The factory owner was a fat sadistic bastard, in off-hours he used to torment and beaten them severally," she disgustingly mumbled.

"What! What kind of monster would do such a thing", Akagi revoltingly wondered, he eyed Misaki and says, "So you were..."

"No! I was one of the fortunate one who still clean didn't had to experience any kind of things, just stayed there witnessing other " Misaki confidently quoted,

"Despite being clear I did saw many of my slave friends been beaten down, overworked or worse, been punished".

"Everyone was in raged, including me and Mikoto, for staying such horrible condition.

I received some physical scars during my time, most of them are gone except" she rolled her sleeves displaying something on her hand,

Akagi flinched when he glanced at Misaki's milky smooth skin, a dense but rubbed burned mark still present on her elbow joint.

"This will never be healed," she mumbled, "That f.u.c.k.i.n.g serum cause me no generation around this part".

"I decided to escape from the fortress, Me, Mikoto, and 48 other child slaves decided to make a riot to escape, but we locked into a fortress guarded by Mercenaries

Mikoto and me scouted the fortress for flaws, it was in fact a weapon factory, but security was tight,

For weeks of scouting, we finally a place and dug a hole"

Misaki looked at palm, "That night we plan to escape, I could remember every scene of it", she lifted her hands, the red and black coloured thin biomass swirling around her palm "I appeared to be strong but back then I was a coward and weak as anyone" she continues twisting her palm as she manipulate her ability.

"When food provider came into our cell, we ambushed him from behind, unarmed him, and then knocked him really good. We got out from our cell and started moving silently, the advantage what we had is we were inside of that fortress, we swiftly infiltrated that factory owner's office then stabbed him multiple times roared as he could paying for his sins, he begged but we did not listen moreover when screams stops we mutilated his corpse into unrecognised pieces of shit".

"Did you enjoy killing him, you were just a teenager", Akagi slowly questioned,

Misaki stays silent for a minute then replied "The rest of the group were teenagers, I were even smaller and for enjoying, they hadn't been murderer when they arrived here, the fate and the circ.u.mstances we were in, we had to adapt".

"As they say, 'killers not born, they are made' and I had to adapt in order to survive, when the Factory owner died, we carried away for happiness, and our flaw paid back quickly.

Mikoto suggested we should thoroughly kill everyone including main engineers, worker and other innocent staff members who were inside, many of them agreed but I protested, escaping the fortress is the main priority, I said but Mikoto did not listen, everyone was pissed for what they did to us, especially Mikoto, they wanted seek revenge but I still protested".

"After a long discussion, it didn't go nowhere until

Run was the best choice, until one guard raised the alarms, alerting everyone.

After we got detected, those of us who were Mutants were attacked by their newly developed Noryoku, and rest ran or firing at them taken guns, we ran desperately trying to get the location when the Fortress burning with riot and chaos, slowly, slowly all my friends were gone. Maybe that's natural since they are nothing but teenagers.

In few steps from our escape location we got cornered",

She stayed silent for a while; Akagi was desperately to know what happened next.

"Mikoto decided to buy time for me to escape, it was ridiculous as the sound of it, I firmly denied but he ensured me that he will come back, despite my denial he runs towards the incoming enemy"

"I waited for him to back but he didn't, just vanished from the shadow. With a heavy heart, I went forward. That was the last time I saw my brother.

When I reached the bas.e.m.e.nt, near a small hole that we broke for several weeks, the hole going to lead us to a waterline pipes that waterline pipes leads to sewer and it leads to open sea.

I was ready to take the chance but I got pull from a guardsman, he choked and smacked me on the wall.

Rapidly cursing whenever he opened his mouth, I desperately struggling to alive but didn't able to do anything. He tightens his choke as I slowly losing conscious. That time I lose all my hope of escape, my hope falls including my arms on guards wrist, thinking could I be wrong, risking the other life into danger, my weakness been hesitated to taking life causes me to lose everyone's".

"Not accepting as a failure, an energy flames flown into my body powering me to fight, my Noryoku vastly manifesting from the arm as I dissected the guard then consumed him.

While Me slowly gasping, a sheer panic ran through my body but also a certain energy flows into mine, my first consumption nudged me to move forward, I felt guilty and nervous about my victim been eaten by me but in same time, I thought that was the right decision to do".

"Anyhow I passed through the hole, crouching down to the sewer

I went to a flinty wasted liquidity sludgy black water".

She exhales, heavily exhausted, "200 meters" she claimed "I crawled 200 meters over that muddy water, many times I felt dizzy, revolting, gone nearly suffocating but it didn't stop me to get moving, from after all that I finally found my escape, I poured out from the pipes and dropped into the sea.

I growled loudly as I weeping, returned to the shoreline, I knee down heavily gasping feeling both happy and sorrowfulness, still, sometimes I feel how cold was I to let my brother and everyone die for saving my own life, or felt powerless, and weak.

I felt down blacking myself from the view".

Misaki lowers her head, a slight of fear and regret displayed on her face who appeared to be cold and fearless at first.

"Why you consider yourself be weak?" Akagi questioned for understanding

"Why should I considered strong if I didn't know how to fight against my enemies, save my brother and friends"? Misaki sadly replied,

"That's not to be really strong!" Akagi firmly disagreed,

Misaki flinched by that unexpected answers,

"What do you mean?" she mumbled.

"What I meant is... " Akagi quoted "Been ruthless, physically able doesn't make a strong woman, think about yourself for a moment, you got separated from your family, thrown into a factory, turned into a slave, working hard, decided to escape, losing everything and yet here you are still doubting yourself".

Akagi leaned forward convincing her "Many grown men going piss their pants for consider doing that, I never imagined doing anything like that, you should cherish your achievement for being alive, tell the truth I didn't consider you to be badass when you punched people that pissed you off, acting tough is going lead nowhere, instead you can be yourself" he chuckled "I don't want to lecture you but remember this, Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind!"

When Akagi spoken his thoughts, Misaki went silent, she obliviously lost within his ideas about herself, forming some kind of emotions towards him"

Akagi continues in mumbling voice "When you told your story" he slightly smiled "I begin to admire you for your willpower and strength!"

Misaki snapped for that comment "Why you so suddenly" she mumbled, clenching her hand on the t.h.i.g.hs", what, do you trying to impress me, speaking such falsely sweet words".

"It's true, why should I lie about that?" Akagi sneered as he sees clear embarrassment imprinted on her face "You always turned down the truth, don't you".

"You finished your food!" she slightly harsh up , "Now would you go back to your mother, she's sick worrying about you",

"I am not a child any more," Akagi broadly declared, then he sighed "Or maybe I hasn't decided yet, what happened to you then Misaki?"

She also signed, "At the age of 11 or 12, I first met Yamamoto who rescued me when I was unconsciously lying on the beach, I told him what happened to me and the others, I said, I didn't have anywhere to go. It didn't take much longer to decide, Yamamoto told find a new path, have my name live to it, he gave me home, friends, and family".

She happily glance at Akagi "A identify to live up to, he provided my training, education and knowledge about real world which I were live in. Yuji taught me jujitsu, controlling my Noryoku using them as my asset, his training was tough, I broke my hands and legs many times, and it encouraged me to train harder".

On the other hand,

Taka trained me how to cook for working in the restaurant, they send me to school for learned proper humanly interaction, as a traumatised girl it obviously hard for me at first but in time, my entire hurdle naturally vanished, and I able forget the trouble past and able to move forward".

"Yamamoto and his colleagues risen me from the ground and standing me into grown capable woman, I still visited my house once or twice a year" she deeply signed "I never went outside from this city" her cheek stretched covering into a slight smile, she told him about her hopeless dream "Something I wished to escape from the cynical world, go somewhere peaceful and live my in peace with someone that I love" she again signed, left her imagination to be its place.

"The point I trying to make is, most of us had experienced a trouble past, best way to rid of it is, let it go".

Misaki briefly reasoned, "You have a career with MRC, you are smartest man I know, don't let your past decide your future, you can leave your past and look up in the future like I did".

Akagi was baffled hearing her commitment towards him, he first witnessed Misaki's heart, and it's pretty and beautiful exactly as her appearance.

"She..." Akagi wondered "She is as beautiful as she is inside, compare what I am".

Akagi exhaled and confessed "Back then, maybe I overdid the scolding" he muttered "Whatever she did, she did to protect us, why am I still hung on the past instead going to what I doing back then" he smugly joked "You tell me to go back to the company which helps to kill Mutants".

"Four eyes, I have a little faith in you that you wouldn't do it," Misaki casually said,

Akagi sighed, leaned back, preparing himself to return home.

Observing him, Misaki calmly smirks "You understand now, you should you go back to your family they need you".

Akagi confidently nods.