The rain trickled down onto Akino's blue hair, running past his forehead and down his cheek. A sense of tragedy enveloped his gut as he looked on towards the men in front of him. The one in center, with a painful yet wise expression on his face, stumbled back as his gun fired. The bullet crept towards Akino in a dreadful slowness, at least to him. Seconds stretched to minutes as hope fled from his existence.
Then, a blurry white and blue figure launched itself in front of Akino. It was so fast, it was as if it were there the entire time, but invisible until now. The bullet ricocheted off of the blurry figure. The red sparks from the impact flew up into the sky, quickly being put out by the rain. The moans in awe and surprise quickly followed. The blurry figure tightened into the outline of a body as Akino's vision focused until it became perfectly clear.
The floodgates of his mind opened up, sending thoughts relentlessly flooding through. Disbelief crept through his very being. The millions of words he strived to shout was lodged in his throat. Tight, restricted breaths were the only audible noises escaping his mouth. There was no mistaking the figure in front of him.
Akino gulped and opened his mouth, stuttering, "M-M-Matoi…?"
Matoi slowly turned around, her heels clapping against the wet concrete beneath her. Her eyes seemed to illuminate the rest of her face, entrancingly, like the way Makina's eyes would. Her skin seemed paler. Her hair appeared to be more reflective and soft, but not from the rain, in an unnatural, artificial way. It was like the way Makina's braided hair did. Everything was different about her, right down to her posture. She stood with grace, yet undeniable, intimidating confidence. Her back was arched, pushing her chest out like a bird. Her long legs stood straight, almost as if they were the pillars of her new found confidence.
More apparent was her clothing. It was like Makina's, but the colors were inverted. The blue, neon shoulder pads scaled her head. The white, skin tight fabric complimented her figure, as well as the accompanying neon blue stripes down the middle of her upper body, waste, arms, and legs.
"Akino," she said, concerned. "Please understand, I-"
Akino shook his head, still in disbelief. "What have you done."
"I did it for your safety, Akino, th-"
Akino shook his head emphatically, mumbling under his breath. "No, no, no, no, no. Why didn't you tell me?"
Matoi arched her eyebrows sympathetically. She opened her mouth, preparing an explanation before she was interrupted.
"Omega."
Those words burned its way through Akino's ears.
"I'd recommend to you that you board your bus before you get yourself in any more trouble than you're already in," the official said, lowering his gun.
Matoi looked back at Akino, worried. Stepping back, shaking her head, she said, "I'm sorry, I need to go."
"Hurry up, Omega."
Matoi paced back behind the buses, locking eyes with Akino as she did so. His eyes were wide, pupils shrunk in horror; her's were apologetic and cautious.
With that, the Omega disappeared behind the line of buses.
The wind picked up. The puddles in the street's potholes rippled, synchronized with the sound of the Division-A flag overhead flapping with the breeze. The lights of fleeing buses behind Akino outlined his body as they passed him. Time seemed substantially slower once again.
'Matoi knew everything. She knew about the Omegas, the Compactors.
She knew about Makina.
She knew about it all.
The Omega Magazine.
Her cautiousness around Makina.
Her protectiveness.
She knew about it all, yet she lied to me.'
"Akino Sakagami," a youthful, but mature voice called out from behind him.
He turned his head. A ray of dim, dying sunshine peeked out from the gray clouds as a spotlight indicating the source of the voice to Akino. It was a blue-eyed girl, short and slim in stature with dark skin and curled white pigtails. She wore a loose gray crop top with red boots and a black skirt. However, besides the two swords intersecting on her back, the red 'A' choker caught Akino's attention.
That is was gave away her identity.
"You're Hideyo Hiroko, aren't you?"
"Yup, the lucky assistant, personal guard, and second in line to the Royal Ambassador, Hetsu Koboshi," she introduced, bowing formally at the end. Standing up straight, she made eye contact with Akino. "You. You're Akino Sakagami, seventeen years old, enrolled in Fuji High School as an 11th grader in homeroom class 1C, sitting in the second to last desk next to the window. Your place of residence is 6715 North Yomi Street in the Southern District with your birth mother, Imouto Sakagami."
"H-How do you know that?"
'Stupid question.'
Hideyo continued. "You're friends with Matoi, and more recently, Makina. You are also acquaintances with Miki Mankanshoku and Yukino Shota, who are dating each other. Am I on the right page so far?"
He nodded, reluctantly agreeing.
"You've gotten involved in now three of Division-A's Omega Expeditions and have, not to be mentioned, broken countless laws." Hideyo's face became more strained and disapproving as she went on.
Akino stepped back, suspicious of her intent.
"Point is, I want you to come with me to the Grand Hall, Akino."
As if magnets were attached to his feet, he immediately darted off, running straight between the officials. They spun around, shooting indirectly at him, commanding him to stop. Within a few seconds, he disappeared behind the buses.
Hideyo raised her hand, causing the men to stop shooting. She lowered it back down to her waste, slowly. "There is no use in chasing him, guys. He'll come back."
Matoi boarded the bus, walking down the isle. The eyes of new comrades stared her down, causing her cheeks to tint with red as she looked away. Suddenly, a black and red high heel stuck into the isle caught her attention. She looked up, seeing Makina outstretching her leg across the empty seat next to her.
Makina looked back at her cluelessly. "What? Do you want to sit here?"
Matoi narrowed her eyes, annoyed, as she continued down the isle.
"Wait," Makina uttered quickly, moving her leg and sitting straight. "There."
Matoi, slightly surprised at Makina's unusual gesture of compassion, walked back to the seat and sat down, silent. Makina stared her down with her intimidating gaze. The new Omega looked back at her awkwardly.
Makina looked at her uniform for a few more seconds, not paying any mind to Matoi's obvious lack of comfort. "Where did they put your weapon?"
Matoi paused, still not used to such a casual conversation with a person such as her. "Oh," she responded, "it's in my sleeve." Matoi slipped a pair of fingers into her right sleeve, pulling out the tip of a silver dagger before pushing it back in. "Where is yours?"
Makina outstretched her neck, pulling out the miniature Kaminari from her collar.
"So… that's where you've kept your blade this entire time?"
Makina nodded, pushing the weapon back into her collar. "Akino saw you, didn't he?"
Matoi's eyes widened, disappointment reflecting across her pupils. She looked away from Makina and towards the front of the bus, sighing. "Do you think I made the wrong decision?"
"The decision you made is done, you can't go back again. If you were uncertain then you shouldn't have agreed to the surgery," Makina pointed out. "If your relationship with that twink gets screwed over because of what you've done, then that is your problem and you take responsibility for it."
"I did this to protect him," Matoi said in a shaky tone.
"From me."
Matoi looked at Makina, shocked and sorrowful. Shaking her head in denial, she faced back towards the front. "No. I did it to protect him from himself."
Makina softened her gaze. "If you regret this, there is no going back like last time, Matoi. You were lucky enough to become human again, but now that you've completely transformed your body to compensate for the last surgery, there is no way in hell you'll be able to do that again. You're not an Omega to protect Akino, you're an Omega to protect humanity- to defeat the Compactors."
"Y-yeah, you're right," Matoi mumbled, resting her head on the chair.
The blaring of bus horns sent Matoi squealing in her seat. She stiffened her position, looking out the windows to see which bus was honking. Makina shoved her elbow into Matoi's side, causing her to slouch over herself, groaning.
"Be quiet," Makina commanded.
The bus driver, a strong-looking elderly man, stood up, towering over the Omegas. "Attention, there's a Compactor dilemma a few buses up ahead and they need some more of y'all to help kill it so we can leave."
Makina raised her hand immediately. "We'll do it, sir," she volunteered. "Matoi needs some experience, and I believe that I will be a good candidate to show her how its done."
Matoi slapped Makina's shoulder, panicking. "What?! What are you doing?!"
The bus driver turned, pulling the metal shaft next to his chair, opening the doors. "Then get out there."
Makina stood up urgently, pushing herself into the isle, practically climbing over Matoi as she did so. Matoi climbed out of her chair, shaky and nervous, as she chased after Makina leading her into the wet highway.
"Makina!" Matoi cried out, chasing after her. "Stop, why would you do that?! I'm not ready for this! Why would you just volunteer me when you know that I just became one of these things only a few hours ago?! You're absolutely ridiculous, and you always have been! You know there were other Omegas in that bus that would have gladly taken the offer but, but your selfishness-"
Matoi caught sight of a long, black tentacle reaching towards the sky behind the bus directly beside her. Fearful, she slowed her pace.
"The Compactor is on the other side of this bus! Once we turn up ahead, I want you to pull out your weapon immediately a-…"
Blood splashed up onto Makina's leg from a puddle she tracked through as she ran in front of the bus. Her eyes followed the trail of fresh blood ahead of her, leading her to the other side of the vehicle.
"What?! And what?!"
Makina stopped in her tracks. As Matoi began to approach her, Makina stepped back with her arm outstretched, indicating for Matoi to halt.
She slowed down as she approached Makina, puzzled as to why she would stop right before their pursuit into battle. Matoi snuck behind Makina, who had her eyes still locked on whatever was in front of her. Peaking over her shoulder, Matoi froze in her place, her last breath tickling Makina's neck. A muted squeal of terror managed its way out. The bitter cold feeling of loss and horror pulsed through Matoi as she forcefully shut her eyes closed.
In front of the two Omegas, who stood camouflaged between two buses, was a slouched over Compactor. Its tentacles waved playfully in the air as it feasted on the bloody remains beneath it. Leading away from the beast was a trail of blood coming to a gruesome stop at Akino's decapitated head. His neck was shredded with teeth marks with a heavy stream of blood seeping from his mouth.
Matoi's legs trembled, almost collapsing under her own cold body. She pushed Makina off to the side, running towards the head of her beloved friend.
"Matoi, don't!" Makina yelled, leaning over the bumper of a bus.
Matoi fell onto the bloody cement, sitting in front of the body-less Akino, letting the rain coat her in frigid despair. Leaning towards it, she swallowed the urge to vomit. The neon blue stripes pulsed with her sobs. She grabbed the head by its cheeks and held it close to her, the blood dripping onto her skirt and thighs. She felt the warmth of his forehead fade into cold as she wailed violently into the cloudy sky.
"Akino!!!!" She wailed.
The Compactor turned its head, alarmed. And with a sinister smile, it lowered its tentacles to the ground, shoving them into the road. Slowly, it crawled towards her, groaning in pleasure.
Makina watched as it approached inch by inch. She took one last determined breath before pulling miniature Kaminari out of her collar and jumping into the air and over Matoi, screaming furiously.