Cotton unwrapped around Asuka's forearm as her bandage was removed. She winced slightly, her eye twitching as the stickiness of the adhesive tugged on her skin. Kiku watched from the other side of the infirmary, groaning and squealing at the sight of her older sister's bruised, moist forearm. Asuka pulled her white t-shirt back over her head, sliding her arms through the sleeves as the nurse stepped back.
"Thank you, doctor," Asuka said, pulling her shirt down to her hips as the nurse nodded.
Kiku peeked through her fingers, repulsed. "A-are you sure it won't get infected and fall off?"
Asuka giggled, scrunching her nose and shaking her head as a rebuttal. "No," she assured her, "we don't have to worry about that kind of stuff anymore."
The nurse walked up to Asuka, handing her a slip of paper. "Your regeneration should be able to handle the rest of the injury, but if you think you need time off, turn this slip into the Prime Secretary and he'll excuse you from any Omega activities for another week, okay?"
The corners of the redhead's mouth uplifted as she made eye contact. "Thank you, doctor, but I don't think I need this. I'd like to get back to fighting as soon as possible."
Kiku balled her fist, leaning up from her chair in a protective fit of anger. "Sis, it won't be healthy if you lose your arm again! I can do the fighting for us both!"
"I'm aware," Asuka confessed, sliding off the elevated patient bed, "but you still have a lot to learn before you can fend for us both." She lifted her arm up, flexing her muscles. "See," she said with a proud grin, "I'm as good as new."
Leaning over, the nurse cupped her hand around her mouth and whispered into Asuka's ear. "I've heard from coworkers that the administration is working on a new prototype for the core. Maybe, getting the surgery could reset your body and fix your health problems."
Asuka reached for Kiku's hand as she started heading out the door. "I'll look into that," she fibbed, ushering her little sister through the exit. "Thanks again, doctor."
"No problem," the nurse said, waving goodbye. "Don't forget about the slip!"
The sisters walked down the tiled hallway, entering into the carpeted main hallway who's walls towered seemingly endlessly over their heads that graced chandeliers, bathing them in warm, glistening light.
The Grand Hall was open and the district had finished repairs a few days before. Nonetheless, the government building was crowded with people of all kinds. Although reporters were not allowed inside the facility, one could definitely pick up on that fact judging from how much commotion there happened to be inside the building. Instead of exiting the premises in front of a swarm of camera ready journalists, the two turned into one of the many guarded back exits.
They opened the door to an impressively massive backyard. Cliques of Omegas fooled around and trained together as a way to pass their free time during the day- of which they were kept captive on the premises due to the over publicity waiting outside for them. Asuka stood by the door as Kiku ran into the field, shouting as she reached over to a shelf of fake weapons. The elder stepped down, walking over to a tree for some shade as her little sister threw plastic blades at a fellow Omega. This amused her since the opponent was equipped with a gun, of which Kiku and her blades would stand no chance.
Resting her head against the girth of the tree, Asuka began to close her eyes. She lifted her bruised arm over her face, sheltering her from the sunlight peaking through the leaves above her when suddenly she heard her name. She opened an eye, noticing the sneakers of someone standing in front of her.
"Asuka," Akino repeated, "you remember me, don't you?"
She pushed herself off the tree, sitting upwards. "Yes, what are you doing here?"
Scratching the nape of his neck, he replied. "Hetsu brought me here, I just got back from a briefing of sorts; nothing new."
She raised an eyebrow, puzzled. "Then why're you still here? Don't you want to be heading home?"
"Actually," he continued, cocking his head to the side, "I wanted to ask you something." Asuka extended her neck, prompting him to elaborate. "You've been an Omega for a decent amount of time, right? You're almost one of the seniors."
She grinned awkwardly, embarrassed by her compromised state of being. "Well, I'm not as good as I used to be. You know that my body has been on a decline since a few years back." Glancing towards her bruised arm, she sighed then chuckled at her pity-ness. "The only thing senior about me is my age, I'm not more experienced than some of the others out here."
Akino's face grew stern as he became more serious. "But you're still of a high rank, yes?"
Asuka shrugged in response, looking out into the field to see her little sister fight. "I suppose. I have to be as good as I can so that I can train Kiku into becoming my worthy successor." She blinked, snapping herself out of her imagination. "What was your question again?"
Clenching his fists, Akino proclaimed, "I want you to teach me how to fight."
She stood up, surprised. "What, me? Why couldn't you ask the others? I'm not in the best condition for that kind of job," she giggled nervously.
He smiled, embarrassed. "Matoi's too friendly to be tough with me, and Makina… she'd kill me." He laughed at himself, looking to the ground. "You're the best choice for me. I think you know me well enough to help me out."
Asuka started backing away, chucking nervously as she waved her hands in front of her, dismissing herself from the conversation. "I'm sorry, Akino, but I'm really not the kind of person you should be asking. I haven't had a serious fight in months and you're in a way more treacherous predicament than I am. I-"
"Please," Akino interrupted. "I vouched not to let anymore of my friends or family get killed. I promised myself and everyone in this city. I need this."
Asuka stopped, her green eyes growing big as she realized his determination front hand. His voice was steady and his eyes were glowing with angst and power. His jawline flexed as he gritted his teeth, staring tensely back at her. She smirked, silently accepting his plea. "Well, if you promise not to waste my time," she teased, "I could teach you some things."
The two walked into the open field, away from the tree. The breeze picked up, pushing the clouds behind the skyscrapers that surrounded them, giving room for the sun to shine upon them. The Omega walked up to the walls of the Grand Hall where a set of lockers stood. She scanned her thumb on the blue sensor and unlocked the compartment, pulling out a pair of blades. She used the buckles on either end of the blades to attach them to her wrist.
"You keep your weapons here?" Akino asked, noticing those were the same as the ones she fought with.
"No," she denied, "these are fakes used for training. They still hurt, though."
Asuka grabbed his arm, pulling it towards her. Startled but curious, he watched as Asuka slit open his palm. He winced, biting his lip as blood ran down the wrinkles of his hand. He clenched his fists, holding it to his chest. "Ow, why did you do that?"
She walked up to him, forcing his hand open. She smeared the blood off his palm, noticing that the cut had already healed. "They were right," she admitted. "You do regenerate like the rest of us."
Noticing the tingly sensation pulsing through his hand, Akino explained. "I have Omega blood running through me. I'm the first human male like me."
"Well, I could have figured that much out," Asuka shrugged. "Do you want a weapon?"
"No, I won't have one on me whenever I'm with the others," he explained. "I think its best if I learn how to fight without anything to help me out."
"Your loss." Asuka strutted away, distancing herself from the boy by a few feet before getting into a fighting stance. "Three, two-"
"Now?!"
"Now!"
Asuka charged towards Akino with her arm outstretched, the point of her blade pointing directly at Akino's face. Shocked, Akino stumbled back and to the side, barely missing her attack. She used her spare arm to swing at him. Unable to back away far enough, his cheek was slashed and blood squirted across his face.
"If you're playing defense," she began while swinging her arms at him, "don't let yourself panic, stay focused!" Pushing her leg out as she spoke, she tripped Akino and sent him tumbling into the grass. "Breathe in a relaxed manner so that your body can take advantage of its resting state!" Asuka bent her ankles, allowing herself to collapse onto Akino with her weapon pointing at him once again.
Akino crossed his arms over his face, blocking her attack. He struggled as she put all her weight onto his arms. Asuka started twisting her wrist, maneuvering the blade out of his hold. "A-Asuka-"
She smirked, hovering over him. "You got a pretty strong grasp, but don't think I can't get loose." Suddenly, the blades were pulled out from his hold, nearly severing his arm off in the process.
"Ahhh, shit!" Akino shouted, using his other arm to push himself off the ground while the other dangled from its arteries behind him. He whipped around, the force from the spin pushing his severed arm back together. He looked down at it, amazed by his ability.
"You could always use your regeneration abilities to your advantage, you know?" She pointed out, running back towards him.
Something in Akino's brain clicked. He pushed his feet into the dirt, ripping the grass beneath his heel as he prepared for Asuka's charge. He crossed his arms over his face once more as Asuka jumped on him, swinging at his arms. He backed away as she pushed forward, keeping a distance between the two of them.
'If I back away just far enough and at the right time, I can block her attacks with my arm without getting them completely cut off while still knocking her back! That's right, this is a fight of endurance, not strength!' Akino recollected himself, starting to understand his full potential.
"Your scratches aren't doing much, Asuka!" He shouted, taunting her.
"Don't try getting all cocky on me!" She shouted back, smiling.
Asuka leapt forward, pushing a mound of dirt and grass up from beneath her heel. Akino's eyes widened as she severed his right arm completely from his elbow. Using his other arm, Akino leaned in for an attack. Bawling his fists, he aimed for Asuka's neck for a throat punch. She crouched down as his fist passed her.
"Punch with your elbow, not your fist. Swing your entire body into or it wont be as painful as you think it is," she instructed before slicing his other arm off from under him.
Akino screamed as his blood poured onto the ground and covered Asuka's right side. The Omegas around them all stopped their activities, noticing the intense fight unfolding. Kiku dropped her spear, turning her head to see her sister and the human dueling it out.
The boy became desperate. Now without arms, he relied on his other body parts to fight until they grew back. He kicked up, knocking Asuka in the jaw. She caught herself as she fell to the ground, shocked by his unexpected attack when she noticed his inability to stabilize his balance. She used this knowledge to her advantage and ran behind him while he was distracted.
"Keep your eyes on me at all times!" She screamed as she bounced off of the tree behind him. "Compactors are sneaky, they won't give you time t-"
He twisted his head, scared as he witnessed her leaping from the shadows. He closed his eyes and swung his upper arm at her, running backwards. The blood squirted out from his open wound and shot towards Asuka's face, getting in her eye and blinding her.
She knelt to the ground, confused as she wiped her eyes. "W-what was that?!"
Akino looked down at his arm, stunned as it started to grow back. 'I can… I can use my blood to win! Why didn't I think of this earlier?!' He stared down at her, proud of his accident. "Keep your eyes on me at all times, Asuka!"
Kiku stood by the sidelines, amazed.
Asuka stood up, wiping his blood off her face. "That's smart, but do you think that'd work on a Compactor when they feast on it?"
Shaking his arm to rid himself of the tingling, he looked back at her with a boastful grin. "Come on Asuka, it seemed like you were going a lot harder when going against the Compactors. I didn't ask for you to go easy on me."
"Easy? It seemed like you were in a lot of pain when I cut your arms off," she teased, approaching him. "How much harder do you want me to go? Should I grab my jet pack?"
"I want you to try to kill me," he demanded, staring at her.
She shook her head, pushing her red locks over her shoulder. "You got it all wrong, Akino. I don't… I don't kill humans." She walked into the sunlight, the warm hues reflecting off her shiny irises. "It's just one of my principles."
Kiku turned around and picked up her weapon, sighing, knowing exactly where the conversation was going. Akino tilted his head as she unbuckled the straps around her wrist and dropped the blades to the ground.
"I know this might come as a shocker," she said, "but I'd rather not kill anyone, even if its just for play. Even as an Omega, I hate the parts of my job where I see the results of my violence. Seeing all those people in pain, I don't like doing that."
Akino nodded his head, understanding where she was coming from.
"I remember when Kiku and I were in their situation and how awful it'd be to lose another life." Asuka glanced off to the side, staring up at the newly repaired skyscrapers in the distance. "Just between you and me, I'm tired of this job."
"You shouldn't be scared of yourself, Asuka," he said.
The Omega turned her head, making eye contact. Her lips unlocked as she let out a gasp and her eyes grew big.
"I remember when I first realized what my body was, I was terrified," he started. "Only later did I start to understand that I could use the surreal, sometimes even grotesque parts of who I am to help prevent other people's misfortunes. I think that's entirely what the Omegas stand for, don't you?"
Asuka was frozen. She stared, speechless as his words sunk in. He knew exactly how to get to her. An overwhelming sense of purpose overpowered her being, a familiar feeling that she hadn't felt in several months. She smiled, the bright sun hovering directly over them as the clouds disappeared entirely.
"If giving you my all is what's going to help you save Division-A, then I guess I can do that," she stated, buckling the blades to her wrist.
"That's exactly what I wanted to hear," Akino said, adjusting his posture.
Asuka leapt forward at lightning speed. She ran across the ground as if she were a bird gliding above the clouds. Blades of grass were severed beneath her heal as she flew towards the boy. Akino crossed his arms over his head once more, prompting the Omega to stomp into the ground just before making impact. She launched herself into the sky, landing on Akino's arms. Without a second to spare, she jumped off his arms and landed behind him. Akino turned his head quickly, trying his hardest not to lose sight of her. As Asuka fell back to the ground behind Akino, she used her blade to cut through his shirt and through the flesh on his back.
He gasped, quickly shifting his weight to his ankle to spin around before she tripped him. Akino face planted into the dirt before swiftly doing a back-flip to put his feet back on the ground. Asuka swung at Akino as he backed away, using his arms as a blockade. She cut deep into his arm. The determined human used this opportunity to squeeze the wound, squirting an absurd amount of blood at Asuka's face. She dodged, slicing through the flying blood as she crept closer.
With a few seconds to spare, Akino ripped the injured arm off his body. He screamed in agony, but with no time to waste, he used that arm to reach the branch of a tree above him. The detached arm grabbed it and Akino pulled himself up with the extra long reach. He spun around the tree, feeling confident in his strategy of attack when suddenly the branch snapped and he fell directly onto Asuka's sharp weapon.
His mouth fell open, gushing thick strings of blood as the blade penetrated through his stomach. Asuka kept his limp body above her with her arm outstretched, shocked. The Omegas grew silent, their attention now brought back to the two. Hushed gasps started flowing through the crowd, Kiku covering her mouth in horror.
Abruptly, Akino threw his body back. Blood flooded down his mouth as the blade snapped off of Asuka's wrist. He stumbled back, ignoring the pain as he quickly ripped it from his stomach and swung it at Asuka, slicing past her left breast and cutting her shirt.
Asuka stood still, astonished. "…Impressive."
"I wasn't sure what stage you were on…, so I didn't want to aim… for your core," Akino said, panting, as his hand hovered over his bleeding stomach wound.
"I wish I was like you when I was seventeen," she admitted. "When I was your age, I was digging through dumpsters for my next meal."
"That isn't true!" Kiku proclaimed from across the field. "She's just trying to make you feel bad for winning!"
Asuka rolled her eyes as she tied her ripped shirt tighter around her breasts. "You'll have to do that trick on Matoi and Makina, I'm sure they'd be impressed."
"I doubt it," he said. "Matoi is too protective to let me put myself in danger like I just did, and like I said earlier, Makina would probably kill me." Akino pulled his hand away, noticing that his arm and his stomach had nearly healed entirely by now. His smile disappeared as he looked up towards the sky, noticing a white bird circling around the sun. "I realized that I'm the one who stirred this up, so it's up to me to help fix what I started."
"Compactors were always around." Asuka shrugged. "Not everything is your fault, Akino. Don't blame yourself."
The color in Akino's eyes faded. "When I went to the funeral, I saw Yukino. She was crying like I've never seen anyone cry before because… those Compactors killed everyone she was living with; her mom, dad, little sister. I couldn't do anything to save them. I know that Miki blames me for what happened, he always does… I'd understand if Yukino did too. I want to make it up to them."
Asuka slumped her shoulders, giving her sympathy. "I'm sorry for what happened to your friend. I failed her, also. We'll make it up to them together. With help from the Omegas and the administration, I have no doubt that Division-A will win against our battle against the Compactors!"
He looked up, distant but motivated. "There's always been something off about this place, the Compactors must be at the root of it… which is why I'm coming back tomorrow. Can we continue this, will you be here?"
Asuka pulled out the slip from her pocket, glancing at it before tossing it into the grass. "Yeah, I'll teach you some stuff."
Districts away, on the shores of the North East District, sat a tall and jagged mountain with a cliff side that overviewed the ocean. A hole in the side of the mountain beside the sand was agape, opening into a cave out of reach of civilians. Water trickled down the side of the stalactites inside, coming to a bead at the tip and breaking off. The echo of the droplet meeting the puddle beneath echoed through the crevices wandering around it.
A haunting noise followed after it. A blood curdling growl bounced off the stone walls of the cave. A mangled, scarred and bloody foot stomped into the puddle of cave water with a splash. It's long, broken fingers curled along the edge of the opening as the Compactor leaned out. The ocean breeze rolled by, pushing its crusted, artificial looking white locks over its grotesque face. The corner's of its massive mouth uplifted, showcasing its massive, yellow, chipped teeth as it smiled. The monster retreated back into the cave, hiding behind the shadows.