'I ran a full check that boy. Hikaru Yoshida, age 17, scho-'
'I know all of that.'
Alex spared Jason from giving a full report.
'How did he come into contact with Jira?'
'I don't know, but that would explain a lot of things if we put Hikaru into the big picture.'
'Then, it is decided.'
Jason came to a conclusion and stood up.
'What do you want to do with him?'
'I will take him into custody and make him talk. It is time to end this case.'
'No, we're going to save him.'
Alex couldn't let Hikaru be the victim of torment if he could save him. Jason replied coldly, fitting his character.
'That might be your objective, my mission is to gather information on Jira.'
'Have a heart, Jason.'
'Such a person need not be saved as he, himself, does not want to be saved.'
Jason was indifferent to Alex's suggestion of saving Hikaru from Jira. Hikaru was being manipulated by Jira, and even he, himself, knew this but turned a blind eye to it. Jason took that into account and decided someone like him shouldn't be saved. But Alex was not about to let go.
'Jira might take public action if you tried something like that and pull the curtain on WS's strife against Jira.'
He had to come up with a valid reason to stop Jason.
'Such a foolish act is impossible. They did not do it in your case, and nor they attempt it in his.'
Jason had his mind made up about capturing Hikaru. Alex thought deeply. He had to say something quickly as Jason was leaving.
'You will only get the bare minimum information out of Hikaru, and do you think they will tell him anything important and true even if they did?'
Jason stopped. This was indeed possible and had a high chance of being correct. He took a deep breath and reluctantly said his next words.
'Do you have a plan?'
'As a matter of fact, I do. Instead of going to Jira's base and getting our asses kicked, we'll make them come to us.'
'Elaborate.'
'Even though Hikaru's being manipulated and has given his body up to illegal experiments, there is still some good in him that's resisting. I am going to crush that goodness, completely destroying him.'
Jason didn't understand what Alex trying to say.
'What do you mean?'
Alex slyly grinned.
'Final exams are right around the corner.'
--I should have been the one to save her. It should have been me. I was there, but I couldn't do anything. I was worthless. If Alexander hadn't shown up when he did, Asuna would have been…
Despair gripped Hikaru's heart after he couldn't save Asuna that night. The wounds he suffered physically can't even be compared to the scars he grieved mentally.
'This is all because I was weak.'
Hikaru saw Asuna straying further and further away from him to the point he could barely see her. He failed to perform when it mattered the most and couldn't forgive himself. He felt he was plunging back into his dark and gloomy world. In his fragile emotional state, Hikaru started finding his own ways to gain strength.
He began experimenting on his own body. In spite of being a genius, there is only so much a 17-year old could do. His research gained results, making him more durable and robust but not without compensation. After the impact of the chemicals would wear off, his body would experience tremendous pain.
There were times when he felt he was going to die. When the throbbing pain was enough to make him submit, Asuna would flash before him in Alex's arms. Boiling with anger, he bore all that pain. He continued to experiment relentlessly on his body. Eventually, his body couldn't take it anymore and broke down. Thankfully, his grandmother was there and got him admitted to a hospital.
The doctor told him he was lucky to have survived. His body could have been completely destroyed. When asked the reason he performed such life-threatening experiments, he replied.
'I wanted to become stronger.'
The doctors concluded Hikaru was another victim of mental stress and decided to call him a therapist. And that's where it all began.
The therapist was a man in his prime with an optimistic aura. He was someone from which positiveness oozed out. With an unusual eye color and white hair, he carried a unique vibe.
People are most vulnerable when they are mentally weak. It is then that they are easily controlled. Children, on top of that, require even less effort. You give them candy, and they'll follow you anywhere. The man entered the room and cheerfully greeted him.
'Good day Mr. Yoshida. I will be your therapist for today, now what seems to be the problem?'
He said with a kind, friendly voice. He took out his clipboard and pen to take notes. After a long period of silence, Hikaru uttered.
'I'm weak.'
Without even beginning to write, he placed his pen on the clipboard and put it all away. Delicately, he said.
'I know how that feels.'
'You do?'
'Yes, of course.'
That was all it took for Hikaru to start talking.
Man is driven by passion. You control the passion, you control the man.
At first, Hikaru was a little hesitant, but after a few nods from the therapist, he began talking faster and faster as the therapist listened quietly. Hikaru told him all about his life. How he was seen as a prodigy, how the other kids shunned him for that, how he was bullied, and how lonely he felt.
He told him about the girl that took his loneliness away, how she saved him from his murky world, how she brought colors back into his life, and how he fell in love with her. He told him how the girl he loved fell in love with another guy, a guy who was better than him at everything except for the fact he was smarter than him.
He told him how this was his only hope to win back the girl he loved, but that too was stolen away from him. How he had no advantage over the guy and how the guy saved the girl he loved and became the hero.
Reliving those bitter memories, Hikaru broke down in a cry.
'Tell me what should I do?'
The therapist was simply in the right place at the right time. Hikaru was desperate for a solution. The therapist was silent until Hikaru finished his story. He took out a handkerchief, stood up, and approached to Hikaru to wipe his tears.
'That's an easy question. You have two choices; either you can whine all you want…'
The therapist's voice became harsh. It was not the voice of someone one uses to console someone.
'Detest yourself, torture yourself and watch in agony as the girl you lived for, be taken away from you as you spent the rest of your sad, pitiful, pathetic life alone or…'
He looked deep into Hikaru's eyes, making sure his soul was smashed before saying this.
'Come with me and obtain strength.'
'What?'
Hikaru didn't stop for a moment to consider that this isn't what a therapist would say.
'It's simple, really. I have a way to make you stronger, stronger than that guy will ever be. Better than your amusingly failed experiments but with risks. Of course, you can refuse this offer if you want to.'
He grabbed his hand and said.
'No, No, I accept. I accept, do what you want.'
'Now that's what I like to hear.'
Hikaru was introduced to Jira after the consultation, and they began conducting experiments on him. Jira simply infused the DNA of a gorilla with his by using a serum. A method they perfected a long time ago.
The only side effect was; if left alone for too long without transforming back, the subject starts to lose intelligence, and if left alone for even longer, the subject fully turns into an animal and cannot be turned back.
Hikaru was promised that he would have a chance to fight Alex and when Alex and Jason arrived at the island, that promised was fulfilled.