The sun's rays plunged, allowing the cold night to set in, Miyuki was busy watching a romance anime for the 5th time when, unexpectedly, the doorbell rings.
"MIYUKI GO GET THE DOOR" - unknown
"FINE MOM" - Miyuki
Miyuki forces herself out of her seat and sluggishly walks to the door and slams it open, revealing a surprising face.
"Seiichi! What are you doing here at this hour?" - Miyuki
"Greetings to you too Miyuki..." - Seiichi
"How'd you know where I live?" - Miyuki
"You're the second person who asked me that, Haru told me" - Seiichi, with a straight face
"Ah that little-" - Miyuki
*Miyuki sighs*
"Look, I'm planning to go over to Takeru's to ask him some questions about you know what" - Seiichi
*Miyuki blushes*
"N-Now's not a good time..." - Miyuki
"Oh c'mon I don't care if it's night time. It's even better actually, since Takeru will be drowsy he'll be more prone to answering" - Seiichi
"You evil maniac…" - Miyuki
"Let's just go" - Seiichi
Seiichi pulls Miyuki's right hand but she resists a little.
"W-WAIT AT LEAST LET ME CHANGE OUT OF MY CLOTHES" - Miyuki
"Oh you look just fine come on" - Seiichi
(Miyuki to herself) "I'm wearing pyjamas that my grandma gave me..."
Seiichi and Miyuki take the train back up north and subsequently walk over to Takeru's house. On the way, Miyuki left a message to her mom, she knew she would get a scolding once she was home again. Having finally arrived, the duo noticed something surprising.
"The door's open?!" - Miyuki and Seiichi
"Be careful Miyuki, an intruder might be in there!" - Seiichi
"Okay!" - Miyuki
Miyuki hides behind Seiichi as he slowly pushes the door open and carefully steps inside. Seiichi turns on the light switch, revealing a drowsy Reginald in his boxers, scratching his butt and barely awake.
"AHHHHH!!" - All
Seiichi gets defensive, ready to battle the creature while Reginald stands rooted to the ground, still trying to process the situation.
"MIYUKI CALL THE COPS!" - Seiichi
"O-OKAY!" - Miyuki
"WAIT WAIT NO COPS PLEASE" - Reginald
"Oh-o-o-o-I KNOW YOU! Y-YOU'RE THAT SEIICHI GUY" - Reginald, focusing his attention on Seiichi
"HOW DO YOU KNOW MY NAME, YOU STALKER!" - Seiichi
"Everyone calm down please, I'm a friend of Takeru's" - Reginald
Seiichi lets his guard down a bit and decides to give Reginald a chance. The latter tried to keep his rapidly beating heart under control with partial success.
"We'll listen to you, if you're bullshitting I'll know" - Seiichi, crossing his arms and giving Reginald a frightening glare
"Alright, so uhhh, a few days ago I was running away from some dangerous guys and without knowing I jumped into Takeru's house as it was the only one with open windows that I could see" - Reginald
"I asked him to let me stay at his place and he actually did!" - Reginald
"Which was completely unexpected because who would let a stranger in their house, let alone someone like me…" - Reginald
"Hmmm… that sounds like something he would do…" - Seiichi, rubbing his chin and squinting his eyes
"I-I'm sorry but could you get some clothes on please?" - Miyuki
Reginald looks down at himself and embarrassingly runs off to get something to wear. He comes back a few moments later looking very apologetic.
"I'm sorry about that. Uhhh any of you want some coffee" - Reginald
"Sure" - Seiichi
"O-okay" - Miyuki
"Take a seat, I'll be right back" - Reginald
Reginald heads into the kitchen and returns with some hot coffee and a couple snacks. Miyuki and Seiichi appeared quite excited and licked their lips.
"Mhmm, that smells very fragrant" - Miyuki
"Try it" - Reginald
"So, how did you guys meet Takeru?" - Reginald
"Oh, erm… I guess it's been some time now" - Seiichi
"It was after Takeru had caused some ruckus back at school. The president was informed about the incident and charged me with handling the problem. Once I took a look at him, I knew he was actually misunderstood, a pretty common scenario if you think about it" - Seiichi
"Well, I then struck a deal with him. If he agreed to spend his energy at the gym with me, I would look past his mistakes" - Seiichi
"Wow, that's unexpected coming from someone like you, I guess that's why-" - Miyuki
Miyuki, seeing how much they have to discuss at the moment, refrained herself from talking about the situation at school for now.
"Huh?" - Seiichi
"Ahh nothing hehe" - Miyuki
"And how about you, girl" - Reginald
"It's Miyuki and… I actually stopped him from jumping off the rooftop" - Miyuki
"Ohhh, you're that girl I see" - Reginald
"Wha?" - Miyuki
"That's why we are here actually, to talk about Takeru's... reasons" - Seiichi
"I don't know what to tell you guys, I barely know anything about him. I chose not to ask anything cuz he was letting me stay here" - Reginald
"Although… there is one thing I can tell you guys" - Reginald
"It-" - Reginald
"Yes, Regi, there is one thing you can tell them. I can say plenty more" - Takeru
Takeru emerges from the darkness, with a serious look in his eyes. He looked ready to provide some answers, which could be discerned from his facial expressions.
"That's pretty adequate since I've got some questions of my own" - Reginald
*Takeru sighs*
Takeru commenced the explanation as from the events in the sewers, however, he skipped over the gruesome details, and also gave a brief explanation on why he had gone down there in the first place.
"It was something exhilarating to me… after Reginald told me what was in the sewers, I immediately felt the need to dive in there and crush them! I have say, I got really lucky with some things that could've happened" - Takeru
*Takeru sighs once more*
"A while back… I really wished I hadn't gone down there…" - Takeru, his eyes closed with an apparent frown
After Takeru told his tale, the room became quiet… then Seiichi decided to speak up, although judging by his shocked face, it was obvious what he's reply was going to be.
"...I-I can't believe it…" - Seiichi
"I-It was only you two down there? T-That's impossible" - Seiichi
"I guess it wasn't, at least with Reginald's help" - Takeru, smiling and nodding towards his associate
Miyuki looked as if she was about to blow up but was suddenly stopped by Reginald who needed answers of his own.
"I was already looped for the most part from the sewers but those words you mentioned... 'Zion Rippers'. What does it mean?" - Reginald
"I really should've kept my mouth shut… but I guess you deserve to know…" - Takeru
"I think those two are already pretty shocked… follow me. Let's go somewhere more secluded" - Takeru, as he stared at the two statues on his couch
"That sounds kinda weird but okay" - Reginald
Takeru leads Reginald into his room, taking a seat on the bed, and finally decides to provide an answer
"Let's start with the more confusing word… Zion… as in heavenly city. Back in the sewers, before all the chaos, there was a guard. He let some things slip… I remember it very well" – Takeru
"He explained how his boss had envisioned his own paradise and how the experiments they were doing was just a work in progress to that. It was unacceptable!" – Takeru
"I sensed a great need inside me to stop them, more like an insatiable desire to eradicate that dream, to stop their insanity… thus came the name Zion Rippers" - Takeru
"That's... a lot of thought you put in it" - Reginald
"Uhm uhh y-you know, I like, read from a book somewhere" - Takeru
Reginald remains quiet for a while, in deep thought. Takeru, thinking he had no other questions, decides to move out of the room, but is quickly halted by Reginald, who seemed unsatisfied.
"Guess that's-" - Takeru
"I'm not done" - Reginald
*Takeru sighs*
"What now…?" - Takeru
"Why do you live alone… I found an old, dusty picture up in the attic, it had someone kinda looking like you do but with a family" - Reginald
"Tch… I don't appreciate you going through my stuff…" - Takeru
"Please answer the question, Takeru" - Reginald
"YES, they were my family… but not anymore" - Takeru, slightly shaking his head and teary eyed
"..." - Reginald
Takeru walks out of the room, with a distant expression on his face
"At some point, you'll have to tell them Takeru…" - Reginald, hinting towards the facts he avoided mentioning moments earlier
The area soon died down and Takeru left the living space while Reginald went the other way.
(Reginald to himself) "Maybe… I shouldn't have brought that up"
"I-I… It's just impossible" - Seiichi
"H-How could Takeru take down all those guys…" - Seiichi
(Seiichi to himself) "Even with that strength he showed before in the gym, taking down a whole group is completely out of the question for someone like him!"
Seiichi was in utter shock while Miyuki fumed with anger, slamming her hand on the table, causing the cupware to wobble, almost spilling the coffee all over.
"ARGH, I can't believe he went down there HE COULD'VE DIED!" - Miyuki
"Ugh, I can't do this right now I'm going home" - Miyuki
Miyuki hops out of her seat and runs off from the house. Takeru soon came back, noticing her disappearance almost immediately.
"Hey, where'd Miyuki go?" - Takeru
"Huh? Uhh I-I think she just left" - Seiichi, scratching his head
"I still can't believe it!" - Seiichi
Takeru takes a short glance at Seiichi, knowing there will be more in store for him later when the issue at school comes up, and advises him to go home. He knew that Seiichi was not up to date on the information judging by the way he acted earlier and the fact that he asked no questions.
"I think you should also head out now Seiichi…Go get some rest" - Takeru
Seiichi, still shocked, quietly complies and walks off.
(Takeru to himself) "It's getting quite late… I should get some sleep"
Takeru performs his nightly routine and heads over to bed, Reginald had already gone to sleep by then. He did his best not think about his family but was unable to sleep until very late into the night.