In this college classroom, students muttering quizzically to themselves, the teacher was seen conversing with a blonde woman donning a white coat over her casual layer of clothing, chuckling with one another, exchanging notes, and otherwise. As the clock's arms inched closer and closer to the lecture's beginning, the blonde stood at the corner of the class while the pupils took their seats, curiously awaiting further instruction as the bell rang to indicate the start. Cal's white hair shielding the right side of his skin, red eyes illuminating through the brightness of his locks, his burnt excuses of fingers twirled around a pen… the blonde scientist couldn't help but quirk a brow at his resilience, momentarily, her blue eyes locked onto him.
~How odd~ Thought the woman to herself as she rubbed her right arm with her left, head leaning back against the wall so her golden locks would hide her brightened azure-colored orbs,
"Today's going to be different from the rest. I'm not gonna be teaching you and honestly, there's no class, but we have a guest, one we decided all of you should come to know. One right from the Capital herself, Doctor Ella Garcia," Said the teacher to his students, loudly uttering about, even distinct whispers under their breathing audible; unable to maintain a stable volume,
"Alright, shut up, kids. At least you got an extra day to give me my assignment. Doctor?" Asked the teacher gently to the doctor, heels rapidly tapping against the marbled floorboards below.
The blonde woman stepped forward, affixing her glasses and clearing her throat, coughing into a closed fist. Then after that, she clapped her hands together to dim the lights automatically, watching as the chamber turned darker. Students raising their heads to mutter at the suddenness of this, Cal turned his head to see two armed guards slide into the classroom on each side of the entrance.
A male with black clothing, a customary turtleneck with a trench coat over it, military leggings, and boats. Not to mention red eyes to contrast to the brightness of the surrounding whitened eyeball. He was on the left, twiddling around a dagger with his eyes just darting around and analyzing the inner architecture of this establishment.
And then to the right, there was a female, one with just an all-black suit, short black hair, that of a tomboy, and brown-black eyes within a white spherical background. In all intents and purposes, each female and the male seemed like the most basic descriptions of Government-paid security guards in the world. Not that it mattered, but the second they stepped foot into the classroom, the red eyes of the male guard met the blue ones of the Doctor, the presentation clicked onto the whiteboard to the back of her head.
The light shading her eyes, hiding the coloration from the students, El cleared her throat, pushing her spectacles up once again, she gazed at them all… the surplus of children just sitting there, having no idea that their lives would be changed for the better after this. And with that; the lecture begun the second the blonde scientist with the ponytail parted her pink lips,
"I assume we're all familiar with the Wipeout Incident, right?" Asked the advisor of her temporary students, lots affirming and agreeing to the question they'd been inquired,
"To make sure, let me refresh your memories. Five years ago, an enemy nation originating from North Korea using a newly-developed nuclear device bombed Texas with what has come to be known as Death's Scythe. The expanding explosion engulfed the closest states, thus leading to mass homelessness for those outside the blast radius yet susceptible to the ash and radiation fallout. Over twenty million lives were taken that day, and many of you have had troubled childhoods because of this. Jumping from home to home because parents didn't want you or switching schools because your appearances would get you all bullied, we know you've suffered. So, all of us at the United States Government, though it's taken us a while, have set up a benefit plan for those who've undergone a loss at the hands of this unfortunate attack. We're handing out pamphlets to those we know who've suffered, physically, mentally, you can sign up now and the benefits will be discussed at a later time. Thank you, for your short time," Ella bowed in their presence, taking out the tie in her hair, she slid right up the middle portion of the slanted abundance of desks to head out.
Words clamoring audible to her yet indistinguishable from the number of younglings speaking, the second her boot slid right over the line into the outer hall of the college, she turned her head… to see his face. From this angle, the woman was only able to see a portion, that being his left-scared side, one specific cut stabbed right into his eye, she turned her head away swiftly soon after. The red-eyed guard's hand guiding itself to her shoulder, they walked right out as a tear hugged her jaw and a gentle sob discharged from her lips into her arm.
The doors to the classroom were closed quickly after the doctor, the moments between these events were quick. However… arms pulling the doors inward to their exterior position outside the lecture room, the female guard glanced around the room, just randomly, an instinct that came out of nowhere, like second nature to them. Fingers curled around the bars as they withdrew their body from the schoolroom, their eyes darted to the left, and there they were. One red eye exposed out directly at their soul from the inner workings of this dark classroom-
~What the hell is this… why is everything so slow? Where the fuck am I? Who… are you?~ But the second they'd returned to reality, another voice came to intervene in their thoughts, one masculine and filled with worry,
"Rizia-! You okay? You kinda spaced out there," Asked the male worriedly,
"Y-yeah, I'm good. I think I just gotta use the bathroom, go on without me," Advised Rizia to their superiors, both Ella and the male looking to one another, then back at them, they quirked a brow,
"Are you sure? We're here for you, ya know; always will be. You're our friend, after all," Ella reminded them warmly,
"I'm sure… don't worry," Reassured Rizia to the duo worried for their well-being, both close to their face, the duo inched away immediately.
Ella grabbing at the male's arm then jerking him around, she professionally cleared her throat then snapped her neck back to Rizia,
"Don't worry, Riz! I'll take care of Jason, he just gets like that sometimes!" Jokingly proclaimed Ella about her colleague,
"W-what?! B-but I didn't even do anything…" Jason whined just cute enough to get him a pity peck on the cheek from the blonde scientist.
Just like that, the bodyguard was escorted down the hallway by his scientist comrade, Rizia left behind, idle in the middle of this silent corridor, chatter gradually moving away- their eyes were indented by their fingers. Sliding their soles against the reflective floor, they put themself back to the wall leading to the right entrance to the dual doors of the classroom, hand on their forehead. The tears seemed to come as quickly as a wave during the summertime while basking in the sunlight on a beach, it all came flashing back to them, everything they'd been through. Flashes of a distant past begging to be forgotten, that red-eye- was that truly the source of such repressed memories revealing themself after decades of being hidden?
~When're you gonna get a job?! All you do is sit around all day and do nothing!~
~It was your fault… YOU'RE THE REASON HE DIED!!!!~
~GET AWAY FROM ME, YOU FREAK! ALL YOU DO IS KILL EVERYONE!~
~What an unsightly child. She ought to be killed~
~That's right… It's all my fault. I haven't… done anything in my life right; nothing! Why am I still here, working this toxic job to cover up such horrible deeds- enemy nation, my ass, Garcia! We all know they did it- to their citizens, being promised freedom, security, they'd never have guessed they'd be killed by their Government who'd sworn to protect them. Is that my future? Working for a corrupt national power and lying to children's faces about who took their homes- their families for them? I can't… I can't do this anymore. I have to do something… something…
I can't do anything.~
Back inside, as a pen scribbled on the paper, messy handwriting indenting onto the material, he could hear footsteps out his ear. Then again, that wasn't irregular, seeing as how the teacher was clicking away at the keyboard on his laptop, footsteps could be mixed up with key-typing. But it got faster, and faster… and quicker. And quicker. Someone was running and they were right outside the classroom doors- could they be doing what he thought? Tapping the hand of his female helper, he whispered,
"I'll be relieving myself. I will return shortly,"
Getting up from his seat, pushing open the doors, he limped with his cane in hand and continued to strut weakly down the corridor as he remembered the way-
Up to the roof.
And sure enough, as the rooftop door slammed open, there it was: the all-black suit, the short black hair, even their feminine figure, the female guard. As the door shut loudly, it released a sudden THUMP! With a suit coat placed carefully over his back, the wind letting their differentiating hairs flow, Rizia turned to face him; once again, that singular red eye seemed to stare into her soul,
"What are you doing up here?" Asked Cal of the older woman, every so often, a new step was made, with his cane aiding in his arrival, she stared at him. She didn't stop or plead for him to halt, she just stared,
"Well, I think that'd be obvious. I'm… going to kill myself," Rizia announced to the deformed student,
"No shit, I was referring to the why-" Callum corrected, scratching his left cheek with his burnt right extremities,
"And why should I tell you?! You're just a kid, why do… what would you care about someone as unimportant as me…?" The way they asked this, sent Rivers a chuckle at the question, to which they turned their head and curled a brow upright over their right eyeball.
~The hell's he laughing about?~ They thought.
As he slid right over to them, he didn't have some profound speech right below them or dramatically stick out his hand as if he were their angelic savior, something along the lines of that. Instead, he dropped his cane to the rooftop and slid his legs right over the edge so he could sit right beside them, plopping his bottom right on there, admiring the sight of the bustling city. The setting sun on the horizon leaking its rays onto the skyline, a pinkish-orange tint enveloping the clouds splitting apart to the night; he smiled,
"You're right. You shouldn't listen to me, I'm just a kid, a student. In the end, I'm someone as unimportant as you. A freak, who couldn't even satisfy his girlfriend because my dick is basically burnt, can't even jerk off correctly when I feel horny- have to use some fucking machine. Someone who looks like this, you're right, Miss, I don't have any right to know why you want to kill yourself. But- I'll tell you why I want to. And that's to bring down the Government in a coup. My mother, father, grandparents, brothers, sister, aunt, uncle, they all lived in Texas at the time; I was staying with my best friend but they died, too. An enemy nation? The same shit happened four years ago with Bush as President. Everyone knows… the Government silenced the world that day, to its own people, but no one would have thought they'd do something like that on such a large scale. I hate them. And I hate myself for being this way, I can't do anything so I've thought about it, I've tried it… and I'm here. I believe God has some cruel plan for me, whatever it may be, I'm sticking around to find out. You might not believe that but- I believe God has a plan for you, too. So live. And by the way, my name is Callum Rivers, friends call me Cal. What about you?" Asked the scared student, turning to them, still standing at the edge, balance wobbling, they sighed…
What more could they do? He had them beat, that speech wasn't just something they could ignore right now, especially after hearing his struggles. In comparison, they paled, and they plopped right down beside him and stuck out their hand to meet his own, already stuck out,
"Kosuke Rizia, friends call me Rizia. I think… something happened just then, when I was leaving your classroom that caused me to do this," Rizia recounted just a few minutes earlier, head slumped, neck bent downward, admiring the height they were at- not even frightened,
"We locked eyes. Did it reawaken something in you or…? Oh, was this disgusting face so handsome you couldn't resist and you tried to kill yourself because we can't be together?" He asked sarcastically putting his thumb and index finger over his face, leading them to laugh at the insinuation, shaking their head side to side,
"Oh, yes, yes, that's EXACTLY what it was, heh. Well, actually it was-" They were interrupted yet again, by him sliding around on his rear and jumping down onto the roof, slipping his cane right back into his hands with a pained groan from the bending position,
"Where are you going?" They sadly queried with a distraught look over their features,
"Well, if you're gonna tell me your life story, I thought that it shouldn't be while you're staring at the face of Death; literally a breeze could've killed us there. So, let's go, I know a really nice cafe nearby that has the BESTTTT chocolate cake!" He yelled happily with a chuckle in his vocals as he turned his back to her, the door opening suddenly magically, there they were… right beside him, holding the entrance open for him, the shorter of the two,
"Thank you," As he kindly said this, patting their shoulder before going to move down the stairs, they found themselves staring at his back… what was this new feeling?
They found themselves enlightened by his words, they were like messages from God Himself, even with his raspy voice, his deformed appearance, and his limp, it didn't matter. From the way, he so elegantly put together his words, put faith in his Lord, and spoke about himself. It was entangling like she was entrenched in the arms of an Angel, that light came off his back- it was blinding yet comforting. Warm, like hugging someone. The next step they took was to follow him. Right down the stairs, holding his one hand to make sure he didn't fall, Cal's face always had that continuous smile on his scarred lips. Just as he'd said earlier, God had a plan for him, and while he hadn't known it, the seeds of his eventual future were being planted to this day. Retribution was in sight and justice would be served.
After all, in the end, this is a story of justice.
To Be Continued!