Sasaki peered into the enormous abyss as innumerable events occurred at the same time, and he felt his eyes melt from witnessing so many happenings. His ears gradually began to ring, yet he wasn't deaf; instead, he could hear everything. To the noises of the sky, the stars forming, and the multitude of footsteps approaching his direction
Sasaki gazed as numerous people walked past him, but one stood in front of him; a man with blonde hair and a charming face snapped his fingers, and in an instant, the background transitioned to pitch black.
"Sasaki Jiketsu Grade 1 anomaly, the CAU has permitted me to use lethal force against you; do not resist."
Sasaki struggles to produce an expression; he figures that the man is probably manipulating his every move.
"Who the hell are you? And how do you know my name?!"
The blonde man with a charming face grinned at the immobilized boy, snapped his fingers, and Sasaki was instantly taken to a familiar place—a worn-out tent constructed of torn garments and wood located in a random alleyway. Sasaki tries hard to make a stern expression, but nothing works.
"Are you threatening me?"
The man snapped his fingers again, and this time the background altered to show the man's deep green eyes staring right at the young boy.
"Sasaki, it may feel like time has passed for a century now, but in reality we've just been here for three minutes, and you've just entered the van wrapped up in a stretcher."
The van's smooth revving sound soothed Sasaki's ears. He looked around and noticed three armed men monitoring everything Sasaki did. The blonde man was telling the truth, and he was on a stretcher. He tried to move but was immobilized again, only allowing his head to move.
"Where's the blonde guy?"
The men were unresponsive and continued staring at Sasaki—as expected from the CAU's junior inspectors. That blonde guy... He knows too much.
A girl with glasses in the front seat slid from the glass window, attempting to get into the back of the armored vehicle; she successfully slid in but ended up dropping head first onto the metal floor, accidentally hitting me on the forehead with her heel.
"Ah, I'm so sorry. Are you okay?"
Sasaki frowned at her, hoping she would release him from his immobility.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'll ask about you, though. Are you fine?"
The girl in a CAU trench coat adjusted her glasses and sat next to one of the men after he cleared her throat.
"Yeah~ I'm fine."
Sasaki laughed at her the moment he heard her voice crack—the thought that someone like this is working in the CAU has never crossed his mind.
"W-what's so funny?"
Sasaki held his laughter for a little bit and cleared his throat, trying to maintain a serious expression.
"Ehem, it's nothing; don't worry- HAHAHAHA!"
While Sasaki was laughing, one of the men hit him in the abdomen with his baton.
"Gah, chill out, jeez."
"A-are you done laughing?"
Sasaki stares at the girl with a genuine smile.
"Yeah, yeah, what do you want?"
The girl cleared her throat again, then adjusted her glasses. Sasaki was frustrated by all of the cuts the girl was making, yet he was still eager to listen to her.
"Okay, I am Senior Inspector Rin Nakahara. I'm here to escort you to the interrogation room. Once we arrive at the office, if you have any questions, please feel free to ask me."
Sasaki dozed off the ceiling and thought about what he was about to ask the pretty lady.
"Hm, first question, what's your number? Second question, who is that blonde guy just now?"
The girl blushed a little but managed to conceal her flustered expression.
"Ah, that's not a question I could answer, sorry. Also, the blonde guy is Grade 3 Inspector Yozo Nakahara; he'll be interrogating you later."
Sasaki looked at her with a grim and disappointed look.
Related huh...
"Please forget about the first question."
The girl sheepishly withdrew herself from Sasaki as she glanced at the beautiful lights of the city. —Sasaki, who was staring at the girl, suddenly lost interest in her after learning that the monster who had just immobilized him was her cousin.
"Hey, why did you work for the CAU?"
She glanced indirectly at Sasaki with a serious expression as she watched the flickering lights on the buildings as the van sped towards the headquarters.
"That's a private matter."
Sasaki sighed in disappointment as he struggled to look out the window.
"How's the view up there?"
Rin ignored my question and continued to stare at the city lights, looking like she was too immersed in the moment.
"Some people are fortunate to die seeing this view."
"What?"
The girl stared at me startled, flailing her arms to the side—she was thinking aloud.
"Aha! Nothing nothing; please don't ask any further questions!"
With a disappointed glance, Sasaki looked at her. And he realized he'd just dodged a bullet. They entered the headquarters when they heard the sound of metal folding in the distance and the van's light going out.
The van recoiled as it came to a stop; the men opened the door, and it was visible that another van had pulled up alongside us. Yozo exited the armored vehicle from the passenger seat next to our van and stroked my face while Rin and the troops observed.
The sun and moon met, but no eclipse was formed, and the heavens were once more visible. It felt as though there was a shift in climate even in the dream realm, with multiple weather conditions occurring simultaneously and the appearance of day and night.
"So, hitting on my cousin, huh?
Sasaki was baffled and tried not to show how surprised he was.
"Nah, she's not even my type."
Yozo chuckled at Sasaki and gave him a little smack on the shoulder to indicate that he didn't give a damn if his brother-in-law was a freak like Sasaki.
"Nah, I couldn't care less if she's going to marry a hobo or someone like you; it's her life after all."
He laughed.
"Anyways! We're getting off topic here; I'll have to ask you a few questions, and depending on your answer, you'll either be imprisoned, killed, or pardoned."
Despite being immobilized, Sasaki gazed at him with a confused look in his eyes.
"Pardoned? I never knew I had a chance for that."
Yozo strolled with an afterimage around Sasaki in this vast abyss as if he's walking in water mixed with solid ground, signaling his explanations.
"Well, you see, if you answer my questions correctly and truthfully, you'll have a chance to be pardoned. But there's a catch! You'll have to work for us as a junior inspector."
Sasaki sighed internally, disappointed that he couldn't move an inch.
"Work, again..."
"What, you don't like being pardoned for your crimes?"
"No, no, it's not that it's just..."
"Ah, I see. I get your point, but we are not the Yakuza, Sasaki. We're government officials trying to make the world a better place."
Making the world a better place, my ass...
"I heard that, Sasaki... even if you don't believe us, you must be aware that at least we are trying our best to reduce the risks of anomalies threatening the livelihood of our people."
Sasaki was yet again perplexed, never expecting that Yozo could read his thoughts. He figured that lying to him won't get him anywhere, and he should just tell him everything that happened tonight.
"Wise choice, kid, now for the first question. Why are you the only survivor in the basement?"
Sasaki glared at him as he recalled everything that happened.
"It's because I killed all of them on my own."
"Mhm, I see for a Grade 1 anomaly you sure
do have some potential. Do you have any history with your family being an anomaly themselves or were you once human?"
"As long as I could recall, my uncle was an anomaly, but he wasn't really related to us because he was somewhat of a fraud. But to answer your question... I think not."
Yozo looked at Sasaki with a concerned look and leaned directly at him, staring at his dark eyes while the afterimages walked back and forth around them.
"Are you sure?"
"I just told you it's for as long as I could know, meaning that I don't know if any of my relatives were anomalies themselves; we weren't even that close."
Yozo leaned away from the boy, uncertain of something, and curiously glared hard at him.
"You're really creeping me out, man."
Yozo jolted back into reality with an uneased countenance.
"Ah, I'm sorry about that; let's move on."
He chuckled nervously.
"Next question, how did you obtain your kigai?"
"My uncle and some guy were hiding some steak in a vault, and then after that I got hungry, so I ate it."
"Sounds like a logical explanation to me."
"Final question, what do you think about anomalies and the CAU?"
Sasaki gave the question some thought. The CAU hunts down anomalies for peace, and the anomalies eat humans in order to survive... hm.
"I think all this ranting about peace is stupid."
"Hm? Why do you think so?"
"If everyone wants peace so bad, then everyone should just lock themselves in a room like this, no?"
Yozo was astonished by Sasaki's statement and expressed relief. In the blink of an eye, he had woken up in a cramped place, moving my head to discover that he was lying down on a firm mattress.—Sasaki raised his hands and felt relieved after being immobilized for what felt like a thousand years.
Sasaki looked around and noticed a metal door inside the cell; as soon as he sat down on the comfortable mattress and approached the metal door, it buzzed. Sasaki was astonished when the door opened quickly, revealing Rin and Yozo on the other side.
"Well, Sasaki, you can come out now."
"Uh, alright."
Sasaki walked out of the cell in confusion.of what they are about to do to him.
"Am I pardoned?"
Yozo sighed with a annoyed expression.
"Do you want to be?"
"Well, sure, when do we start?"
Yozo smiled as he wrapped his arms around Sasaki's shoulder as he sighed with a worn look.
"You'll start by calling me Mister Nakahara."
"Yeah sure Naka-whatever"