Their New Future | BOOK 2 OF THE ANOMALY SAGA

CHAPTER 1

"If you've accessed this message, that means I am either dead, or in a state that is similar."

...

Akane, Atsume and Jiro finally arrived at Ryū's apartment, to which they ran into their father, Haruki. He seemed to be startled with his oven gloves on but once he saw his old friend, Atsume, his expression went grim once he saw Jiro step inside with his completely limp child crumbled against the doorframe.

Akane tried to gently break the news, but it was like he expected it. He wasn't even shocked. All without words exchanged he already knew what happened and what needed to happen as he walked off after removing his cat-themed oven gloves, leaving a fresh batch of cookies to cool.

"This way." He led the group through the plain studio apartment, approaching a wall that had a Japanese painting of a spring landscape and held his palm to the left corner. A computer chime rang out and the mechanism unlocked, being slid into the wall to let Jiro put Ryū onto the spacious bed that was still warm and recently moved. It had only happened a couple hours ago after all.

The room had a completely different vibe from the rest of the studio, as if it were a separate apartment hidden from the hallways. Although it was different, it seemed more warm and homey than the flip side. Little accents of plants, with notes and papers scattered recklessly. Even a quaint space heater sat in the middle of the room, with their three cats, Iris, Mochi and Larry lazing near it with content.

It almost seemed out of character for Ryū they knew. They were cold, calculating and distant. They weren't the type to hold anything to sentimental value, considering everything disposable. But this room stated otherwise. Full of pictures with Akira and another person who looked exactly like them, small trinkets and music albums on the shelves. The complete opposite.

The group was silent, with Jiro and Haruki shuffling around to sort things out. He gently laid Ryū onto the bed, making sure to cozily cover their body with the cotton duvet, untucking their right arm so it laid flat for the IV's to go in smoothly. Haruki only sat next to the bed, gently rubbing his child's hand, tracing the callouses on their knuckles and the deep, painful scars all over their hands. Akane was mindful enough and changed Ryū into a white blouse and black hakama pants so it would be easier to take care of them and continued tending to the several cuts and bruises on their body.

"YOU HAVE ONE UNREAD MESSAGE. WOULD YOU LIKE TO VIEW?"

A female voice robotically spoke up, breaking the harsh silence and startling everyone as they tried to find the source.

"Ryū left a video a couple months ago after the final infiltration at the last base. I'm sure you remember, Jiro."

The man only looked up in confusion, his usual slicked ash brown hair was now ruffled and falling apart at the seams, the hardheaded facade now nowhere to be seen. His hand almost instantly went up to his now missing eye at the mention of the his last mission.

"I think they knew their time was coming, regardless of my warnings or not. I'll... let you listen. I'll make you all some coffee." He approached the small desk, and all it took was to press the enter key to hear the tired yet commanding voice to come back to life. Atsume followed Haruki out of the room, leaving the two to watch the recording.

RUNNING RESTORATION SOFTWARE.
DECOMPRESSING VIDEO FILE...

The glitchy image soon focused onto Ryū, who was looking down at a piece of paper in their hands, trying desperately to calm the tremor in their hands proceeding to throw the paper aside before looking at the camera. A melancholic chuckle came out of their throat as they began talking.

"If you've accessed this message, that means I am either dead, or in a state that I am not capable of taking care of myself. I don't know the circumstances of what happens, but regardless of that and that of my identity at the time... these are the steps that I ask of you to do."

The subconscious hair tucking making Akane laugh. It was an odd habit that they developed after they started to hang around with Jiro, when he used to have long hair.

"First thing, is cutting off all my ties with anybody and everybody that knows me as Yūta Tachibana and Ryū Kuromiya. If I have died as either one of those, worry about the other. Honestly, I probably have already done it."

"As for what will happen with the Kogoshi Clan, I wish to install a temporary chairman.
Either my sworn brother, Sato Ryozo, Third Chairman of the Hisuitori Gang if he is out of prison.
But otherwise, I entrust the role of Acting Chairman to Jiro Suzuki, my Lieutenant Advisor.
I hope he will do well." They paused as they looked back at the camera with an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry Akane."

Akane snapped to her husband, who only had a grim look on his face as he held Ryū's hand, his expression hidden by the eyepatch covering his right eye.

"Jiro, are you really...?"

"I'll have to talk to the Third Chairman first..."

"..." Akane remained silent, but she knew that to have her husband at the helm of one of the largest clans in Japan is for the best. He'd keep them in line, not so much as the Sixth Chairman, but enough until their return. Technically, everybody in this room was a criminal, like it or not. Including her.

"Haha, I'm going off on a tangent aren't I?"

"Sir, you will be late to the planned rescue mission of Haruki Kurokawa."

"Right... Ahem. For the funeral. I have a fully prosthetic copy of my body in my office. Use it in the place of my real body. It's pretty realistic so I'd say I did a good job."

"Tsuki will already know. She's in Okinawa, just try... try to make sure she doesn't shut herself in. If she doesn't already know, break the news to her softly. For her sake. She won't be able to cope, but it think... I think she'll know. We could always feel each other's presence, please... just make sure she's okay."

"Tsuki? Who's Tsuki?" Akane turned to Jiro, who only shrugged. He knew as much as she did, this was one of the things that Ryū kept a secret.

"Anyways, I have included a list on what to do on how to follow through. I hope whoever hears this follows through with it-"

"Ryūuu~! Let's go, you said we'd go to the festival nearby with Tsuki!" Akira suddenly appeared behind them and the older sibling's smile immediately grew as they laughed, telling him they'd be right over before turning to the camera, the smile dropping to a hopeless expression as the video froze, signalling the end.

END OF MESSAGE. WOULD YOU LIKE TO REPLAY?

Wordcount: 1187