Kokoro no X (I) ~EDITING~

Eleven

Hisoko watched in horror as Maiko dropped Fumio's body to the ground, the younger co-worker's eyes glazing over and his neck twisted at an awkward angle. Maiko, the frightening manager of their division, stalked over to him and grabbed Hisoko's collar.

"Listen to me, Nagai. You will cooperate, and if you utter ONE WORD to Ryuu about warning the target, like unlucky Ikeda over here-" She jerked her head over in Fumio's direction. "-then you'll end up like him. Got it?" she growled.

"Y-Yes m- sir! Yessir!" Hisoko stammered, unwilling to oppose the powerful Elemental. Maiko set him down and returned to her desk, returning to her work. Hisoko did the same, walking by Fumio's limp, lifeless body as he did. He tried not to look at him, avoiding showing any weakness to Maiko. A sudden will to quit took over Hisoko. Maybe it was just a will not to die. He didn't know. All he knew was that he had a family he wanted to raise. Hisoko Nagai, not even bothering to sit down at his desk, suddenly stopped and turned to face Maiko, the Maiko they all feared. She won't know what hit her, he thought, his mind flying out of control, his thoughts going from sentences to mixed jumbles of words and letters, gibberish. "Maiko... Maiko Akiyama..." He chanted the name under his breath like a demonic chant that would somehow make her choke to death where she sat. After saying the name several times, in vain, he fell silent and his eyes landed on Fumio. Poor Fumio. He died so young, not even nineteen. A shaking rage soon overtook the will to live, and, blinded by it, Hisoko cried out and raced towards Maiko.

"This is for Fumio, you bitch!"

.

"Idiot." The blond-haired woman sat back in her chair, taking a look at what she had done.

"Great, now I'm out of inferiors," she muttered as she dragged the bodies from the room and into a closet towards the other side of the room that looked much like an elevator. Inside was a small door in the wall that sat in the middle of the wall. In large, red, bold letters was a word written "INCINERATOR." Pulling the handle up, and the metal flap with it, the woman revealed a long, dark tunnel that only lead down. In her left hand, she held a young boy named Fumio Ikeda. In her right, she held Hisoko Nagai. She dropped them both down the tunnel towards the fabled incinerator.

A loud thud echoed through the black room as the bodies of the two men landed on top of other miscellaneous items. A buzzer sounded, and a sound similar to that of leather flapping could be heard. The chamber was soon filled with an eerie orange light emanating from the fire, which was quickly consuming everything in its path. It felt the cold metal walls around it, and it began moving in a different direction. It had quickly eaten everything else in the room and had the two bodies of the men surrounded. The lifeless men could not move- they were puppets tied to strings that had been cut. Unable to move, the motionless pupppets could do nothing but watch as the burning flame burnt nearer and nearer until it had reached their feet. It licked at their feet, then, unsatisfied, the angry fire started at their legs, then moving up to their torsos, and finally, the two men's faces. The two cut-string puppets were quickly reduced to ash. The fire blazed only an instant longer before cold water began pouring out of the ceiling, killing the flames and cooling the metal walls. A sweeper came and swept the ashes away, vacuuming it up into its hollow, mechanical body. It then scurried away, fearful of becoming the next victim of the merciless flame that had produced those ashes.

The two men, innocent, young, and now nameless and faceless, had been burnt away like paper. Somewhere, upstairs, their names were scratched off a list.

---

I sat up, seemingly faster than humanely possible, wide awake in a matter of seconds. Sweat dripped down my forehead as I tried to recall my dream. It wasn't a solid story, though - bits and pieces coming together to create a jumbled, sloppy, no-end-no-beginning sort-of-movie. I shook my head, trying to clear it. Glancing at my clock, I sighed, laying back onto my bed. It was only 4:21, and still dark outside. My phone was still charging and my homework was done, so I couldn't do much other than just go back to sleep. Before I knew it, sleep caught up to me and I closed my eyes, but it was as though I only had them closed for about a second before I hear my alarm go off - a loud, screeching, repetitive buzz. I forced my eyes open and sat up, this time slowed by half sleep. The time it took for me to get ready for school that day seemed faster than usual. I barely paid attention to anything I was doing, instead noticing only my thoughts. Two men, woman who looked strangely like me, only with black hair, a fire... Pieces from my dream flying around, trying to place themselves in a correct order. By the time I got to school, I had at least a quarter of the confusing dream put together. Then I felt something hit my leg.