The New Ajin

Chapter Eight

"It's my fault," I mumble and back into the building wall. My head hits the bricks. But I feel nothing. Naoki rushes to me. He places his hands on my shoulders and I know that he's shaking me. But I feel nothing. I just killed a man. And I know it was my fault, not the ghosts. "Have no mercy." Why would I say that?

I see Naoki's mouth moving. He's probably shouting my name. He drags me to his chest. The steady beat of his heart relaxes me and I feel my body turn to silly putty. I feel him trying to pick me up hit his body snaps and he puts me down.

"My stomach," he grits his teeth.

He was shot. And he tried carrying me.

I shake my head and grab his hand, "we have to get out of here."

"That's what I was trying to tell you," he says. We break into a run and I shove the image of the dead man to the back of my head.

We continue running until the large apartment building is seen ahead.

"Are you sure about this?" Naoki asks between huffs of breathes.

I nod my head twice, "I'm sure. We have no other choice."

He sighs, "then let's go." He opens the door to the apartment for me and we silently walk in. There is nobody in the hallway and we find the elevator. We wait for the elevator with our heads down and I pray ghat nobody comes.

My prayers are answered as the door opens and nobody is in there. We rush into the elevator and I press down the button labeled "5". I feel my heart pounding and I feel acid rising up my throat. I think I'm going to be sick.

The elevator stops and the door opens. Naoki holds my hand as we walk to the last door at the end of the hallway. Thus place brings so much memories. I was here for the past five years of my life. That's the longest I had ever been in a foster home.

Apparently I was too violent. I didn't hit any of my Foster brothers or sisters. As much as I was tempted, I kept myself in check. But school was a different matter and I would come home with bruises or black eyes. My opponents were left way worse than me, I must add.

The door is in front of me. I breath in deeply and exhale slowly. My knuckles pound against the door.

The door is opened quickly and my Foster mother is there with a scared look on her face. "I was waiting for you," she says quickly. She grabs my wrist and pulls me inside the apartment room. "Some men came earlier but I told them that I haven't seen you since you turned 18 a year ago," she runs her small hand through her long black hair.

"Why are strange American men looking for you?" She asks. Wait, she doesn't know already? Does that mean that Japan doesn't know about me? "I can't tell you," I find my voice saying.

"I have three other children in this house. I can't let you stay here very long," she says. I nod my head, "I understand."

She plops down on the couch, "you can stay the night. But leave in the morning. And please do us all a favor and take a shower." I find myself chuckling, "I'll take one right now." I start walking to my old room that I shared with a ten year old girl. When I walk in, everything is the same as I had left it. Even all the clothes I left are still in the dresser.

My Foster mother walks in, "she wouldn't let me touch anything, just in case you came back." I lower my head. Leave it to Mai to make me feel bad. She is such a happy child. But she is one who is shielded from the world.

When I would come back from a fight with a bag of frozen peas over my eye, she would ask me what happened. And I would tell her every time that I walked into a pole. She believed me every time.

"Where is she?" I ask. "She's sleeping over at a friend's house," she replies. "Good, she won't see me," I open my dresser and pull out clothes. "She misses you," Foster mom says. "She'll forget me," I reply harshly. I walk past her and to the bathroom.

I start the shower and step in when the water is warm enough. It feel good to have the water running over my sore and tired body. But then the memories come back. And everything floods into my mind.

"Kill her." Major headache straight from hell. Chika falling forward with multiple holes in her chest. Ren walking over the dead bodies, holding a gun in his hand. "She is no longer the Eri who we knew. She is now Eri: the new Ajin," Ren had said. Naoki shouts that were filled with pain until they were eventually muffled out. Blood gushing out of the man's deep wounds that pooled around him. "D-did I kill him?"

I grab my head and kneel on the shower floor, water dripping down my nose. I can't breath. Am I dying again? Just calm down. Just calm down.

I hear knocking on the door and this pulls me back to reality. "Eri, you need to see this. Some old man is talking about Ajin on the t.v," Naoki says through the door. I stand up and turn off the water. I wrap the towel around my body and rush out the bathroom.

"Today, I've come here today because there is something that I want the public to know. Let me start with two things. My name is Sato. I'm an Ajin. The first is that there is a lot of false information out there. Don't let it fool you. In the early 2000's there was a big story that caused a lot of concern. As you all know it was the news of Koji Tonaka here. The media got carried away, this time the same thing happened to Kei Nagai. It's been treated like some public event and the media is speeding this frenzie on over again. But you have no idea what was waiting for him. The government conducts inhumane experiments on Ajins. And that's the second thing I wanted to say. I've uploaded the proof online already. This can not be forgiven. Don't you see that! I'm asking all of you here to please protest with me! In two days I will begin a protest directly in front of the Ministry. Please fight with me! After all, there is that chance that one of you could turn out to be an Ajin like us. Do it. You must do it for the happiness of us all," the old man says.

Then explosions erupt in the building in the background. When the cameras focus again, Mr. Sato and the man in the wheelchair are gone.

Naoki looks at me. "He's talking to the Ajin specifically," I say. "What are you going to do?" Naoki asks. I turn around and head back to the bathroom.

"Nothing."