The Iron Rose: The Fallen

Running From the Past, Hiding From the Future

Chapter 16

Kaname Kuran was rescued from the Kyuba by Commander Knile, disobeying direct orders to retreat. The boy says his parents are dead and its his fault his sister, too, met the same fate. We are going to test him soon to see what regiment his is going to be in, but I have a feeling he's going to be placed in the mines. Most people who were born on the surface, were too traumatized to be in any regiment. Especially in the younger kids like Kaname.

To my surprise, he will be placed in training for the battlefield. He's stronger than I thought he was. He watched his family die and he thinks it's his fault. But somehow he still has a will to fight. It seems as if his past motivates him to fight. The scanner saw something in him, but I'm not quite sure what it is.

He says the only person he showed interest in was a boy named Moritani Oshihara. The boy has nightmares and is picked on quite often. Kaname seems to have taken a liking to him, so I'll leave it at that.

Kaname's mood has been improving ever since he met that boy. Although I did have to stop a few kids from getting in a fight with him in the cafeteria. He says training is hard, but he also says he likes it. His mental stability has also stablized. He shows developing muscles and is building strength, in turn I think his turning out to be a fine young man.

Chapter 17

Kaname was struggling to think. He was at the very edge and was losing his balance. He had to strike or he was going to die, but if he did he was going to die anyways. So, he decided to run and to the only place he could, up.

He launched in the air and just barely grabbed ahold of the branch above him. He struggled to pull himself up due to exhaustion. The figure followed him and Kaname back up towards the heart of the tree. His took his last swing lunging towards the shadow passing through it and being covered in yet another layer of thick, black slime.

He nearly slipped off the branch yet again, but quickly grabbed hold of it, now dangling off the edge. Once again, he struggled to pull himself up and leaned against the tree.

His arm was fading away, but he wasn't scared. He was hoping this signaled the end of the sim. A wave of relief flooded his body as the adrenaline left his system.

Chapter 18

"Oh my god..." Doctor Hishiro was in shock.

"What... What happened?!?!

"H-He finished the sim? Oh my god! He finished the sim!!!"

"Is that even possible?"

"It's never been recorded in history... I think the most ever killed was 327 Kyuba. The sim has a total of 600 Kyuba. And timewise, 1 second in the real word was about 10 minutes in the sim. He's been in there for two minutes, so to him he's been in there for about 20 hours."

"He must be exhausted. The longest time I've fought was for about 6 hours, but we were forced to retreat, and that was with a whole squad. I can't even imagine what he must be feeling, he's got guts. For a surface dweller, I mean."

"If this isn't just some glitch, then that makes this boy the strongest person on planet Earth. And, he could not even know this. He could unknowingly bear all this power..."

"Yeah, for all we know he just wants to go the surface. He might not even have a will to fight. Or he could want to avenge his family's deaths."

"So, I have a question. Why is it that you chose to save him of all people?"

"Well... To be honest, its because he reminded me of myself when I was younger. I understood the feeling of being helpless, and feeling pure terror. The thing is, the one that killed his family was the leader of the Kyuba. For some reason, she was ruthless on getting him. Now, I see why."

"How did she know of the power he bears?"

"I have no clue..."

"What was his powers to her? I mean he is just a human."

"Once again, I have no idea."

"Interesting..."

Chapter 19

Kaname quickly sat up as a sharp pain shot through his body. He was gasping for air, when he noticed Commander Knile and Doctor Hishiro staring at him. He stared back at them blankly for a few moments. He finally registered what was happening, and stood up to get in a solute, but quickly collapsed.

"Be careful! You're going to hurt yourself!" Doctor Hishiro said with a worried face.

"Sorry..." Kaname said.

Commander Knile helped Kaname even as he tried to refuse his help. He was embarrassed that he needed so much help.

"How long was I in there, exactly?" Kaname asked as he sat back down on the chair.

"Two minutes, but to you it probably felt a day. Well, more like 20 hours, but you get the point." Doctor Hishiro answered.

"What!?! Really, that long? Dang it felt like a while, but not that long..."

"How did you finish the sim?" Commander Knile said a little aggressively.

"I- dunno... I kind of just fought, Why?"

"Because, you are the only one to ever fully complete the sim." Doctor Hishiro interrupted Commander Knile because he was about to yell again.

Kaname's eyes widened in shock, "What... How is that possible?!?!"

"We don't know. We're sorry, but we have to report this. The Council will look into this further, but for now you will be accepted in the Iron Rose." Doctor Hishiro interrupted Commander Knile again.

Kaname was unsure what to feel. He was happy to be joining the Iron Rose, but if what they said was true, then he might become a member of the Council, which had both a positive and negative effect.

"I'll take you back to your room, since you can barely stand." Commander Knile offered and Kaname gladly took it.

As they were walking out of the room, he noticed Moritani having a mint freakout. He felt bad for causing Moritani so much worry, but knew there was nothing he could do to fix this.

Chapter 20

When they got to Kaname's room, Commander Knile sat Kaname on the bed.

"Why didn't you tell me who you were?" Commander Knile asked. He had a serious look on his face.

"I couldn't just walk up to you and be like 'Hey, it's the kid you almost died for, even though you really shouldn't have, but thanks!' And besides I didn't think it mattered. I figured you've probably saved a lot of people, so I didn't think you'd remember me." Kaname said plainly.

"Of course I remember you! I almost got sent to the mines, but I didn't care. I joined the Iron Cross because I wanted to help people. I was told you were going to be sent to the mines, or would of kept in touch."

"Sorry, I didn't know."

"Whatever..." There was silence for a while until Commander Knile spoke again.

"I have to get back, but if you need me, my room number is Sector 8 Room 136. Come by sometime, tommorow, but for now you need to rest." He said as he headed towards the door. "Oh, and that was an order." He added and smiled just before he left.

The rest part was an order he would gladly take. He slowly laid back and closed his eyes as sleep hit him hard. Once again, he drifted into dreams of memories best left forgotten.