A Matter of Perspective

Chapter 9: Clear Hill III

       "Let go of him!" I hear someone — I know that person, I think — yell. How long was I out for?
        "I can't do that for you," the person next to the person that's holding me says.
        "Why not?! That's my bestfriend you have!" the loud person yells.
        Bestfriend? Who is he talking about? Me? I... don't think I have any friends, much less a bestfriend.
        "I guarentee you. This is no longer your friend. He probably won't even remember you," the guy on this side says.
        "What did you do to him?!"
        "Have you even asked who he is?"
        Who? Why would he ask that? Am I not myself? Am I another person? I don't understand.
        "No! His name is Hagane, and he's my bestfriend!"
        Hagane? I recognize the name for some reason, but... my name's Ketsueki, isn't it? Why does this person insist that he knows me and is my friend?
        "Are you sure? He's not exactly who you think he is."
        "Does this have to do with his amnesia?" a different voice asks.
        Amnesia? What is he talking about? Why am I out of the loop?
        "Yes, it does. I think it's about time you know exactly what Plan Delta is."
        "What is it?" Hesitation. The person hesitated. They're afraid? Of what?
        "Plan Delta is when we take back our sleeper agent we put in six years ago."
        "Sl-sleeper agent?! But-! But-!" the loud person is stuttering.
        The loud person's ally says, "We'll need an explanation. As far as we know, you only just started an Infiltration Unit."
        "We kept that a secret until recently. It was our plan."
        "What does Hagane have to do with this?"
        "First of all, he is the sleeper agent. Second of all, Hagane is only a code name for the mission."
        "He's been lying to us?"
        "Oh! No! He wasn't lying to you! He was subconsciously gathering information for us though."
        I'm so confused. What's going on? I want to go home...
        "He has blue hair though! I'm stupid sometimes, but I'm not colorblind."
        "We made a hair color-changing formula."
        "But... he's my bestfriend.... He can't be..."
        I betrayed this guy. He's upset, and it's my fault. That's going to be piling up on my conscience. I hear something about 'Clear Hill', whatever that is, going to Ao no Kuni.

        "Ketsueki, you can wake up now," a familiar voice says. I open my left eye slightly and look at the woman.
        "Mommy?" I ask.
        She smiles and nods, asking, "Do you need something, sweety?"
        "Water?" I ask. She helps me sit up and hands me a glass of water. After drinking the water, I look around and ask, "Where am I?"
        "The hospital. You've been out for quite some time."
        "Why?"
        "You had a mission that was for a long time, but now, you're done."
        "I am? But... what about the other people?"
        "That doesn't matter. What do you remember about yourself?"
        "My name is Amaririsu Ketsueki."
        "Is that it?" she asks with a frown. Did I say something wrong?
        "You're sixteen years old, and you're from Aka no Kuni. You're a Warrior, too," she informs me.
        "Former."
        "Huh?"
        "You said I was a Warrior, but I don't want to be a Warrior anymore."
        "I don't blame you. If I...," she goes on talking about something.
        However, I'm still thinking about 'I don't blame you'. Why do I feel so sad hearing that? It's so familiar, but its meaning is avoiding me. Why do I feel like I've heard that somewhere?

        Later, a man who tells me his name is Kasai comes in. He has the voice of the guy who made the loud guy sad.
        "Your mother tells me you don't want to be a Warrior anymore."
        "It's true."
        "That's alright. You can resign as soon as you tell me anything about Ao no Kuni you know," Kasai tells me. I do tell him everything.
        Somehow, I know a lot of things about it. I don't think I knew them before either. Why do I know this stuff?
        "Okay, thank you," Kasai thanks me.
        "Why don't I remember being sixteen?"
        "When we locked your memories, we used a special technique. Now you can only access either your first memories or your second memories. We'll tell you if we find a solution to the problem," he explains to me.
        "Okay, so what do I do now?" I ask him.
        "You can leave as soon as the doctor gives you the go-ahead."

        I'm given a checkup the next day, and I'm told I can leave whenever I'm ready. Mommy comes and the doctor speaks with her before she walks me home. She's a little bit taller than me, I point out to myself.
        We finally arrive at home. I walk in with Mommy and we sit down at the kitchen table and talk until my stomach growls
        "Mommy?" I ask.
        "Are you hungry?" Mommy asks. I nod.
        "Okay, I'll make you something to eat."

        I lay in my bed and stare up at the ceiling. Why am I so different? How long did I spend being a 'sleeper agent' for? Who was the loud guy, and why did he say my hair is blue? I looked in the mirror earlier, and my hair is bright red. Nowhere near a blue color.
        I should probably go to sleep. I'll have to get up in the morning. I close my eye. And slowly but surely, I fall asleep.

        "Ketsueki, wake up," Mommy says. I open my eye and sit up.
        "What time is it?" I ask her.
        "Nine o'clock almost."
        I say, "Okay. I'm going to get ready then."
        "I'll be making breakfast then."
        I change into new clothes. I pull on my shoes. Then, I walk to the kitchen and sit at the table. Mommy sets food in front of me and smiles, saying, "Enjoy!"
        "When your done, we're going to find you a job," Mommy says.
"Okay."

        There seem to be no jobs. All the places we went to weren't looking for workers or the spots were already taken.
        "It's alright. I know a place that'll accept you," she tells me.
        "Okay, and I'm going to pretend you didn't say that the last ten times."

        But this time I did get the job.