Unlike Others (1)

Sunday

The next day he makes his way to school, trying not to wake up Arhiyan on her day off. Maiman trots by his side until they reach the school. They head inside and down the strangely empty halls, Maiman on alert and Takeshi glancing into empty
classrooms.
"Is there an assembly or something? I know we have school today." Takeshi mutters, confused.
"Takeshi!! Hurry up!!" Mr. Himu walks up from behind them, catching both Takeshi and Maiman off guard.
"What's going on?" Takeshi turns and looks at him confused.
"It's a drill. Come on." Mr. Himu leads Takeshi into his classroom where all the Level Ones sat quietly in a corner. The three make their way over to the group and they sit down next to them. After a few minutes, a voice comes on over the intercom.
"The drill is over." The intercom says then gets quiet. By this time, Takeshi was sitting, staring out the window while Maiman enjoyed getting pet by the other students who were all too happy to have Takeshi and Maiman in their class with them for the drill. As soon as everyone gets up, Takeshi and Maiman make their way to the door.
"Thanks Mr. Himu. Don't know what I would've done without you getting me." Takeshi smiles at Mr. Himu then him and Maiman leave the room and head down the hallways, leaving Mr. Himu's room buzzing with students talking.
"Carne Morta. Glad you decided to show up." Mr. Norio looks over at Takeshi as him and Maiman walk in the classroom door.
"Sorry sir. I didn't know about the drill." Takeshi runs his hand through his hair.
"It's ok. Just get over there and start training." Mr. Norio nods towards Ren who stood reading a board by a training mat. Takeshi makes his way over towards her as she turns and faces him with an annoyed look.
"Why do we always get paired together?" Ren grumbles then lets out a long sigh.
"If you don't want to be paired with me, ask Mr. Norio to get us new partners. Otherwise, you can deal with it." Takeshi sighs and drops his jacket next to Maiman who sat by the mat. "Now, if you don't mind, I would like to start training so we aren't wasting time." Takeshi fixes part of his bandages on his arm then looks up at Ren.
"Sure." She looks him up and down then quickly rushes at him. Takeshi grabs her and flips her over his shoulder, slamming her onto the mat on her back.
"You must've had a bad morning or something." He sighs and turns to her.
"Come on. You're better than that." He outstretches a hand towards her to help her stand up. She glances at his hand then quickly grabs it and yanks him onto the mat, quickly crawling onto him as soon as his back hits the floor.
"What's up with you today?" He lightly laughs, slowly catching his breath.
"You said you wanted to train and not waste time. That's what." She huffs in return and stands up.
"Well, you don't rush at someone." He sighs and stands up. "Why do you have those bandages? And Maiman?" Ren looks him up and down.
"Cause I can. You don't need to know everything about me." Takeshi sighs and grabs his jacket off the floor.
"Still. I can ask questions. And you can answer them. If you want to of course. I can't force you. But. We are partnered together all the time so we might as well know stuff about each other and at least be able to ask each other questions." She sighs as he pulls his jacket on.
"Ok. Then. Why are you so curious about me?" Takeshi looks up and their eyes meet.
"You went from Level One to this level in a single day, you always have those bandages, you always seem to know what monsters are what, and..." She gets quiet for a second. "And? And what?" He gives her a slightly annoyed look then looks down at Maiman as she walks over and sits next to him. "And, I heard your conversation in the lunchroom with the headmistress the other day, about how you have a "relationship" with the Church." Ren looks away from him and stares out the window.
"Lunchtime!!" Mr. Norio yells.
"Don't worry about that. The less you know, the better." Takeshi turns to walk away.
"Takeshi." Ren starts to say but he's already left the room.
"So how was school?" Arhiyan looks up at Takeshi as he walks in the front door.
"Boring. Lunch was annoying." He sits on one of the stools in the kitchen as his aunt rushes around the room.
"How was it annoying?" She stops and looks at him.
"All these people were all over Maiman saying how cute she was and how they wish they could bring their, pets, to school." He grumbles and lays his head on the counter.
"She's not my pet. Why is it that they don't understand?!" He growls then lets out a sigh.
"Just go upstairs and lay down." Arhiyan smiles at him. He slowly gets up and heads to his room where he drops onto the bed and falls asleep.
A few hours pass and he's woken up by loud gunshots outside. He quickly runs downstairs with Maiman where Arhiyan meets him at the bottom of the stairs.
"What's going on?" He quickly asks.
"The city is under attack. I was just about to come wake you." Arhiyan responds.
"I have to go out and help. It's my duties. I'm sorry." Takeshi hugs her and rushes over towards the closet where he grabs a duffel bag and rushes out the door.
As he steps out the door, he closes it behind him and looks down the streets. He quickly pulls a rifle out of his bag as the sound of the sirens fill his ears. A loud scream comes from down the street. Takeshi takes off towards the scream. He reaches the alley where the scream came from and sees a girl his age standing with her back to the wall and three big black Saber Toothed Tigers with blood red eyes moving
towards her.
"Hey!!" Takeshi yells, catching the attention of the cats and the girl. The cats make their way towards him. He drops the rifle back in his bag then pulls out an iron sword.
"Come on." He takes a few steps back as the cats get closer. One of them quickly lunges at him and Takeshi quickly stabs it in the chest, impaling it and making it go limp as it lets out its last breath. The girl lets out a small gasp as Takeshi continues to walk back into the street with the two other angry cats making their way towards him. Another cat lunges at him but he quickly cuts its neck, sending its lifeless body to the ground. The third cat runs off quickly at the sight of the other two cats dead.
"You should get inside quickly. If needed, I can take you to my house. It's just up the street." Takeshi sighs and throws the duffel bag over his shoulder then looks at the girl.
"Um. Thanks." Her voice slightly shakes as Takeshi quickly recognizes her.
"Let's go." He waits until she walks up to him to start walking. They reach his house and as he opens the front door, Arhiyan looks up and locks eyes with the girl.
"Ren? What're you doing out this late?" She quickly asks. "Um. Well.... It's a long story." The girl sighs.
"Well you two will have plenty of time together. Bye Arhiyan." Takeshi sighs, glances at the girl one more time, then leaves the house and makes his way down the streets to help the fighting.
"Ren... You must have a lot of questions...." Arhiyan stands up off of the couch.
"Yes. I honestly do." Ren glances around the room then walks over to Arhiyan.
"Go ahead and ask. But, sit down first." Arhiyan motions to the couch as she sits back down slightly nervously.
"Thank you." Ren walks over and sits on the couch, her head spinning with questions.
"So...." She sighs.
"Yes?" Arhiyan watches Ren's movements.
"He works for the Church?" Ren looks up at her.
"Why, yes. He does." Arhiyan nods.
"How long?" Ren looks across the room.
"Since he was able. He grew up at and with the Church." Arhiyan lets out a long sigh.
"Where are his parents?" Ren looks up and locks eyes with Arhiyan.
"Dead. Unfortunately." Arhiyan breaks their eye contact and looks across the room.
"You do understand that you can't tell anyone else this, right?" She looks back at Ren with a deadly serious face.
"Yes ma'am." Ren nods.
"Good. This will be our secret. We can't let this secret get out at all. Understood?" Her face was still serious.
"Yes ma'am. Now, may I ask why you said that he grew up "at and with" the Church?" Ren looks across the room again.
"Well, his parents worked there. They lived there. I couldn't take him in. I was way too busy. But when they passed, I made time. I fit him into my schedule. He understood my rules, followed them, and for a while, he lived like a shadow. He barely ever came to eat with me. He barely ever left his room. Always kept the door locked." Arhiyan sighs and looks out the window at the streets filled with little short blasts of lights caused by gunshots.
"Why did he keep the door locked?" Ren looks over at her. "Well, since you know his secret and we have plenty of time, might as well tell you." Arhiyan lets out a long sigh again.
"He was working for the Church. He hadn't told me. When I finally figured it out, he told me he didn't want me to know. He didn't know how I would react. He was scared I would get mad. Surprisingly, he was only 10 when he started there. He was sneaking out of his house at 10 years old." Arhiyan shakes her head.
"When did his parents die?" Ren locks eyes with Arhiyan. "He was five. Just got out of preschool." Arhiyan sighs and shakes her head again.
"Wow. How'd they die?" The words blurt out of Ren's mouth. "No idea." Arhiyan shrugs.
"Sorry. That kind of just blurted out of my mouth...." Ren looks down at her feet.
"It's ok. We have to gain each other's trust. You know our secret. We have to keep you close." She gives Ren a small smile. The front door slams open a little while later.
"Close the door!!" Takeshi stumbles into the house holding his blood-covered arm. His bandages were torn off and Maiman was nowhere in sight.
"Takeshi!!" Ren and Arhiyan both gasp and quickly stand up. "Close the door!!" Takeshi repeats, falling to the floor. Arhiyan quickly rushes over and closes the door then makes her way over to Takeshi.
"It's an attack." He breathes heavily.
"We need to fix you up so you can get back out there. They need you but only when you're better." Arhiyan helps him stand up and moves him towards the couch where he falls back and lays down.
"It burns." Takeshi whines, gripping his arm tightly.
"Hold in there." Arhiyan makes her way to the bathroom and gets the medical supplies.
"Takeshi...." Ren looks over at him but he doesn't respond.
"I need you to sit up ok?" Arhiyan walks over to him with a big bag with medical supplies inside. Takeshi gives a small nod and sits up, letting out a small gasp as his arm touches the couch.
"You know the drill." Arhiyan sighs and Takeshi pulls his hand away from his arm, revealing a large, bloody, scratch on his shoulder.
"It burns." He whimpers again.
"I know. We have to get it clean, meaning it's going to burn more for a little bit." Arhiyan sighs and pours some alcohol on
the wound. Takeshi leans his head back, his body tensing up at the amount of pain coming from the scratch.
"Where's Maiman?" Ren finally speaks after Arhiyan cleans up and bandages the wound.
"Out fighting." Takeshi sighs.
"Arhiyan. Can you get my wraps?" He looks over at Arhiyan who quickly nods and walks off. Ren glances at his arms then freezes. His veins were black instead of blueish green from his wrist up both of his arms.
"Wh. Wha. What's wrong with your arms?" Ren takes a step back from him.
"Huh? My arms?" He looks down at them.
"Oh. Yeah...." He gets quiet and looks out the window. "What's wrong?" Arhiyan walks back in the room and notices Ren's horrified face.
"His veins, on his arms, they're, they're black. Like one of those, those, monsters." Ren takes another step back.
"He's not. I promise. It was a freak accident when he was younger. You have nothing to worry about." Arhiyan tries to calm her down.
"Yeah. A freak accident that gives me way better senses than you stupid humans." Takeshi mutters, accidently loud enough that Ren could hear him.
"Takeshi!!" Arhiyan growls.
"Put these on and hurry up!!" She grumbles.
"Fine. Then I'm out of here again." He takes the wraps and starts to wrap up his arms as Ren continues to stare at him.
"Can you stop staring? It gets really annoying." He huffs and stands up, making his way towards the door.
"My bag is outside the door so don't worry." He sighs and leaves. Arhiyan looks at Ren with sympathy.
"Sorry, for his 'tude. He can get moody when he's out doing this stuff." She sits down on the couch.
"It's ok. Why. What accident happened... that made his arms, veins, black?" Ren walks over and sits down on the couch again.
"Well. It was the same accident that killed his parents. I honestly don't know if he would want me talking about it." Arhiyan sighs.
"Do you have an extra bedroom I could stay in until this blows over?" Ren lets out a long sigh, her head still spinning.
"All my rooms are filled with boxes currently. You can sleep in Takeshi's room. I don't think he'll be back until it's all over anyways. Protocols let's say." Arhiyan yawns then stands up. "That'll have to do. Thank you." Ren stands up and makes her way to Takeshi's room. As she enters his room, she makes her way over to the bed then lays down on top of the covers and slowly falls asleep.