Rebellion

Nobody

Digging every day was becoming more and more tedious. People were running out of ideas to talk about as further the time passed. Something about doing repetitive work made some people very drained and brain dead.

Benjiro was one of them. He hated this job. He always enjoyed the more brainy tasks. Something that actually took intellect and wits. This was just a brutes job. Something he wasn't nor wanted to be.

Although he was very thankful that Teruo gave him some lessons and training. He noticed this going quite quicker than usual. He actually felt like all of those push ups made a difference in his arms. Something even Ayase commented, which he felt quite proud of. Although, he knew he'll never be as buff as Teruo or Naoki. That's just fairy tale expectations now.

He noticed the team moving faster, the only thing holding them back was Ayase. He would help her out often, as would everyone else. It seemed Naoki hadn't quite picked the person to train her.

"I think I should train you. Nothing better than me kicking your butt." Satoko told Ayase with a laugh.

Ayase seemed nervous about the idea.

"I don't think the idea is to beat her up, rather to teach her to beat your butt." Benjiro said, not really nervous about Naoki's decision making.

He proved himself as a smart man and he showed high levels of competency. Benjiro wasn't very worried at all. Only a tiny tiny bit of worried.

"He was thinking of putting you, Tsukamoto-San." Ayase spoke up to Teruo.

His eyes widened at the idea. He looked down and gulped.

"I don't think I would be good at handling this situation very well." He mumbled barely, nervousness obvious in his voice.

"I'm sure you'd do fine." Ayase smiled at him, at which he blushed.

"Uh, um, I really don't agree..." He stumbled as he dug, not looking at her for obvious reasons.

"I don't think he knows how to handle his feminine side." Shiro joked a bit with a smirk.

"... Yes, exactly." Was his only response as he continued to do his job, trying to look like he was too busy for this.

"Tsukamoto-San looks like he has a very gentle heart, I don't know what you're talking about!" Ayase went to his defense immediately.

Teruo just wished she'd be quiet a little, since she was making this situation last too long. He just wanted everyone to change the topic. He really didn't want people to know why he thought he was incapable for this job. This girl just makes him so... Soft. And squishy and mushy. How was he supposed to train her when he was acting so weird around her?

Suddenly, loud alarms were heard. They were so loud that they pounded in his head. He got confused. Every time. Every fucking time. Something just has to go wrong. This was something new though. Something he'll experience for the first time.

He looked at Benjiro. He knew what this meant. He only nodded.

A demon attack.

Something he never thought he'd witness. They were calm most of the times, and they never did go around these forests. But now... It got him scared. It was something completely new from a human.

"Are we going to evacuate the other members?!" Shiro yelled, his panicked voice obvious.

"No. We need to fight them off." Teruo said calmly, hiding his emotions very efficiently.

Ayase got visibly scared by this sentence. Who wouldn't?

"Get your guns out. Aim for the heart if possible. They'll melt away either way." He said as he got his gun ready.

They looked around themselves. More people came their way, some of them normal and some of them bleeding.

"Hey! Get back to your positions! Running will ruin any chance of victory!" Teruo yelled at the people, but they didn't listen, they just frantically ran away.

Teruo sighed in frustration. This will be harder than he imagined it would be.

He heard a gunshot near his head. He saw a demon fall, and Benjiro aiming his gun at another one.

They were terryfing. They looked human, but something was off about them. Their colored hair gave them away, and their odd eyes were horrible to look at. Such odd colors, yet they we're so neon and bright that they stuck with you. Glowing in the dark, it was a sure way to notice them.

Teruo shot at them. He noticed one fell. So he did good. He got his hopes up, but then he noticed their movement.

He read that they had above average speed, but seeing them run towards you like that still surprised him. He reacted quickly, but the demon dodged just as fast.

Try not to let it bite you, he repeated in his head.

He faught them off well, trying his hardest to concentrate. It was very hard, judging at how much faster they were from him.

But it was so hard to concentrate when he was keeping his eye out on Ayase. He couldn't help but look every now and then if she was fine. He wasn't the only one protecting her, Satoko and Benjiro did the same thing. But he felt the most physically competent from the three, he couldn't turn his back on her for long.

But it made him fuck up.

His head was bashed to the floor. Teruo felt dizzy. He could feel the blood pour from his head. He tried to get up, but he couldn't.

He had no idea what was happening, it was hard to focus and the whole room was spinning.

"... Why did you ... Why?"

"Calm yourself... Your fault."

"We have nothing to do with that child. He's a monster." 

"... only for fights." 

"How about we teach you a lesson, kid? Disrespecting us is something you shouldn't get away with so easily..." 

"We'll just... do better."

"Worthless... Let him..."

"Leave... him?"

"... You are nobody now..." 

His eyes widened.

Why now?

Why was he remembering this now?

He squeezed his eyes shut as he got up. He was remembering this conversation. What was this? Why now?

He heard Ayase's scream. He ran to her, barely. He shot the demon in the knee. It made him hiss and back away.

Ayase was on the floor, bleeding. He saw at least three versions of her, sometimes even merging in different parts.

"Please! Just let me die next time!" Ayase yelled at him, tears in her eyes.

He had no idea if this was even real or a dream. He hugged her on the floor. She was shaking.

"No." Was the only thing he said before he passed out.

"... Why did you do that? Why?"

"If you only... calm yourself... your fault."

"We have nothing to do with that child. He's a monster." 

"We can't... only for fights." 

"How about we teach you a lesson, kid? Disrespecting us is something you shouldn't get away with so easily. Come with us."  

"We'll just... do better. Making you better."

"Worthless... Let him die..."

"Leave... him? His name?"

"... You are nobody now..."

It rang in his ears.

Why now?