Division-A

Episode Eight. (May 15th, 2123. Division-A, South District.)

The rain trickled down onto Akino's blue hair, running past his forehead and down his cheek. A sense of tragedy enveloped his gut as he looked on towards the men in front of him. The one in center, with a painful yet wise expression on his face, stumbled back as his gun fired. The bullet crept towards Akino in a dreadful slowness, at least to him. Seconds stretched to minutes as hope fled from his existence.

Then, a blurry white and blue figure launched itself in front of Akino. It was so fast, it was as if it were there the entire time, but invisible until now. The bullet ricocheted off of the blurry figure. The red sparks from the impact flew up into the sky, quickly being put out by the rain. The moans in awe and surprise quickly followed. The blurry figure tightened into the outline of a body as Akino's vision focused until it became perfectly clear.

The floodgates of his mind opened up, sending thoughts relentlessly flooding through. Disbelief crept through his very being. The millions of words he strived to shout was lodged in his throat. Tight, restricted breaths were the only audible noises escaping his mouth. There was no mistaking the figure in front of him.

Akino gulped and opened his mouth, stuttering, "M-M-Matoi...?"

Matoi slowly turned around, her heels clapping against the wet concrete beneath her. Her eyes seemed to illuminate the rest of her face, entrancingly, like the way Makina's eyes would. Her skin seemed paler. Her hair appeared to be more reflective and soft, but not from the rain, in an unnatural, artificial way. It was like the way Makina's braided hair did. Everything was different about her, right down to her posture. She stood with grace, yet undeniable, intimidating confidence. Her back was arched, pushing her chest out like a bird. Her long legs stood straight, almost as if they were the pillars of her new found confidence.

More apparent was her clothing. It was like Makina's, but the colors were inverted. The blue, neon shoulder pads scaled her head. The white, skin tight fabric complimented her figure, as well as the accompanying neon blue stripes down the middle of her upper body, waste, arms, and legs.

"Akino," she said, concerned. "Please understand, I-"

Akino shook his head, still in disbelief. "What have you done."

"I did it for your safety, Akino, th-"

Akino shook his head emphatically, mumbling under his breath. "No, no, no, no, no. Why didn't you tell me?"

Matoi arched her eyebrows sympathetically. She opened her mouth, preparing an explanation before she was interrupted.

"Omega."

Those words burned its way through Akino's ears.

"I'd recommend to you that you board your bus before you get yourself in any more trouble than you're already in," the official said, lowering his gun.

Matoi looked back at Akino, worried. Stepping back, shaking her head, she said, "I'm sorry, I need to go."

"Hurry up, Omega."

Matoi paced back behind the buses, locking eyes with Akino as she did so. His eyes were wide, pupils shrunk in horror; her's were apologetic and cautious.

With that, the Omega disappeared behind the line of buses.

The wind picked up. The puddles in the street's potholes rippled, synchronized with the sound of the Division-A flag overhead flapping with the breeze. The lights of fleeing buses behind Akino outlined his body as they passed him. Time seemed substantially slower once again.

'Matoi knew everything. She knew about the Omegas, the Compactors.

She knew about Makina.

She knew about it all.