Division-A

Episode Twenty Two. (June 5th, 2123. Division-A, South District.)

Pressing the wet rag against the wood siding, Miki chatted as he scrubbed the spray paint off his friend's house.  He walked back into the yard where a bucket of dyed red water sat. He curled the cloth around itself and squeezed, draining it before dipping it into another bucket of clean water.

Matoi had a rag of cold water tied around her forehead with another in her hands, scrubbing. She bent her elbow, scrubbing it with all of her force. "Holy crap, Akino. How many cans of spray paint did you use to write this?"

Akino walked back up to the house after draining his rag. "Haha, very funny," he said sarcastically.

Sakagami, Makina, and Yukino sat in fold out chairs along the alley wall just along the edge of their yard, watching on. Sakagami, with her legs spread out in the sunlight, replied, "I told you, it was here after he left."

"Yes, Ms. Sakagami," Matoi responded, giggling, "I was just teasing."

"So, ignoring the fact that I was totally right about Omegas, isn't it pretty cool that we're basically like secret super heroes?" Miki boasted, rubbing the spray paint over his cheek like war paint.

Yukino rolled her eyes, pushing her white bangs out of her eyes. "Stupid, you're not the hero here; its Akino, Matoi, and..." Yukino blushed in embarrassment, turning over to Makina. "I'm sorry, I'm really bad with names."

Matoi chuckled as she scrubbed the 'b' out of 'remember.' "Jeez, Yukino. One would think that you'd remember her name by now."

"And still nobody is telling me!"

"Makina," the red-eyed Omega named.

Yukino shot up, a proud smile on her face. "That's what I thought!"

Akino dug his nails into the cloth's fabric, pushing it into the grain of the wood siding. He sighed, dropping his head down as he stared at his feet. Matoi noticed his change in attitude and directed the subject of conversation to meet his mood. She turned around and leaned against the house, making eye contact with the others. "Heroes isn't the word I'd use. I think...," she glanced at Akino's concerned expression. "I think we're just the result of the world we live in. Adapt or die, right?"

"It's his own fault that things are the way they are," Makina insisted. "Akino, you've gotten your family life involved with this now. You know that, right?"

"Makina...," Matoi mumbled, cautioning her.

"I knew about it before he even told me," Sakagami confessed. She crossed her legs, getting herself comfortable in her fold out chair. "Well, I didn't know the whole picture but he isn't very good at covering his tracks. There's no going back now, I suppose."

"I guess you have no choice but to admit that his nightmares are real, right?" Matoi said smugly, spinning the cloth around her finger.

"If what he whines about is more than just bullshit, then he'll have to take that up with the Head of Security and the Criminal Court. There's nothing I can do about that," Makina instructed. She turned her focus to the boy in question. "Akino, what exactly do you dream about?"

He exhaled and looked over his shoulder, meeting her gaze. "At this point, I'm convinced they're some kind of flashbacks or implanted memories. I don't think they're just my subconscious playing out a movie for me."

"Nobody ever said it was," Matoi said, closing her eyes and tilting her head prestigiously.

Miki dropped his rag and brought all his attention to Akino, eagerly waiting for his info-dump. "Well? Don't hide the meat of the super hero motivation from us!"