Zero

"Even though I just awakened your strength, you immediately fell. That sucks."

Shut up! I never thought this would happen, how could I suddenly slow down, and what the heck was that chunk of ice earlier? I never had Gen-X like that, do you know something?

"Most likely that person's strength is nullifying all the power at his disposal, but it seems that it is not permanent. Moreover, you talk to me a lot but don't know who I am."

Then tell me, who are you? What are you doing in this very dark place? What do you look like?

"How impolite of you, I won't tell you my name until the time comes. All I can tell you now is, I am you and you are me."

I can't catch your point at all, you are me and I am you?

"Later you will know for yourself, you better wake up now someone is waiting for you. See you."

Hey, wait a minute! I still have many questions for you!

***

It's dark, cold, and has a very distinctive smell. Where am I? Why is it so hard to move my body? But my hands feel very warm.

Slowly I tried to open my eyes, and little by little light came in. At first, it all looked blurry, but after a while, I started to see 2 people right above me, and then I heard a faint sound but it was still not clear.

"Tree! My brother is awake!"

There was a girl next to me, and she screamed continuously. And finally, I can see her, she is Lilith and there is a Tree accompanying her. Now that I can move my body, I have to speak now.

"What happened? Where am I now?"

"Thank goodness you woke up Snow. You've been unconscious for a whole week. Lilith is always with you, she even refused when I asked her to go home and rest."

I was asleep that long? And Lilith who looks after me? When I saw her face, her eyes began to tear up.

I'm sure she must be very sad because her brother was unconscious all that time, I slowly moved my hand to wipe her tears that were unbearable anymore. Stubborn sister.

"Lilith, thank you for looking after me."

She just kept rubbing her face into my hands while continuing to cry a little.

"Now I have to check your body again, Snow. Sorry Lilith, but could you wait outside."

"Okay Tree, my brother I will come back again."

Lilith didn't want to leave me alone, which was natural because I had never left her alone and gotten sick before.

Now that there were only the two of us here, Tree immediately went to check. While checking my body, I asked him a few things.

"Tree, what happened? How did I get here?"

"A week ago after I came back from meeting with my superiors, I found you two in front of the international bank. You and Night were fainting, I immediately brought you two to my office. Taking care of you two alone was quite tiring, I even had to bring my wife here to help me."

"Sorry for bothering you Tree."

"You don't need to think about it anymore, Night woke up early and he told me everything."

Did night wake up first?

"Okay, the screening is complete. After fully recovered, see me again, I have something to talk to you about."

"Oke."

It took about 30 minutes for the check, after it was finished Lilith and I were escorted home by Tree. Because Lilith kept looking after me for a week, our apartment was very dirty.

I decided to start cleaning the whole room but Lilith refused, she said I should get some rest soon. But I won't be able to rest properly if my room is dirty, because I lost an argument with me she allows me to clean up but with the condition that if I'm tired I have to rest immediately.

***

A week since the ambush that day, many things have made me curious, starting from who exactly were the 2 enemies we faced at that time? Who spoke to me when facing Zero? Then what Ice suddenly appears as long as I use my Gen-X?

Amidst all these confusing questions a call came through on my cell, a private number? Who's calling at this time of night?

***

"Good night Snow, it looks like you've realized it."

"Who are you? What do you want?"

"You don't need to know who I am, we will meet soon."

***

He immediately hung up, what a strange person. Well, let it go, most are just a fad.

"Brother, you has guests."

Visitor? Rarely does anyone come here, especially since it's already night? Lilith asked me to open the door, maybe only Tree wanted to leave something.

But what was in front of me right now wasn't a tree or an infinite member, it was Jasmine!

"Jasmine, how did you know that I live here?"

She didn't answer, she just looked down and shook her head.

"Jasmine, are you all right?"

She didn't answer anymore, her body shaking even more intensely. Suddenly she hugged me while crying, her hug was very tight.

"Why didn't you show up for the class for a week? I was so worried! So many times I came here but there was absolutely no one, I thought you would leave me forever!"

Her crying got louder, I tried to cheer her up by hugging her back and slowly stroking her head.

"Sorry."

For a few minutes, she kept hugging me because it was not comfortable with my next-door neighbor I asked her to come inside, especially since it was very cold tonight.

Lilith made a sullen face when she saw me bring in a foreign woman while hugging, I gently asked Jasmine to let go of her hug.

"Sorry! I was so impolite for suddenly hugging your brother. My name is Jasmine, I'm your brother's classmate."

"Jasmine?! Classmates?!"

Lilith spontaneously pinched my stomach and forced me into the kitchen. It seems I have something to explain to her, Lilith when she's angry is very scary but also very cute.

***

"So, who is she, brother?!"

"You know that your brother is on a mission, and you also know who the target of this mission is."

"Then, what does that girl have to do with your mission?!"

"She is my mission target, Jasmine is Netral to be more precise."

"Huh?! How did she know the location of our apartment? Especially her attitude that pretends to be close to you, I don't like it!"

"Are you jealous?"

***

We returned with drinks and some snacks, Lilith, who was very angry before, now smiled happily.

"Thanks for the drink, Snow why are your ears red?"

"It's nothing, maybe it's the effect of tonight's colder temperatures."

Of course, I couldn't say that my ears were burning red because of Lilith, even if I did I was sure my cheeks would be red next.

"If I may ask, why did you guys disappear for a whole week?"

"So you see, Sis Jasmine, a week ago while out for a night out, my brother was suddenly hit by a truck. So he had to receive intensive care at the hospital, but fortunately, his external injuries weren't too many, it's just that his internal injuries were quite severe."

"Oh my! Is it true Snow?!"

"Well... just like Lilith said."

I really can't lie to anyone, let alone to the people closest to me.

Lilith pinched my stomach again, luckily our hands were covered by this rather large dining table. During this pain that I was feeling, we heard a faint sound. When we turned around, Jasmine was crying again, we both immediately panicked and ran here and there looking for tissues.

"Snow, sorry I never visited you."

Her cry was not as loud as before, but this time her cry sounded very sad. Lilith slowly approached her, I thought that Lilith would do something strange to her but it turned out she just hugged him.

"I'm sorry sis Jasmine for not telling you before. I was also very shocked and sad. During that week I accompanied my brother to the hospital, even the doctor kept forcing me to go home to rest but I always refused, because for me it's not home if you don't there is a brother with me. So please stop crying, see now brother looks healthy right."

"Hmm, you're right Lilith. I'm sorry for being to a crybaby."

"No problem sis."

My face which had been stiff before was now smiling again, I didn't expect that they would be this close.

"Now I want to prepare dinner, Sis Jasmine want to help me?"

Jasmine nodded then smiled, honestly, I'm happy with our current relationship but a mission has a time limit, and the deadline for this mission is only a few weeks away.

I don't know what to say to her at parting later.

***

The night was getting late, and after dinner, I drove Jasmine home. On the way, we joked a little, from the nudges to the chases. Due to exhaustion, we stopped for a while at the playground, and sitting next to each other on a swing like this was quite enjoyable.

"Snow, you know. I thought I would never see you again, but I'm so grateful that you're okay now."

"Thank you, Jasmine, let's go immediately."

She grabbed my sleeve, again she looked down.

"I don't know what to do if you die..."

I deliberately kept her mouth shut, I didn't want to hear her last words. She looked confused by my behavior, I just smiled at his confused face.

"Jasmine, I'm not going anywhere. If I were to leave you, I would meet you first."

"Promise?"

We promised each other little fingers and continued on our way.

"Can I hold your hand, Snow? It's very cold tonight."

"Sure, my hands are cold too."

***

The sound of owls, tired office workers, and the lack of vehicles accompanied my journey home tonight.

At the crossroads I met someone standing under the street lamp, she was the one who beat me earlier. She seemed to have been waiting for me from earlier, luckily I had a bag with Y-MIRai in it.

"Goodnight Snow."

"Do I have to answer your greeting?!"

"It's up to you whether you want to reply or not, come with me."

I was ready to hold Y-MIRai's handle, she could attack me anytime, especially her Gen-X which was very dangerous for me.

"You don't need to be so tense, I just want to talk to you."

"Can I trust you?"

"If I lie, you can kill me and I won't fight back."

"Okay, I'll come with you."

We took a leisurely walk through a place I had never been to in this district, I didn't expect her not to attack me at all.

"Here we are."

You can see that there is a small shrine, even though it is quiet at night, this shrine has many lanterns surrounding it. For a moment I was transfixed by the beauty of this sight.

"So what do you want to talk about?"

"How are you?"

"Huh?! What do you mean by asking that?!"

"I just want to know how you are, Rocka told me that you two fell after fighting us that time."

I sighed slightly hearing her question, I don't know what this person was thinking, but I can feel that right now she doesn't want to kill me.

"Well, we both fell and were nursed for a week."

"Oh, I see."

Because our conversation was a little relaxed, I dared to sit on the terrace of the temple even though I knew she could attack me at any time.

"Since I've already answered your question, now it's my turn to ask. Who are you? What's your goal? What exactly is your Gen-X? And more importantly, how do you know I'm the same person you defeated a week ago?"

She chuckled, then sighed as she leaned against one of the trees in front of me.

"You're a very noisy type of guy huh."

"Okay, just answer my question."

"My name is Zero, I'm the vice chairman of N.E.O. Our goal is to create a new world without war. I'm also a Gen-X user, my Gen-X type is zero. I'm sure your leader has already told me my Gen-X type, but it seems you Don't pay attention to it. The effect of my Gen-X is to make the opponent unable to use his Gen-X for about 1 hour, when you can't use your Gen-X your energy will be drained out, so it's only natural that you faint."

"Now answer my last question."

"That's because you're only wearing a cloth mask, I can easily recognize people just by the pattern of their eyes. How? Are you satisfied?"

"Sight... to be honest, I still can't believe the two of us who are in enemy status can chat this casually."

Really, what exactly am I doing here? Instead of going home immediately but instead went with the person who had knocked me down, what's more, I enjoyed our chat.

Even though the temperature at this time was very cold, our conversation was strangely warm. How stupid I am.

In this emptiness she walked closer to me, I already suspected that she would approach me, that's why my hand had been holding Y-MIRai.

But her movements weren't suspicious at all, she was just walking normally. Her black rose-patterned robe and new black mask stood out in the moonlight tonight. Ah crap, I was transfixed by the beauty of the enemy.

"I have one request Snow."

"Request?"

"If my life is threatened when our two sides clash, I want you to kill me. This is my first and last request as your enemy."

I do not understand the meaning of her words. The request was too strange, even though I know killing an opponent on a mission isn't a crime. But I find it hard to accept it, maybe... I should.

"I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but I'll accept it as a special mission for me. Now, with a mission there must be a reward, therefore I'll also ask you for a reward."

"Rewards? What do you want?"

"If that time happens, when I stab you with this Spear of mine take off that mask of yours and tell me your true identity."

"What makes you so sure that my identity is fake?"

"My reasons are clear, black robe, black mask, and disguised voice. All of that leads me to believe that you are wearing a fake identity."

She laughed again, strangely I also laughed a little at the strange sound she made with the voice changer.

"You are a very interesting person Snow, you can dissolve this tense atmosphere. Fine, I will do it. But after knowing my true identity you must still kill me no matter what."

"I promise I'll still kill you."

Immediately the tense atmosphere between us began to melt into our laughter tonight, for a while we were silent and looked at each other, even though I couldn't see her eyes.

She began to break this silence.

"Remember Snow, after this meeting we are still enemies. Do you understand what I mean?"

"Yes, yes, I already know that."

"Then bye, I hope you're alive for our next meeting."

She walked back towards the dense and dark forest, with all black clothes she looked like she had disappeared into the night.

"Now it's time to go home, I'm sure Lilith will scold me again later."

Our meeting tonight was not detrimental at all, I got information about her Gen-X and information about her group, and I must immediately report this to Night.

Come to think of it, where is Night now huh? I haven't known the situation since I woke up.

***

"Little Snow and Hollow Darkness in the Moonlight"