Answers you seek(6)

Date: August 25

Place: Kyoto Headquarters

[Rei]

My eyes slowly fluttered open, finding myself surrounded by everyone. I sat took my time and sat down as I noticed that they were looking at meーno. 

They were looking at us.

I found Cedrick's hands wrapped around my waist as he groaned from my tiny movements. They were almost crying from holding their laugh for too long.

It only took a few more seconds for Cedrick to rose up as he gently rubbed his eyes and everyone burst into laughter while some were in awe.

"What's everyone doing in this side ofー?" he yawns and went silent as he saw everyone's gaze focused in his naked chest.

He shrieked and fell off the bed.

"It's not what you think. It was hot so I took my shirt off!" he tried defending himself while putting on the shirt that was also on the ground.

The breakfast tray already came and they are still making a fuss and continued teasing Cedrick.

"Help me, Rei," he pleaded, munching on his stale bread weakly. He has the same shade as a tomato while I simply enjoy the spectacle.

"I haven't eaten proper food for the last few days"

"This is delicious"

"Not bad"

They commented, still giggling. It was quite refreshing to have this kind of atmosphere again.

Haru and Misaki sat together on the same end of the bed and so did Kazuma and Yui. Cedrick looked lonely eating by himself so I scooted over from where he sat.

As the lively banters have slowly and quietly subsided, I could feel their eyes alternatively went my way. I could tell that they were forcing themselves to continue some small talks, until I decided to confront them.

"Does anyone have a question?" all their attention solely went to me, as they paused taking bites from their foods.

"Did nothing really happen between you two last night?" Kazuma accused, pointing his fork between Cedrick and I.

Some burst into laughter again. "Of all questions," Misaki said, eating another piece of bread while giggling.

"Come on, I'm curious," Kazuma explained smiling at everyone. "They were even hugging each other," he pointed out.

"Stop it," Cedrick says flimsily, he then took a peak at my direction and when he saw that I was already staring at him, he quickly averted his gaze as I see his ears burn bright red.

[Haru]

"Do you like him then?" I say in a jokingly manner.

Cedr looked my way so pitiless. But everyone was too curious to intervene as we all waited patiently.

She judged him from head to toe before answering while Ced looked confused and nervous. "Of course I do," she bluntly said and took a sip of her soup. 

Everyone's face brighten up at her confession but soon faded away and turned to a pout.

"Just as much as I like everyone equally in this room," she said with a big smile. And no one argued about it anymore.

Although, Ced who heard all of it suddenly had a pale complexion and a hurt smile spread to his lips as he kept on eating his food.

[Rei]

"That isn't all, right?" I returned the topic and waited for someone to ask me a serious one this time.

They exchange glances for a second until one of them picked up the courage and asked me the first question.

[Cedrick]

"Yui mentioned that you had amnesia. Do you perhaps remembered something now?" Haru asked with a serious tone as he looks directly into her eyes.

I'm already aware but they aren't yet.

Rei froze for a moment and grinned as if it was the perfect question that she wanted to answer. She glanced at Yui and smiled before answering.

"Yes, I remember everything clearly now," she answered shortly and sighed. "Unfortunately, I can't disclose everything or you guys will be caught up in something dangerous," her nonchalant smile confused us.

"Is it alright to ask what parts did you remember and parts that you can share with us?" Yui instantly spoke, leaving no second for Rei to think.

"Everything about my past and my childhood," she answered, holding her chin with his fingertip, she thought long and hard.

"You don't have to share anything if you're uncomfortable," Misaki tried to be considerate but everyone knew that nobody meant that as we are too curious to reject such opportunity.

Rei only smiled at her consideration. "The only things I can share are probably," she paused, crossing her legs, putting one arm to her thigh and the other on the bed. "I was born here, raised at a foreign country, people used my body to their advantage, and the fact that I know what those creatures are," she grinned as everyone was dead silent on the information she just shared.

The girl gasped while the boys just listened intently.

"Who are you?" Kazuma tried asking.

"I'm Rei Genji, born in Japan, raised in the US. Second-year senior high school and 17 years old just like everyone else in this room," she suddenly introduced herself.

Her eyes looked down at me as I pictured her grin as she wanted to answer a question for me too.

"What are you?" I didn't mean to blurt out such a vague question so I panicked and rephrased my wordings. "I mean," I stutter. "What happened in your past," I noticed her eyes twitched for a moment as her eyes roamed around the room.

"I'm sorry, I overstepped," I apologized which she just ignored.

"Cute," Kazuma commented which led Misaki to nudge him to stop teasing me.

"I'm a human being, just like you," and with my question, Rei started to tell us her story.

We were like children who listens attentively to the person reading us a storybook as no one dare interrupted her.

[Rei]

I gave them the answers they desired.

**start**

I was an only child with a mother, a father, a few friends, and teachers. Although, I've never attended school like a normal kid and was never given a chance to live a normal life. Because we moved a lot.

My parents got me a private teacher and I was homeschooled for as long as I remember. 

I was five years old when they introduced me to some of their friends and their kids my age after we moved to another state in the US.

We immediately became friends as we've got tons of similarities. We played games, ate, studied, while our parents discussed important matters in a different room.

That was my daily routine.

Until one night, I happen to see my parents arguing about something. It was my first time seeing them being violent with each other.

"Mom?" I wailed. "Dad?" I was already quietly crying when I saw my mother slapped father hard. But nobody noticed my presence from the loud banters.

They continued shouting at each other as they went to the garage and started the car.

The next thing I knew, I was hiding at the trunk without them knowing.

Even with our distance from each other, I could still hear and feel their anger as I helplessly cried, hugging a stuffed toy.

I couldn't really tell time, but after a while, it was pure silence. All I could hear were the rattling on the wheels in a sandy and rocky surface.

I knew that we were in a distant place, nowhere near a house or any city. Eventually they found out I followed them and were extremely furious with me.

Back then, I couldn't tell that they weren't actually angry with me because I snuck on the car. But they scared for me, for following them into somewhere dangerous.

On that very day, I became a test subject, along with hundreds of children my age.

**end**

I looked up to see utter confusion and sympathy.

[Cedrick]

"A test subject?" Yui asked in a horrified tone. Rei only nodded and continued her story.

"It seems like they were working on some experiment and ran out of test subjects. At that time, I had no clue what that meant and only followed every instructions my parents told me and wherever they wanted me to be," Rei paused and took a sip of her water.

We were all eating while listening to her story until it gets worse and eventually lost our appetite.

"From what I remember," she focused her sight on the floor. "Every personnel there were scientists working on a big project. It was their passion to see it through the end to the point where they sacrificed their own child," she stopped, clenching the bed sheet.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Kazuma felt uncomfortable as he held hands with Yui who was devastated at the thought.

"How could your parents do such a thing," Misaki grunted.

"Oh no, no," Rei instantly looked at her direction, shocked as she waves her hands side ways. "It was probably my fault for sneaking in the trunk," she scratched her cheeks with her index finger. "You see, I kind of figured out that they were fighting because they didn't want to participate in such a research anymore," she explained.

"But doesn't that mean someone wanted to back out while another wanted to continue?" Yui was confused and it did made sense.

"Yeah," Rei answered with a dejected tone as her face gloomed. "My mother persuaded my father to retire," she chocked silently.

[Rei]

Even though it hurts to remember every detail to narrate it to them, I wanted them to know why I ended up who I am today.

I already consider them as friends after all.

**start**

They had an agreement to forfeit their every research just to cut ties with the organization. 

But it was my own fault for ruining their plans and I can only blame myself for it.

At that horrible place, I saw a few of my friends just as terrified as me.

Every passing second there, every child went to hell.

They took numerous tests sample from us; blood, skin, or even parts of our bodies.

The screams and cries were a normal occurrence. And also death, but none had a proper funeral. They only tossed every lifeless body in a huge pit of fire.

A few years after, I found myself participating in an escape plan with a few of my friends and other kids who wanted out.

**end**

"It took everyone's efforts and months of preparation," my chest sinks from recalling those horrible scenarios.

Their faces instilled with despair are still burned into my memories.

[Cedrick]

She clasps her clothes that were near her heart, gritting her teeth as she hid her face from us.

Everyone had a worried expression when Rei groaned silently in agony. But no one was able to do something, just watch.

But we were mercilessly waiting for the continuation of her story, we crave to know.

"Is that where you learned how to plan, fight and move like that?" asked Haru in which Rei simply nodded.

"But you've escaped right?" Yui asked with a hopeful smile on her face as she continued. "Does that mean everyone are alsoー"

Rei slightly shivered at the question as she signaled her head to move sidewards.

"What?" Yui says in disbelief.

"I was the only one," Rei faced us slowly, her eyes were dead with a few teardrops slowly falling.

Yui was about to stand up and reach to embrace her but Kazuma was able to stop her when he noticed me.

[Haru]

Cedrick reached and hugged Rei tight without a moments hesitation when tears crawled their way down her cheeks.

She tried to stop them from flowing, but it was useless. More tears rolled down as she sobs and retuned Cedrick's embrace for comfort.

She's crying in front of us but we couldn't do a thing. Misaki started to tear up as well but Yui, she hid in Kazuma's chest as quiet sobs escaped her.

She also must feel devastated to see her best friend in that kind of state.

We just waited for her to calm down until she was ready to speak again.

"But the cruelest things of all were every child was assigned to be experimented by their own parents," she continued, drying her tears with her sleeves.

"My parents wore no emotion every time I was presented in the table. And every time a child dies, their parents follow," she sniffs.

"Just thinking of it makes me sick," coughs Misaki.

"No more, you don't have to tell us no more," Yui shouted.

"It's alright, you deserve to know the truth," she exclaims drinking her water until the last drop.

"But if you don't mind me asking, how did you have amnesia?" asked Kazuma like he didn't care about Rei's feelings as Yui glared at him.

"I honestly have no idea," she says surprised. "I think a saw a car before I woke up in a hospital bed. Maybe I was hit?" she questioned herself without much thought.

"Who was that Uncle Leon who just got us everything in here?" Misaki asked.

It was a question that everyone wanted an answer to. And right now, I am ashamed of myself for wanting to know more about her situation.

"He's my real uncle on my father's side. And if you still haven't noticed, he's a scientist," she was cut short.

"You mean he was also there at that place?" Misaki hurriedly asked the possibility.

"Nice guess, I was actually confused too. I knew that my parents worked with him but haven't seen him anywhere on that place," she shrugged. "But I had a word with him earlier, and he explained that he retired as soon as he found out how dangerous it was getting," she answered us calmly.

"Then, what was the experiment about?" Misaki and Yui asked in sequence.

Again, they couldn't hold back on asking such questions. From the looks of it, Rei was being torn apart at every question they shoot at her.

[Rei]

I feel terrified at that question and what might happen if they find out. 

I looked at them one by one, Yui and Misaki were still sobbing, Kazuma and Haru were sadly waiting for my answer as they were at their girlfriend's sides calming them down.

While Cedrick, averted his gaze when I looked at him. He looks worried and scared at the same time.

Even so, I can tell that they're all curious at what was the experiment that led thousands of lives to form a line at death's door years ago.

I took a deep breath and gathered all my courage to tell them. But it wasn't enough so I stared at my foot to hide from them.

"Those zombie-like creatures that we've encountered are called 0-007 and are prototypes of every child in that facility, which includes me," the room was silent and became quite chilly.

I slowly lift my head to look at them. And it's just as I thought. They were horrified, they looked at me like I'm a monster. Kazuma and Haru even shielded their girlfriends from me when I stood up from the shock I got from their reaction.

I slowly turned my head to Cedrick, his eyes widen in shock and hands covering his mouth. I tried to say a few more words but no voice came out of my mouth.

I sat again, dejected and regretting sharing it with them.

I could've lied or told them that it's too classified. But I didn't.

[Cedrick]

I already had a feeling that it would be something heavy to digest as I have already asked the same question back at the water park.

I knew that she was experimented on but not the fact about what it was about.

She looked at everyone's reaction and felt terrified herself when she sat down after she saw how I reacted.

I can tell that she didn't want us to know about her secret in the first place. She must have thought it carefully, but before I could comfort or explain why I reacted like that, there was a knock on the door.

No one answered so he swung the door open and scanned the place where all of us were sitting in deep shock.

"Rei, your uncle requested an audience," he said while Rei replied with a nod and went outside with him.