"Another bombing has occurred in Tokyo. The locals say it's rger than st week's attack."
"Oh? They've found another active grenade...well, it's not looking too good for the residents here."
"Now, back to Yamada."
The TV flickered to a new screen, a famous news reporter giving a friendly smile to his viewers.
The magenta-haired man watching the TV let out a breath of smoke, adding to the thick smell of cigarettes in the air.
"Ghhh...who cares," he grunted, resting his head against the back of the couch. His dead eyes weren't focused on the screen, but rather a pce far beyond it.
"Good afternoon, today I'm reporting from the X5 bomb site. Something interesting was discovered here yesterday."
The camera showed a rge metal box resting behind the reporter. Its lid was slightly open, but you couldn't see what was inside. The surrounding area was bleak and charred. A rge hole the size of a ke could be seen in the background, filled with murky water.
"This is a metal coffin that floated to the shore and was found by residents. You'll be shocked to hear what we found inside!" the reporter grinned, and the camera moved to the coffin again, showing a female body resting inside.
"Eh?" the magenta-haired man returned from his daydreaming and listened to the news report. He leaned forward, scratching his head zily.
"This girl was frozen inside the coffin; we suspect she could have been alive in the 1960s! She's still thawing, so we can't get a name yet. For future reports, we'll be referring to her as Y.O.L.I., because of the acronym printed on the coffin."
The camera showed the faded letters printed on the side of the coffin. They were painted a dull red.
"A human frozen in time, hmph...now that's interesting," the man said to himself. The report changed to a different subject, and the man switched channels. He thought nothing more of the weird case.
- - -
Weeks passed with no updates on the girl. He would know if there were any because watching TV was the only thing he ever did. It was either the news, old cssic movies, or porn. Eventually, they revealed more about the girl. She was alive and well, which surprised him.
He barely believed the story when he first heard about it. How could somebody survive for that long while being frozen? It was unnatural.
Apparently, she was believed to be the most innocent human on earth. It wouldn't be hard to become the most innocent human, since the world had fallen into chaos, but it was still impressive. He wondered just how innocent they meant.
Although it was a more intriguing story than they usually reported on, it wasn't good enough to keep his attention for long. He had a terrible disinterest in almost everything the world had to offer. Nearly everything bored him to death, to the point where he questioned why he even bothered living anymore.
"Maybe I...ghh, it wouldn't hurt to go check on my bike..." he sighed, using all the energy he could muster to pull himself up.
The thing is, he wasn't zy for no reason. He hadn't always been this way; in fact, he used to be the leader of a well-known and respected gang. He was a rough guy who didn't listen to anybody and had his fair share of troubles. However, three years ago...
He would rather not think about the accident that ruined his capacity to move and function in basic ways. It was terrible, and it made everything he did harder. Walking, breathing, and simply existing took more energy for him than for a regur person. It felt like he had 400 pounds weighing him down and making it hard for him to breathe, even though he was a scrawny guy.
He'd lost a lot of muscle from lying around for so long, and being malnourished only added to his emaciated appearance.
So...he didn't know what was compelling him to go outside- but it was something strong. He hadn't checked on his motorcycle in a long time. He kept it in a rickety old storage shed not too far from his apartment. He was the only one who used the shed, since it had been abandoned for a long time. He would cover his bike with a tarp because the roof leaked when it rained.
He zily opened the door to his apartment and gnced around outside. The hallway outside of his room was dark and dingy, smelling of old wood and dust. After confirming that it was safe to leave, he locked the door behind him and made his way to the ground level.
The elevator had stopped working a long time ago, so the creaky stairs were the only way to get to the first floor. He stumbled around at first, having to get used to walking again. When he made it outside, fresh air hit him like a bullet. Even though the air quality was bad, it was far cleaner and more refreshing than the stagnant air in his apartment.
He walked on the sidewalk, careful to avoid the drunks passed out there. The view was far from pretty. All the businesses around the area were shut down and covered in graffiti. The only thing they were used for now was shelters for homeless people and drug addicts. Gangs also cimed some, but rge gangs didn't like to use buildings that were close to a lot of occupied homes.
A few minutes ter, he made it to the shed. He was worried it might have colpsed due to how old it was, but it was still standing strong. He ran his hand along the thin metal walls, thinking of the old man who put his time and money into building it over a century ago. He opened the door, which slid against the concrete ground with a harsh scratching noise. He stepped inside and looked around, focusing on his bike.
When he pulled the tarp off of it, he was pleased to find it in the same condition he had left it in. He was mostly gd that nobody had stolen it. The storage shed was tucked away behind a few neighborhood houses and was nothing that anyone would want to use for their hideout, so it remained unbothered.
As he admired his beautiful ride, his eyes slowly fell to a small object sitting beside it. A girl rested against the side of his motorcycle, and he could only see the top of her head from the side he was on. He slowly walked around the bike to the other side and stared at the girl.
Her eyes widened, and she grabbed her legs to curl herself into a ball. She had medium-length, wavy brown hair. A little bck bow was tied in her hair on the right side of her head.
There was no mistaking it; this was Y.O.L.I. She looked exactly like she did on the news, except she was dressed in a different outfit.
She was wearing a bck blouse with a cute ce colr and a short bck skirt. She had no shoes or socks on, and her legs were covered in goosebumps. It was cold outside, especially for someone wearing such a revealing outfit.
"Mhghh...what are you doing in here?" he asked. He didn't want to get involved with her, especially if she was still connected to COT in any way. She was legally under their control. Basically, she was their property.
"I will leave, please don't take me..." she said, closing her eyes as if he was going to hit her.
"Take you where?" he raised an eyebrow and leaned against the motorcycle to catch his breath. His eyes felt heavy from just keeping them open.
"I'm hiding in here. I think the bad people are gone," she said. Her voice was soft and smooth, completely different from his own, which was rough due to all the cigarettes he smoked.
"You're that girl who was on the news, right?" he asked. "Did COT let you go?"
"COT?" she repeated, tilting her head. Her eyes had softened, and she now looked at him with curiosity. She let go of her legs and stretched them out.
"Yeah, the people who found you," he said, yawning. Did she really have no idea what COT was? He was beginning to realize just how sheltered and uneducated the girl really was.
"Yamada took care of me...is that his nickname?"
"Ah, Wataru Yamada. I know him," he nodded. Wataru was the most recognizable figure among COT, and he was also the man who had first reported on Y.O.L.I. He was a very divisive person, and although he was only a news reporter, he held a lot of power among the new rulers of their world.
"So I'm guessing you ran away from them? You look pretty rough," he said, pointing to her hair and clothes, which were soggy from the downpour of rain from the night before.
She nodded shyly. "I didn't want to be a part of their experiments," she said. "Does that...make me a bad person?" Wataru must have made her feel guilty for not wanting to take part in whatever experiments they had pnned for her.
He shook his head and smiled wearily. "It doesn't make you a bad person at all. Trust me, whatever experiments COT had pnned for you, they wouldn't lead to anything good," he said.
Those were the two things that COT was known for: news reports and human experiments. It was widely known that COT ran the only major hospital in the country. Anybody who was severely injured and had money to spend would be taken there for treatment, no matter how far they were from the city.
There weren't many hospitals around, and the few that still ran were operated by underqualified doctors trying to scam people out of a few dolrs. That's why most gave in and signed the waiver, allowing themselves to be used for COT's experiments in hopes that their illnesses and injuries would be cured.
He knew all about it because not only did he have a close family member who was used in an experiment, but he was used in one himself.
"I'm not going to turn you in, and I won't hurt you. If you want to stay here, I won't stop you, but you wouldn't st a single day out here on the streets," he shrugged. Putting such a clueless girl on the streets by herself was an open invitation for bad people to come attack her.
"O-oh..." She looked at the ground. "What do you mean, I won't st? I can take care of myself..."
He sighed and stood up straight again. "There are evil people around here who would kill to have control over a pretty girl like you," he said, walking over to the small garage door on the shed and lifting it. The girl watched him with interest.
"Are you a bad person?" she asked. Her question caught him off guard, and he couldn't help but ugh.
"To you, maybe. I guess compared to all the other guys in this world, I look like a good person- yeah," he wheeled his bike towards the entrance. He paused for a moment and looked back at her, the small girl sitting against the dirty metal wall.
"Wanna go for a ride?" he offered. Her eyes lit up, and she bounced to her feet. She was a lot shorter than she looked while sitting down. She couldn't be taller than 5'2. She ran over to him, holding her hands behind her back as she waited for him to push the motorcycle out of the shed.
She closed the garage door behind him, and they both got on. She felt small and weak sitting behind him, her skinny arms wrapped around his torso. He felt bad about what he was going to do, but he knew that it was right.
"Hold on tight," he said, then they took off. It was dangerous to ride when he was so tired and ill, but he felt like he owed it to her. He thought that maybe doing this for her could bring her some temporary joy, something she may never feel again in their drab world.
They raced along the empty streets, dark clouds appearing overhead. He ignored the onlookers, street thugs, and SH's standing outside for a smoke. That's how he was; he ignored everyone around him. The only person he ever talked to these days was his neighbor, who lived in the apartment directly across from his.
His neighbor was a shut-in who was kind enough to bring him cigarettes and some microwave meals from outside every week. He was too weak, zy, and tired to do anything himself, and didn't like interacting with people if he didn't need to.
SH's, Shut-ins, they were all terms used to put people in boxes. In their messed-up society, there were only a few ways you could categorize yourself. Some people were looked down upon more than others because of the lifestyle they chose.
He felt the girl's grip tighten when they turned a corner. His dark magenta hair blew in the wind, and now he felt more alive than ever. They flew down the highway, feeling a high he just couldn't get from watching TV. Her touch was warm, even comforting.
Once the area opened up, they were given a great view of Central City. During the global takeover, "Central City" was built smack-dab in the middle of Japan. Surrounding mountains were leveled using powerful explosives. All the buildings there were destroyed to construct the dream city, the paradise for sinners. It was covered in tall skyscrapers, fshing lights, and was a cesspool of illegal and dangerous activity.
He didn't like Central City, mostly because it was hard to live there unless you were a chronic partyer or in a gang.
"Where are we going?" he faintly heard the girl say from behind him. She peeked her head around his rge back and stared at the bridge they were quickly approaching. It was a tall and impressive white bridge that sparkled under the small rays of sunlight peeking through the clouds.
"This is the marble gates, we're headed to Central City," he replied as they rolled onto the bridge. The closer you got to the city, the denser the popution grew.
Where he lived, on the outskirts of the city, there was a decent number of people. Not nearly as many as inside the city, though. When COT pnted its headquarters inside the tallest skyscraper there, thousands of citizens moved to the city in hopes of being chosen to live in a specially protected COT facility.
Not many people were chosen, and with no home to return to, they were forced to live on the streets of the filthy capital.
"This is where they were keeping you, wasn't it?" he asked. He felt bad for what he was doing, but there was just no way he could keep her with him. He was a liar, a terrible, dirty liar.
"Why are we going there?" she asked, gripping his shirt tightly. Her head pressed against his back, stirring the guilt in his stomach.
If he were to keep her with him at his house, he could get in big trouble. He might even be killed. COT didn't mess around when it came to their rules. If they wanted her back, he would give her to them. They had already screwed him over enough.
"Stop! Don't take me there!" she grabbed him harder, pounding her fist against his side. It felt like a baby was hitting him.
He didn't respond to her pleading. Soon, they exited the bridge and were thrust into the city. The streets were dark and devoid of sunlight. Every block was covered in trash and feces, littered with passed-out people and shady characters. He hadn't been there in so long that he'd forgotten where COT was.
They rode around for a while trying to find the headquarters. The girl's face was pressed against him so she wouldn't have to look at all the weird things happening around them. He felt a little bad for her, and he wondered how she had escaped the city alone without getting taken by somebody. This was the prime spot to kidnap a girl.
He was getting bored with the search and got distracted by a brightly colored neon sign. It fshed red and gold while pying an annoying jingle repeatedly.
"Hell yeah..." he said under his breath. He decided to make the detour, parking his bike in front of the building and tying it up to a pole with a metal chain. Motorcycles were commonly stolen here, so it was best to be safe. He walked onto the sidewalk, stepping over a pile of wet newspapers.
"Are you coming, or what?" he said to the girl, who was staring at him from beside his bike. He knew that he had lost her trust, the innocent and untainted faith she had in him. She stared at him for a moment and then ran after him, following quietly behind him as he entered the building.
The stench of alcohol permeated the air. Rows of slot machines were id out in front of them, accompanied by a few tables of people pying poker. He smiled, finally back in his natural habitat. He grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her in front of him.
"We'll only be here for a little bit, so you can sit down on a bench or something. Don't talk to anyone, okay?" he whispered. She obediently found a bench to sit on. He looked at her for a second before he went off to gamble a bit of money.
Luckily, the only thing he needed money for these days was paying his neighbor a few bucks for his kindness. His apartment was completely free since it was abandoned by the owners and became a "self-serve" kind of pce. Basically, every necessity was free as long as you stole it. So he was able to put a few dolrs into the machine without feeling any guilt or fear.
All his money was what he had saved from back in his gang days. They used to steal from people all the time, and surprisingly, he even had a job at one point. It wasn't much money, but it had sted him a long time.
He gnced over at the girl, who was kicking around her feet in boredom. She kept gncing around at the older men who were drinking and ughing loudly. There was a spat going on in the corner where a few guys were cussing each other out. As he was looking at her, he realized that she was still wearing no shoes. Luckily, that wasn't anything strange to see in this day and age, but he felt bad for making her walk across the dirty ground with no shoes on.
Twenty minutes passed, but he hadn't made a cent. Even though he used to spend all his time in pces like this, he felt a little uncomfortable now. It had been three years since he'd done this, and he was being reminded of what he would've become if he hadn't left.
He was a troubled guy with a multitude of addictions. Thankfully, his gambling addiction had been halted by his aversion to leaving his house. He felt his eyes grow tired as he listened to the machine py the same dinging noises over and over again. He had already sunk 100 into it, but he felt like he had to keep going.
"Mmn...Mister?" Someone tapped on his shoulder. A cute voice filled his ears, and he turned around to see the girl looking back at him. Her long eyeshes fluttered, and she softly held the sides of her bck skirt. "I'm hungry," she said.
The guy sitting next to him looked over at them, throwing him a rge grin and showing off the few missing teeth he had. "You got 'yer-self a cute one."
The guy reached out his hand and lifted her skirt to peek at what was underneath.
"Don't touch her!" he quickly spped the man's hand away and got up. Cracking his knuckles, he gred down at the man with a deadly look in his eyes. The girl backed away from them, accidentally bumping into another man's back. "Why the hell would you do that?! Hm?" Masao yelled at the peeper.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, it was a joke, kid."
"Fuck off!" he used all of his strength to punch the man in the face, knocking him off the barstool. He fell to the ground, crashing into the people sitting beside him and hitting his head on the metal stool. "So you go around touching girls without their consent?! You pervert!" he yelled, putting his foot on the man's stomach and pressing down.
"What th- who do you think you are?" he compined.
People around them were starting to get mad, too, and he knew he didn't have much time to get out before a real fight would start. He grabbed the girl by the hand and pulled her into his arms.
"Masao Takeda, former leader of JumpAHead," he said, eye twitching. He gave the man one st kick and left the building.
