The Other Side - C (Part 2)
Rui had gladly moved them into a room in the abandoned warehouse. It had a functioning light bulb, a table, a chair, and a sofa on the other end, making it look like a bland office room. The furniture was in good condition, almost new.
The hydra girl sat on the chair with some trouble, and it creaked because of the added weight on herself. Her dizziness and pain did not help to keep her balance.
At least, they now had time to speak. “Rui, get out of the room. I want to speak with them alone,” Orochi said. The woman with wolf ears narrowed her eyes at the Atsushi. “They are my classmates. They shouldn’t be here in this mess with us. Please.”
Edith did not know how to feel about it. Instead of furiously fighting as she expected Atsushi to fight, she commanded them—the people who saw her in the bloody fight—as if she were their leader. It was a sight that caused dissonance in her mind.
It was different from what she expected, of how Atsushi acted around them. She was calm, tired, and hurt, but commanded them like a leader. She was acting like the leader of the gang of those ruffians.
The bandaged girl took a deep breath and exited the room as Atsushi ordered her to, leaving only them inside. Edith exhaled, trying to calm her nerves down.
As she exhaled, the one who took the initiative was Tanaka. “What do you mean we shouldn’t be in this mess? What were you doing back there, Atsushi?”
He questioned with a cold tone. Edith was not sure if Atsushi had the sobriety of mind. She got an arm ripped from her and was bloodied, it was not a pretty sight, it was reviling even. Tanaka tried to hide his worries and discomfort and be as neutral as he could.
“... Where to start… I guess from the beginning? You guys know I’m a mutant, right? I’m poisonous and venomous. Do you wonder how a mutant that is always poisonous grew up?” Her tone was coarse like gravel, and Atsushi grimaced.
Edith felt her heart skip a beat, a telltale sign of something bad. “When I was a brat, eight years old, I bit my cousin. It is not surprising that when I was young, I liked to play-fight a lot.” Atsushi weakly laughed, trying to shrug off her own hurt, but as tired as she was, it was impossible to hide her sorrow.
“I wasn’t born poisonous, nor venomous, not at first. I was pretty harmless, just a tough little snake, but it changed with the years. Without anyone noticing, my body started to build up and create toxins, coating me in it every day and night for years.”
Her weak laugh died, and a solemn face replaced it. Edith and Tanaka kept their silence, waiting for Atsushi to continue. “I played fight against my cousin, Yuusei like I always did when we met. But something changed when I was eight years old. My body had built enough poison to start hurting people.”
Atsushi closed her eyes, taking a deep breath as one of her changed hydra heads placed its head on her lap as if trying to reassure Atsushi. “It was a mess. There was screaming, my aunt blaming my mom, and I did not know what to do but cry and beg forgiveness from my unconscious cousin and his parents.”
The white-haired girl tried to appear composed, and unfeeling, but a hurtful urge to cry was in her voice. “Before that day, I was very pampered. My mom’s golden baby, her favorite, but after it… she became cold and distant. Stern and severe, drilling into me discipline and ‘manners’ so I could show no wrong or flaw before others. I should be perfect.”
Without pause, Atsushi continued. “Perfect to not be hurt or hurt anyone. Stand proudly, I could do no wrong. I should do no wrong because I was a dangerous mutant, and anyone could use it against me.”
Edith gulped. She “knew” that mutants had it hard, but Atsushi never showed any sign of having it hard. ‘You always looked so upbeat. So… open. Why have you never talked about this with anyone? Sagara? Cain?’ It felt wrong to Edith to be the one knowing this side of her.
Tanaka was uncomfortable with it too. That side of Atsushi was not one they expected to see. It was different from their mental image.
“My mom went hard on me, training from hell, either physically or in manners. I started to learn and memorize stuff that girls twice my age had no heads or tails about. Every day was tiring with punishments and indifference from my mother.”
“It was for my sake. She said that a lot.”
Atsushi looked up, a move to stop them from seeing her face directly, to not see what emotions were there. Edith clenched her fists. “One day, I got in a fight against this big bully, to stop her from bullying others. I did everything right, to not be caught, and pinned all the blame on the bully.”
For a single second, Atsushi’s void filled with venom, a venom so thick and toxic it seemed the Hydra girl was ready to kill someone. “I thought I did a good deed, stopped a bully, and did everything by the ‘books.’ My mom answered that with the sternest punishment I ever felt.”
Atsushi calmed herself again. The animosity vanished from her as if remembering she had an audience of two. “Hence I thought of running away from home, run from my mother. I couldn’t support her treatment at the time, but I lacked the will to do so. If I was pushed just a little more… maybe I would not have been here today.”
Pushed to the limit, to the brink. What on this earth was so bad, so stern that made a girl like Atsushi consider running away? To get away from someone. ‘Hell, what could a mother do to make her child want to run away from her?’
Sadly, it seemed Atsushi wasn’t keen on answering those questions. “That bully became my first friend after she took pity on me. I grew up without friends outside my family because I was dangerous. Too dangerous, as other children, even mutants, used to say.”
“But that girl I roughed up, she opened up to me. I don’t know why. She taught me how to lie, gain the trust of my mother, and act behind her back. She gave me the idea to start a gang, a gang of friends who did good deeds and punished bullies and delinquents.”
All gears clicked in place. That was her gang. A gang she made… then why was she facing them in that makeshift arena? Why did that redhead rip her arm off? “One day, my mother caught wind of what I was doing and came directly to me and the gang. She crushed me, like an insect. Destroyed my dreams. Took me away from my friends.”
Atsushi sighed a heavy, paced sigh. “Two years ago. This happened two years ago. At the time, my mother had died for me. As far as I cared, I had no mother. Two years of therapy and homeschooling, practically jailed in my own home.”
The sadness, the anger, and the outrage Atsushi seemed to manifest physically, her red draconic tails trembled with anger, and for a moment it was like they were seeing red, a blinding tone of red, even Atsushi herself trembled, veins jumping around her body and remaining arm.
Full of hatred at those memories. “Afterwards. I applied for Shiketsu. This is the story cut short. They were my old gang… they are my gang.” Atsushi exhaled with exasperation, moving her face to go back at them.
Tired eyes suppressed the pain and jadedness watching over them. “Why I came back… I need help. The type of help Shiketsu cannot provide.” Atsushi gave a closed-up smile, but Edith could see beneath the facade, the disappointment her classmate was nurturing to this point.
“Feral was my wake-up call. After seeing Kaylee, Chris, our friends hurt… I cannot be still. I stood still for so long. I need to be stronger; I need to reach out to others.” Atsushi pursed her lips in a strained frown.
Edith’s heart rang loudly in her ears; it was too much. What did a gang have that Shiketsu could provide? Why did Atsushi come back to this life? And why was this hate aimed at her own mother… even with this story of hers, many pieces were left out of the table.
Essential pieces of this puzzle. “They have the numbers and the skills to go on patrols, observe, and watch. Watch for suspicious shit to happen and call me. I should be strong.” Atsushi raised her eyes to meet theirs.
Purple-slitted orbs like the eyes of a beast stared back at them. “I’m tired of seeing my friends get hurt, and taking a backseat and doing nothing— it is my time to help now, but I can’t be everywhere at once, and I lack the skills to pursue danger or keep tabs on it.”
Atsushi was a fighter, a witty one, but she… always avoided danger. Maybe it was mere luck, or she was not in the wrong place at the wrong time, but why she took offense to that? Why chase after danger?
With a sidelong glance, Edith saw the eyes of Tanaka shine behind his hood; he did not buy Atsushi’s explanation either.
“Why? You could wait and become a hero! It was why you joined Shiketsu, wasn’t it?! Then why go over this route? Why hurt yourself like that? This does not make sense! You are throwing a childish tantrum!”
Edith snapped at her classmate’s words. It was childish to go back to a gang and delinquency when she was so close to being a hero. It was on their doors. She just had to wait a little more.
Why risk everything with an act so reckless? It made no sense. Atsushi was sharp; she was not a planner but wasn’t a dumb oaf like some of their classmates. If anyone should know the better path, that person should be she who thrilled and walked out of delinquency.
Atsushi licked her lips. “I could wait. This is right, but then answer me: how many of us will end up in the hospital? Do I have to see Chris, and Kaylee on it again?” Despite the heat irradiating from their lizard friend, the room seemed to cool.
Edith tried to move on her seat, but she held herself back from doing it. Under the scrutinizing gaze of the purple orbs, she felt cornered, and even a slight show of weakness could mean danger.
She knew that Atsushi was not the type of person, but amidst the determination in her eyes, there were emotions of dismay. It was suffocating, but she had to argue against it. That path ended in an abyss.
“Atsushi, do you expect to avoid others from going to the hospital, being hurt, by hurting yourself?” Tanaka once again took the direct path, robbing Edith of the chance to talk.
From beneath his hood, his eyes glimmered. “Yes. An arm for our classmates, you and her, is a sentence. A wound you will carry for life. For me, it is a temporary wound like any other.” As if to prove her point, her stump started to vibrate, the beginning of her healing.
“Even if villains attack to kill, I won’t die so easily. I have to help all of you. I was born this way, with these mutations. I’m sick of leaving all of you hanging and in trouble.” Even in that poor state, she clung to her stubbornness like a mule.
“It is time I put myself and connections to good use. It is why I have to fight. I will not run away anymore. I will stand my ground and fight.” The phrase felt incomplete; Atsushi’s lips moved, but no word was said.
Seeing the motion of her lips, Edith could guess what the words were. ‘It is the only thing I can do.’ Edith clenched her teeth. Atsushi meant well, but her words felt patronizing. What did she have that the others hadn’t?
“You are thinking too highly of yourself. You are just like us. You shouldn’t be protecting anyone, Atsushi.” Edith argued back. There should be a limit to someone’s selfishness and ego.
Atsushi was delusional. She was not thinking straight. They needed no protection. “You are right, but I will do so anyway. You are my friends. The friends I have, and the people I am with now are the ones I should’ve protected.” The ones she failed to protect from her mother, it seemed.
It was a worry borne of love, and cherish of the ones she held dear. ‘Two years of homeschooling, chained to her own house. Shit.’ Edith realized. They were the only attachments she had besides her family.
The hurt of their classmates, the Feral incident… those small and big events are starting to weigh on her. She was fearful of losing the only bonds she had. This was why she chose an extreme route.
“You know, we should call the police, Rosethorn, and your parents for what you are getting involved in, right?” Even if they were classmates and fought together, Edith and Tanaka were not in sync. Edith’s heart raced, her eyes on Tanaka. What was he thinking saying that?
“Yes, you are right. You should.” Atsushi answered in a neutral tone, her face somehow more tired.
“What are you going to do if we decide to do that? You will uphold your vow of protecting us?” Tanaka questioned, Edith’s face filled with horror.
She knew they could overpower Atsushi; they had one of the best synergies in Shiketsu, yet she was scared. Scared of the answer her classmate would give.
“No. My gang… I made it for outcasts with nowhere to go, how I felt when I was younger. I won’t allow them to go and clash with the police. I would let you two go, and move away with them.” Atsushi answered dryly and automatically, without a hint of hesitation and second guess.
Those were her honest thoughts
“I would try to keep contact, and help the way I can but… I guess it would be hard, wouldn’t it? But I would never bare my teeth against our classmates, teachers, or heroes.” Tanaka closed his eyes or hid them back in the shadows of his hoodie.
It was hard to tell. “I have seen enough. Don’t worry. I know the feeling of being an outcast… I won’t snitch you, Atsushi. Rest assured. Now, can I see myself out?” Atsushi nodded, placing her trust in him.
Edith wanted to say something, call them out on this bullshit, but something else caught her eye. Atsushi’s face was not worried or even fearful that Tanaka would act behind her back. He had her complete trust.
It clicked in place because of his question. Atsushi was an open book, her heart always on the sleeves. The Atsushi they knew at school, and this Atsushi healing her arm and bloodied… were the same.
He had no reason to worry about her anymore and exited the room unceremoniously. Edith was left awestruck. How could he accept her words, her bullshit, and her delusions so easily? It couldn’t be…
“Atsushi. This is a mistake. We both know it. You are a student like everyone in class. Commanding a gang is not going to change it!” Atsushi looked into her eyes, the slitted pupils dilated.
“Edith. How many brains do you think I have?” It was a stupid question. Why would Atsushi even ask something like that?
“One. Wait.” She remembered back in the shopping how her tails could steal food and act on their own. It did not mean what she thought… right?
“Four. The one in my skull, and one for each of my tails. For all of my life, I thought they were stupid creatures with no personality or thoughts, moved by my instincts. It turned out… I was wrong.” A chill ran up her spine. She did not like the direction the conversation was taking.
“I have poison coursing through my veins, venom sacks in my mouth. I was born with razor-sharp claws, three beings attached to my body, and a freakish regeneration that will bring me up from the dead it seems.”
Edith was not aware of how many times Atsushi had run from death, but it could not be that many times… yet she felt unease, almost sick. “Even my family lacks claws like mine. I was born like a weapon. Edith. The society deemed me as a monster unfit to live in society from my childhood.”
A young girl was ostracized even by other mutants because of her poisonous body and the danger she posed to others by existing. Yet the Atsushi she knew was disciplined, a party girl who loved to cheer others up, and be there for them.
What changed? Was Feral’s attack that devastating? ‘Or is this a product of everything going on in her life?’ The one able to answer those questions was before her, but she couldn’t muster the strength to ask those questions.
“I am not the same as you and the others. I am a creature born to fight. I was tailored for battle. This is the truth I have to acknowledge. To society, this is all I will be as a hero or not.” A dangerous being, on the side of heroes, but posing danger to everyone.
Claws, teeth, regeneration, venom… she was like a horror movie monster. “But… I will protect others. I was born with this strength for a reason. I’m sure this is the path the Kamis wanted me to take.” In reptilian-like eyes, Edith saw the spark of hope. A small ember returned to them.
Atsushi’s voice mellowed out. She was calmer, calmer than before, with a strange peaceful air around her despite the damage and wounds she sustained. “The heavens made a blade deep inside me. This fight. This struggle is my destiny. I have to put my strength to good use. This is why I was born.” Edith was never religious, not to a point that mattered, anyway.
But at this moment, in Atsushi’s eyes, she saw acceptance and peace of self. Someone who embraced fate, as if it was imposed by the very gods themselves. For a single second, the image of Sally overlapped over Atsushi.
Those two were nothing alike, but at this moment they shared the same fervor. The same aura. Edith felt sick to her stomach, sick of how Atsushi thought. Disgusted by what she had to go through, and pitying the hydra girl for thinking that way.
For embracing that hurt with her arms wide open. It was distraught how society could warp someone’s view of herself like that. No one was born a monster. No one was born a weapon. It was the first Edith felt that way, hating a society, a family that molded a young woman.
No, her classmate, to be like that. “Orochi—” Edith moved forward, towards her distraught and broken classmate. “I—”
She exited the room. Tanaka was waiting beside the door. “How did your private talk with Atsushi go?” He questioned with worry.
Edith sighed tiredly. This day did not go as she expected it to go. “As good as it can… it is just… unfair.” To leave a friend in that situation, what could they do? “I don’t want to leave her alone but…”
“We are all in a dead end now. We fucked around and found out. I will not ditch her. Will you?” Edith bit her lip. The right thing to do should be to snitch on Orochi and let Rosethorn sort things out.
“I won’t.” She did the opposite of right. She knew if anyone else got involved, things would go south for their classmate. The worst outcome. She couldn’t leave Atsushi alone either. Tanaka nodded back.
“Hm. I will be joining them, I think.” Tanaka mused, placing a hand over his chin, or where his chin should be amidst the dark of his hood.
She blinked a few times. It was unexpected to see him ponder this. “You what?”
“This is a place for outcasts, and they are pretty strong, I guess Atsushi can learn a thing or two with her out pals, and so can I. A place to hang out is nice too.” Edith grimaced. Tanaka was too spontaneous, but now she envied him.
She will go back to South Korea soon. She cannot be close to the Hydra and watch over her now her mental state is not the best. If only she could be around and avoid the white-haired hydra girl from placing herself in danger and a worse mess…
“Can you watch over her? I won’t be able to. She needs all help she can find.”
“I said we fucked around and found out. Do not worry. I am more reliable than you think.”