SS Contest #12: Crash Course to Hell
May 31, 2016 3:01:52 GMT
neonquincy1217, yesterday, and 2 more like this
Post by boogum on May 31, 2016 3:01:52 GMT
Read on FFN here.
Summary: They told him that his name was Furuya Rei. His parents had died in a car crash. He had been lucky to survive.
Word Count: 1097
They told him that his name was Furuya Rei. His parents had died in a car crash. He had been lucky to survive.
He was just a child, and they had underestimated him.
Rei, if that even was his real name, had always been smart. Smarter than average. Smart enough to know that the people in white lab coats who observed him and scribbled on clipboards had not adopted him out of concern; that the facility where he lived was more prison than home, and that the numbers and foreign words the adults spoke were all part of a complicated code.
Smart enough to know that it didn’t matter what was truth or lie now, because life and death was just a coin toss for a boy like him. No parents. No past. Nothing to connect him to anyone or anything. It really didn’t matter who he was.
Maybe that was why the nickname stung so much.
The other kids had always thought he was weird for his pale blond hair and tanned skin, but being an amnesiac orphan was a much bigger crime. People like him weren’t normal. People like him weren’t allowed to join in games. They called him “Zero”: the boy who was nothing.
He smashed their faces until the skin on his knuckles split.
The kids learnt to do their teasing in groups after that. Much easier to gang up on him. The people in lab coats simply noted on their clipboards that Furuya Rei was prone to “violent fits”. Elena was the one who patched him up whenever he returned to the facility bloodied and bruised. She was the only one who had ever bothered to talk to him like a real person, even if she also wore a lab coat.
She was lovely and terrifying: the angel who presided over hell.
“Why do you insist on fighting those children, Rei-kun?” Elena asked one day, dabbing at a cut on his cheek with antiseptic.
Tears clung to Rei’s lashes, but his eyes were hard and bitter. “They call me Zero.”
“And that bothers you?”
“They only do it because I’m not like them. I don’t have parents or a home or even any memory of where I came from.” His mouth twisted. “I might as well be nothing.”
“Is that what you really think?”
Rei lowered his gaze. He swallowed against the lump in his throat. “I don’t know. Maybe.”
Elena smoothed a bandage over his cheek. “We all begin from nothing, Rei-kun. A blank canvas becomes art; a lump of clay becomes pottery.” She took his chin in her hand, tilting his face up so that he was forced to meet her cool eyes. “Zero suits you more than you realise. If you are nothing, then you can become anything. That is and always has been your purpose.”
“My purpose?”
Her lips curved into a smile. It was the first smile he had ever seen her make, though there was something self-deprecating about the expression. “We have high hopes for you, Rei-kun. Don’t let us down.”
She let him go and stood to her full height. He watched her leave, small, bruised and confused. The next day, the people in lab coats handed him a pistol and told him to shoot targets. Rei did as ordered. By the end of the session, he had a perfect row of headshots. The people in lab coats were pleased. They were often pleased with him after that.
Rei got no satisfaction from their praise.
Rei swished the alcohol round his glass. He didn’t bother to look at the man who sat opposite him at the table. “What do you want, Vermouth?”
The Organisation agent laughed, allowing the feminine sound to slip through her disguise. “Oh, you are good. You saw right through me.”
He glanced at her from under his lashes, taking in the familiar face and the toothpick she idly chewed. “Date and I don’t talk anymore. You slipped up.”
She shrugged and leaned against the chair. “I just thought a friendly face would help.”
A bitter taste filled his mouth that had nothing to do with alcohol. “What do you want?” he repeated.
“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” She leaned forward, and some of the mocking amusement faded from her eyes. “I hear you’ve got yourself a codename now. Are you sure about this?”
“You know why.”
She did, of course. She was there when the fire consumed the facility. So beautiful, so deadly. Rei had faced her without flinching, tiny and singed and surrounded by bodies. He hadn’t hesitated when he pointed the gun at her face, but he hadn’t fired. Neither had she.
“You’re a fool,” she told him. “You had a chance to escape, yet you came back yourself. What do you hope to achieve?”
He knew what she was really saying. He wasn’t the Silver Bullet. He was just a failed project. The Organisation would claim him before he could do any damage.
Rei took a sip of his drink. “Maybe it’s fate.”
“Fate?”
He shrugged and rested his forehead against the cold glass.
Vermouth made a tsking sound. “You’re drunk.”
“You just noticed?”
She frowned and removed the cup from his hand. “Don’t do anything reckless. You’re in too deep now. You can’t afford to make mistakes.”
“Is that concern for me or concern for your own secret?”
Vermouth laughed. “Always so sharp.” She stood up from the table and downed the rest of his drink. “Just remember to keep your end of the bargain.”
“I stay out of your way and you stay out of mine, right?”
“That’s right,” she confirmed, and then a smile curved her lips. “Welcome to hell, Bourbon. Try not to get yourself killed.”
Rei watched her leave with no expression. “Hell, huh?” he murmured.
What a joke. He had never left, or maybe it was just the taint of the Organisation had never left him. It was the reason he couldn’t forget, even when he joined the police academy. Even after he graduated and got assigned to the secret police. The only difference this time round was that his minder was a blonde devil instead of a presiding angel.
That, and he wasn’t confused anymore.
If you are nothing, then you can become anything. That is and always has been your purpose.
A twisted smile curved Rei’s mouth. Maybe he wasn’t the Silver Bullet, but he was Zero. He wasn’t ready to give up just yet.
Summary: They told him that his name was Furuya Rei. His parents had died in a car crash. He had been lucky to survive.
Word Count: 1097
Crash Course to Hell
They told him that his name was Furuya Rei. His parents had died in a car crash. He had been lucky to survive.
He was just a child, and they had underestimated him.
Rei, if that even was his real name, had always been smart. Smarter than average. Smart enough to know that the people in white lab coats who observed him and scribbled on clipboards had not adopted him out of concern; that the facility where he lived was more prison than home, and that the numbers and foreign words the adults spoke were all part of a complicated code.
Smart enough to know that it didn’t matter what was truth or lie now, because life and death was just a coin toss for a boy like him. No parents. No past. Nothing to connect him to anyone or anything. It really didn’t matter who he was.
Maybe that was why the nickname stung so much.
The other kids had always thought he was weird for his pale blond hair and tanned skin, but being an amnesiac orphan was a much bigger crime. People like him weren’t normal. People like him weren’t allowed to join in games. They called him “Zero”: the boy who was nothing.
He smashed their faces until the skin on his knuckles split.
The kids learnt to do their teasing in groups after that. Much easier to gang up on him. The people in lab coats simply noted on their clipboards that Furuya Rei was prone to “violent fits”. Elena was the one who patched him up whenever he returned to the facility bloodied and bruised. She was the only one who had ever bothered to talk to him like a real person, even if she also wore a lab coat.
She was lovely and terrifying: the angel who presided over hell.
“Why do you insist on fighting those children, Rei-kun?” Elena asked one day, dabbing at a cut on his cheek with antiseptic.
Tears clung to Rei’s lashes, but his eyes were hard and bitter. “They call me Zero.”
“And that bothers you?”
“They only do it because I’m not like them. I don’t have parents or a home or even any memory of where I came from.” His mouth twisted. “I might as well be nothing.”
“Is that what you really think?”
Rei lowered his gaze. He swallowed against the lump in his throat. “I don’t know. Maybe.”
Elena smoothed a bandage over his cheek. “We all begin from nothing, Rei-kun. A blank canvas becomes art; a lump of clay becomes pottery.” She took his chin in her hand, tilting his face up so that he was forced to meet her cool eyes. “Zero suits you more than you realise. If you are nothing, then you can become anything. That is and always has been your purpose.”
“My purpose?”
Her lips curved into a smile. It was the first smile he had ever seen her make, though there was something self-deprecating about the expression. “We have high hopes for you, Rei-kun. Don’t let us down.”
She let him go and stood to her full height. He watched her leave, small, bruised and confused. The next day, the people in lab coats handed him a pistol and told him to shoot targets. Rei did as ordered. By the end of the session, he had a perfect row of headshots. The people in lab coats were pleased. They were often pleased with him after that.
Rei got no satisfaction from their praise.
oOo
“Yo, Mr Perfect Scores. What are you doing drinking in this corner alone?”Rei swished the alcohol round his glass. He didn’t bother to look at the man who sat opposite him at the table. “What do you want, Vermouth?”
The Organisation agent laughed, allowing the feminine sound to slip through her disguise. “Oh, you are good. You saw right through me.”
He glanced at her from under his lashes, taking in the familiar face and the toothpick she idly chewed. “Date and I don’t talk anymore. You slipped up.”
She shrugged and leaned against the chair. “I just thought a friendly face would help.”
A bitter taste filled his mouth that had nothing to do with alcohol. “What do you want?” he repeated.
“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” She leaned forward, and some of the mocking amusement faded from her eyes. “I hear you’ve got yourself a codename now. Are you sure about this?”
“You know why.”
She did, of course. She was there when the fire consumed the facility. So beautiful, so deadly. Rei had faced her without flinching, tiny and singed and surrounded by bodies. He hadn’t hesitated when he pointed the gun at her face, but he hadn’t fired. Neither had she.
“You’re a fool,” she told him. “You had a chance to escape, yet you came back yourself. What do you hope to achieve?”
He knew what she was really saying. He wasn’t the Silver Bullet. He was just a failed project. The Organisation would claim him before he could do any damage.
Rei took a sip of his drink. “Maybe it’s fate.”
“Fate?”
He shrugged and rested his forehead against the cold glass.
Vermouth made a tsking sound. “You’re drunk.”
“You just noticed?”
She frowned and removed the cup from his hand. “Don’t do anything reckless. You’re in too deep now. You can’t afford to make mistakes.”
“Is that concern for me or concern for your own secret?”
Vermouth laughed. “Always so sharp.” She stood up from the table and downed the rest of his drink. “Just remember to keep your end of the bargain.”
“I stay out of your way and you stay out of mine, right?”
“That’s right,” she confirmed, and then a smile curved her lips. “Welcome to hell, Bourbon. Try not to get yourself killed.”
Rei watched her leave with no expression. “Hell, huh?” he murmured.
What a joke. He had never left, or maybe it was just the taint of the Organisation had never left him. It was the reason he couldn’t forget, even when he joined the police academy. Even after he graduated and got assigned to the secret police. The only difference this time round was that his minder was a blonde devil instead of a presiding angel.
That, and he wasn’t confused anymore.
If you are nothing, then you can become anything. That is and always has been your purpose.
A twisted smile curved Rei’s mouth. Maybe he wasn’t the Silver Bullet, but he was Zero. He wasn’t ready to give up just yet.