Despair and Defiance

“Where’s Yuki?” Mrs. Ito demanded, her voice sharp with a mix of desperation and anger.

Jun hesitated, choosing his words carefully. “He’s safe. I promise. But… I need to talk to you. Both of you.”

Before Mrs. Ito could slam the door in his face, Mr. Ito appeared behind her, his expression equally tense but more measured. “Honey, let him in. If he knows where Yuki is, we need to hear him out.”

With a reluctant glare, Mrs. Ito stepped aside. “Fine. But you’d better have answers.”

The tension in the apartment was suffocating as Jun stepped inside. The once-pristine space felt colder, emptier, than he remembered. He stood awkwardly near the entrance, his soaked shoes leaving small puddles on the polished floor as Mr. and Mrs. Ito stared him down.

“Start talking,” Mr. Ito said coldly, crossing his arms.

Jun swallowed hard, his nerves fraying. “Yuki’s been staying with me. He’s safe, but… he’s involved in something bigger now. Something dangerous.”

Mrs. Ito’s hands clenched into fists. “What have you done to my son?”

“It’s not what I’ve done,” Jun replied, his voice trembling. “It’s what the rebellion has done. And… what you’ve done to him.”

The room fell silent, the weight of his accusation hanging heavy in the air.

“What are you talking about?” Mr. Ito asked, his voice low and dangerous. “What’s the rebellion?”

Jun took a deep breath, steadying himself. “The rebellion is fighting against the corporations— the elites who created this world of inequality. They want to end the divide between modified and unmodified people. They think your research is the key to leveling the playing field. But they can’t finish it without Yuki.”

Mrs. Ito’s face turned ashen. “Our research?”

“Transferring genetic modifications through DNA,” Jun said, his voice thick with accusation. “They stole it. Maya… your daughter… stole it. And now they want to use Yuki as the final piece to complete their plan.”

At the mention of Maya, Mrs. Ito flinched visibly, and Mr. Ito’s expression darkened.

“Maya…” Mrs. Ito whispered, her voice trembling. “She’s alive?”

A bitter laugh escaped Mr. Ito. “Of course she is. That ungrateful girl… She’s determined to destroy everything we’ve built.”

“Ungrateful?” Jun’s voice rose, his anger bubbling to the surface. “You experimented on her! You turned her into a failure before you moved on to Yuki. And now she’s fighting to undo the damage you’ve caused.”

Mrs. Ito sank into a chair, tears streaming down her face. “We thought she was dead. The experiments… they went too far. We thought we’d lost her.”

“And instead, she survived,” Jun said bitterly. “She survived, and now she’s willing to sacrifice Yuki to fix what you broke.”

Mrs. Ito began to sob openly, her hands clutching her face. “We never meant for this to happen. We just wanted to protect them.“

Jun’s voice was cold. “And you didn’t stop. You made Yuki genetically invincible, and now everyone wants to use him. You turned your children into tools.”

“We didn’t know!” Mr. Ito snapped, slamming his fist on the table. “We didn’t know what Maya would become. We didn’t know Yuki would be dragged into this mess. If we had…” His voice faltered.

But guilt quickly gave way to anger.

“That rebellion,” Mr. Ito spat, “is nothing but a group of delusional criminals. They don’t understand the consequences of what they’re doing. They’re playing with fire.”

“They’re fighting for equality,” Jun shot back, though his voice lacked conviction.

“Equality?” Mrs. Ito said, her voice thick with disdain. “Do you think this chaos will bring equality? These people don’t want fairness—they want revenge. They’ll burn everything to the ground.”

Jun clenched his fists but said nothing. He couldn’t bring himself to argue, even though their words stung.

“We have to get Yuki back,” Mrs. Ito said firmly, wiping her tears away. “We’ll retrieve the research. Without it, the rebellion won’t have what they need.”

“They don’t care,” Jun said quietly. “They’ll take Yuki regardless. They think he’s the only one who can make it work.”

Mr. Ito’s expression hardened. “Then we’ll protect him. Whatever it takes.”

//

The silence gnawed at Yuki as he sat on the edge of Jun’s unmade bed, staring blankly at the peeling paint on the walls. The hum of distant hovercars and the faint glow of the city’s neon lights seeped through the cracks of the old window, but they did nothing to soothe the growing unease within him.

“Jun?” he called again, his voice trembling slightly. But the apartment remained still, void of its usual comforting chaos.

Sliding off the bed, Yuki padded across the cramped room, his bare feet cold against the worn floorboards. The room felt smaller today, almost suffocating.

He found himself drawn to the small desk tucked into the corner. On it sat Jun’s holowatch, its screen dimmed. Yuki hesitated before reaching out to activate it, the weight of his own curiosity battling the feeling that he was intruding.

When the screen flickered to life, Yuki saw a stream of unread messages from the rebellion’s headquarters, all addressed to Jun. His frown deepened as he scrolled through the brief summaries:

“Progress Update Needed.”

“Counselor Requesting Status.”

“Protest Strategy Confirmed: Genesis College.”

Genesis College. The words echoed in Yuki’s mind, sending a shiver down his spine.

His chest tightened, that strange weight pressing against his ribs. It wasn’t physical pain—not exactly—but an ache that felt deeper, woven into his very core.

Grabbing his coat, Yuki stepped out into the rain-soaked streets. He didn’t know what he was walking into, but he couldn’t sit idle any longer. Something was pulling him toward Genesis College. And he was determined to find out why.