High Tech Confessions

Kagome allows the night air to blow across her tear-stained cheeks on the apartment’s balcony. The black sky is filled with scattered stars, and the beaming light from the full moon kisses her downcast eyes. Her mind is fogged over in a depressive cloud - repetitively mulling over Junko and the unknown state of her wellbeing. The thought of one of her best friends being severely wounded - and Kagome not being able to do anything about it - greatly weighs upon her subconscious.

As she drifts away deep in thought, the balcony door slides open - catching her off guard. Turning around as the wind persists against her disheveled, short hair, Kagome’s eyes land upon Yuuto standing in the doorway. His eyes hold a similar sadness and empathy, and his broad shoulders sink into a slouched position. Stepping onto the balcony, he shuts the glass door behind him.

Yuuto carries himself over to the ledge - rooting himself right next to Kagome. He collapses his arms atop the overhang and sighs into the adamant breeze. Kagome blinks at her newfound fellow stargazer, and wonders why he decided to join her - for she thought Yuuto went home with Ren ages ago.

“Junko, she’s…” Yuuto begins, trying to find the words that will break their comfortable silence, “She’s amazing, isn’t she?” His voice is reminiscent, and his eyes sparkle under the moonlight. The edge of Kagome’s mouth softly curls up into a gentle smile, and she gifts a slow nod in response. “After everything she’s been through, she continues to lead us. No matter what, she’ll always put us over herself, because that’s the kind of selfless person she is.”

Shooting her gaze towards Yuuto, Kagome squints her eyes slightly. “How long can someone live like that, though, and not grow to hate themselves?” She asks bluntly, taking Yuuto by surprise. Kagome’s eyes turn to lay upon the street lights below her, and a neutral frown encapsulates her features. Staring into her sunken face, Yuuto awaits an explanation.

“We both know Junko pretty well,” Kagome begins, her voice low and serious, “We both know she has ambitions in life that don’t mesh with her life as it is now. How long will she be able to suppress those desires? When will she start to hate herself, and regret not living the way she wants to? How much time until Junko snaps, and completely vanishes from the Task Force, leaving us all behind?”

A short silence envelops the two officers as the stars continue to float above, and the wind continues to brush against Kagome’s wisping hair. Yuuto squints his eyes a fraction, taking in what Kagome has offered. Breathing in, he heaves a heavy sigh full of contemplation.

“Would that be such a bad thing?” Yuuto inputs thoughtfully, “Junko’s been living for other people her entire life, I think she deserves a little selfish hiatus.” Kagome’s mouth parts at the new point of view, but quickly closes them again - deciding to not rebuke the introspective thought.

Once Yuuto realizes Kagome has nothing to offer in response, he drags his eyes over the night beyond him. The dampened asphalt on the road sparkles against the bright street lights above. A few cars power by, but nothing too boisterous grabs his immediate attention. The previously brisk wind becomes a relaxing sensation as Yuuto allows himself to feel the breeze cascade against his smooth face.

A thought surfaces in his mind, and he turns his head towards the saddened, pensive girl to his right. “Did I ever tell you about how Junko saved me?” The question surprises Kagome, and she turns her gaze towards Yuuto. Shaking her head softly, Kagome’s eyebrows scrunch together in confusion. Yuuto smiles warmly, and a nostalgic emotion rises in his brown eyes.

“I guess I should start from the beginning then, shouldn’t I?”

Yuuto Matsuo was born in Ghana, West Africa, under the name Yooku Osei. His dissatisfied birth father was not present throughout his mother’s pregnancy, as well as after his birth. Yooku’s mother, Afryea, was forced to raise her child all by her lonesome - juggling a job on a neighboring farm, another job as a seamstress, as well as attempting to keep a roof over Yooku’s head.

About two years after Yooku’s birth, Afryea met a travelling man named Botan Matsuo - who was recreationally touring Ghana at the time. He was a Japanese man who recently divorced his ex-wife, and decided to travel the world in celebration. Back home, he was a professional electrician with his own up-and-coming business. Afryea and Botan immediately hit it off, and they soon fell in love.

Botan brought Afryea and Yooku to Japan with him, and they happily married soon thereafter. Needing to transfer to a Japanese elementary school, the Matsuo family decided to change Yooku’s name into what it is now: Yuuto Matsuo. They wanted to do anything they could to help Yuuto assimilate into his new environment - considering he looked a lot different compared to his Japanese classmates.

Afryea - scared that Yuuto would become like his birth father - decided to instill a certain mindset into her son at a very young age: put your family’s welfare above all else, even yourself. She placed a heavy value on education, so that Yuuto could succeed in obtaining a well-paid career in the future. Yuuto obliged, since he loved his mother unconditionally, and wanted to care for her until the end of time.

Growing up in Japan, and being abruptly exposed to a brand new culture, Yuuto found enjoyment in all things technology-related. Computers, video games, photography, arcades - Yuuto loved it all, and he was a natural at learning how to use all the new mechanics. Maybe it had everything to do with him not growing up in a technology-rich country, but Yuuto fell in love with this new, undiscovered realm of the world.

At age eighteen, Yuuto was accepted into his top choice college: Waseda University in Shinjuku City. At the same time, Botan’s electric company was booming. The Matsuo family was overjoyed with happiness, and Afryea could not have been more content with her two boys.

Yuuto set off for Waseda in the Spring, and Afryea and Botan wished him luck with heavy, proud hearts. After Yuuto settled at the esteemed secondary school, he found himself signing up for the university’s robotics club.

“Hey, you!” A cheerful voice sounded over the boisterous and crowded quad. Yuuto looks up in confusion, and his eyes lay upon an approaching boy with an awe-struck expression. “You’re that freshman from Africa who’s crazy smart with computers, right?!” Yuuto nods cautiously, not uttering a word in response.

“You’ve gotta join the robotics club! It was practically made for you, man!” The boy in front of him ushers out a clipboard from behind his back. The words ‘Robotics Club Sign-Up’ printed in bold black at the top caught Yuuto’s curious eyes.

Being infatuated with all things technology, Yuuto was already on board with the club. Taking the pen from the persuasive boy’s other hand, Yuuto signed his name on the piece of paper - being the first one to sign the document. The boy was taken aback by Yuuto’s easy-goingness and complying nature, but appreciative and excited nonetheless.

Yuuto easily integrated himself into the robotics club, and became friends with the boy who recruited him that fateful day: Daichi Noguchi - who also happened to be the president of the robotics club. With Yuuto’s exceptional intellect, and Daichi’s cheerful support, Yuuto easily climbed to the top of the ranks within the club. He was highly regarded among the other members for his humble intelligence, as well as his serious and professional persona.

It all seemed too good to be true for Yuuto, and that proved right when he received a phone call from Afryea one fateful morning after class. “Yuuto?” She asked, after her son answered the phone, “Oh, god, Yuuto. It’s terrible. I don’t know what to do. Everything has gone to-”

“Mom!” Yuuto interrupts, growing anxious from Afryea’s sudden worry, “What happened? Are you and Dad okay?” He heard his mother’s hitched breath sound from the opposing end of the line, and the noise accelerated his already rapid heartbeat. “No, we’re not.”

“Botan, he…” Afryea began choking on her sobs - causing Yuuto’s entire chest to clench in fear, “He died, Yuuto. Botan’s dead! He was out fixing a customer’s air conditioning, and he was just brutally electrocuted… Oh, god, Yuuto, I don’t know what I’m going to do now…”

Yuuto’s hand barely grasped the phone in his hand as his eyes went wide. A tight, unfamiliar sensation crawled into his chest, and it spread across the rest of his body. It made his fingers clench into fists, his knees buckle at the joints, and his mind to fog over in a solid, dense cloud. Like Afryea, his breaths gradually became uneven and unhinged.

“Yuuto… I’m pregnant,” His mother drops another bombshell on her trembling son, “I’m pregnant… with twins! What the hell am I going to do now?! I’m getting old, Yuuto. I can’t raise two kids on my own, when I barely raised you by myself! I’m such a terrible mother, Yuuto. I don’t know what I’m going to do-”

“Mom, stop that,” Yuuto managed to interject - his voice low and shaky, “You’re not alone, you have me. I’m here now. You won’t have to go through that again. I’ll… I’ll protect you. I’ll keep everyone safe. I’ll get a job, or two, and I’ll help you take care of the babies. I will, I promise. I’m here for you, Mom, I always will be.”

Afryea began crying hysterically over the phone, and Yuuto’s own eyes started to tear up. In his tightly gripped fist, the cell phone began to shake from his internalized and stifled sobs. “Yuuto, you have to help me,” Afryea pleaded through her cries, “You have to be the man of the house now, okay? You promise, right? You’re my son, Yuuto. You need to help me!”

The tears piling in Yuuto’s eyes poured out in rivers, and the condensed sobs he stored within his chest began seeping out of his quivering lips. Subconsciously, his feet walked backwards on their own - bringing Yuuto to the front of a bench. Feeling the wooden seat against the back of his calves, he allowed himself to collapse upon the bench.

“I promise, Mom.”

From that point on, Yuuto’s only priority in life was keeping his mother and future little siblings safe. Keeping food on the table, a roof over their heads, and stepping up to become the man he was raised to be were all at the top of his mind at any given moment. Instead of valuing his schoolwork and the robotics club, Yuuto applied to job after job in search of fast cash for his family.

Daichi took notice of Yuuto’s obvious absence, and grew worried for his friend’s wellbeing. After Yuuto’s class, Daichi waited outside of his classroom’s doors to try and talk to Yuuto about his sudden leave. “Yuuto!” Daichi called out, as soon as his eyes landed upon the bony boy exiting the classroom. Yuuto’s eyes flitted towards the origin of the voice, and his own gaze landed on Daichi.

He stopped in his footsteps - causing the other students to file out of the classroom around his rooted body. Daichi shuffled through the crowd of students before reaching his friend in his fixed position. “Daichi…” Yuuto said under his breath as his friend jogs over to him, “I’m so sorry, Daichi. I should have told you, but everything happened so suddenly, and I-”

“Yuuto,” Daichi interrupted lightly, as he placed his hands atop of Yuuto’s shoulders, “Take a breath, man! It’s okay, I swear! I’m just glad you’re okay. Whatever happened, you don’t have to tell me - if it’s too personal. But I’m here for you, okay? Just remember that.” Daichi’s assuring words immediately made the weight on Yuuto’s shoulders and in his chest dissipate into thin air.

Yuuto sighed a breath of relief, glad he didn’t offend his only close friend by disappearing unannounced. The two friends began walking down the hallway side by side, as relief exuded from both boy’s expressions.

Mulling over it in his mind, Yuuto knew Daichi deserved to know what was going on in his life. But, laying all of this depressing information on him at once - in school, nonetheless - would be too heavy a burden to make Daichi worry about for no reason. Instead, Yuuto decided to let Daichi in on one of his many issues in his life.

“Hey, Daichi,” Yuuto spoke curiously, making an interested Daichi smile in response, “Do you know of any places that are hiring right now? I desperately need a job, or two… or three.” The question made Daichi’s eyebrows raise, and a mischievous smirk played upon his lips. “It’s funny you ask that, Yuuto,” He commented, his voice light and chaffing, “Because the robotics club actually offers an… internship, of sorts, to its esteemed members.”

Yuuto’s eyebrows scrunched together in confusion, but the vague reply made him curious as to what Daichi was implying. “Paid, of course… and it pays good,” Daichi added, the tone of his voice lowering at his input. Yuuto’s ears perked up at the statement - knowing money was all he needed in that moment. Daichi picked up the curious look on his friend’s face, and he took that as a means to continue.

“I’ll drive you over there after my last class today,” Daichi offered, as he stepped in front of Yuuto - walking backwards, “Meet me at my car at around five o’clock, okay? I’ll see you then!” Daichi turned on his heel and jogged down the hallway towards his next class, presumably. Yuuto watched Daichi’s retreating figure float down the hallway, and an excited smile found its way to his features.

As promised, Daichi drove Yuuto to his potential new job opportunity. Yuuto still had no clue as to what the job was or what it entailed, for Daichi remained adamant on keeping it a secret. However, Yuuto was brought on by a wave of surprise when Daichi put his car in park right outside of a retro-looking arcade.

“Well, come on!” Daichi cheered as he unbuckled his seat belt, “They’re waiting for us!” Yuuto followed his friend’s lead and exited the vehicle. He jogged over to Daichi’s new position at the doorway to the arcade, and questions began to circulate in his mind. Was this some lousy cashier job at a run down arcade? Was it some dumb mechanic job fixing the broken games?

Daichi opened the door and filed through the building, with Yuuto in tow. The bell overhead jingled as the two boys entered - signaling new customers have arrived. However, no one cared to look up from their presumably intense games throughout the arcade. Contrary to its rundown exterior, the arcade inside was very well-kempt, and there were quite a few customers enjoying the games.

Yuuto followed Daichi further into the arcade, still not knowing what this job entailed exactly. They reached the back of the large, open room, where the various arcade noises dimmed down to a muffled sound. Daichi stood before a short staircase in the back right corner of the room, and began scaling the steps. Did the job involve janitorial prerequisites? Was this more of an observation deck job for the arcade? Yuuto’s mind jumbled with questions as they reached a metal door at the bottom of the steps.

Daichi knocked seven times in a pattern - alerting the people inside of his approach. Suddenly, the door swung open, and a large, muscular man greeted the two boys at the door. His face was neutral, as he thoroughly stared through Daichi and Yuuto before allowing them to enter. Daichi nodded at the built man as he waltzed into the room. Yuuto ducked his head bashfully and out of fear of his new environment - still not knowing what to expect.

Bringing his gaze up again, Yuuto took in his surroundings. It was a decently sized room with dim lights overhead. Whether it was the fear clouding his eyes or just the poor lighting, there seemed to be a thin layer of smoke floating about the room. 

Tables upon tables of computers lined the room in positioned rows, and many of the tables were occupied by individuals hastily tapping away at the keyboards. They were each accompanied by an older adult - no one over the age of sixty, most likely. The scenery made Yuuto’s heart pound against his chest in worry, for this looked like some kind of sweatshop for technicians.

What did I get myself into?

“Daichi…” Yuuto called his friend nervously in a quiet voice, “What is this place, Daichi?!” Daichi turned to face Yuuto and saw the worried expression on his face. Twisting his full body around, Daichi put all of his attention onto his anxious friend. “Don’t be so nervous, Yuuto!” He assured, waving a hand in the air, “I’ve been working here for a year now, and I’ve been rolling in cash! Trust me, this place will grow on you.”

Yuuto heaved a heavy breath and nodded his head to Daichi’s words. “Okay, but still, what is this place?” Yuuto’s eyes dragged over his surroundings once more, gulping down a lump in his throat. “This place,” Daichi began, bringing his eyes to the room once more, “Is a society of computer technicians, of course!”

Yuuto’s eyes squinted at the vague response, but allowed Daichi to continue. “Each technician is picked by individual customers within our society’s clientele, and they find specific information at their client’s request! It’s really nothing major, Yuuto. The surroundings make it look a little shabby, but it’s good money.”

The pounding in Yuuto’s chest did not cease at Daichi’s explanation. If anything, it made it worse. Daichi noticed his continued look of weariness, and sighed at the sight. “Come on, Yuuto! Just jump right in, and you’ll see how easy it is!” Daichi jumped behind a frozen Yuuto, and guided him over to an empty computer near the front of the room.

“Mr. Abe will be your first client, okay? I’ll go get him for you!” Yuuto watched Daichi leave his side, and jog over towards a fat, greasy man lounging near a seated area in the far corner of the room. Pulling his eyes to the setup in front of him, Yuuto took in the technology set before him. The computer was not entirely outdated, but it definitely could use an upgrade. The keyboard was coated in a layer of oil and dust, and the mouse’s wire was broken and frayed.

Suddenly, Yuuto felt a hand roughly rest upon his weak shoulder. Nearly jumping out of his skin, he turned around to face the perpetrator. A man with unkempt facial hair and yellow teeth smiled down at Yuuto, and he rolled a toothpick between his unbrushed teeth. His receding hairline stared into Yuuto’s soul - begging him to take a peek.

“Yuuto Matsuo, huh?” The man - presumably Mr. Abe - questioned as he intently stared down Yuuto, “Let’s see if you’re any good as Daichi makes you out to be.” Yuuto gulped a persistent lump in his throat as sweat began to roll down both of his temples.

“I need you to look into the personal emails of Hina Nakaya - a teacher at Ikego Elementary School - and see if there are any… disreputable emails sent to their school’s principal, Hiroto Nakamura. Get it done within the hour, would you?”

Mr. Abe patted Yuuto’s back twice before setting off for the couch once more. Yuuto’s eyes were wide at the command, and he felt his hands shake subconsciously as he stared at the retreating man. From behind his turned head, Daichi offered some moral support, “Best way to start is turning on the computer!” Yuuto turned and offered him a look of sarcastic appreciation, and proceeded to turn on the computer.

About forty-five minutes later, Yuuto uncovered at least ten unseemly emails under Hina Nakaya’s name, all sent to Hiroto Nakamura. Mr. Abe stood behind Yuuto as the boy explained exactly what he found within her inbox.

“So, it seems Ms. Nakaya has been sending the principal, Mr. Nakamura, some…uhm…rather scandalous images in exchange for pay raises and bonuses. The exchanges happened on twelve different instances, Mr. Abe. Is this what you were looking for?”

Yuuto’s eyes peek over at Mr. Abe’s impressed face, searching for any hint of critique or reprimand he was about to receive. Instead, Mr. Abe smiled coarsely as his eyes stayed trained on the bleak and indecent screen before him. “Yes, Yuuto,” He spoke with a rigid and tight voice, “This is exactly what I was looking for. Now that bitch Hana will finally be fired, and that asshole Hiroto too.”

A weight lifted off of Yuuto’s heart as a breath of relief escaped past his lips. Standing from his hunched position, Mr. Abe reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. “You’re pretty good, you know that, kid?” Mr. Abe commented from behind Yuuto.

Grabbing a stack of bills, he placed the payment down onto the table in front of Yuuto. “One hundred thousand yen is good, right? Wasn’t too hard for you to do, I’m assuming.” Yuuto’s eyes went wide at the whopping amount of cash being given to him for such an easy task. Yuuto nodded his head, and Mr. Abe disappeared without another word. Yuuto looked to Daichi on his right, who offered a look that said: ‘I told you so’.

From that point on, Yuuto became that hacking society’s best technician. Clients waited weeks just for Yuuto to help them find the information they needed. He started skipping class in order to keep up with his demand, and in order to appease his multitude of clients. 

However, with the amount of money he was making, going to class was the least of his worries. Long hours at the back room of the arcade weighed upon Yuuto’s consciousness, and he put forth all his maintainable effort into this job.

One night, as Yuuto was leaving, he realized he had stayed so late that the arcade itself had closed without him even knowing. As he walked through the large, empty room, the neon lights ignited his dark complexion as he dragged himself across the carpeted floor. Chirps and beeps from the machines whirred through the air and tickled Yuuto’s tired ears.

He walked past a wide mirror upon the wall to his left, and he caught his gaze in the reflection. Stopping in his footsteps, Yuuto carried himself closer to the glass to observe himself in the reflection. Eyebags draped under his brown eyes, and chapped lips lined his frowning mouth. Subconsciously, tears began forming at the cracks of his tired eyes as he weakly stared himself down.

“What am I doing?” Yuuto whispered to himself, his voice full of disbelief and fear, “I could get arrested for this! I could have just worked at any other stupid place. So why am I here? How did I get here?!” His voice grew angrier and angrier at himself - as Yuuto realized how frustrated he was with his current situation.

Throwing his hands to the sides of his head, Yuuto curses himself out, “Stupid! It doesn’t matter whatever the hell you do, as long as you’re protecting your family, asshole! God, how selfish could you be?! You’re supposed to be the man of the house, and look at you! You’re crying like a little baby! Your family is more important than anything, even yourself!”

Yuuto closed the distance between him and the mirror, drawing his fist in the air. Unleashing a pent up yell, Yuuto smashes his fist into the glass. Shards of glass flew past his desperate expression and scattered upon the floor. His breathing unhinged, Yuuto stared back at the singular piece of reflective material left on the wall.

“Don’t you dare forget the people you’re doing this for,” Yuuto reminded himself in a deep, low tone, “They’re all you have left. They need you. Stop being such a screw-up and keep a goddamned roof over their head, for fuck’s sake. Is that too much to ask for?!” Yuuto’s sneakers crunched the broken glass beneath his feet as he backed away from the wall. Waltzing towards the exit, Yuuto made his way back home.

The next night, the air felt different in that back room. Something - unbeknownst to Yuuto or anyone else working in that tense, dim room - was off. Despite that looming feeling, Yuuto persisted in his work. Tapping away on his keyboard, completing requests from the never-ending list of clients he had. Daichi worked just as hard at the table to his left, sweating up a storm, one might observe.

Just as things seemed to be going according to the status quo, the metal entrance fell down in a great clamor in front of Yuuto. Jumping out of his skin, Yuuto’s sight darted to the noise before him. Realizing the situation at hand, Yuuto’s eyes peeled open as his mouth parted in fear. Looking to his left, Daichi held the same terrified expression upon his face.

Before he knew it, a bullet went through Daichi’s left temple, and flew out of his right. From the momentum, the boy fell backwards into his folding chair - and his eyes held a foggy emptiness that only meant one thing: Daichi Noguchi was dead. An extreme wave of fear and horror crept into Yuuto and laid upon his petrified features. Screams sounded throughout the room, and people began running towards the exit - hoping to escape.

However, Yuuto’s initial reaction was to cower beneath his desk - hiding out of sight from the intruders. As he squatted beneath his desktop, he stared into the lifeless eyes of his best friend and coworker. The feeling that washed over him almost felt taunting - a bullying emotion that blamed Yuuto for Daichi’s death. And, in the back of Yuuto’s mind, he agreed with that nagging emotion.

Hundreds of bullets pierced the air and rammed into his fellow coworkers’ bodies as they ran a muck throughout the room. Papers were flying, desks were turned over, and blood curdling screams scratched at Yuuto’s eardrums as he sat helplessly under his desk. His hands found solace against the sides of his head, though they shook with a powerless fear against his ears.

Soon, the tsunami of bullets ceased, as did the hysteric sound of screams from his coworkers. Now, the only thing Yuuto could hear were the settling papers that were sent adrift in the air, and the heavy footsteps approaching the massacre in the room in front of the intruders. The pounding of their boots vibrated against the floor, and the sensation reached Yuuto’s tensely sitting figure.

A pair of legs walked right to Yuuto - almost as if they expected him to be there. Out of reflex, the person drew a pistol from their waistband and cocked it at the cowering Yuuto. Having his life hanging by a thread, Yuuto poured out of the concave of his desk, and fell into a bow on the floor. “Please!” He begged, sobs choking his throat as he screamed his words, “Please don’t kill me! I’m begging you, please!”

No bullets escaped the barrel of the gun pointed directly at the pathetic boy, so Yuuto took that as an opportunity to continue pleading for his life.

“I’m supposed to protect my family! She can’t go through this again! They’re all I have left, please! I never wanted to do this, I promise! I swear! I just needed the money, that’s all it was! I need to protect my family! Please, please don’t-”

“Money?” The feminine voice questioned, interrupting Yuuto’s cries, “Where are you getting money from? They’re paying you for this?!” Yuuto looked up, but continued bowing his full body to the woman in front of him. A girl with wild black and white hair confusedly and angrily stared down at the hysteric Yuuto beneath her. A black face covering hid her nose and mouth, but Yuuto was still able to hear her commanding voice.

Frozen in shock, Yuuto forgot to answer her demanding question. Because of this, the woman continued, “What was their goal? Train all of you naïve college students up, give you a little pocket change for your troubles, and then force you to hack into the government against your will?! Is that it, huh? Is that where the money fits in?!”

Tears continued to stream down Yuuto’s face as he stared up at the woman in front of him. Yuuto shook his head confusedly - having no idea what she was talking about. “I-I was just a technician here. I hacked… into other people’s computers for m-money. That’s all it was. I never h-heard anything about the government s-stuff…” Yuuto managed to explain through his sobs, causing the woman to scrunch her eyebrows together.

“Of course you didn’t know, stupid,” She said, readjusting her aim at Yuuto, “If you knew their real goal, you never would have joined, would you?” Yuuto returned to his cowering position and groaned out a fearful noise, “I promise I didn’t know! Please don’t shoot! Please, my Mom, my sisters… I need to protect them!”

The woman’s face scrunched in hesitation as her barrel pointed directly at the bowing man’s head. “Stop that!” She yelled out in frustration, “Stop making this harder than it has to be, damnit!” Yuuto continued to cry on the floor, squinting his eyes shut. Another pair of footsteps waltzed over to the scene - the floor beneath Yuuto shook as they approached.

“Junko?” A male voice asked softly, “Are you okay? Do you want me to do it?” At the question, Yuuto began pleading once again through his sobs, “No! Please, I’m begging you! I never wanted any part of this stuff! It was all for my family! Please!”

The woman groaned in exasperation, and fell onto the floor on her backside, in front of the bowing Yuuto. The action caused Yuuto to look up, and he watched the woman hang her head at her neck, and place her glove-clad hands upon her face in shame. “No, Ren, it’s okay,” She said, though her voice was muffled by her hands, “We aren’t killing him.”

Yuuto raised himself onto his hands, as his face conveyed an emotion filled with disbelief. Then, the woman drew her head up and out of her hands. Her pale blue eyes latched onto Yuuto’s, and she stared straight into his brown ones.

“He’s gonna be our tech dog, now,” Junko declared, standing up from the floor, “You’re a computer guy, right? We could use one of those.” Junko threw out her free hand towards Yuuto, and offered him help. Accepting her branched arm, he hoisted himself up from off the floor. “What’s your name?” The woman asked the bewildered Yuuto.

“Yuuto Matsuo…”

“Well, Yuuto Matsuo, welcome to the Tokyo Prefectural Police Department. Unless you would rather us kill you here, that would be okay too. At least we’re giving you options, here.” Yuuto violently shook his head in fear, and proceeded to bend into a bow towards the woman who spared his life. “Thank you… so much…”

“You shouldn’t thank me just yet, Yuuto. You’re still a criminal in my book,” The woman replied, heading towards the door in which she brutally entered, “And… you haven’t met the rest of the Task Force. They’ll definitely take some getting used to, just a heads up.”

The three officers walked out of the blood and death-filled room with a newfound emotion in their chests. The woman turned around to face Yuuto as she walked. “Oh, and don’t worry about the money. This is a government job, so it’ll be a steady income. Your mom and your sisters will be fine. If anything, they’ll never be more protected with us around.”