Raiaki prequel, part one

Darkness.  She could remember nothing but darkness, and that was all she knew, even now.

“Are you awake?”

She opened her eyes only to squeeze them shut again against the intense glare of the lights.  She stretched and sat up, her eyes slowly adjusting to the brightness of the room.  The place she was in looked much like an operating room in a hospital.  No windows.  There was no escape.

“Ah, good,” said a man in a white lab coat and thick glasses, standing next to the newly awoken girl.  His hair was dark and greasy, pulled back into a ponytail.

“Where…am I?” asked the girl, realizing that not only did she have no idea where she was, she had no idea who she was.

“You’re in the government headquarters.  You know the government, right?”

The girl nodded.  She did indeed remember the government, despite knowing nothing about herself.  How strange.  Something in her mind screamed that they were terrible, but she couldn’t put her finger on the reason.

“We found you,” said the man, whom the girl decided was a scientist.  “You were in the streets in the city.  You probably have amnesia; am I correct?”

Another nod confirmed the scientist’s theory, the girl not bothering to wonder how he had guessed.  Name, name, what was her name?  She searched every corner of her mind, but nothing came.

“Our sources tell us that you go by the name Raine,” continued the scientist, as if reading her mind.  “But that’s all the information we have.”

Raine, not really knowing whether to trust this smirking scientist with hair that needed washing, decided that she might as well let them call her Raine if that was what their “sources” said.  Besides, Raine was a nice name.  It seemed to fit.

“As long as you’re here, Raine, we figured you would like to stay.  There are several people here your age who would love to have you around.”

Raine looked at the scientist skeptically, but said nothing.

“Since we don’t know where you live or who your family is, it might be the best choice for now.”  The scientist spoke now with the slightest hint of impatience in his voice.  “You’ll stay, won’t you?”

Raine bit her lip, mulling it over in her mind.  He was right, she didn’t have much of a choice, as it stood.  She nodded.  This seemed to please the scientist.  He smiled a smile that was as greasy as his hair.

“Come with me,” he said.  He then turned and led Raine to a door that she was sure had not been there before.  They walked down a hallway, empty and silent except for the click of their shoes against the tile.  Raine wanted to stop and look around a little, but she felt it wouldn’t be right to ask.  So, they continued walking until they came to an elevator with many numbers above it. They ran in two long rows above the door, lighting up in green as the elevator passed each one.

One hundred floors, Raine thought.  This is an amazing building. Not two seconds later did the elevator door open and the pair walked inside.  Raine only had to wonder briefly which floor they would be visiting, before the scientist pushed the button with a small eighty on it.

Raine frowned at the floor.  What would lie beyond the doors when they opened? Friends?  Enemies?  Whoever, or whatever they were would have to do, because right now she had nothing.  Nothing at all, and then the doors opened and they were greeted by a table full of befuddled faces.

“Hello, everyone,” said the scientist, his voice considerably cheerier than earlier.  Raine only briefly thought that it sounded fake.  The people who he addressed as everyone stayed silent, their eyes fixed on the new girl before them.  The scientist continued, “This is Raine; she’ll be joining you all.”

“How old is she?” asked a blonde girl with soft curls, leaning over the table to get a better look at Raine.

“Thirteen,” Raine blurted out without thinking.  She clapped her hands over her mouth quickly, unsure as to where her voice had come from.  She looked up at the scientist and a smirk spread slowly across his face.

“Yes,” he replied, his eyes locked on hers for a moment, before he turned back to the group of people.  “She’s thirteen years old.”

“Everyone’s older than I am!” whined the blonde girl and pouted, crossing her arms and plopping back into her seat.  Raine lowered her eyes to the floor, feeling unwelcome already.

“Emily, don’t be unfriendly to our new companion.”

Raine looked up from the floor to see who had spoken.  He was a tall, stunningly handsome boy with long, night black hair tied in the back.  His smile and posture oozed confidence.  Raine stared at him.  He was confident, for sure, but not quite arrogant.  His voice emitted the same nearly conceited tone.  He looked at her and her heart jumped.

“I’m Kuroken,” he said with a charismatic smile that no doubt turned any girl into a puddle.

“I’m Isamu!” said a boy with bright red hair sticking up in every direction, who looked much younger than he actually was.  

“My name’s Aoi,” said a girl a bit younger than Kuroken.  She had smooth black hair that was braided neatly.

“And I’m Ian,” replied the last boy in the room, who seemed to be the same age as the previous two, with light brown hair that was longer on one side than it was on the other.  He smiled.

“Nice to meet you,” said Raine quietly, giving them a weak smile.  Inspecting them, she noticed that every one had a weapon with them.  The boy named Kuroken had twin swords in two sheaths, Emily had a single sword, Ian carried two pistols, Aoi had several whips and chains, and Isamu had a small tube attached to his waist.

“Now then, Raine will need to be taught,” the scientist was saying.  “Would any of you like to volunteer?”

“I will,” said Kuroken and smirked.  “I’ve always wanted to teach someone.  This could be my chance.”

“Alright,” said the scientist wearily, exhausted already of dealing with Raine’s business.  “Raine, stay with Kuroken.  He’ll explain things to you.”  Then to Kuroken, he said, “What rooms are unoccupied?”

“Well,” replied Kuroken, who Raine decided was the leader of the group, “Emily and Aoi share a room, as do Isamu and Ian.  I’m alone in my room, and the rest are empty.”

“It wouldn’t do to give her a room alone,” said the scientist.  “Raine, you’ll share a room with Kuroken.”  He waved his hand, now only vaguely interested since he had accomplished his tasks.

Raine nodded.  The scientist then pushed the button on the elevator and disappeared inside, leaving Raine alone in front of five strangers.

“Well don’t just stand there,” said Kuroken.  “Come and sit down.  We’re just eating dinner.”

Raine walked over to the table cautiously and sat at the nearest seat, next to Emily and across from Ian.  An empty plate was slid to her and she suddenly discovered that she was starving.  From the plethora of food spread across the table, she took a biscuit, a few pieces of steaming broccoli, a piece of chicken, and a slice of buttery toast.  She then immediately began eating, minding her manners and listening to the conversation at the table.

“How did your job go last night, Aoi?” asked Isamu, his words slightly slurred between bites of fish.  “I heard you got injured.”

“Not badly,” replied Aoi, sipping a cup of coffee and eating only a piece of toast with some kind of jam on it.  She ignored the fact that he was talking with his mouth full.  “The president had security waiting and I didn’t expect as many as he had.  It turned out alright, though.  They weren’t much of a challenge.”

“So it was a success?” asked Emily giddily, bouncing up and down in her seat.

“Yes.”

“Ooh, it sounds so exciting!  I can’t wait to go on my first mission!”  Emily squealed and bounced again.

“Calm down, Emily,” said Kuroken. “This isn’t a game, you know.”

“You know,” said Ian, quickly changing the subject, “I heard there was a new kid hanging around the upper floors.”

“Why would they hire a kid?” asked Isamu, his mouth now stuffed with bread.

“Who knows?” Ian snapped back, annoyed at being interrupted.  “He’s been doing stuff like delivering paper work and trash duty.”

“Poor kid,” said Emily.  “He’ll be doing that for the rest of his life.”

“Not necessarily,” Ian replied.  “He could still get promoted.  He’s pretty young, from what I’ve heard.  Almost as young as you.”  Ian touched his finger to the tip of Emily’s nose.  “His name’s Daisuke.”

“Daisuke?” said Raine suddenly.  “I think I’ve heard that somewhere.”

“You probably heard it from one of the people upstairs,” said Ian.  “They gossip a lot up there.”  He wrinkled his nose and started munching a cob of corn.

Raine frowned.  She hadn’t met anyone but the scientist.  But, she did have a horrible headache from not eating.  She rubbed her forehead and scooped more food into her mouth.

“Something wrong?” asked Kuroken, noticing her distress.

“My head just hurts a bit,” said Raine, appreciating his concern.  She smiled honestly for the first time that day.  “It’s probably from not eating.  I can’t remember when I had a meal this good.”

Kuroken didn’t seem pleased with this explanation.  He scowled, making sure to keep his eye on her for the rest of the meal.  Finally, when the conversation drifted to trivial matters, like who would be cooking breakfast the next morning, Kuroken stood up, brushing crumbs from his clothes.

“Come with me, Raine,” he said.  “We have some things to go over.”  Without even making sure she was following, Kuroken rose and started towards the elevator.  He pushed the button and the chamber behind the doors growled, coming to life.

Raine did follow; she hopped up from her seat, waved to the rest of the table and ran to join Kuroken in the elevator.  He pressed the button marked eighty-one and the doors closed with a small bell sound.  The energetic chattering of the lounge disappeared and there was quiet in its stead.  Raine really wished Kuroken would say something; she was uncomfortable with the heavy silence.  He, however, seemed unfazed and simply stared off at something she couldn’t see.

“Amnesia?” he asked so suddenly that Raine jumped.

“Y-Yeah,” she replied, rather shaken.  “I don’t know about myself at all…”  She paused, her mouth contorting in thought.  “What about you?  Do you have amnesia, too?”

Kuroken laughed at this; Raine scowled in reply.  It wasn’t that ridiculous a thing to suggest.  She had only just met him, after all.

“I guess you could say that,” Kuroken said, staring at the crack in the elevator doors.  The elevator made the bell sound again and they left the elevator to find themselves in a hallway.  But unlike the cold, unfriendly passage that Raine had walked down earlier, this one was warm and welcoming.  It had soft, olive green carpeting and slightly lighter green walls.  There were many paintings on them: of daunting grey skyscrapers against the blue sky, of ships in the Arctic, of intricate metalwork.  At the far end Raine could see a small lounge, consisting of a few leather chairs and a fireplace.  That’s weird, she thought.  You wouldn’t think of an office building having chimneys.

Kuroken led her to the end of the hall, and began unlocking a door with his name on it.  They went inside and Raine’s face promptly sank into a sour expression.

The room was a mess.  Clothes and stray pieces of paper littered the floor, the sheets on the bed looked as if they hadn’t been made in weeks.  A desk— if it could still be called a desk—sat in the opposite corner from the bed next to the window.  Stacked on it were papers and pens, in complete disarray.  Books were falling off the bookshelf and the closet door looked as if it was about to burst open.  Raine wondered if it would be dangerous to open it.

On the opposite wall of the first bed was a second, identical to the first but in much neater order.  Well, that is, if you ignored the gigantic mound of trash on it.  Raine wondered if Kuroken had heard of a handy little invention called a trash can.  Apparently not, since there wasn’t one in sight.

“What?” asked Kuroken flatly, not seeming to notice the mess.  He was probably used to it already.  “Are you going to come in, or just stand there?”

Raine walked inside, carefully dodging piles of things on the floor.  “This room is very messy,” she said bluntly.

“You think so?”  Kuroken looked at her as this thought had not occurred to him. He scanned the room.  “I guess it does seem a little cluttered.”

“A little?” Raine croaked, but Kuroken didn’t hear.

“Well, I never have time to clean,” he continued, not seeming to care about defending his untidiness.

“Is that so?” asked Raine, inspecting the closet door.

“I wouldn’t touch that if I were you,” Kuroken said cautiously as Raine began to open the door.  Before she was able to, however, it burst open to reveal a rather large pile of more clothes.  They toppled out of the closet and Raine was soon buried under them.

“This is outrageous!” she said, peering into the closet, now empty except for a squat refrigerator and a box with drawers in it.  She stared at the refrigerator from her prison under the pile of mess.  It glared back at her with its stark white front.  Above it was a rack to put clothes on, but its only residents were a few lonely hangers.  They clicked together forlornly.

Kuroken pouted.  “Well, you don’t have to insult it. I told you, I never have time.”  Then, an idea struck him and he smiled evilly.  “You may have time though, given that you won’t have much work for a while.”

“Eh?”  

“You’ll clean the room, if you find it so repulsive, won’t you, Raine?” he asked with a certain charm to his voice.

“I guess,” said Raine reluctantly, digging herself out from the pile of junk.  “What do you mean, I won’t have much work for a while?  What kind of work?”

“Oh, they didn’t tell you?” Kuroken’s frown returned.  “I thought they would have.  You’ll have to be trained first, of course, and then they’ll start you on missions with me.  Eventually, you’ll be able to go on missions by yourself, but for a while—”

“Wait, wait,” Raine said, cutting him off.  “Slow down.  Missions?  Training?  What are you talking about?” Raine asked, genuinely puzzled.  “Missions for the government?”

“Well, yes,” said Kuroken.  “That’s our job.  We’re the government’s squad of assassins.”

“What!?” Raine shrieked, but Kuroken merely stared at her.  “You…you kill people?”

Kuroken nodded.

“And all the people I met, they kill people too?”

Another nod.

Raine fell back onto the pile of junk that was the second bed.  “I don’t believe this.  I must be dreaming.  This is a nightmare, a horrib1e nightmare.”  Before she knew it, tears welled up in her eyes, but she just stared blankly at the ceiling, even when they began rolling down her face, leaving wet trails down her cheeks.

Kuroken sat on the bed next to the brunette and looked down at her with unexpected sympathy.  She glared.  She didn’t want sympathy from someone like him.  He simply ignored her glower and sighed.

“Raine, I know this isn’t what you want.  It isn’t what any of us wanted.  But…”  He leaned down to whisper in her ear.  “They won’t let you go.  It’s too late for that.  You do what they tell you, or you die.”  He sat up straight again.  “It’s your choice, Raine.  Do what they say and you’ll be fine, but if you refuse them…”  He shook his head as he trailed off.  “I don’t want to think of what they’d do to you.”  He checked his watch, and it seemed to alarm him.  “Sorry, Raine, I’m going to be late for an important job if I stay any longer.”  He stood up and was halfway out the door before he spoke again.  Leaning back inside, he said, “You can look around anywhere on this floor and the one below it, but don’t wander.  I’ll be back later.”  And with that, he was gone, his dark ponytail trailing behind.

And all Raine could think was how she wished she would wake up in a bed in a home that she couldn’t even remember.