《Noir:》 Prologue (Nozumi Henri) 18:00 "Ah, you''re awake." Someone addressed me while I was still half awake with my eyes still shut tight. Upon opening my eyes, I tried identifying the person who addressed me, made sense of my current situation and surroundings. I was in a sort of an infirmary and next to me was a woman. She was a Briton, appearing to be in her twenties. Her attire was a simple suit and tie with a pair of rectangular spectacles. Unlike many of the foreigners I had met, she was shorter and looked younger than her current age. She had a pretty nice body too, average sized breasts and a long slender neck. Her face, on the other hand, captivated me. She had a face of an angel with blue eyes as the Caribbean Sea complemented with her long wavy long blond hair. "Would you happen to speak English?" She asked haltingly in clumsy Japanese and in a nervous tone. I nodded and gave her a smile as a sign of cooperation. She scribbled something then turn her attention back to me. Julia: W-would you mind answering some question?Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. ¡°Sure¡­" I answered with a confusing smile. * Our conversation lasted about half a day as we exchange laughs and information. She told me that I was found during a raid on a terrorist compound in a dark confined room. I did recall some of the events as we exchanged information. The echoes of my voice bounced off the walls as I spent my days in confinement, the conversations of adults standing on the other side of the door, the thoughts I had in mind and the thing that kept trying to choke me when I was bound in that room. After a long period of questioning and answering, I finally reached my peak and I was feeling nauseous so I asked her to end the session. Finishing the notes she had on hand, she finally said that we were done for the day and headed out giving me a kiss on the forehead. It was a thank you for my cooperation she said. I said goodbye to her as she left the room. I then laid myself down on my bed as I tried to recall the events that happened in the past. Closing my eyes, a flash of events went through my mind including weird numbers and phrases in which I couldn''t understand. * Suddenly, I heard a static sound combined with illegible counts of numbers. Opening my eyes, I saw a dark slender figure slowly making its way towards me. I couldn''t make out its face for the room was too dark to even see a thing. It finally arrived at the side of my bed, I prepared myself for its sudden attack. Reaching for my neck, it suddenly tried to strangle me. Pushing it two cold lifeless hands on my chest bone, it then slowly squeezes into my trachea and its two pairs of fingers pushing hard against my spine. "HELP!! PLEASE HELP ME!!" I shouted as the pair of hands started squeezing around my neck, stopping me from yelling out. As the hands squeeze tighter and tighter, my voice began to become smaller. My vision started to blur, my limb felt loose, I was slowly losing consciousness. "H-help¡­me¡­" Letting go of my last few words, I then fell unconscious hoping for the better. Chapter 1: Late night health check (Julia Bron) - May 15 2040. ICTF covert operations FOB. 21:00 *Julia Bron came to check on Nozumi after his interview with her earlier that day. Stepping out of her Chevrolet with a bag of various things bought from the nearby convenience store. Walking through the sliding door I was greeted by Niko. Niko was an acquaintance of mine, she worked as a medic for the JSDF during the riot days. This wasn''t the first time I came in late, I always came in late at night to check on the patients whom I rescued or registered for the military hospital. "Another late night checkup Julia?" She started. "Yea and also here''s the magazine you always asked me to buy." I opened my bag to give her the magazine she wanted. "Oh JB the angel of death. Who are you visiting this hour? Tell me about whom you are visiting right about now, is he a hottie?!" "Is anyone I see need to be a hottie? It''s one of the children we rescued from the R&D camp. He had been on IV for 3 months now, figure I buy him some instant noodles or something if he wakes up midnight." "Fine but at least find a guy before you hit the bucket okay?" Niko says "Gee thanks. I''ll make sure to find someone to screw before getting shot" As usual, my conversation with Niko tends to be about guys. However, I never had any interest in them anyway, I only wanted to keep her company every now and then in her shift. She had always taken care of me when I bruised myself during morning drills. "I''ll be going off now" "Yea, yea. Oh and take this kettle with you, he''ll need to boil water to eat instant ramen." "Thank you, I''ll be going¡­" "Wait a minute! Here are some fresh bed sheets and pillow casings." "Niko-san I don''t think that boys his age would easily wet their pants." "No, I didn''t mean that. I meant that I want you to change the bed sheets after you two F-U-¡­" JB: "OIIIIIIII! I''mma have to stop you right there, I just met him and I''m not into ¡°shota¡±. Common¡­he''s younger than me!" Niko: ¡°Well say that to the boy you liked back during our first year.¡± ¡­This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. And of course, Niko wouldn''t be Niko without her dirty jokes about men and my looks on them. Despite being the older woman here, Niko is rather childish and more vulgar than me. She teased me about everything from me being too shy to make a move on guys to the fact that I''m the only virgin in the squad. This was no exception, so like usual I just brushed her off with the practical approach that I''m way too old for the kid and he''s only 14, kids that age wouldn''t find me attractive. Niko: "Jeez¡­ you''re gonna die a virgin. Well just take the bed sheets in case he wets his bed." JB: "Thanks and have a nice night Niko." Finishing my last words, I then left Niko for her magazine reading time and made my way to the kid''s bedroom to check on him. According to Asako''s mission dossier, the kid was found in a very bad state both physically and mentally. It''s really a miracle that he was able to speak have such a calm demeanor when talking to me earlier that day rather than panicking and beating the crap out of two of our best men when Asako rescued him. Knocking out two of the team''s best men and in a dress, a bleeding dress before blacking out due to the lack of vitamin. The kid had skills, it was astonishing to even see such skills in combat, at such a small age though, she wrote. Thanks to my knowledge of psychology, I was able to recognize the symptom the boy had been exhibiting in the dossier. It was possible that the boy had been exposed to extreme violence which then combined with guilt from certain trauma in life that made him vulnerable to the brainwashing of terrorists. This theory was later concluded through clinical inspection of most of the children we rescued from raids in such conditions. Children who experienced the deaths of their parents, children who came from warring countries that were later taken in by the terrorist organization all exhibit the same reaction to those who approached them, most of these children were not able to talk or at least exhibited any emotional expression for a long period of time. This was the first case that a kid whom we rescued was able to talk and express some emotional expression, he must be pretty special to be able to retain his emotion after such horrific atrocities. My flow of thought was then stopped by the slim cries of help coming from the boy''s room. "Help¡­Help me¡­.." Ending my monologue and thoughts right there, I sprinted straight to the kid''s room, hoping that I would arrive in time before it''s too late. Upon opening the door, I found the boy trying to choke himself with his bare hands while mumbling weird numeric sequences. Running to action, I tried preventing his self-suffocation. I then tried calling Niko through the landlines. The kid was panicking beyond consolation. He landed a kick or two on me when Niko and I tried to give him anesthetic shots. After he calmed down, I took Niko outside to discuss with her about the boy''s current condition. JB: "What''s wrong with him Niko? And why is he beating himself up in his sleep? However it didn''t appear that he was sleeping at all, his eyes were vaguely opened and he was still conscious to stop himself and yell for help. Based on the results from scans his brain seems to not suffer any injuries nor any abnormality." Niko: "Like you said, he was pretty much normal till now. He did sometimes cry and let out a small laugh during his coma. However, he had never shown responses when our nurses or doctors interact with him. This was the first night of him being conscious right? Maybe he saw or heard something from his dreams or thoughts that led him to self-suffocation." JB: "Yeah you''re right, the kid might have experienced quite an ordeal, and his mind might still be pretty scrambled after all that. Oh and he was mumbling these numbers, what do you think that they were supposed to be." Niko: "Beats me. You''re the smart one here, it might be a code of some sort." Writing down the "codes" I obtained from the boy, I then asked Niko to get her eye on him as I make my way to the Intel room. Chapter 2: Reminiscene (Asako Himeri) -Asako Himeri, one of the finest cadets ever enrolled in the JSDF academy and was later recruited by the ICTF. She has gone on many operations ever since she was 15. She was always accompanied by her mentor and lover Dino Paprizo till his disappearance on operation Arrowhead.- (A chill ran down Asako''s spine as she awakes from her nightly sleep.) "Tch..." Waking up, I then made my way towards the drawers to take my daily medicine. "Bleh! This taste as bad as always. Well, no used mourning over the dead, It''s a new day after all. " Finishing my thoughts, I then took my time putting on my suit. Not my favourite thing to wear, but today''s a special day, the opening ceremony for the cadets and I also have to meet the kid I just rescued. I wanted to make a good impression so first thing after suiting up, I went to the infirmary where Niko just transferred to. Julia was on the scene, appearing to be chatting with Niko while having coffee in the lounge. Asako: "Morning Julia! What are ya¡¯ll talking ¡®bout?¡± Julia: "Oh hello, Asako¡­I''m afraid that I have some bad news." Upon hearing her saying bad news, I took a chair next to our desk and sat straight down. With a firm voice, I then asked her. Asako: "What''s wrong?" Julia: "About 23:00 yesterday, he had a schizophrenic freak-out" Asako: "Why would he do that?" In unison, Niko and Julia said. "We don''t know." Julia then continued. "The recent MRI scan showed us that the boy had Schizophrenia." Julia then gave me 2 MRI pictures and asked. Julia: "What do you see in this?" Asako: "Well, these two black spots are different in sizes?" Julia: "Correct! These two black spots are the amygdala of the human brain. The recent size of the amygdala shows us the fact that the boy has schizophrenia." Asako: "Wait the previous result didn''t show that?" Niko: "No, it didn''t. Apparently, his slight amnesia contributed to this. During the interview with him, the boy experienced spacing outs and emotional stress. Maybe the pictures and files reminded him of something or at least restore some of his memory fragments." Asako: "So what you are saying is that the boy remembered something bad or had some sort of illusion or delusion that made him behaved like that?" Julia: "Pretty much, and the schizophrenia was hinted because of his blunted emotional expression this morning. He didn''t react to my jokes like yesterday and was not even able to give out flirtatious responses." Asako: "Yeah, I hear you¡­Well, let''s lighten up the mood, we¡¯ll have to give a speech later so let¡¯s keep our head straight. Niko-senpai you are fairly quiet today, how come?" Niko: "Well¡­I didn''t want to interrupt your talks and also I''m just a nurse, I mostly take care of the patients rather than look in something as deep as analyzing data and all that. Plus besides, I didn''t want to tick Julia off with my virgin jokes about her." Julia: "HEY! It''s not funny. At least, I still retain my lady innocence and not like you!" And so their tantrum about the purity of a maiden continued on till the opening ceremony. Part 2 Walking down the marble pathway, the two women kept going with their fierce argument about being experienced and being pure while I read the schedule for the opening ceremony. Asako: ¡°Hey JB-senpai¡­what¡¯s ¡°operation wet and dirty¡± for the male cadets?¡± Julia: ¡°Wait...WHAT?!¡± Asako: ¡°I mean behind the two schedules, there is a signed form by Niko stated to be mission Afterglow?¡± I finished the sentence and pointed my finger at the headline of the page. In unison, we both read out loud the lines stated on schedule. ¡°Operation Wet and dirty¡­¡­¡­¡­.more experience in manipulation¡­¡­¡­¡­..seducing¡­¡­¡­¡­.¡± ¡°ENOUGH ALREADY!¡± Without even finishing the dossier, Julia then grabbed Niko by the arm and asked her about the operation. ¡°I¡¯m just gonna say this once¡­WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?!¡± ¡°Oh¡­hehe¡­you see¡­I thought the kids would by far acquire¡­ahem¡­new experiences¡­Am I right¡­Asako?¡± ¡°Eh?... me? Well, I think It¡¯ll be good if the cadets are able to learn new experience if it¡¯s beneficial to their future operations.¡± ¡°WELL, I STRONGLY BELIEVE THAT THEY HAVEN¡¯T NEED THAT SORT OF SKILL SET YET!!!¡± The argument then continued like always. These two had been at it for a long time now, ever since the academy. (However, the subjects of their arguments varies and changed from time to time.) -6 years ago- August 15, 2034. Shinjuku Cadet program school. ¡°I¡¯m finally going to see you again¡­Dino.¡± I said to myself I walked through the large gates of the academy, high hopes filled my innocent mind as I was excited to once again meet my beloved Dino. As I was daydreaming about meeting Dino, I accidentally bumped into another cadet and fell on my butt. ¡°OW!¡± ¡°Hey, Niko watch where you¡¯re going would ya.¡± ¡°SorrygottagoI¡¯mlate¡± As soon as she finishes her sentence, the cadet in white ran with her medic bag across the long Turning herself at me, she then gave me her hand and asked. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.¡°I¡¯m sorry about Niko, she slept in today so she¡¯s late for her homeroom session. Are you ok?¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m ok.¡± Pulling me to my feet, she then kneed down and helped me with my luggage ¡°The name¡¯s Julia, Julia Bron. What yours, my fair lady?¡± ¡°Asako¡­it''s Asako Himeri.¡± ¡°Well, Asako I¡¯ll help you your luggage. Call it a favour, I¡¯ll need help sometimes too so I¡¯ll take note of this ok?¡± ¡°Wait what about yours?¡± ¡°It¡¯s alright I pack light like I only have this mini bag.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°Shall we?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± And with that Julia helped me with my luggage and later introduced me to Niko ¡°OI! Niko you owe this fine lady an apology for this morning.¡± ¡°Oh yeah, sorry about that. Sorry¡± ¡°What¡¯s with the half-ass apology?!¡± Walking over to Niko as she was reading a pair of PX magazine, Julia then grabbed her hand and made her stood up straight. ¡°N-O-W A-P-O-L-O-G-I-S-E!!¡± ¡°OK! OK! STOP SLOWLY SPELLING THINGS OUT AND GAZING ME WITH THOSE DEAD FISH-EYES OF YOURS! I¡¯ll do it¡­just stop with the eyes and the slow talking.¡± Taking a deep breath she then sincerely said sorry to me. Since then we were the popular trio both for our skills and charismatic charms, most notably Julia and Niko, they were in the sights of every boy in their class. Quickly we were able to rise to the rank of Private first class due to our involvement in the crowd control mission in Ginza square. We remained as a fire team for 2 years before going our separate ways. Now, coming back to our roots, we attended JSDF cadet course as veteran instructors while still being a part of our own PMCs. -Opening ceremony. Welcome junior cadets of the JSDF.- The sound of cadets chatters, loud footstep made by combats boots and the cold morning wind gave me a slight reminiscence of the old times when we still had our innocence. ¡°Hey, Asako...Oi. Kid, A-chan¡­¡± ¡°EH?! Uh, what? Oh, what¡¯s wrong JB.¡± ¡°You had been spacing out a lot this morning is something wrong?¡± ¡°Nah. It¡¯s nothing. I¡¯m just tired, I didn¡¯t really have a good night sleep from last night¡­¡± ¡°Well if you say so then ok. Because you¡¯re gonna deliver the first speech so¡­¡± ¡°Yeah yeah I got ya. I¡¯ll review the speech now.¡± Snapping off from my thoughts, I then shifted my focus back to the file of paper I had on hand. Arriving at the opening ceremony, after the praising of old cadets and operatives, I was then given the chance to give my speech. Carefully and loudly, I gave my speech in fluent English. Finishing my speech, I got a round of applause from the cadets with their admiration for us. If only they knew what they were getting themselves into. Part 4: I just want to forget¡­ -3 hours later after the ceremony- As the ceremony finished, I went to the dressing room to change out of my sweat-drenched suit. I had never been a fan of suits and such. They tend to overheat when the temperature is too hot. After a short period of time I was able to change to my shirt and skirt then made my way to the cafeteria since I was famished. The cafeteria was as I remembered, the smell of precooked MREs and the loud noises of chatting and eating. Getting my ration, I then found the booth where Niko and JB were residing and had lunch with them like any day. Sure my presence was mostly unknown for most of the time when we attend lunch or dinner, but I still enjoyed their company. It had always been like this, I didn¡¯t mind though. Like always, I managed to finish my portion first and went to my dorm room. ¡°Welcome back Asako!¡± the AI housekeeper addressed me. ¡°Good afternoon Clocksword. I¡¯ll take a bath so if you don¡¯t mind put on some hot water and my pre-recorded shows please¡± I answered him. (I named him Clocksword after a character in the book nuclear fallout New America.) ¡°Yes, mum.¡± Calling him a housekeeper wasn¡¯t really right, he was more of a hologram based on the prewar house management system by Ony* 2015 model designed to tend to the owner¡¯s needs. ¡°Miss Asako, may I part-take in the pleasure of listing out your plans for today?¡± Clocksword addressed me. Asako: Yes Clocksword. Clocksword: At 4:30 this afternoon there will be a car here to pick you up at the nearby urban centre for groceries. In 6:40, JB and Niko will come over to help with your mission report¡­ Asako: Oh and Clocksword call a car for me to the ICTF West base,¡­ Depart in 1 hour. We¡¯ll finish the rest later. Getting out of the bath, I made my way to the bookshelves hoping to find a few old comics, anime CDs or at least something to bring with me on my trip to see him again. Things weren¡¯t going well this morning with me having to subdue him to prevent his schizophrenia. -30 minute later- During the 30 minutes time limit, I was able to gather some reading materials and films including an old laptop that I used to use. I then head for ICTF West base, eagerly wanting to converse with him. Chapter 3: Disorders and sickness *Morning comes, the bright rays of the dawning sunshine through the windows of the ICTF West hospital.* A loud morning reveille trumpet played today, I was startled by it, waking up with cold sweat on my brow and breathing heavily. ¡°Finally wake up eh? It¡¯s a good thing that you¡¯re not in JB or Asako¡¯s class or they¡¯ll strap you up on to a pole and take a riot hose and spray you with it.¡± Niko said. She was sitting on the chair right side to my bed. I answered hastily. ¡°Ms Niko, I¡¯m sorry I¡­¡± Before I could finish my sentence, she cut between my responses with a stop hand signal she then point me to the left side of my bed. To my surprise, Asako-nee was sleeping there, and her shirt was somewhat ripped on the back collar and she had two red rashes from friction from some sort of suffocation. My thoughts were scrambling, out of shame, confusion or may be both. Had I lost control and violated my saviour, had I committed yet another crime¡­ I spaced out, looking down to my hands and asked what happened and afraid of what Niko was about to say.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Niko: ¡°Can¡¯t you tell? She¡¯s sleeping.¡± Nozumi: ¡°Then who did that to her, who choked her to even leave a mark and the ripped collar on her shirt.¡± Niko: ¡°Oh the mark¡­you did that¡­and also the collar was from when she tried to fight back.¡± Nozumi: ¡°eh..?¡± I turned blue to the words I just heard, did I really try to kill her? Niko: ¡°Don¡¯t be so blue, it¡¯s noting of the sort that Asako couldn¡¯t handle (since she¡¯s a ICTF SPARROW operator)...¡± I sighed with relief as she said that but could still feel the guilt from my actions. Niko: ¡°Ah! Chin up¡­She¡¯s just tired cuz she had to look after your little ass last night.¡± I raised an eyebrow after hearing her said that. Did I do something wrong again? Did I tried to kill myself or something? Niko: ¡°Before you ask anything else, just let me ask you a question, have you ever held a gun before? Or more specific had someone point a gun towards you?¡± Nozumi: ¡°I don¡¯t think I had ever held a gun and ms Niko, from the dossier you gave me I could deduct that a gun had pointed my way once. During a room clear, guns would not be holstered nor laid down until there is a clear sigh.¡± Niko: ¡°Very good! I think¡­ But let me explain what happen last night. Asako brought a toy gun to your room last night. She wanted to have some fun with you, but somehow you were able to knock the gun off her hand and put her in a choke hold, she was able to break free from that choke hold. But then you broke down and had a 39.5 degree fever¡­.and that girl looked after you the entire night.¡± She¡­took care of me? I caused harm to her, or worst almost killed her,¡­ but she ignored it to take care of a mere fever?... Niko interrupted my thoughts again with a flick to the forehead and continues.