FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

I guess this is where I start my solo work for the Bureau then.. I didn't think they'd be letting me leave the nest this early, but here I am. In a desolate, barren place where despair and hopelessness thrive. I could even smell dead bodies from this compound.. or maybe just open wounds. There's that iron-y smell in the air and that doesn't seem to bode well for the soldiers here. So, even in a place like this has problems. Shinzuku seemed so full of life and progression.. and hope. Something that Avalon back then lacked; the wars were pretty discouraging and took the lives of many people.

It seems the citizens of Shinzuku also is unaware of the looming threat due to the wall that separates the 30th Ward. It must be public relations mitigation.. anything to keep the public calm and sedated. Sudenly, I hear footsteps across the hallway outside of my room. As I hold onto my bedsheets, I prepare for who's going to pass by. If it's Takizawa, I'll have to get ready--

"Hey there!" a little feminine-like voice called over. It seems it was that kid who was with Badou. Juuzou, her name was? I'm really bad at remembering names, especially when they're Japanese.

"Oh.. h-hey." I replied, quite perplexed as to why she came to visit me. Walking into my room, she sat down beside me on my bed.

"So.. what do you do in this little fancy organization of yours?" Juuzou asked

"Well, uh.. it's a subsidiary organization tasked to help the government of Shinzuku with objectives regarding political, financial and security issues. I've also heard it's an international organization, but its conception and original headquarters are here in Japan, specifically in Shinzuku." Or so I was told.. a lot of people still look down on the Bureau as monopolistic bloodsuckers. The Kizus must have it really bad.. I've always wondered what the history was between the city and this particular family. But there was no doubt that the Kizus are intertwined by fate with the city of Shinzuku.

"I'll just pretend I understood everything you said!" Juuzou cheerily exclaimed, as she giggled quite gleefully. I managed to let out a chuckle, noticing how long winded and complicated sounding that was for someone young like her. "You don't look like you're from here.. I could tell from your accent. And the fact that you didn't seem to initiate a conversation in Japanese."

"A-Ah, yes.. I'm from America and I migrated here to study.. but it seems I'm dragged into my previous line of work." I replied, chuckling again. It's quite nerve wracking talking to someone who was wielding that intimidating looking scythe earlier.

"So you're different too.. and.. your previous line of work, what's that?" Juuzou asked, looking down, smiling. He definitely exudes a kind of psychopathic aura.. I may need to keep my guard up.

"I used to be a weapon for a war back in my hometown." I replied, looking quite somber.. I.. didn't want to reminisce.

"Did you kill a lot of people?" Juuzou asked, her eyes lighting up as she grinned wildly, waiting for an answer. I don't know why there are people like this in the world. It somehwat.. disgusted me to see someone so happy in hearing other people take other people's lives. "That must've been so.. tragic..!" he laughed maniacally as she slapped the back of my shoulder, tears from laughter pouring from his eyes.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" I exclaimed as I took hold of his shoulders. I couldn't take it. There must be something wrong with this kid. He must be suppressing some kind of emotion that he's hiding through laughing. I've seen this situation all too much before. Sarah.. "Do you take joy in claiming people's lives?"

"Wh-What do you mean? ahaha.. It's terrible, of course.. c-can't you sense my sorrow?" Juuzou said, his face brightening up like a fresh summer's breeze as he chuckled even louder.

I can't read him. He's too volatile. The hell is he on about..? Is this some sort of sick form of sarcasm?

"Seems like we found common ground, friendo.~" He said, wiping away the tears from his eyes. "We're both different in a way." he smiled. "The people of Shinzuku don't take too kindly to foreigners. Japanese culture has always been xenophobic to the core, which is why that must've been the reason they cast you out here to die~!"

He really needs to go see a brain doctor; there is something seriously wrong with this kid. "Does that mean.. everyone here is cast out to die as well?"

"Everyone in the 30th Ward is here because we're.. um.. different. Like you: a foreigner~!" Juuzou exclaimed gleefully. I think she doesn't realize I'll only be here for a temporary amount of time. "Rapists, murderers, those man-eaters out there. The 30th Ward exists to keep outsiders.. like us, who are different in quarantine. So yeah, you could say that we're here to die. I'm not really worried.~" Juuzou stood up and took his jacket with him. "Welp, I hav'ta be going friendo!~ ....W-We are.. friends, right? We're different after all. Y'know, us different people need to stick together!~" the kid looked at me with a deadpan face, almost as if it was something of murderous intent.

"Uhm.." Well, I better give her what she wants, if I know what's good for me. "Yeah, Juuzou. We're.. f-friends." Juuzou's next reaction to that was quite peculiar. Instead of a smile. I saw tears running down from her eyes as she took off. Oh no, did I say something wrong? Goddamit. Everything confuses me so much. Just then, I heard more footsteps arriving at my doorstep. Oh god, am I in trouble? Please don't let it be Badou; he'll probably pummel me into a pulp if he sees Juuzou crying.

--

"Hey, time to go." a deep voice called after me. It was a silhouette of a familiar man. Yeah.. I think it's Takizawa.

"C-Coming." I called after. If there's anyone I want to talk to right now, it someone who isn't confusing. I guess I should go out and-- ah, crap. As I stood up, the light finally revealed the obscure face of the one who called me and it was the devil himself. Badou. "I, uh.. I didn't mean to--"

"Save it. I know." Badou replied, gesturing for me to come closer. "I'm happy Juuzou's found a new friend. He's been so lonely ever since and couldn't connect with anyone in the compound because he was so young."

"But.. I made him cry.." I replied, perplexed. How did Badou come to the conclusion that I told Juuzou I was his friend? "Did he tell you? It didn't seem like that would be the kind of message that comes across to any average person. I actually thought you came here to give me a piece of your mind.. ahaha.." I laughed nervously. He's really well built and I feel like I'll die if he sits on me.

"Juuzou isn't an ordinary person. Like he must've said, he always talks about being different. He may have seen the same qualities in it as you. Juuzou has the ability to scan people's memories through telekinetic pulse but only the other person creates a connection with him. He must've seen the pain you've endured.." Badou said, scratching his head. "Juuzou's sympathetic like that. Of course, I wouldn't expect Fumiko to bring some pansy-ass little kid here, you seem like you've been through a lot. Just by Juuzou's assessment."

"I don't understand Juuzou, though. I'm glad he must understand what happened to me.. but I just feel guilty not knowing his story." Badou gestured for me to walk outside with him while talking about the matter. As we walked, soldiers from the compound walked pass as they saluted their leader.

"Juuzou's parents were killed during an operation here in the 30th Ward. They were both SCEPTRE operatives under Takizawa's command and created the sub-special forces to combat the kuroshingon. It was called the Agency of Counter-Kuroshingon; a special force tasked to wipe out the so-called man eaters Takizawa has mentioned. Juuzou was but a young boy during that time.. he was with his parents in the mission. They wanted to test out the empathetic capacity of the kuroshingon which is why they brought their telekinetic daughter to examine. It was a full blown operation that was strongholded by at least 40 men in Takizawa's care."

"Wait.. daughter? I thought Juuzou was a boy?" I asked. I knew it was some sort of trauma.. no normal person reacts to such things that way. But Juuzou's gender was quite debatable from the start.

"Juuzou wanted to forget his old life, which is why he regards to himself as a male. He likes being called a 'he' because it makes him feel different. Because Juuzou is quite.. a different child." Badou said, sighing. "I found Juuzou after he witnessed his parents being eaten alive in front of him. Then I saw the most peculiar reaction from him.. he was.. laughing at them." That.. is spine chilling. That has to be a sight where you have to question the limits of one's sanity. And to see that.. as a child was.. I couldn't even fathom. I'm sorry, Juuzou.

"I-I'm.. sorry." I told Badou, I feel really bad all of a sudden.

"So.. when Juuzou was found, I had to bail, in fear of being accused of being a kuroshingon. And she was taken back to the city." Badou said as let out an exasperated exhale. "Next few weeks, I saw a kid on the streets of the 30th Ward, wrapped in cloth. He was sitting inside a box, this 6-year old looking kid and he was holding some sort of paper in his hand. I went to ask him what he was doing in a place like this. He told me that the orphanage had dropped him in this place, telling him that this is where his new parents would be. I read the paper in his hand and it was a medicinal report. It said that Juuzou was unable to express emotions the way normal people do. His suffers a conditions where his facial expression tells the opposite of what he is actually feeling. This was a problem in the orphanage where he apparently laughed at a dying nun. Those church cronies must've thought Juuzou was some sort of demon and cast him here."

"So.. that's why.. she cried." I now have a better understanding of her.. still.. what an interesting condition she has. How.. tragic indeed. So that's why she asked me why I couldn't sense her sorrow.. that's why.

"If you think that Juuzou is happy that he kills the kuroshingon, he isn't. He knows the kuroshingon are evil, heartless monsters. And his shrieks of laughter.. are the cries of sorrow he can never express. The same laughter he's had when he witnessed the death of his parents." Badou ended, slumbering into a silence. "I hope you understand him better now. And I hope you don't judge people so recklessly. Juuzou has told me he sensed a wary aura within you about him. You have to look past someone's exterior; you have to get into their very being to find the truth about them. Tell yourself that when you come across someone you can't understand." Badou said as he walked forward to the planning table, leaving me out in the courtyard.

Someone I can't understand, huh..? I guess.. one person comes to mind.

_...Just maybe.. the notebook? _