The Burning Lives

Fly

Suggested listening: Pearl Jam - Given To Fly

"I did right. I did right. I did right."

Eun-jung was holding her temples tight; electrical sparks were dancing around her body, sending signals to everyone around her to stay distant from the Devil.

-Kazama-Seong, calm down. You must take control of yourself and come back. It's an order!

-You do not order a Devil, small man. No one orders me around. Not even Eun-jung. She's far away now. There's only me. You thought you could use me at your own will. You were wrong. The only will that matters here is my own. And you will bend to it.

-What do you want, oni?

-Freedom from your ignorant ways. I crave action, violence, blood. I shall have it. You must not stop me. Not now, not ever.

-I cannot abide such behaviour, it is against everything I stand for. We fight for peace, not for destruction and mayhem.

-Then, you shall be part of the massacre I leave behind. You're nothing but an ant to me, and I will crush you under my talons. I gave you a chance, a choice, and you refused.

-Think carefully about what you're going to do next, Kazama-Seong. You were already on the line for murder, you don't want to put yourself in any more trouble by killing a Sergeant.

-And what will they do to me? Execute me, again? I will just rise a second time before their eyes. I am a better, stronger version of you. You can't destroy me.

-You're not an immortal. We will find a way to beat you. It's a promise.

-Maybe. You tell them. You are more useful alive than dead to me after all: you saw what Eun-jung did to that man, what we did, and that we saved countless lives thanks to our swift actions. I'm giving you a new choice: your life for Eun-jung's reputation. Now, you think carefully about what you're going to do and say next. Remember, you don't need your legs and arms to talk.

Shibata shivered on the spot, brooding about the many worse ways to be alive rather than dead. In the end, he put his pride and probably part of his oath aside for his own good.

-So be it. In the end, it's just another way to look at the events against two lives ruined. But what about the other soldiers? They must have seen us talking in a not so friendly manner here.

-That's for you to sort out. I'm just a teenager, after all. Eun-jung is going to be back in a second. Stay alert, though. I'm always watching, I'm always listening. One false step and you're as good as dead. Understood?

The Sergeant tilted his head slowly and the Devil retreated, leaving only fear behind as a warning. Eun-jung looked at Shibata, shaking, shame in her big eyes.

-I couldn't... I didn't mean to... Please, I...

-Kazama-Seong. Put yourself together. We are going back to your comrades to praise your brave actions which saved them and the mission. Then, we're finishing the job we came here to do and going back to Tokyo before dawn. I get you are overcome by the events, but you must get a grip.

-Sir, I... the Devil, what it said, we could fight it together, we...

-I don't know what you're babbling about. I don't want to hear it no longer, I already gave you orders, Kazama-Seong. Follow along.

Eun-jung was speechless, Shibata was acting as if she hadn't been there the whole time, listening in a far away place in her own body, locked from consciousness. She knew he was only acting like that for his own sake, and possibly not to ruin her life with the stain of another homicide. She would have liked to talk about it nonetheless, to come up with a plan, to say how sorry she was for Devil's words, even. No time to think about that, they were on the line to the other soldiers, where the explosion would have taken place if not for her intervention. They were all staring, with questioning looks, confused by all the fuss.

-Kazama-Seong took an admirable risk by going out in the field against an unknown enemy. An enemy who, if left alone, would have killed many of us like a coward. We dodged a huge blow thanks to our comrade. We came in peace and she stained her hands to save her own brothers from a terrible fate. We all should look into our hearts and be grateful she is in our ranks. Now, we finish our job and go back to Tokyo as soon as we can. Kazama-Seong, you can continue your scouting until they're done, even though I doubt there will be other menaces. Thank you everyone.

The soldiers started clapping their hands, hesitantly at first, then with great enthusiasm. They even started acclaiming her name. Eun-jung never felt so wrong her entire life. Although, in her heart, she did think she did the right thing, she knew the Sergeant thought very differently about the whole situation. If it weren't for Devil's threats, she would have been brought towards the Sergeant Major and possibly discharged with dishonour. She was a fraud. Despite that, everyone was shouting her name. What would her parents think of her? She couldn't even control her Devil. She brought disgrace to her family names. How could she face them once home? How could she tell them all that's happened?

Those thoughts tainted her all the way to Tokyo, even more so because her comrades kept on praising her and talking about her deeds. She just wanted to become the little ant Devil was speaking about before and not be seen by anyone. Once back to the station, Shibata wanted to talk to her again.

-Kazama-Seong, one last word. Seeing that we worked so well together, I don't see a reason why other people should be... put at risk. Of course, of being unfit for the role of Sergeant of such a peculiar soldier as yourself. I will ask to be your regular superintendent and that you be assigned to my missions for your future assignments. What do you both think about it?

-Sir, I don't want to hurt anybody, I swear.

-That makes two of us. Out of three. It will suffice. We can collaborate for a brighter tomorrow, Kazama-Seong. I will do as I said. You will be called in the next months for your second job. Dismissed.

Eun-jung felt a knot in her stomach: Shibata was basically sacrificing himself not to make other Sergeants encounter Devil, not to endanger them, not to put them in the same situation he found himself in. She put him there, not Devil. Her choices put him there. She was even worse than Devil itself. She couldn't return home, not like that. She couldn't look her fathers in the eyes and say "I am a good person, it's the Devil's fault", because in her eyes, it wasn't.

Jin would be there any minute, so she did the only thing she thought she could do: she flew high in the sky and far away from the station, from her house, from her school and everything she held dear to her heart.