Monster

7 | Helplessly Useless

- TENKO -

Zu looked around the room in awe, eyes sparkling at the sight. Though, I could see the confusion he was feeling. He didn't know what half of the things in this room were due to his memory loss. It seems I was right about his age determining how much of his memories could be altered.

"Tenko! Tenko! Look! It's the thing I woke up on!" Zu pointed at the bed shoved against the wall, a locked balcony door beside it. He jumped up and down slightly, excitement coursing through his veins.

I patted his head gently. "I can see," I chuckled softly. "That's called a bed, Zu. We'll be sleeping on those a lot from now on."

He looked at me. "No more cold floors?"

I shook my head. "No more cold floors."

"I'll leave you two here then," Eraserhead stated, leaning against the doorframe. "Your classmates should be back soon from their extra training sessions. You'll be meeting them tomorrow, so make sure to get lots of sleep."

I turned around. "Wait, sir. Zu lost most of his memories, so he doesn't remember how to read or write. How do you expect him to learn high school material when he doesn't even remember that?"

"Nezu offered to catch you both up to speed, considering how restricted you both were in that place. We'll meet with him tomorrow morning, then you'll meet my class in the afternoon." he explained. "For now, try to adjust." He stood up, holding the door handle. "Goodnight, you two."

Zu waved nervously, a big smile plastered on his face. "Bye, 'Zawa!"

I smiled at him, seeing how happy he seemed to be here. We were still wary of course, but Zu seemed to have faith in this place. He seemed to be having fun, from discovering new things to meeting new (not scary) people. We even met Powerloader earlier when we visited the development studio.

I still didn't trust the people here, though. We had trusted most of the underlings and they had hurt us. They had called us awful names face-to-face and behind our backs. They had let us be hurt by him when we were most vulnerable.

For all we know, the people here could be the same. I couldn't risk it. I couldn't let Zu be hurt like that again. It was too risky for both of us.

"Tenko,"

I looked up. "Hm?"

He was looking in the chest of drawers, picking up different pieces of clothing. "What's this?"

I chuckled. "Those are our clothes. We could get our pyjamas on right now, actually."

He tilted his head. "Pyjamas?"

"They're clothes you wear at night when you sleep," I walked over to him, finding the drawer I needed. I pulled it towards me, revealing a variety of clothing. "See?"

He looked at it in awe, eyes sparkling once again. "We wear those when we sleep? No more rags?"

I shook my head. "No more rags. Now, let's get you a bath, shall we?"

I hugged Zu tightly. "I promise it will be okay, Zu."

He clung onto me, tears threatening to fall. He was scared. That was natural. Meeting new people always scared us, as they usually were new scientists or doctors checking our conditions. It never ended well either.

We both remember the pain of that place. Those memories were still burned fresh into our minds. I still remember seeing Zu with those new wounds, blood practically covering his shaking figure. It had scared me, badly.