36 Epiphany (1/2)
Ed continued lying on the bed when Yuki stormed out of the bathroom. She glared at him with her arms crossed. ”Isn't it about time you tell me how we know each other and who I am?” She demanded.
'Oh, right. Why did I even bring her with me anyways? I didn't really think it through I guess. Well, it's fine. I owe her a favor anyways. She probably saved my life.' He looked at her lazily. ”I'm your former classmate. We both fought the Lightning Nightmare and got knocked down by an attack from it.”
Her eyes widened in shock, ”We fought a nightmare?!”
”Hmm?” He rose an eyebrow. ”Right. From what I know, you fight them all the time. You were brought into disaster areas being attacked by nightmares before you even awakened your powers.”
”Why would I do something so ridiculous?” She tilted her head in confusion.
”You told us your father brought you to them to try forcing an awakening. Oh, your dad is OP Baldy by the way.”
”OP Baldy?” She scrunched her eyebrows in confusion. ”What kind of dumb name is that?”
”You remember the nightmares but not OP Baldy?” Ed questioned. ”Amnesia's weird. Your father's real name is Tama Sai. He's the strongest esper in the world.”
”Is that so...?” She hesitantly nodded. ”Why didn't he come to pick me up then?”
”He's probably looking for you as we speak. I'd bet he's using a tracking esper to try finding you.”
”Oh. I see.” She nodded while smiling.
”Anyways, I'm going to sleep.” He laid back on the pillow and closed his eyes.
”Hey! Are you an idiot or something?!” She yelled. ”There's only one bed. Where am I supposed to sleep?”
Ed opened his eyes and gave her an annoyed look, ”The chair. The other half of the bed. The bathtub. I don't care. Pick your flavor.” Then he closed his eyes again.
”You!! You have no manners! Didn't anyone ever tell you how to treat a lady?!” She complained.
He replied back without missing a beat, ”You!! You have no manners! Didn't anyone ever tell you how to treat a handicapped person?!”
”That...” She stood there with her mouth hung wide open. She had just been demanding a bed from a man with no arms. She blushed while sliding into the other side of the bed while remaining as close to the edge as she possibly could. She occasionally glanced at the boy beside her as she blushed, but before long she heard low snoring sounds coming from him.
”Jerk.” She whispered as she worked to fall asleep herself.
The next day. Ed awoke first and went to the balcony of the hotel room. He sat in a wooden chair as he lazily stared at the sky. 'When's the last time I just relaxed like this? It makes me feel antsy. I'm not used to sitting around doing nothing. Even before I awoke I wasn't the type to do so.'
...
Yuki awoke after a couple hours. She went to the bathroom to fix her hair. Then she looked at the boy sitting alone on the balcony. She sat down next to him. ”So, what's next?” She questioned.
”Next?” He turned to look at her.
”Right. What are your plans? You're not going to just sit here all day, are you?”
”I am.” He nodded. ”All my plans have been ruined by that flier. I've got nothing left.”
'Flier?' She thought back on the flier from that day. ”Wasn't that a good thing? You're famous now! You'll probably get a big jump in rank in the Hunter Association!”
”Did you really lose your memory?” He rose an eyebrow towards her.
”I did!” She nodded. ”I seem to mostly have trouble about remembering people and things about myself.”
”Oh.” He nodded. ”It was probably caused by the Lightning Nightmare.”
'So that's where the scar came from.' She thought as she rubbed her face. ”So, what were you doing before the nightmare attack?” She questioned.
Ed made a slightly depressed face before quickly hiding it, but she noticed.
”It might help if you talk about it.” She encouraged.
He stared at the sky silently for a moment before sighing. ”Very well. I woke up in the hospital after I awoke my powers during a nightmare attack. My father had managed to save my life, but he was arrested for military desertion. Then the government blackmailed me by promising my father's freedom if I agreed to go to the academy.”
”The government did something like that?!” Her eyes widened in surprise.
”Yes.” He nodded. ”It wasn't until later I realized how corrupt our government is. Almost all people in this country that hold strong political positions are espers. The exceptions are those from Sinless and similar groups. However, Sinless is just the opposite type of evil. They enslave espers in mass in Europe. They wish to do the same thing here. I joined Sinless and hoped to take control of the entire western hemisphere with it.”
”What?!” She replied in shock, 'The lazy boy in front of me had such grand ambitions... Pretty evil ones at that.'
Ed saw her expression and smiled, ”Want me to stop?”
”No.” She shook her head. ”Keep going. I want to hear the rest.”
”Okay... Before joining Sinless, I had joined a sinner group called Blood-Lust. I hoped to escape the academy and government by doing so. I wanted to acquire my freedom. I never wanted to be a hunter or some type of hero, though I do want to destroy the nightmares. I thought I made the right choice for the future, but it ended up costing me more than I was ever willing to pay...” He looked up in the skies and his eyes began to water. ”Haha, how long has it been since I've cried? Probably not that long, but it feels like it's been years.”
”What happened at Blood-Lust?” She questioned. 'It must be pretty bad based on that look on his face...'
”The leader betrayed my friend, causing him to go mad. He forcefully enslaved me and ordered another esper to try and force my 2nd awakening. My limbs were cut off. My body was scarred and burned. I survived it all, but then my former friend made me kill my father with my own hands.”
”That's awful!” Her eyes began to water. ”It's not your fault Ed!”