Chapter 23: How Arata, Suzu, And Ryu Joined The Army! / A Military Academy? No Way!

Suzu and Ryu had grown up in one of the world's slums. It was horrid, and their country had been on the verge of collapse for almost a decade. For the longest time, it had just been up to Suzu and Ryu to fend for themselves. Nobody else to watch over them. Ryu grew up having to do questionable work to provide for them. He had learned a bit over time, but he had been born blind in one eye and with a scratch dividing his eyesight into a blurry mess, with a long gash over the other. He learned about how to live with his disability better than most, not out of choice. Rather, he had no choice. He had a younger sister to take care of. He did odd jobs here and there, and thankfully his blindness didn’t seem to affect him as badly as it did others. How it worked, he wasn’t sure. He had heard about bats, and assumed it was similar to that, but he wasn’t a bat. Even if his blindness didn’t affect his personal life, it made it hard to get a job. They took one look at him and told him to scram. He barely earned enough to feed his sister. This continued for years, until Ryu had turned 11. While he had been out looking for jobs, there had been a person who had told him to go to a shop on a street not too far from the alleyway where they lived. This person was a kind old man, and one of the few that didn’t tell Ryu to scram because of his disability. The old man had come to realize over time that ryu was a lot more capable than he seemed. It had been a few days after the day Ryu remembered as his birthday, when the man asked him a question.

“A pity such a bright young man had been born in a place like this.” The man thought

“Ryu, I have an offer for you. I know a lady who runs a shop around a block from here. She’s looking for someone to help her with work. Knowing you, you are probably a better fit than almost anyone else.” The man said. They had been playing chess. Ryu had quite a bright mind, and while it wasn’t perfect, it was sharp nonetheless. The man would call out the piece he was moving, and the square he was moving it to from which square it was in. Ryu would tell the man which move he would want to make, such as “Rook, move from a-6 to a-1”. The man would move the pieces, and if Ryu forgot where a piece was he would ask. Despite this, Ryu and the old man were quite even in their wins and losses. The old man realized that, while it wasn’t perfect, Ryu had a pretty good memory, considering how rarely he would ask where the pieces were.

“You have a sister you need to take care of, right? If you want, I can let her stay here. I have an extra room. You going over there to work is enough pay for me. To be honest I want to make sure that the woman who owns the place doesn’t get into too much trouble. You seem the best fit to watch over her.” The old man said

“But… are you sure?” Ryu asked

“Yes, of course I am. Oh, right, the room has two beds, so no need to worry. You can stay, too.” The man said

“I apologize, that wasn’t what I meant when I asked if you were sure about this.” Said Ryu

“Ahhh, you want to know why I would go this far for her, right?” The man asked

“Yes. To be honest, this deal is too good for me and my sister.” Said Ryu

“She was my wife. I still worry about her. That’s why I don’t mind going this far.” Said the man, smiling

“I see…. Yes, that does make sense. I’ve heard love makes people do some crazy things. By comparison, this seems quite normal. Are you sure you can afford it?” Ryu asked

“I have a family member that watches over me. Besides, I don’t do anything with those rooms, keep them clean and it’s fine. You can use the kitchen, though I recommend you do your own shopping. As an old man, I don’t think that what I eat would be very appetizing to you two.” Said the old man.

“I’ll do it. I have questions, admittedly, which I feel bad for. Especially considering how long I’ve known you. Though I can’t see your face, I can tell from the sound of your voice that you care.” Said Ryu

“Come to think of it, you always did call my bluffs. Do you have some sort of lie detector ability I don’t know about?” The man asked jokingly

“No, you just suck at lying” said Ryu

“How honest!” Said the man, laughing harder

The man started to cough

“Hold on, I’ll go get your medicine.” Said Ryu.

This had been happening for quite a while. It surprised him the first time, but he had gotten used to it. He had become used to caring for others after having to watch over the old man and watch his sister

“Here, drink.” Said Ryu

“I have no idea what I would do if you weren’t here.” Said the old man

“Same to you. Don’t die on me.” Said Ryu

“Don’t worry, I’m not gonna kick the bucket yet. I’ll write a letter real quick, go take it to the lady at the shop.” Said the old man.

He picked up a pen and started writing something on a piece of paper. He put it in ryus hand.

Ryu looked at it. Or tried to, I guess.

“What exactly does this say?” Ryu said

“Oh. Right. Sometimes I forget you’re blind.” Said the old man.

“Your memory really is fading.” Said Ryu

“Oi, my mind is still as sharp as when I was 23!” Said the old man.

“Wait, seriously?” Ryu asked sarcastically.

“Ah, whatever. go and take this to the shop, it's the third shop on the main road.” said the old man

“Why do we have a road, anyhow? It’s not like any of us have vehicles like cars, and I never hear of anyone passing through here.” Ryu asked

“That… Ryu, do you remember my stories I told you from when I was in the army?” The old man asked

“Yeah, they were quite impressive. And considering the detail, I doubt someone who is as bad at lying as you could make something like that up.” Ryu said

“I’ll ignore that last bit. Anyhow, long ago, back when I was a young 23, I had been in the military. I was dispatched here. The road over there is for military vehicles and to move cargo. Either way, the war ended, and our post was disbanded. The road hasn't seen much use since.” Said the old man

“You guys lost, right?” Ryu said

“Yes. Bitterly. But I’m glad that we did, otherwise I probably would have been posted somewhere else. Thankfully, I was able to stay here, and have a beautiful family.” Said the old man, smiling

“So, you want me to make sure your wife is alright?” Ryu asked

“Yes, now go work. I also want you to do the job properly.” The old man kicked Ryu

“Ow, what was that for?” Ryu asked

“Nothing. You remind me of someone, and I did that out of habit.” Said the old man

“That didn’t seem like it was out of habit.” Said Ryu

“It’s because you won’t go already.” Said the old man

“Alright alright!” Said Ryu, turning to leave

“Ah, actually, you can bring your sister over first.” Said the old man, remembering

“Thanks.” Said Ryu

He left

A year passed

“Hmm. I dunno, you sure you’re able to do this kinda work? You seem to be blind.” Said an old lady.

“Ma’am, I have been working for you for over a year.” Said Ryu, now 12

“Ohhh. Is that you, Ryu?” The lady asked

“Yes, ma’am, it’s me.” Said Ryu

“Good work good work!” The old lady said, laughing

“Thank you, ma’am.” Ryu said

He had been working for her for about a year and a half.

Thanks to his work, he finally had enough to feed both his sister and himself.

He had grown quite significantly.

His sister also started to help out, since the shop kept getting busier and busier over time.

“Ryu, pile these on the third shelf.” Suzu said, handing Ryu a box

She had been a shell of a human until a little while ago, but had suddenly grown to be a bright flower.

“Got it. What about those?” Ryu said, pointing at another box.

“What about them. Just leave them for now, let’s go in order of what’s on the list.” Said Suzu

“Fine, sounds good to me.” Said Ryu

It was a lot busier of a shop than Ryu had thought. Though he often had to go lug boxes from the east part of the town, so he had grown stronger, the food he could now get for both him and his sister had put some meat on his previously skinny bones, and that meat quickly turned to muscle. Quite a lot had happened over the past year, and the shop had gotten so busy that they had to have an extra pair of hands, so Suzu took care of the shop when Ryu went to go get the supplies from the east gate. The reason they had such a large increase in people coming to buy their goods was quite important. A war had broken out. A large one. It had started to destroy their already weak country. It was on its last legs, and their town was quite close to the warzone. The reason for the war wasn't something Ryu knew, but he only needed to know he had to be careful. While it was still a bit far, the war zone could shift towards their town at any time, now. Military already occupied their town once more, and Ryu saw that the old man was telling the truth about the roads. The forces that were occupying their town were protecting the town. It was ironic that they were the people fighting against the towns country. They had been treating them far better than their own country did. In fact, they already had won the hearts of most of the people in the town, Ryu included. They had even won over the patriotic old man.

“I guess times are changing, Ryu. I wish I could root for our side, but they treated this town like dirt. I care for the people here more than our country. These soldiers have much more impressive technology, and not only that, they are giving us supplies, even though there isn't anything important for them here. They are helping us a lot more than they are benefiting from us. If I was younger, I’d probably try to join them. They sound like good people. From my past experience, usually soldiers were belligerent, acting as if they owned the town. These guys seem to be kind, even individually. I’ve talked with a few of them, they came over to do a check of the older residents in the town. I’m going to be getting a check up by an actual doctor in a few days.” Said the old man

“They... seem nice. Just as I looked up to you as a soldier, I’ve started to look up to them just as much. Who is leading this army, do you know anything about them?” Ryu asked

“Well, it’s quite interesting. I don’t think this is supposed to be common knowledge, but I'm pretty sure that I heard one say their leader is barely 6. I know, I know, sounds like bullshit, right? But it made me think of something.” The old man said

“Think of what?” Ryu asked

“Do you know Lime technologies? The company?” The old man asked

“Yeah. Limetech. They’re the largest company in the world, even a town as remote as ours uses their products regularly. They nearly solved world hunger. Everywhere except places like here...” Ryu said

“What if I told you that, as a known fact, the minds behind everything in limetech are two children, not even in their teens? The technology that the soldiers have been carrying seems somewhat like the way limetech styles their products.” The old man asked

“Well, holy shit. A boy younger than me is leading an army? Wait, why here of all places?” Ryu asked, baffled

“I asked them that. They said they didn’t like the way our country was treating us. At first it sounded like bull, but if you look at how they have been treating us, it’s hard to call their reason a lie. The medics were quite nice as well, when they had come by to do that small checkup. They answer questions calmly, and aren’t hard to talk to. They almost don’t seem like hardened soldiers, though their results in battle beg to differ.” Said the old man

“Checkup? I thought you said you were going to the doctor later.” Ryu said.

“Yup. I’m going there later. It was just a check up when they did it this time. See if I was healthy enough or if I should go see a doctor just in case. They have cures for almost any disease. Well… there’s one or two that aren’t curable yet.. but... You haven’t talked to them?” Said the old man

“I haven’t gotten a chance to talk to them yet. Suzu handles talking with people. I just run shipments and stock things on shelves.” Said Ryu

“It might be beneficial for you to sign up when they post their little recruitment thing.” Said the old man

“What about the old lady?” Ryu asked

“I have someone else to take care of that.” The old man said, grinning.

“I can hear you grinning.” Said Ryu

“I’ve always wondered how the heck you're able to do that. Speaking of, you should talk to the doctors there, see what they can do, if anything. They might be able to do something about that scratched eye.” Said the old man

“I’m fine. What about Suzu?” Ryu asked

“Doesn’t she have Arata there for her?” The old man asked

“Who? Wait... am I missing something? I mean, I don’t usually talk to people, but I’m pretty sure I would remember one of my sisters friends.” Said Ryu

“You have gotta be kidding! Have you never wondered why you guys didn’t die, when you didn’t even have enough money for Dirty water? Your debts! Where do you think suzu got the bottles of fancy water from? Or that one time you both passed out in the alley after freezing to near death, and then woke up here? You think I have the strength to do that at this age?” The old man asked, holding up his frail arms

“That-I- I never really thought about it. How have I never met him?” Ryu asked

“That’s a pretty damn good question. I’m wondering that myself!” Said the old man

“Hey, old man! I brought ya some meat.” A boy said, holding up a freshly packaged thing of beef patties

“I can’t eat meat you idiot!” The old man yelled

“We can just blend it into a liquid!” He yelled back

“I don’t have a damn blender!” The old man said

“Then just buy one!” Said the boy

“Ugh. I have everything I need.” The old man said.

“I send you and grandma money every month, don’t tell me you haven’t spent any of it!” The boy said, worried, but sounding quite upset too.

He had a surly look, and it seemed even worse when he frowned. But, yet... He looked like what you would call handsome.

“Wait, grandpa? I’m confused.” Said Ryu

“Huh? Oh, hi! Nice to meet you! I’m Arata. What’s your-oh! You must be Ryu! I’m Arata, a friend of your sisters.” Arata said

“Yeah. Speak of the devil.” Said the old man, grumbling

“What’s that mean?” Arata asked

“We were wondering how Ryu had never met you.” Said the old man

“I never got the chance to speak with him. The times I would have been able to, he was working. It’s rude to bother someone who’s working.” Said Arata.

“He’s your girlfriend's brother. You should at least say hi.” Said the old man

“What girlfriend! Me and Suzu are just friends.” Said Arata, embarrassed

“My ass you are.” Said the old man, poking Arata with a cane

Ryu started laughing. Loudly.

“Ryu? You ok over there?” The old man asked

“What happened?” Arata asked confused

“Sorry, sorry. I’ve just never heard the old man act this way. It kinda threw me for a loop. He’s usually a pretty serious and kind person.” Said Ryu

“Serious? Kind? What the heck have you done to this kid?” Arata asked

“I’ll have you know that I am a polite and respectful old man. You just have the ability to make people argue with you, in the weirdest way.” Said the old man, kicking Arata in the shin

“Hey! What’s that supposed to mean? And what was that for!?!” Arata asked, bouncing on one foot after being poked and kicked

“It means what it means!” The old man said.

“I don’t get it.” Said Arata, confused

Arata was the old man's grandson. When the old man first had a kid, the now old man raised him as well as he could. His son had grown into a respectable young man. He chose to go out and find his place in the world. The young mans name was Tadashi, and he indeed left his mark on the world. He had had a child with one of the richest people on earth, but had disappeared before his son could be born. Arata had been raised by a single mother. She was kind, but always had work she had to do, and often had very little time to spend with Arata, leaving him to another person. Arata had decided one day, when he was around 11, to go out into the world to search for clues about his father. Surprisingly, his mother had agreed to his request, though with a few conditions. He had to bring someone to protect him until he proved he could protect himself. He complied, this being the best chance he could get. She had given him access to most of the company's resources, as long as he only used what he needed. While Aratas' search for his father is a story by itself, a long and arduous journey, what we want to know was how he had ended up where he was today. In his search for his missing father, Arata didn’t have much information about him at all. He only knew his first and last name, that he had been a soldier for his country, and the country he had been born in. So Arata flew to the war torn country, and looked through as many military records as he could find. There was barely anything. Only a picture and some information about his family. That had interested him, so he went to the remote town in the rundown country. He went to the place his father had been born.

He found enough to carry on his search, but he stopped.

He didn’t need to look anymore.

He had found 4 important things.

Two of them were family, two of them were friends.

“I have grandparents here?” Arata had asked, when he read the military documents.

He had been looking around, asking people for as much information as he could.

He found his grandfather, and had chosen to stay with him for a while. He went out to look for more information on his father and head to his grandmothers shop, the one his grandfather had told him about.

As he was heading to her shop, He stumbled across a girl and a boy in an alley, collapsed, nearly frozen.

“Oh, crud!” Arata said

“Help me get them somewhere warm!” He told his bodyguard

He had his bodyguard carry the boy, and he carried the girl, going back to his grandfathers place.

“Hey gramps! I’m going to let these guys rest in the room over there.” Arata said. He had found his grandfather to be a pretty relaxed and easygoing person.

“What the heck are you talking about, you brat! Oh, that. That kind of thing isn’t too uncommon in a place like this. Still it’s quite sad... Hey, wait. Isn’t that Ryu?” The old man asked

“You know him?” Arata asked

“Yeah, he plays chess with me pretty often. Damn good at it too. Me and him just barely have an equal amount of wins and losses.” Said the old man

“Weren’t you that grandmaster thing in chess?” Arata asked

“No. I was good, but I joined the army before I ever actually got any of those titles.” Said the old man

“Huh. Interesting. Hey, gramps, do they have jobs? Do they get paid at all? Why were they just in the alley nearly frozen to death?” Arata asked, after putting them down on the beds

“They don’t have stable jobs. His sister doesn’t work, and Ryu just tries to find as many odd jobs as he can. He has trouble getting any, considering the fact that he’s blind.” Said the old man

“Hold up, this guy is blind and still whoops your ass at chess? Jesus! Not to mention he’s my age!” Arata said, laughing his ass off

“Shuddup. He’s smart. Kinda a pity that he doesn’t have any chances for real work.” Said the old man

“Isn’t grandma looking for someone to help out around the shop?” Arata asked, wiping a tear of laughter from his eye

“Huh? Oh! That isn’t actually a bad idea! And I can ask him for updates on how she is!” The old man said

“Yeah, yeah. That.” Arata said

“Well, I gotta go for now, gramps. I’ll see ya later” Arata said

“Going where?” The old man asked

“There's some stuff I'd like to prepare for. I have an odd feeling from them. It’s never led me astray before, so I’m trusting my gut instinct. I’ll leave some people here to watch over you three.” Arata said

“Fine. Go. Just come back safe.” The old man said, scowling.

He had said the last part after Arata had already left.

A few years passed. They were around 15-16.

They lived their lives like normal, but the war seemed to be getting a bit calmer.

“Why do you want to apply as a soldier, too?” Ryu asked

“If you two are, I am too.” Said Suzu

“Arata had the same exact response.” Said ryu

“No! I worded it slightly differently.” Arata said

“It still carries the same meaning. Fine. I don’t think I could do it without you guys, anyhow.” Ryu said

“Alright, sweet! This is gonna be cool! Oh. Right. By the way, what is the test about?” Arata asked

Ryu and Suzu stared at him.

“It’s soldier training. Just some physical tests. And possibly a written one.” Said Ryu

“Oh. That’s all?” Arata asked

“I thought you would ask if we were old enough to join.” Ryu said

“I’m pretty sure we are. There’s only one thing I do know. If we pass the test here, we'll prove ourselves, and they will be flying us to their academy. It's to prepare us for working on different missions or something.” Said Arata

“We know. Oh, right. We agreed to say our goodbyes together, right?” Suzu asked

“Yeah.” Arata said.

“Fine. Let’s go, then.” Ryu said

They headed into the testing grounds. All you had to do was pass through a series of obstacles within a certain amount of time. There was stuff like barbed wire, nets, rock climbing, and another various assortment of stuff. Ryu was curious as to how they set it up so quickly.

Suzu was up first. She got through it with a time score which more than qualified her admission into the recruit academy.

Arata was next. He did slightly worse than Suzu, by barely any time at all. They had virtually the exact same score.

Ryu was the final one.

“You sure you can do this? You’re blind. It seems kinda difficult.” Said the test administrator.

“Yeah I recommend not underestimating Ryu.” Said Arata

Ryu went through the course. He finished with a virtually flawless time.

“Okay, then. I was very wrong. Very.” Said the administrator, a bit shocked. A bit.

“What was my time?” Ryu asked

“Virtually flawless” said Arata

“That’s.. not a number, but ok.” Ryu said

“Well, I guess you three will be going to our recruit academy. Jeez, you guys are insane.” Said the administrator

“Sweet!” Said Arata he high fived Suzu. And he pat Ryu on the back

The day ended, and they went home.