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The cold stone of the cell burned against her back. The guard outside the cell watched as she curled against the corner, face in her hands.
Takako was a soldier. She was a soldier before she was Takako. Here, sitting in this cell stagnantly, was the first time she ever felt fatigue.
Building herself to the rank she is, or was, was not an easy feat. The Sun, Moon, and Stars squad was ruthless. It was untrusting. It was the best of its kind. And, above all, it was her calling. She had felt it in her bones, flowed the idea through her blood as she fostered her technique. To kick, to punch, to bend the reality of the sky itself upon her opponent. It was all she knew, and she loved it. She lived for it.
But she had not killed the man they said she did. She had not punched or bent the reality of the sky on his head. She didn’t even know the face of the man she had “killed.”
Takako Uro. That name was not hers until recently. She didn’t have a name. She was not Takako Uro, the head of the squad who killed her fellow soldier. No, that was someone else. If that woman was to be her, then that woman didn’t exist.
She had given her life to the clan. In this world, you have to be strong to be something. No, you have to be the strongest. That, she was not, but she was strong enough to have purpose. This was her purpose now. To die, saving another soldier’s ass.
She didn’t know when her execution was scheduled. She didn’t know anything, besides that her name was now Takako Uro and her hands were covered in the blood of a soldier in the Sun, Moon, and Stars squad. She knew nothing except that all she had given, all she relinquished, was futile. She was reusable. She was disposable. It was one thing to know these were the conditions as a soldier, but to face them head on… to meet your match, because of it?
She was tired. Her head hurt, her eyes hurt. She hardly cried, yet she was doing it now. She would not die a martyr. She would not die peacefully. She would not die on her own terms. She would die a lie.
The cell door creaked open. She didn’t even care to look up at the man walking in. She closed her eyes, wondering if the stab of a sword against her neck would be the next sensation she felt.
Instead, she felt a body sit beside her.
Takako paused. Lifting her head, she met the eyes of a man she did not recognize. She had not seen anyone even remotely like him, didn’t even know if he was human. His eyes threw her off, and then there was the obvious. Stitches across the upper forehead, a particular look.
“I heard you’re going to die,” the man smiled.
Her face fell back into a scowl. “You think I don’t know that?”
“No. I know you know that. I also know you didn’t do it.”
Who was this man? How did he even enter the cell, let alone open her door? Was she working with the soldier? Was this another game to toy with her mind, toy with her mental state?
“Don’t look so skeptical,” the man chuckled. “I know that wasn’t you. But, no matter who knows the truth, you will die. That’s non-negotiable.
Listen to me when I say this. You may die here, but that doesn’t have to be the end. I can give you… a second life, so to speak.”
Takako raised her eyebrow, “A second life? What are you, a curse?”
“What I am doesn’t matter,” he shook his head, that smile still on his face. “You just need to answer my proposal. Would you like that? After all, this could be a chance at something new. Something more than a simple soldier. You’re so much more than that.”
“You don’t even know me,” Uro muttered.
“I know enough. What do you say?”
Takako bit her lip. She had half a mind to attack the guy, but he couldn’t be lying. Why would he risk his life to come into her cell, tell her all of this, just for it to be fake? She didn’t believe he was associated with the Fujikawa clan. No, he was of his own accord.
His words sank into her mind. Her blood, once flowing with loyalty to that cursed clan, now flowed with soothing else. Rage. Bubbling hot rage.
“I’m going to create a new world order. I’d love for you to be a part of it.”
Takako’s eyes landed on the man’s, locking fully with his. She nodded. “Okay. I accept.”
“Fantastic news.”