“It all started out as a normal day in the village. In my case, it was going to be a bit special since I would be taking a tour of the mines with my class from the town school. See how the operation is run up close and get an idea of where we might be placed when we finish our studies.”
It had been a few minutes since Touma got taken to a more quiet area in the office to give out his account of events on that particular case. Both Subaru and Stan were with him as another officer took down the story.
“I can’t remember the exact time of the incident. It must have been just after midday. All I remember is a loud explosion that messed up my senses and caused me to black out. When I woke up, I remember blood coming down from the top of my head and a lot of rubble on my body.”
“He was lucky that the rubble didn’t crush his spinal cord,” muttered Stan under his breath so that only his subordinate would hear him.
“I guess he was just small enough to avoid serious injuries to his body,” noted Subaru. “Or he’s just naturally tougher than the average kid. Maybe both…?”
“I couldn’t see much at first. My head felt like it would split apart. I tried to call out for help but I only ended up coughing and hurting my chest more. But somehow, someone managed to hear me. I was able to hear their footsteps approaching. Before I knew it, those people had broken me free.”
“Describe them for me,” said the officer across the table as he continued taking detailed notes. “Try to recall as much detail as you can. Any particular features that made them stick out?”
Touma paused for a moment to try and recall the appearances of those who found him. “There were two of them. A lady about Su-chan’s age with long dark hair. She had long gloves on and some one piece black body suit. And she had this blue wing tattoo on her left shoulder. Then there was that guy with brown spiky hair and blue eyes. Looked mean and scary and had a big chin. He had on some black jacket and dark pants. I think I saw the same mark as that lady on his left wrist but I wasn’t sure.”
‘A blue wing tattoo? Maybe some kind of organized crime group…’ Stan was already thinking of potential leads to look into.
“When the lady talked to me, she asked if I saw anyone else who had the same blue wing tattoo before the explosion. She called herself an Eclipse Driver. I can’t remember if I said anything. I probably didn’t since the guy got kinda mad when I didn’t answer the lady. She didn’t get mad though. She said something like how it can’t be helped and that I wouldn’t be able to say anything because of how tired I was. Then she went…”
“That’s why I’ll let him have a long nice undisturbed nap. What do you say, boya?”
Subaru managed to piece together the indications, much to her horror. ‘She would have…!’
“The guy stopped being mad when he heard that and asked her if that was a good idea. She said that it was for my own good because for someone like me, I would end up in the…” He paused to remember the words she used. “… Bureau’s shitty foster care system.”
‘So the woman used to be an orphan in our care?’ Judging by the boy’s earlier statement, Stan estimated that the female in question had been in the Bureau’s custody at some point six to seven years ago. The Bureau’s normal foster care system had high standards with highly trained caregivers to create a warm environment in all state sponsored orphanages on any administrated world so if she had such a negative opinion of the Bureau, then the most likely place she ended up in was the Bureau’s Special Care Center.
He could easily understand that place being a very poor environment to raise children. For all the practical purposes it served in terms of looking after children in state custody with strong magic potential, it wasn’t the most ideal environment for a child to develop a normal mental well being. Bureau audits have shown that most children who are raised there turn out to be disciplined commissioned officers but how many of them actually chose that path by their own will without being influenced? And how many children fell through the cracks of the system?
He was aware that Subaru’s friend and former colleague Erio Mondial had nearly been one of them. God know how many children actually did fall through. The standards of care had been going up over the years to address the problem so better late than never. But if the problem had been fixed earlier and that girl had been cared for properly…
While those thoughts continued to dance around Stan’s mind, Touma continued his story. “Before anything happened, the guy behind the lady got hit with something that looked like a brown blur with traces of green electricity. And then before the other lady could react…”
“Roter Donnerfaust!”
“It was the first time I met Mom. She punched that other lady who wanted to let me sleep really, really hard in the face with her left metal glove and went after them. At the time, I wasn’t sure if I should have been happy that someone saved me or upset that someone prevented me from dying quietly since I couldn’t regain my old life. Eventually, she came back for me and took me with her.” The boy paused to catch his breath for a bit. “Things didn’t go well at first. I wasn’t exactly a good boy since I was angry and sad and… a lot of other things. Honestly, my mom had the patience of a Saint to care for me as long as she did when I was bad. It was only a few months later that I realized how lucky I was to have her in my life. And from there, we just lived as best as we could off the land.”
“Well, that’s quite the story,” said the officer who had been taking notes before turning to Subaru. “Can we bring the boy’s mother here? I would like to hear her account of events. Maybe I can pick out some additional new information to add to the case file.”
“Just a second.” She opened up a telepathic connection to contact Hayate. “Lieutenant Colonel Yagami?”
“What is it, Subaru-san?”
“Is it possible for us to borrow Olivie-san for a bit?”
There was an uncomfortable pause that came from the other side. “I’m afraid not. She’s going to be occupied for a while.”
“Doing what exactly?”
“Fighting Signum.”
“WHAT?!”
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(Posted Tue, 24 May 2011 18:27)
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