Miyashita Yuu

I used to wonder if it's okay to smile.
When I was still a young boy whose hair was brushed and who was put into a proper shirt by a maid every morning, I wondered about these things. Was it arrogant of me to think having a smile on your face was just natural? Was it selfish of me to make fun of others? There was no reason for me to start thinking about these things, after all I was the son of the director. Even if I ran around the lab and bothered everyone all day, nobody would say a word to me. So in my increasing boredom and loneliness I started thinking.
Initiating NEAR program. Installing artificial intelligence. It is nice to meet you, young master.
"This is... impressive, Yuu. You made it on your own?"
"Yeah! It's going to be my friend."
"Well that might not be too bad. Since you don't go to school. But how did you know how to do that?"
"I just watched them at the lab and tried on my own."
My father watched me, carefully looking for the lie in my eyes. The eyes of his nine year old son. Then he inspected the small robot standing next to me. It was a simple, round design with stubby arms. But it was still a young boy who built it on his own and programmed an A.I. Simply put, it was hard to believe. Slowly he began to smile and kneeled down to look me in the eyes.
"Wouldn't you like to see where your dad works, Yuu?"

I usually wasn't allowed anywhere outside of the lab. I found out that the one I spent my time in wasn't the only one in the building. In comparison it was a relaxed place. People were always hasty, mumbling or talking to others, there were soldiers with weapons bigger than I've ever seen before patrolling and at some point I saw the experiments. The children, some of them already adults, who didn't turn out the way my father wanted. As I heard only one did. But I didn't know what happened to this one at the time.
NEAR was allowed to be by my side as an assisstant, with it there it became easier to get to work. I figured it was illegal to make a child work with electronics and chemicals that could burn right through my hand, but I also knew that the rights of children were not prioritized at this place. The only thing I cared about was that I could get closer to my father though, which didn't turn out as I expected. The beginning was honestly fun, there were many more people talking to me and I learned a lot about robotics and most other sciences. I could just play around with things all day, figuring out how to do them properly along the way. Until I was put in a department and suddenly I had a list like everyone else did. Then I was finally introduced to testing.
They were burnt, cut and hurt in countless ways. Their torture was endless and I had to watch it, with a pen and paper in my hands. As a child I didn't know how to deal with it, so I didn't do anything at all. I only stared. I don't remember if I blinked even once. I remember that my hand was shaking when their eyes met mine. And I remember thinking that we were the same age.
While the first experience is always a bit shocking, I quickly got used to it and began researching like all the others did. Always in a hurry, always thinking about something that could break the cycle of failure. Artificial superpowers, truth be told I always found it ridiculous. There were countless things these people could be working on and it had to be something so useless. Complaining was no use though, I was already satisfied because I could use the companies things for my own purpose. The materials they used were incredibly expensive after all and I did not want to know how they could finance that. Either way I developed an interest in building weapons. I had time to make them one by one, so they were precise and beautifully refined. I was proud of myself for being able to create something like that, but there was still something on my mind. Why exactly were the people used for experiments mutants? Some of them developed incredible abilities that would be worth studying further, instead people constantly kept searching for something else. There was something specific being developed. While thinking about these things I was hurrying to the lab as I usually would, using the corridor with the test subjects' "rooms" to get there quicker. When NEAR suddenly stopped and I turned around to look at it. It was looking at a girl with red hair, pressing her hands against the glass wall.
"...Is there a problem, NEAR?"
"None, young master. I have only noticed that this girl has the same eyes as you."
I slowly approached them, taking a look at her eyes. They were wide open, she was shaking, but kept looking me in the eyes. They really had the same pale colors as mine. I stood straight again and sighed, making a small note.
"Back." When she heard the word she hastily jumped away, crawling into a corner while the doors opened. It was convenient when they did that automatically, it saved both of us some trouble. When the experiments refused to back away, electricity was sent their way. With time most of them learned to do as they were told when they heard that word. Like little rats. After I had entered she came closer again, which made me raise an eyebrow. It seemed like she was a curious one.
So I kneeled down to look at her directly again.
"Say, how does it feel to be worthless?" She leaned her head in the same direction as me, mimicking my movements.
"You only exist to be tortured. For us to get results that mean nothing to most of us. Your existence, your right to live... are meaningless. Isn't it depressing to experience that everyday?" She listened carefully to what I said, but there question marks in her eyes. She slowly lifted her arm to point at me.
"Depressing?"
I couldn't help but chuckle.
"I guess I am depressing. Coming here to talk to a mutant instead of talking to actual people. All I do is work all day even though I'm a kid. It's strange to say the least. But don't misunderstand, that's not my name."
She suddenly jumped up, wildly pointing the finger at herself.
"Name! Name! Eve!"
"Eve? I can't believe you have an actual name. I guess it's easier to remember than a number."
She smiled when she heard me say it and started coming closer. I suddenly grabbed her arm and pointed her finger at myself.
"Yuu. My name is Yuu."
It was embarrassing to admit, but I found a friend in Eve. Although I did establish that without her consent. It was difficult to communicate with her after all, who only knew few words. They never made an effort to teach them our language. So it was fun to see someone learn new words and understand their meaning. I sometimes brought those picture books I had when I was younger to show her examples. The things she could see were limited after all. Whenever I showed her the colorful pages her eyes would be sparkling, most of the time she wouldn't let go of them anymore and I had to fight her a little to get them back. That was actually new for me and I had to use the electricity sometimes. She was much stronger than me, which was when I noticed how fragile my body actually was.

"Where is he?!"
On a morning like any other I was putting on my white shirt and the black pants, work attire that looked overly serious for a boy who was barely a teenager. But I started hearing loud noises from downstairs. Walking down I saw a tall woman with long, blonde hair fighting our maid. When our eyes met she quickly pushed the maid away and ran towards me, embracing me.
"My son! My little boy... oh you're already so grown up. I can't believe they kept you from me this whole time."
She had bright yellow eyes, strong and fierce, looking like they belonged to a cat. That was the kind of woman my mother was. Someone with attitude, arrogant as well as ignorant, I figured she was stupid as soon as I saw her. But I felt drawn to this motherly figure that was kept from me my whole life. A parent. I tried to reject that I liked the thought of having someone like that in my life, but even someone like me who had a hard time with emotions understood my feelings very well. After all I couldn't remember the last time I saw my father. So really there was no one who could stop me.
I nervously stared at the building in front of me. A brothel was where she worked. It was my first time leaving my living area on my own, my first time in the city and my first time in a red lights district. It was quite the exciting experience, but I felt a sense of nervousness come up as well. I was still a kid, obviously I didn't belong there. But my goal was to see her. So I knocked and some bulky looking man opened.
"Huh? What do you want, kid? We don't allow little boys in here." I didn't know what to say, I was sweating and stuttering but not getting proper words out. Plus he was getting more annoyed, which stressed me out even more.
"Kid? Wait, Ross! That's obviously my little boy! Can't you see the resemblence between him and his mother? He obviously has his pretty face from me. Come in, sweetie! I'll introduce you."
Nervously I let her take me by the hand and pull me further in, where I saw women dressed way too lightly. I couldn't help but feel embarrassed, which my mother found "adorable" apparently. Either way she took me to a table where a few people were sitting, who are just not worth mentioning.
"Oh it's so good to have you around me again. You know, your father took you away from me right after you were born. The scumbag was ashamed that your mother works in this industry, but you know, there's no shame to it at all. But now I found you and we can be together again! Say, wouldn't you like to live with your mother? I'll cook you nice meals everyday."
"You can't even make an egg without burning it, Selena."
"Oh, shut it!"
"I'm... flattered. But I work at father's company, so I can't really leave."
"His company? Really? But you're so young, don't you go to school?"
"Father says it's not necessary, because I already know everything I would have learned there."
"My, I have such a smart son! So, what do you over there?"
"I... that's a secret."
She suddenly came closer, looking me in the eyes dead serious.
"There are no secrets between family, sweetie. Want to know your mommy's secret?"
She threw herself on me and cuddled me. At first it scared me, but then I slowly got used to the warmth.
"Mommy loves her son a whooole lot!"
Feeling more pressured to say something I looked down. There was no way I could tell her the truth, that would be a catastrophe. My eyes then landed on my bag and I slowly pushed her away and took out what was inside it.
"Oh... that is impressive. But a child shouldn't be... it's not normal, is it?" Suddenly calmer and oddly interested she took the gun, inspecting it from all sides.
"It doesn't shoot bullets. It's a little different. May I?"
I took the gun back and then pointed it at an empty seat. Once I pulled the trigger a purplish ray came out of it, engulfing the seat. When I pulled the gun up the seat followed along and small gasps came from around me. My cheeks were a little red, I never received a reaction like that at the company.
"Incredible, sweetheart! I can't believe my little boy can make these things. You know, dear..." The tone of her voice got a little bit softer and she hugged me again.
"Mommy has been short on cash lately. It's been hard ever since your father left me. But I know people who would buy these guns of yours for quite a price... what do you think? Won't you help out your mom? Then we'd get to spend a lot more time together."
I gulped for a second. There was nothing wrong with it, right? I would just help my mother, my family, which was the most important. And it was father's fault in the first place.
"O.. okay. I'll bring more next time."
That was when everything spiraled out of control. I soon followed my mother into a world that used to be beyond me, a place a spoiled brat like me should have never entered. The weapon dealing turned into something bigger, a circle that became well known in the underworld. It really was out of my control, but they demanded more and I had less time to make them. Still that would have been somewhat bearable, if it weren't for the subplot. Usually the subplot is what really causes the chaos. Though I feel like my life was always made of subplots, except for work there was never a strict line I could follow.

"Isn't your mother with you?" It was just another night at the brothel to spend time with my mother, usually discussing business with her. I didn't know what else to talk about really, but with Eve I always found something, with my mother it was always about one thing. So she was gone, probably off with some man. And I was all alone when a man suddenly approached me.
"Must be bored, kiddo. You're always around here but you never even drink.  You sure  you don't want something?" I was suspicious right away. I knew him, he made lots of silly jokes and was smoking something all the time. Still everyone around me was having fun and I was always quiet. I thought that I would have to relax a little to get closer to them, which I desperately wanted to. They accepted me. A group of what I thought were absolutely normal people, different from the ever so busy people you'd see at the company. So I nodded and was served a drink. It was my first time, but I felt the effect right away. I don't know if it was just that strong, but each sip made me feel more tipsy and happy and carefree. The stoic face I had slowly turned into a big grin, my eyes were hazy. It might have also been my genetics, since both my parents were alcoholics, and as much as I would usually think about useless things like that, I did not even spare a thought. I just started laughing and chatting. I was hooked. And this man who offered me that drink was not quite done with that. For some reason I wanted to get closer to him, so I followed him outside one time when he wanted to smoke. When he saw me he smiled and sat me down next to him, giving me whatever he had that night. My memory of that is hazy, I was already drunk. As I usually was whenever I went there. But I remember clearly how he pressed his lips against mine when I smiled at him. Nothing more than that, it was a short kiss and he turned his head away after that. I was probably surprised, stared at the floor, blushed a little, easily flustered as I was. And then I didn't say anything. Which I would count as one of my biggest mistakes, other than not leaving right away and kicking his face. After that it just continued like that, kisses when nobody was looking, cigarettes and more drugs. Harder drugs. God I needed more everytime I saw him, I begged him to give me something better. So he offered me a deal. As you might imagine it was nothing innocent, my first time was painful and incredibly shameful. Compared to the times afterwards it was painless though. And I wouldn't know better. I just thought the pain and hitting was a part of it. I also became addicted to the pain.
I came to work with wounds, I told my mother the wounds happened during work. Now some might say that hooking up with an abusive pedophile might not be the best idea and I agree, but I was hooked on the sweet reward I would get by the end of it. I was high constantly. The world suddenly appeared colorful and everything could make me laugh.

This is not a special memory. But it stuck with me for some reason.
I was visiting Eve as I usually would, although I started seeing her less because I was busy with the weapons, the brothel and that man. She sat down opposite from me, looking unusually tired. She could keep her eyes barely open, but she kept looking at me.
"Yuu." Surprised I looked up. She rarely ever talked on her own, most of the time she responded to me. I nodded at her, curiously waiting for what she wanted to say.
"Different. Yuu is different." She pointed her finger at me and I held still for a second.
"Yuu okay?"
I was amazed. This girl was tortured everyday, inflicted with pain beyond my imagination, had nothing to do than to waste for what was approaching her next and yet she somehow managed to worry about me. Just because I became some pathetic drug addict who was someones personal toy. And I knew. It hurt so badly but I knew that no one really cared about me. Her words ripped open all the wounds so mercilessly I started gripping that clean white shirt that was soaked in my own blood. Breathing in sharply I smiled.
And that was it. That was it. I left and continued working. I did, didn't I?
She was choaking under him, his hands were pressing against her throat as hard as they could. He didn't know what he was doing, he was just squeezing the life out of her.
Was I doing that?
I stared at this boy with black hair who finally let go of the smaller girl, backing away to wait for her to get up, just to kick the life out of her, slamming his knee slightly below her chest, she instantly dropped down, but he only continued to kick her and hit her grab her by the clothes, laughing her in the face. Laughing and laughing.
That's not me. I wouldn't do that. That is someone far away.
I felt like I saw something to my right. Something that was only half there, a human silhouette. For a second I saw a boy whose eyes were wide open and whose hair was combed properly, with a nice and clean white shirt. He stared at me in shock. But then there was nothing
It was probably just another hallucination. I turned my attention back to Eve, who I was still holding up in the air.
"You could have easily defeated me, sweetheart. Getting attached to someone might not have been your best idea, huh?"
She was unconcious. With a scoff I let go of her, carelessly dropping her on the ground. Then I left and went back to work. I needed something better. Something harder. But I wasn't planning on getting it through him anymore.

"Yuu... why?" I pulled my glove on my hand properly and looked around. What a mess. Who knew a room could get that bloody if you shot everyone inside it. Except for one blondie of course. And one junkie who was waiting for me somewhere else.
"Oh, I just don't like it when people have dirt on me. And these people had more than enough. I was quite careless until now, trusting you. But you could have easily gotten away as long as you blamed this on me, couldn't you?"
"No, Yuu! We don't have to do this gun thing anymore, we can just be normal! Normal mother and son! We could move together, you know? Far away from here. In a normal place. And you could go to college, just like everyone else. Let's forget about this, okay? Please, sweetheart?" The despair on her face was beautiful to watch. She tried so hard to smile, but it looked so disgusting with blood splattered on her and the fear clearly running through her blood.
"Don't worry, mother. You will forget. I love you so much after all, I would never kill you. Sadly you never loved me... so it will be enough if you're just there for me to love, you know?" I started coming closer and gently took her hand, turning it around to look at her veins.
"You will live, but you will never speak again. Or move in any way. You can just spend the rest of your life in a comfortable chair, being fed by a maid, being cleaned by her. I will take care of that. So don't move."
With my words the panic in her reached its highest point, she slapped my hand away and tried to get up, to run outside, but I quickly grabbed her arm and stabbed a syringe in it.
"You're lucky I'm a great doctor, mother." As her body lost its strength and she dropped on the floor she could see the happiest smile her son ever had on his face.
It took a while to finish her operation. One shot wouldn't be enough to destroy her body that badly, it just immobilized her for a while. It should have also made the pain more tolerable, I wouldn't know because she couldn't speak anymore. There were already people coming in, cleaning up the mess and picking her up when he was done. She would be placed in a nice home I prepared for her. I took my dirty gloves off and threw them on the floor for them to clean up as well. At the same time a call came in.
"Oh, honey? Sorry, I was with mother. You know how she is when she starts talking. Yeah, I'm on my way. And I've got a special surprise. Bye bye~"
For my first boyfriend I had something special planned. After all there was a project I became interested in. I always wondered about it for the past few years, especially when he heard about the escape of the girl who was their only success. Of course a hero would have this kinda luck. They had no idea when they'd achieve another success and he didn't need this uncertainty. It was easy to get a room in the basement where I could easily store something. Where nobody would hear a noise from.
"Good morning, honey. How have you been since yesterday? Oh, your whole body is swollen. It must hurt like hell right now. Thank goddness I brought something for that. I could have brought it sooner, but you could have also not broken my asshole, right?" With a giggle I took out my equipment.
"Today will be really fun sweetheart. I feel like this will really be it. My serum is almost perfect, so let's run a few tests, shall we?"
Why deem the mutants failures? They can do much more than just rot in this place. And I would show the world.

I was visiting Eve as I usually would, , although I started seeing her less because I was busy with the experiments. But I sat down to chat with her, putting a colorful picture book between us. She was laying on the floor, not even looking up to see who it was.
"Are you sleeping, Eve? You've been really lazy lately, you know."
"Eve... will die."
Surprised I stopped, looking into her pale yellow eyes.
"Eve's time is over."
She said that with a little smile.
"No."
I took her hands into mine, watching her shallow breathing.
"You will be complete tomorrow, Eve. I promise. Tomorrow you will finally see the world."
It really was six years ago, wasn't it?
Everything was ready in the evening. My existence was deleted. The son of Miyashita Hideyoshi was erased from this planet, which wasn't too difficult since I was never at many places. And gone from the lab were all our test subjects. I was perfectly aware of where they were, since I had them neatly lined up in front of me. Each of them had a dose of the serum injected in them when I got to my dear Eve. She was drugged to no end by me, but this would be her last injection.
"You know, Eve... I used to look for something to cure you with." I started mumbling to myself while pulling up her sleeve.
"And I know how to make it. I'm probably the only one who will ever know. Not to be arrogant, but someone like me will not happen that quickly again."
I looked for the injection spot and breathed in one last time.
"But I gave it up. After all this world is evil. Some of our existences are just a waste of space. That's already decided. So it doesn't matter. All those little lives don't matter. But you, Eve, you will go down in history. I promise you that. You will see the world from the highest point before you disappear."
Then the needle went in.

So I suppose that is how the great attack happened, exactly six years ago. I couldn't have imagined Eve would turn out as destructive as she did. The other mutants who only had one injections turned into smaller monster, causing chaos in the city, breaking into houses and murdering the little souls while Eve stomped through the city. She destroyed everything so beautifully, until the heroes showed up and did their usual thing. People with luck were so annoying. Still I was just a teenager when I destroyed that city, so checkmate. And I made sure everyone would remember that, so I made a little call to make sure everyone could say and hear me clearly, telling Eve to stop for a second.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, little and big ones! You were all destined to die a meaningless death, so I hope you will enjoy it. Because I am just as meaningless as you are I want you to remember my name, my face and my voice. Remember it all because I will come back and I will destroy even more, every surviver left from today. I am Eve! And I wish you all a happy death."
After that I disappeared. Well, it was no fun to attack a city that wasn't  big and had lots of buildings. I also needed time to invest into some businesses and get some more connections. Building weapons and getting chemicals was expensive and I didn't have my fathers funds anymore, I can imagine he's pretty upset, so I had to get money from different resources. Setting up fake names and identities, building new technology so I could go out again. Being recognized would be a problem after all. During those six years a magical encounter happened.

I would say that it was uncomfortable to gang up on a helpless woman, but honestly I didn't care. If she was going to be in my way then she had to learn. I was standing behind four armed men who were doing the intimidating job while I talked. When suddenly someone in a suit attacked us. I took a few steps back and watched quietly. At first I thought it was some boring neighbourhood superhero, so when I saw him on the floor I went back to our car. But then it happened. I could feel the power sizzling inside him as his suit started to melt, together with my heart. He was beautiful while punching my underlings, probably crippling them. He saved that woman so bravely. So that was a superhero in his purest form. I gulped down the hard feelings and drove away. I watched every record he was in, I let people look for even the shortest clips on twitter. I felt obssessed with this man and I didn't know what to do about it. Until I figured it out.
"I'll do as mom said! I'll live a normal life to find out more about him and also start work again to lure him to me. Perfect idea! Ohhh he'll love my little monsters I'm sure!"
And this was the story of how I fell in love.