The elevator ride was extremely awkward as Takeru was just standing there not saying anything, not even blinking. He looked like he was having an existential crisis.
In an attempt to break the awkward atmosphere, Yuko said, "So... Takahashi-kun, did you like the new chapter of Pain Machine?"
Rento felt awkward too but replied. "I did, Ikari-san. It wasn't as great I would've wanted Chipo's final chapter to be but still, her conclusion was pretty good. My favorite line was probably when Chipo looked over at Fisho and said 'Thank you, Pain Machine.' It was pretty funny."
"Cool...", Yuko replied. She didn't really read manga so she didn't understand anything. She just wanted to break the silence and had seen Rento read Pain Machine before.
ding!
"We're here.", Yuko said. They left the elevator and walked towards The Chairman's office. Takeru was still not saying anything.
knock! knock!
"Come in.", The Chairman said.
"Chairman-sama! Its nice to see you again!", Yuko said in a enthusiastic cheery voice.
"Just tell me who the new guy is, Yuko-chan."
Rento got annoyed. "I can't believe this guy gets to use Ikari-san's first name..."
Yuko looked over at Takeru. "Come on, Ichino-kun. Introduce yourself."
"Huh? Oh yeah... Uh... Hi, Chairman-sama. I'm an alternate-user and I'm willing to be an alternate-user."
The Chairman stared at Takeru with keen eyes. "How old are you, kid?"
"I'm 16."
The Chairman sighed. "How unfortunate... Go to the 2nd floor and grab one of the suits. From henceforth, you're on Group 5 with Yuko and Rento. Go back to their dorm for today and you'll get your first mission tomorrow."
"..."
"Is that understood?"
"Yes.", Takeru said in an empty voice.
The Chairman went back to looking at his papers. "Alright then, get the hell outta here."
The 3 immediately stepped out. "Well... Its official now! Welcome to the team, Ichino-kun!", Yuko said excitingly. She was trying to cheer him up.
"I'll go get the suit. You guys can wait for me in our dorm or whatever." Takeru was still speaking in a somber way. Yuko's attempt didn't work at all.
"Sure. Our dorm's in the 5th floor.", Rento replied.
Takeru then quietly walked away. From the look on Yuko's face, Rento could tell Yuko felt sorry for Takeru.
"He'll be okay, Senpai. Don't worry.", Rento said.
"I hope so."
Takeru took the stairs while Yuko and Rento took the elevator. "I don't understand... Is it over? The life that I had... Is it really over? Going around with these two strangers... is that all my life is now?"
Takeru was walking down the stairs extremely slowly, still trying to process everything. A part of him wanted to jump out one of the windows and run back to his house. When he arrived in the 2nd floor, he saw a giant wardrobe filled with the same suit over and over again. The suit that SOMA members wore was a standard black suit. Black coat, white shirt, black pants, black tie and black shoes. It was something you would wear to a funeral.
Takeru grabbed one, threw away the clothes he had on and wore the suit. He looked in the mirror with gloomy eyes. "This is who you are now."
Yuko and Rento were waiting in their dorm talking about random stuff.
"Strawberry is better, Takahashi-kun!"
"No! Chocolate is better, Ikari-san!"
Takeru followed their noise and found himself in the dorm. It was 8PM at the moment and Yuko was already in bed and went to sleep when she saw Takeru managed to find the dorm.
Rento looked over to Takeru. "You're here, huh? The dorms here have 3 beds as all groups are supposed to have 3 members. You and I'll be sleeping on this bunk bed. You use the upper one." Takeru was just standing there looking obviously in pain and not being able to come to terms with his new situation.
Without caring, Rento went to his bed and closed his eyes. Takeru felt so alone. His life had taken away from him entirely and he was forced to adjust to a new supernatural world.
He climbed up to his bed and laid on it thinking about everything and trying to process it all.
"How can these people be so casual about this... They're taking away my life from me. I'm supposed to just do this job I didn't ask for for the rest of my life? What kinda bullshit is that!?
I can't even run away cause of what happened to grandma... Grandma... I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry... That day, If I wasn't such a lazy useless bum, I would've had some food in the fridge and I wouldn't have gone wandering to your house for onigiri... The alternate awakening or whatever would've happened when I was alone and no one would be harmed... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry...
My friends... My parents that are still abroad and will be expecting their son when they return home... My Aiko-chan... I'M SUPPOSED TO FORGET ABOUT THEM ALL!? WHAT KINDA BULLSHIT IS THAT!? HUH? WHY THE HELL DID THIS HAVE TO HAPPEN TO ME!? WHY ME!? WHY!?
To think that something like this was hiding in Tokyo in plain sight... Its just my luck to get wrapped up in this shit..."
That night, Takeru cried himself to sleep.
The Chairman was concerned. It was already night and Group 3 still hadn't returned.
"Where the hell are they this late at night!? The alternate I sent them after today couldn't have been that strong..."
All groups except Group 3 had returned. Otori Tobu was currently stopping people from heading into only one location, the place Group 3 were sent to. It was Koenji, a district of Tokyo in the Suginami ward.
Up in the skies, Tobu was concerned too. "I'm getting nervous... Those guys started fighting there at 2 PM and they still haven't contacted me to let go of resisting the common folks from heading to Koenji. Are they alright?"
"How disappointing... I expected a lot more from you SOMA members."
"You... wo- won't la- last long... The Chairman wi- will come after you a-"
shink!
A mysterious figure stood above 3 dead bodies. Group 3 had been completely annihilated.
"Well... I guess its time to begin the feast."