Page 51 of Pandion

On the third day of his migraine, Harumine ran out of medication. He was getting dressed to go out to get some more when Kagesawa intercepted him at the door.

“Are you sure you’re OK? I can come with you if you want.”

“It’s fine. Go do your thing.” Harumine was surprised Kagesawa had even noticed him since he’d been so engrossed in going through the files the past few days.

“I don’t mind.” He seemed worried.

“It’s not the first time I’ve had a migraine. I used to have them all the time from stress back in uni. Get back to your thing. I’ll be back in a bit.”

Harumine didn’t feel great, but he didn’t think he needed a chaperone for such a short trip. He wouldn’t have minded sending Kagesawa to run the errand in his stead, but since he had to go see the doctor to renew his prescription anyway, he might as well go to the pharmacy himself while he was out.

“All right, but let me know if you need anything.”

This was the first proper migraine Harumine had had since graduation, so it stood to reason Kagesawa wasn’t used to them. Even so, Harumine hadn’t expected this level of concern. He would have appreciated it more had he not felt like puking from the pain. Maybe he’d remember to appreciate it later. He nodded and headed out.

The doctor’s office was quiet. The doctor called him in almost as soon as he’d arrived.

After some raised eyebrows and concerns about the newly stripped port, the man declared he would need to file a report—which Harumine wasn’t too concerned about considering the current chaos at the EA—but agreed to run all the necessary diagnostics.

When all the tests indicated the organism was tolerating the medication without showing signs of distress, the doctor renewed the prescription, reminded Harumine to take it easy and sent him on his way. The whole thing, complaints and all, took less than fifteen minutes.

There were a few more people queueing at the pharmacy, so Harumine was forced to wait for his turn and his prescription to be filled. The fluorescent lights were much too bright, and the general smell of the place was unpleasant, but he lifted the hood of his hoodie over his head and covered his mouth and nose withhis sleeve to make it bearable. He’d be home in a bit, take his meds and sleep for a day or two more.

Usually these episodes resolved themselves in a couple of days, so there couldn’t have been that much left of this one. He’d strained himself more than usual, but he’d lived through worse. What he could have lived without was the little TV blaring at the back of the room. It probably wasn’t as loud as it seemed, but to Harumine’s oversensitive ears, the news anchor’s voice was like a fork being pulled across a ceramic plate. When he was called to the counter and the pharmacist was packing up his medication, the TV was right by his ear, and he had to cover his ears to save himself from the worst of it.

The pharmacist thanked him and wished him a good day. Harumine nodded and retreated away from the counter. Even in this state, he caught a few words of the news broadcast.

“The protesters have now entered the building. We advise everyone in the area to stay indoors. Mr Watanabe, how does it look where you are?” Harumine forced himself to look at the screen. The broadcast continued from what looked like the front of the local EA offices. “We already know that the Stand Against Invasion, or the SAI movement, has joined forces with the long standing anti-empath movement, the AEM. I am here with the representative for the Justice for the Organism association, Miss M. Miss M, what is your involvement in the current situation?” The news reporter pointed his mic at a woman who had obscured her face with a scarf.

“This is intolerable! It is slavery! If we cannot separate the organisms from their captors alive, we are willing to make a compromise. I say we free them by giving them the gift of death! These beings are innocent, they are capable of consciousness, and they deserve better than to suffer in servitude!”

The young woman didn’t so much as blink as she said this. Her eyes glimmered as if she’d gone raving mad fromher righteousness. Behind her, dozens of others echoed her sentiment, many of them armed.

An empath was pushed forward to the front, held by two burly men. Miss M did not hesitate when she grabbed the empath by the hair, revealed the port at the back of her head, ripped it off and tazed the opening. The officers at the scene moved to detain the deranged woman, but it was too late to save the empath who jerked and fell dead to the ground.

“You will all get what’s coming to you! We are many, we are strong, and we will come for you!” She laughed maniacally as the police dragged her off. The broadcast was moved back into the studio.

“We apologise for the inappropriate scene you have just witnessed. The police have requested that empaths remain indoors and keep their doors locked until the situation resolves. We have received numerous reports of attacks against empaths by the JufO, the SAI and the AEM across all of the fourteen prefectures. We urge the citizens to remain calm.” The news anchor then continued on to a segment about seasonal delicacies as if a woman hadn’t just died in the middle of this bizarre broadcast.

Harumine closed his eyes. “...this time of year the juiciness is unparalleled…” Had he imagined all of that? The EA offices were a stone’s throw away from where he stood. He tried to loosen his grip on the bag he was holding. His hands were squeezing it so tight they were shaking.

Satoru?Hadn’t he passed the EA offices about an hour ago, on his way here?Hello? Are you all right?Had there been people there? Was that a live broadcast, or…? Surely they wouldn’t have shown something like that live on purpose.

“Sir? Are you all right?” the pharmacist asked.

“Huh? Ah, yes.” Harumine moved out of the way to let the next customer pass.

“...paired together with this delicious piece of…” The sound of the TV seared into Harumine’s ears.

Satoru? Answer me. Are you all right?

Was it safe to go outside? Was it safe to stay here? How obvious was it that he was an empath? He was wearing his SEU hoodie. Should he discard it? Was that overkill? Something like that wouldn’t actually happen in reality, right? It had been a skit of some sort. How else would they be discussing salad dressing and shrimp right after? Harumine staggered to the door.

SATORU!Kagesawa’s projection cut through the splitting headache with enough force to cause Harumine to cradle his head and whimper out loud.

Shit, be quiet for a bit, I’m trying to think!Projecting back was humiliatingly difficult.

Harumine looked around before exiting the pharmacy. The street was empty save for a couple heading the opposite way. Maybe it would be safer to go around the park. The distance was not ideal with this headache, but there wasn’t much else he could do.

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