A lot of times he was tasked with punishments for offensive acts he simply didn't mean.He would've changed his ways but he just forgot how to express feelings, he's not a good actor either.He often took all his punishments silently and executed them to the best of his abilities: pealing onions and fish, scrubbing the bathrooms with a toothbrush the entire night and spending the day with no food. He never complained, he never cared to complain. One time the general had enough of him and tasked him to walk 30 miles. To his surprise, Jobu nodded with no hint of surprise and started walking. After going about 20 miles he fell unconscious as his body couldn't handle the pressure. He woke up in a military van driven by the very general who asked him"why do you insist on being a rebel?" He asked in an almost fatherly voice. Jobu looked down to his feet, his entire life flashed in front of him."Well" he replied with his monotonous speech " the world...shaped me like that...I guess" despite his usual monochromatic speech the general felt a great deal of sadness in him, through these mere words he understood everything about him. He felt guilt, he was punishing someone whom life was not kind to, he was making his pain even worse. Ever since then he tried to involve him, be slightly kinder to him and do whatever it takes to atone for his mistakes.
Jobu finished his bed and stood in the morning roll call, he then headed to the cafeteria "I'll have tea please" he said to the cafeteria lady "you don't want to eat anything with it?" She asked with a concerned tone "I'm not hungry so no thanks" replied Jobu. The cafeteria lady tried to convince him to eat "young man! You always take only tea every morning, this is bad! You're a growing boy and need sustenance, breakfast is very important you know" "then I'll take milk too" retorted Jobu. His monotonous speech made the joke fall flat though, it couldn't be helped " don't joke around" said the cafeteria lady in a scolding voice, a stern expression and a raised finger "you ought to eat well and I'll make sure you do that" she reached somewhere behind the counter and put on his plate what seems to be a pre-made sandwich wrapped in a paper "I knew it'll come to this so I made you a sandwich containing all the healthy goodness you need, so make sure you eat it with your tea" she said as she reverted back to her usual cheerful self. Jobu was surprised but he just nodded his head and showed a proper gratitude " life is not easy" she exclaimed " so make friendships and have fun, no need to make it even harder on yourself, okay?" "What is she on about?" Jobu thought but nodded as if agreeing then left for his table. As he started eating the sandwich that he didn't even check the inside of her words ringed in his head "what naivety...Friendships? Fun? I don't know what blissfully ignorant life you were leading but I wish I had it too, " he thought "also...this sandwich is good".
He finally reached the door, with two firm knocks on the door he announced his arrival "come in Jobu" said the voice of the general. Jobu came in, he was seated by the general who seemed strangely in a good mood today, Jobu didn't bother to mention it. Orders are orders after all. "My boy" said the general "you know your state don't you?" Jobu tilted his head, and frowned his eyebrows, he had a perplexed expression. Of course he could've used his gift to predict where the conversation is going, but there was a law that prevents the unauthorised use of gifts, and Jobu respects rules to the best of his abilities. "It's been six months already and you haven't found a partner yet" "I..." replied Jobu before being interrupted "...you work better alone, I may not have INTELLIGENCE like you do but I can predict that much" Jobu looked at the ground "however" said the general "you can't go on like this forever, our regulations says that everyone needs a partner" he laughed "well, this one is kind of special so I hope you two get along". "Right" Jobu replied ". Although the general did expect that reaction he couldn't help but being disappointed "at least fake some excitement" he said "ask about her or something" "her?" Jobu, who was never good at dealing with men let alone women, was kind of flustered. This was a rare sight indeed, enough to make the general grin as though he won a battle."With that said" he reverted to his serious facade "I'll bring her now, be a good boy and wait for me here OK? " He said and left without waiting for a response.