Matsuo's son began to walk toward me and grabbed my shoulders, staring me dead in the eyes, but his body didn't have enough power and soon his grip grew weak and he began to fall down.
He must have always wanted to say all this to me. All the nights he must have spent just cursing himself. He probably wanted to kill me right now, but his body was malnourished.
"Your three years of freedom... cost me my father who nurtured me for twelve."
I knew what was going to happen when I agreed to running away. I knew something would happen to him, yet I still went away. There is no real excuse I could make to justify what I did...
But it is far easier to make a ruined soul doubt itself compared to purifying it...
I finally began to reply to Matsuo's son, who had fallen down to his knees and began to cry. Blood was dripping down from his mouth.
"What's your point in telling me all this?"
After I said that, I saw Matsuo's eyes widen in disbelief and no words came out of his mouth for a while.
I wanted to let him curse me to make himself feel better. I could even let him beat me up to at least take out some steam, but I could have only done it if the circumstances were normal. I have to kill these guys soon, so...
There is no point in trying to make things right; I just have to make things manageable for a while.
"That's all you have to say after destroying our lives?"
No. In truth, even if what I am feeling right now are the emotions of this body, I still wanted to apologize and endure your hate toward me for eternity while trying my best to make Matsuo's sacrifice meaningful by helping you achieve your dreams.
But Matsuo's son... I would have done all this only if the circumstances were right.
"Did you think I felt guilty after you saw me just standing there? I am sorry to say, but you are not that special. I was just trying to remember you because you seemed familiar. Then I remembered the photo sitting on his desk. You were smiling in it back then like an innocent child. I never felt guilty for what I did to Matsuo and you."
I had taken away his father from him and, after all this, instead of asking for forgiveness, I doubled down on it. I am sure he would be beyond anger right now, but also disappointed in himself for not being able to hit me for what I am doing...
That's just life, Matsuo's son. Some bad guys become good over time, while others just go deeper into darkness.
You hate me, right? It won't matter.
My hand slowly went down toward his kneeling body and grabbed his shoulders as he shook and tried to get it off him... He was too weak.
"Do you want me to say I regret it? That I would've stayed if I had known? That your suffering means something to me? But let's be honest, what would that change? Would it make the fire unburn? Would it bring him back? Would your scar vanish? Would the emptiness inside you finally stop screaming?"
Do I regret running away, even if it meant sacrificing Matsuo? No. If I were to go back to the past and the same scenario happened, I would still follow through.
"You speak like I targeted you. Like I knew what helping me would do to your life. But I never asked him to. I didn't know your name. I didn't even know you existed. All I did was escape. The rest... wasn't mine."
But he was wrong about something. He is acting like his father didn't know what was going to come; it was his own way of coping. To make him useful for a while, I will just exploit the core.
"Your father made a decision. He knew the risks. He knew what the system does to those who break its rules. And still, he helped me. Not because I deserved it. Not because he expected anything in return. He chose me."
I mixed the truths with lies and made it hit harder than any lie ever could.
"And it wasn't you."
He was shaking; he probably wanted me to stop.
"He knew what would happen to you. Of course he did. The system doesn't just punish rebels. It consumes their families, their pasts, their memories. He knew. And he went through with it anyway. Have you ever wondered why? Why he chose me over you?"
His face went down. He probably didn't want me to continue further. I didn't stop. He probably needed peace after letting out all his pain, but instead, I gave him another hell.
"Because he already knew the truth. That your life had been marked long before I appeared. That no matter how hard you worked, how many jobs you took, how many nights you came home bruised and exhausted... the system would never forgive your bloodline. He saw that. And he gambled on the only piece he thought might survive the board."
Now I have to make him doubt himself.
"You waited outside his door. You begged him to open it. You wanted to believe he was mourning, that he was broken. But maybe he wasn't praying for forgiveness. Maybe he was just trying to die quietly. You weren't the reason he locked that door. You were the reason he couldn't open it."
...
"You say I stole your life. But I never laid a hand on it. Your father gave it away. Willingly. Quietly. Without asking your permission. You've been chasing justice. Screaming for someone to answer. But what you really wanted... was a reason why he didn't choose you."
I didn't tell him anything else and turned, showing him my back. I stood there for a second.
I have my back against you; show me if I should kill you right now or let you stay alive.
...
He just stayed on the ground, not saying anything. I guess you will stay alive for a while.
"I'm sorry. But some questions aren't meant to be answered. Life has given you a second chance, don't waste it."
I finally went out of the storage, letting the consequences of my actions go even below the rabbit hole.
***
Matsuo's son's body felt like it didn't belong to him anymore. His knees were numb, his spine curved in defeat, and his hands, those same hands that had once washed dishes at midnight, counted coins behind a convenience store counter, cleaned his father's blanket when the old man stopped coming out, hung lifeless in the air.
He blinked slowly, and the tears that had dried on his cheeks cracked. The fire was back in his mind again. That sound. Not of wood burning. But of him screaming. From behind a door.
His father's voice had never reached him again after that night. Just one voicemail. Just one line he'd never delete.
I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.
But now... those words didn't sound like grief anymore. They sounded like surrender.
Matsuo's son pressed a hand to his chest and waited, stupidly, for something to hurt. For something to burst. But there was no pain left.
Just that hollow ache behind the ribs, the one that came when you finally understood that the people you loved had never belonged to you the way you belonged to them.
A tremor ran through his hands, and he clutched the fabric of his ruined sleeve, rocking slightly.
He had spent every breath since that day trying to protect a legacy already set on fire. Trying to prove that love, even when it was abandoned, could be justified.
But what if there was no meaning? No redemption? What if Ayanokouji was right?
What if his father hadn't died for him?
What if he had died despite him?
Matsuo's son stared at the ground.
He couldn't remember what it felt like to breathe without guilt.
He opened his mouth once, to speak his father's name. Maybe to curse it. Maybe to beg it.
But no sound came.
Matsuo's son, he simply sat there, broken into silence, waiting for a god that would never come.
***
I went out of the storage and looked up at the sky. It was getting hot out here, and it would make things a little difficult for me.
I walked for a while and saw him sitting by a dead tree, just dusting his clothes off. Where did he go to get himself dirty? I walked toward him as he stood up again and took one long sigh. He asked me,
"How long before he follows?"
I had questions as to why he kept Matsuo's son alive despite him being malnourished, but I didn't ask any of that yet.
"If he believes his father to be correct, he will continue to struggle forward, but if he believes someone like me, who took his father's life, to be correct, then he is not really going to be usable for us."
I looked back toward the storage once and then back toward him, as he was also looking toward the storage as he asked,
"Was Matsuo a good man?"
Was he... a good man?
...
"I haven't really met that many adults that act kindly, but perhaps he was the ideal man I wanted to become."
After I said that, he went silent for a second, perhaps taken off guard by what I said.
"So, how much of what you told him was true?"
Most of what I said was nothing but lies.
"I just did enough for him to continue forward and remain useful."
He began walking away inside the village, and I followed him.
"He is malnourished, sleep-deprived, and that deep scar on his neck, you really made wings out of others' flesh, didn't you?"
That's just how fate decided things to be, and even now, the wings I make will be made of your flesh.
He continued talking.
"He's emotional. Desperate. That's a rare kind of asset. He'll go places we wouldn't. That kind of volatility opens doors."
But then he stopped walking and looked me dead in the eyes.
"Tell me, did you feel anything when you came face-to-face with him?"
Did I feel anything when I found who he was? I... don't know. I did feel remorse, but I am pretty sure it was this body who felt it and not me.
The moment I realized that to continue forward, I would have to kill these guys, I stopped feeling any kind of attachment for them. It was just empty.
I wonder, if the circumstances were a little different, would I be genuinely looking forward to my future with them?
"I did feel something, something very distant. I don't really wish to feel this way within the Nightmare, but still... I always check if my past is coming to haunt me from time to time."
There's no point in me trying to think of an ideal world any longer. My story needs to be written in blood.
***
My eyes slowly went toward Matsuo's son. He seemed to not have believed what I said entirely, but a doubt must have remained in his mind; still, he went back to normal way too fast.
My eyes went forward toward him talking.
"They're intelligent. If I just run, not all of them will follow. Some will stay back here. Others will take alternate routes and try to cut us off,"
Did he have a hand in Matsuo's son's situation, or was it the girl? Him becoming normal too fast is suspicious.
He continued.
"I'll lead the majority past the village. But we have to assume a few dozen will stay and wait. Don't rely on full evacuation."
When he said that, his voice didn't hold any kind of doubt. It was as confident as one could be, overconfident even.
He turned, looked toward Matsuo's son, and began to talk with him, but for me, whatever they talked about was censored. A minute later, two pieces of paper appeared in Matsuo's son's hand, and he gave one of them to him.
I just looked at him, forming theories. The one that made the most sense was that whatever he wrote on his paper would appear on Matsuo's son's paper... but it was just a theory without any legitimate proof.
As soon as he got the paper, he turned and began to run fast into the forest, and not even a second later, the chase began.
Rustle. Rustle. Rustle.
I heard a lot of rustling, both frantic and crazy, following after him one after another. Even on top of the trees, a lot of Vowalkers ran after him, jumping from one tree to another.
Still, not all the Vowalkers had followed him. I saw quite a few not following him at all, just waiting for us.
A few minutes passed.
The page that was with Matsuo's son began to have black shapes appear on it one after another, and he handed it to me without saying a single word. I took the page and began to check it.
It was a crude outline of the path he took that showed all the key points I could use to get to the next village.
I memorized it all and glanced toward them. It would be an ideal time to kill them when he is away, but there are actually some difficulties.
If I kill Matsuo's son and the page disappears, he will know. And the girl, she isn't making it any easier by keeping her distance. If I fail to kill her, she will easily be able to escape, and it would be almost impossible for me to catch her.
***
The girl walked toward the edge of the village slowly with a serious expression on her face and climbed up one of the trees. Then she extended her hand toward Matsuo's son, which he took, and she pulled him up.
I began to stretch my body to attract the rest of the Vowalkers. I began to walk toward the edge of the forest and looked everywhere, making a mental map of the terrain I had to go through.
I jumped in place a little, finding the positions of the Vowalkers and keeping them in my mind. Then I predicted how they would move through the forest and across the map assigned to me.
...
..
.
I slammed my leg onto the forest ground, making a loud thud, and began to run toward the left. All the remaining Vowalkers began to chase after me. I looked back and saw the two of them finally starting their journey.
They were going very slowly. I would have to make my path in a way that no Vowalker went after them. I couldn't kill those two because I didn't have a single idea as to what his memory even was.
I stopped looking back and picked up speed, hearing all the sounds and vibrations that were happening, and my heart began to beat fast again. I have killed a lot of Vowalkers, so many that I lost count, and they all act in the same way...
By using the vibrations and sound, as well as the layout I had of their movement, my mental map was complete with the position of every single one of them and how they were going to approach.
I went even faster, the wind rushing past my body. I also made sure this grass didn't limit my speed.
While running, I suddenly stopped and twisted right as one of the Vowalkers' claws went past me and got trapped in the bark. I didn't stop and kept running.
I saw it, a broken tree that was shown on the map. I didn't go around it; instead, I jumped over it and rolled, letting momentum carry me even faster.
Another Vowalker dropped from a tree. Its scream pierced the air.
I kicked off a rock and slammed my shoulder into the Vowalker's chest, using its own weight to spin myself toward the left, dodging another two.
The paths where I was not going to go began to blur, and only the path I had decided on remained. I made sure to hear all the sounds surrounding me, keeping my mental map going.
Over the span of the next few minutes, I kept on running and using the terrain surrounding me to help me. It was still a little harder to parkour, but after a few more trips with the girl, it should be manageable.
But... my breath was tasting like iron now. I had grown tired after this much running. I was reaching my limits.
According to the map, I am really close to it, just a few more parkour moves away to be exact. I sped up one last time, ran up a broken tree, and jumped, looking down. A cluster of Vowalkers was there, climbing over each other to reach me.
I dived ahead, changing my posture and narrowly dodging them. As I reached the ground, my body began to roll continuously until I regained control and ran on my own.
The Vowalkers stopped following me, and I saw the girl and Matsuo's son standing there, looking at me in disbelief.
Huff. Huff.
I was tired, but I didn't let it show.
I have reached the next village.
***
This village was exactly the same as the last one, empty and broken, but still I decided to look around and soon found him standing by the well. The other two decided to go and count the houses.
"So do they trust you now, Kiyotaka?"
I really didn't have any way of knowing after what I did to each of them, but after letting them see my abilities by escaping through the forest, they would have no choice but to trust me to survive.
"They are more wary than trusting."
I saw a small laugh escape him.
"Isn't that what trust is? We believe in someone else because we are not skilled enough to do something and ask them for it. We hope that they won't betray us."
He looked the same as me, torn clothes from head to toe with blood seeping from some parts of his body, yet what was more impressive was that over ten times the amount of Vowalkers had chased him, yet he remained like this... I made a mental note of this too.
The other two finally joined us.
***
The next three days went surprisingly smoothly. They went across a few villages, five more to be exact.
He would always run ahead first, make a map, and send it through Matsuo's son, and then Ayanokouji would follow that map. Doing so made others trust him.
Meanwhile, the girl helped their Walkie-Talkie, who was Matsuo's son, through the forest as Ayanokouji lured the Vowalkers.
They ate the Vowalker's flesh, but not him and Ayanokouji; for some reason, they refused to eat it.
They slept through the night, except for him and Ayanokouji, who for some reason refused to sleep through it.
Now they were at the seventh village, which had a total of seventy houses that gave them over eight hours of time.
They had not found any other parts of the poems yet, but they didn't stop; trusting each other gave them hope.
Matsuo's son had given everyone a piece of paper as the girl and Ayanokouji went inside the forest to find any other clues, while Matsuo's son and he remained in the village.
He, or Shirou, stood by the well once again, just looking down into it endlessly. He had a sad expression on his face for some reason, as if he knew something others didn't.
In fact, the reason there were no other parts of the poems was because he found them first and didn't share them; for some reason, he was acting weird today.
'Seventh village... Ha. Today's the day.'
Shirou disappeared into the forest.
***
Ayanokouji and the girl were parkouring through the forest. For some reason, no Vowalker had been in sight for two days. No one knew why, except perhaps Ayanokouji.
He reached the conclusion that it was "His" memory. He was able to attract all the Vowalkers toward him...
That meant... today was the day he would kill them.
Ayanokouji's body was telling him not to do it, crying out that there could be another way. Dark circles hung below Ayanokouji's eyes; he hadn't eaten anything for a few days, and he couldn't continue this way.
While parkouring, he heard the girl speak.
"When was the last time you even ate something? I can't even remember you sleeping for a single minute."
Ayanokouji was at his limits, his body finding it difficult to continue, and then his hand moved on its own, gripping the girl's hand tighter.
A small smile appeared on the girl's face.
"You have decided something, haven't you?"
The next tree curved, forcing them to stop on its surface for just a second... Ayanokouji's fingers tightened, and his hand pulled the girl toward him in one smooth motion, his other hand going toward her throat.
...
..
.
Just then, at that very moment, the girl's smile widened, and she uttered those words.
"Forbidden Love."
Ayanokouji's hand stopped right before her throat, and his eyes became unfocused. He stopped breathing, too.
A sharp stone slipped down the girl's sleeve and landed in her palm, and she tried to attack Ayanokouji with it, aiming to smash his head in.
But she saw his hand flinch and his body move just then, her eyes widening. She jumped away, landing on another tree.
Ayanokouji's eyes were focused again as his body, which was screaming with fatigue, began to stand upright, his eyes turning cold as he stared toward the girl.
His fatigue may have been fake, but his body's pain was real. It was crying and begging him not to kill the girl, but Ayanokouji ignored it.
"You don't have just one memory but... two. Just when did you notice?"
The girl began to rotate her wrist and adjust her footing, looking toward the forest.
"_ looked right through you from the beginning."
She laughed while saying so.
[Rank: Dormant
Type: Memory
Name: Forbidden Love
Description: There once was a princess veiled in stillness, unseen by sun or sin. When the assassin reached her, blade kissed with death, she spoke but once, and his will broke like glass. Steel slipped from his fingers, the silence that followed turning into worship, until horror bloomed as he realized what he had come to do.
This memory carries a single, haunting moment of reversal, turning killing intent into devotion for the briefest window, a memory that can only be woven once, and is now gone.]
The memory disappeared into nothingness.
So did this Fated Reunion.
Fated Reunion - (End)
Next chapter-
Death Match.
*****
Fated Reunion (End) has been rewritten.
You know rest of the rules :)