Gou Heri Kien Ikikata Nerinaoshi - Genkou Aitekata SHOGO COMPLETE

Gou Heri Kien Ikikata Nerinaoshi - Genkou Aitekata SHOGO1

合縁奇縁 生き方 ねりなおし - 現行 相手方 初号2

Prologue3

You all know the story. I loved a girl, she loved me back. I fucked up, she dies, and I do even worse things.4

But, what if my life took a different course? What if I could re-write my life into something... better?5

Here's how it would be like...6

7

My life seems to be a lot more normal than it was in my first time, I went through all of Grade-school with no problems other than regular student conflicts or homework. It feels as though the war could never happen.... and it never did... I still have the memory of all that has happened to me when I was older. Some would find this as having a large imagination, and others would say that I'm insane. I think that those memories helped me to mature.8

As of now, I am currently a High-school student. Still living in the ol' Messetsu, same usual country as before, but there's finally schools. My name is Saito Kojima, unless sources are failing to me, I am currently 16 years old, and I am a Grade 10 student of Ikioi High School. People say this is a great place to learn and get good grades for even better jobs. But, they never said anything about the students themselves, that aspect of this school, is total cow-dooky. I can't go through one day without having some punk-ass kid talking behind my back, but when I confront them face-to-face about the things they say, the fuckers will deny everything they said, and make me look like I'm hearing things. But, I know damn right that I'm not hearing things!9

But then again, this story isn't about me at all. It's about someone who deserved it far more....10

11

Chapter I - My Turn To Shine, The Other SHOGO!!12

章一号 - あこ 仰向ける 輝き渡る, 現行 相手方 初号!!13

Man... oh man... what the heck am I doing? It's the first month of the new school year, and I just accidently fell asleep in class. Me, fell asleep, in class.... Oh dear, is this what High-School does to you, turn you into a lazy-ass like Saito? But, with me, this laziness doesn't suit me, and isn't in anyway cute, unlike how it looks like with him. Alright, I think I should get my head up, and start paying attention to the teacher.14

When I was picking my head up from the smooth, comfortable, brown, and very plastic-y desk, my long bright-brown hair was covering my face a little bit. As soon as I was sitting completely straight, I brushed it all to the right side of my head. Hmm... how come the chairs don't feel as comfortable as the desks? Is it some sort of little trick to make those who sleep in class have aching asses? Cause, that's what it's doing to mine. I began to groan a little bit from waking myself up, and stretched my arms way out. Need I mention that this caught the attention of every student in the classroom, and possibly the teacher?15

Oh yeah, about the students, they suck. They suck ass through a straw. I only needed to just scan my eyesight around the room for a total of two seconds, and I can already tell that they're whispering things about me. The only person I noticed who isn't talking, is the boy right in-front of me. He was wearing a small blue vest, with a black T-shirt underneath. His hair was somewhat spiked back in a messy way, even if it's pretty short. I know him pretty well, and we go way back... Since everyone else is talking, and the teacher isn't doing shit-all about it, I decided to tap him on the left shoulder. He jumped up a little, and slowly turned around.... He must've been sleeping too...16

"Ungh.... what is it, Kiari-chan?" he groans, even when he's half-awake, I could easily get the details of how he was looking. He had a medium sized face, with piercing redish-brown eyes, and a small amount of facial stubble on the bottom areas of his chin.17

"Oh nothing, Saito-kun. I just wanted to talk to you for a bit. Is that okay?" I asked him this as politely as I could, and gave him a small wink after saying my last few words. He looked at me for a minute, and blinked.18

"....No." Saito replied, and he turned back towards the front of the class. Geez, what's got him in such a bad mood today?19

After he turned around and probably went back to sleep, I looked up a bit more and saw the teacher, Genkou-sensei. He was quite a burly looking man for a teacher. He always wore this exact same looking outfit. A white tank-top under some black sports jacket, which had the name of our school team, the Bonklers, written on the back in gold-lettering. Yeah, we're the Ikioi Bonklers, what a great name.... NOT! Well, Genkou-sensei had a very large physique, and most times I think he was once a Gym Teacher, since he really looks the type. Other than his tank-top, everything else is black covered, even his shoes. Beats me why it's all matching colored like that.20

Oh shit! The bell just rang. Yes! As soon as the bell rang, everyone shot up from their desks and made a run for the door, Saito included. They were all stopped by Genkou-sensei, asking them to hand today's assignment to him before they leave, or they'll have to stay after class until they finish it. Assignment? We had an assignment!? Fuck-a-doodle-shit, I guess this teaches me to never sleep in class. I wouldn't have minded staying after class on a normal day, but today's Friday! I really wanna get home and get some quality time with my coach, the TV, and some good ol' Fadcom VS S-CUP 2....21

But, what's this? Not only did most of the class finish it, but Saito did it, too!?!?! Oh my God, did we switch minds or something for today? Saito, doing homework, or even work in general!? He looked at me with a small smirk as he handed it in to the teacher, and walked out the door. You lucky bastard....22

Just noticing that I haven't even gotten out of my seat yet, I bent down a little, picked up my school bag, and began to take out my pencils, pens, paper, and eraser. Looking around, there are only four students left in the classroom, me included, and the teacher guarding the door. I glanced at the chalk-board infront of me, and seen my assignment.23

"Write a paragraph that is at least 6 sentences long, about the person you care about most."24

Hmph, wow, that's it? No wonder Saito was able to finish it. After reading the assignment, I looked at the top left corner of the board, and seen the date.25

September 16th, 218526


Chapter II - Believing in Your Heart, Escape the Prison!!
章二号 - 回教徒 いる おかお ごころ, 逸走 永牢!!27


Ugh... great, it's 3:12PM now, and I've still haven't got any sort of clue on what I should write about for this homework assignment... Man... Saito is probably having the time of his life, relaxing at his house and reading manga or practising to try and beat me in my games. Oh, Saito... you lucky bastard....28

OH! That's it! I know exactly what I should write about... someone special, as in somebody who is close to your heart... I will write about... Saito...29


Noticing that the other three students are just now leaving the room, I pulled out some more paper and sharpened my pencil really well. Oh God, I really need to get this done! I could feel the sweat even begin to drip off my forehead and hit the desk. I would have licked it, but now's not the time or place! Come on.... just gotta get the blood to rush into my brain and get this damn pencil writing.... Now... WRITE!30

....31

My hand didn't move at all, and I was looking at a blank, lined piece of paper. "Fuck!!" I quickly muttered, "Why didn't that work? It worked in Kill Phil Volume One, but not for me?" I seen the teacher look at me with a puzzled look, and was about to start rolling up a book to hit me. "Sorry, I won't swear again, Genkou-sensei!" and I meant it. Well, I won't do it outloud or at school, that is....32

Almost as though it were a rush of energy, I started to write down exactly what was going through my mind, I started with the title, then my name, the date, and even the current fucking weather, which was very sunny by the way. Quickly and gracefully, my hand twisted, turned, skid, and wrote words about Saito. What he's like, how he looks, what he's in to, and even the fact.... that I love him. But, I didn't care what I wrote, as long as I finished this homework assignment so I can play some fuckin' FadCom VS S-CUP 2!!33


I felt breathless, like I was running a marathon. My heart was pounding very hard, and I was panting extremely loud. Genkou-sensei finally got up from his seat, and walked over to me, with a magazine rolled up in a hot-dog style roll. Very quickly, he slammed the paper-punisher on the top of my head, and told me to, "Shut the fuck up!!"34

But I didn't care if he hit me or not...35

I finished my homework....36


I slowly walked over to his desk, before he even got to it. Genkou-sensei looked at me with a very puzzled expression, and asked if I finished the assignment. I quickly presented him with the finished piece of paper, and was about to walk out the door when he stopped me.37

"Excuse me, but aren't you forgetting something at your desk?" He was right, I forgot to pick up my back-pack, and all the other things I left at the desk.38

I looked a bit embarressed, and replied to him, "I'm sorry, I was just a little excited to finally be finished." Quickly, I began to pick up all my things, and stashed them into my big, dark-red, back-pack.39

Just when I was finished, and was about to leave again, Genkou-sensei stopped me once more, "There's one more thing you forgot, Kiari..." he said with a smile, and I wish he forgot it as well... I walked back over to my desk and picked up a small, black, rectangular case. I opened it up, and found the one thing that causes most of my problems...40

My glasses.41

Yes, as hard as it is to believe, I wear glasses. Big, thick, glasses. I'm not a "nerd" or a "geek" in any way, but it seems that God intended me to wear these, just to annoy the hell out of me and cause me as much trouble as possible. Sure, I look kinda cute with them, but it's annoying having to adjust them before they slip off my nose, clean them, or even wear them for that matter. I placed the glasses on my eyes, and shoved the case into my back-pocket.42

What am I wearing, you ask? Shut up, pervert. I'm wearing baggy brown jeans, red sneakers, a slightly tight red shirt under my black, vest-like jacket, and red-orange finger-cut gloves. There ya go, happy?43


But... finally... I'm finally finished from this dreadful school, for just a few days! I am finally able to go home and settle down with some virtual cans of whoop-ass! I ran as fast as I could to my house, completely ignoring any details around me. Because of the speed, and how much I didn't care, I could not get any good senses of how the trees, houses, cars, streets, or anything looked like. I think it took me only 4 minutes to get to my house, and standing there, on my porch, was Saito. He was wearing the same clothes as he did at school, but he was holding something behind his back, as though he were waiting for me.44


"Hey there, Kiari. Seems it took you long to finish the assignment." He spoke in a very calm, but joking tone. Typical of Saito....45

I stepped closer to him, and tried to see what he was hiding, "What's that you got there, Saito? Care to share it with the class?" I hope my sarcasm works....46

He looked at me with a devious smile, "You wanna know...?"47

"Yes."48

"Do you really wanna know?"49

"Yes!"50

"Would you die if you didn't know?"51

"YES YES!! NOW JUST LET ME SEE IT ALREADY!!" I always hate these little games... Reminds me of being a small child!52

"Alright, strip in-front of me right now, and I'll show you." He had an even more devious smile now, growing bigger and bigger.53

"That's it? Alright then...." I was about to start taking off my jacket, when he showed me a box and stopped me from going more.54

In his hands was a wrapped present, "I was just kidding! Here, I wanted you to have this." Saito handed me the present, and gave me a short hug. I felt extremely hot when he held me in his arms for those two seconds. After that was over, I thanked him, he waved, and left to his house. Which, was next door....55


Leaving me to wonder what was inside the present, I opened it up slowly, thinking it could be a trick, or something. When I finished un-wrapping the gift, I found a medium-sized, orange box, with, "北斗の拳" engraved on the top. What does this mean...? I tried my best to open it, but it was no use. He gave me a gift, that needed a key.... Wow, what a nice guy.56

57

Chapter III - Top of the World! The Unbreakable Duo!!
章三 - あげくのはて~めい 天が下! つちつかず 二人組!!58

59

I was still standing there, looking at the strange new present that Saito gave to me, the present that can't be opened.... This kinda ticked me off, but it was alright at the same time. It must be something he probably wants to show me later on, in my actual birthday. Speaking of which, my birthday is May 15th, and Saito's is January 13th. Strangely enough, he was born on Friday the 13th...... I'm unsure if this means a bad thing or not, stupid fears.60

Just before I was about to start walking into my house to relax, Saito bursted out of his house and quickly ran to me. He had a serious expression, and he's usually never this serious.61

"Saito, what's wrong?" I asked, in a clueless tone of voice.
Saito didn't say anything, but gestured me to come with him, with a little movement with his hands. Yeah, at times, we don't even need to say anything to know what we wanna say. Some would consider this a good thing, while others may look at this as "lack of communication." I don't really care, as people always all talk and no action. I placed the present at my porch, and began to follow him. We kept walking to the left of our street, meaning we must be going to the park close-by for something. With that look on his face, it must be something big.62

When we were about a block before entering the park, Saito finally decided to speak, "You know those guys who have been bothering us for the past year or two, Kiari? One of them's named, Rintoki, and his younger brother, Sentoki?" He didn't need to explain anymore of this, as I knew exactly what's going on, right now. We're about to settle things with a bunch of idiots who never knew what's coming to them.63

"Saito... I forgot to bring the stuff with me, is this alright?"64

"You won't be needing to use your funny little 'Erupting God Finger,' or whatever you call it. These guys aren't worth wasting one of your gloves and some gasoline." I felt relieved and a bit disappointed when I was told this. I really wanted to do that to them, but like he said, it's a waste of a glove and gasoline....65


As we were talking, we made it to the park, pretty quickly. There was a small fence in the way, so we hopped over it, and walked to the center section. To my right, I could see two swing-sets, and a small red slide. To my left, was a huge, wet, sandbox, with random toys scattered around, because kids would forget to take them home. I took my attention away from that, and noticed the four people walking toward us from the actual park's entrance. I couldn't get too much details on two of them, as they were wearing hoodies, and tried to cover their faces with their shadows, but I knew the other two in front were Rintoki and Sentoki Marada.66

Both of the Marada's wore the same outfit, as they were twins. Extremely baggy jeans that start from their knees, huge boxers showing from under their jeans, a red #23 basketball jersey, and an astonishingly long chain that runs down to their waist. Did I ever mention that these two sometimes switch classes, and are twins? I thought it'd be useful to mention that.67

"Ey, I didn't think you'd of showed yerselves! Ya got a chick to come wit you, too? Shit, man... She's tight, I dun' wanna have to kick'er ass too!" The first one to speak was Rintoki, and as we can see, they're wannabe gangsters, or ganstaz as this society would say.68

I was about to begin it all, but Saito raised his arm to stop me from stepping forward and began to talk. He knew I was pissed, "What's the reason for bringing so many with you, Rin-chan? Am I that intimidating?"69

Sentoki answered the question for us, "Nah man, we just all want the same thing, yer ass kicked! And man, when we done wit you, we gunna make yer girl squeal!"70

Now, these were my options at this point:71

A. Let them all continue talking for a bit, and see what will happen next.72

OR73

B. Get even more pissed, and just start kicking some ass.74

If you've got a percentage of pride, then you'll agree with me when I chose B.75


I shoved Saito's arm aside when he tried to stop me again, and charged at Sentoki. He flinched and didn't move, probably being shocked that a girl would want to fight, and completely allowed me to land a solid jump kick to his face. When the sole of my shoe connected with his nose, I could feel his skin begin to break, and knew that was doing some long-term damage to that ugly looking nose. Sentoki fell to the ground, but rolled back up as soon as he touched it.76

"Whatcha tryin' to do, nyugga!? I was bein' nice before, but now it's time to meet the beast!!"77

"Yeah, beast my ass!"78

Sentoki walked to me with his hands open and in a bent position, obviously wanting to push me down. He attempted to do this, but I grabbed his arms, and kneed him into the stomach. When I did this counter, I shouted, "At-chou!!" and pushed him down, as a way to mock him. Feeling the rush of the fight more, I began to dance around with my feet, making fancy footwork as a way of taunting him some more. Too bad for me, I didn't notice Rintoki come up behind me and grab me by my hair, and then hold me by the neck.79

This clench that Rintoki had on me didn't last too long, as he quickly let go, and I saw him fall in-front of me, gripping his left-rib tightly.80

Saito patted my shoulder, "There's no need to worry, Kiari. As long as we're on the same team..."81

"We're unbreakable!" I finished the sentence for him, as we've said this before, but while playing various video games.82

He nodded to me, and told me to spin his body while holding onto his arms. I began to spin him around and around, but also tried to aim him towards Rintoki and Sentoki. When the speed of spin was good enough, I let him go, and his body was about to collide into him, until the worst possible thing happened.83

One of the other two boys came up in-front of them, holding a large stick, and swung it at Saito's head, like a baseball bat. It felt like slow-motion when I seen this, and almost as though it were an echo, I heard him give a loud shriek of agony. The stick hit the right side of his face, and made a few bruises and cuts around it. Saito's face was covered with blood, and... he hates blood, especially when it's his own.... I felt a bit light-headed...84

"Ooooouuuuuuggghhhhh!!!!!!!!!" I wouldn't dare to have stepped close to him as he shouted from his anger. He began to take off his vest, and then his T-shirt, and threw them onto the grass-covered ground. Saito didn't have a built body, but I'd say he looked around 178lb. "You... I'll wait for you in Hell!!" Saito shouted this at them, and began to charge towards the four gangster-wannabes. Unfortunately for myself, being squeamish to blood, I lost consciousness just before he landed the first punch....85


What was the outcome of this fight? I'm unsure....86

87

Chapter IV - Link to Unpleasant Feeling! Kiari's Weakness!!
章丁 - 一環〜入門 厭な気持ち! キアリ の 押し目!!88

89

What happened to me...? Why did I just faint out of nowhere? It couldn't be the heat, the summer heat is almost gone... Was I hit by a sort of sleeping formula? The last I remember was Saito running towards those punks, with no upper-body clothes on....90


I almost didn't notice that I had grass in my mouth, and was still laying on the ground. I tried my best to stand up, and felt all the dirt cover the front of my clothes. Feeling somewhat disgusted in the taste of the grass, and the dirt on my clothes, I spit it out and brushed myself as best as possible. There were still traces of dust on random spots. I looked in-front of me, and saw such a horrific sight....91

There he was, Saito, standing there, breathing slowly, with no shirt on, over the four gangster-wannabes. I've never seen him look like this before, it was almost demonic. I walked slowly towards him, and seen the look on his face, it was terrible, and filled with rage. He didn't even notice me step in-front of him, but I seen even more blood on him, probably their blood, splattered on his chest. I couldn't believe what I was seeing...92

"Saito.... what happened? Tell me.... Tell me you didn't kill them!!" I shouted this at him, I demanded that he'd respond to me. I did not want to go through knowing that my best friend is a murderer.93

"あいつら... いぜん...ある...."94

I had no idea what he was saying, but it was said in a much more calm manner. They must still be alive... I quickly bent down to check their pulse, and it checked as positive. "Thank God...." I almost thought that Saito, would have killed them over such a petty issue. They are still covered in blood... Strangely enough, I felt myself become light-headed once again, and was about to faint, but my body didn't touch the ground.... It was being held up, and I was extremely hot on the inside....95

Unless I'm mistaken, I could hear Saito's voice, but barely... "Kiari... You shouldn't look at them, or any sort of blood. Don't you remember, that you're squeamish to the sight of it? Just rest, I'll carry you home..."96

"Thank you.... I love y~~...." I don't know if I finished my sentence or not, or if he even heard me... But, I felt very protected, in his arms....97


When I woke up once more, I found myself in my room. Someone seemed to have helped me into my bed, and even tucked me in. Was it Saito...? Or, was it my parents...? I scanned my eyeballs around my room, but couldn't see much, as my eyes were trying their best to adjust to the darkness, especially without my glasses. Which reminds me, where are they, and all my other stuff!? I attempted to get up from my bed to go check, but my body would not move. I must be way too tired to even get up from my bed... Turning my head to the left, I seen my digital clock, with the current time lighting up, in a red color.98

3:25 AM99

Turning my head to the right, I could scarcely make out a figure of a male, laying down on the floor. Inching my body by a little bit, the figure was more easy to confirm.100

Saito was sleeping in my room, on the floor..... Oh... my God....101

The ideas.... the possibilities.... are endless....102


Chapter V - My Love Is Only For You! Stay True!!
章五つ - モンシェリー 愛 一途 貴方! 支え 真!!103


I kept looking at Saito for a few minutes. I somewhat, still couldn't believe he was right there, in my own house, in my own room! It's so cool, yet so not at the same time. But, what's gonna happen to him if my parents find him with me in my room in the morning?! Oh no, they might think we... did something that we shouldn't be doing.... Alright, I gotta wake him up, and warn him!104

Slowly, and quietly, I got out of my bed, and stepped close to Saito, "Saito... wake up... Come on... I'm sorry, but you can't say here." I tried my best to make sure he woke up, without making much noise.105

It wasn't working, he didn't budge at all, not even a little groan. How tired was he? It must've been a very tiring fight, or I must've been hard for him to carry.... I tried one last time to wake him up. I took my two thumbs and jabbed them into his temples, very hard. When I did this, he immediately shot up, completely awake!106

"Holy shit! Please don't kill me, Kenshi~~~~!!!!" I quickly covered his mouth with my hand, before he made enough noise to wake up my parents. Saito struggled and squirmed while I was holding his mouth, until he realized where he was, and finally stopped. "That wasn't funny, Kiari...."107

I looked at him with an annoyed expression, "Yeah, and you should be more quiet, it's close to 4 o'clock in the morning." I whispered to him. He looked shocked, and then tried to act calm about it. "Alright, we should get you home, or at least out of here. I'm really thankful for you helping me, but I don't want you to get caught by my parents if they find you in the morning! Now, come on!" I extended my hand to him as I stood up, he held onto it, and I felt extremely warm again.108


We made our way out of my room, and crept around the house, down a 4-step of stairs into the main living room. It was so dark here, we couldn't see anything, but I knew that we should keep ourselves to the wall to our left until we felt an opening, which meant a small hallway to the front door. Saito's breathing was kinda loud, so I had to periodically tell him to quiet down. Though, it was nowhere near as loud as my heart's beating. I'm unsure if it was from being with him, or fear of getting caught.... We finally made it to the front door, and I could feel it's cold, metal door-knob, freezing up my left hand. One half of me was cold, and the other was warm, as Saito and I were still holding hands. I twisted the door-knob, and opened the door. Together, we left the house, and closed the door.109

I could feel the wind blowing on my face and my body, making it feel kinda chilled. My hair was flowing to the left, and some of it went in-front of my eyes. It didn't bother me, for some reason. Saito and I kept walking, and made our way to his house, which was right next door, to the left of my house. His house was somewhat the same size as mine, a medium sized home. It was dark-brown bricked, with vertical-rectangular windows for everyone room, and I'm guess there's 14 sets of windows. On the driveway, there was a dark-blue van parked, and it was sparkly-clean. We walked up to his front porch, and sat down on it.110

"Um... Kiari... Thanks for warning me, and helping me outside." He had a strange nervous-ness with his voice....111

"Don't mention it, Saito. It's the least I could do... since..." I looked away for a second, knowing that my face was turning red.112

"Since what, Kiari..? You can tell me... I won't laugh or anything..."113

"It's... it's...." Why is it so hard for me to just say it? "It's just that....... I love you, Saito!! I've loved you since we first met when we were kids! No matter what happens in my life, or whoever I meet, I know for sure.... I will stay true to my heart... knowing for sure, that I love only you!"114

Saito had a shocked face when he heard me say this, but it then turned to a smile. "You know, it's quite ironic... I was just about to tell you the same thing, Kiari... I love you too, more than you'll ever know..." He moved closer to me, I rapidly took this action, grasped his head close to mine, and kissed him. My whole body felt so warm, but it was an amazing feeling as our lips touched one another. My heart pounded harder than it ever has before, but it felt so good.... So good!!115


This lasted for about a minute, I'm unsure... It felt much longer... Saito finally stood up when we were finished, and bid me farewell as he opened the door to his home, entered, and closed the door.116


Finally.... I finally was able to tell him... and... he loves me, too!!117


Chapter VI - Origins of the Lost Country! Our Original Names....
章六 - 序開き の 失地! 元来 同名異人....118


I was still standing there, on Saito's front porch, for about 3 more minutes. The warmth of his lips was still burning on mine. I couldn't believe it really happened, but am glad that it did. My body nudged itself to walk back home, and try to get some sleep. It took me four more minutes, to get this all done.119

When I was asleep, which was extremely hot for some reason, I kept dreaming up different kinds of outcomes to Saito and I, having a relationship together. One of them had us becoming partners in crime, where we robbed a convenience store for all their slushies, and tried selling them to the students at school for triple the price. I'm pretty sure I laughed in my sleep when I dreamt this up. Another scenario involved us getting married, and having two children. They would become computer engineers, and create new technology that would reshape the world. There were so many possibilities that ran in my head. Some were nice, and some were extremely depressing, like how one of them ended with us killing each other at the exact same time, by stabbing one another, and then reciting our "I do's."120

Yeah, I've got a twisted mind. No, I don't care.121


I woke up again at around 10:37AM. It took me about ten minutes, after brushing my hair, teeth, and washing my face, to realize that I was still wearing my clothes from yesterday. Great, I didn't even bother to change in my pajamas, or anything different. No wonder it was so hot when I tried to sleep. I looked around my room, and was finally able to see everything. Looking from the outside, I could see my bed in the very back, left corner. It was a single-size bed, with very fluffy blue sheets. Right next to it, was a small brown drawer, two doors inside, with a clown-shaped lamp on top of it. Inside this drawer is my collection of socks in one door, and undergarments in the other. I seem to have more underwear than I have pairs of socks. Scanning my eyesight around some more, there is a bigger, brown drawer on the right side of the room, with a huge mirror attached to the top of it. Scattered all over, are random action figures I used to collect when I was little, who are all characters from a TV program called, Legs of the North Moon, and on the very left corner, is a 13-volume stack of manga, all Shonen themed. If I were to step inside, and look to my left, I would see a table, with a TV on top. This TV is hooked up to my video game console, which is an extremely old system known as... the Super Famicom, I think. The label where the name is supposed to be, got scratched off about seven years ago, so I'm not entirely sure. Yes, I play with this a lot, cause I'm old-school, and stuff. None of that, technological new-fangled electrical-bullshit! I really like how everything in my room is either brown or blue. Even my walls are painted blue!122

Since I'm already wearing outdoor clothes, I don't need to bother changing. That's a total of eight minutes I just saved. I made my way to the kitchen, which is down a small flight of stairs outside my room, and to the right. Nobody is awake yet, cause today's newspaper is not on the table, and the smell of morning coffee hasn't made me sick. I crept very quietly towards the khaki-brown, circular, wooden table, and noticed there was a clear bowl of fruits placed in the middle. There were two red apples, one pear, seven oranges, and six bananas in a bunch. I grabbed the bananas without even taking a second thought, ripped off one, and placed the rest back in the bowl. Looking around to see if anyone has woken up, from my little bits of noise, I didn't sense even a bit of movement around the house. It's almost as though no one is home, except myself. If that's the case, then I'm glad.123

Knowing this information, I made my way towards the telephone, which was located about 4 feet away from the kitchen table, to the right, attached on a wall. It was one of those phones that have a swirly-stretching cord on the end, all colored black, with white-clear buttons on the inside. I picked up the phone, and started dialing numbers that were familiar to me, 673-555-1722. Each time I pressed a key, I heard a little, "Baap! Bop! Buup! Ba! Ba-Bep!" coming from the reciever end. I placed the reciever end onto my left ear, and hunched my shoulders a bit, so that it'd just float in mid-air. Look Ma, no hands! While waiting for somebody to pick up, there were low-pitched rings that lasted about two seconds each time. I heard three short rings, and then a quick click.124

"Hello? You've reached the Kojima House of Love... Bum-Love...." Great.... not him again...125

"Shut up, Sasuke. I'm not in the mood for this.... May I speak with Saito, please?"126

There was a long pause. I could hear a bit of shouting, it might be him calling for Saito to pick up the phone. Oh, who is Sasuke? He's Saito's nine-teen year old, older brother. He's very witty and random, and... not to mention a major hunk. But, I'm not interested in my best friend's older brother, who probaby has an army of fangirls....127

About a minute later, I heard Saito's voice come onto the phone, "Hello. We are not available now, please leave your tits and phone number after the~~"128

"Not you too!!!" God damn it, even Saito is getting into the stupid Kojima House of Love, bullshit?129

"Sorry, just thought you'd find it funny, Kiari... So, what's up?"130

"Nothing at all, Saito... Just wondered if you wanted to... I don't know, take a small walk around the neighborhood, maybe check out the city?" Yeah, that's my pick-up line. It sucks.131

I heard the phone hit something, I'm guessing a table. Maybe, he's going to ask his parents if he can go. Barely, I could hear voices, about a minute later I heard a small cry of delight. "Yo, I've got permission." I'm pretty sure he heard my little scream of joy.132

"Alright, meet me outside at the library closeby."133

"Um... why the library? Don't tell me we're going to be studying...."134

"What? No, I just chose the library as the best place, since it's got... Actually, I have no idea why I chose the library. Alright, I'll see you there." I quickly closed the phone, and dashed straight out of the house. I'm pretty sure, that if my parents were home, they would have woke up from my loud running.135


Dashing as fast as I could, I zoomed past four, hyperactive kids playing street hockey, eight cars that seem to all be colored either red, black, white, or green, and just made it to the library. I was panting very hard when I arrived. The library of our little town, known as Neko. Basically, it's the Neko Library. It's very small compared to the other libraries in Messetsu, but it's got a really nice Staff, and an extremely good internet section. I don't normally use the internet there, since everything worth looking at is blocked. This library is somewhere around one and a half stories high, grey-bricked, with eight circular windows. Before entering, there is a short five-step stone stairway just before opening the door. I walked up the first two, and sat my cute little butt on the third. Since I had a big head-start, I'll be waiting at least ten minutes for Saito.136

While I waited, there were cars passing by, mostly Fonda Livics, and Moyota-brand. There was maybe one black Ritsubishi Eclipse, but it was most likely my eyes playing on me. It was around 1:16PM when Saito finally arrived, wearing his same, usual outfit. Looking at him more closely, I noticed he had bandages on his face. There was one that ran across right between his eyes, and two more patching up the left side of his head. He looked absolutely miserable. I like it!137

"Lookin' good there, hot-shot!" I gave him this little comment, with a quick wink. He didn't look too pleased, as he knows I'm making fun of his bandages.138

Saito extended his hand to me, probably thinking I'll grab it and allow him to pick me up, "It doesn't hurt much, just a scratch..." I looked at him a bit, and with a huff, I picked myself up.139

"No need to act gentleman-like, Saito. I am, the tougher one." I knew that I was, and there's no doubt about it!140


For about a minute, Saito looked at me with a very puzzled expression. It drove me nuts after the first fifteen seconds, and I really wanted to know what was confusing him so much. But, I chose not to ask, since he probably wouldn't tell me anyways, because he's like that. The strong, silent-type who won't say shit.141

"Um... Kiari, don't you think you've forgotten something?" Saito asked me this, while making a short gesture around his eyes, rubbing his nose up.142

I knew exactly what he was talking about, "No, I didn't forget to bring my fucking glasses, alright?!" Gosh, I hate it when people keep reminding me that I have them. For a second, I noticed a body laying down on the ground close to us. "Hey... is that a homeless guy?"143

Saito looked in the direction I was facing, and noticed it too, "Yeah. Think we should help him out?"144


The homeless man was probably around 18 years old, extremely skinny, absolutely dreadfully dirty, wearing mud-covered, brown rags. His face was more filthy than his clothes, and his 12 inch afro-like hair added to the mix. When we walked towards him, he immediately shot straight up and grabbed Saito.145

"Jeghsta!! Jeghsta!! I have not seen you in so many years! Where have you been this whole time, Jeghsta?!" Jeghsta? Who the hell is that? Not only that, but this guy's squeaky voice is really getting to my nerves...146

Saito pushed the man's hands off him, leaving very big black, hand-prints on his vest, "I'm sorry, but I think you have the wrong guy."147

"But, you're Jeghsta Al-Tiar, I remember you from when we lived back home! Don't you recognize me?"148

I stepped forward and had my say in this, "Look pal, we don't know what you're talking about. So, just stop playing your little RPG game with us, and get back to playing dead."149

When he seen me, his eyes went even bigger with happiness, "Faiza Al-Jamal!! You're alive!!" Who? "Even now, you still have your beauty!"150

I knew that Saito was getting annoyed from this, seeing as his legs were shaking. I felt the same way, but he spoke before I got a chance, "Alright, can you at least explain to us what's going on?"151

The man was even happier, "Certainly! Oh, I almost forgot, my name is Hassan Mustaffa. All of us, originally came from the country of Dezerreto. It was a sandy place, but very lively, too. All the women there wore head-coverings, and all the men weren't lecherous, it was an outstanding home-land. But... there was one particular nation that didn't seem to like us, I cannot remember the name... All I remember, is that your families evacuated before... the giant explosion..."152

The giant explosion?153

"The giant explosion, destroyed all of Dezerreto. All that was left is dust, and a few people who managed to survive the explosion. But, they were then killed by a poisonous gas that the explosion left... Their faces would melt off, or their insides would bleed until they were basically choking on their own blood.... But, you two survived... Jeghsta Al-Tiar, and Faiza Al-Jamal.... I can still remember you two, when you were only four years old...." There were obvious tears of joy coming from this Hassan.154

Saito listen to his story very carefully, and put his hand on the man's shoulder, "A lot of this is hard to believe at once, but it does make sense. I remember reading up about a country that was completely wiped off of existence, but there wasn't any names specified."155

"Wait a sec, Saito... You read!?" Hassan's story may be hard to believe, but this is just plain insane! "What else haven't you told me about yourself, Saito!? First, you actually did your homework yesterday, and now you tell me you research information about wiped-out countries?"156

"Anytime, Kiari... Anytime...."157

Almost as though it were a flash, when we turned our heads back to where Hassan was standing, he wasn't there anymore. Vanished, just like that! But... our names were changed, and we're not even Messetsian?158


What the hell.... is going on...?159

160

Chapter VII - Dawn to Dusk, Thoughts Are Running!!
第7 章 - 薄暗がり、思考への夜明けは! 動いている!!161

162

Four days later....163

164

It's been four days since that questionable meeting with Hassan took place. This very meeting, where I was revealed to have not come from the country of Messetsu, the lands my feet have been touching for so many years. Four days, I have been informed that I originally came from far away nation, formerly known as Dezerreto.165

What happened to Dezerreto? It has been stated that the entire country was destroyed by, as what Hassan calls it, "The Giant Explosion," which was powerful enough to cause the entire land to be utterly wiped out. Even people who survived the blast, were then taken by a very strong gas that causes their internal organs to bleed. Sooner or later, it is suggested that the victims, "drown in their own blood..." I usually have thoughts that are pretty graphic in my dreams, but they are kittens sleeping in a warm, pink bed, compared to murders like that. I can barely wrap my head around this sort of information...166

Even while attending my classes in school, I would be easily distracted from my confusion. In a given day, I took at least ten magazine hits, and one Wet Willy to "get my ass back into focus," as the teacher would say. Needless to say, I have been going downhill and I'm willing to guess that my grades will be affected by this. Yes, I know it's only one or two days of this condition, but it can make a difference when you're me!167

I finally was given a break when it was lunch time, everybody in class shuffled out of the room very quickly. I remained behind for a moment, being the only person in the room. The lights were off, the door was open, and my school supplies were still scattered around the desk, with one sheet of paper placed in the middle. This sheet has some of my hand-writing, with a little bit of the teacher's red pen written on it, too. On my face, was a blank and horrified expression. My eyes shrunk even smaller under my glasses, and my mouth suspended in midair. My position remained like this for at least four minutes, until I noticed Saito walk by me, and place his hands on my shoulders, holding me close, whispering...168

"It's alright, these things happen... You'll do better the next time, Kiari." There was such a nice, calm, and soothing feel from his voice. My whole body felt much warmer when he spoke to me, and my senses finally regained themselves for me to look at the sheet a bit more clearly. When I seen it, I fell back in my chair even deeper. The main thing about the sheet, is this:169


"Biology Academic Unit Test170

Name: Kiari Takanoshin171

Grade: 25 / 70"172


I looked at Saito, and then shoved my face into his chest. Very softly, I began to cry and speak to him at the same time.173

"I can't believe it, I failed the major test of this unit... I tried so hard, but why did it have to be me...?"174


Why did it have to be me?175


Chapter VIII – Shade of the Lost Land, The Government’s Might!
章八 - 影あの世, 内沙汰圧政176


I was still sitting there, dwelling in my own self pity. Looking at the failed test score, which has become just dark-grey circle with a few lines of red from all the tears I have shed. I couldn’t believe that I, Kiari Takanoshin, failed this test. It wasn’t just some little one I could make up another day, it was a major unit. This test, is probably what determines whether I pass this section of the course or not.177

Saito, on the other hand, managed to pass, which is ever stranger, considering he’s usually the one who screws up the work, or fails the tests with near-negative scores. He is still holding me in his arms, and I can still feel his warmth. It soothes me, and keeps me safe. Quietly, he began to whisper something into my ears, “Kiari, I need you to come with me for a moment. There’s something I need to tell you, that we have to make sure nobody else hears.” His voice sounded more serious than usual, and had a very heavy sigh near the end. This must be something very important.178

“Okay, where are we going?”179

He gave me a nod, and stepped behind me, “One thing, unfortunately, I cannot simply lead you to the area, as it is a very well-kept secret.” Right when he finished these words, I felt an extremely sharp pain in the back of my neck, and a strong grip on my temples. Quickly, as though it were a second, my body dropped from the chair, and I lost all my senses.180

Why…?181

I am unsure how long I was out for, but when I was awake, my back was against a very cold wall, and could faintly see my legs spread out in-front of me. My senses came back very quickly, and I began to touch myself rapidly in random and other sensitive spots around my body. Nothing was different, I was completely fine. “Phew… for a second I thought I~~”182

“Was raped? Give me a break, Kiari. I don’t need to rape you, nor would I want to.” It was Saito, he was standing to my right, leaning against the wall, which I now realized was a cold-blue type of brick, and we’re in the back alley of the school.183

“Saito, when I get my hands on you, I’ll~~”184

“Kill me? Go right on ahead, there’s a big chance I could be killed sooner or later anyways, from what I’ve just recently done.” Damn, why does he keep interrupting me?185

I finally began to regain the feeling in the rest of my lower body, the numbness has left. “Okay, mister Hashashiyyin, what is it that’s so secretive and important that you wanted to tell me?” Yeah, I don’t think I need to mention that I’m in a bit of a bad mood.186

Saito went down on his legs to be leveled with me, “Alright then, you better be ready to hear everything. It’s a pretty lengthy story, so at least try to stay awake.” For some reason before he started, he even pointed to the sky for no reason, “That means you two, unknown-being-watching-over-us.” I thought he was mentioning God, but I guess it probably isn’t Him.187

“Kiari, you know how we met Hassan and he was going all about this very strange story about how we’re from a different country and all that stuff? Well, turns out he wasn’t lying at all. Your true name really is Faiza Al-Jamal, and I’m really named Jeghsta Al-tiar. What really happened to that forgotten country, is pretty gruesome too. I tried as best as possible to research as much as I could about what happened after he mentioned it to us, that meant going to the library a lot, and asking my parents as much as possible. They told me very small details, and tried as best as they could to stop me from continuing, saying they don’t want me to end up like Sasuke. That, wouldn’t make any sense, considering he’s quite fine. But, that’s besides the point.” He inched closer to me, and had even more emotion, “Those people who were less fortunate to have escaped from the country had a very ugly end. The government of a very shady country, I couldn’t find the name because all the data was either wiped clean or wouldn’t dare say it, but only had the name of it’s government’s company, Aperature Enrichments. What they did, was fry the entire country with nuclear wastes, chlorine gases, or just plain-out shooting them.”188

“You’ve got to be making this up, Saito, nobody can be that heartless!!”189

“Oh, but I’m not, and that’s not even the worst part. The worst thing is, Messetsu was a part of it. There was a few people who were part of an almost as shady party of the parliament, known as the Black Meysah, it’s basically the government, of the government, for Messetsu. It’s just absolutel~~”190

I put my right hand on his mouth, stopping him from continuing, “Stop it, just stop… talking, Saito. I can’t take any more of it.” My voice was shaking, and I was about to go into tears again. “How could all this have happened, and everyone turning such an ignorant eye towards it all…?”191

He took my hand off his mouth, and held me close, allowing me to rest my head on his chest, “Don’t worry, even if it costs my life, I’m going to show the truth to everyone. From now on, I will now embrace my heritage. I’ve always been someone who is against politics, and only cares about what my mind and heart tells me. And, my heart tells me that I must protect you from harm, and be the truth.” He really is serious about this…192


Saito, you have no idea how stupid that sounds…193


Chapter IX - Life of Twist & Turn! New Friend or Foe?194

195

It was past 5:30 PM before Saito and I decided to head home. He still had that determined look on his face from the last time he spoke, and I will stand by my words, that what he said was probably one of the dumbest things that has escaped his lips in years. I did my very best not to laugh in his face, because saying you'll be "the truth" or being my protection, is just beyond retarded. I feel great to finally be able to head home, and just relax. It'll be an amazing feeling once I forget about everything that's happened today, and finally get a decent rest.196


Before I made my way home, I rushed back inside the school to pick up all of my belongings. Shockingly enough, it was exactly how I left it. When everything was set, I began my little journey back home. Unlike what I usually do, I chose to take things slow today, with a very casual walk home. As I headed to my house, I felt the Autumn breeze blow against my face, making my body shiver a little, and shift my long brown hair behind me. I could feel and hear the crunching of the dried up leaves that were scattered all over the ground beneath my shoes. The streets close to my neighborhood always needed a nice sweeping around the Autumn season, but the neighbors always chose to just leave everything as it is, and go about their business as though nothing bothered them. I wish I could be like that, to just think of nothing and be completely care-free. My eyes were always very sensitive to the color of orange and yellow. Almost the entire neighborhood was covered with this color. Something about those two colors would make me have to squint my eyeballs and basically look like a foreigner. No wait a sec, technically I am a foreigner!197

When I finally made it home, I took a giant sigh of relief, because everything was going to be okay. I walked up the front porch, reached into my pocket for the square-shaped spare house-key that my parents have allowed me to keep, inserted it into the keyhole, and opened the door. Everything was going to be just fine.198

Fine my ass, as soon as I entered the house, I remembered something.199

I still had the failed Biology test, and my parents were completely prepared to hear about it. Like usual, they would be expecting me to come home with the test-papers tightly gripped in my hands as I would usually run straight to them in open arms, ready to show my beloved family the academic achievement that is the test. But no, not this time, they'll have to hold off for another week or so before we try that again...200

I quietly stepped inside, making sure the door made as little noise as possible when I closed and locked it shut, it made a very pipsqueak-sounding "Ke-kyungnk!" Looking to my right, I found the closet where we hang out coats and place our shoes inside. I swiftly wiped my the soles of my shoes and feet, then dashed straight to my room. I know for sure that this resulted in quite a lot of noise, because I heard a knock on my door only moments later, just before I even got a chance to plop my body onto my bed. I answered the knocking, and seen who it is. It was my dad.201

He came into the room with his arms crossed as usual, with a slight bit of a grin on his face, just under that bushy mustache he's got. I call his mustache the Eternal 'Stache, because I have never seen him in my whole life without it. So far, so good, this is the usual procedure, and it pains me so much that he's going to be disappointed with me on this very day, which I forgot what day it is. He was wearing a dark grey, short-sleeved T-shirt, the kind you wear when you're working out, with bright green cotton pants. His slightly dark-skinned arms could be seen from the T-shirt, and exposed all their glorious hairs! Thank God I couldn't see if his legs were hairy or not, but I'm willing to bet that they are. As I expected, he wanted to see the results of the latest test. As I began to pull it out of my backpack, I could see his smile growing bigger and bigger.202

My voice peeped, "I'm so sorry... I did as best as I could, but for some reason my mind just could not focus..." These words escaped my breath as I handed him the test, which was all wrinkled and disfigured, all thanks to me not bothering to place it in the correct binder and just stashing into my bag as fast as possible.203

My father looked at the test very closely, the frown grew larger and larger by each passing second, and time went by even slower. It was 6:13 PM, when sound finally reappeared in the world.204

"You're grounded for this week. Be very happy that your mother is not here to see this. I will make sure she doesn't by burning it, but if this happens again, you are not to return to this city... Is that clear?"205

I nodded to him very slowly, "Yes, father..." and he left the room, test in hand.206

Very quietly, I crawled into my bed, and hid under the covers, squeezing my pillow tightly in my arms. I began to sob very softly, and I could feel the warm tears pierce from my eyes and drip the comforting pillow. This event went on for another three to four minutes, I tried many times to stop my crying, but the tears would just keep flowing. Strangely enough, I cried hard enough that I suddenly went to sleep.207

Out of nowhere, I felt myself being shaken violently, making me wake up immediately and fiercely scan my sight around to see who was shaking me. It was my dad, and he was holding a small grey cordless phone.208

"A phonecall for you, Kiari, it's Saito, he says he needs to speak with you about something very urgent and important." He said these words as I was handed the phone, and placed the receiver-end on my right ear.209

"Hello? This is Kiari, what is it, Saito?"210

His voice cracked a little, and I could hear small crackles of static, he must be using his cell phone from outside, "Kiari! I need you to come outside, there's someone I'd really like you to meet!" Meet? Does that mean new friends?211

"Sure, I just need to ask my father for permission. If I don't come outside, just consider that as my way of saying I wasn't allowed, alright?" After I said this, I pressed the End button that is placed on the top-right of the phone, closing connections and ending the conversation. My father was still standing there next to me, and was wondering what I wanted to ask permission for.212

After I explained my reasons, he nodded, "Okay, I'll allow you to go out, but please be careful. Also, please try to do better on your work next time, I know you can do better." I hugged him tightly, and began to get ready to leave. Only this time, I chose to wear my glasses.213


When I stepped outside, Saito was already on the driveway, waiting for me. Walking towards him closer, I seen a young girl next to him. She had short white-ish blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and a very emotionless, thin face. Her clothing was also very plain, just a matching light-aqua colored middle-sleeved T-shirt with the words, "South Star" running across the chest area, and very tight blue jeans. I didn't look down enough to see any details on her shoes. Who is this girl? I've never seen her at school before....214

"Kiari, this is the person I wanted you to meet. Come on, introduce each other." Saito was very excited to make sure I met this girl, it seems. I'm not sure why.215

Before I had a chance to think of anything to say, she stepped forward and spoke to me, her voice was very quiet, showing that she is extremely shy, and probably has a troubled past, "Hello, my name is Shuu. I've just recently moved here from Terra-Xiu, nice to meet you."216

I felt it was proper to speak after her, but I gave a much more energy-filled impression, and even did a cute little pose, "Hello there, Shuu. It's nice to meet you too, my name's Kiari. Kiari Takanoshin, at your service!"217

Shuu giggled a little bit, but then glanced down towards the ground for some reason. She did this for about four seconds, until she quickly turned to Saito and spoke, "Um.... could you help me introduce myself to the classmates of your school for tomorrow? I really need someone like you to help."218

Saito replied just as soon as she finished, "Yeah, I'll do it, it'll be my pleasure." Your pleasure, Saito? Man, since when did he ever do anything remotely polite or productive such as this?219

I wasn't going to take this sitting down, and stepped in, "But Sai-kun, I thought we were going to the library for studying~~!!"220

"That's enough, Kiari... Why are you acting so... just plain weird? If you wanted to help, you could have just asked. Plus, you already know I don't wanna fucking study!!"221


I gasped when he said this to me, and stopped myself from doing anything else. I bid them both farewells and make up an excuse about needing to do some homework to excuse myself. I couldn't believe that Saito was giving me attitude like that, infront of someone I've just met, too!222

But still... who is this girl, and where did she come from...?223


Chapter X - The Heart Stealer! It's Pay-Back Time!!224

225


The next day came around very quickly, it's almost as though I only blinked and it was already tomorrow. Today I'll be seeing a new classmate, someone who is unintentionally making my thoughts turn into hell.226


Once again, I took the long way to school, by walking more slow than usual, and stopping for every curb in case cars were coming by. This time, I chose to bring my glasses with me, and wore a different much different outfit. Just for this day, I chose to be wearing a medium-length brown skirt that just reaches to my knees, a tightly-buttoned up green vest, and a long-sleeved white T-shirt that is underneath the vest. Also, for once, I have decided to wear my watch. It's just a typical, redish-brown digital watch, placed on my left wrist. In most cases, I leave my hair and let it just drop down as far as possible, but today I've chosen to tie it up in a sort of bun, using two small red chop-sticks to hold my hair in place. Deep inside my heart, I can feel that the real reason I'm doing all this is to impress Saito.227

As I arrived to school, I could see Saito and Shuu were only a few meters away, and just stepped towards the front door. It was like slow-motion, I seen him quickly step ahead of her to put his grip on the blue-painted, metal door, pull it open, and extend his other hand out as a gesture to allow the girl inside. My heart was pounding extremely hard, and my temperature was sky-rocketing. They looked basically the same as yesterday, only Shuu had a big pink-rabbit back-pack strapped to her back. With a small smile and giggle, she bowed slightly and entered the school. Shortly after, he followed. Pfft, who says chivelry is dead? I sure don't.228

When I regained my senses from seeing that happen infront of me, I ran inside and made sure I passed by both of them before they even got a chance to enter the classroom before me. When I checked the time on my watch just before taking my seat, I noticed I was two minutes early, and only seven of the students were seated and the teacher was nowhere to be seen, the other ten were either standing next to their desks, conversing with their idiotic buddies about the stupid parties they had last weekend, or just not here yet. Moments later, Mr. Rude-Ass and Mrs. Giggly-Tits, who I don't need to say their real names, came in and right away everyone was looking, whispering little things, and snickering. No doubt, Saito took notice, and glared at some of the students. About a second later, Genkou-sensei appeared behind them, and asked him who Shuu was.229

I sit pretty far back from the door in class, and I could still hear what Saito said, "Oh, Genkou-sama, this is Shuu, she just moved in here from Terra-Xiu, and has chosen to enroll here. Ain't she cute?" Without a second thought, he said that shit with such a confident manner.230

"Ain't she cute?" I repeated outloud, mocking him. Everyone laughed, and it was just as I wanted it. No question, Sai's face began to turn a little red, and his temper was rising.231

How I know this? Because he walked right up to me and started bantering quite loudly, "Honestly, what's with you!? Yesterday and today, you've been acting so fucking retarded! So what, I have a new friend, everyone gets new friends and keeps old ones! If you've got a problem with that so much, then why don't you say something, huh!?"232

Unfortunately, my temper rose a bit, too.233

"Yeah well, you're the one who's been giving me the attitude and rubbing her in my face with all the gentlemen-chivelry actions. I know you noticed me when you opened the front-school door, and you knew how that'd make me feel! I thought we were best friends, and better yet, I thought we were," and at this point, I grabbed his head very close to mine and whispered, "lovers or something. You told me you loved me, and now you're doing as much things as possible to ruin it. Are you trying to push me away? You found a new girl, and now I'm just the worn-out leftovers?!"234

Unlike me, he didn't choose to keep our issue quiet, and said his reply just as loud as before. Actually, I think he's gotten louder, "Us!? LOVERS!? Ha ha ha ha! You've got to be the most gullible person I've ever met in my life! You actually bought all that stuff I said? Man, I might as well give you this, and be on my way." and he handed me a small, gold-copper colored key, then resumed his laughing.235

The rest of the class began to laugh too, hell even Shuu had a small smile on her face, but tried to cover it with the left hand. My rage rose to it's peak, and I did something I probably won't be regretting anytime soon.236

I stood up from my seat very fiercely, making the desk shift forward a bit, and my head jerk up fast enough that my scalp smashed into Saito's jaw. He inched back a step, clenching the affected area. His eyes were burning with anger, looking straight at me. Taking chances, he shoved me back furiously into the classroom wall behind me. My body shook from the pain, heartrate increased in wildfire, and the rage just kept on getting higher. Everyone except the teacher began to chant, "Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!" as I walked towards Saito, with both fists clenched. At this point, I honestly didn't care anymore on how much trouble I was facing, and did the impossible. I extended my right arm forward, inched towards him, and with a large yell of might, I punched Saito squarely in the face, making his nose explode in a small firework show of blood, and him fly backwards into two desks. My hands were drenched in the red liquids, which began to drip on the floor.237

The class roared with cheers, saying random things like, "Oooh! That musta hurt!", or, "Holy shit!!" and there he lay, Saito, motionless.238

Turning my focus to Shuu, who just now came running to him, and holding the boy in her arms, trying to say comforting things, I shouted this to her, "Don't hold onto him for too long, or the same thing'll happen to you when that punk finds another girl to fool around with!" and I made my way out of the classroom, bumping into her on purpose, and taking my route to the Main Office. Small drips of blood trailed behind me like a path.239

When my body was just outside the classroom, I also said something to Genkou-sensei, "Don't bother telling me, I know I'm supposed to go to the office!" I know he was not pleased.240

It was only four seconds, and I felt the teacher's presense behind me, holding my right shoulder. Turning around, I seen that in his left hand, was September's homework assignments done by me and Saito, "I need to talk to you two, right now."241


Chapter XI – Truth Be Told, One’s True Ambitions242

243


Genkou-sensei made me wait out in the hallway, right next to the classroom door. He told me that him, Saito, and I need to be spoken to as soon as class is over. That basically means that I’m gonna have to wait around five more minutes, and maybe another two for every single student to leave the room. With nobody in the empty, cold hallway to see me, I pulled out something that would get me suspended for having, if seen. That piece of hardware, would be my Vanilla cell-phone. Reaching into my bra, where I always hide it, I slowly slid it outside of it’s protective place. It’s plasticy, smooth, and very warm. The cell-phone is also sleekly white colored, complimenting to the glowing blue buttons. Giving it a small whiff, I could smell ripe oranges, and dried blood. The blood was probably from my hands, since I haven’t exactly taken the time to wash them. With my phone in the palm of my left hand, I quietly flipped it up, and started to dial some text. Within a few moments, I already had a message composed, and chose to read it over. The entire message said, was just a plain, sincere message.244

“I’m so sorry.”245

Pressing a few more buttons and going through more menus, choices, and caution-windows, I finally addressed it to someone. That person, obviously, was Saito. I know, it only took me a few minutes, and I already began to feel the remorse and regret of what I have done to him. A heavy block of pain weighed my heart down, and the image of him spread across the classroom floor, blood-covered, kept flashing in my mind. Another image also appeared, it was of him and Shuu, holding one another very affectionately. Thinking about it now, I don’t feel angry anymore. If he wants to be with her, the boy can go right on ahead. I’ve only seen them for two days, but I could already tell that they’re really compatible for each other. While me, all I did was just act jealous, possessive, and all-around a mean girl.246

The bell rang very loud with it's irritating, "perrrrrrrrrrrr-ing!" and everyone began to pour out of all the classrooms around me. Some of the students gave me blank stares as though I did something wrong, and others just shuffled their ways around or through me. I felt at least eighty-five bumps and shoves before the hallway was empty again. When there was complete silence, Genkou-sensei called my name, to let me know it's time to enter the classroom.247

I slowly walked inside the classroom, and looked around to see if anyone except the teacher was here. Saito was still waiting, sitting at the far back seat, holding a Zip-Rock bag filled with ice cubes to his nose, and reading Legs of the North Moon manga Volume Five. "Good series," I would have told him, but now's not the best time to say anything. Taking a seat close to Genkou-sensei, he got up from his big desk, and stood next to me. A second later, he plopped onto my desk two sheets of paper, the assignments me and Saito did back in September.248

"Out of all the classes I've teached that have done this assignment, you and Saito were the only students I've ever had that chose one another." He said to me in a very serious and expressionate tone, "Not only that, you both revealed to me that you have strong romantic feelings for one another." Pulling out a red marker from his pocket, he circled spots on our papers, both which explained Saito and I's love for one another. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe this is what most people would call, True Love, is it not? You both had no fears of who would have read this work, and put your hearts into the assignment. Honestly, it's the first A's I've ever given on this." and he wrote two big A's and circled them, too.249

"I'm really sorry... I just didn't know what I was thinking. When I saw Saito acting like that to Shuu, right in front of me, it just tore me apart so much." I started to sob, and put my head down. Seconds later, I could feel a warm embrace from behind. It wasn't heavy, so it couldn't be Genkou-sensei.250

"Kiari, I'm the one who's to blame. I shouldn't have done all those things, because deep down inside, I knew that it would hurt you. But, I didn't think it would go that far." Saito's voice echoed behind me, and my body began to heat up once more. His hands gripped my body tighter, temperature rising higher, until Genkou-sensei cleared his throat as a signal to tell us it’s time to be serious.251

“I think it’d be best to explain to her the situation, Saito. You told me it was something only you two were allowed to speak about, am I right? Well, until you’re finished, I’ll leave this room locked.” He stood up from where he was, and headed towards the door.252

I stammered, quickly asking, “Where are you going, Genkou-sensei?”253

“A staff meeting, I’m trying to keep this incident under wraps. We can’t have our top student be suspended, now. Right, Kiari?” He gave me a quick wink, and closed the door. I heard a soft click, meaning that the room was locked out from everyone who still remained in the school.254

Saito stepped around me to be infront, and bent down in the same position that Genkou-sensei was. Looking at me very serious, he gave me a very sly smirk, “Heh, finally we’re alone. Now I can explain to you every single detail,” taking a big sigh, he muttered a little bit, “No stupid Shuu to go around telling them, either...”255

“Telling who? Saito, you have to tell me what’s going on.”256

“Alright. Let me get to the beginning of the whole story.” Saito paused for a moment to collect his thoughts, then resumed, “Remember the day when I told you about the unknown nation that killed everyone from Dezerrato? Well, it seems I must’ve found out some pretty juicy information, and now I’m getting a little bit into trouble with some weird group of people. I’m not sure exactly, but I have a hunch that they’re using Shuu to get information out of me. Didn’t you notice something very strange about her? She claimed to be from Terra-Xiu, right? But, one of our classmates is also from Terra-Xiu, Mai Wang. Looking at them both, you notice something very strange. Shuu looks like any other Messetsian, but Mai looks a lot different than everyone else in the class, besides us. Us two, have much darker skin tones than the rest of the other classmates, but Shuu has the same light skin color, that’s expected of a typical Messetsian.”257

“But what does that have to do with~~?” I was cut off before I could finish.258

“It was everything to do with us. Don’t you get it?! Shuu is probably some sort of spy, gathering as much information as she can and hoping to get me killed. How I’m getting to this conclusion, you may ask? Well, here’s the thing. When I first met Shuu, she came to my house at the same day I had her meet you, only three hours earlier. She already knew my address, my full name, my original name, and started muttering to her wrists out of nowhere. Now, does that sound like a fucking spy, or what?” I tried to make some sense out of everything he was telling me, but I still couldn’t really keep up.259

“Saito, I understand that, but what does that explain for your mistreatment on me?” This question, I really needed answers for.260

He started to scratch his head, probably collecting his thoughts again, and finally spoke once more, “It goes like this. Shuu had no idea of your existence, but she could already tell that I had feelings for someone, which is you. I knew that there would be no way for me to get any information out of her without posing as a boyfriend, so I took my chances. Currently, it’s working like a charm, and she has no clue about us being together. Coincidentially enough, you worked out your role perfectly, without being even informed about all of this. Good job, Kiari, no wonder you’re the top student of our class.”261

“No, I’m not! I am not the top student, alright? I’m sick and tired of the glasses jokes, Saito. I’ve been sick of them for seven years, and I want it to stop.”262

“Like it or not, we’re at a very critical situation. Now, I have to still remain acting as her boyfriend, or else I can’t get anything out of Shuu. But, I need your approval, to know that you won’t feel hurt by this, anymore,” Saito extended his hand to me, as though we were to shake hands, “Before you ask, I promise that I won’t ever do anything beyond hugging her.”263


I paused for about a minute before I moved an inch, “Okay then, Sai, let’s do it...” I gripped his hand very hard, and shook him very slowly.264


Chapter XII - Once a Killer, Always a Killer...
第XII 章- 一度キラー、常にキラー...265

266

The next few months passed pretty quickly, and the last week of school was finally drawing to a close.267

I would still continue to act oblivious to Saito and Shuu's "relationship," and play along with his plan to trick her into giving him more information about what she's really up to. Between school and weekends, Saito and I would schedule secret meetings together to avoid being discovered by her. These meetings wouldn't last too long, the most time we've ever gotten to have alone was around eighteen minutes.268

I've received my report card the other day, and after looking through it, then showing it to my father, I felt very satisfied with my 72.8% average. Sure, it was a lot lower than my usual 84.6% averages from previous school years, but I felt good about myself, knowing that I at least passed all my classes. Looking at my grades, and my own personal interests, I have a clear path in my mind set up already. If things go well in University, I'll be thinking of pursuing a career in International Law and Business, probably heading towards becoming a lawyer or some sort of business woman. Some would think this is a very professional step I've taken, and others will probably criticize me for picking such typical career paths. Whoever those negative people are, take me to them, so I can give them a nice Falcon Punch.269

Right now, I'm just resting my head, while laying down in my room. I had a long day of cleaning out my locker, desk, and backpack of all the junk that I didn't need anymore. Various sheets of paper, candy wrappers, empty plastic soda bottles, and old sketches of Legs of the North Moon artwork lay scattered around my bedroom floor. I had the thought of cleaning it all up at least four times, but whenever I attempted to begin, I would forget what I was doing and go back to resting.270

Minutes later, I heard a short knock on my door, and it opened up. Who came inside was Saito, wearing his usual blue vest and black shirt. One thing was different about him, his hair wasn't spiked from the back anymore, and now it just went straight down. Still wearing his usual sly grin, he gave me a short, "Yo," and sat down next to me. While glancing around the room and seeing the small mess, he started to chuckle.271

"What, what's so funny?" I asked him this with an embarrassed expression, and sat up very attentively.272

He said nothing for a moment, and started grabbing some of the soda bottles, "No, it's nothing. I just never been in your room before, and I'm just surprised to see it so messy," Saito read the label on one of the soda bottles and gave another short laugh, "They still sell this stuff? Man, I've been looking all over the place for some Vanilla Koke!"273

I put my hand on his shoulder, and gave him an even bigger grin, "Yeah, only the tough girls drink that stuff, and only a really tough girl keeps her room messy!"274

Saito got up from where he was sitting, and grabbed me up with him. Nudging me to come a bit closer, his warm embrace took ahold of me once more, "We haven't been able to be together for so long. We have to make up for all the lost time. I'm thinking of heading down to the park close by, wanna tag along? Spy-shit Shuu isn't anywhere close by, so we've got nothing to worry about."275

Giving him a nod, I slowly pushed him out of my room for a moment, and closed the door. When the door was completely shut, I quickly took off my school clothes, being the skirt and whatnot, and wore my street clothes. Holding the black vest to the side of my left shoulder, and stormed out of the house. Strangely enough, Saito was already outside, and gestured his hands, beckoning me to come with him.276


When we arrived at the park, I felt the temperature begin to drop a little bit, equipping my vest on to warm myself. Saito and I made our way to the swing-set located near the middle of the park, and sat down. The seat was made out of a fiber-like cloth, and would shape itself to the proportion of whoever it sitting on it, increasing it's comfort by tenfold! The swings were positioned in a way so that we could see the entrance to the park in plain view. So, if anyone was coming, I could see them.277

Like a box of melted shit, three people did come into the park. Two of them were very familiar to Saito and I, and they had the same exact face. Take a wild guess who they are, ladies and gentlemen? That's correct, it's Sentoki and Rintoki, along with some other random idiot, the Trifecta from Hell!278

Saito immediately jumped off the swing he was sitting on, and made his way to them. Taking a very focused look at Sentoki, I noticed he was gripping the inside of his waist, ready to pull something out.279

"Saito~! Watch out, he's hiding something behi~!" I tried to shout to warn him about Sentoki, but it didn't matter anyways in the next second.280

I heard three loud bangs, and three more grunts that ended up with thuds to the grass. Sentoki, Rintoki, and the other guy fell to the ground, blood exiting from their heads, motionless and dead. The scene felt like it were in slow-motion, their bodies crumpling down so quietly and easily...281

Saito sprung around and started shouting at random places in the park, "Who's there!? Show yourself! Who did this!?"282

Turning to my right, I seen who it was. He was a young man, probably around 19 years old, wearing a grey-ish white T-shirt, and tight black pants. His face was very attractive, but the eyes were covered by black sunglasses. He had very dark brown hair, that straightened down to his shoulders. On his neck was a strange chain-necklace that had a spiked-sun emblem attached to the bottom. In his left hand, was a black pistol, in his right, a silver one. Looking at his straight and calm posture as he walked toward us, it reminded me of a video game badass. When he was next to Saito, he spoke with a very cool voice.283

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but does your driveway need shoveling? There's snow everywhere..."284

Saito hunched back at the man and shouted to reply, "What the hell are you doing here, Sasuke!? It's summer time now, there is no snow!"285

Sasuke!? Sasuke Kojima, as in Saito's older brother!? Holy shit, I had no idea he was that cool!286

I ran towards them, and explained to Saito what Sasuke did, "Sai, he just saved your life! Sentoki was holding something in his pants, probably a dangerous weapon!"287

"Not probably, he was. From looking at how his hand was shaped, it was obviously a 9mm Desert Eagle, pretty crazy for some kid to get his hands on... As for the snow reference, I was trying to joke around with you. The Kojima House of Bum-Love can't operate with only one remaining member of the family." Sasuke explained his reasons to Saito in a very calm, but joking manner, giving him short jabs to the arm whenever he said something humorous.288

But one thing he said caught my attention, and I questioned it, "One family member? Wait, what happened to your parents?"289

Saito was completely silent, and looked away from Sasuke and I, but the older brother chose to reply, "I guess he hasn't gotten over it... Kiari, our parents have been dead for at least four years now. Taking a wild guess here, I'd say Saito's never told you that, huh?" He stepped closer to Saito, "Not that it matters..." and hit him at a strange point on Saito's head, causing him to lose consciousness and drop to the floor.290

I gasped loudly when Sasuke did this, and lunged at him, "Why'd you do that!?" taking a large swing at his stomach. He smoothly dodged out of the way, and gave me a quick slap to the face. I felt a very hard sting beat down on my right cheek, making me even more angry.291

"Nice girls shouldn't hit their elders..."292

Him saying that to me only made me angrier, and I got ready to give him another big punch. I cocked my left arm back behind myself, feeling my rage build up around my arms. When I felt it was time, I lunged at him once again, and shouted at the top of my lungs.293

"Falcon... Punnnnch~~!!!!"294

The punch landed straight into Sasuke's chest, and he fell to the ground at an amazingly quick speed. His sunglasses flew off of his face, and I could see that he had hazel eyes, filled with rage and discomfort. When he shot back up from my attack, Sasuke began to cough up a bit of blood. I felt very woozy from seeing it, and lost all my senses...295


----296


I don't know how long I was out for. But, when I woke up, I couldn't see anything. I thought my eyes were closed for a while, but then realized that something was blinding my vision! Smelling the air around me, it was very stale and musty, and smelled like my own breath. Everything around me was cold, my arms were raised above my head, and the wrists were tied up together. I then realized that I was wearing nothing but my undergarments, and seem to have been captured to somewhere I told know!297

"Help! Someone, if anyone is there! Please~!!" I screamed at the top of my limits, I could feel tears emerge from my eyes. I was deeply afraid of what happened to me, and really wanted to know what's going on.298

Moments later, I heard a very gruff voice echo across the room, "Ehh shut it, girlie! Nobody's coming for ya. Don't worry about your body, we haven't done anything other than get rid of your clothes, so your little virginity is still intact... Hee hee heh." I couldn't see where the voice was coming from, but I knew it was somewhere infront of me.299

A heard footsteps come towards me, and seconds later, a small hand touch my chest. The hand felt very delicate and soft, I have the feeling it must be a woman's. "This is her, the one named Kiari, or Faiza?" Her voice rang a bell in my head. I had the feeling I knew who she was!300

"Yep, that's her, Ms. Shuu." The gruff voice echoed again in response.301

"Good..."302

I felt a lot of punches hit me in the general chest area. My cries of pain emitted only a short amount of the room, they wouldn't travel far. Shocks and impacts from a bunch of fists inflicted a large amount of pain to me, and I couldn't help but begin to cry.303

"Aww... does this hurt? That's nice to hear, I think you've had enough for today." Her voice spoke to me once more, and took a large grasp above my head. My eyes hurt as I felt light emerged, getting rid of the darkness I was growing adjusted to.304

I tried to look around, but my focus was impaired, the pain was making it hard for me to look at anything with a straight view. The room was very rusted looking, probably a rundown bunker. The middle of my vision was covered by a black-ish green figure in the shape of a young girl. When I tried harder to focus, I could see that it was Shuu, wearing a green camouflaged-pattern soldier's uniform.305


"Hello, Devil. Welcome to Hell..." 306

307

Chapter XIII - The End of Time, Death is the Beginning...
第XIII 章- 時間、死の終わりは初め... である308


Three weeks later...309

310

The stinging of the pain I tried to endure still lingered on my body. Every few days I would be subjected to a series of different kinds of torture. Shuu, and the other people who reside in this place, keep telling me to give them information about the whereabouts of others who are from Dezerreto. Each time, I would reply with the same thing.311

"I don't know! Saito's the one, I have nothing to do with this!"312

Each time I refused to say anything they needed, I would be given some sort of pain. For three weeks, my body hasn't moved from the same bunker. I'm not even sure if I have hands anymore, for they have been suspended in the air even longer. Every night, I would cry for hours until my voice could not be heard anymore, or until I couldn't breathe. Every time I try to think about anything, the thought would always emerge at one point, "Why me? What have I done to deserve this?" I would keep telling myself in my sleep that someday things will get better.313

And so, they didn't...314


The bunker door was closed, making the entire room pitch-black dark. Not a single sound other than my heavy breathing could be heard. Closing my eyes, I could see more color and light than if they were open. Out of nowhere, more colors and light emerged, meaning someone must have opened the door. I flicked back on my sight, and tried squinting to see who was there. There were three black figures coming towards me. One was very large and burly, the other was slim and feminine, and the last was slouched, very troubled. The last figure stayed behind, keeping it's arms behind it's waist, probably tied up. When the other two came very close, I realized it was Shuu and the guard from my first day here. Even until now, they remained wearing the same uniforms.315

"Good morning. Heh, we're moving you to a new spot, this one's not needed anymore."316

Shuu's voice rang in my ears with her annoying little attitude. She started grabbing various places around my hands, and I could feel the blood rush back to their respective veins as the restraints were being removed. My hands went numb once again, because of the massive change in their status, and I felt my body drop. My face hit the cold metal floor very quickly, and I let out a small cry of pain. I closed my eyes again very hard, hoping for this all to end. Seconds later after the two gave small chuckles, they grabbed me by the arms and dragged me away from the bunker.317

I kept my eyes closed for the whole little trip, every few moments the dark-redness inside would flash very bright colors and then back to the really dark ones. The upper-sections of my feet slid across the floor, it felt extremely cold, and it hurt quite a bit because of how violently the two were dragging my body. I could hear footsteps coming from three people. Two were right beside me, and the third was in front. All of them made little "Klownk-Klownk!" noises.318

"What are you going to do to her!?" I could hear Saito's voice coming from ahead! He must be very close by! I opened my eyes to see for myself, and there he was. The whole time he was the third figure, wearing nothing but extremely ragged jeans, hands tied behind his back, and black leather boots. Saito's back was covered with red scars, and a few of them were pretty recent, showing small traces of blood trickling down his back. His head was turned slightly around as he was talking, and he noticed me look at him, turning his face back to normal. For the second I was able to see it, I knew he was tortured just a little while ago.319

"It's not her you should be worried about, it's you!" A strong voice echoed in my right ear.320

I tried to look ahead from Saito, seeing we were in a narrow, sleek-white hallway. Small laser-like white lights streamed across the top corners of the walls, making it even brighter. Unless my eyes were lying, we were coming very close to our destination, yet another strange bunker.321

"Here we are." The bitch's voice called out. I felt the grip on my right arm leave, and a few large footsteps go away. The burly man must have left...322

The door to the bunker was already open, and I could see it looked basically the same as the one I was in before. Orange-rust colored, a small black hook in the middle to tie things onto, all the same.323

"Hey, this is the same room!" I yelled out, and a hard smack brandished my face as soon as I spoke.324

"I didn't ask for an intelligent comment."325

Saito stepped into the room, and stood at the middle. I was dragged to a corner on the right and was finally able to move my body again. Feeling the temperature drop more, I curled into a ball-like position to keep myself warm. The door closed, and hiding behind it was Sasuke. He had the same cool smirk on his face, and was now wearing the same uniform as Shuu, the green-patterned camouflage.326

"Sasuke, you bastard! Why would you betray your own brother!?" Saito exclaimed at him, grounding his feet in a battle-ready position.327

Sasuke towards him, and gave him a quick shove to the ground, "Does it matter?" he then turned his attention to me, "Though honestly, I am sorry for bringing you into this. But, rule is, no witnesses."328

I had to say something, and began to shout as well, "But why did you have to kill those three? Don't you know that killing is wrong?!"329

When I was finished, he sighed, "Look... I'm a cleaner, I can feel no remorse when seeing a dead body. To me, it's merely cold, rotting flesh..."330

"You miserable sick bastard..." Saito muttered, and tried to stand up again. Needless to say, he couldn't.331


Sasuke grabbed Saito's arms, and placed the ropes tying them together onto the hook. This made him suspend in the air, feet dangling around the place. Now it seems the real purpose begins. The older brother began to talk to Saito, asking him questions about how he found out about his origins and other various things. Saito responded very quietly, and whenever he took too long, he was punched in the stomach. His howls of pain echoed across the room, and these made me cringe whenever I heard them.332

Shuu stepped forward and put her arm in front of Sasuke, signalling him to stop. "What shall we do with her, Kojima-sama?" asks Shuu, with a very devious expression.333

"Don't care, she's got nothing do with this."334

Obviously, she didn't look satisfied and responded right away while drawing a knife from her side pocket, "No... Cut out her eyes."335

Saito shouted, "What!?"336

"I don't like those green eyes of her's... You all made her get into this mess, and now you're going to unmake it," grabbing my arm and dragging me to the hook. She pushed Saito off, moving him a few centimeters away from me, and tried handing the knife to Sasuke.337

"Why should I do it? You're the one who's got the grudge against her, Shuu."338

Shuu flinched at what Sasuke said to her, her hat tilted downwards for some reason. Adjusting it back into place, she looked at me with a grin, and slowly walked towards me with the pointing tip of the knife aimed directly at my eyes. I was shaking in fear, my breathing rate sky-rocketing. Tears emerged once more, and all I could focus on was this black-ish tip coming towards me, getting bigger and bigger. Out of nowhere, I felt a big bump hit the right side of my ribs, making my body shift in that direction. The second my body moved, I heard the sound of something being cut, a loud "Ksh-leigk!" noise!339

"Grraaaagghhh~!!" I heard Saito scream in pain. Looking at him very quickly, his forehead and left eye were covered with blood! He was gripping the area of where the eye used to be with his left hand, but it wasn't stopping the bleeding. I screamed as well, and cried even harder.340

Shuu looked at the both of us, strucken and traumatized from what she'd done. I didn't see what happened to her next, but I heard a loud gunshot and her body drop to the floor.341

Feeling a strong grasp on my neck, I was sprung up to my feet, "Both of you get the hell out of here. Saito, you know this place better than she does, so you'd better lead your wife to safety!" It was Sasuke, he was actually trying to help us!342

I felt a bloody hand hold my right arm, and start to pull me towards the door. "Even if I can only see with one eye for the rest of my life, I can't let you be put in any more danger! We're getting out of here!"343


I really hope this actually ends well....344


Chapter XIV – Final Request
章十四 - 挙げ句依頼345

346

My body was being dragged around the place once more. Until this day, I never noticed how tight and forceful Saito’s grip could be. We kept running and running as fast as we could, trying to make sure no one could catch up to us. Every room and hallway was colored in the same dim-blue light, which reflected upon the walls as well. This conveyed a very depressing mood around the facility. Which is quite ironic since the place was already depressing enough!347

Somewhere down the line, I’m not exactly sure when exactly since time has completely stood still to me. An alarm went off, making a very loud “Arrraaaallarmg!!!” noise that would repeat over and over again. The once dim-blue lights changed to a very strong red, flickering and pulsing for every time the klaxon of the alarm went off. My body felt like it was about to burst, and I was really coming to my limits.348

“Saito, we need to find somewhere we can hide! I can’t keep running like this!”349

Saito didn’t listen to anything I said, and just kept on muttering to himself, “I keep trying to find that door to Paradise… but it’s running away… I keep running toward it but it keeps going away!” I could tell even he was starting to go insane from all the fear, “Can’t find the exit… can’t find the exit… can’t find the exit…. Can’t find the exit… can’t find the exit…” Saito continued to repeat this for a very long time. A minute later he finally stopped at a large door that had an automatic-opening mechanism. The moment he stepped toward it, the door opened with a “Ksssshhhh…” noise. Signalling for me to follow him, he let go of my hand, and we both entered the room.350

The room was probably once used as an emergency room for operations or surgery, as it was covered with overhead lights, tables, and other surgical equipment. I walked over to the middle and just began to watch him. Saito ran over to the right corner of the room and snatched a broom from where it was. Looking around where the door was placed, he noticed a small control panel for manually opening the door. Taking a very large swing with the broom, he tried to break it. But the only thing that broke was the broom itself, shattering into many pieces that would probably cause tons of splinters. He let out a ton of cuss words when this happened, and tried to just punch out the panel with his bare hands. It took him seven large swings to finally get it to break, making it bend inwards and spark violently with electricity.351

352

Looking at me, he told me to step away from what was behind me. I took a short glance and noticed I was right behind a table that was covered with surgical equipment and other tools. I backed away from the table. Saito walked slowly to this, and swung his right hand in a sweeping motion from one side to the other. This made all of the items that were placed on the table scatter on the floor. Each piece of equipment made a short “Ting-ting teling!” noise, and I covered my ears very sharply to get rid of the noise. Running around to the other side of the table, Saito flipped it into its side like a shield for cover. Giving me a small hand gesture to come to him, he sat down behind the table and began to wait.353

I slowly made my way to the other side of the table and sat down with him. He spoke in a very hushed up tone, “I don’t know for how long, but I think we’re safe here for now. Kiari, I’m sorry for getting you mixed up in this mess.”354

This is when my blood went into a boil, and I just had to vent my frustration and feelings. Turning my body around and slightly sitting up to look at him, I shouted, “Sorry!? You’re sorry!? You’re going to need a lot more than a simple sorry! I’m gonna need shock treatment to get over this one! You have no idea how seriously fucked we are right now! I can’t believe you got me into this! I had a future ahead of me! Only two more years and then it was time for university and sooner or later getting into my real careers! I was this close, Saito, this close to getting into a proper school for law,” I started showing him my fingers in various formations to explain sizes and stuff, “I was dreaming of becoming a lawyer, just like Mr. Naruhodou! You knew better than anyone else that this was my dream, and now you fucked it all over! I don’t even think we’re going to make it out of this room alive, let alone the whole fucking facility!”355

“Kiari…”356

“Then there was what I had planned for us! I would dream constantly of a future the two of us. We’d be married, living in a nice house down by the ocean! We would have two kids, both of them being little boys! I even had names already thought up! The first one would be named Shun, and the second would be Ryo!”357

“Kiari!”358

“I just can’t believe things could have gotten this bad! This is bullshit, what a bunch of fucking bullshit! How’d you fuck up this bad, Saito? How’d you fuck up this bad!?”359

“KIARI~!!” He shouted once more, but this time took a swift slap to my right cheek, “Snap out of it already! I said it already once before, we’re going to make it through this! So just sit tight, shut up, and relax!”360


I heard a lot of banging noises coming from the door. Taking a short step up, I could see it begin to bend out of shape. Within seconds later, the entire door flew off its place and slid across the floor. Four men in dark colored armor, wearing gas masks stormed into the room. They were holding black assault rifles that had tiny flashlights attached to the tip. Upon closer focus, small laser-pointers can be seen also. Two more guards came in after them and ran in front. Instead of rifles, they were holding huge glass-like shields with the words “SR388” printed on the middle in bolded and white font. The moment the shielded guards were in position, they all shouted at once.361

“For Nameriika!!”362

One of the guards began to speak for a second, “Open fire in T-minus ten seconds!”363

I felt a big of tugging at my leg, “Get down, Kiari…”364

But I couldn’t move, my body was completely frozen in fear.365

“T-minus seven seconds!” The guards readied their arms to aim.366

“Kiari, listen to me… Get down…”367

I whimpered, “I… can’t… move…” tears began to fill up in my eyes.368

“T-minus three! Two! One!” They all turned on their flashlights, and then their lasers.369

“GET THE FUCK DOWN~!!!” Saito shouted at the top of his lungs, and shot up from his feet. Taking matters into his own hands, he pushed me down with one of the hardest shoves I’ve ever felt in my life. My body hit the ground extremely hard, and my head felt like I was bashed with a metal bat, twice.370

I couldn’t look at him at the next second. Hearing it, was bad enough…371

“Fire!!”372

Many loud gunshots all of them making sounds like “Burram-gadadaga! BAM BAM BAM!!” echoed and tortured my ears. I felt my chest begin to turn sticky and wet. Saito screamed one of the loudest screams I ever heard in my life. His voice burned into my mind and heart, I knew I would never forget how it sounded. I didn't even need to open my eyes, and I already knew what happened...373

There was silence, everything stood still. I slowly opened my eyes, and I seen it. Saito standing there with his arms spread out, mouth wide open at a very ridiculous size, and an expression that was everything except for beautiful or positive. His entire body was covered with blood and bullet wounds. The moment I was about to say something, he fell on top of me, and he was.....374


I can't even say it...375

All I could do was just scream.... Scream and scream, until there was nothing left in me...376

377


THE END378

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Epilogue381

382

Seven years later....383

384

Two men were sitting at a table together. The setting was a very dark-lit drinking bar. The smell of liquor and nicotine filled the air. One of them was very old, in his late fifties. His clothing consisted of black-colored gym equipment, and a very small necklace. His hair was beginning to turn grey. The older man was drinking bourbon in a medium sized glass, with two large cubes of ice.385

"It's been a long time... You still doing that weird business?"386

The second man wore a white tuxedo, with a black collared shirt underneath and a blue tie. His hair was slicked backwards, but spiked a bit on the ending tips. He was nearing the middle of his twenties, and was also wearing sunglasses. This man was smoking a small cigarette, puffing it every once in a while.387

"Don't make me say it again, I'm a cleaner."388

The older man signaled for a waiter, but was stopped by the other.389

"What's wrong, ya don't drink?"390

He shook his head, and just took a few more puffs of his cigarette.391

"Can't believe it's been seven years since those three kids died..." said the older man.392

The younger one stood up for a second as though he were about to leave, "Don't talk about that, alright?"393

"You were there, weren't ya? I hear you had to bury them yourself. Man, those two... I never would have thought they'd get into that much trouble. The third one, however, I knew she was gonna get into something since she came to my class out of nowhere."394

The younger man sat back down, "Yeah, I was there. Yeah, I had to bury all of them. I even looked through their possessions and found this weird key with the one girl. Two years later I found out it was for this stupid box the boy gave to her as a present."395

"Hmm? What was inside?"396

He took a few extra puffs, "Nothing really important. Just some shiny looking bracelet, and some really old video game she really wanted. I think it was called Ultimate Sun or something..."397

"Didn't you feel bad for looking through their private life and everything?"398

The man stood behind him and withdrew a small black pistol, "Look... I'm a cleaner. I can feel no remorse when seeing a dead body. To me it's merely cold, rotting flesh..."399

The older man was startled at first, but then began to chuckle, "Heh heh heh... Somehow, I knew this was coming... Y'know, I really did enjoy teaching you all those years before, Sasuke-kun..."400

"I enjoyed being in your class as well, Genkou-sama..."401

402

*BLAM!!*