64 Ayame past (2)

Sakura, Theresa, and even Higokumaru could feel the intense hatred radiating from Kouro's purple eyes.

What's more, Higokumaru, who was a Herrscher that ruled over emotions, could feel the extremely terrifying hatred, like that of a boundless darkness that engulfs everything.

(E/D: The word 'Herrscher' means lord, ruler or sovereign. It could also be translated as 'Lawman' that rule over certain laws. Just like Mei, the Herrscher of Thunder, who rule over thunder and lightning, thus earning her the moniker 'Lightning Queen' or 'Thunder Queen'.)

Higokumaru had only ever felt this from someone 50,000+ years ago, moreover, Kouro's purple eyes were completely the same as 'that person's eyes. Kouro's figure overlapped with 'that person's silhouette and slightly resembled them, but she shook her head to get rid of the thought.

(E/D: The author dropping some huge foreshadowing shit, an a big one at that. I can only imagine the grin on the faces of you readers after reading that and the following.)

'No, there's no way Kouro has any relationship with 'that guy', after all... 'that guy's already long dead.'

Kouro, who didn't know Higokumaru's complicated thought, regained his senses and apologized, "Ah... Sorry, everyone... I lost control there for a moment."

The aura of hatred that radiated around Kouro disappeared after his apology, as if it has never existed in the first place.

Sakura and Theresa just nodded in understanding, after all, things like that had happened to them before.

"Please continue." spoke Theresa.

"Before I continue, can you guys promise to keep everything you hear a secret?"

"We promise to keep it a secret." they replied earnestly.

"I prepared the plan for three months, I collected evidence one by one, of course, it's not easy to avoid their and Ayame's suspicions, but even so, I will still do it, and I also didn't reveal it steadily, and instead kept it to myself before I release it immediately like a bomb.

"In short, after I have gathered enough evidence, I would immediately send the evidence to the local police, anonymously, of course."

Kouro paused briefly and closed his eyes for a while, then opened it again and spoke.

"A few hours after I sent the evidence, the police arrived at Ayame's parent's house to arrest them. And you know what they did when the police wanted to arrest them? They used Ayame as a hostage and put a kitchen knife to her throat to threaten the police. At that time, I could only see Ayame's expressionless face."

"..."

"Fortunately, Ayame was able to be saved without taking any serious injuries, but she still received a very severe trauma because of it, so she had to be rehabilitated in the hospital for several months."

"Because I felt guilty for her situation, I often visited her in the hospital. One day, she asked me with empty eyes and a smile, "You won't leave me as well, would you?", And I promised her that I wouldn't leave her, but... as you can see, I broke that promise. At that time, something urgent came up and turned me into a different person, who is more selfish than anyone else."

"..."

Kouro continued in a self-deprecating tone, "Heh... Since then, I left Ayame and my adopted parents, just for the sake of something that might have been useless (training), and because of that, Ayame must have really hate me. I didn't expect that I would see her here, moreover, she has turned into a Pseudo-Herrscher as well."

"..."

After Kouro finished his story, the silence ensued together with a depressing atmosphere.

Sakura opened her mouth to say something, but paused for a moment, as if contemplating the appropriate words to use before tilting her head, "So... In short... you are an irresponsible bastard?"

The heavy atmosphere they felt disappeared because of Sakura's statement, in the form of a question.

Kouro double-take after hearing Sakura's words.

"What?"

"!?"

"Where did you learn that words, Sakura!? No, wait, that's not the point, why did you conclude that? Aren't we talking about Ayame?"

Theresa and Higokumaru glanced at each other and nodded to one another as if they are old friends, "Hmm... According from the story, Kouro indeed is an irresponsible person, an maybe that's the reason why Akimitsu-san became a Pseudo-Herrscher."

Sakura nodded to confirm their accusation.

"Oi!? Why did you say it like that and paint me as if I'm the villain? I am the victim here you know, the victim! Didn't you see earlier that my chest was pierced by Ayame's thorny vines? I almost died because of that!"

(E/D: Seriously, I think that this change of topic is too forced. Who else think the same?)

(A/N: I'm sorry, I just a noob Author.)

Sakura and Higokumaru, and even Theresa, stared at Kouro, who looked perfectly health without any signs of holes or piercings on his chest and talking hectically, making doubt his claims a bit.

But after this heated argument, justifying that Kouro is an irresponsible bastard, their relationship deepened.

..

After listening to Kouro's story, plus a bit of meaningless debate, they then discussed how to deal with the Pseudo-Herrscher.

Theresa looked at Higokumaru and asked curiously.

"Etto... Higokumaru-chan, can you tell us what you mean by 'purifying' that you said earlier?"

(E/D: Even Ai-chan call Higokumaru with a '-chan'.)

"Ah! About that, actually, I have the ability to absorb a very large amount of Honkai Energy, so by purification, I mean I will absorb the targets Honkai Energy, but not to the point where it threatens the life of the target."

After Higokumaru answered, she looked at Kouro and Theresa and asked curiously, "What about you guys? Judging by your outfits, you look like you're from a certain organization. Do you guys want to catch the Pseudo-Herrscher?"

Kouro and Theresa shook their heads and replied, "We came looking for the Pseudo-Herrscher to negotiate with her, whether she want to fight Honkai with us or not."

Higokumaru and Sakura looked at them both in shock, after all, it was deemed for any organization to be willing to negotiate with a Herrscher, even is it's not complete.

"Since our goals are more or less the same, how about we work together?"

Hearing the proposal, Sakura and Higokumaru exchanged a glance, Higokumaru nodded her head, and after getting confirmation, Sakura accepted the deal.

"So what's the strategy?"

Kouro looked at Higokumaru first and asked, "Can your abilities be used freely?"

"No, my ability can only be activated when the target is incapacitated, exhaustion and unconsciousness works."

Kouro, of course didn't ask about whether Higokumaru could fight, no matter how you look at her and her cute appearance, she was definitely a Herrscher, what's more, she is someone who is still alive after 50,000+ years had passed.

"Theresa-san, can you use the chains of your cross to restrain Ayame?"

"Hmph! Don't underestimate me, I can do it easily, besides, the chains won't break against a mere Pseudo-Herrscher."

Kouro then turned his eyes to Sakura, who is currently staring at him silently.

"Sakura-san, yo-"

"I specialize in speed."

Sakura interrupted Kouro as she already knew his question while displaying the two katanas tied to her waist.

"Un... Then, Sakura-san will focus on defending Higokumaru and Theresa, I'll be bait to distract Ayame, and after completly distracting Ayame, Theresa-san will use her cross' chains to hold her back, and lastly, Higokumaru would purify Ayame."

Theresa, Sakura, and Higokumaru didn't mind that.

(E/D: The statement above reminded me of Xbox, certain video games would have things like 'Joker will remember that' somewhere on the upper corner of the screen.)

Kouro glanced at his HP and Fatigue status, which was steadily recovering, and said.

"We will rest for three hours first, after that, we fight Ayame."

After his declaration, Kouro looked outside the window, the horizon revealed the soft rays of morning light.

avataravatar
Next chapter