One Punch Man: Death Amends

'My life was quite tragic.' An old man thought, as he comfortably seated himself in his favorite chair. His face was full of wrinkles, and his hands were etched with the scars of his past. He had a lonely smile on his face, one that only those who had grieved would have and his eyes showed his deep yearning for a love he had never embraced due to the cruelty of this damned world.

'I lived with my poor family in the slums, we had nothing authentic to eat or drink as we all depended on our survival from the leftovers of the people from the city, our only treasure was nothing but the trash of others.' He daydreamed.

'My family abused me, my father is a drinker and my mother is a gambler. I had hated them since they had brought me into this world, often thinking of ways I could get revenge for letting me suffer while also threatening to kill me if I never scavenged enough trash to support their self-destructive lifestyle.'

'After I was old enough, I left both of them to pursue my own dreams, finding a side job to somehow support my tuition, all of that came to a halt when I met her. She was called Lily, her name resembled a flower, and when I grew closer to her. A certain feeling overtook me giving me something that I would have never imagined in my life.'

'I was just studying at the library that day, learning how the human body works and then there was this girl on a ladder on a bookcase, struggling to reach for a book. I helped her and she thanked me, it was nothing that much but I think she saw something in me that I didn't know. After that she always visited me at the library, we discussed a lot of things like our hobbies and ambitions, I learned she liked singing, prompting that she wanted to be a singer someday, and me I told her that I like studying anatomy, aspiring to be a doctor to save people's lives someday.

'But we had one subject that we didn't talked about, I don't know why but both of us didn't really talk about our parents, maybe like me, she had a hard time enduring the abuse but that's just my assumption.'

'We both became closer everyday, like how a hedgehog found his favorite flower. We enjoyed our time together and I didn't know that she was also feeling the way I feel about her. It was weird, I was struggling to bring out the words I wanted to tell her, and I think she did too however that cycle was broken when she finally made a move, I was a bit sad that day, she saw that and suddenly kissed me. My mind went blank and I was blushing a lot but after a few seconds of her saying she was sorry, I kissed her too.'

'It was such a happy moment, like everything about the world seemed so bright and she was there with me even in my dreams. We both promised a life with each other, running off to another country after we graduate at college'

'Yet, on a dark and foggy afternoon, two goons confronted us on an alleyway we always walk through, I thought they were going to mug us so I told Lily to run however not even a second. I couldn't even stop the two of them for a second before I got knocked out. After that they tied me up and left me there in order to find Lily.'

'Police found me 1 day after that incident and I didn't hear of Lily, I called for her and even told the police that I was with someone but they didn't care and just led me out.'

'I searched for her as soon as possible but I had no clue where to begin. It was only a few days after that news started airing that they've found a body. Her name was...Lily...'

'I cried, like never before. I cried like I was gonna die tomorrow the thought of killing myself passed through but no, I was a coward. I still wanted to fulfill my promise but even when I tried to go to school, it reminded me of her and that's the reason why I stopped altogether. It was just me in my house with my anger and frustration repeating those moments I had with her and the last moment I looked into her eyes, I was filled with regret and I felt the surroundings go dark and narrow. That's when I promised to myself that I would avenge her, that I would find her defilers and kill them.'

'I switched schools so that I wouldn't get to reminisce her and with determination, I graduated from college and applied to be a police officer. The people inside of the police department knew of my past and thought that I was operating in a sense that I was just finding justice by finding the killer of my lover, yet it was all a facade that I made myself for I already discarded those naive thoughts from me. I was and will be operating on nothing but calculated precision in tracking down her killers and KILL THEM.'

'I garnered lots of admiration from my fellow police officers by being diligent, helpful, and successful on police raids. Just to meticulously snake my way inside their information depository.'

'I achieved it after years of ranking up, I finally found clues on who those killers are. I applied for a leave from my police commissioner and started on my journey of specifically letting my lover rest in peace as I snuff out her killers.'

'I knew where they are and they live in a rather unsecured town which I quickly infiltrated and gunned both of them down when they slept peacefully yet it wasn't over yet as I realized that both of them were just pawns from a more powerful opponent.'

'Killing my Lily was nothing but a ploy employed by her father's rival to anger him and I became so angry with that information that I tore up the letter and burned the whole place down before leaving.'

'With a new path laid down for me, I resigned from my job and wormed my way inside the gangs from my region, I carefully tread inside by changing my identity and made a lot of connections before I met Lily's father in which I confronted him with the information that her daughter had been killed by his rival years ago, this came to him as a shock as he held on for his dear breath in digesting this heartbreaking news. I was apathetic to his display and offered to join their group just to get revenge to kill his rival. He was doubtful but when I explained to him that I was in a relationship with her, he mellowed and became stern. Signifying that he had already regretted letting her go and now he has to shoulder the consequence.'

'Even without his lead, I was already making a lot of connections from other gangs and slowly but surely accumulating my influence and power to take full revenge.'

'When I finally acquired enough, I reasoned with Lily's father to make me the leader which he accepted with a smile on his face. We both know that this was for his daughter so he didn't argue and waited for news to come.'

'I didn't disappoint him, as I ruthlessly toppled his rival's operations, robbed his suppliers, and killed all of his obedient dogs before planting many leads into his wretched-looking face.'

'It was the end. I finally did it for you my Lily, yet I know it wouldn't bring you back...I know you didn't wish for me to turn out like this. In fact, if you see me now...you'll hate me with your whole being because I've represented the cause of your suffering... I became just like your father...'

"I'm sorry Lily, if only I was stronger in the past this wouldn't have happened but destiny made us this way. So even if I meet you again in the afterlife, I will hide from you. For your light would see through the darkness I formed in myself and I am ashamed to show you this abyss I created..."

"I'm going far, far away from where you will go. Goodbye..."