Help us! (2)

Suzaku and Declan continued to approach the barricades under the frightened and questioning gaze of the thirty or so awakenees present who had stopped one after the other what they were doing when they noticed their arrival.

Among those who seemed to fear them, they recognized the faces of the awakenenees they had seen in the last two days. As for the others, they just didn't seem to recognized them and wondered why they were attracting so much attention.

'If it's not a shitty mood...' Finding that the atmosphere was much more tense today than when they had come yesterday, Suzaku thought that news of the treatment received by the emissary sent to them yesterday had spread...

Then when he realized that the majority of the fearful glances were directed at Declan, he frowned, "What have you done?" He whispered, keeping a neutral expression so as not to attract further attention.

Declan shrugged his shoulders with a detached look, "I gave them a chance to grow a pair of balls." He said casually before pulling a cigar out of one of the pockets of his shorts, "Probably in vain, I think I underestimated how much they seem to enjoy the perspective of staying pieces of shit until they die." He added with a mocking smile as he carried his cigar to his mouth.

Suzaku stared at him in disgust, he knew Declan meant what he said.

The more he got to know him, the more he thought he was nothing more than an arrogant, selfish, overly violent bastard who liked to belittle people who didn't fit in his twisted image of what a respectable person must be.

No matter how hard he tried, Suzaku still couldn't figure out why Declan was... Declan. He was starting to believe that the reason he was acting like an asshole was because he really was one.

Anyway, he couldn't stay silent any longer in the face of comments like that, "How can you say that when these people are fighting to protect this place at the risk of their lives?" He asked, betraying in his tone that it angered him to see how little consideration Declan had for others awakenees.

Declan looked at Suzaku for a moment without any emotion filtering through his sunglasses, then he burst out laughing, which made his cigar drop to the ground, "Ah ah! Oh shit! You-you're so cute!" He screamed in his laughter, drawing even more attention to himself and Suzaku.

Suzaku was boiling from the inside, "Shut up!" He said sharply as he continued walking straight ahead, leaving Declan behind.

Declan stopped laughing immediately after hearing how coldly Suzaku had spoken to him, which surprised the latter who thought Declan would continue to make fun of him no matter how he reacted.

Suzaku then turned around and saw Declan bending over to pick up his cigar, when he got up, Suzaku saw that he seemed unusually serious.

Declan put his cigar back in his mouth and put his index finger at the end of his cigar, "In the end, you're just a 19-year-old naive kid with no critical sense." He said in a tone even colder than Suzaku's before lighting his cigar with a small flame coming out of his index finger.

Declan saw that he had offended Suzaku but he didn't stop there, "Stop spitting shit mate, I don't want you splashing me with it. Face it, except for us and the gorilla nobody's fighting here, and if you really believe that these people are all here to protect this place you're a lost cause."

The awakenees around them understood that they were arguing and ended up looking away to avoid being somehow mixed up in their conflict.

Without warning, Suzaku made his spear appear in his right hand, a gesture of his arm later and the tip of his spear envelopped in a green hue was a few centimeters from Declan's neck who remained passive as if he didn't feel threatened at all.

Actually, Declan not only seemed serene but also amused, "And I'm the one who's violent..." He said sarcastically, "...While you don't hesitate to resort to violence when you run out of arguments."

Seeing that Suzaku's gaze was still as determined as ever and that he hadn't moved his spear, Declan smiled maliciously, 'You asked for it.' He couldn't bear to know that Suzaku believed he was right and he intended to deconstruct his vision of what was good and what was evil.

Declan took his cigar out of his mouth without provoking a reaction from Suzaku who didn't move his spear an inch knowing in advance that Declan wouldn't attack him.

"I'll try to put myself in your shoes and ask you a simple question." Declan said, keeping the smoke he inhaled in his mouth, "Between me and a random person here, who is the best human being using your criteria?"

Suzaku was caught off guard by such a strange question, but he didn't try to think about it more and immediately answered, letting his anger exprimed itself, "You're just a bastard who..."

Declan exhaled all the smoke in his mouth to Suzaku's face, "Wrong."

"*Cough*, *Cough*, who are you to think you know better than me what I think?!" Suzaku retorted while clearing the smoke he had on his face with his free hand.

"Do you think people should be judged by who they are or for their actions and their consequences?" Answered Declan by asking another question.

Suzaku was beginning to see where Declan was going, but in order not to be hypocritical, he still answered him sincerely, "Their actions and their consequences."

"Oh really?" He said as he walked towards Suzaku until the spear of the latter was in contact with the skin of his neck without piercing it, "If so, do you think my actions have a less positive impact than someone else's?"

Suzaku grimaced and didn't bother to answer, he lowered his spear with a quick gesture and walked towards the barricades alone.

Declan couldn't resist the temptation of one last taunt, "I remind you that it's your point of view, not mine."