Chapter 7: Just a matter of time

Chapter 8: Just a matter of time

Karma, a force that was meant to equalize all mankind. For every evil that a person commits, evil shall descent upon them. An invisible force outside the hands of justice that keeps the scales of moral right and immorality balanced, an eye for an eye, an arm for an arm. However, in a word where heroes exist you could argue that karma has been personified, literalized, right? In this world, there would be no need for such a thing and one could simply go on living their lives simply, a hero would serve retribution, a hero would return the evil back to offending party, a hero... All might would keep the balance in check. One would not do much as the heroes, as All might would keep it check...However... sin seemed inescapable.

For a moment his breath stilled as those vile words filled his screen. His body still as if the tendrils of that thing had reached from beyond the screen. His limbs like lead or more accurately, as if it had been nailed in place. His mind in overdrive telling him to move, stillness to bring a guaranteed a sure death. However, his limbs to shaken the invisible nailed firm in place, choice ripped away from him.

"..." he began. Yet, his words caged behind the fear he felt. What sick joke was this? This had to be...he tried to deny, the innocuous words holding too much sway. The air in this space stagnant, the weight almost to heavy to breathe along with the sludge-like consistency, caused the building sense of nausea. His body shaking uncontrollably, breathe, breathe, breathe, breathe, breathe, breathe , he repeated religiously however his breathe not had not become easier to take. The churn more vigorous, his vision blurred he couldn't even deny that was his tears, he heart hammering away at the small protection that was his ribcage, a sharp pain running through him yet, still not a sound came from his mouth. The pain inane in the face of forever unknown face of death, it's figure seeming to loom in every corner. In the shifting landscape, in the air around him, in this enclosed space, in the very phone that was his, in the very moment he spoke, so stay still, stay still, stay still stay, stay stay stay stay stay stay staY sTaY STay StAY STAY STAY STAYSTAYSTAYSTAYSTAYSTAYSTAYSTAYSTAYS-

A sudden noise broke the silence with cadence of glass shattering. A ring from his phone and so his breathe became forfeit, those words answer locking his decision away before he even knew it, the stick far too terrifying to possibly try resist. Ring ring, the nerve wrecking resounded in this small four walls as if whispering, warning of the price. Ring Ring, repeated once more, unfair, so unfair wasn't it ?! He had done the bidding, he kept silent, what more did they want from him?! Money?! That wasn't his, he was useless in the pursuit of that, leave him be. Ring Ring, however despite his misgivings, despite his complaints, the melody resounded, the time for choice growing more and more miniscule. RiNg RiNg, it called, he remembered treading somewhere that people would usually drop after a minute of trying, the confliction brewing deadly at the centre of him. Unfair, completely unfair, there was never a choice, only life or a grossome death and he would cling to life regardless of what came at him, wasn't that right, Jiji?

With much reluctance, he reached out his hand as orange rays caressed him, the small rectangle more akin to the hand of the devil in the myth of Faust. A true Faustian deal to be struck. His fate forever locked in the palm of that devil's palm and so he...he...

Yet his arm remained still, to choice to walking willingly into that monkey's palm of a situation, no, not even a monkey's palm just straight visceral pain ensure. How? How could he knowingly condemn himself to such an abhorrent fate, to chains wrapped so tight his wrist would bleed. How could he? Caught between a rock and a hard place, such was the nature of his life, decisiveness a lack he could not overcome regardless. A painful death or a life of suffering, a death as a hero or a life as a shell, a death as a man or the life or a dog, all sorts of comparison filled his head as time trickled to crawl as if molasses had been what it consisted of.

The nature of the dialogue, no the argument at the centre of him vicious, none appealing however, in his vast confliction time would still move and in a moment of choice when indecisiveness was king, it was just a matter of time. Just a matter of time until a decision would be made and time was the hand which choose. And so, the incessant bloody ringing...stopped.

In the silence a delayed breathe was took, and another and another until his lungs were filled to capacity, greed for air the cause, deep breaths heaves as if to taste the last of the lovely wind, his last taste, the cold light of twilight showering him.

Slowly as the air remained stagnant, undisturbed as he sat on the wooden floor as silence blanketed the area. There, he sat cradling himself even more, relief should've been the emotion that filled him, relief from being free of being that hand that handed him his poison, relief from choosing a life of suffering, relief from the burden of choice. Yet, as he sat cradled, his fingers dug into the seams of his shirt as if wishing to rip it asunder.

"Wh-Hk! Haa-sniff" he began. Before a lump in his throat lurched, his eyes watery as he shook, nonsense the only coherent thing leaving his mouth.

In place of relief, no, what had tramped that relief had been none other than a sinking. Something had been sinking at the centre of him, an uncomfortable warm feeling, a foreboding feeling, a feeling he had grown accustomed to far more then he'd ever wished these past few day, that visceral feeling's name, unease. Unease now setting in as if a slow evolving unknown poison. The poison growing stronger and stronger until 'unease' was no longer apt, the word, what word would that be? What, what, what, wha-

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A sudden sound disrupted the silence and left. Pitch black irises slowly travelling down towards the phone, the black screen staring back silently as if taunting, as if wishing for him to accept, wanting him to accept it. He stared focused for a few seconds, as he stared at the screen unwilling to fall for such lies yet again, he wouldn't, he shouldn't, he couldn't, he couldn't, he couldn't. He couldn't, he thought as a whirl-wind of heat began filled him. He could not be like him, he promised he would not like him in the end, he thought as that day played within his head, his muscles. He couldn't, he couldn't, he couldn-

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Yet again with grace and cadence of a sledgehammer shattering a window, the deep abyss shone as if looking back. The taunting resounded and so he...

"You...you bastard, WHAT DO WANT?!" he said. As he furiously entered the line app, impulsiveness and rage the driving factor, the courage to confront the cause, with fire, with firm determination he scrolled and... ... ...

"...Huh?" he said unintelligibly. No one could blame him, the cause for his panic, the cause for his anger, the cause for the worry he caused, the cause of his sin, the cause of it all, was...not there as if; as if it never existed.

"Wait, wait, wait wait wait wait. WAIT" he repeated. Searching fervently, it couldn't be, not again. He wasn't going mad, he wasn't...he wasn't.

Yet, nothing would appear. Had his phone been hacked, had they deleted the text for fear of it being used as evidence, had they done it screw with his mind more, shaking the already shaky foundation. All of it sound in logic, however...his core, the very essence of his being couldn't except those explanations. He didn't, he didn't know, he didn't know, he didn't know he didn't know hedidn'tknowhedidn'tknowhedidntknow...

This was cruel, beyond cruel, this was torture. The walls closing in, the air thinner, no exit apparent in his black pupils, the door just another gateway to certain death and the walls march ensuring another death, death was impending either way, that... that was the only thing that was certain. The choice nothing more than a more heinous example of picking your own poison. What choice is there in these, between pain or torture, what choice was there.

"Mineta? What's-!" a voice began. Alarm soon filled her voice.

"Ah?" he muttered unintelligibly. Anguish and confusion filled tears blurring his vision as a crisp and unfiltered voice graced his ears with a soft cadence, worry plain in tone. As if a light had suddenly sparked in the dark, he felt a familiar warmth, that...that horrid night the centre of it, the voice, that person, could it? he questioned. Slowly his gaze lifted, wondering if he had met with his saviour, and there his eyes were met with a pair of health firm thighs leading to the ever energetic pink bombshell he had been classmates with, her questioning look and with it a light of hope and...a dreadful realization on the horizon.

However in that moment, just a brief moment he had a taste of peace and the endless flow of tears ceased as he stared at those onyx and golden windows, the glow of her soul reminding him that he wasn't alone, his heart slowly beating back to place. His gaze locked in place until a flush filled his face his gaze diverted to the side, his eyes squinted shut as he began to regain his composure and the peace he so indulged unfortunate end came, as it was just a matter of time before the truth would be perverted again.

Right, he thought, there was a pretty thing standing before him better address be...wait he was in the bathroom, wasn't he?

?

?!

!

Wh-what? he thought as his eyes drifted open as he wiped the tear tracks away, his vision clear and the answer plain and his temporary respite taken away as soon as it arrived as what laid before him... the gentle sway of the corridor in front of him, the texture of the polished wood far different from the marble floor. Slowly, he blinked once and twice as he took in the sight, some sick joke played on his, the temporary darkness sure to wipe away this error in reality, in continuity. Yet, sure as the sun were to rise the next day, the scene before changed not, slowly he began to rub his eyes, rubbing away this lie yet try as he might, it was set in stone, this was the reality he was in. Yet, fear's grasp merely strengthened it's hand, however still an odd calm had paradoxically began to fill him as the vestiges of the nightmare had been slowly fading to the background of what seemed to be another lie.

"Ha" a single dry laugh passed his lips, his hand cradling his face. A dream or more so a nightmare he had been shaken out of, had he passed out or something? He thought as he shook, confliction at the centre of his being. Caught between a calm reality and a hellish nightmare, what would he do, entertain the sick depraved world that had been trying to swallow him or enjoy the peace he had been ripped away so callously from. What should he do, what could he do? Both...both felt unnervingly real, as if the calm was simply the eye of the storm yet the storms wrath was ambiguous, shapeless, unseen as it creeped closer as if a dream... as if a nightmare had threaten to become reality. It's tendrils sneaking closer yet intangible to his black irises, his soul however screamed for him to run, there was nothing wrong with running from unpleasant stuff, right? There was nothing wrong with blinding yourself from the horrors ahead, there was nothing wrong, nothing wrong at all, right Jiji? Embrace the present reality, forget the past reality, be here not there, be here no there, be here not there...

Be here, not there.

"Mineta? It's okay, it okay, alright? Cause...here I am, so just...just breathe little lion, breathe" a warm embrace filled him as those soothing words cradled his ears. An embrace tickled with exotic hypnotic smell, a feeling he had been sore need of. Comfort, comfort from the confusion and bitter reali...dream he had been running from. The warm a reminder of simpler times, when Jiji and Kaa-san were there, when they would smile, when they were happy until...until just like him, just like him, he...But the warmth reminded him, he wasn't alone. He wasn't alone for once.

"Mi-na?" he said. His voice cracking for a moment.

"Hnhmm~?" she said. Care permeating in her voice

"You won't disappear, right? You're here, right?" he said.

"...I won't disappear, I won't go anywhere after all I'm here right now aren't I? I am here" she said. Those words started the engine of his heart, an odd sense of something filled him.

"W-hy?" he said. Barely audible was his mutter yet it reached, his question filled with insecurity finally reached another ears, a pensive look plastered on her face for a moment before her eyes become a touch grim.

"Why? Well...well I-" she began. A sudden call interrupting them.

"Yo, Ashido?! Mineta?! Where are those- uh..." he began. His gaze drawn to the two tangled in the embrace, a look of shock passing his face for a moment before a knowing and smug grin passed his face...Oh how he wished it was what Denki was thinking about.

"Oh, am I interrupting something? Sorry for interrupting your lover's moment" he said. Turning to leave with a swagger in his step, a crate of ammunition in his arsenal.

"Wait, wait, wait~! It's not what it looks like and why does that sound familiar" she said. Quickly disentangling herself from the embrace, a rush of cold hit him in an instant, his body in yearning for that warmth once again.

"Careful what ya say my pink comrade, it might bite ya in the ass" he said. A teasing smile plain on his face.

"Mou~ Shut it, you, you...b-brain dead pikachu!" she said. A flush filling her face as she contemplated what to say, a small smile appearing on his face as the banter went on.

"Oi! Uncalled for, just cause your little moment was interrupted, you rip off punk" he said. His smile widening.

"There was no moment interrupt. Just a friend comforting another friend, alright?" she said. The sense of finality in her tone caused a twinge in his heart yet still it laid ignored in the face of the stunning revelation at present, she was his...his friend?

"Friend, huh?" he said. Those meek words lost between the flame of the roast. A breathe of relief filling him, something beyond his imagination had just happened.

"Friend...yeah, it makes...makes so much sense, can't be anything else after all" he muttered. A ping of hurt filling his stomach as he stares, along with a longing, a silent wish to be heard for what, the reason eluded even him despite the overwhelming joy, how inconceivably greedy. How inconceivably cowardly.

"Anyway~ Looks like someone a bit more energized, think you can use 'em cord, huh~? Little lion?" she said. A gentle smile aimed at him filled him with warmth once again, a jovial smile he couldn't even attempt to hide.

"How can I no be, I was in heaven for a second, melony~heaven~!" he said. A smirk taking form on his face.

"Mou~ I take it back, take yo man's Kaminari-sama yo" she said. The sad attempt at western slang caused only a look of pity to cross his face.

"I take no part in the gremlin's misdeeds, I'm on santa's good boy list after all" Denki said. The satisfied expression on his face too good to not ruin.

"Oh please~ You wish you got the gift I did santa's little believer" he said. The twitch on his face all he needed.

"We'll see who's laughing when you get a lump of coal, public enemy no.1" Denki said.

"Yeah, yeah. Take candy from the intruder, right? Excellent reasoning right there, dear Watson" he said. A slow clap for extra irony.

"Yeah well-" he began, however-

"We have now arrived in Chiba, all students for Chiba gather your belongings, please gather your belongings" A monotonous voice rang out.

"Looks like my stop" "Off~ me go, it seems" they said simultaneously.

"Looks like I gotta jet, my dude. Keep safe, alright?" he said. His tone firm as he said the last words.

"Yeah...see you guys later" he said.

His hand hung silent in the air as the impromptu trio dissolved. A pinch of melancholy permeated his being as he stared at the twilight, the coming night only holding uncertainty, as if balancing on a knife's edge. His balance all that can save him yet...yet with that warmth, with that wish of guardianship, maybe... maybe he coul-

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With the vengeance of a scorned woman, that tiny devilish sound returned. His vision slowed as if to deny the inevitable, his heart beating thunderously with doki doki, his ears playing that same accursed tone. Yet as the overwhelming black of terror begins to wipe away the embers of hope from sight, a flash of pink catches his attention as a blue crystal flies his way, clumsily he reaches to grab hold of the precious sapphire that was chucked at him so casually and swiftly. He stared confused at the perpetrator.

"Look...Don't make me regret this. Take care of that with your life, okay?! Unless~ you wanna be indebted to me forever, y'hear?!" she said. A look of confliction on her face as she let go of one of her precious belongings left him confused. Would anyone do that for a new friend, someone the didn't know like that? How come, how come she...?

"Quit with the sulking and just say thank you, alright?! It just what friends do" she said. Her arms crossed expectedly as she waited for thank you, her pouty face only increasing his gratitude.

"Sorry, tha-" As he began to speak his words of gratitude. An announcement rang through the train's corridor causing the pink girl a sense of panic. To which she only sneered.

"I'll be waiting~, y'hear lil lion. Don't forget!" she said. Leaving swiftly, a flash of blue catching his sight only increasing his gratitude. Honestly, he didn't know why he was being treated so well by the energetic pink but maybe it was just a matter of time until the truth would be revealed. He thought as,he stared at the black screen that caused so much anxiety. But...

Blinking slowly he blinks as to take in the new reality, the reality that just enforced itself onto his psyche. And there he door with four walls cornering him, the door had blood stained on as spike of dread filling him quick, as he banged desperate and then...

"Whatever happens, don't look, stay and...b-"

And, just as fast as it came it went. His breathes ragged, his eyes painfully dry as tears slowly sooth the dryness by exposing weakness. He loathed it with his entire yet...yet still something had been amiss he couldn't put his finger on it

"I" he began as he shook. His heart beating loud in his ears as laps of reality induced more uncertainty, the black of the screen only promising birthing more uncertainty, the ominous grey of the in-between of twilight had graced the world with it's presence, the transition of day and night. Somewhat of a Schrodinger's cat, the sky smiled an anguished smile as it geared toward one certain outcome with the hand of entropy giving context.

It would be just a matter of time. For better or worse, for better or worse , or worse.

Or worse.

oR worSe.

OR wORsE.

WORSE

WORST.