Brotherly Compassion

"BANG!"

"BANG!"

'[Flash]'

'Fuck!'

I stormed through the castle, door by door, room by room, searching for my meal despite this nagging feeling in my heart.

'No, I must've misheard, they were probably shooting at someone else.'

Still, despite my best attempts to deny my senses, even I could not deny what I was seeing in front of my very own eyes.

I finally found my way into the cellar, having heard the sound from upstairs, and my attention was immediately drawn to the sole man still alive inside the room.

There he was, Uncle Lander, having just executed two members of his family who were currently tied to two different chairs.

Lifeless.

'Fuck!'

[Uncle Lander]

I saw him.

Angry, agitated, annoyed, you name it; however, that had only made me more confident about what I had done.

'I did what I must to protect him, to protect Diana, to protect Emily.'

Still, my hands were shaking from the great sin I had just committed.

The boy ignored me.

Instead, he ran to the two, cut them off from their restraints, and placed them side by side on the ground before my eyes could even fully register his movement.

There he was, that boy who had somehow turned himself into a beast, fervently performing CPR on them despite the clear bullet holes in their brains.

There he was, that boy, doing everything in his power to save them from death.

'No.'

I couldn't think like that; I had saved them too.

'I've saved them from him.'

God knew what suffering awaited them after death, but the possibility of torment superseded the certainty of torture.

Still, I couldn't delude myself; I had not dirtied my hands, I had not committed the most unforgivable sin to save either them or myself.

'No.'

'I'd done it to save him.'

A task that, as I continued to listen to his cries of anguish, I had undoubtedly failed.

[Kuzan POV]

"AHHHHHH!"

Nothing I had done had been working. I knew they were gone, and even with all of Miss Tokugawa's lessons, I knew I wasn't experienced or qualified enough to torture the dead.

Finally, I caved their chests in fully with each of my hands, putting an end to this useless farce.

I wasn't even mad at having lost another one. In fact, I knew from the start it would be no fun, devouring them, torturing them for what they had done. I had done it more for Diana's sake than mine in the first place.

Thus, I wasn't mad at him for having stolen my prey. He had every right to kill them over me, to get his revenge for what they had done.

"Wha... what... why, Uncle Lander?" It wasn't anger or confusion fueling my words; it was the sheer disbelief at having lost both of my prey before I could reach them.

It had been my duty, my right to have had fun with them also, to take my revenge as well.

I had even prepared a perfect room with all the necessary equipment to maximize my enjoyment; however, Uncle Lander had hogged all the fun.

I stamped my foot onto the ground to release some of this feeling of unrest that had started to take over my heart, to prevent me from doing something I would regret.

Each stomp shook the very castle ground, as dust and debris flew down from the pillars on the verge of collapse.

"That's enough, brother."

I stopped.

I was once again lost for words at who they had decided to call to 'deal' with me, lamenting them for their cheapness.

"Really, Uncle Lander? You couldn't even afford the father so you send in the boy?"

"And you, Baki? Did you really think I would be happy to see you here?"

"Wipe that look of surprise off your face!" I continued to reprimand the boy, fearing that his ego had been boosted too much after his win against Mr. Oliva.

"Why did you even think you could entertain me, boy?"

"Do I look like Yujiro to you? Did you think I would humor and coddle you as your father does?!"

The boy seemed absolutely flabbergasted by my logical claims, while I continued blasting off at the boy's arrogance, wanting me to 'train' him so he could fight his father.

Preposterous.

"Know your place, Baki! You might be enough to entertain him, but I'm not nearly as easy to please."

I didn't give a damn about his reasoning or his intentions; he had meddled too far into something he had no place being.

"I know your father didn't raise you correctly, didn't teach you manners, but is it really that hard to fuck off?!"

The boy remained silent as I continued to reprimand him for his hubris, thinking that he could get a rise out of me like this, thinking that he could play me at my own game.

"How would you feel if I meddled in your personal business, huh, boy?" Still, this stupid brother of mine seemed unconvinced, so I decided on a different approach.

"How would you feel if you were just about to go to a five-star restaurant for dinner and your parents said they have food at home?"

"Would you feel happy, would you feel satisfied?"

However, it seemed that I had used the wrong analogy with the boy to try and get him to understand.

I needed to be much more direct.

"Baki."

"Why the fuck do you think I haven't gone back after Yujiro yet? Why the fuck do you think I haven't gone back to the only living human being who can satiate my hunger, or better yet, why do you think he hasn't come to me?"

"It's for you, Baki."

The boy's head rose, and his eyes widened at my claim.

"Out of respect for your dad's care of you, out of respect for what you mean, out of respect for another man's preparation and wait for his meal, I stayed out of it."

"I let you finish your petty little father and son squabbles before interfering."

"And what do you do, you ungrateful bastard?!"

The boy's hair rose at my next provocation.

"Fuck the both of you."

Did the boy not realize how much his father had pissed me off?

"Fuck your entire family line."

"Fuck your dad, fuck your mo-

I pulled the little cockroach out of his dash, slamming his entire body onto the floor, threatening to crush it with the next move.

All it took was one mere blow to pull the little Tiger cub into submission.

"Boy, if you don't have any regard for family bonds, why should I?"

I pressed harder, despite knowing that I was giving the boy exactly what he wanted in the first place.

"Boo hoo, I'm Baki, Boo hoo my mom's dead and my dad doesn't love me."

The boy continued to struggle underneath my grasp, as he continued to try new tricks to get out of my hold.

Tricks that I was constantly negating by pressing him firmly deeper and deeper into the ground.

"Tricks don't work here, Baki."

Regardless, I continued my therapy session with my 'brother', letting out the feelings that I had been constantly suppressing since the tournament.

"Do you know how fucking boring it all is? Don't you think your father's actions have hurt me as well? Don't you think I'm angry at him too?"

"You're selfish, Baki, not understanding anyone else's pain other than your own."

'That bastard is sadistic. Not coming to me even when I challenged him on his own turf, not coming to me even after all of this, even after they undoubtedly begged him for support.'

I had underestimated his resolve, his patience, in wanting to see me grow, in wanting for me to fully 'sear' before I could, no, I would become an acceptable meal.

I knew he wanted Baki as an appetizer before moving on to the main course.

'Well, it's not like I can speak.'

I wasn't any better; in fact, I was worse, letting my annoyance get the better of me, trying to nip this little plant in the bud before he had a chance to fully blossom.

But looking at the boy's lackluster progress only made me more furious and annoyed.

'Who knows how long it'll take for him to grow to an acceptable level? Who knew how long I'd have to wait for my re-match with that devil?'

It is the duty of those who are old to have patience, and it was the duty of the young to have fun.

'But I can't.'

Everyone was scared, everyone was afraid. Yujiro had already sapped the joy out of everything with his shenanigans while he was younger.

Just look at the guards outside, abandoning their posts as soon as I just started having a little fun.

It would have been so much better if that demon hadn't gone on his rampage before.

I had fallen so low.

I couldn't just go around killing the defenseless; I still had my pride. Even he wouldn't kill those without the strength to fight back.

Even a rat would bite when cornered, but what fun is it to fight a rat rather than a lion?

I was sure that demon was out there, chuckling to himself at my plight. He was perhaps the only one who understood just how much annoyance it caused me.

'It must be so fun for you, isn't it Ogre, you must be laughing your ass off, seeing someone suffer as you had to, finally seeing someone in the same situation.'

I had grown tired of waiting. I had grown bored of fulfilling my 'duties' to them, of my 'responsibility' to take revenge.

'Why should I have to live for anyone other than myself?'

I stopped applying pressure to the boy and instead threw him away, slamming his body into the cellar wall.

"Baki."

"I have no interest in you."

My words only continued to piss off the boy who was still struggling to get back onto his feet after pulling himself out of the crater I had just made in the wall.

"I don't even have interest in your father anymore." My words obviously shocked the boy the most since we'd begun our little 'spar'.

'Does he think he's so important? Does he think I would 'love' him so much that I would wait on him hand and foot?'

"There are plenty of fish in the sea, Baki. I know you're 'locked in' with Kozue but it's the least you can do to at least be my wingman."

The boy was obviously confused by my train of thought, not knowing whether it would be more beneficial to agree to my request considering he didn't grasp the severity of it yet.

"Don't think so much, Baki. No, I'm not taking you to him..." I finally caught on to what the boy might be thinking, stopping him from even attempting to disturb my best friend's peace and serenity, "he's far too busy right now, maybe later?"

My words only caused greater confusion to the boy, who was still too stupid to realize the 'deal' that I was proposing.

"Baki, I know your relationship with your father is a bit 'complicated'..."

"But how do you feel about meeting your grandpa?"