Chapter 30

" Bunji !", " Bunji ! " Wake up. It's now 8:00 in the morning. Today is a holiday, that doesn't mean I'll let you sleep as much as you want." A bunny woman entered a room screaming to wake her sleeping kid.

"Ahhhhhh, 5 minutes more mom.... 10 more minutes and I'll definitely wake up this time"

Decide first how much more time you want to sleep"

"15 more minutes. It's final" replied the child.

"I won't listen to you anymore. Just lift your butt off the bed bunji ".

"Mom, stop being so cruel to me"

"Ah ok you can sleep and I'll tell Haruto you don't have time to play with him" said the woman, crossing her hands.

Ah Haruto. I totally forgot that he is coming today. "I should get ready before he comes.

"Bunji your friend has come to play with you," said a man from below, calling out to him.

" Or not ". His mother smiled seeing his lifeless face. Then he got off his bed and ran downstairs. He hurriedly washed his face and took a piece of bread through his mouth and said "Mom I'll be late tonight, I'm going to do some research with my new friend Haruto"

"And he was saying he wanted to sleep more"

Bunji's family was complete, he had everything that every child yearns for like, two good loving parents, one good big brother. But he was also like Haruto, he didn't have many friends, people called him weirdo. Because he liked to research on strange things. And then used to invent something out of all the garbage he collected.

"Sorry Haruto for making you wait so long, let's go to uncover the truth of the giant river monster..."

"Mmm...but don't keep any wrong thoughts in your mind, I'm coming with you because I'm also curious to know more about this river monster" replied Little Mr. Takahashi.

"Okay, then let's go," said Bunji, moving forward, the rays of the sun illuminated his face. while little Haruto followed him. " You know, Haruto, I've done a lot of research in my whole life. I'm sure to be a great inventor someday, you just wait and watch. One day you'll be proud to say that you're my friend. "

" you are just 10 years old..." murmured Mr,Takahashi.

It was only Bunji talking along the way. In fact he found it a bit awkward to talk with him as they had become friends the day before that day. So, he was not able to talk to him much he was just listening to him.

"Look Haruto we are here, this is the holy place where the river monster lives, and everyone in this village is afraid to come here. You know why?"

(no answer) Little Mr. Takahashi just stared silently at him.

He raised his deeply rounded eyebrows, prompting him to answer his question again. Still he did not get any reply.

"Haruto stop being so boring, answer my question... ok let's try it again from the beginning" " Look, Haruto this is the holy place where the river monster lives, and everyone in this village is afraid to come here, You know why?" He repeated the question. After a brief pause, Little Haruto finally decided to answer his question. He then sighed and said, "Because it loves to eat bunny meat"

"Wrong answer...", he replied with a shout.

"So what's the correct answer?" asked Mr. Takahashi.

"Okay so the answer is... the answer is it's scary" It was a simple thing but he made it a big deal.

"I'm going home" Little Haruto again said after a brief pause, turning his back and moving on.

"Ah... Haruto, please don't go you're my only friend. I'm telling you it's really scary. Please don't leave me..." he cried out loudly, pulling Mr. Takahashi's hand. Then seeing his weeping face, Mr.Takahashi made up his mind to hang out with him for some more time.

When Mr. Takahasi was a child, he behaved like an adult. Because no one listened to him in his house except his older brother, he had no friends, so he thought it was best to act like adults. He preferred to be alone rather than chasing someone to get their attention.

Bunji then drew a picture on the sand using a small twig he found lying on the ground nearby, and said " You know Haruto, the sea monster looks like this," he looked very serious when he was explaining it. " It's just a frog" little Mr, Takahashi replied. "No... it's a sea monster. Well, I know my drawing isn't that great, but still, it looks something like this," he replied rubbing his neck.

"Well, what will you do after you find this monster?" Mr. Takahashi asked.

"Mmm... not much I'll just take a part of its body and do some experiments on it and create a new species." He said this so easily. As if it was just a piece of cake. Saying this, his face suddenly started glowing.

"Wow gross!" Little Mr. Takahashi thought he was joking, but it wasn't really a joke. He decided to hide there until the river demon appeared. They waited there for 5 hours but there was no trace of the monster of the river.

Then some bubbles started rising in the river and out of the blue, a creature appeared which looked exactly like a frog but had a disc on top of its head, it was walking like humans. And its color was green. It was a baby kappa...' "It's finally here." Bunji seemed very excited. " "Wait, were you talking about Kapha?" asked Mr. Takahashi in surprise. "Yeah, what did you think?" He replied. Mr. Takahashi was speechless, he had no answer left for him.

Kappa overheard them talking, he was terrified but he was also hungry. So, he tried to take those two cucumbers with him and then tried to make an escape but by then it was too late. He had already fallen into the bunji's trap. It started crying. Seeing its weeping face, it seemed as if it was begging to let it go. But Bungee jumped from behind the bushes and started laughing strangely. " Bunji it's getting too much, you should let him go now." Mr. Takahashi could not control himself seeing its innocent face and asked Bunji to release him right away. But he didn't listen to any of his words and said "calm down Haruto we only need one part of his body, not all. I'll take the part I want and then let it go". He replied grinning like a cheshire cat .

Seeing this form of Bunji, Mr. Takahashi was horrified, he took a step back and tried to make him realize that what he was doing was not right... "Huh? What do you mean?" He pulled out a pair of seizure and then cut some of Kappa's hair, saying "I just need some of its hair for my experiment." He then untied the rope from his ankle and let it go.

Mr. Takahashi felt a little guilty for suspecting that his friend would do something wrong so he apologized for not trusting him. "Oh no, you don't have to apologize to me. That's normal for me. Anyway, nobody here believes me because, they can't predict what my next target will be. So, they call me crazy. And according to them it is right to keep distance from me. You would never do that, would you?" Bunji's innocent eyes really overwhelmed Mr. Takahashi, he related his own life to Bunji's as he too was ignored by his own family and everyone else. And without saying anything he just hugged him tightly and said" never ".

After that both of them went to their respective homes together. Bunji walked Mr. Takahashi home and then went on his way saying goodbye, they were both happy because they had finally made a good friend.

As time went on, their friendship grew deeper, they become the best of friends. But that was until Minamoto turned into a real monster. That night when he turned into a monster he had destroyed half of Bunnyland while trying to escape. Due to which his people also suffered serious injuries. Due to which Bunji's family also lost their lives. His house was in complete disarray, Bunji was astonished to see the condition of his house on his way back home from his research trip. Then he saw Mr. Takahashi running after Minamoto asking him to stop, saying "Prince please calm down or else you will be severely punished" and when the other knights of the land and all the people of that land tried to hurt Minamoto, he saved him and also helped him to escape. When Bunji found out that Mr,Takahashi is still supporting the prince, even when he has destroyed the entire land especially his family. He lost all hope of survival. He began to consider Mr. Takahashi a treacherous, at that time he only wanted to kill Minamoto and destroy his life. And then Kabuto came to him. He was well aware that Bunji was Mr. Takahashi's only friend and that he is also good at creating new species and a brilliant researcher. So he thought he would be very useful and asked him to join forces to kill Minamoto and also to punish Mr. Takahashi for betraying him. At that time Bunji was not in his right mind and he accepted his offer and joined forces with him.

But in reality, when Mr. Takahashi learns that Bunji's family is no more, they have given him the same love as Bunji. He was really annoyed, he started hating Minamoto for that. But at that time he was left with no option but to drive him away. Because logically it wasn't really Minamoto's fault at all. He was turned into a demon because of Kabuto who washed the mind of the king and provoked Minamoto's wrath knowing that he could turn into a monster when angry .

Present

" Why so shocked Haruto, it's me your only friend... or used to be. How are you doing... oh wait, you don't look like you're doing well. Are you worried about your favorite prince" he said sarcastically to tease Mr. Takahashi. "Why Bunji... why...you're here?" Mr. Takahashi asked in a trembling voice. " Why? Aren't you glad to see your long-lost friend? Or you thought I too died that night because of the monster that destroyed my whole family". His eyes were burning with anger.

" No Bunji listen, it wasn't really Prince Akihiko's fault that he turned into a monster. It was someone else who provoked him..." Mr. Takahashi tried his best to convince him that it wasn't actually Minamoto's mistake but "So, he was right. You're a betrayer... you're just as responsible for my family's demise as he is. My family gave you what you needed the most. My mom, my dad they loved like you are their own son. They listened to you when your own parents ignored you and you gave them this for their goodness." He shouted, slowly lowered his voice and said this with a deep painful voice.

"Listen to me Bunji..."

"Then you die at the hands of the demon whom you saved even knowing what he did to me..." Then he laughed out loud like a weirdo.

"What? Wh... What does that mean?" Takemichi asked in fear.

"It's too late now," replied Mr. Takahashi as he heard a wild beast breathing deeply angrily behind them.