Chapter 28

In the middle of the dark city, a person ran through the dimly lit streets.

-Ahhff, ahhff... where did he go? (Souta)

I have to find him, but how am I going to get it? Think, think, think... if Ryu was thinking about how to find him what would he do? Would you run around like an idiot? Of course not, so I need to think. Do I look for tracks? But it doesn't look like I'll be able to find something that easy in this darkness. But what if the shooter wasn't on the ground? That's right, to have shot us at that time he should have been in a high place. Is he moving over? (Souta)

Souta starts to climb a house in order to have a view from above.

Damn I should have signed up for some climbing classes, I never thought it would be this hard to climb. (Souta)

Souta finally manages to reach the top, however his right hand that was holding a gutter causes her to fall and causing him to lose his balance and almost fall. Just as Souta slips he hears something.

PAWWWNNNNN!!

Was that... was it a shot? I see, he was waiting for me, waiting for me to go upstairs so he could shoot. If I hadn't slipped then... I'd be dead by now. (Souta)

Souta thinks calmly about how his next action should be, he should act with extreme caution, because depending on how he did it, he might not be alive to see tomorrow.

-Who are you?? (Souta)

There is no answer to the question he asked.

-I see, it looks like you won't respond to anything I say. (Souta)

Once again he doesn't hear anything.

-You know I wanted to know who you are the puppy, is it really Kevin's? Or is it the mayor? But to me it sounds like you like tourists. (Souta)

-OHNNN??! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT! I WILL NEVER LIKE A PEOPLE OF THESE. (?)

It worked, in a matter of pissing people off there's no one better than Ryusaki, I'm the person who best knows how to do this for spending so much time with him.

-I do not know! To me you're just pretending you don't like it to be accepted in society, but actually you get along really well with them! (Souta)

-YOU SHIT!! I'LL SHOW YOU WHAT IT'S TO GIVE B... (?)

NOW!!! (Souta)

Souta gets up quickly and sends a shot in the direction the voice was coming from, he almost hits him, causing him to retreat.

-Don't think you'll run away from me now that I know where you're going. (Souta)

Souta starts running after him. The sniper tries to fire his rifle without stopping running, but obviously misses the Souta.

-Tsk! (?)

He throws his rifle that was keeping him from running and enters the forest.

Trying to run away again? But this time I won't bump into anyone. (Souta)

Souta enters the forest as well and continues running without stopping, even though his vision was blurred because of the large amounts of leaves and bushes that appeared in front of him. Until he finally leaves the forest and comes across a large ancient castle in front of him, the sniper enters the castle and without thinking twice, Souta also enters right after him so as not to lose sight of him. The enemy seemed to know the place, he ran through the long corridors with a red carpet always changing direction so as not to give Souta an opportunity to aim and shoot at him. Until he reaches a waving staircase, which looks like it would lead to the top of one of the castle's towers, the fugitive starts climbing it. When Souta sees him climbing the stairs, he immediately stops running and starts walking cautiously as he climbs. He was watching everywhere expecting some trap or something.

I have to be careful. That guy really knew what he was doing while running away from me, so why would he go somewhere with no escape? Be smart, one wrong move here and I'm dead. I need to pay attention everywhere so I don't get caught off guard. (Souta)

Even though he knew he should act with caution, Souta was also worried that the enemy might flee through some window or a secret passage, so he couldn't walk that slowly either. Thrown into a conflict, in his indecision to walk quickly or calmly, Souta finds a door slightly open.

Did he go this way? (Souta)

Souta frantically watches the doorknob, he watches it the way a predator watches its prey, with a cold, wary gaze, just waiting for the right moment to strike. He takes a deep breath, takes courage and rushes into that room pointing the gun. He turns and looks around to see where the enemy might be hiding. The room was quite spacious and was illuminated by the moonlight that penetrated the large stained glass windows that rested on the floor. There was no sign of the enemy, Souta, thinking he had already fled, relaxes his body and leaves his guard position, when the enemy suddenly appears from above and grabs him holding Souta's weapon with one hand, preventing him from achieving the to hit.

-Damn it!! (Souta)

Was he hiding on top of me? (Souta)

Souta struggles against the shooter, trying to get him to release him, however it was not effective as he was much stronger than Souta. Desperate with a situation that would lead to a probable death, Souta fires inconsequential shots in the hope that one hit him, but all the shots were in vain and left his weapon without ammunition. The suspect, realizing that he had no more bullets, released him and began to fight him one-on-one. Souta, who had no combat knowledge or technique, was totally vulnerable, he tried to land a blow, but his opponent was very skillful and dodged them as if it were nothing, until he landed a strong right hook on Souta, doing so. fall to the ground with no further hope of a possible victory.

-Damn it! (Souta)

The opponent seeing him on the ground, takes a knife from his pocket and walks slowly towards him.

-Who are you? (Souta)

-It won't matter now that you'll be killed. (?)

-Stopped! (Ryusaki)

Ryusaki points the weapon at the enemy.

-Ryu... (Souta)

When threatened, he quickly grabs the Souta and uses him as a hostage placing his knife over his neck.

-Looks like you're cornered John. Why don't you just give up and give it all up? (Ryusaki)

Wait... John? (Souta)

-So you found out it was me. (John)

After that he takes off his mask revealing that Ryusaki's deduction was correct.

-How did you find out? (John)

-Actually that was my guess, since besides the mayor I knew you were the other puppy that faithfully followed what Kevin ordered, but I still wasn't completely sure about that. (Ryusaki)

-I see... (John)

-Now about what I asked... (Ryusaki)

-About me surrendering? I'm sorry but I refuse. (John)

Ryusaki fires a shot towards them, however he ends up hitting the stained glass behind them, it ends up being cracked.

This guy is crazy, he doesn't care if he doesn't want to hit his friend... (John)

Ryusaki fires three more times in the same direction, causing the stained glass to shatter and there's nothing left.

-Are you sure about this? After all, it's your life that's in danger. (Ryusaki)

-As well as your friend's life. (John)

John presses the knife tightly over Souta's neck making a small, light cut.

-You better drop that gun or your friend's life ends now. (John)

-You know I still have a shot, I can't just accept it. (Ryusaki)

The tension between them was rising more and more. John was sweating lightly on his face, obviously he was the one at the greatest disadvantage in that situation.

I need to do something, my choices are simple, I have to make him spend that last bullet of his or... (John)

-Hey, hey boy! Why don't we make a deal? (John)

-What kind of deal would that be? (Ryusaki)

-A switch. (John)

-I'm sorry, but I didn't bring any stickers with me. (Ryusaki)

-Don't be silly you know what I'm talking about. Let's trade your weapon for your friend. (John)

-Why do you think I would do that? (Ryusaki)

-Hahahhahaahaha. No I don't think so I'm sure you will. Although it's illogical, you wouldn't let your friend die would you? (John)

Damn, there's no point in Ryu giving him the gun, if he does that... both of us... (Souta)

-Ryu... it's okay... you don't need to worry about me. I'm fine with that. You know what? I am so grateful for what you have done for me. (Souta)

Souta starts to cry in the middle of that situation.

There's no way anymore, if it's for both of us to die then I'd prefer you stay alive. (Souta)

-Thank you Ryu... for everything you've done for me... thank you... (Souta)

You fool! You're fine with that yourself. Do you know you will die if you do this? (John)

-I accept the exchange. (Ryu)

-Huh? (Souta)

Kgwahahahahahahahah!! That's right, you can't just accept letting your poor friend die in this situation. (John)

-Very well, then let's do it. (John)

-NO RYUUU!! DO NOT DO THIS. (Souta)

-Shut up kid. (John)

Ryusaki puts the weapon down.

That's right, that's right. (John)

He then slides it with all his strength to the left corner of the room, causing John to have to move away from Souta to go get it. The moment he got away from him, Ryusaki ran towards his friend, trying to get to him before John got to the gun he left. The two were running with all their strength.

I won. (John)

John takes a gun before Ryusaki can get to Souta, he then takes aim at Souta with Ryusaki's gun.

- Goodbye boy. (John)

Souta looks at John not knowing what was going to happen, when John finally pulls the trigger.

Tiski.

Which? (John)

Tiski, tiski, tiski.

It is empty. (John)

-YOU DISGRANT!!! (John)

John holds his knife in his hand and runs towards them, however, Ryusaki finally manages to reach the Souta, jumps towards his friend, hugging him and causing the two to be projected out of the tower past the broken stained glass.

Which...? (John)

Both John and Souta were surprised by Ryusaki's attitude.

-What are you doing Ryuuu!!! (Souta)

Did he just decide to kill himself with his friend? (John)

Ryusaki and Souta were in free fall.

-Hahhahahaha! I did it, I got you!! (Ryusaki)

-You're retarded!! We are going to die!! (Souta)

-Hahahahaah!! (Ryusaki)

Damn it. (Souta)

Boooooooooooooooooooooooo

-What... (Souta)

They landed on top of a giant inflatable mattress.

-Are you all right? (Akemi)

Souta looks towards Akemi, when he noticed there were several police cars and one of the firefighters that prepared the landing for them. From the broken stained-glass window in the tower, John stood and watched, his face pale, all those vehicles with their lights on.

-Attention, surrender now, you're surrounded, there's nowhere to run away!! (policeman with megaphone)

-I lost. (John)

Saturday 10/17/20 02:09.

The criminal John was being taken away in handcuffs by the police.

-Thank you for the help. (Akemi)

-Don't worry, we were just doing our duty. (Chief of Police)

-I don't believe it, how did you manage to find out where we were? (Souta)

-Well, right after you left running after him, the police force we contacted arrived, they did first aid on me and I asked them to immediately help me find you and the last criminal. We didn't know where you might be when we heard shots, so we headed towards them, however they suddenly stopped, when we heard again a firing sound followed by three more consecutive shots. These sounds took us straight to this castle, we saw the broken window and I immediately thought that this might be Ryu's idea, so I asked them to line the floor with something to break the fall. (Akemi)

-So that was it. Did you know they were here? (Souta)

-I was not sure. (Ryusaki)

-SO WE REALLY COULD HAVE DIED?! (Souta)

-Hahahahahahaah!! Tense... (Ryusaki)

-Don't just laugh and then talk tensely!! Seriously what were you thinking? (Souta)

-What matters is that we're alive. (Ryusaki)

-Ahhhhhh. I wanted to know how nothing could ever cross that head of yours when we almost died. Speaking of which, what happened to Marie, Kevin and his brother? (Souta)

-The police ended up arresting Kevin, but before she arrived Marie ran away with the crossbow. Speaking of which we have to go to a certain place. (Akemi)

-...? (Souta and Ryusaki)

Akemi drives his car to Kevin's mansion, they enter his office and Marie is standing there waiting for them.

-Are you all right? (Marie)

-Yes Yes. Everything worked out in the end. (Souta)

-That's good, I'm very happy that nothing bad happened to you. (Marie)

-Hehehehe. But speaking of which, we learned from Akemi that his father was arrested. (Souta)

-Hmm. (Marie)

-How are you feeling? (Marie)

-Actually, I don't know very well, you know I always followed him with admiration, with pride and was always happy when he told me about my mother with a huge smile on his face. However, this person, these moments and these happinesses never existed, it was all a lie. It's a really big shock for me so I'm not sure what to think. (Marie)

-I know, but what about your father's brother? (Souta)

-I couldn't hand him over to the police, because he's just like me. We suffered at my dad's hands, plus I'm sure he wouldn't do those things if my dad didn't order it. It must have been difficult for him... to go through so many experiments, to have his body altered and his mind troubled, all because of my father's ideologies. I just want that at least, in this short period of life he has left, he can live freely, I want to help him enjoy even for a few years, a human life. (Marie)

-Hehehe, it looks like you're doing well with this. (Ryusaki)

-Hmm? (Marie)

-Even if all these things have happened just now, you are already moving forward unabated, with goals firmly in your head. I'm sure you'll be fine. (Ryusaki)

-Yes. (Marie)

-I'm sure too, you'll be fine. (Akemi)

-Yooo!! (Souta)

-Speaking of which, I have something to show you, I don't know if there will be something important. But... (Marie)

Marie goes to the bookcase and stops in front of her, she reaches out her hand and gently pulls a book from her.

Drummmrrrrrrrhhhhhhhh.

The bookcase starts to move to the side, they then see a passage with a ladder that would take them underground.

-What is that? (Akemi)

-I don't know for sure, but I've sneaked my father a few times and saw him sometimes use this passage, but I never had the courage to use it. (Marie)

-I see, you know... if you want, you don't need to force yourself, we really don't know what you can for sure have there. (Souta)

-Maybe we found remains of bodies? (Ryusaki)

-Shut up, you're not helping. (Souta)

-No... I want to see for myself, what's down there. (Marie)

They then start down the stairs not sure where that would take them. After some time descending the stairs they came to an old wooden door, it appeared to be extremely heavy and had an old lock.

-Do you have the key? (Akemi)

Marie takes out a black copper key, it was a model of an old key, she then fits it into the lock and unlocks the door.

-Let's go. (Marie)

-Hehehe. (Ryusaki)

Marie opens the door and enters the secret room with the others. when they turned on the light, even though the room was still a little dark, they noticed numerous notes scattered around the room. In addition to these notes, the few bookshelves contained strange books with a heavier than normal cover.

-These notes... what was your father looking for? (Akemi)

-I don't know, but there are some that don't belong to my father. (Marie)

-Like this? Didn't you say this room was secret and only he used it? (Souta)

-Yes, but these lyrics are not my father's. (Marie)

Ryusaki, Souta and Akemi went to see the note Marie was holding.

-Wow, this paper is pretty worn out. (Akemi)

-Looks like he's about 30 years old. (Souta)

-Wasn't that the handwriting of your old father, when he was still young? (Akemi)

-Maybe it's the note of the doctor who experimented on Kevin's brother. (Ryusaki)

The three were startled when they heard this.

-Why do you think that Ryu? (Souta)

-From the way he's writing it, it looks like he's marking the changes in his experiment. (Ryusaki)

Ryusaki points his finger at a sentence on the paper that was written.

"Day 10/15, no apparent change. His eyes are still intact, he didn't show the same change as the other patients."

-Truth. (Souta)

-So it means that my brother was not the only one who suffered these experiments. (Marie)

Souta looks at Ryusaki and sees that he was thinking a lot.

-What happened Ryu? Are you thinking of something? (Souta)

-I'm just wondering... what was the doctor looking for? (Ryusaki) -Don't you think he wanted to turn people into that monster? (Akemi) -I don't know, I think we'd better take a look at the rest of the room and look for other things that can help us. (Ryusaki) Marie was going through the notes, since most of them were from her father, she wanted to understand his motives and what he was really like. Akemi was looking for clues hidden in the room, under tables or inside drawers. Souta and Ryusaki went to look at the books on one of the shelves. -It's weird, isn't it? (Souta) -What are you talking about? (Ryusaki) -We've already finished this case, but even so, we're here looking for clues to something. It may sound silly, but I feel a certain emotion right now, I can't describe it well, but if I tried I would say it's like we're looking for the truth of this world right now, the reason for our lives or even looking for answers as if ours lives depended on it. (Souta) -Yeah... I feel that too, it's really weird. Hmmmmm? (Ryusaki) -What's it? (Souta) -No... it's just that, this book I found... (Ryusaki) Ryusaki shows the cover of the book to Souta, he was black with a certain little fur on the cover, as if it were black leather from an animal, besides the writing annotation on the cover was in Latin and it looks like it was embedded by something and not simply written. -What is he talking about? (Souta) Ryusaki opens it and sees that all the words inside the book were in Latin too. Luckily for them, however, the doctor left some written notes on the side of the pages. Some of these notes. "The path to be taken for this glory is stained with blood. Those who seek it have gone above any other existence in order to reach the long-awaited elixir." -Elixir? (Souta) "Those who fell into temptation realized that this was not something to be pursued, when they realized it will be too late. The sin will already be committed." -This is getting weird Ryu. (Souta) -Yeah... even I have a certain chill about it. (Ryusaki) Ryusaki changes the page, however the notes that were there have been erased. -Which!! (Souta) -Did something happen? (Akemi) -No, nothing. I'm sorry I ended up getting carried away. (Souta)

Marie and Akemi go back to looking for the things they were after.

-Hey, what happened here? (Souta)

-Looks like Kevin erased those notes. (Ryusaki)

-Damn it!! Didn't he want people to find that out? (Souta)

-I don't know if he really thought he would be captured one day. I think... he did it so he couldn't read what was written anymore. (Ryusaki)

-Like this? (Souta)

-I don't think he erased it so that other people wouldn't read what was written, I think he did it for himself not to be able to read what was in those pages anymore. (Ryusaki)

-This is very sinister... (Souta)

-Anyway, let's take this. Maybe when they translate for us we can find out... Hmm? (Ryusaki)

Ryusaki notices that Souta's expression has changed a little.

-What's it? (Ryusaki)

-No, it's just... you're really amazing. You didn't think of any reason that could fill this doubt, in fact it's just like the other times, you always try to understand what that person was thinking, and then come to a conclusion. (Souta)

-You say that, but I think that's the basics, after all people are looking for something different from each other, you can't conclude anything without knowing for sure what she's after. (Ryusaki)

-Um, you're right. (Souta)

-I'll look on that shelf now. (Ryusaki)

You're right Ryu, but I don't think everyone can think that way all the time. You really immerse yourself in other people's thoughts like it's a game, don't you? Stopping to think about it, Ryu really planned everything that happened in the tower, his shots weren't just to scare John, he did that to show him who had the advantage, as well as opening an escape route and unloading the weapon. After that, he avoided talking about the exchange system, although it was something that would come up because of the situation where they both wanted something the other had, he avoided giving the idea, because if he did that John would be on guard and distrust the reason behind him providing this. But as it was John who proposed he thought the situation was under control and according to his plan, but Ryu didn't accept it at first, causing John to concentrate on convincing him to accept his plan and totally letting his guard down, causing the lose his suspicion that this could be a trap, he wouldn't suspect that the gun was already empty. Ryu managed to think and act that way in a matter of seconds, while I was just touching myself now, his thoughts are far superior to mine, I will never be able to have that line of reasoning of his. But it's not like I'm sad about it, after all I know I'm getting better little by little, every day I spend by your side I start to understand a little better how you think. (Souta)

"-You know that thing I said about being ants? Please forget everything I said…" (Ryusaki)

Souta is starting to get restless about this matter, Ryusaki's words were tormenting his head. He goes to Ryusaki.

-Ryu, I need to talk a deal with you. (Souta)

-You can talk. (Ryusaki)

-Actually, I wanted it to be in a more private place just the two of us. (Souta)

-Hmmmmmm... suspect. (Ryusaki)

-Stop for free I'm serious here. (Souta)

-OK. Let's go outside then. (Ryusaki)

Ryusaki and Souta leave the mansion and walk a little until they reach an open area, where there were only trees around.

-We really had to walk here? (Ryusaki)

-I didn't want anyone to overhear in the city, it would be too embarrassing. (Souta)

-Dude, it's like three in the morning, everyone is asleep at that time, no one would overhear our conversation. (Ryusaki)

-Even so. (Souta)

-So, what did you want to talk to me about? (Ryusaki)

-It's about what you said, remember you talked about us being like ants? (Souta)

-Oh! It was about that... I already told you, forget what I said, it was just a silly thing I said out of nowhere. (Ryusaki)

-No, it wasn't a silly thing. You may have said it was silly that you said unintentionally, but I stopped to think and I ended up seeing that it was true. (Souta)

-I'm sorry Souta, I didn't want you to have that thought. I should be careful what I say. (Ryusaki)

-But you know something Ryu? No matter how I saw it, it seemed like you didn't agree with what you were talking about. (Souta)

-I didn't agree? (Ryusaki)

-Yes. no matter how much you said that people only thought about themselves, it seemed like you didn't think about yourself. So I thought that society really works like an anthill, there are ants that work for the one who is benefiting and wishing to be him someday, but among these ants, in the midst of this anthill, there are bacteria, which are out of life of the ants, they only exist in the same anthill as them. These bacteria live with each other in mutual cooperation, none of them need to harm the other to benefit. That's exactly how I see Ryu society. (Souta)

-Are you saying I'm part of these bacteria? (Ryusaki)

-IT'S!! You're not an ant, you're just a disgusting worm. (Souta)

-But what did I do for you to find this? (Ryusaki)

-When we were in the tower you risked your life to save me, you could just let me die there and capture the suspect, but you took the risk. (Souta)

-This is not true. There was a chance we made it out alive, it's not like I agreed to die to save you. (Ryusaki)

-And when you tried to help me prove my innocence. You didn't even know me, but you still agreed to spend your time with me so I could prove my innocence. (Souta)

-That was just me wanting to have fun, it wasn't such a noble reason. I just wanted to enjoy the situation a little bit. (Ryusaki)

-If that was it then I don't care! (Souta)

-Huh...? (Ryusaki)

-You said it was just for your own benefit, but you ended up benefiting me with it. You didn't have to harm me to achieve these benefits. (Souta)

Ryusaki is surprised by what he was hearing from Souta, he looks at him in surprise as he speaks.

I did that too, I used you to get me out of jail, but you said you didn't get hurt by it, so in the end I didn't hurt you. It's really a me*** right? In the midst of so many worker ants, we are just worms living our lives. (Souta)

Souta's smile at that moment, in Ryusaki's vision, was charming.

-Puff. Hhahahahaahahahaahh! (Ryusaki)

-What's it? (Souta)

-You talking so convincingly, calling yourself a "worm". (Ryusaki)

-I also said you were one. (Souta)

-For that reason, I thought that for a moment you were trying to cheer me up, but in the end you were just calling me an insignificant and despicable being. (Ryusaki)

-Well, sorry about that. (Souta)

-No, you're right. With so many people living their hard lives in this system, I'm just a worm. (Ryusaki)

The two smile at each other.

-Hey Ryu! You don't need to hide anything from me anymore, whenever you feel like expressing yourself you can talk to me. Because I want to understand you more and more, I want to know what you're thinking. I want to get to know you better. (Souta)

-Why? (Ryusaki)

-Because to me Ryu, you're my best friend. (Souta)

Those words... those simple words that Souta said penetrated Ryusaki's heart, made him forget any worries he had in his head, made the rest of the world not exist for a moment, only what he could see was Souta in a totally empty world.

Thank you...thank you so much Souta. I am really grateful that you asked for my help that day. (Ryusaki)

Ryusaki runs to Souta and jumps on top of him hugging him.

-Hey man, what are you doing? You're not that light! (Souta)

-Hahahahahahahahah! (Ryusaki)

Really... thank you very much. (Ryusaki)