A Look into the Past

Once again, Kirou was staring into the roof of his apartment after exiting the game. While his body was well-rested from the gaming system putting it to sleep, Kirou's mind was currently exhausted to a terrifying degree.

Contrary to what Kirou normally does after exiting the game, which is basically him meditating a bit to rest his mind before getting up to exercise for a bit, this time, Kirou just went ahead and set up an alarm system before quietly falling asleep. It seems he's missed having dreams ever since he started playing this game. Then again, he's always doing something crazy inside it so it's bound to happen that he doesn't sleep properly.

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As Kirou slept, he dreamt about his previous life, as he was growing up. He remembered the times when he was a child, having to do various odd jobs a day just so he could earn a loaf of bread to eat later that evening. He remembered the times when he shared that loaf with children younger than him and the times he fought over it with another group of kids greedy for his share.

Images and scenes of those days flashed through his mind quickly and left just as fast as they appeared. The next set of scenes Kirou saw were of himself during his teenage years. As he grew up alone and without family, he had to fend for himself by whatever means he could afford. At this time he has long learned that those places he frequented for work as a child had been taking advantage of his naivety, using him as cheap labor and paying him with just a small loaf of bread for all his daily troubles.

At this time he's long stopped working for those places and has tried his hand at stealing. He started badly, oftentimes getting caught within the act and having to flee for his life on a good day or taking a proper beating when he's caught on the bad ones. This went on for a long time before Kirou eventually wisened up. He no longer tried going after just anyone he saw with the appearance to suggest that they had excess money. Instead, he started watching his targets, checking to see where they would have money on their person, calculating the odds of him being able to dip his hand into such areas and withdraw it fast enough to avoid detection, regardless of the gains, or being able to escape should his plan go south. He spent long and hard months at this, along with practicing his hand movements to take advantage of such situations.

Having done the prep work for a long time, the day Kirou executed his plan was the first time since he was conscious of his life that he had been able to eat a filling meal. And what better targets to start on than the same people who took advantage of him when he was younger. Those people never saw him coming and by the time they noticed, Kirou was already long gone. This went on for many years before Kirou once again tasted failure. This failure could be attributed not to his skill but poor luck.

One day, during his sixteenth year, Kirou had seen a new face within his city. Kirou had been watching everyone enter and exit the city for years, paying extremely close attention to residents so he was positive that the man that appeared before him wasn't a local. The man stood at five feet nine inches and possessed an average face that one would lose within a crowd. He had short brown hair and was dressed in a worn traveler's cloak, suggesting that the man has been traveling for a long time. Kirou noticed these traits and was about to ignore the man until he heard a certain sound as the man passed by him. With all his years of stealing, Kirou could tell when someone was walking with a certain amount of money based on his hearing. As the man passed by him, Kirou could hear the clink of coins coming from at least three spots on the man's body.

It was because of this why Kirou decided to make that man his target for the day. He was just planning to lift one of those bags of coins from the man without him any wiser. Unfortunately for Kirou, he made the mistake of targetting that man.

Kirou stalked the man as he moved through the city. After their initial passing, Kirou made sure to stay within twenty meters of his target, just out of sight and hidden within the crowd, observing his prey. As soon as the opportunity presented itself, Kirou had put his plan into action. He went around the crowd using side alleys and going over some walls to allow himself to get ahead of the man's path. After waiting a few minutes, the man had finally appeared once more before Kirou and that is when he made his move.

The man was looking around his surroundings while Kirou never once stared in his direction as they got closer together. The moment the man passed by Kirou once again and had his head turned away, Kirou made his move, swiftly lifting what sounded like the lightest bag of coins from the man's body, stashed within his inner coat pocket. His movement, so swift and clean that no one within the area noticed. Immediately following the theft, Kirou kept his pace steady as he walked into the crowd of people, disappearing from sight.

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Roughly an hour later, Kirou was now within the slums of the city, holding the bag of coins within his hands. He wasn't sure why, but the moment he got his hands on that bag, he's felt that someone has been watching him. Call it paranoia or call it a sixth sense, Kirou was clueless as to why he felt so but he was sure someone was watching him. It was due to this why he never spent a single coin from within the bag, even though he had it for so long.

This kept up for another five or so minutes before Kirou had finally had enough. Kirou broke out in a mad dash, slipping down a few alleyways and going over a few walls but that feeling of being watched never left him. In fact, the feeling grew even stronger as he ran. Before long, Kirou stopped running. He was now within a broken-down house with no doors. After walking inside, Kirou walked to the center of the room before placing down the bag of coins in his hands. Following this action, he took a few steps back before turning to face a random direction.

"If you want your money back, you can have it. I never spent a single coin since I took it. All I ask is that you stop chasing me." As Kirou said this, he had his eyes locked on an area in the broken-down building. There was no door or obvious opening there but Kirou had his eyes trained on that spot as if he was sure something was there.

Silence enveloped the dilapidated house for a few moments before laughter suddenly echoed throughout the entire building. As soon as the laughter died down as if by magic, the area where Kirou was staring at started to bend and twist before the figure of a man wearing a traveler's coat appeared before Kirou from the shadows. This man's face wasn't visible but Kirou could picture the twisted smile this individual possessed at the moment.

"You're very good, boy. How did you know I was following you?" asked the man in a calm voice with a tinge of curiosity laced within it.

Kirou looked at the man that suddenly appeared before him and knew that if his answer didn't satisfy this man or if he prematurely tried to escape, the only thing waiting for him is death. Instead, Kirou just released a sigh and sat down where he was before speaking, "At first, I wasn't sure you were there. When you've been a thief as long as I have you realize that developing a bit of paranoia comes along with the territory. It doesn't hurt to be extra careful so I held off on using any of the money and decided to take the long way in returning to the slums. In fact, I was sure I was just being paranoid, at least until we entered the slums. Usually, such feelings would stop once I get here but I realized it didn't this time. In fact, it got worse, hence why I started running. It was during the run that I truly confirmed your presence as it seems as if you were getting excited in the chase." Having said his piece, Kirou released another breath before remaining silent.

The man in the traveler's cloak raised an eyebrow when he saw Kirou sit and tell him the story. It was a curious thing to see prey caught in the trap surrender so willingly. It wasn't until after Kirou finished his story that he realized why Kirou behaved like that. Listening to Kirou's words and putting them with his actions allowed the man to realize that Kirou was already aware of the fact that he had no means of escape available to him. Kirou was so clear on this fact that he pretty much gave up on such a fantasy and is now waiting for the man's choice in how to deal with him. The man was quite amused at this and even allowed a chuckle to escape his mouth.

"You seem to be acutely aware of your situation, aren't you boy?" Kirou only nodded his head in confirmation, opting to stay quiet. The man gave Kirou another once over before opening his mouth to speak, "How about I make you a deal, boy? If you win, not only do you get to keep that bag of gold you got there and I let you walk free, I'll even throw in two more for good measure." Having said this, the man took out another two bags of coins and tossed them on the floor next to the one Kirou had placed earlier.

Kirou only glanced at the two extra bags of coin before turning his head back to face this mysterious man before speaking, "And if I lose?"

The man let out a hollow chuckle before tossing a knife that stuck itself into the ground before Kirou blade first and spoke, "If you lose, you die. Do we have a deal?"

Kirou glanced at the blade before turning his eyes back to the man and spoke, "What's the deal?"

The man's gaze on Kirou became peculiar, wondering if there was something wrong with Kirou's mind before speaking, "The objective of this deal is for you to kill someone within this city. I don't care how you do it, but it must be done before sunrise. And you've gotta use that knife. Otherwise, you'll join that person in death."

Kirou listened to the man's words while a flood of thoughts went through his mind. Whether or not he could kill someone was the furthest thing from his mind as he was sure that he won't be able to take a single step outside this dilapidated building if he said no. Right now, he was going through all the important people in the city that this man could ask him to kill to see the feasibility of such an action, so far coming up with no concrete idea. At least, not instantly.

Kirou eventually thought of a possibility but held his tongue on the subject. After a few moments more of pondering on his thoughts, Kirou looked the man dead in the eyes before speaking, "Who's the target?"

Hearing his words caused the man to smile underneath his mask before he spoke up, "Now that's the spirit. This is the person you need to kill." Following those words, the man took out a portrait of the target and showed it to Kirou. When Kirou saw the portrait, his eyes dilated but he quickly concealed it. As he thought, it truly was that person.

Kirou stared at the portrait, studying the features of the man in it before he nodded his head at the man, took up the knife embedded in the floor, and walked out of the building. From start to finish, the man in the traveler's cloak watched Kirou leave, never saying a word. He knew that Kirou wouldn't run as he was sure the Kirou understood that he wouldn't make it far. As for what Kirou would do, he had no idea but he was curious so he followed after the boy, remembering to bring the three bags of coin as payment for the completed job.

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It was now sunrise within the city. Deep within the slums, within the same dilapidated building from the night before now sees both the man in the traveler's cloak and Kirou, emptying his stomach of any contents it contained from the previous day.

The man in the traveler's cloak gazed at Kirou with a peculiar gaze as the youth emptied his stomach. To say he wasn't surprised by what he witnessed last night would be a complete lie as he never expected the youth to have finished the job less than a few hours after he got it. Not counting the time he had to wait for the target to show up, the youth completed the job in just a few minutes and he managed to do so without being seen.

At first, the youth was able to make it back to the dilapidated building with no change in expression or behavior. It wasn't until sunrise that the youth started throwing up in the corner like that and that too he's been suppressing. It's as if Kirou had turned off all feelings not concerning his own wellbeing from the time he met the mysterious man and is only now able to process exactly what he's done.

After another ten or so minutes, Kirou had finally stopped hacking and wheezing and was now leaning back on a wall, resting. The mysterious man saw this and could only release a sigh. He then tossed the three bags of coin as he promised which landed in front of the youth.

While Kirou was still leaning back on the wall, the man spoke with his back turned to Kirou, "I'll give you two choices, kid. You can take those three bags of gold and live out a peaceful life in this backwater city, knowing what you did last night. Or, you can become my apprentice and I'll teach you the art of killing. That gold is money you earned from your first job and however you use it is up to you, but if you choose to become my apprentice, I suggest you take that gold and get yourself equipped with a proper weapon. I'll be staying in this city for another three days. You have until then to make up your mind. Sort out any unfinished business you have by then. If you aren't by the West entrance of the city by sunrise in three days, I'll take it that you decided to live a simple life." Following those words, the space around the mysterious man started to bend and twist before the mysterious man vanished from Kirou's sight.

Kirou watched all of this from start to finish and heard everything the man said. After struggling to stand up for a bit, Kirou then retrieved his spoils before making his way out of the dilapidated building.

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The alarm system went off in full force, awakening Kirou from his dream. As he woke up, he realized that it was now 7 am and he had to start getting ready for work. As Kirou got out of bed and went to the bathroom to wash up, as he looked at his reflection in the mirror, he seemed to have seen his face from back when he was just a sixteen-year-old youth.

Kirou eventually shook his head to clear the thoughts invoked by his dream. After washing up and getting dressed, Kirou made his way towards the train station. During his trip, Kirou couldn't stop himself from releasing a sigh as he thought about the dream he had that morning.

'Sometimes I regret becoming that Old Man's apprentice, but he was the one who gave me a stable life. He may not have been the best father figure I could have had but I probably wouldn't trade him away, even if I got the chance.' As those thoughts flashed through Kirou's mind, he released another sigh and unknowingly formed a smile on his face as he reminisced the past.