Chapter 11 -- Dark red

AIO: Find the happiness that puts you in shock over how happy you are!!

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Thorn, Reach, and Tomo sat on a sandy hill nearby.

The late evening covered in a beautiful fire red sky.

Tomo: "That's... A lot to take in..."

Reach had just finished explaining his upbringing to Thorn and Tomo - at least the parts he remembered.

Tomo: "So you weren't born there? The peaceful place?"

Reach: "Nope. Not that I know of."

Tomo: "You can't remember?"

Tomo: That feels odd coming from me...

Reach: "Maybe I was too young. Or traumatised, or suffering from malnutrition... I don't know."

...

Reach: "I was certain of my name, and that I was alone in this world."

Thorn considered her own upbringing in comparison to Reach. One where she was hardly alone.

Thorn: ...

Thorn: So William isn't his birth father.

...

Thorn: He's... An orphan. 

Thorn made eye contact with Reach before continuing.

Thorn: "First you met William, then your brother."

Reach: "Yep."

Tomo: Did I know Reach had a brother?

...

Thorn: "It's good to finally get a proper explanation of your disease."

Reach: "Yep. Now that we’re a fellowship, you should know."

Reach: "My overhealing is definitely... Unique."

Tomo: "My disease is called 'inconsistent memory loss', by the way."

Thorn: "Okay. I don't care."

Tomo: Oh...

Thorn glanced at Reach's shoulder through his maroon long sleeve shirt.

Thorn: "That device on your shoulder - it's always on?"

Reach: "24/7."

...

Thorn: "Hm."

Tomo: ...

Tomo appeared almost guilt-ridden as the subject changed into a slightly deeper tone.

Tomo: "Reach... Even after everything you've told us..."

Reach: ?

Tomo: "...I still can't help... Being envious of your disease."

Thorn: ...

Tomo: "And for that, I'm truly sorry."

Reach held a blank yet understanding expression.

Reach: "It's okay, I get it."

Reach: "Sometimes I also look at your disease and think, 'that might be nice'."

Tomo: ...

Reach: "Dad taught me, that no matter our circumstances, we always want what we don't have."

Reach: "And that applies to everyone, without fail."

...

Reach: "It could be youth, wealth, beauty... Or even strength..."

Reach patted Tomo on the head.

Reach: "You're all good."

Tomo: "Okay. Thanks Reach."

Tomo: "Your disease just seems so rare, even among rare diseases."

Reach: "You know of a few 'wild' ones out there right?"

Tomo: "Hm?"

Reach: ...

Tomo: ?

Reach: "Never mind."

Thorn continued her analysis of Reach.

Thorn: "Do you... Age properly?"

Reach: "I seem to... Yeah."

Tomo stroked his own chin.

Tomo: "Hmm..."

Reach: ?

Tomo: "What if you took damage for a whole year? Would you grow older or stay the same?"

Reach: "Uhh... I'm not sure. But I assume grow older?"

Reach: "...Though I don't think I want to find out the answer."

Tomo: "Yes, fair point."

It only took a moment for Tomo to think up his next question.

Tomo: "Come to think of it, do you even need to sleep? I mean, biologically?"

Reach: They really are interested today...

Reach: "Haha."

Thorn: ...

Reach looked at the yellow sand by his feet.

He shifted to a more earnest tone.

Reach: "I don't know... But..."

...

Reach: "...I'm sure... It helps."

Tomo and Thorn both empathised with Reach.

Thorn: ...

Thorn: Even if you don't need to, being able to switch off your brain must do wonders. Even temporarily.

Reach looked up at Thorn.

Reach: "So now that you know more about my disease, Thorn, don't you see how valuable information is?"

Thorn: ...

Thorn nodded.

Thorn: It's true. At face value he seems undefeatable.

...

Reach: "And so hopefully..."

Reach: "...It's the same for Kashi."

Tomo gulped.

Thorn: "Yeah. He was... Strong."

Perhaps a glimmer of a smile was seen from Thorn.

Reach: "While we don't know what his disease was... I'm confident he has a weakness."

Thorn: "Mm."

...

Thorn: "The way he was able to stop our movements - it could be an air-related disease. Or one that utilises the power of the wind."

Thorn: "Alternatively, he may have manipulated us through the ground."

Reach: ...

Thorn: "I doubt it’s something like mind control."

Thorn: "And you would assume there’s a limit, too."

Reach: "Yeah. I'm at a loss."

...

Reach: I remember Kashi stopped me, but not my device... I don’t quite get it?

Reach gripped the material of his shirt.

Thorn: "You seemed the calmest, Reach."

Reach: ?

Thorn: "At the time."

Reach: "Oh. Well, unlike you two, I wouldn't have died from suffocation."

Thorn: "That's... True."

...

Thorn: Is it just me, or was Reach less affected by Kashi's disease?

Tomo chimed into the conversation.

Tomo: "Hey, Thorn. If Kashi didn't stop you, would you have killed him?"

Thorn: ?

Thorn: "Hmm... No."

Tomo: ...

Thorn: "I was just going to wound him."

Reach: I-I guess that's an improvement...

Tomo thought about the prospect of Kashi as an enemy.

Tomo: "Do we even need to fight him?"

Thorn: "Of course we do."

Tomo: ...

Thorn: ...

Reach: "It... Depends."

...

Reach: "I have a few ideas about how I might fight him next time. But you're right, he could just be an ordinary good person."

Tomo: "Y-Yeah. Maybe he knows your Dad."

Reach: "Not everyone knows my Dad..."

Thorn disagreed with the previous remark.

Thorn: "I don't know about him being a good person. He pisses me off for some reason."

Thorn: "If we see him again, he's mine."

Reach stood with a mildly demonic aura.

Tomo: ?!

Reach: "No."

Reach: "If he's a bad person, I’ll take him one-on-one."

Ice cold eyes pierced into Thorn.

Reach: "That's non-negotiable."

She stood up in response.

Thorn: "Huh?"

Her light green eyes matched Reach.

Tomo coughed while attempting to stand up.

Tomo: "H-Hey, oi!"

He squeezed between them, creating a void.

Tomo: "This is all hypothetical!"

He used a combination of his butt and arms to separate the two.

...

Thorn: "Hmph."

Reach: "Tsk."

They turned away from each other as Tomo sighed.

Tomo: I really seem to have a problem with strong people...

Tomo approached Reach and handed him a drink of water.

Reach took a sip.

Tomo readjusted his own brown beanie.

Tomo: "Compared to your childhood, how is life now?"

Tomo: "Is it a bit better?"

Reach: ...

Reluctantly, a smile came across Reach.

Reach: "Haha. I guess it's not so bad."

- - - -

The nighttime yet that same fire red sky.

Within the alley of an undisclosed town under a dim setting.

A timid man sat alone. An innocence about him.

He was in his twenties. Medium black scruffy hair with strands of red at the roots.

Black eyes that resembled a pure eclipse.

????: "I'm not... Content..."

He wore a baggy dark grey shirt, dirty black pants, and a pair of ordinary black shoes.

It was unclear if he had any tattoos, but he donned several accessories - a sturdy black bracelet on his left wrist, and two artistic silver rings on his right hand.

He had two long vertical scars on his right forearm - almost of a mature purple colour.

...

Another man entered the alley from the left.

He was tall and bald, with a tough brown beard.

On his right arm was a sleeve tattoo with skulls and bones.

He spoke in a hostile tone.

Benn: "I don't think we've met. I'm Benn."

He wore a singlet that showcased his bulky arms.

His midsection, however, was clearly out of shape.

????: ?

Benn: "Ryane. Are you coming?"

A second man entered from the right.

Ryane: "I'm here. Fear no more."

Ryane: "Was this guy talking to himself?"

Ryane was slim with a fluffy blonde comb-over.

His subtle wrinkles suggested an older age.

The sitting man spoke in a quiet voice.

????: "What do yo-"

Benn: "Shut the fuck up."

Benn kicked the man onto his side.

Ryane: "We've heard about you."

Ryane: "They told us not to intervene. Not to mess with you."

The man coughed.

????: "H... Huh?"

Ryane stomped on the man's gut.

The man coughed again, deeper this time.

Ryane: "Why run this place if we can't do what we want?"

Benn: "Haha. Amen."

Benn: "We don't have time for the soft shit."

Benn grabbed the man by his shirt and punched him in the jaw.

Blood sprayed onto the ground.

Benn: "Be tough. Or get the fuck out."

Benn spat on the man.

????: "P-Please... Don't-"

Ryane: "Shut up!!"

Ryane threw the man into the alley’s hard wall.

The man winced in pain.

????: "I don't... W-Want..."

Ryane: "You don't learn, do you?"

Ryane stood over the man and began to unbuckle his belt.

...

...

...

BOOM.

A blast of hot air sends Benn and Ryane flying into the opposite wall.

Blood spurts emphatically from their mouths.

Benn: ?!!!

Winded and unable to speak, they notice the timid man slowly rise...

The red strands hidden beneath his black hair begin to stand up...

Tiny sparks of dark red lightning emanate from his body...

His eyes too, turn into an ominous dark red...

????: "Ah..."

...

????: "That’s right..."

Ryane: H-Huh?

The man's voice was now deep...

Forceful...

Scary.

Benn and Ryane wipe their mouths and rush to get back up.

One pulls out a knife and the other a set of brass knuckles.

Benn: "Wh... What the fuck do you think you're-"

????: "It's people like you..."

The man looks directly at them.

????: "...That make life intolerable."

Benn and Ryane charge in a panic.

Ryane: "You fu-"

THWAP.

...

...

...

The man had torn both Benn and Ryane's heads off in a single motion.

From right to left. With his right hand.

...

He held both in the one hand as their bodies plummeted.

Blood seeped into a nearby gutter.

He tossed the heads onto their respective corpses.

And so the night ended.

[Chapter 11 -- End]