Crime and Punishment

It hadn’t been too long since their dungeon quest, and night had fallen. This part of Japan was mostly silent, except for the gentle whispering wind.

Post physical evaluation and medical support, Yuya and Junepai changed into warmer clothes, black jackets wrapped around them, with sweats just as black. Junepai could still feel a bit of soreness from a battle in which he couldn’t remember, though that was the least of his worries.

Yuya could tell something was wrong, at the forefront of his mind were the words of Himeno, those words regarding victims of the shadow beasts' mind control. Since their time in the dungeon, he could tell something had been off about Junepai. He carried himself with carelessness, and his eyes were like two voids staring off into space. Even when he looked directly at him, he felt as if Junepai wasn’t seeing anything at all. His mind had been taken somewhere else entirely.

“Yuya?” He’d spoken for the first time since they’d been in the abandoned train station in Shibuya.

“Yeah?”

There was a short moment of silence, Junepai looking up to the sky, legs crossed over one another, hands held tightly around the chains of the swing-set. He dug his feet into the ground, then sprang himself backward, swinging for a brief period with that small momentum before halting himself.

“This will probably be my last job. The money we get from this contract should be enough to make up for me getting you fired. After I’ve repaid my debt, I don’t think you’ll be seeing me again.”

He was a bit stunned by this proclamation.

“What are you talking about?” Yuya asked.

“I realized something in that dungeon, saw something I should have seen years ago.”

“And what is that?”

“I have no worth here as an individual. No one loves me, no one has ever loved me, so that’s why…” His voice trailed, “I’m going to become a part of the shadow beast.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Yuya was even more stunned.

“I’ve been pretty clear with what I’ve been saying this entire time. What’s there to be misunderstood?”
“Everything! You aren’t making any damn sense!”

Junepai sighed and stood up, hands in his pockets.

“My own mother abandoned me when I was a child, right after my father died. During the time I needed her most, she tossed me away like trash. I’ve never made a friend a day in my life, and no one has ever looked at me with kindness. Not even you, Yuya. Can you honestly sit there and say to me that you’d want to be my friend? That you aren’t in this for the money?”

Yuya stood as well, face contorted with a mix of rage and sadness.
“That’s a load of crap! If I were in it for the money and only the money, I’d have never tagged along with you for this stupid mission in the first place! Do you even hear yourself right now? How ridiculous everything you’re spewing sounds?”

“I wouldn’t expect someone like you to understand my pain, to understand what it’s like to be rejected your entire life.” His tone was cold and dry.

“If there’s anyone in this world who knows about how you feel, it’s me.” He walked around Junepai until they were facing one another.

“My own family rejects me, I’m not allowed to be my true self around them, if they knew the type of man I was, they’d shun me. Do you know how it feels to wear a mask your entire life? To have people laugh at the real version of you? Do you?” He pulled Junepai by the collar. “I want to be your friend, so stop all this sulking crap. I miss the other Junepai.” He grumbled the last bit of his sentence.

“You don’t know anything about the ‘other’ Junepai, so how can you sit there and say you want to be his friend?” He extended his hand outward, gently pushing Yuya away.

“Stop being an idiot for just a second and listen to me! Do you even believe half the crap you’re spewing? If you truly believed I didn’t care for you, then why even bother telling me about quitting?” Yuya approached once more, both hands clenching his collar and pulling him forward, “Because deep down you know the truth. I’ll admit that there’s not much I know about Junepai, and I’m well aware of the fact that Junepai is a socially inept loser and that Junepai is a bit of a creep. But I also know that Junepai accepted me, and that there is good in his heart. You didn’t laugh at me when you found out who I was. Do you know how refreshing that was? To be able to show a person who I really am, and have them accept me?” Yuya stepped away, “I don’t know what happened to you in there, and I don’t know much about you, but that can change. I showed you who I am, so please, show me who you are. Starting from this moment, I want you to show me the real Junepai, and no matter what, I will love him.”

Junepai was stunned by his words, his heart thumping out of his chest.

“You’re just saying things.” He looked away and down at the woodchips beneath them, eyes widening as if they had regained their ability to see.

A sudden chime interrupted the moment, Junepai's phone buzzing in the pocket of his sweats. He fished it from his pocket and read the message aloud: “Get into position.”

“It’s time.”

|

Himeno sprinted toward the empty dirt lot, her body slamming into the wooden door and knocking it from its hinges. She fell to her knees, heavy pants escaping her lips in an attempt to regain composure. Everything around her was dark, the moonlight only illuminating her immediate surroundings.
She crawled forward and into the darkness, groaning and returning to her feet. She whipped her head around frantically.

“Sylvie!” She called.
Immediately after, a voice returned her call. “Himeno?”

Sylvie approached from the darkness, rubbing her eyes and staring onward with confusion.

Himeno rushed her at full speed and wrapped her in a tight hug, plucking her from the ground with ease.

“You’re ok.” She let out an exasperated sigh, then gently pushed her away. She examined her appearance, from her face, which had been turned half gray.

The skin on her body began to peel, revealing the scales that lay beneath. Her hair began to bleed silver in some parts, and her nails had grown into claws.

“We need to hurry.” She spoke frantically, “Draw my blood.” She held her arm out before her.

“What’s going on?”

“Someone's coming for us; we need to leave immediately. Draw my blood.”

Sylvie hesitated for a short moment, looking down at her arm with a pounding heart.

“I’ll be fine, just do it,” Himeno demanded.

The creature closed her eyes and opened its mouth, sharp teeth digging into the flesh on her arm, blood immediately pouring from the gaping wounds. Himeno bit down on her other arm and winced in pain.

After a few seconds, the pain stopped. A wide red mark had been left on her flesh, drops of blood still staining it.

“Should we wrap it?”
“No, we need to leave.” She watched as the gray skin on Sylvie's body was filled in, and the silver in her hair disappeared. She took her small hands into her own. She turned toward the broken door, only to stop cold in her tracks.

Standing at the doorway, illuminated by moonlight, was NN. His face was drowned in shadow, the short sword at his side calmly shimmering in his grasp.

Himeno could feel something inside her scream, the air in her lungs growing thin.

“When you see an opening, run.” She whispered.

“You aren’t my target, and killing you has little to no benefit. That said, I will need to take you in for questioning.”

Himeno charged without a second thought, NN calmly stepping to the side and hooking her heel with his foot. Her body flung forward and through the front door, though the other side appeared almost entirely different. The dirt lot that once sat before her house was replaced with an empty road, street lights painting the ground with yellow light. Her knees met the ground with a strong thud, her knees burning with pain. She swung her body around, the door she once broke had seemingly been repaired, and through the now fixed door she could see NN, hand on the back knob.

“No!” She sprang from her knees and onto her feet, hand stretched outward in an attempt to reach the door. Her efforts were for naught.
With a loud slam, the door had been shut, disappearing as quickly as it had closed. Himeno's hand was met with nothing but the cold-stinging air, her legs giving out as she fell to her knees once more.

Yuya and Junepai approached from behind, side-by-side.