Chapter 20:

The Price of Perseverance, Part 2

MINUS • PLUS


When he appeared in Amanda’s apartment, she was sitting in front of her desk, likely doing her homework. After a few moments of his arrival, she suddenly vanished.

And then she was behind him, grabbing his head in a way that she could easily snap his neck.

That is, until she noticed who she was holding.

“Yukio?”

She let go of him, and walked back a few paces.

“What are you… I mean what-”

“What?” Yukio almost shouted. Then he lowered his voice, and said, “I should be dead, right? Then what am I doing here, in your house?”

“Look, I can explain, I-”

“Save your words,” Yukio stopped her, “I’m not going to believe a single one of them anymore. Not after you left me like that in Kegmar. Or should I say Kanuna?”

Her concerned expression instantly changed.

“How did you know that?” There wasn’t the slightest bit of emotion left in her voice.

He was surprised by her sudden transformation, but it didn’t take him long to compose himself.

“What, you think I couldn’t get out of that building? Couldn’t ask around? Oh, wait, I was supposed to be DEAD! Am I right?”

He was enraged, there was no question. But he didn’t forget that his encounter with Sugi needs to be a secret.

Amanda kept staring at him for some time. Then, letting out a deep sigh, she said, “Okay, look. Tell me what happened to you. I know you’re angry, and confused, but if you don’t tell me what-”

“Angry? You think?” Yukio knew about her true nature now, yet couldn’t accept her nonchalance, “What would you feel when a giant snake-man suddenly starts attacking you, and you have no powers and no help? Huh? How would you feel if you somehow managed to use your powers to save yourself just at the nick of the time? And then when you learn that the whole ‘Expedition’ was a lie, and the person you trusted the most is just chilling at her home, how would you feel?”

Amanda was silent.

“What happened? Tell me, Amy-chan, how am I supposed to feel?!”

Still no response.

Yukio was taking deep breaths. He wasn’t sure how long he could control himself before his rage became a murderous fury.

“Amanda, just for once, tell me the truth.”

She looked up at him, noticing the change of tone.

“You wanted to kill me, didn’t you?”

“It’s not like that-”

“DON’T LIE!” Yukio screamed, forcing her to shut up.

“Ever since we met,” he was rubbing his eyes, trying to keep the tears at bay, “You’ve only wanted to kill me, right? That was your ‘Expedition’. I was just a nuisance, someone you needed to get rid of. Tell me, who asked you? Kichiro-san? Tetsuya-san? Who do you answer to?”

“Yukio…” Amanda tried to touch him, but he grabbed her arm before that.

“What, still trying to kill me? Well, you should, since your ‘Expedition’ wasn’t successful. You know what, do it. I don’t care anymore. All my life, all I’ve experienced is people leaving me. Maybe it’s finally my turn to leave.”

She wasn’t responding anymore. Yukio suddenly grabbed her neck and thrashed her hard to the wall behind her.

“What happened? Can’t kill me? Maybe I should kill YOU!”

Despite being pinned to the wall, Amanda was still. She didn’t even raise her hands, or showed any kind of reaction.

Her dead eyes kept watching him.

This was the moment when he should’ve snapped. He should’ve done something horrible; something that was a point of no return.

But… he just couldn’t bring himself to harm her.

After a while, when he let go of her, she said, “Yukio, I am sorry. I truly am. If you come with me, we can go to Taicho and talk. We can surely-”

“No.”

Amanda was taken aback. The sad, weary eyes were no longer there. His gaze was now conveying a different message. “Back off.”

For a minute, both of them were still.

And then Yukio disappeared.


After he disappeared, Amanda kept standing motionlessly. Her palms were sweaty, and she was taking deep breaths. A few minutes later, she sat down at the bed, and picked up the phone.

After a few taps, the phone displayed the name ‘Kichiro Sakue’.

She almost tapped the ‘call’ button, but stopped herself at the last moment. Then she grabbed the phone hard, and closed her eyes.

Several minutes passed.

In the end, she didn’t make the call. Dropping her phone on the bed, she got up. She had waited long enough. He was her responsibility. She needed to find him, and bring him back.

But before she could do anything, something dropped on her.


Yukio was in Ebromia, sitting on a stone and observing the vast forest of Kelna. It was the same stone where he sat the last time he came here. Only the last time, he was nowhere near as angry as he was now.

His tears had dried up quite some time ago. All that was left there was a raging fire that could burn down the whole forest in front of him. He didn’t think there was a way to douse that fire. And even if there was, he wasn’t interested.

He wanted to let it burn for all eternity.

It was already decided that he won’t let them off easily. If his life had any meaning, it was in the destruction of Minus Plus.

There was no way he could forget their betrayal. Just like there was no way he could ever forget Maekawa Yuichi, and how he lost his chance of completely ending his life. But this time, he wouldn’t make the same mistake. This time, the strike would be so hard that it would turn bones into dust.

He will never, ever forgive them.


He doesn’t know how long he was sitting on the stone, when someone called him.

“Hello.”

With alarm, Yukio quickly turned around.

It was a small boy, carrying a bunch of dry sticks. He had almost forgotten how the people of Kemirsh looked like.

“Hello,” the boy said again. He wasn’t speaking in his language; the ‘hello’ was in Japanese. So he recognized Yukio. Or at least realized that he wasn’t from their world.

Yukio was observing the boy, while thinking about the phrases he learned the last time he was here. The boy didn’t have the sort of clothes he had seen others wearing. A piece of dirty rag was tied at his waist, that’s it. He was unbelievably dirty, and all sorts of dirt and leaves were stuck on his long hair.

And yet he was smiling.

How old is he? Yukio wondered. Probably just 5 or 6…

The boy said something in his own tongue. Initially puzzled, Yukio gradually realized that his TD wasn’t equipped with the ability to translate their language yet. It was probably an old model.

Yukio remembered a few phrases.

“How do you do?” He said to the boy. The boy was beside himself, laughing and jumping with joy. Some of the sticks he was holding scattered to the ground. Yukio helped him pick them up.

Then they had a chat. Well, it was mostly the boy saying god knows what and laughing, and Yukio repeating the phrase that meant ‘okay’.

After a while, the boy seemed exhausted. The light was also fast disappearing. He should’ve been home by now, Yukio realized. His parents are probably worried.

After pointing towards the sky, he used his hands to show the shape of a ‘home’. The boy probably understood him, as he also said something and started picking up the fallen sticks.

He didn’t know how to say ‘bye’, so he just waved his hands at him. The boy looked puzzled for a few moments, then tried to copy Yukio, dropping most of the sticks.

After they gathered the sticks again, and Yukio tied them together with a rope the boy had, they finally bid each other farewell. This time with a nod.

Our situations cannot be compared, Yukio thought as the figure of the boy slowly got swallowed by the dark. But one thing I can learn from him is that no matter how bad, how hard your situation is, you have to keep living. Even if…

Yukio smiled after accidently searching his pocket, forgetting that he left his phone in the apartment this morning.

Even if it’s just for yourself.

He got up.


After he reached the apartment, he wanted to lie down for a bit. He knew he was dirty, but at that point he couldn’t care less. He needed to rest. And after that, he needed to think about what he was going to do.

Should I go back to Kanuna? Or Should I stay here, live my life like nothing happened?

He knew that one of them wasn’t a viable option.

He sat on the chair in front of him. And before he knew it, there was a metal collar in his neck.

It was glowing in the semi-darkness.

A familiar voice whispered in his ears, “Knew you would come here. And by the way, do not try to Jump. Unless you want to die, that is.”

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