Chapter 15:

Chapter 15: A Gamble

Spirit hunter kaiji: I can't believe i died just to be brought back as a spirit detective


Chapter 15: A Gamble

His eyes were closed as he lay in a big empty white room. And then they were open. He scanned his surroundings as he prepared for a fight, but no one showed up.

“What is this? What's going on… where… Where am i?”

he heard a voice, but he could'nt place where it was coming from

“containment successful, there's no way he's getting out anytime soon”

“Who's there? show yourself!”

but no one responded

“What the hell?” he said “Aurora, can you hear me?”

but no response

“damn, this place must be interfering with my connection to Spirit world”

a voice finally echoes from the void

“ah, so you're awake? We’re glad to see you've made your trip safely”

“my trip? What are you talking about? What is this?”

“We needed you here so we could use your body as a vessel for our plan. It's thanks to you that we've come so close, now all we need Is the pain and misery of that girl and everything will be set into motion.”

“my body? You mean…”

“Yes. The apocalypse. The combination of the spirit world and the real world, the ultimate fusion between mind and body. And it's all thanks to you”

“no, this can't be happening! I'll stop you! you won't get away with this!”

“Oh Kaiji, we already have! There's nothing you can do to stop us now. Even if there was, there's no way you can escape that room!”

“what?”

“That room is an unbreakable cube designed to reflect all your spiritual energy back at you. by acting as a mirror image of yourself, your own power is what keeps you trapped in there.”

“nothing in spirit world is unbreakable, you don't know me”

“suit yourself, try it out, and see for yourself”

Kaiji used his mother's training and channeled all his spiritual might into his arm. He moved his legs back as he charged up his attack giving it everything he had. His hair started standing on end and his eyes flashed blue as he maxed out. and then he rushed the wall and punched it as hard as he could. The blast created was so powerful, so spectacular, that it made the one he delivered to Jonathan look like a small trickle in comparison. It filled the entire room with energy. Light so blinding you could just barely make out his body still struggling against the wall. and then, it backfired. All the power he gave out was shot back into him in an instant sending him back into the air and onto the ground.

“ha! That was an impressive display but it's no use. Your own power is what's keeping you in there, the more powerful a being, the more effective is the trap.”

“no, this can't be real. Let me out of here RIGHT NOW!”

“I hate to inform you but you are in no position to be making demands.”

“do it now and I won't kill you all the moment I get out”

“ah, threats now? You really don't seem to get it, do you? you aren't getting out. you're trapped in there until we decide to let you out”

Kaiji took a deep breath. He charged himself up again

“Is he serious? He just tried that and it didn't work, what does he hope to gain from that?”

“Let him thrash about, once he tires himself out, he'll be more quiet and we can continue to focus on the task at hand. Once we establish a connection to his brother, well have everything we need”

Kaiji's rage grew as his aura turned red hot. He channeled all his strength into his arm yet again.

He slammed his fist into the wall, but nothing happened. He then transferred his strength to his other arm as he used the energy bouncing back into him to power up his next attack. A flurry of punches so quick his arms looked blurry to the naked eye. He didn't let up on his assault, despite no sign of wear, not even a scratch, he didn't let up he continued his onslaught building up his strength all the while. Until he channeled everything he had into one final punch “I said LET ME OUT!!!”

his fist slammed against the wall so hard it shattered all over, for a singular moment, the entire wall was riddled with cracks from top to bottom. The demons observing him lost their minds as he seemed to be breaking through, as they scrambled for a possible way to contain him, and then started to relax as they continued to observe.

Kaiji was panting, gasping for air as his arms and legs trembled with the pain of a thousand suns. He was completely exhausted.

“I….cant… I can't do it.”

the wall he had shattered repaired itself in a matter of moments. It took everything he had. He found power where there wasn't any and he managed to rise up and even strike the face of God. But it took him everything he had for a single drop of blood from a wound that heals itself the moment it was made. It took so much power just to crack it, it was possible to break it, but it had already put itself back together and Kaiji was out of juice. All his efforts are rendered null and void.

They say if it bleeds, it can be killed. But that ignores just how much power it takes to merely draw blood.

All these thoughts flashed through Kaiji's head and his mind raced at a million miles a second. Trying to think of a way of getting out of here. But there was nothing. His life was flashing before his eyes and as he relieved everything there was nothing he could find that would help him in this situation. And in that moment of darkness and hopelessness, he heard a voice.

“You lack strength, Kaiji, but you're filled with a desire so powerful I could hear it across the void.”

Kaiji was shocked to hear the voice, he found it familiar but he couldn't place from where.

“You're trying so hard to escape, you're at your limit. Just say the word and I'll lend you my strength.”

“Who are you?” said Kaiji

“That doesn't matter, I can give you what you need. And you can save those you cherish”

“Yeah, but there's no free meal. So what's the catch? At what cost?”

the voice went silent.

“my power is… unstable, there's no guarantee you'll be able to control it. There's a chance you'll lose control. There's a chance you'll lose what makes you… you.”

“With conditions like that, who wouldn't take the deal” he said sarcastically "but I need to get out of here fast.”

“There is one problem, a risk I haven't mentioned yet. If you accept my power, you'll be giving them everything they need from you. All that will be left is for them to harvest pain and misery from Alice and they'll have everything they need to jump-start the apocalypse. You'll have to get to her before that or it'll all be over.”

“That's fine. Let's do it”

“So you would gamble with the fate of the world? hah, you're a lot more brash than I thought brother.”

With that, an explosion of power emanated from his soul, overloading the reflection cube. The wall began to crumble as Kaiji's eyes turned red like blood.

“this power! It's coursing through me! It's unbelievable” he began laughing maniacally as he let out a burst of energy that would destroy the entire facility.

“wha- what's going on? he shouldn't be able to do that! the cube should be reflecting back his power!”

“that's just it, sir, it's not his power!”

the general looked at his subordinate and smiled

“hm, so we did it then, now it's up to them to see the rest of the mission through” he said as the burst of energy came through the walls annihilating the whole team.

All that was left was a massive creature with Kaiji in the middle. But it wasn't Kaiji. it was something else. A being of power in the shape of Kaiji that had no remorse, no restraint. As demons swarmed it, it moved in ways unnatural to the human body, it was more beast than man, more beast than the demons it was slaying. It went from one poor helpless soul to the next as it crushed each and every one of them without remorse, laughing all throughout. When there was nothing left to fight. Its face got seriously mad as there were no more enemies to annihilate.

In its rage, it screamed through the bowels of hell and another energy wave blasted through the entire area turning everything to dust. And with that. He woke up back in the real world.

“oh, you woke up sooner than expected. Time to make a return trip though, we’re not done yet” the beast that sent him to hell reached forward with tremendous speed once again. but this time, Kaiji was faster. He grabbed the demon's hand before he could reach him. Smiled as it tried to pull its hand away. Then began thrashing him about like a rag doll, slamming it into the ground like a moist towel. When the demon was surely out of commission the power overwhelming Kaiji began to quell its thirst for blood and he regained his sanity. He snapped out of it as he saw the beast lying dead in front of him he thought of only one thing

“Alice!”

he ran down the mountain, it was already sunrise as he spent the whole night in hell.

He grabbed a walkie-talkie from an unconscious hotel security guard and switched the frequencies to the one his team always used.

“Everyone, it's me Kaiji, what's going on?”

“Kaiji?!” responded Aki “where the hell have you been?! The city is overrun with demons! We have our hands full as it stands, and we need all the help we can get!”

then Natsu responded to the call “I don't know what the hell is going on, they're stronger than ever, it's like they've been preparing for some time now!”

then Fuyu responded “and they're not disappearing in the sunlight either! This isn't supposed to be happening!”

“I got worse news!” said Kaiji “Alice is missing! I have no idea where she is!”

“WHAT??” they all responded in unison over the speaker

“I need to get to base so Haru can tell me where she is!”

“There's no time for that! I'll use the technique and find her, stand by…”

Kaiji ran through the forest as fast as he could, making his way closer to the town. He didn't know where he was going but he couldn't stay still at a time like this.

“Have you found her yet?”

“not yet”

“What's taking so long?”

“It's a big city kid! I'm working as fast as I can! Ha! I found her! She's deep in the Kyokai ruins! It looks like it's underground, you'll have to find your way down there!”

“damn” that was halfway back to where he already was, luckily they showed him the entrance when they were giving them the tour of the ruins.

When he got to the entrance it was blocked by a big stone slab. He channeled his energy and punched it into dust. “I know this is a historical artifact, but this is an emergency!” He said as he ran headlong into the decrepit dungeon. The halls were dark and dank, and convoluted it felt like he was going in circles. And every time he turned a corner there were more demons to get in his way. He was out of options and running out of time. That's when he remembered he could call Aurora!

“Aurora!”

“Kaiji! Where have you been! What's going on down there!”

“we’re under attack! I need you to guide me to the center of the Kyokai ruins! Every time I turn a corner it feels like I'm right back where I started! They have Alice!”

“Okay I read you loud and clear”

She took out a book that showed everything there was to know about Kyokai including the schematics of the labyrinthian ruins.

“Okay, you're gonna need to take a right... here. No! Your OTHER right!”

and as he went deeper and deeper underground the monsters got tougher and tougher. Kaiji tried to take them out but it was taking too much time. So he resorted to dodging and running past them. But it wasn't without its consequences. The beasts weren't anything to be taken lightly, every time he ran past them they sliced at him with their claws and their horns, but Kaiji couldn't afford to let his wounds stop him now. As blood gushed out and painted the walls he ignored the pain and just kept on running.

he started looking at the beasts in ways he never had before, he started seeing their tells and predicted where they were going to strike and faked where they were striking but at the last second weaved the other way.

“Hey it's just like when you first encountered spirits!” said aurora but Kaiji didn't respond

“there just up ahead! That's where she is!” she said

Kaiji saw the doorway. The light emanating from it pushing back the darkness. He finally made it, he did it. As he rushed through the doorway he began screaming as he ran like his life depended on it, like the final moments of a marathon, he gave it his all at the final stretch. The light illuminated his face as he finally made it to the grand hall. But the joy he felt of having made it was short-lived.

What he saw, would change him for the rest of his life. The horror that would scar him, that would come to him in the dead of night to haunt him. He shuddered as he saw a wicked phantasm over Alice's body in a pool of her own blood. He failed.

He couldn't believe his eyes. Alice, he couldn't save her. They took her. He tried as hard as he could, did everything possible, but it still wasn't enough. For the first time in his life, He was too late. Kaiji's mind went black.

The next thing he knows, he’s covered in demon blood as the phantasm that had taken Alice was nothing more than a mangled blob of flesh in front of him. He turns to see his comrades shocked at the sight, holding Alice's body. Kaiji runs to them but Fuyu and Natsu hold him back.

“what did you do?” said Aki as Kaiji was uncontrollable. Thrashing about trying to get closer to Alice as an animalistic desire to protect her overcame him. Fuyu used her ninja techniques of acupuncture and pressure points to chop him in the neck, finally putting the boy to sleep.

Back in the facility, the corps discuss the event that transpired.

“what the hell was all that!” Aki said

“That wasn't just any old attack, they came at us prepared and organized. While we were all busy downtown, they ambushed the kids in the mountains. How did they even know where they were?” said Fuyu

“And what was with Kaiji? He was out of control! It's like it wasn't even him in there!” said Natsu

“that's because it wasn't” said the chief

“What do you mean?”

“Kaiji is giving off a lot more spiritual power than he was before. But it's not his.” Said Haru

“what do you mean it's not his? whos else could it be?” said Aki

“It's demon energy.”

“What?!” they all said

“how is that even possible?” said Aki

“yeah! where did he even get it from?” said Natsu

“there is one possibility…” said the chief

“his brother” said Haru

“his brother?” said Natsu

“he's been in demon world so long, there's no telling what techniques he's picked up down there” said Haru

“But still, channeling demon energy into your little brother? that's just wrong” said Natsu

Aki quivered at the thought of doing something like that, him being the older brother.

“That's not the worst part.” Said Haru

“Wait, there's more?” said Fuyu

“Kaiji's connection to hell was established the moment he accepted that power. And there seem to be signs that Alice's connection to heaven has been tampered with as well”

“no! then that means-” Fuyu said

“It's only a matter of time before the border between Spirit world and the real world is erased. The apocalypse could come any day now.” Said the chief

The group stood in awe of the revelation. Aki clenched his fists as he stormed off.

Natsu slammed his fists on the table “DAMMIT”

And Fuyu just dropped to her knees in disbelief

Aki went to where Kaiji was being held. He stared at the boy from across the steel bars of the holding cell.

“you were supposed to be the hero of the story. You, the descendant of the oldest warrior clan, were supposed to usher in a new age of peace, lead the next generation against the demons not join them! But I see now I had too high hopes for you, you're a lot less like your parents, and more like your traitorous brother. I should have left you in that mansion to die. Maybe then we'd still have a chance at protecting Alice from harm. This was all your FAULT.” He stormed out of the room and threw down his walkie-talkie. He was done fighting for humanity.

Kaiji lay there, eyes wide open, unbeknownst to Aki, he heard everything he said. And he agreed. This WAS all his fault. Not only did he overestimate his ability to save Alice, he gambled with the fate of the world and lost. If the apocalypse came, it was because of his actions, no one else's. And for that reason, Kaiji was also done defending humanity. He knew he would only make things worse. After that he went to sleep with his heart In a knot. All the energy that had coursed through him had taken its toll. He fell into a deep sleep the likes of which some never woke up from.

...

The days passed as everyone made their peace with the world they once knew and braced for the end. They waited a day… then they waited a week… they waited a month but still no apocalypse came. They began to wonder what had been taking so long. Why hadn't they launched their attack

three months later Into that state of limbo was when Kaiji woke up from his coma. He woke up in Harus Hospital Bed.

He opened his eyes and looked up “hey, I've seen that ceiling somewhere”

“oh my God you're awake! I was beginning to think you would never wake up” Haru said

“nnnhhhgg, what happened? first I was with Kairi, then I went back and everyone was asleep...”

“you don't remember? We were attacked from all over. you yourself nearly died in the process.”

“really? what-”and just like that all the memories came flooding back into his consciousness. Then he thought oh how nice it was to forget for even a second as tears began rolling down his cheeks.

“Hey, what's wrong?” she asked.

“she's dead, I couldn't save her!”

“what? Who are you talking about?”

“Alice! When I got there… there was so much blood… I was... too late”

“oh. You don't know…”

“know what?”

“I'm not gonna die that easily, idiot” a familiar voice… It was Alice

“Alice! You're alive!” he got up out of bed to go hug her, he rushed over and wrapped his arms around her. He was so ecstatic to see her okay.

“Kaiji... too tight... you're hurting me” she said

“Oh, sorry!”

Kaiji pulled away from his bear hug and that's when he saw… she was in a wheelchair…

the demon left her leg in pieces, there was no way of saving it, in order to save her life, Haru needed to amputate.

“what, what happened?” he said

“c’mon, let's talk in my room” she said

She explains to him how she'll never be able to walk again without assistance. Be it prosthetics or otherwise. He feels crushed by the news. He gets on his knees and bows his head on her lap.

“Alice, I'm so sorry, this is all my fault, if I had been faster... if I had been by your side-”

she's taken aback, why is he apologizing?

“no, don't say that, you didn't do this, the demons did this.”

“but I was supposed to protect you”

“It was an accident Kaiji, accidents happen, you couldn't have possibly known.”

She grabs his head with both hands and gently lifts up his face so he can look her in the eye.

“This was not your fault.”

He looks into her eyes and for a moment he sees no resentment, he hears no sarcasm. He knows she's being genuine. He can’t hold back the tears and starts to cry on her lap. She pats his head as he lets out his grief, comforting him. Eventually he falls asleep and she runs her fingers through his hair. His cheeks are red and his eyes are puffy, But she sees so much kindness in his face. Genuine remorse. There was no way he would purposely let this happen. Not her Kaiji…

although, he wasn't the same Kaiji she once knew. Alice did forgive him and never made him feel anything negative because of what happened, but he never forgave himself. He kept thinking to himself that it was his fault. Haru made her a metal prosthetic that she had to practice walking with during physical therapy, the more and more he saw her struggling, a darkness grew bigger and bigger in his heart. He forgot about what she told him and could only focus on what he was feeling. He started acting quieter and more subservient. He couldn't keep a normal conversation going. He started acting less like a friend and more like a servant. Until one day Alice confronted him.

“Hey, what’s wrong with you?! why are you acting so weird?”

“Weird, what do you mean? I'm not acting weird.”

Alice was irritated by his obvious lie “stop lying, I can always tell when you're lying.” Kaiji tries to evade the question, but then she pulls on his arm and gives him her angry look that says she means business.

He lets go of his upbeats façade.

“I just… I want to make it up to you. that's all.”

Alice is struck by his words. “make it up to me? What do you have to make up for?”

she lets go of his arm and extends her metal leg having it plop out in front of him.

“Is it because of this? Is this what you have to make up for?”

Kaiji is silent and does not answer

“Okay, I see, you still feel responsible for everything when I already told you it was not your fault.”

Kaiji clenches his fist “how could you say that?!” he raises his voice “if I hadn’t have left your side you wouldn't be going through any of this pain”

Alice tilts her head “pain? I never said I was in pain!”

“you don't have to, it's written all over your face and It makes me feel awful every time I see it”

“first of all, I wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for you. I was alone with that thing, bleeding out when you showed up. I saw how you looked at me and you lost it and went into a rage. You destroyed that thing. It was so terrifyingly vicious that the demons that were chasing you got scared away. It's thanks to that that Aki and the others found me when they did and were able to save me. In hindsight…” she gets up from her wheelchair finds her balance with her metal leg

“I should have never gone on that field trip to begin with. That was the only way we could’ve avoided all this.”

She signals to her leg. “This was a result of my actions, not yours.” She walks over to Kaiji fighting through the pain “So please…” she rests her hands on his shoulders

“Stop blaming yourself! There’s no use! It's already done, we can’t change the past, all we can do now is accept it.”

Kaiji looked into her eyes and sees that same sincerity, he feels like he can see into her soul and feel it looking back into him. The black smoke clouding his vision begins to clear and the seeds of forgiveness are planted within him. But the darkness in his heart won't be swayed so easily. And he remembers the image of her unconscious body in a pool of blood. And the dread he felt when he thought he’d lost her. And then he notices something. She still wasn't ready to be on her feet yet, and although she tried to hide it, A subtle expression of pain on her face was impossible to miss.

suddenly all of his negative thoughts come rushing back clouding his perception and he couldn't face her anymore. He turned his head and said the two words that would tear a rift between them

“I… can’t.”

Alice's expression changed, she let her hair fall to cover her face. She lifted her hands from Kaiji’s shoulders and let them fall beside her

“then go.” She said under her breath

“what?”

“I SAID GO!” she snapped. 

“You think this helps? I talk to you to take my mind off of everything but all you ever want to say Is how sorry you are! If you say anything at all that is!"

she scratched her head with both hands. she'd had enough.

"nnhhhggg, I don't want your apologies, and I don't want you to wait on my hand and foot, I need my friend to be by my side out of love not pity”

she was in pain, both physical and emotional, her leg was on fire, but her anger was powering through

“and if you can't do that,” she whipped her arm around and pointed at the door

“Then leave, and don't come back.”

Kaiji stood there for a moment. He looked at the door. Then back at Alice. He saw her face filled with rage. If he wanted to help, then this was the best way. So he left…