Sealed From The Very Beginning

Akihiro stood in front of Natsume, protecting him as he faced Richard. Looking at Natsume’s eyes, it was evident that he was completely confused and shocked by the whole turn of events.

Akihiro wasn’t an ordinary person and Natsume had known it from the beginning. He just struggled to accept it all this while.

But now, they were being attacked by someone who was just like Akihiro, someone not ordinary. He couldn’t figure out the motive for the attack either.

Nothing made any sense.

“Why are you doing all this?” Akihiro shouted. The exhaustion was kicking in, weakening his arms and legs.

“The flower that sticks out of the bush is the first to get plucked. I told you this the second time we met. You stood out from the rest of the population by destroying the ‘Renji-kai’, grabbing the CIA’s attention. I had already warned you before, not to do anything abnormal.”

“CIA? What?” Akihiro was confused. Richard’s words made no sense to him.

“A few days back, when you destroyed the ‘Renji-kai’ and made it to the news, you stood out from the rest. Even though your name wasn’t on TV, the CIA knew that only someone like you could do such a thing.” Richard said as he began walking towards Akihiro. “When I met you, I hoped that you could live a normal, peaceful life like everyone else. But I was wrong. Now that the CIA knows about your existence, they want you back, Subject 005.”

Richard charged towards Akihiro. He jumped in the air and tried landing a whirlpool kick. Akihiro raised his hands and blocked the blow. The kick was even more intense than the previous one, but Akihiro stood firm on the ground. Akihiro tried slashing Richard’s arm with his knife, but Richard dodged it. The difference in their physical abilities was becoming more and more apparent as the battle raged on.

Richard jumped to the side and grabbed the stop sign on the side of the road. His veins could be seen bulging out as he pulled the stop sign out of the road. He snapped the metal pole in two, threw one on the floor and charged towards Akihiro with the other in his hand.

The rod clashed with the knife, as they continued to slash at each other. Things seemed to be moving so fast, Natsume wasn’t able to keep track of everything.

These two were on a whole new level. Like a fight from a dark fairytale, they were at each other’s throats. Every time Richard lunged at Akihiro and tried to stab him with the metal rod, Akihiro would deflect it with the knife in his hand.

Sparks flew everywhere as the two of them continued to battle on. Akihiro’s movements were getting slower and slower while Richard’s continued to remain on the offensive. Things didn’t seem to look good for Akihiro at this point.

In the beginning, a lot of blood had gushed out from the wound on Akihiro’s right palm but now, the blood had stopped dripping from the wound.

It was closing up, healing at a rapid pace.

Millions of thoughts raced through Natsume’s mind as he tried to assess the situation.

‘What do I do? I don’t understand anything.’

Richard jumped back, dodging Akihiro’s slash. They stood at a distance from each other. Akihiro was getting exhausted pretty fast now. He couldn’t afford to expend his remaining energy by going on the offensive.

“This boy can actually reach ‘Stage V’. John, your death was not in vain...” Richard muttered as he looked up at the grey clouds covering the night sky. “Ayane Kawasaki...to think that you’d meet his daughter, this world must indeed be pretty small.”

“Ayane? Who are you? HOW DO YOU KNOW HER?” Akihiro shouted. He felt a sudden burst of energy within him. He could feel the blood rushing through his arms and legs, as his veins bulged out.

He charged towards Richard and tried to slit his gut with the knife in his hand. Richard grabbed his hand, blocking the attack. Akihiro tried to punch him with the other hand, but Richard grabbed that hand too.

“When I met you on the day the accident happened, I was glad that you were alive. If you hadn’t destroyed the ‘Renji-kai’ that day, if you hadn’t stood out, you might have had a chance to live a peaceful life. But too late, the CIA wants you now, so that they can complete their experiments.” Richard said. He let go of Akihiro’s wrists and landed an intense blow to the gut, sending Akihiro flying in the air. Akihiro fell to the ground as his momentum dragged him across the road.

“I thought you had escaped your cruel destiny. But looks like your fate has been sealed from the very beginning.” Richard muttered under his breath.

There were scratches all over Akihiro’s body as he groaned in pain. He didn’t have much energy left to defend himself.

“But I was the reason for your existence. That day, I should have killed you. If I had, then you wouldn’t need to face your bitter end like this, you wouldn’t need to suffer. I shall save you. I shall take responsibility for my failure. This time, I shall kill you. I shall save you.” Richard said as he grabbed his gun and began walking towards Akihiro.

Akihiro laid down still, completely confused as to what was happening. He had used up all his energy, rendering him immobile. He couldn’t stop Richard now.

Suddenly sirens blared in the distance.
“Richard, it’s time to go. The cops will be here any moment now.” Janice shouted.

Natsume ran up to Akihiro and stood between him and Richard, acting as a shield.

Richard pointed the gun at Natsume’s head. “Do you wanna die too?”