The Lonely Wolf On The Mountain Top

“I can’t have you here anymore. I cannot risk losing my daughter. Please leave now,” Mr Kawasaki said.

He stood up and placed the first aid box back on the shelf. It wasn’t just Akihiro and Natsume who were confused. Mr Kawasaki seemed to be indecisive too.

He had just made a cruel decision, leaving a high school student to die on his own. The tone in his voice radiated sadness.

“Now leave…” Mr Kawasaki repeated again as he stood in front of both of them. Natsume stood up, waiting for Akihiro to tag along. But Akihiro was still looking at the floor, trying to comprehend the bitter truth.

“Where’s Ayane? Let me see her one las-” Akihiro was interrupted by Mr Kawasaki sudden slap. Akihiro’s cheeks were red now. Mr Kawasaki had instinctively slapped him.

“LEAVE MY DAUGHTER ALONE!” Mr Kawasaki yelled. “I cannot lose someone precious to me, not again…”

His tone mellowed down as sadness overflowed from his voice. His eyes were moist while he desperately tried not to show his emotions to the youngsters in front of him.

Akihiro held his red cheek and felt it. That’s when he realised. The gravity of the situation had finally hit him.

The CIA would hunt down Akihiro in some time.

They would kill families, friends, anyone who they could to accomplish their goal.

The CIA wasn’t forgiving.

Just knowing Ayane itself puts her at grave risk.

The same went for Natsume and Mr Kawasaki.

Akihiro stood up and walked out of the room. Natsume tagged along, thanked Mr Kawasaki for the information and walked out of the house with Akihiro. Mr Kawasaki stood at the doorway, watching both of them walk away.

‘I’m sure Richard doesn’t want to kill you either. He didn't do it all this while...but now he cannot disobey the CIA. When I first met you, I was so glad that you were alive. It felt like God had really answered my prayers. To see you being happy, it felt like I was redeemed. I was truly happy to see you alive, Akihiro but…”

The youngsters weren’t in his line of sight anymore. His vision blurred as tears broke out, flowing down his cheeks and dropping to the floor. His mind was still not convinced enough to stick to his decision, making him regret it. His indecisiveness, his guilt, everything took the form of tears and flowed out of his eyes.

‘I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. Even though I was the one who made your life like this, I cannot do anything to help you. I’m sorry that I left you alone to face your bitter fate. I wanted to help you too…I need to help you too but I just can’t put my daughter’s life at stake. I just can't...I’m sorry, Akihiro.’

----

Natsume and Akihiro continued to walk down the lane. Neither of them had uttered a word since they walked out of Ayane’s house. Akihiro was just wallowing in his thoughts while Natsume was trying to comprehend and understand the situation.

“Ahaha, that was a shock right! Who would have thought that you were a part of the CIA’s human experiments?” Natsume laughed awkwardly as he desperately tried to lighten the mood.

Akihiro didn’t react at all as he continued walking. The wind had gotten colder and the sky was dark too. There weren't many stars visible in the sky since it was very cloudy.

“What are you gonna do now?” Natsume asked.

“I have no other choice but to fight back and survive. I don't know how I’m going to do that…”

“The CIA will hunt you down, tear your family and friends apart. They will do anything to get hold of you. That’s what Mr Kawasaki said. If you hadn’t developed emotions, this wouldn’t have been a problem. You could easily survive.” Natsume said.

“No...that day, I shouldn’t have fought Shinoda-san and the other members of the ‘Renji-kai’. If I hadn’t fought them, I wouldn’t have been spotted by the CIA. I could have lived a normal life with you and Ayane. If only I didn’t fight Shinoda-san that day…”

“The past is certain. It never dies. There is nothing you can do about it. Regret isn’t an option…” Natsume muttered. He had begun to understand the circumstance they were stuck in. “It would have happened eventually, sooner or later. If your existence were to be revealed to the whole world, humanity might come to a complete end. The CIA is desperately trying to cover up your existence.”

“Why did it have to be like this…”Akihiro muttered as he stared at the sky.

“BUT IT ISN’T YOUR FAULT! THE WORLD IS WRONG. THE CIA IS WRONG! If they want to hide your existence, they shouldn’t have conducted those experiments in the first place. YOU ARE NOT WRONG!” Natsume shouted.

Natsume disliked situations like these, where he wasn’t in control anymore. “Aki-kun, leave this city. Run far away. Forget about us. Forget about the past. Move forward, Aki-kun! Start a new life somewhere else. You can live on your own. You can remain hidden forever.”

“What about you all? They might just kill all of you…why did it have to be like this?” Akihiro muttered, his voice breaking apart as he tried holding back his feelings.

“Aki-kun…” Natsume began tearing up. He had finally realised how grim the situation was. The CIA might just kill Natsume and his family if Akihiro escaped. That very thought scared him, making his bones shiver. He hated situations like these, where there wasn’t any easy solution.

“Aki-kun...tonight, run away from this city. To a place far far away, run away.” Natsume said.

“What about your family? What about Ayane? What about everyone else? They might just kill them all.”

The very thought of his family dying, his friends dying, it all scared him. His eyes swelled up as he desperately tried to think of another solution. But he knew that there was no other solution to this situation. He was well aware of the decision he was making right now.

He stopped in his tracks and looked at Akihiro.

“It’s okay...just run, Aki-kun! Run away!”

“I can’t! Your mother might get killed then! Aren’t you scared?” Akihiro asked.

“Yes, I am. My legs shiver when I think about my mother being killed. I’m scared, Aki-kun! But there isn’t any other choice. Don’t worry about that. I’ll figure out something.” Natsume said. He couldn’t hold back his feelings anymore. His eyes overflowed with tears as they fell to the ground below. “After all this, after all the time I’ve spent with you, after all that I've told you, after all this, I can’t...I can’t ask you to die for us…”

His tears just wouldn’t stop. Natsume desperately wiped his eyes again and again, but nothing seemed to slow down the overflow of his emotions.

Akihiro looked away. He couldn’t bear to look at his best friend’s face when he was crying like that.

“I...There must be somethi-”

Akihiro couldn’t finish his sentence. He had realised how cruel fate was being to him, asking him to die for a crime he didn’t commit. He had never seen his best friend cry like this. It hurt his heart to see those tears fall down.

“Aki-kun...Go now, I don’t want you to see me crying like this. I don’t want our last memory to be of me crying. I’m scared now. I want to check up on my mother. Go Aki-kun, run away to a far place!” Natsume said as he turned back and began running towards his house, where his mother was waiting for him.

Akihiro stood and watched as his best friend ran away, leaving Akihiro all alone. Watching Natsume being emotional made him feel guilty. A teardrop formed at the corner of his eye, glistening under the moonlight.

Tears fell to the floor as he turned around and continued walking back home. All his emotions, everything he felt at the moment, took the form of tears and flowed down his eyes uncontrollably. He grabbed his chest. How much ever he cried, the feeling inside his chest wouldn’t go away.

It was unfair. Fate was being unfair. Akihiro did nothing wrong, yet fate seemed to be punishing him. Why must he even be given this cruel choice? This world wouldn’t answer any of his questions.