[Edited]
Disclaimer: I don't own the picture above and have only done basic editing. The credits go to ひろせ BOOTHにて新刊 on pixiv.net.
Wanting to get away from all the panic and chaos that was slowly rising to the surface, I walk out of the mansion and the premises in hopes of clearing my mind. I rush into the woods where I think I would be able to calm down and possibly find my sais. I begin hearing whispers as I near where I last saw Toshio, only to find Yui and my newly made enemy discussing something. I hide behind a tree and see Yui walking away in the direction of the mansion as Toshio stays behind, palming his eye as a frightened expression dawns on him.
"What is it now, Shinju? Are you here to finally finish me off?" Toshio speaks up after Yui is long gone, making me flinch unexpectedly. I slowly walk out from behind my hiding spot and closer to him as he looks up at me, his hand still covering his eye.
"Are you crying?" I narrow my eyes as I bend a little to get a better look at his expression, only for him to turn his face away from me.
"Why do you think I would be crying?" He grits through his teeth and I finally stand in front of him.
"Well, it seemed like Yui has been yelling at you quite a lot recently. I wouldn't be surprised if you ended up breaking down." I place my hands on my hips and tilt my head in confusion as he looks up, his hand still covering his left eye. "Oh! Is your eye hurting?" The silence between us grows and I begin feeling uncomfortable at his blank stare. "Itching? Twitching? Bitching?" His face contorts in confusion, if he was not already confused enough, and pulls his hand away slightly for me to see his eye turning red. "Reddening?" My voice reaches a lower octave as I mutter to myself, worried about the unusual redness.
"It's nothing, okay? Nothing you should concern yourself about, anyway. Why did you come here?" As if in a rush, he switches the topic completely and looks around as if someone was watching us. I follow closely and look around me, more curious than suspicious at this point.
"I, uh, mostly came here to get my sais back-"
"Your brothers took them."
"Alright, then tell me this: why are you and your family obeying her orders? What do you get out of this? Money? Status?"
"Protection." He mutters and brings his hand back over his eye to hide whatever was going on in there rather than to rub it.
"Why?"
"That doesn't matter. None of it does anymore. We all are dying anyway." He scoffs and shakes his head in disappointment, as my eyes widen at his announcement. Before I can ask what he is going on about, he bends forward and grunts loudly. He clutches the skin around his left eye and stumbles, his pain clear through the struggles escaping his lips. "We're all d-dying! We disobeyed her! There's no other way out for us e-except this." He grunts through his gritted teeth and lets out a small cry of despair before collapsing on the ground, his knees being his only support. Not quite knowing what to do, I kneel down next to him and bring my arms closer to his wrists to understand what was going on with him. When my confidence fades away, I remain still with my arms loosely hanging in the air without grasping anything in particular.
"Toshio, what's wrong? What going on?"
"It's what she's done to us! There's... there's a virus inside us. Karl Heinz had it planted in us long a-ago- ah!" He abruptly stops himself from speaking and swings his head back, letting me see blood dripping down from his eye. My eyes, in return, widen and I feel myself stumble back to fall on the ground from my previous position. "Stop... s-stop this." He shakes his head through the slow burn and I look around us to see nothing but trees surrounding us- no help, no one watching this unfold.
"Toshio, how do you get this virus out of you?"
"It's not possible." He breaths heavily, letting go of his head and, instead, dragging his palm against the ground to find my hands. His hands then trail my arm and settle on my shoulders, his weight beginning to push on me.
"You already know Cordelia is the mastermind behind all of this. There's another p-person besides me who's helping her." His heavy breathing increases as he stops himself from speaking further before turning away harshly to cough up blood. "Ric-" He coughs once more and I lean closer to listen to him. "Richter... It's him." He wheezes from sudden air loss and clutches his chest, his torso bending forwards so that his forehead clashes with the ground. I, on the other hand, am left at a loss of words from his confession but shake my head to bring myself back to reality and tend to Toshio for the moment. "Just- make sure... Cordelia pays for h-her actions. Promise me... you'll make her pay." Through his struggle, he clutches onto my hand and squeezes it as if confirming the promise. I tighten my lips in a thin line before nodding furiously, a sudden fire in me igniting.
"I will. Don't worry." I say before his grip on me loosens and his whole body relaxes, making him slump completely to the ground. When the silence dawns on me, I realize that even his last words thirsted for revenge for what had happened to him and his family.
He's gone. He's really...
I trail off, my mind not being able to process the situation correctly.
He attacked you and your brothers, Shinju. Then, what's wrong? I don't feel even a little bit of happiness. I should, shouldn't I?
Mentally slapping myself for thinking such thoughts, I slowly get up from my position, subconsciously dusting my knees.
What am I supposed to do with him, though?
With that question, only one place comes to mind where no one would find his body but my brothers and I. A sigh escapes my lips as I pick his body up and teleport to the garden in the back of the mansion. After looking around to make sure no one- especially Yui- can see us, I sit him down against a tree in the giant maze that was our garden.
I should tell Subaru to take care of him. He would understand, right?
I cover my mouth with my hand as I look at him one last time before abruptly turning away and walking out of there.
I'm sorry, Toshio. I couldn't do much to help you with anything else. But you've helped me enough to at least help you get your revenge.
"I guess this is goodbye for now, then." I look back once more before exiting the garden, ready to avenge anyone who was unfortunate enough to meet Cordelia.
YOU ARE READING
Shu's Twin
Fanfiction[This book has been edited] The next heir of the Sakamaki family was used to living her life peacefully with the brothers so dear to her. Her time seemed limitless with them... Until she came. Time seems to stop when Yui is around, but it seems to o...
