「secret empire」ー 折原 臨也

Ch. 8: Real life fairy tales

She knew what would be coming, when she had decided to meet him. She had known all along that in the end it would have to come to something like this. She knew how this clockwork clicked, how he functioned, how everything fit so well together and how it all suddenly made sense.

You can't escape death. You can only push it back a few steps. But ultimately, her fortune was written and it had to end like this, sooner or later.

"Say something, dammit!" the man yelled, adding more pressure to his fists that held her tiny helpless wrists so firmly.

She continued looking him directly into the eyes, watching the tears stream down his face, noticing his muscles tremble.

"I'm sorry," Yuzuki finally spoke, her eyes softening and a small hint of a smile appearing on her lips. "It's all my fault."

The whispered words seemed to reach Yuzuki's brother in the right spot as he loosened his grip and relaxed a little. His eyes widened and had a big question mark written within them, but Yuzuki didn't explain. Instead she kept repeating her words over and over again as she started to tear up.

"I'm sorry."

"Shut up," he retorted, calmly.

"I'm so sorry."

"I told you to shut up!"

He sent a harsh shove to her shoulders, the back of her head banging against the stone wall just hard enough to make everything before her eyes appear blank and dark within seconds.

Startled at first, he made sure to catch her body, preventing it from collapsing to the ground. When he picked her up though, he felt uneasiness crawling on his back. Why wouldn't she listen? Why would she just not allow him to be with her?

Why did she always have to make him this angry?

All this time it had been so hard for him to find her. And when he did, she made him witness a scene he had rather not. But there she had been, with that foul excuse of a lover. With that informant. Orihara Izaya.

If it wasn't for him, they could've met up much sooner. They could've been able to live a peaceful life, reunited again, finally. But that informant had not only been hurtful towards Yuzuki, he also was an obstacle with the audacity to stand right between the siblings.

later that day:

"Why are you doing this?" Yuzuki asked weakly. Her head still hurt and standing on the roof of a building, more than a thousand feet above the ground, wasn't really helping the situation either.

"Taking revenge, of course."

Yuzuki kept looking at her brother puzzled. Just a few minutes she woke up, her head hurting like she fell of this building previously. While she was unconscious, he apparently took care of the wound by wrapping a bandage around her head and wrists.

From what she could tell that was all he did. She couldn't recall where she woke up. It had been some apartment, but she didn't have the time to figure it out. As soon as her eyes opened, he picked her up and dragged her to the lift and here they were. Standing on the roof of some skyscraper building, waiting for whatever.

The associated height in combination with being around her brother in regard of former events was quite unsettling, needless to say. But he spoke in riddles and she did not know what they were doing up here.

"What did you do?" she asked, trying to stay calm.

For some reason, even though she had been so strong earlier, she was shaking right now. Her nerves were throwing a party and her mind wouldn't want to let her rest as images from her past kept flashing before her eyes.

Would he kill her here?

Did he want to take revenge as in throw her off the building?

Would the story repeat itself?

What did he want?

"I take your boyfriend really doesn't appreciate you a lot."

"My... my boyfriend?"

Confusion reflected in her expression. Not that he could see it, his back facing her as he stared at the door they had been coming through a while ago. She noticed how he clenched his fists which soon began trembling from the pressure.

"That Orihara Izaya," he spat in disgust as if his name was poisonous, "does he care at all? Or is he just too much of a coward to show up?"

Yuzuki jumped a little at his question.

"You – did you... tell him to–?" she stuttered in disbelief.

Revenge.

He was out for blood.

He wanted to kill Izaya.

"He's... he won't show up," the girl continued to speak as gently as possible, to make sure not to anger her brother even more. He was pissed and now she understood what it was that set her off so much. The sudden change of atmosphere scared her deeply.

Her brother was on the edge.

"This is pointless, he won't come here. You're right, he doesn't care," she kept on talking, since her brother wasn't much for words. She felt ridiculous for the roles changing. Just a few moments ago she had been the one not granting him a single word. He must've felt so powerless, just like she did right now.

Carefully, she dared to step closer to her brother, hesitantly placing a hand on his arm. She kept telling him to let it drop, started begging to leave this place with her, trying to convince him that Izaya would never show up. Trying to convince herself that he would not.

"That's harsh, Tsuki-chan," a familiar mocking voice interrupted her. Yuzuki felt her brother's muscles tensing beneath her touch and she instinctively grabbed the fabric of his sleeve. It might've also just been a reaction out of disbelief as she watched the raven haired man with eyes shining like a ruby, wearing the familiar coat with the trimmed fur.

"Do you really expect that little from me? I mean I might not be your typical knight in shining armor, but here I am."