My Infamous Bride Is A Mermaid

Episode 8: The Red Star

Lunar: Shooting neon was supposed to be a phase?

Takashi's Mom: It was stupid, I know. In all honesty we didn't know how to help him but we were always close to him, helped reintegrate into his regular life and in that time somehow he found opportunities to train and learn how to use his powers. We were happy for him because he could go back to school without flashing and blasting holes into walls.

Akeno: Unless he wanted to.

Takashi's Mom: Which really never happened. Things were normal until Takashi realized what he was capable of.

Sun: What did he do?

Takashi's Mom: It was a few days before the event that he plays that song for. You see, we used to come from a town that had problems with gang violence. There would be wars and shootings across the area even though we lived in one of the safer parts of town. But Takashi had a friend who wasn't so lucky. The news said that on her way back from school she was kidnapped by one of the gangs known as the Reapers. We expected the police to act but their numbers were too few to go against any of the gangs. Then one night while his father and I were sleeping Takashi went out. I knew because he came back the next morning as I was making breakfast but there were bullet holes in his clothes. It was later reported on the news that the girl that was kidnapped was safe and more importantly, the Reapers were forced out of that district.

Akeno: So Takashi saved her. 

Takashi's Mom: And I was happy that he did something like that but I also feared for his life. These gangs dominated the city and nobody stood up to them except for each other but now one boy in middle school just challenged their authority.

Akeno: They fought back.

Takashi's Mom: It was a one-sided battle. Takashi was too strong for the reapers and eventually they were either behind bars or hiding in gutters.  But the Reapers weren't the only people who thought they had control over the city. There were two other gangs, the Dust Men and the First sons. Once word spread through the underground that one of their rivals was taken out by a single person they got scared. So for the first time ever, they buried their rivalry just so they could take care of this little problem. 

Lunar: What did they do?

Takashi's Mom: Takashi was able to keep his face hidden when he did his work but somehow, I don't know if they had spies watching but they managed to find out that their problem was a middle school student. They didn't know who though so whats the best way to kill a rat when you don't know where it is?

Akeno: Gas the entire place.

Takashi's Mom: They did that in their own special way. They sent assassins into the homes of every single student and put bullets in the heads of the kids and their parents. But we were neighbors with one of the students from the school and when they attacked Takashi heard the bullets from the other house. He woke up and fought off the assassins. He protected us until sunrise and then the news came on in the morning. They were all dead, not a single one survived except for Takashi. Worst of all is that he blamed himself for everything, he thought if he didn't push his luck none of that would have ever happened.

Akeno: Mother, what did he do next?

Takashi's Mother: I don't know.

Takashi: Yes you do.

Takashi had been sitting on the staircase for the last few minutes listening as his story was being told.

Takashi: I never told you what happened but you knew. You saw the anger, the rage in my eyes.

Takashi's Mom: A mother never wants to believe that their son would do such a thing.

Takashi: But I did it! I'm ashamed of it but if I had to do it over again I probably would've been even more cruel.

Lunar: I think I heard enough.

Sun: Yeah I don't want to hear how this ended.

Takashi: Oh no! You wanted to be nosey so you'll here this story to the end.

Sun and Lunar actually looked frightened but Akeno still had the desire to know what it is that Takashi had done. Even though the answer seemed obvious she needed to hear him say it.

Takashi: My entire class was butchered because I made powerful people fear for their lives. They took my best friends, the school I loved was stained with the blood of students who would never graduate, and all of it was my fault. So what did I do? What could I do? What did I want to do?

For a moment Takashi looked at the ground until a smile that was sick and sadistic appeared on his face.

Takashi: I wanted them to suffer. I wanted them to feel a pain unlike any other so I hunted them down. The Dust Men and the First Sons and I ripped through every last one of them but I had a shred of remorse. I couldn't stand to hear them scream. I felt sympathy so I put my headphones in my ears and I played that song over and over again as I slaughtered them until there was nothing left. Just for the fun of it I found what remained of the Reapers and took them down too.

Lunar: They all died?

Takashi: Painfully and you know what? I felt good about it. I liked all of the slaughter and I thought it opened a new world for me, until I looked into a goddam mirror. I was covered in blood, their blood and it made me think, how did they all look when they killed my friends, they probably looked just like me. Thats when I decided I didn't want to look like that but I couldn't take back what I did.

Takashi's Mom: We couldn't stay after that but it's not like we had many to say goodbye to.

Takashi: So now you know the tale of my infamy. Hope you enjoyed it.

Takashi stood and walked back upstairs to his room in the attic while the girls were trying to ponder what they just heard.

Lunar: I never imagined his past was something like that.

Sun: And he plays that song on this day every year.

Akeno: So he never forgets or lets go.

Takashi's Mom: Honestly I was hoping this is the first year that I wouldn't cry on this day.

As the girls looked at her Takashi's Mom had her eyes full of tears.

Takashi's Mom: The true pain is knowing that every year, no, every day your child lives with a burden that size. I just wish that somehow his pain could be taken away.

Akeno: You two comfort Ms Michichio. Im going to talk to Takashi.

Lunar: Good luck.

Sun: Be careful.

While Sun and Lunar held Takashi's Mom Akeno went up to the room of the man himself. She knocked on the door to his room with no answer so Akeno decided to let himself in. When she came in she saw something she couldn't believe. Takashi was curled up against the wall crying as his music played. Akeno wanted to help so she walked over and kneeled in front of him before she took his hands. Takashi looked at her but his eyes were flooding.

Takashi: Akeno

Akeno: It's a really nice song. The lyrics, they make you think about things.

Takashi didn't respond with words but he did hold on to Akeno's hands a lot harder but Akeno decided to get closer. She sat on his lap and wrapped her arms around his head pushing it into her breast so he could use them as a pillow to cry on. Then, after hearing it on loop as she heard his story, Akeno began to sing the song.

Akeno: She eyes me like a pisces when I am weak. I've been locked inside your heart shaped box for weeks. I've been drawn into your magic tar pit trap. I wish I could eat your cancer when you turn black.

(Since I got a few request to hear more about Takashi's past I thought I'd see what I could come up with so I hope you guys enjoyed and let me know if it lived up to expectations)