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PROLOGUE NIGHT TERRORS
On a particularly cool night, a family slumbers peacefully. The mother and father hold each other close as they remain in dreamland. The two twin daughters toss and turn in their beds as they fend off unwarranted dreams. The oldest brother is lying on his side, allowing the chill of the night to give him a good night's rest. The youngest brother...
The youngest brother is looming over his parent's bedside with a sword. Emptiness resides in his dark pupils as he regards them, his parents, the people who were supposed to love him unconditionally. And they did - but sometimes love couldn't stop the darkness.
Love couldn't save people like him.
So he takes in a deep breath before slitting both of their necks in unison. His father's eyes remain closed but his mother's shoot open, and they stare at each other as she bleeds to death. It was as if she were asking him why he was doing this, and so he turned away, because he didn't really have any answers.
He makes his way to the twins' room. The two dark haired girls are sleeping peacefully, and it makes him hesitate. But then he remembers that hesitation will get him killed with the future he was destined to, and so he hurries inside and does what he must.
He draws his sword back, and delves it into his sister's chest, and much like with their mother - her dark eyes fly open to regard him. Her chest is bobbing with each shaky breath, blood staining the sheets almost immediately.
"W-Why are you doing this?" A frightened voice asks, and he looks over to find his other sister staring at him with wide, fearful eyes.
"Because I must." He tells her simply, watching as she backs away when he approaches. He pulls a kunai from his pouch then, aiming it at her before adding, "Because it is necessary."
He tosses it at her, and because she is a simple civilian, she lacks the basic skill to dodge it. The weapon lodges in her throat, instantly killing her. She falls back against the wall, before sliding lifelessly down it, blood pooling from the kunai embedded in her flesh.
The dark haired male makes his way to the last room then. It appears his older brother is sleeping but when he approaches, the light from the moon casts over his face to reveal that he is very much awake.
"So I see you saved me for last, huh little brother?" His older brother says, a small smile on his face for someone about to die. Like with the twins, Koaru hesitates. His older brother was the most dear to him, and of all the things he'd regret in his life, he was sure killing him would be the most shameful.
Kaito, his older brother, seems to sense his hesitation, and he sits up in bed and beckons him over.
"It's okay." The elders says but Koaru shakes his head because it isn't. Nothing about what he was doing was okay. But here Kaito was, trying to assure him even at a time like this.
"Get up!" Koaru shouts, tears brimming his eyes, "Get up and fight me you coward!"
His brother was a nin after all. And he just didn't feel right killing him in such a shameful manner.
"No, that's okay. I'm too tired." Kaito says with a shrug before leaning back in his bed, "So go ahead, Koaru. Finish what you've started."
But Koaru shakes his head. He wasn't going to attack unless his brother did first. He wanted to give the elder a decent death for a ninja, because it was the least he deserved. Sensing that, Kaito sighs.
"Must I do everything for you?" The elder complains before pulling a kunai from under his pillow. In the blink of an eye, he's standing before Koaru, plunging the weapon in his eye. But Koaru is too focused on his own sword slicing through his brother's chest. Kaito chokes out a cough, blood flying on his younger brother's face. He grips the younger's face then, with a serene smile, "See Aniki? You can do anything... you... can do... anything..."
Koaru could feel the weight of his brother when the deceased male crashes against his chest. He simply holds Kaito before picking him up and placing him back onto his bed. He makes sure the slip the elders eyes closed before leaving.
"Goodbye, Kaito." He whispers, pulling his sword from the elder's chest. The dark haired male doesn't offer another glance back as he pulls the window open and jumps out.
It's pouring down outside, the rain falling with vengeance. Koaru heads to the top of the roof, spotting a familiar figure waiting for him. They take in his bloodied state, and the kunai still embedded in his eye momentarily.
"This was necessary." They day with a feral grin before gripping the kunai and ripping it from the younger's eye.
Koaru screams in pain, the sound resonating amongst the raindrops. He drops to his knees on the rooftop, clutching his now empty eye socket as he writhes in agony.
The figure crouches down before him then, their black cloak adorned with red clouds swishing in the process.
"Everything you do is necessary." Is all they say before disappearing in a flicker.
And Koaru Hasegawa is left to his own pain, after his first push into the darkness while their words echo in his mind.
