Reverse the Unfulfilling World

「15」

Chapter Fifteen: Juuzou Suzuya

"I-it's nothing... You can continue this thing, I'm doing... I knew you were good at cooking." Naoi just said and started walking away

"E-Eh?! N-Naoi-san—!" Yuri haven't continue while she saw Naoi was getting away from her sight.

~~~

"That's why... I wanted to ask you that... were you really the ghoul who I saw...?" Juuzou asked seriously. Ayato remained in silence, his fists are clenching.

"N-No..." He said.

"Are you sure about that?" Juuzou said but Naoi saved him by the sudden appearance and distracted the moment.

"Oi, Ayato-kun..." Juuzou said, looking at the man, standing uncomfortably.

"What's with the sudden appearance?" Juuzou said.

"Everyone, I wanted to let you know something..." Naoi said. The two just stared at him and waited for him to speak.

~~~

"You told me to do this so I'm seriously going to do it!!" She raised her voice while cooking.

"It's not my fault if this is raw or over-cooked. I didn't decide on cooking! You just suddenly ordered me and disappeared, hah!" The magenta-haired girl, talking to herself, recalling to what happened earlier. After a few minutes~ She finally finished cooking the meal.

"Yes! Finally done!!" She said and placed the meal on a trey. She bring the trey towards to where they are in. She stopped by a far distance after seeing them, frightened while Naoi was speaking. She was too afraid to cut and disturb their discussion. She stood a little more minutes until she fit in.

"Uhm, is it alright if I cut in?" Yuri said nervously. Juuzou noticed her and smiled.

"Of course, it's alright!" Juuzou said joyfully. Yuri placed the bowl of sushi with different kinds of toppings on it which attracts them the most.

"Whoa! Did you really made this?!" Juuzou asked interestedly while staring at the food.

"It's so eye-catching..." Ayato said.

"I knew you could do it." Naoi said calmly. She began sitting next to Naoi and Juuzou.

"Thanks for the meal!" Everyone said, with their hands pressed together through their chests. After that, they started preparing their chopsticks and began eating. Naoi started tasting a small piece. His eyes widened as he recalled. Tears started forming on his eyelids. He hung his head a little.

"It's... very..." He said, his voice is shaking. Juuzou and Ayato knew about his situation while Yuri began to worry.

"Everyone, we have to finish the fight by now... Is everyone deal with it?" He asked calmly.

"Yes..." Everyone said with a low voice. They continued on eating. Yuri glanced at Naoi who just remained in silence and watch his empty plate; he has already finished eating. The girl thought for a moment. He noticed the 'status bar' on her sight. It was now 3 full hearts and 1 no-hearted.

"Hey, come and take a look at the status bar at our sight... it changed!!" Yuri said joyfully. It made everyone glance to her and analyzed their sight.

"Does it mean that..." Naoi said and glanced to the two.

"W-What?!" Juuzou said, dropping her chopsticks as she finished eating, her face is pure red.

"You got the actual point." Ayato said calmly, placing his chopsticks gently on the table. "Hah?!" the girl exclaimed.

"Finally, they have follow their hearts!!" Yuri teased happily.

"S-shut up..."

"Then, we shall start getting back to our real business." Naoi said and stood up from his seat. They started leaving their company and started having a long trip.

Naoi and Yuri was awkwardly walking in the front while Ayato and Juuzou was chatting a little. They're still walking a half distance to reach the destination for an hour. The sun was going to get settled. The skies finally turned orange.

"How long is this going to take???" Yuri said exhaustedly. Naoi glanced at his back, looking up to his allies.

"We'll take a break for a while..." He said, they headed in a small space and sat on the smooth rocks. They ate some of their packed foods silently. After a while, they began going back to their trip. In the middle of the journey, Juuzou started kneeling and collapsing down.

"Juu..." Yuri supposed to approach her but stopped by the leader. Ayato walk closer to her, sitting and giving out a hand. "Are you alright...?" He asked. Juuzou glanced at his hand and glance back to her boots. The half of her legs we're see-through.

"It's finally time..." She said to herself.

"What is it?" Ayato asked. Juuzou just said and stared at her legs.

"What's wrong with—" Ayato haven't continue when he tried placing a hand on her foot but it was just like nothing. He can't touch it, it was already fading. It made the boy's eyes widened.

"Does it means..." Yuri said she started worrying.

"What the hell...?" Ayato said, trying to touch the vanishing parts of her but it was useless. He tried placing his hands on her shoulders, it was visible.

"Thanks for hanging out with me, everyone! And now I shall serve my life for the powerful ones, our leader!" She said joyfully, mixed with sadness.

"You can't! You're not going to leave us already!" Ayato said. It made the girl glance at him, anxiously. He started grabbing both of her hands, and wrapping it around his shoulders. He lifted himself as Juuzou's started to heat for a moment.

"You're coming with us 'till we reach the door, right?" Ayato said, grabbing both of her thighs.

"Yes!" Naoi and Yuri both said. Juuzou's tears started falling, she forced a smile and hid her eyes on the man's shoulder. "I'm... so happy..." She said, her voice cracked. The boy sighed.

"You weren't, I feel my back wet you know... You should stop crying..." Juuzou just nodded her head and remained silent, they began to walk. After a while, Ayato haven't felt the girl on his back. It made him stop from walking.

"Juuzou...?" He said, searching for the girl who supposed to be in his back.

"Is there a problem— W-where's Suzuya?" Naoi asked curiously. They all gazed around 'till they heard her voice.

"I'm right here..." Juuzou said, standing against the light at a distance to them. She was already transparent as her tears are visibly flowing down her face, and what's more surprising was her hair was turning white.

"Juu-chan...?" Yuri said.

"I've been always happy whenever I am with you all! And I'm... very thankful for that!" Juuzou said. Ayato started clenching his fists while staring at the girl. She wiped her tears and removed her pigtails on her hair as she approached the man. She grabbed his hands and placed the ribbon on his hands.

"I'll give this back to you... And let's hope, we all will meet again!" Juuzou said.

"I'm sorry... but... I lied to you..." Ayato said, he started shivering. Juuzou tilted her head and smiled. "What is it?"

"Actually... I was the one you see... the ghoul..."

"I knew that. And now I realized that, we all have different types of cause in stress... Like when, Ayato-kun knew about the meaning of the world... His eyes started turning red, my hair; turning white. And you, turning into a ghoul, that's why there's no reason for me to hate you... After all, I knew you were afraid to tell us about that... because you thought everyone will leave you..." Juuzou said which made the boy in front of him speechless, his fists loosening. Ayato stared at her black-mixed-white hair. The white started to cover up all the blacked colored.

"But please know that... I will never leave you...!"

Next Time: Ayato Kirishima

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