𝕯𝖎𝖆𝖇𝖔𝖑𝖎𝖐 𝕷𝖔𝖛𝖊𝖗𝖘: 𝕯𝖆𝖗𝖐 𝕱𝖆𝖙𝖊

Chapter 30

He was as evil as all of them though.

He heard the steps coming towards him, and he straightened his spine, knowing the first attack Reiji will shoot at him would be about his posture. At this point he felt like the younger son, though Reiji had always assumed the position of caretaker ever since he could remember.

The dark haired boy pushed his glasses back on the bridge of his nose. "I assume you have done it?"

Shu looked down at the ground. "I'm mortified that you have reduced me to being just a mural artist."

Reiji didn't seem to like the tinge of humour in Shu's voice. "That is not a mural, though I know you wouldn't know what a mural is in the first place." Reiji sighed in disapproval. "Good for nothing brat."

Shu relaxed a bit. "Where is the bride?"

Reiji flinched just a bit. "She's being retrieved right at this moment."

Shu crossed his arms across his chest. "I'm not surprised that you let her go like that."

Reiji closed his eyes shut, perhaps being unable to bear his older brother saying something sensible for once. "Shut up. We ran into some unpredicted circumstances."

"You probably thought her dumb enough to sit quietly while you sliced her for the ritual."

Reiji cocked his head towards Shu. "And you would have speared her while on the altar, right?"

Shu wouldn't have bothered with the offhand remarks Reiji gave him, but today was different. Today Beatrix was coming back to life, and they had a small chance to get their lives back on track, behave like normal siblings should.

"I wouldn't have done anything like you would have," he tried stroking Reiji's ego. "You would have done what our father did. After all," Shu smiled at him, "You are just like him."

Reiji's eyed reduced to slits, as he turned around, facing away from his brother. Shu didn't know whether Reiji had taken his 'compliment' in good spirit or not. "I would keep the bride imprisoned in the room on the third floor. Where she used to live before the awakening of Cordelia."

"From where Laito pushed her to her death as well," Shu said. The irony of the situation might have made him laugh, if it was not for the seriousness in the night air around them.

Reiji looked back at him; his lips curled up in a smile. "Every story must end from where it started."

***

Subaru felt the cold stone floor pressed up against his cheek. Something wet and sticky pooled beneath him, and he soon realised that it was blood. Pulling himself up, he leaned against the wall behind him. His fingers curled against the cuffs around his wrists, his elbows scratching against a hard steel chain that bound him to the wall beside him.

He heard a rustle beside him. The slightest sliver of moonlight filtered through the tiny window above him, the ray striking upon the jail cell opposite to him. He could only see a pair of mismatched eyes from this point, but it was enough for him to know who it was. Blonde hair bounced in front of the glowing eyes as he heard a distinct chuckle. It was the same high pitched noise of the idol. "Kou?"

"Yo, Subaru kun," the Mukami dragged himself up, glad to have the chance to interact with the tsundere one last time, perhaps. "I've been up for around two hours, and a lot has happened during that little time."

Subaru sighed. "The plan didn't go as we expected it to," he brought his hands to wipe off the metallic taste of blood on his lips.

Kou must have nodded, because he continued. "I should have been more careful. It all happened because I was careless with my gift." Subaru didn't know how to respond. There was no chance fighting against a force like Reiji at this point. They had been preparing to lose ever since deciding to go up against his half-brother. There was a thin chance, and had Reiji been less of the conniving conspirator he was, it would have worked well. Subaru had to admit, Reiji was a fucking genius for foiling the multiple layers of their plan.

"We thought he would rather target Ruki and drive him away from masochistic kitten, as it had always been the bigger threat than little ol' us trying to set her escape in motion."

"Which was why Ruki employed us in the plan in the first place." Subaru tugged at his chains hard. "I can't believe we were led into his trap."

"Well, why did you help her in the first place?" Kou teased him, "Ruki and I would have escorted little masochistic kitten ourselves."

"Shut your mouth, you fucking dweeb." Subaru forced himself to look at the boy. His pink eye glowed brighter in the barely lit dungeon. "How did your eye fail to notice how Reiji lied to your face?"

Kou hummed at first, ignoring the question. Subaru groaned, knowing that Kou would demand something childish in return. "What is it?"

"You forgot to say please." Kou's voice hit an octave higher.

"Yeah, yeah." Subaru couldn't believe how long he hadn't gotten angry at him. "Tell me why you couldn't see through Reiji. Please." His voice was hesitant.

Kou fell into an inspective silence, apparently searching for the words that would fit best in his explanation. Subaru thought it was an uncertainty of the universe, something that had snowballed into something much larger than it was supposed to be. Kou finally broke his silence, simply saying, "The eye is unreliable at times. Especially when I use it too much." Kou shook his head. "I used up the legitimate power at a time we didn't even need it."

Subaru contemplated over other things that had gone wrong. Ayato was believed to be working with them, but Subaru soon noticed that he had an agenda of his own. He had noticed Ayato and Kanato discussing something about Cordelia's heart a few nights before, while Yui was in a coma. He didn't understand why they kept referring to Cordelia's heart, when it clicked into him that Yui still was harbouring her heart. Apparently for Cordelia's children, it didn't matter if the girl was safe or not, what did matter was that the heart inside her was destroyed. It must have been a great motivation for Ayato, for he had been bold enough to keep his most hated enemy under the same roof in order to trick Yui into a false sense of comfort, with her "friend" by her side.

If only they had trusted her more and divulged the information...

Subaru heard a clang of metallic chains in the dark, and they both went very still. Something wet and squishy hit the floor, the sound repulsive to Subaru. He strained himself to listen to the sound, as the idol opposite to him called out in the dark, his voice trembling with fear. "Yuma?"