WARNING: READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED AND MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR SOME READERS. CONTENT MAY CAUSE TRIGGERS. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
Sometimes, those who betray and cause the most pain are those who you consider an ally.
The room was silent, secluded from the outside world as you clenched your jaw. Your anger erupted like a dominant volcano awakening from its slumber, ready to cause destruction.
Your cheeks were flushed, while your facial muscles became rigid. "What is the meaning of this, Hisashi?" You slowly stood up, wiping your tears as you stared straight into his emotionless eyes. "How dare you...betray the Kamisato Clan and ruthlessly kill Ayaka?"
"It was for Inazuma--"
Your voice slowly grew louder as you interrupted him."--Inazuma this! Inazuma that! YOU murdered an innocent person! Don't you dare give me such a shitty excuse!"
"She was a darling pawn used and now discarded. Her death will not be in vain." He coldly stated, carefully observing any sort of movement you made.
"Her death shouldn't have happened in the first place!" You clenched your fists, fuming with anger. "You betrayed Ayato and the Kamisato Clan." You detested the man who thought nothing of Ayaka.
Hate was always a strong word but you hated Hisashi in the vilest, putrid, dreadful, and offensive way possible. You loathe the man standing in front of you. Every breath he took made you go insane. You would volunteer to go to the depths of hell to ensure he suffered eternally by your own two hands.
"God may forgive you but I won't. I hate you, Hisashi." You swiftly drew your sword out of your scabbard, ready to avenge Ayaka.
He took a deep breath, amused by your loathing towards him. "In your eyes, I am a traitor, but in my master's eyes, I am loyal." Hisashi leaped towards you, making the first move. The sounds of swords clashing with one another caused your heart rate to increase.
You managed to quickly block his blade before he took a few steps back. You rushed towards him, not waiting for Hisashi to gain his stability back. Your stance was elegant yet strategic, you were like a sakura petal floating on water.
Hisashi kept blocking your blade, he observed your bloodlust while taking a defensive stance. You mumbled, "How could you betray Ayato?"
The man scoffed, he pushed all his strength onto his sword, causing the both of you to leap away from each other. "Dearie, no one is loyal to the Kamisato Clan, including the Shuumatsuban."
The reason why no one was at the Kamisato Estate this evening was that this was...all planned, wasn't it?
Then who did these traitors work for?
What was the reason for Ayaka's death?
What was the reason for them to betray us?
Questions flooded your mind while you sped up to Hisashi, making yourself look like you were about to slash through his shoulder. He naively took the incorrect posture, placing his blade in front of his shoulder causing a detrimental opening for you to strike.
You had merely a few milliseconds to do it correctly. He was watching every single movement from you. Any sort of facial expression or looking at his opening would cause you to fail if he noticed your plan.
But if you fail, you could die as he had the ideal chance to sever your neck brutally.
Blood pounded inside your head, as you knew this was dangerous and brash. Nevertheless, you proceeded with this action. You quickly leaped, throwing your sword mid-air while reaching for his waist. Hisashi was too late to notice what you were doing and unfortunately fell on the wooden floor. His head forcefully crashed onto the foundation, causing his skull to bleed as you were on top of him, squeezing his neck with your hands.
His body kept flinching while he was trying to remove your hands. You were too lost in the thought of revenge to notice your electro-vision was beginning to crack. You yelled while breathing harder, "Who do you work for?!"
"T-Te..." Hisashi's skin turned purple-blue, indicating he was suffocating, as his hands were growing weaker.
You weakened your grip on his neck, letting go with one hand as you reached for his sword. He kept coughing, panting for air as if he was drowning.
The truth was: he was drowning.
Drowning in someone else's blood.
You grew impatient, not fond of his constant heavy gasps. You continued to crush his neck while you drew his sword closer, fixating on his eyes. Hisashi managed to splatter his words out clearly, "The two...Commissioners."
"What...?" You paused for a brief moment, trying to register what he revealed.
The man took the opportunity to quietly reach for his belt. He began wiggling an item he had tied to the loops of his pants in hopes of letting the object fall onto the floor so it can alarm his comrades.
Hisashi began losing consciousness due to his injured skull as he frantically jerked. You gradually started tracing the delicate skin of his throat with the sharp blade. You observed the skin slowly separate itself from the tissue like a rose opening its petals, showing the vulnerable bud.
"What would happen if I dig a little deeper, hm?" You were so lost in the moment, that even you were in a state of torment. You were fighting your inner self, resisting the desire for retribution. Your ability for nuance and generosity was gone.
His fearful expressions, along with his body responding in natural ways to survive caused you to immediately stop strangling and torturing him to death.
Your knuckles began to turn pale as you gripped the handle of the sword. Your eyes darkened, and not a single spec of light could be seen. You wanted to end Hisashi, but seeing his weakened state, made you feel that it wasn't right.
You closed your eyes, exhaling, "...Where is my husband?"
"Your husband....is about to return to the cycle." He slowly whispered yet he still had a heinous smirk on his wretched face.
Your eyebrows furrowed while sensing your veins throbbing behind your neck. You repeated your question once more, only this time, you pointed the sharp blade directly into Hisashi's eye. "Answer my question or lose your slight."
"....Tenryou Headquarters."
You instantly stood up, observing Hisashi choke, splattering his salvia all over the floor. You synced electro onto his blade before cruelly stabbing the sword deep into his leg. He immediately screamed in horror, feeling an agitating and excruciating pain in his body. His mouth was filled with foamy spittle while he involuntarily began to shed tears.
You turned your back against him, hurriedly grabbing your sword. You looked at Ayaka's dead body once more, murmuring, "May you never walk again, Hisashi."
With that, you slid the door open, and your flight response took over your body. You fleeted the room as adrenaline coursed through your veins. You heard a loud high-pitched screeching sound coming from the room Hisashi was in.
You ignored the sound and rushed out of the estate, never looking back. Your breathing quickened trying to appease for oxygen as you forced your legs to push harder. Your heart was filled with worries, overanalyzing what Hisashi said about Ayato:
'Your husband...is about to return to the cycle.'
Your eyes were filled with tears, fearing the possibility that Ayato would no longer be in this wretched world. Your breaths were sharp and frantic as you heard many footsteps getting closer to you. You felt a bead of sweat roll down your forehead as you slightly turned your head over your shoulder, witnessing a group of Shuumatsuban hunting you down.
You felt like a mouse running away from a mob of wolves. You were growing tired, your legs almost giving out but unlike a true mouse, you halted in your tracks. You might be small against a mass, but you sure had the guts of a lion.
A great look of bitterness swept across your face as your pulse raced. Some held their swords tightly, ready to cease you from going any further. One of the Shuutmastuban secretly started climbing a tree and pulling out their bow. They began to aim, holding the arrow firmly, waiting for the perfect moment to unleash the arrow.
A feeling of demise lingered, never have you thought of Ayato's loyal servants turning their back on him and his family. Never have you thought of the Tenryou and Kanjou Commission becoming your foe. It seemed the entire world was against you.
The scent of danger was loafing, you mumbled under your breath, closing your eyes, "Seems like I couldn't evade you after all."
Strong winds began flowing through the air along with dangerous sparks of electro. You concentrated all of the unstable energy floating. Many cracks formed around your vision as you struggled to create an invisible domain of life-threatening and terrible power surrounding the Shuumatsuban.
"Stop her!" A man yelled before the group of shuumatsuban jumped towards you, frantically wanting to injure you before they perish by your powers. The person hiding in the tree let go of the arrow before you immediately opened your eyes. A strike of a gorgeous yet bloody flash of purple reflected your iris.
Cries of terror filled the forest as well as pools of ruby red tainting the ground. Human blood was like scarlet paint splattered all over a white canvas. Bodies of the Shuumatsuban lay on the ground as if they were worn-out rag dolls.
The air smelled metallic yet an arrow pierced through the aura, coming straight for your arm, wounding you.
You groaned, holding your arm while shuddering, "Forgive me, for taking your lives..."
You weakly walked away, you were about to pass out but kept fighting the urge. Exhaustion was taking over but you had to reach the headquarters. The sky grew into a dull grey mirage, slowly preparing itself for a catastrophic storm. It was only evening, yet everything seemed bland and colorless.
You finally made it to Inazuma City, a few civilians gave you strange glances, wondering why you were wounded and covered with dried-up blood. You breathlessly ran over to the headquarters, everything seemed normal and fine.
Was Hisashi lying all along?
You sensed a menacing aura coming from under the ground, your gut was telling you to not step any further into the headquarters grounds. Even if you ignored your gut feeling, your body refused to move any further. It was like you were not the owner of your own body.
Under your shoes, you felt strange heat and radiation beneath you. The laughter of children passing by you and doushins marching around the headquarters seemed to not sense what you were feeling. Your heart was racing while your body trembled in apprehension.
Was your body overreacting?
Were you overly sensitive?
Have you lost your mind?
"Excuse me..." A doushin passed you, walking towards the headquarters, minding his own business until...
Silence.
It feels as if time had stopped momentarily.
A deafening and disturbing shock wave emerged mere seconds before a destructive elemental force erupted inside the headquarters and obliterated everything in its path. Debris and blood flew everywhere. The building that stood mighty and tall fell down, trampling innocent people.
You immediately ducked for cover, closing your eyes while bricks and rocks were thrown everywhere. Some got hit in the head while others were lucky enough to acquire minimum injury. The explosion seared the air, and rising smoke made it hard to see anything clearly.
Panic arose and people ran away for their lives as you sat there, paralyzed before you covered your mouth with your shaking hands. Cold tears started to stream down your face while hearing people screeching.
"Ayato...was inside that building..."
Ayato is...no longer here.
He's....gone.