[Reader's POV]
Shizuo and I have arrived at the train station. There is no ambulance that can reach the village. There is no other way but to use the train. Luckily, as we got in, the train segment is in good condition.
Just a while earlier, when I regained my consciousness and I was pinning Shizuo on the ground, the people all had terrified looks at me. I didn't want it. I am the one who they respect as their hero, their Protector! What I see in their eyes is a monster as they stare at me meekly. What's wrong? I am a monster; you see! I even hurt the man I would last wanted to hurt. Never in my life.
While I was not myself, I was totally in the black. I couldn't hear nor see nor feel a single thing. I was a void. I was nothing but emptiness, not even death can compare. I was inanimate, like my self did not exist. The only think that what brought me back was Shizuo's call and his will to bring me back. Had it not been him, I'm totally done for.
I was slow in realizing it. Shizuo carved an irreplaceable place inside me... that I would willingly face dangers to protect him. Yet, that isn't what he wanted. He would gladly turn me away from the face of imminence and let its powerful claws slash his flesh. How could I not notice...?
I scurried away from him in confusion and I returned to my old thrashed house. Shizuo was behind me. I found Aaron unconscious, yet alive, unharmed by his own sister. I was relieved. The man behind me carried my frail younger brother as we left the house and my unconscious uncle who betrayed us.
Now, since then, Shizuo and I haven't spoken to each other. From a distant mirror I glanced, I can tell that he is looking at me. I occasionally drift my eyes away so he wouldn't notice. I was a mess and I didn't want him to rub it on my face and say: I told you so.
He's back to being cold towards me. He's angry at me; no doubt.
Sooner, we arrived at Ikebukuro station. Celty-san was there, waiting for us. When she saw us, she didn't waste time. She turned her bike into a van with some sort of trick to accommodate us. While we were inside, we could hear a horse's galloping.
We ended in their apartment in no time. Shizuo carried Aaron as he ran into the operating room. Dr. Shinra has prepared his tools. Lady Mirae and Malana worriedly welcomed us inside, especially the unconscious Aaron, but they were told not to enter the operating room. Thus, they waited with me in the living room while Celty-san and Shizuo-san helped Dr. Shinra.
Lady Mirae and Malana hugged me despite my appearance and condition. "Thank you for listening to us," the old lady said. Malana didn't say anything anymore. Her hugged showed me her gratefulness. She must be worried sick after she saw Aaron like that.
I also sincerely hope that Aaron will open his eyes, otherwise, Malana will be very lonely.
There are so many questions flooding in my head right now. What exactly happened back in the village? Why did Chikara-san do something like that? You are the only one that understands him, Mirae-sama. Why did you let such a thing happen? Until now, I am afraid... so afraid of things, even towards myself.
As I looked at the old lady, she refused to meet my gaze. She would always turn her head aside and hold close to Malana. I couldn't dare to approach her, not in this situation. She is definitely hiding something to me, but I cannot put that suspicion over this moment that Aaron can hardly be saved. I don't want him to suffer death.
We waited long hours this night. I took the opportunity to clean myself. We had food to eat, but our stomachs are filled with everything that happened tonight. My short time of happiness during the festival has turned to my longest hours of despair. As I sit steadily on the bench, I could feel the weight of a hundred kilos as the clock ticks in total silence.
In a few hours, I heard the door of the clinic creak. I stood up worriedly as the other two did at the same time. I walked to the door just to be faced by the Shinra-san. Celty-san and Shizuo-san stood behind him.
"How did the operation go?" I shakily asked him. I read their facial expressions hopefully, but they we're expressionless the entire moment. "Nothing bad happened, right?"
A kind smile suddenly covered the doctor's face. "The operation was successful!" he exclaimed as he pat my shoulder. "You owe be big time for this, okay?"
Before he could go, I rummaged my pocket for the check I received from the fighting festival. "Here," I said as I put it in his hand. "I give it all to you. Please treat us in the future as well."
Shinra-san excitedly took the money and hugged me tightly as he said, "Of course, you little trouble maker! Count on me!" He let go of me all of a sudden as he probably felt daggers being thrown to him by someone's gaze. As he turned his back to me and saw the old lady, I saw his happy smile turn into a foul scowl. I knew what he was thinking.
I looked around and everyone else are looking at the old lady with disdain. Malana felt frightened and hid behind her granny.
The old lady worriedly asked Shinra, "Is Aaron going to be okay soon?"
"Don't worry. He only had anemia and we replenished his blood," Shinra replied monotonously. "Feed him well. He'll wake up soon." Then, he disappeared to his room to change his coat.
"Thank God," the old lady says in relief. Malana is relieved as well.
The old lady walked to me and hugged me again. "Thank you, too... Leena," she said as I hugged her back.
"Cut the crap, old lady!" Shizuo angrily intervened. "That is not her real name!"
-
[Shizuo's POV]
(F/n) was very shocked and angry at me as I spoke my mind. Celty was taken aback, too. I could see it in (F/n)'s eyes. She's also perturbed, but she chooses to defend the old lady. Shinra returned.
"Shizuo-san! She is an old lady! Could you please not fight?!" she angrily told me.
Yet, I ranted on. "Leena Prestn... is that the name you gave her? Why? Are you her real family?" I was holding back badly but I don't think how much longer I can last. Celty and Shinra instinctively grabbed me. "Putting a child in danger and setting (F/n) to save him so that she could berserk and get destroyed by the people... is that part of your stupid plan?!"
"Old lady won't hurt Aaron!" Malana shouted, trying to defend her granny. (F/n), on the other hand, is frozen, disbelieving what I say.
I couldn't stop myself. I could finally know the truth. Why... Why did (F/n) become like this? Why did she forget us all like we never met? "Is that it? Was I right?! Answer me! The (F/n) I know lost her family and had become a hunter to help herself!"
The lady stood frozen on her foot. She couldn't say anything back at me.
"Stop it! Stop it, big brother!" Malana cried. "You are lying!"
"Your granny is the one who is lying!" I unintentionally growled at her, ignoring her feelings and her fright as I squeezed the lady to spill the truth. "All this time, she manipulated you, (F/n)! She used you! And she's thrown you like garbage! Now, how can you still trust her?!"
"Shut up... enough..." I hear (F/n) mutter as she clenched her trembling fist to me. She was going to punch me and I knew, for sure, that her punch filled with her emotions will certainly be painful.
I was about to close my eyes before she could punch me, but I saw the old lady hold her arm back. "He is right..." she told her as she flashed her a sad smile.
(F/n)'s tears fell beautifully as she dropped her fist to her side. "I'm sorry...?" she disbelievingly asked. Malana herself is so surprised.
"I am really sorry..." says the old lady as she gently slumped to her knees and groveled in front of (F/n). (F/n) finally believed that her granny lied and now, she couldn't move a muscle to stop her from groveling.
-
[Normal POV]
After several minutes, everyone have calmed down. They sat on the bench to hear everything out. They made an unspoken pact that they will not lift a finger to harm each other in any way, especially since the young child has been traumatized by the dramatic scene she witnessed just now.
"Chikara and I are really at fault, (F/n)..." the old lady apologetically began as she used an unsure tone when mentioning (F/n)'s name. (F/n) herself is not used to it. "He and I found you lying past the gate of the Archen Hannes Village, our new place to begin our research and experiment."
(F/n) nodded calmly, rubbing her thumb as she held the old lady's hand, making her feel that it is alright to her now and she wants to hear the story.
"You we're barely alive. You we're weak and your eyes have no hope for tomorrow, like you're only waiting for death to come to you... We thought that it is more convenient to use someone who has given up their life for the formulation we injected to you held no guarantee if your body can handle it. Indeed, you we're very gifted as you survived it. Others who have been injected that serum died in a flash." Malana also listened carefully as her granny tells the story. She was lucky to hear the truth from Mirae-san herself.
(F/n), having no idea of what happened before that, continued to listen silently. Everyone else quietly listened to the story instead of shooting sarcastic questions and statement to the old lady who just recovered to her calm state.
"You, my child are a very talented and promising one. You believed in fairytales, fables, and likely stories. Chikara-san wanted you to cherish stories like that. He created the Berserker tale to make it your inspiration and guide in life..." she continued.
Malana thought loudly to herself, "So the Berserker tale was all a lie. It was taught in school but it is all Uncle Chikara's lie." Malana felt so much distrust in her words that Mirae-san couldn't say anything to tell her it's wrong. (F/n) is no longer surprised when she found out that the Berserker's tale is just created by a man, and not a single man as pure and kind hearted as Alan exists. Not even a perfect wife like Aliyah can be found on the face of Earth.
(F/n) found the right time to ask two of the most important questions. "Why did you help Chikara-san commit a crime like that? What is driving you so much to do such a thing?"
Mirae-sama breathed heavily at this. Answering those questions take a lot from her. "Chikara being my nephew is all a lie..." The people, even Malana, are no longer surprised by the chain of lies. Nearly everything they believed are lies. A lie after another lie comes like there's no end to it. It is someone's ultimate ploy. "The truth is, he is my one and only son," she said with a sad smile.
Everyone made a face that tells her that her answer doesn't help at all. Their faces tell the old lady that she didn't answer (F/n)'s questions.
"The real story dates longer than ten years ago..." she said sadly. "Would you like to listen to everything and believe what I say?"
"Everything that you have said so far is that truth, right?" Shinra asked inappropriately that Shizuo, (F/n) and Celty all glared at him. He was stunned. "Alright. We'd like to hear it from the start."
Mirae-sama took a deep breath as she began telling the story of Omitaka Tatsuhiko. She told everything in the same detail as Fumi did to Aaron back in the village. She proudly told them of how the people in the Kabuyano village have poor academic scholars and how Tatsuhiko's team of five rised above all medical research team in the capital, how the village of Archen Hannes was plagued with an incurable disease and how the government pressured Tatsuhiko's team to work on the cure, how the unsafe cure was distributed by the government and taken by the villagers of Archen Hannes, how the innocent villagers were killed by the medicine and how their relatives demanded Tatsuhiko's and his team's heads, how their execution was publicized and how the Kabuyano villagers wanted to avenge the big five medics. She continues her story to when the leader of the avengers arrived and where the story gets more interesting.
"One day, Tatsu-kun returned to our village. He came to me first and I alerted everyone else. We we're all shocked when we saw him alive and well. We rejoiced! However, in his eyes lived the pure lust for blood. He wanted only to overthrow the government and to terrorize those who led his and his team's execution. Of course, I was afraid. His eyes were nothing like before. He is consumed by hate, like he is given life for that purpose. I hardly believed it was him because I saw with my own eyes how he died, but somehow, he was revived," the old lady told the story nonstop. "He wanted to hide his identity and assume a different character. He named himself Ayuno Komihara as a revolt leader, while he uses the name Ayuno Chikara inside the house."
It was really Chikara-san, through and through. How could such a great man as he turn into a heartless demon? That passage was written all over (F/n)'s expression.
"My real name is Omitaka Mirae," the old lady formally introduced herself. "Chikara introduced himself to the village as the illegitimate son of my husband to another woman. He claimed that he and Tatsu are close brother, and that he, above everyone else wanted revenge. That is how he got everyone to blindly support him."
It has gotten really late in the night but none of them are feeling sleepy although they are all tired. Celty and Shinra have decided to let everyone stay in their apartment due to such circumstances.
"Along with him is a beautiful young lady. She was blind and always clings to him, like a love-struck woman. She was the first subject to the Berserker research, our weapon against those who humiliated us. After the experiment on her was not successful, I never saw her again. I never even learned her name. I asked my son many times but he would always silence me whenever I ask. He has turned into a frightening demon." The old lady was shaking in fear as if remembering the past. "But now, he has become more animated and does not usually go intimidating. But of course, there's no telling to his limit."
Shinra intervenes again. "He may be your son, but how can you still let everything slip after what happened to the lady who came with him?"
"I am his mother," Mirae-sama strongly replied. "A mother would do everything for her child, no matter how absurd it may be. That is how much I love him. He's died once, you know!"
Shinra was silenced at this. This is where a mother's love and strong devotion to their child can be scary.
Celty then asked what Shinra was not able to. "How about the two children? If you said you'd do everything for this Chikara, why did you turn against him and chose to save the child instead?" Malana cowered once more.
Although she didn't ask it, the atmosphere added more questions. Did you do it because Aaron is a child? Was it to set (F/n) up as well? Are you related to the children? Are you not aware that Chikara planed such a treacherous thing?
Mirae-sama looked down and smiled. "Malana and Aaron are both my grandchildren, Tatsu's only children, not twins but only months apart," she said.
"Granny..." Malana mumbles as she tugs on the old lady's shirt.
"Tatsu was a married man. After Tatsu was falsely accused and condemned to be executed, his wife cut all her connections with him. The second child was already born. She was not strong enough to kill her children and thus abandoned them in an orphanage where they were bullied. I searched for them and claimed them. After that, Chikara and I decided to erase their memories and ease them of their past." Mirae-sama said as she wrapped an arm around Malana.
"What I couldn't forgive about him is that he dare murder his own son for his ambitious experiment. I never once knew until it was late. That is why, I'm turning my back against him!" she exclaimed, then she turned back to (F/n), who's name she's been using for a while now. "(F/n), let me redeem myself for what I have done to you."
The old lady took a vial from pocket and handed it firmly to (F/n). "Take this antidote. I am quite sure that Chikara has set you off to this place with some poison. If you drink this, you will recover your memory as well."
Somehow, after all that she said, everyone else accepted her... that she is betrayed and that she won't lie anymore. Shinra and Shizuo, especially, have trusted that Mirae is not giving (F/n) a dangerous substance for some ulterior motives. There is no reason for her to want to overthrow her son for more selfish desires. That is their right decision.
(F/n), being the selfless girl she is, could hardly accept it. "But, Mirae-sama... What about Malana and Aaron...?"
"Don't worry. I was there when Chikara created the antidote. It's effective and I can recreate it," Mirae reassured her.
(F/n) looked at the vial intently. She stood up and brought the glass vial close to the light. The antidote has a very calming color. (F/n) placed her hand on the cork to twist it, but before she could, she fainted from exhaustion and the aftereffect of suddenly using the Berserker's true power.
The moment she woke up, she could feel something cold and tasteless moist her mouth. She feels complete unlike before. She chooses to close her eyes and let her other senses speak to her as she feels the presence of someone else in the room.
That person touched the top of her head the way he did at the end of the fighting festival. He was there with her. She could see his silhouette... the man of her dreams. As if she was dreaming, she saw him talking to her.
"(F/n)... I wish you'd share me your burdens. I'm always on your side," he said in his deep masculine voice. He stood up from the side of her bed and leaned on her to gently kiss her forehead. "...I love you."
The feeling lingers. As (F/n) finally opened her eyes, no one was there. The door creaked close on its own.