Although it had been a fun day at the amusement park, the Mekakushi Dan were now completely exhausted, all their energy having been drained away by the rides and activities. But despite that, several of the members were still striking up a lively conversation as they made their way towards the park gates. There was hardly anyone left in the area now, but it was too expected, as the sun was setting soon. Yawning, Shintaro - one of the two most antisocial members of the group - was about to start complaining about how much his feet hurt when he caught sight of someone standing in front of them, just a few metres away.
The unknown person sported the blackest hair he had ever seen, and his eyes were an odd yellow, with the same coloured circle-like markings under his right eye. Everyone stopped in their tracks, apparently confused and shocked by the sudden appearance of the strange guy. No-one said a word, until Shintaro shifted his phone a little, a slight movement just enough to let Ene - a cheeky cyber-being who resided in electrical devices, especially those belonging to Shintaro's - see the person blocking their way.
A look of recognition passed through her eyes, and she muttered a few words in disbelief.
"Is that Konoha? But how..."
Despite not standing directly next to Shintaro's phone, the stranger acted like he had heard her, and his mouth turned up at the sides, to form a tiny smirk. One that told the others that he was indeed the person Ene referred to as 'Konoha', and that he was not someone they wanted to encounter at any given time. Not that it mattered anyway, since he was already standing right in front of them.
"Wha..." Kido, the leader of the group, opened her mouth to say something but Kano beat her to it.
He took a few strides up to Konoha and rather than trying to act scared or worried, he grinned cheerfully up at him, like as if nothing was wrong.
"Ah, hello there! Ahaha, sorry about us blocking the road like this... We were in your way, right? We'll be more careful..." He said in a casual manner, about to rejoin his friends again, when the taller of the two suddenly replied back in a small voice with something that made Kano instantly freeze.
"You're the 'deceiver' from that time, aren't you?"
And in that moment, they all knew. They had no idea who this person was, but he definitely knew about their eye abilities. Kido's ability to turn invisible. Seto's ability to read minds. Mary's ability to temporarily freeze people. Momo's ability to attract attention. And Kano's ability to deceive others.
"You've gotten quite good at 'using' it, haven't you?" He continued, his voice growing louder and more confident, his smirk transforming into a full-on sneer.
And in what must've only been a second, he whipped out a gun and had it placed against the back of the shorter guy's head, fingers curled around the trigger.
"Those wounds you hate so much are going to increase again." The quivering teen's eyes widened as he took in the words of the would-be murderer. A loud bang echoed throughout the air, and Kano fell forwards onto his knees, blood erupting from the hole in his head. His friends could only stare in shock and disbelief as the event unfolded, and it had to take a few seconds of processing what just happened, before Kido snapped to her senses and rushed over to the fallen boy's body, crying out his name.
Cradling him in her arms, she kept on repeating his name in between sobs, hoping that he was still miraculously alive. But he laid there unmoving, all life gone from his eyes, and by that, she knew it was too late.
Furious by what had just occurred to one of his best friends, Seto charged at Konoha with a yell, just like how a bull would charge at a red flag. But his actions proved to be futile, because before he could get his hands on the murderer, a bullet slammed itself forcefully into his stomach, knocking him onto the ground backwards. Coughing out blood, he glanced up to stare face to face into yellow, snake-like eyes. The last thing he would ever see before a hand grabbed him by his hair and something cold and metal was pushed into his mouth.
Bang!
Chuckling softly, Konoha let go of his victim and pulled the gun out, to aim it at the leader, still cradling Kano in her arms despite him already being dead.
Six gunshot sounds could be heard by the ones that still remained alive, and Kido fell onto the ground next to him.
Closing her eyes, Momo had her arms wrapped around Mary, the two of them cowering in fear with tears streaming down their faces. Momo let out a loud sob, wailing about why this had to happen, even as a certain piece of machinery was pointed in her direction.
However, before another shot could be fired, Shintaro suddenly jumped forwards in between the two girls and the killer, a look of determination and anger showing in his eyes for once.
Bzzt... Bzzt...
Had it just been coincidence or bad luck that his phone began ringing? But either way, before he could answer it, it had been forcefully snatched out of his hands.
Ene, still on the phone screen, had tears flowing down her face in steady streams, and there was no sign of her usual bubbly self at all. Which was too be expected of course.
Fingers curling around the phone, Konoha let out a sadistic, chilling laugh before crushing it in between his hand, causing glass pieces to fall around him like sparkly raindrops.
How did it come to this? Shintaro wondered, shaking in fear as the gun was turned towards him. Did I make a mistake somewhere?
With a cruel and cold-hearted sneer, the cause of all the tragedy and bloodshed prepared to squeeze the trigger again for the umpteenth time today.
Where did I go wrong-
Just before everything went white, a face flashed through his mind, one that he had not seen in many years. One that should've been forgotten ages ago as it was unnecessary, but was still remembered for some bizarre reason.
A smiling boy with dark hair and a mole under his right eye, Haruka Kokonose. He had met him at a school festival a few years back. But why was he remembering it now?
And then he knew why. There had to be a connection between the Haruka and the sicko standing before him.
His eyes widened.