Note: Inspired by Orthros no Inu.
Disclaimer: Standard disclaimer applies.
Rain continued to beat down on my tired body, yet I could care less of my current predicament. I peered down uncaringly at various people weaving in and out of the traffic with his or her umbrellas, trying to stay dry as much as possible. I let out a cold smirk at one person's misfortune of carelessly bumping into another, thus dropping her umbrella and resulting the rain to drench her. Once I had my fun to sneering at other people's misfortunes, I raised my right hand to the darken sky, and let the rain cleanse my body as if I was in a shower.
This power of mine… it could be very useful…
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"Ne, Yuushi, if you have the power to kill a person with a touch of your hand, what would you do?" Mukahi Gakuto inquired to his doubles partner. He and the rest of Hyoutei tennis team sat around a round table, and were supposed to be discussing about the upcoming matches. Yet, the group had once again strayed off topic.
"Why the sudden inquiry?" Oshitari Yuushi responded with an eyebrow raised as he looked at his doubles partner. The remaining Hyoutei regulars just shifted the attention towards the doubles players, whilst Atobe let out a string of muttered rants of how everyone was supposed to be focused on "Ore-sama's awesomeness".
"My sister made me watch this drama yesterday and she got me hooked to it," the redhead answered with a casual shrug, and continued, "So what would you do?"
The tensai just held a contemplative expression with letting out a small smirk before giving a response, "Hmm… I could kill anyone I wanted without any evidence, and the police can't capture me,"
"Oshitari-san!" Ootori chided with a frown and added, "It's wrong to kill people for no reason at all,"
"So that means if I have a reason, I could do it?" Oshitari smirked with a calculating expression, making the second-year frown harder.
"I didn't mean it like that…" Ootori added.
"Oi, teme! Stop picking on Choutarou!" Shishido shouted protectively, coming to the said person's rescue. The tensai, on the other hand, just chuckled at the dash specialist's statement but did not say anything else.
"What would you do, Gakuto-kun?" Jirou asked, surprisingly his teammates by his attentiveness. He plopped his elbow on the table and rested his hand underneath his chin.
"I would… well, it's like what Yuushi said. I can kill anyone who pissed me off so badly," Mukahi said with a nod of confirmation, and added, "What about you Jirou?"
The said person just shrugged in response before answering, "I, for one, don't want anyone to know about it. After all, I don't want to be an experiment and be studied. Then again… If I had the power, I could just kill anyone who dares to cross with me," At the end of his little speech, he let out a cold smirk and glanced at his teammates with a cold glance, immediately sending shivers down their spines.
"What about you, Atobe?" he asked cheerfully with a grin, instantly making his teammates forget about his earlier expression.
"Ore-sama does not need to participate in this meager discussion," the Atobe heir answered regally yet arrogantly at the same time. With a huff, he turned away from the group with his arms crossed and blatantly ignored the starry expressions from his fans…both boys and girls alike.
"Why, because you're too awesome for us?" Jirou inquired again jokingly.
"Of course," that was the serious response the Hyoutei tennis team received.
"Senpai-tachi, you have way too much time on your hand," Hiyoshi commented with a sigh, wondering why Mukahi-senpai started that topic.
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I was once again back on that same spot… on top of some rooftop, staring down at the hustling people below. Just like last time, it was raining… which made a perfect cloak for me to stand here, and not have the people worry about me. I made a habit of coming here whenever it rained, mostly because even if someone did look up, he or she cannot see me. It was a perfect disguise.
Ever since I had discovered my power, I had these urges to utilize it for my own personal gain. This 'Hand of a Devil' as I liked to call it… it is dangerous, that much I knew; but I am trying to resist the urge to make another kill. I did not want to become a murderer, despite having this power.
Why did Kami-sama gave me this power to end someone else's live at the touch of my hand?
I stayed inside my home as the rain continued to pour down, sipping on my tea and eating finger sandwiches. Inside my living quarter, I felt safe and content as I listened to raindrops hitting against my window in its rhythmic notions.
Pitter, patter, pitter patter.
Despite the lightning flashing across sky, which was closely followed by loud thunder, I still felt content and somewhat soothing to listen to the rain. I felt as if I was in my own world… undisturbed and silent. It was just me and the nature. That was until someone knocked on my door, startling me to the point that I dropped my teacup on the floor, and cut my finger with a sharp edge.
I just stared at the blood oozing out of my finger, which slowly began to heal until there was nothing. Not even a scar.
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"Okay, so this is our day 2 of club meeting for the upcoming matches' lineup," Hiyoshi started as he sat with his upperclassmen during lunchtime once again.
Before he could continue with his speech, Mukahi interrupted buoyantly, "Continuing from our discussion yesterday, if you had the power to heal someone at the touch of your hand, what would you do?" His teammates just sighed at another outlandish idea, but decided to go with the flow. After all, it was better than discussing tennis every single waking moment.
"Just think of all the things you could with that power. You can cure the incurables," Oshitari pointed out with a smirk, and continued, "Plus, you can become a renowned doctor without having to try hard. Think of all the ladies that will fall for you,"
"Leave it to Oshitari to think about women," Shishido mumbled with a dramatic rolling of his eyes.
"What would you do Shishido?" Oshitari inquired suavely with a smirk.
"Che, what do you think? I'll only heal selective people, and leave the others who doesn't deserve to live to rot," that was the answer from the dash specialist. With his arms crossed, Shishido looked from the horrified expression of his doubles partner. Sometimes, he thinks Choutarou is too soft-hearted; but then, that was the reason why the said doubles partner is special.
"Shishido-senpai," that was all Ootori said with a frown, and finally sighed.
"Of course, you'll try to help as many people as possible," Shishido sighed with an amused smirk replacing with his earlier frown.
"Of course," Ootori replied with a determined nod, thus earning exasperated sighs from his teammates to which he purposely ignored, and directed the question to one of his upperclassmen, "What would you do, Atobe-senpai?"
"Ore-sama asks that he be left out of your pointless discussion as Ore-sama has something more important to think about," the said person responded haughtily, and then took a sip of his imported coffee.
"Okay…. Then, what about you Jirou?" Mukahi redirected the question towards another regular after seconds of awkward silence. The remaining regulars could have said something to the statement, but they simply chose not to because none of them wanted to look stupid.
"Hmm… I don't know," Jirou answered with a yawn, and added, "I liked yesterday's question better. Healing is cool and all, but you can't heal a dead person. Besides, it's already pre-determined that how long a certain person lives, so why bother prolonging that time frame?"
After that little speech, no one knew what to say… not because each regular did not want to look stupid, but because each of them was too stunned by that remark. They were too shocked and surprised by the fact that Jirou's thoughts were that dark.
"B-but Jirou-senpai," Ootori stuttered as he tried to gather his thoughts, but the words quickly died in his tongue when he realized that the said was already sleeping on the table. In fact, Jirou was snoring softly.
"The power that you speak of is similar to modern medicine, perhaps slightly advanced," Atobe spoke calmly in his regal tone, and paused to take a sip from his expensive coffee before he resumed, "There are some things that can healed, but there are also some things that cannot be,"
Once again, the table was silent and lost for words.
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This time it was not raining, but rather… it was sunny. I opened my window to let the fresh air that was only possible after the rain to dance its way into my quarter. I leaned forward from my window, taking a long inhale of the scent and then exhaled loudly. The quiet chirpings from various birds, and rustling of the leaves from the slight wind was rather refreshing. It was then that I knew it was good to be alive.
"Young master, there is someone here to see you," one of my maids informed after a knock. Once I gave my confirmations to let that person in, I was rather surprised by who decided to come meet me.
"What are you doing here?" I inquired with a delicate raise of my eyebrow, and a smirk etching its way on my face.
"I figured it out, Atobe," he started whilst leaning against the wall near the door with his arms crossed. I almost fell in surprise, had I not gathered myself at the last possible second, when I saw a rather cold and menacing expression on his usually cheerful face. "Your 'God's hand' can only save so many people, but you can't bring back the dead. Think of how many people I'll kill with this power of mine,"
With a satisfied smirk at my baffled expression, he left in the same silent manner as he came in. Akutagawa Jirou… the one who possesses the 'Demonic Hand'.
Everything is going to be interesting from now on. It seems he and I are opposite... at least, in terms of the power we possessed.