A/N: Yo, how goes it? Have another story about Klein... and maybe suffering... YAY! Enjoy.
The man's face twisted, distorted. He took on a look of fear and horror as the blade before him was bathed in a crimson light. It was always the same. The face they showed him at the end... it was always the same.
"Disgusting..." Klein muttered under his breath.
He grasped at the falling droplets of water, desperately scrubbing his skin. Had this been the real world rather than the virtual, his skin would have already peeled away from his excessive scrubbing. He didn't feel pain from the scalding water anymore, he had grown use to it. But no matter how hot, the water never made him feel clean again.
The man begged, pleaded as Klein approached with his glowing blade. He didn't want to die, he wasn't prepared to die. He was nothing like those pros, the ones who were completely willing to throw their lives away for their sick games. The ones who would never show such a pathetic face at the end. He was someone who still feared death. And yet, even though he didn't want to die-
"Disgusting..."
It was still felt fresh in his mind, almost like it was still happening. The shriek was still ringing in his ears, the face was carved into his eyes, the smell, the feel, everything was still with him. Even if he should forget these things, that look was the one thing he would always remember. Even if he should not remember all the faces that showed it to him, that look would haunt him till the day he died.
This man deserved it, Klein knew that, but he was still a human life. Justice, right, good, justify it how you would, Klein was killing a human. He was taking a life. It didn't matter if this man had stolen the lives of others, killing was killing. It would be naive to assume it would have no effect on Klein's mental health. Klein was, after all, once a normal person. Killing wasn't a normal thing for him to take part in.
But someone had to do these jobs. Someone had to stop these people. Too many innocents had died already, someone had to stop them. If it wasn't Klein, someone else would have to suffer in his place... he had to do this. That was why he had accepted the position as one of Heathcliff's Executioners.
He let fly his blade, another life would be claimed by his sword. He lost count of how many he killed. He knew it was for a better tomorrow, that's why he could do it. Even as life after life weighed down on him. Even if he was covered in filth. He would let himself suffer so no one else would.
One more life for his blade. One more life that is saved. Hands forever soaked in blood. He's nothing but a killer.
He stole that man's life. It wasn't messy, it never was. There was never any blood or guts, just a bright show of colorful lights. Yet, despite that, he knew he was covered in filth. And no matter how hard he tried, he knew he would never be able to wash it off.
He slammed his fist against the wall, the little droplets of water cascading down his back. He was- "Disgusting..." -never going to be clean again.
A/N: Sooooo? What did you think? I really shouldn't be doing this until I finish writing something else, but it was so short I figured, 'Why not?' Actually, I was writing something else when the concept struck me. I was only going to write down a little bit and come back to it after I finished the other story, but... it didn't work out that way. I will not be posting another story until I finish the oneshot requested of me! Actually, I wasn't supposed to post this, but again, it was short so I thought, 'why not?'
Now, you guys are probably wondering about this whole, 'Heathcliff's Executioners', thing, right? I thought it would be kind of cool if, due to the abundance of PKers, Heathcliff banded together a small group of ten players to deal with them. Heathcliff gives them the mission, they take care of it.
Nobody knows about these Executioners. It is a top secret group. The only people who would know about them, well, they take that knowledge to their grave. Kirito, Asuna, and the rest of the cast do not know anything about this group. There aren't any rumors about an existence of such a group. But if there are rumors about them, it's only circulated amongst PKers. I just want to make it clear that none of the... let's call them surface players, none of them know of, or even have rumors about this group. That's how secret the group is supposed to be.
I actually have plans for another oneshot that explores this idea more. Again, though, I won't write or post it until I finish the other story I have to do. And, if any of you want to, I invite you to write your own story about this concept. Actually, for all I know, I'm not even the first one to come up with it.