"I've never, ever been haunted! Not even once!"
That was something of a lie.
He had been visited by the spirit of each and every man who threatened to visit him beyond the grave. They manifested themselves in various ways, depending on how powerful their wrath was. Some were so powerful they'd cause earthquakes that would damage his whole living situation yet leave the surrounding buildings completely unaffected. Others were so weak their ghosts would faintly appear in the darkness before Kazuya cackled at the sight of them, driving them off in a panic.
No matter how powerful they were, or what sorts of danger they caused, however, he knew there was no way they could harm him.
Property damage? Easily fixable. Within seconds, the blacksuits would be there at his beckoning to fix the damage in a matter of minutes. Or he'd just leave it as is, some of the damage the ghosts did was kind of neat. Made for good, bragging stories to spook guests when they weren't entertaining him enough, too.
Broken items? Didn't matter. Not like he had any sentimental attachment to the fragile items he owned to begin with; they were only there to entice women into thinking he was (financially) someone worth spending time with.
Whispers in the night? Minor annoyances. He wished they'd kick it up a notch and scream or something. Hell, why weren't they bellowing out their threats or gloating "I told you I'd haunt you"?
It'd gotten to the point that Kazuya would actively provoke them. Try all the things he'd been begged by the blacksuits not to do. There were results-the most notable being when he woke up to find that one of the deceased had carved his name into his arm; that was pretty cool.
But the problem was that they never, ever stuck to their promise to haunt him. To linger about his home. To persist. He almost wanted to be friends with these spirits-wouldn't that be something? The esteemed Hyoudou Kazuya, now regularly making connections beyond the grave! Maybe they could even gamble together. What possible gambles could he come up with for a ghost? His own soul? Ah, how exciting!
Alas, none had proven themselves to be men of their word. And thus, he never truly been haunted. So what he stated had mostly been the truth.
When he looked down at the bleeding body of the man who'd given him the most thrilling gamble of his life, he expected curses. Threats. Vows that he'd still try and avenge his friends one way or another. He'd done it plenty of times already while he was still alive and unscathed. Kazuya hungered to hear the anger and desperation in his dying words, trying to fight until the very end-it'd be the perfect way to cap off a perfect gamble.
Yet Itou Kaiji remained silent. He hadn't died yet; Kazuya could see him breathing, if barely. He knew he had to have enough energy to summon a "fuck you" at least.
"C'mon, Kaiji!" Kazuya said, grinning widely as usual, "Say somethin'. This is the last moment of your life, and I'm giving you the opportunity to say whatever you want to me. Anything! I won't do anything to you in return-I mean, why would I? You'll be dead in a matter of seconds and I'm not that mean."
Kazuya threw his head back in laughter. Kaiji's silence persisted. He at least gave Kazuya eye contact-but it wasn't even a glare. It was a blank stare, and not one of defeat or acceptance of his impending death coming to claim him, either; it was something indiscernible. It irked the writer in him trying to describe the sort of message he could tell Kaiji's eyes were trying to send him.
Kazuya gave Kaiji's body a light kick in the ribs. "Come ooon…call me a bastard…curse my name…tell me all the ways you wish you could kill me right now…come on, Kaiji!" He kicked his body again. "I'm dying to know-heh, sorry! That was pretty bad of me to say."
Kaiji simply continued to stare at Kazuya, his body remaining dormant and unresponsive as ever. Kazuya frowned. Was Kaiji's plan to piss Kazuya off by staying silent until he died? He'd be lying if he told himself it wasn't working, but that didn't make Kazuya any less determined to rouse a reaction out of him.
He bent down so he was at Kaiji's level, and the usual grin on his face changed into one of a neutral expression. "Hey, if you wanna just die silently, that's fine by me. But you'd be missing out on an opportunity to promise you'll haunt me."
"You said you'd never been haunted."
Kazuya's expression brightened. Finally, a reaction!
"Ahhh, you're right, you're right, I did say that!" He laughed, hitting himself in the forehead with the palm of his hand. "Well! I didn't tell you the whole truth of that. Y'see, I have been visited by those spirits-several times! But none have truly haunted me, y'know? None left an impression. But you, Kaiji…!"
He cupped Kaiji's bloodied face in his hands. "I can see it in your eyes! All those years of hatred and desire for vengeance against me and my father! You aren't like the others, who only had a taste of the venom of the Hyoudou family once before dying…no, for you, it's been flowing in your veins for years! Driving you mad! And once you die, you'll have endless opportunities to exact that revenge upon me!"
"I won't…visit you..."
Kazuya released Kaiji's face and cocked his head. "Eh?"
"I won't visit you," Kaiji repeated, with more sternness in voice. "That's all I have to say to you."
Kazuya had been visited by the spirit of each and every man who threatened to visit him beyond the grave. Kaiji, true to his word, did not say any more than "I won't visit you." There were no threats of haunting him and, also true to his word, Kaiji did not ever visit him in his spirit.
Kazuya still clung to the faint hope that perhaps Kaiji would make an appearance before him, as a vengeful spirit that sought to wreak havoc upon him every day until the day of his death. Or maybe just have his ghost show up once in a while, to serve as a quiet reminder of the life he took, and the lives he took before him that the man swore he'd avenge. But the night of Kaiji's death ended up being the last he ever saw of him.
He'd never get a chance to meet a man like him again, even from beyond the grave. He was left with nothing but a profound sense of emptiness.
For the first time, Kazuya finally, truly felt haunted.