Akai Ito
By Lily Maxwell
Girls spoke about the red thread of fate that linked them to their destined ones. He always thought there couldn't be anything any more stupid than that. What was Destiny? Was it destiny that made his days tedious and empty? Was it destiny that surrounded him with irrelevant people?
Until one day, he found he was the carrier of a great power.
And one day, someone made him turn against everything he knew.
So, would that consist of fate that brought him there? Was it fate that made him join Kairoushuu, and leave behind those of Banten? Did someone write all those lines of unspoken fear and the secrets everyone kept from him?
The place Yoite first brought him to was just like him. It was distant, isolated, and time had been cruel to it. The ones that surrounded it, pleading for mercy of the reaper, made the place even more unbearable. It made it carry an aura of death. Miharu thought it was a sad place.
When he told him to promise not to die, he made a face he couldn't quite read. Was it disappointment? Or maybe he didn't like promises. Or maybe he didn't think he would be able to fulfill it. But he nodded, anyway.
Yoite was like that. Difficult, if not impossible to read. The time he had cried, Miharu still wasn't quite sure how to take it. It made him want to help him, even though he's never wanted to help anyone before. He made an open demonstration of his emotions, and on the very next second, he shut himself in his shell again. He kept saying that Miharu was only there because he had threatened him. But truth was, Miharu chose to be there.
Miharu liked to think that he made his own decisions. He chose to help Yoite, he chose to join Kairoushuu, he chose to be where he was at that moment. He didn't quite believe in things like destiny and fate.
Here he was.
There was blood on his hands. Yoite, in his arms, dying. He spilled all of his emotions to him – the reaper was rejecting death.
I don't want to die, Miharu.
He was an open book. He was sad, so very sadder than before. A sadness that made Miharu bring him closer, as close as he could be. The promise, he didn't want to break the promise. Even though he seemed hesitant at that time. He didn't want to break it.
Save me, Miharu.
Miharu didn't believe in things like destiny and fate. He didn't believe there were people he just needed to meet. Just like things were supposed to be.
But, clinging to Yoite, he felt like finally knowing the truth. Yoite was no longer a closed book. Shinrabanshou, the power that was his, and only his, was the key. It was the thing – the only thing – that he should do.
At that moment, Miharu believed in fate.
Save me, Miharu.
Yousei-san…
At that moment, Miharu felt like finally knowing the truth. With Yoite's blood on his hands. His tears falling down his cheeks.
And at that moment, Miharu believed in fate.
Save him, Shinrabanshou.
