Prologue
"Curses" Was all he managed to mutter.
A single line of blood dripped from his forehead. The red, plasmatic liquid vigorously pouring out of his skull, and he made no effort to stop it. Even though his ears ringed in a numbing, deafening beep, it somehow helped him to keep his focus. The only real bother were the drowsiness and cold sweat permeating his suit. Pulling his hair, longer than what it had ever been, out of his eyes, he gazed with fierce eyes at his target.
There wouldn't be failure. Not this time. Not again.
With only a cold glare he analyzed every single movement. Each millimeter the fingers moved, every sway of their hair, the whole intent behind every single, simplest gesture. Nothing was escaping him. He could only tighten the grip against his final weapon, the one which was his last stronghold, resource, and amusingly, hope.
Hope…
He had never really had space in his vocabulary for such word. He neither had a reason to use it, nor think about it…
…until now.
Because right now, hoping was the only thing he could do, the only thing he could cling upon. He could rely on his skill, he could count on his abilities, but to depend on that a certain principle… he could only cling on the dim, absurd idea of hope.
There was no desperation, no ecstasy, not the hexing sensation of desire. Just… hope.
And it wasn't even hope about the outcome of this battle. It neither was the hope of being to connect the fatal strike, of murdering the opponent right in front of him, or being killed in return.
It was the hope of seeing her again, of just being able to see her face again. It would not matter what she had to say to him, it wouldn't matter if she didn't want to see him. He just wanted to see her once more.
He had no time for auto-analysis. He had no room to play psychiatrist for his own twisted mind right now. He couldn't afford to explain those thoughts that crossed his mind. He was unable to erase them, and could only crush his way forward with them in heart and mind.
…And it certainly felt refreshing to have them right now, as stupid as that may sound. He felt glad to have those thoughts with him.
Once upon a time, life or death didn't matter to him.
Once upon a time.