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His vision blurred as the young boy opened his eyes, nothing but darkness around him as his eyes slowly brightened back to life. Ryu blinked softly as he was unable to recognize where he was.
The young boy slid up to his knees, then attempted to stand up, but he just fell back to his knees. There was a rope tied around him, that much he could feel, but he was unable to see anything around him. He heard the sound of someone pulling a switch from a lamp, and a small lamp on a square, wooden box lit up, revealing a chair next to the box, and in the seat was none other than the dark boy.
"It's about time you're awake, Hoshiko." Akuma murmured as he twirled a knife crafted of the same material that was tied around Ryu, a dark, fiery energy. Ryu's eyes snapped onto Akuma's blade briefly, and sweat began to drip off of his cheek.
I was defeated, and it seems like Isamu, Tenjin, and Doki couldn't stop him, either. Are they somewhere in here, or did he only capture me...? No, he made it clear that he had no interest in them. He probably just wants me, but... Why...?
"You're wondering where your "friends" are, aren't you?" Akuma asked as Ryu's eyes were glued to the floor in thought. "You're worried I hurt them. Don't worry, I didn't. I only got you. The two males tried to stop me, but I easily defeated them both. The girl did nothing. Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you, so long as you don't do anything unnecessary. I just want to talk to you."
Ryu didn't reply, but nodded slowly in understanding. Akuma nodded back briefly.
"...You know that you're the only one who can defeat me, and you can only do it by using the power of the light inside of you, the light tablet, a.k.a the Ai. Yet... You didn't use your Ai until the very end of our battle. Why...? That's the only way that you can kill me..."
"...I don't have any control over the "light inside of me". I never knew it existed until I met my biological mother. The technique I used wasn't that light."
Akuma's eyes twitched in disbelief, but, after a moment of gazing into Ryu's eyes, he closed his eyes, nodding slowly.
"...Hoshiko... Why are you after me? What's your goal?"
"To cast away the darkness inside of you and give you your chance of living your own life. The same that our mother wishes for."
Akuma's face darkened slightly as his lips curled up into a tiny smirk.
"You're adorable, Hoshiko, appearance-wise, but mainly personality-wise. You're so pure... I almost don't want to tell you the truth, but..." Akuma started. "...Our mother doesn't want me to have my own chance of living life. She wants to take the darkness inside of me, the dark tablet, Kirai, and completely destroy every trace of it."
Ryu's eyes widened slightly, and his eyes slid to the ground in thought as he processed what Akuma said. I can't be too certain of what Akuma's saying, seeing that he's my enemy. But even if Benten were to do this, that would result in Akuma...
"Yeah, she did." Akuma's small smirk turned to a depressed smile. "She tried to kill me."
Ryu's eyes narrowed in disbelief, and, seeing the young boy didn't believe him, Akuma grabbed the ends of his shirt, and slipped it off quickly. Displayed on his body were muscular abs, a large chest, but there was only one thing that stood out to Ryu.
A large, diagonal scar was cut from Akuma's left shoulder, down to the right of his waist. Akuma nodded slowly, "Got this when I was eleven. Turns out my Benten and Bishamon gave up on trying to keep the darkness inside of me from turning me into one of the bad guys, and they wanted me dead. Nearly succeeded, too, but I learned to heal myself from the Shikigami. They're like the parents I never had."
"So you're following in the Shikigami's footsteps because of that...?" Ryu asked, and Akuma nodded. Ryu's eyes slid down sorrowfully.
Benten didn't tell me using the Ai would end up killing Akuma, but as it sounds, she did it in attempt of trying to get me to kill him. Benten even faked it, sounding as if she just wanted her son back, but in reality...
"I wanted to give you a warning, Hoshiko." Akuma started again. "Don't get too familiar with Benten. She's a manipulator, even if she manipulates for what she believes is right."
Ryu was silent for a moment, and Akuma stepped up towards him, walking to the dark rope that tied Ryu up. Akuma stopped, asking, "One last question, Hoshiko... Will you... Join me? Join me in my quest to purge this wretched world and start it all over."
"No."
"...You could've put more thought into it..." Akuma murmured bitterly. "If you don't join me, that makes us enemies, meaning that I'll have to kill you right here and right now."
"Then kill me." Ryu's eyes narrowed slightly. "Living a life where my thoughts and actions are controlled by another, where I'm not even myself... I refuse it."
"Hoshiko, Hoshiko, Hoshiko... You have the Ai inside of you. You don't have a life. Sure, since I have the Kurai inside of me, that means the Shikigami have a large control over my actions, but in exchange, I have full access to their powers. I am invincible, and, yes, while they control my actions, I control my path that I walk on. My destiny is mine. You, however... You have full access to your body, your soul, but, in exchange... You don't get the Ikigami's powers all at once, making you a god. You have to walk on the fate that they gave you, and you can only get their powers when they want you to have them. We're opposites, but in reality, we're the exact same."
Ryu didn't reply, and Akuma slid his dark knife under Ryu's chin, poking his neck, and, with a small, sadistic smirk, he murmured, "I suppose I'll let you go quickly. Goodnight... Forever."
"...I see why you want me dead, now. I'm the only person who can understand you... The only person that can help you, that can fix you. You're that afraid of being helped?"
Akuma's eyes widened slightly, his hand and the knife that was clutched in his hand trembling slightly. Akuma's eyes widened into balls as Ryu added one last sentence.
"...You're... That afraid... Of someone caring about you...? Of someone loving you...?"
Akuma lunged his hand backwards immediately, stabbing Ryu's left shoulder harshly, blood squirted out of the aggressiveness that Akuma used to shove the blade inside Ryu. Ryu's left eye closed as tears began to water in his eyes, but he refused to show any tears of pain. Ryu exhaled softly, but his placidity enraged Akuma even farther.
Akuma crashed his the sole of his right foot onto Ryu's cheek, the young boy crashing on his back as saliva dripped down from his chin from the blow. As Ryu began to curl back up, Akuma crashed the tip of his right foot onto Ryu's cheek, blood splashing out of the young boy's mouth as a small groan slipped from Ryu's lips. Akuma lifted his right foot, crashing it onto the side of Ryu's head, Ryu stifling a barely audible cry of pain. Akuma lifted his foot, crashing it down once more onto Ryu's neck, then lifted it up, crashing it back onto Ryu's head. Blood poured out of Ryu's mouth with each blow, and blood began to drip down his nose, each blow seeming to get heavier and heavier. Akuma grabbed Ryu's scarf, his eyes darkened with rage. Ryu stared at Akuma, his left eye still closed to stop any tears. Ryu seemed to be so calm, you wouldn't even figure he felt any pain.
"What, you think you're tough, huh? You think you're something?!" Akuma growled as he crashed his right fist onto Ryu's cheek, blood squirting out of the young boy's mouth.
"You!"
Akuma crashed his right fist onto Ryu's cheek again, even more blood spilling out of his mouth.
"Are!"
Akuma slammed his right fist onto Ryu's cheek once more, Ryu stifling a small yelp of agony inside his mouth.
"NOTHING!"
Akuma crashed his right fist onto the left side of Ryu's head, letting go of the young boy's scarf and watching as Ryu's back slammed onto the ground again, his left eye closed and swollen. Akuma extended his right hand to his right, a ball of darkness swirling and crafting into the shape of a dark knife. Akuma lunged it easily with a flick of his wrist, and it stabbed easily onto Ryu's waist. Ryu bit his lower lip as he stifled in a cry, and he grit his teeth to stifle another as Akuma ripped the dark blade out of Ryu's waist easily. Akuma stabbed it onto Ryu's left shoulder, ripping it out easily, then his eyes brightened with an idea.
"I've got it. I planned on doing this to Benten, but well..." Akuma smiled softly, and his arm was a blur as it swiped through the air.
A large, deep, diagonal slash from Akuma's blade cut through Ryu's flesh, blood pouring out of his wound, the young boy's eyes widened. Ryu's eyes dulled as pain erupted through his body, burning until it calmed down, his eyes dulling and his consciousness fading.
"I've got an even better idea. I'll send you back to Konoha... Where your precious friends will see your final breath. And they'll know that your death was their fault." Akuma grinned as his face darkened sadistically.
Ryu's consciousness had already faded, and he could hear Akuma's mocking, echoing laughter throughout his head as he began to close his eyes, falling even deeper into what seemed like an eternal grave of darkness.
