Chapter 10: Free At Last
Hideaki pulled Ren through the doorway to CLASS's HQ.
"This is it, Nakajima. CLASS's HQ," Hideaki introduced, waving an arm to the crappy underground complex that surrounded them.
"It's… not that impressive," Ren lamented. Hideaki shook his head proudly.
"Not at all. But, hey, it's better than sleeping on the streets," Hideaki replied, slapping Ren on the back. He walked further into the dark complex and flipped a switch. The lights shakily turned on, one by one, until the entire area was lit up. Only one other person occupied the spacious room.
This person had dirty red hair, sideburns, and a pair of shades to match his stoic look. The person stretched his neck both ways, and Ren could hear the cracking of bones echo off the cold, concrete walls.
"This is him?" the person with red hair asked. Hideaki nodded.
"He's good with numbers, just the kind of person you were looking for," Hideaki affirmed before turning to Ren.
"Ren, this is the Boss. Suzaku Tanaka," Hideaki introduced. Ren waved at Suzaku. Suzaku didn't wave back.
Note to self, do not wave at the boss man, Ren thought.
"Does he understand what he's going to be doing for us?" Suzaku asked, walking the expanse of the room towards them. Suzaku stood in front of Ren, a full head taller than him. Hideaki shifted nervously.
"Well… he knows that he'll be doing slightly illegal activity involving money... but that's about it," Hideaki revealed. Suzaku turned his head slightly in Hideaki's direction.
"Leave."
Hideaki did so, in a hurry.
Suzaku turned his attention back to Ren.
"What's your name?"
"Renji Nakajima…" Ren introduced himself. Suzaku raised an eyebrow.
"Your friends ever call you Ren?" he asked. Ren thought for a moment.
"I don't really have friends," Ren replied. Suzaku smiled.
"Tell me something, Ren. What do you want more than anything else in the world?" Suzaku inquired. Ren was taken aback by the question. He didn't quite know how to answer at first.
"I guess… I would want a world… that's easier to live in. For everyone, I mean," Ren decided. Suzaku kept his eyes trained on Ren.
"And how do you think we accomplish that, Ren?"
"A mixture of two things, really. Kill everyone who takes advantage of innocent people, and a whole fuckton of money."
Suzaku nodded, and his smile grew wider.
"I like your enthusiasm. That's just the kind of idea we were going for. It's simple Ren, you deal with the whole fuckton of money, and I'll deal with the killing all the… trash. Think you can handle that?" Suzaku asked. Ren hesitated for a moment, and Suzaku took notice.
"Yeah. I can handle that," Ren nodded. Suzaku threw an arm around Ren and pulled him in close.
"Good. Believe me, Renji-boy, this is gonna be a blast."
Ren peeked out the window. He saw several people walking up and down the street. Some were students trying to enjoy their time away from school. Some were teachers hurrying to and from their home, probably laughing at how much homework they assigned. Some had walked past Ren's field of vision for the tenth time in 5 minutes. They were probably terrorists. Don't worry, Yuriko, I'll make them pay for what they did to you… Suddenly, a hand reached up and pulled Ren's head back down.
"Ren! Do you want them to see us?" Mikoto criticized.
"The common CLASS member won't be looking for my face. Frances is probably distracted and Hideaki… is probably also distracted, just with less innocent things. Regardless, neither of them are expecting us to go out the front door," Ren replied.
"Why?"
"Because it would be an absolute slaughter. Even if they didn't see us coming, we'd be killed almost instantly and rather horribly in a wave assault."
"…Which is why we're going out the front," Touma entered. Ren looked at him.
"Exactly! It's the ultimate master plan!" Ren announced.
"You're insane."
"I prefer mad."
"Okay, are you trying to kill us?"
"No, just you."
"Ren, play nice," Mikoto warned.
"I'm sorry, it's not my nature to stop being an asshole on a dime," Ren replied, snapping his finger.
"Let's just focus on getting out of here," Touma refocused. Ren looked at Last Order.
"Minikoto, are the Sisters in place?" Ren asked.
"No… Misaka Misaka updated, awaiting for Misaka Sister 19087 to get into place."
Ren waited for a moment or two.
"Okay now they are, Misaka Misaka declared, reminding herself to mock Misaka Sister 19087 later today."
Ren took a deep breath.
"On three, order them to fire," Ren ordered. Mikoto and Touma looked at him.
"Wait what?"
"One."
"Ren, did you say they have guns?" Mikoto asked.
"Two."
"Ren, you're kidding right?" Touma tried to clarify, extending his hand toward him.
"Three. Rubber bullets."
And as the sound of guns firing filled the air, Ren turned, slammed his shoulder into the door, and began running. He was greeted by the scene of the entire student populace freaking out as girls who all look exactly alike had begun firing guns at select groups of individuals. Ren took advantage of the chaos and, staying low, ran through the crowd, trying to reach the street. He glanced over his shoulder to make sure no one had fallen behind. Mikoto and Touma, who was carrying Last Order, were only a few feet behind him.
"Ren!" Mikoto shouted, throwing one of her hands around in an arc. Electricity bounced, and a mailbox threw itself through the air, past Ren, and into a CLASS member who had been in front of Ren, attempting to stop him. Ren redirected his attention to what was in front of him and cleared the mailbox and incapacitated goon.
Once he got to street, he stood up and looked around, searching for something. His eyes landed on Hideaki, whose eyes had landed on him. Hideaki raised his hand and fired a Hadron Cannon at him Ren rotated out of the way and was about to slice through the air before realizing his air slice wasn't precise enough to only hit Hideaki - he would hit non-CLASS members with it, too.
At this hesitation, Hideaki jumped, firing a Hadron Cannon behind him, and propelling himself towards Ren, readying a knife with his other hand. While in the air, he began creating momentum for his swing by spinning in the air as he came towards Ren. Ren stood his ground as, from over Ren's shoulder, Mikoto pointed a finger at Hideaki, shooting out a line of electricity.
Hideaki dropped to the floor in pain, dropping the knife.
"Dumbass…" Ren said.
"Douchebag..." Hideaki said back before he passed out.
Ren looked around again. The CLASS members were no longer confused, and Ren, Mikoto, Touma, and Last Order were all standing out in the open. They would see them at any moment.
"Here comes that wave assault I was talking about…" Ren grumbled, readying an Aerokinetic slice.
"Oh please, I can take these faceless goons," Mikoto reassured. Ren shook his head.
"But Suzaku will know where we are before we can get away safely. We need a quick escape," Ren explained.
"Like a sewer pipe," Touma suggested. Pounding one of his fists into his other hand.
"No… like a blue car," Ren replied.
"Why so specific?"
"Because Hinata is supposed to be picking me up in a blue car," Ren explained.
"Who's Hinata?"
"Father-figure. Long story."
And just as he spoke those words, the blue car came screeching around the corner. It slid into place right next to the sidewalk they were on. Hinata rolled down the window.
"Come with me if you want to live!" he shouted.
As they began opening the car doors and getting in, Hinata followed up with, "I always wanted to say that."
"You're late," Ren greeted, sitting in the passenger seat.
"Gee, thanks Hinata, for saving my ungrateful ass," Hinata grumbled as he pulled away from the curb in a hurried fashion.
"We don't have time for this."
"We are in a car. We have lots of time for this. You are only saying we don't because you know you're going to lose this argument!"
"I don't even want to argue!"
"Then why'd you start arguing?"
"I wasn't arguing, I was just making a comment."
"It was in your tone."
"Oh… my tone!?"
"There you go again! It's that disrespectful tone."
"I don't have a tone! You're the one with the tone, tone-haver!"
"I just saved your life!"
"Stop yelling at me."
"I'm not yelling! I'M JUST FRUSTRATED AND EXCITED AT THE SAME TIME!"
"THAT'S CALLED BEING ANGRY!"
"THIS IS WHY MOM LEFT US!"
"MOM LEFT YOU!"
There was a very awkward silence that filled the car.
"Do you think we take these jokes too far?" Ren asked.
"Probs," Hinata replied. Ren looked back and saw all three other occupants of the car staring at them.
"What… the hell just happened?" Mikoto asked.
"It's been awhile since we've seen each other, we like to make jokes," Ren explained.
"What's wrong with you two?" The three asked simultaneously. Hinata shrugged.
"Lots of little things. It's the big picture that matters," Hinata chimed in. He looked the rear view mirror.
"So… how is everyone?" Hinata asked as if he just picked them up from school.
"Uh… good…" Touma replied, still weirded out.
"Really? You just got attacked by terrorists, I thought you'd be just a little shaken up."
"Nah, this is kind of standard affair for me," Touma admitted.
"Right. Who are you again?"
"Touma Kamijou."
Hinata looked at Ren. "That Touma Kamijou?"
"That Touma Kamijou."
"Hey! What are you guys talking about? What do you mean that Touma Kamijou?"
"And Ms. Misaka! Very good to see you again," Hinata greeted, ignoring Touma's interrogation.
"You too, Dr. Kurusu."
"What is this 'Doctor Kurusu' business? It's Hinata."
"Alright… Hinata."
"And that's your little sister?"
"Misaka Misaka is a genetic clone of Big Sister and is used as an administrator for the entire Misaka Network of 9969 Misaka Clones, also known as Minikoto or Last Order, Misaka Misaka explained, attempting to remove any confusion about her origin and purpose," Last Order .
"You are really wordy, you know that?" Hinata replied.
Last Order leaned over to Mikoto.
"Misaka Misaka suspects that Uncle Pocky is, in fact, a clone of Dr. Hinata Kurusu."
"I'm sorry, where are we going?" Touma asked.
"Oh yeah, this is gonna be a treat, isn't it? You guys get to see where Ren grew up!" Hinata exclaimed as Ren sunk lower into his seat.
Suzaku was gravitating above the city, looking down at the panicked masses running from the hospital. He sighed as he found Hideaki. Landing from his flight, he grabbed one of the Misaka Sisters surrounding him and snapped her neck. He threw it at another, sending them both to the floor. He rushed forward and grabbed one of the guns and threw it behind him, detonating it and taking out two more Sisters. The Sister in front of him threw a punch. Suzaku leaned back as the fist went sailing past him. He threw his foot out and sent her flying back across the street. She slammed into one of the walls, killing her instantly. He turned to the last one, still on the floor. He walked over and stomped on her head.
He quickly scraped his shoe against the floor, getting the red mass off of it. He walked over to Hideaki, now curled into the fetal position, lightly kicking him.
"Hideaki. Up. Now," Suzaku growled. Hideaki looked up at him.
"Boss? Did you really kill them?"
"Yes."
"Why? They were so beautiful…"
"Oh my god, Hideaki…" Suzaku grumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose. He grabbed his radio.
"Frances? What's the status on finding them?" Suzaku asked.
"Not great. There are like, 10000 people who look like that girl who's always hanging with Ren. Kinda creepy, really," Frances replied.
"Why are you looking for… what?" Hideaki wheezed, getting to his feet.
"They escaped the Hospital. I've sent Frances to look for them, but if my suspicions are correct, they're getting help from someone who has some pull in Academy City. They'll disappear pretty easily," Suzaku explained.
"With the money," Hideaki connected.
"Right. If we can't find them, we'll have to draw them out somehow," Suzaku strategized. Hideaki looked at him.
"But what do we have that could draw them out? We don't have any hostages and- oooohhhh," Hideaki said, realizing what Suzaku was getting at once he began walking towards the hospital.
"Hideaki, get some guys together. Search the entire building for Accelerator and bring him out here," Suzaku ordered. Hideaki began his trek towards the hospital, but stopped.
"You mean, Accelerator, the guy that killed like, 10000 Railguns?"
"Trauge said the damage he received during their encounter would put him out of comission for a while, even if Heaven Canceller fixed him up," Suzaku explained.
"Wait, this move we just made, it was pretty big. Isn't Judgement or Anti-Skill going to… y'know, find us out?" Hideaki asked.
"What the hell do you think Yumiko is doing, infiltrating Judgement?"
Hideaki nodded, smiling. "Cool, she keeps us out of prison, and out of the limelight."
"Precisely. Get going."
Ren tilted his head at the bag of money. They paid the money. Seriously? Even after Ren had raised the price three-fold? Whoever these rich people were… they obviously had a ton of cash… and these meager payments they were extorting was probably chump change for them.
Ren began counting the money.
This had all started because he just wanted a little money for himself. He always gave his cut back to Hinata's Facility, so he had very little for himself. Was it so bad that he just wanted a little for himself? Nothing major, just enough to get by each month. After all, he kind of deserved it. He was rebalancing the wealth in the city. A modern-day Robin Hood. A true hero. But still, even a hero had to eat.
But of course, that wasn't where it ended. It occurred to him that the reason they were taking this money wasn't only to fund CLASS, it was to send a message to the rich that controlled the city that they didn't have absolute power. But if they could make these payments each time without batting an eye - without some form of resistance - then what message were they sending? That if they threw money at their problem, the problem would just go away? No! They had to send a stronger message...
As for why he kept the money… that didn't matter. He would make one large payment to Hinata's eventually, but Suzaku had been keeping a close eye on him, and he didn't want Suzaku to learn about Hinata's Facility. It was personal, and Suzaku had no need to know they existed.
Ren finished counting. It was a big number. Very big. And still, they paid it like it was nothing. It was laughable. Truly, Ren could take twice this amount again, and they'd still pay it. And the money that sat in front of him would be able to pay for Ren's necessities for the next few months, and he wouldn't even need to siphon money from the total amount. He might actually be able to get a real apartment…
Ren had decided. He quickly put the money into a bag and zipped it up. Just once. Just this once, just so he could get a little headstart into survivability. He ought to have a better sleeping quarters than the sleaze who just wanted money to hire prostitutes. Goddamn Hideaki.
Taking the bag to the local river, he carved a path to the bottom using aerokinesis, and there, he dug a hole in which he laid the bag. With a wave of his hand, the mud reassembled itself over the bag. Once Ren had exited the riverbed, and the river had resumed its course, a thought occurred to him.
I should act as if they didn't pay at all. Otherwise, I might draw suspicion onto myself. What was their name again? Kurama? Kuramaza? Something like that. He'd tell Suzaku they had failed to pay, and he'd just extract twice as much next payment. Made sense. CLASS still got their money for rebalancing the scales, and Ren got to have his cake and eat it, too.
A fool-proof plan.
Hinata pulled around the back of his Child Error Facility.
"I'm sure by now you all have a bunch of questions to ask, not the least of which is how this handsome, witty, and all-around charismatic hero came to your rescue," Hinata spoke, turning off his car.
"Quite honestly, I'm still wondering why you had so many Monopoly boxes," Ren replied, deadpan. Hinata turned and gave him a funny look.
"Really? After all we've been through, you only associate me with Monopoly?"
"Well, a lot of my memories of you are when we were playing Monopoly. You know, because I was the only kid who played Monopoly and you were the only one who would play it with me. Well okay, my imaginary friend would play with me a lot, but he cheated."
"Ren, stop playing your pity card, you already have a girlfriend," Hinata scolded, getting out of the car and motioning for the others to do the same.
"You had an imaginary friend as a child?" Mikoto asked as she followed Ren out.
"Yup. His name was Renju, and he looked exactly like me except he had a moustache and talked in a really offensive german accent."
"Really?"
"Dear god, Mikoto, no. That would be way too silly."
Ren hurried inside before he could be shot with lightning.
"You're kind of asking for it, aren't you?" Hinata noted.
"She's cute when she's mad."
"You have a death wish."
"Oh, but I'll die happy."
"We'll see about that."
"What do you mean?"
"I have yet to evaluate her and decide whether or not she's good enough for you," Hinata revealed.
"Excuse me?"
"You're excused," Hinata said, pushing Ren into an elevator and pressing a button, making the doors close on him and start carrying him up through the building. He turned just as Mikoto, Touma and Last Order entered.
"Where's Ren?"
"He was a dickhead and decided to run ahead. So! I'd like to take the time to get to know all of you. Mikoto, come with me. You two, you can go relax in the room opposite my office - it's like a waiting room. Mostly because it is," Hinata said, motioning for Mikoto to follow him into his office. Mikoto looked at Touma and Last Order nervously.
"Am I the only one who thinks Hinata is just a little too weird? Like, he's purposefully trying to be weird?" Mikoto asked. Touma and Last Order nodded in agreement.
"So," Hinata began once Mikoto entered the same office they had spoken in earlier, "I understand you and Ren are dating."
"Uh… yeah. Why are you bringing this up?"
"No reason. Why did you start dating Ren?" Hinata continued,
"Um… he asked?"
"So you'll go out with anyone who just asks?"
"Well no, I thought he was a pretty nice guy, so I thought I would give him a chance and here we are now, getting interrogated by his dad," Mikoto explained.
"Hey! Thank you, but I'm more like his brother."
Mikoto shook her head. "No, not really."
"I am totally like a brother! Did you not hear the fake argument in the car?"
"Yeah, you took the place of the dad in that. You kept talking about tone and stuff. That's totally a parent thing. Like, especially a mom thing."
"I'm a guy!"
"I… can see that, Hinata-"
"THat's Dr. Kurusu to you!"
"But you said I should call you Hinata."
Hinata grasped his chin.
"Damn… you're right…"
Hinata stood and banged his fist on the table.
"I've made my decision," HInata stated resolutely. He dramatically pointed a finger at Mikoto.
"You are to break up with Ren immediately!"
"Geez, I'm not good enough for him just because I think you're more like his dad than brother?"
"No, dammit, you're far too good for him! Why are you even going out with that asshole anyway?"
"Well… I thought he was nice-"
"Did you not see him be a dickhead and run ahead of everyone?"
Ren ran into the room.
"Hinata, what the hell?"
"Ren! Break up with this poor girl immediately before you waste any more of her time!" Hinata ordered.
"No."
"Oh, alright then," Hinata relented, sitting back down again.
"Wait… really?"
"No, not really! But, I'm going to let this go for now mostly because i just received a message from Anti-Skill," Hinata revealed, holding up his phone.
"What is it about?" Mikoto asked as Ren notified Touma and Last Order to enter the room.
"They've identified CLASS as a threat and are looking into weaknesses Suzaku has. They want you three to meet with them and relay any information you have about Suzaku," Hinata continued.
"Anti-Skill just happens to finally identify CLASS as a threat AND automatically knows not only who would know the most about him but where to send it to, as well?" Touma asked.
"Well, I never said you should actually go. It's obviously a trap," Hinata informed, "But that does mean that somebody knows you're with me. Whether or not they know where we're hiding is another thing, but it won't take long for them to come looking for me here."
"Great. We need to get out of here," Ren said.
"And fast. I won't endanger the rest of these children's lives. I'll message whoever sent this and try to convince them I don't know what they're talking about - or maybe feed them false info - but that means I won't be able to go with you from here on. They might drop in, or keep my place under observation."
"We could call Yoshikawa. She could transport us from place to place," Ren offered. Hinata nodded.
"I'm not terribly familiar with her work, but I know who she is. She should be able to help us, but I'll need to try and convince her," Hinata agreed.
"No need. I already know her," Ren replied. Hinata looked up at him.
"You do?"
Ren simply nodded before opening his phone and dialing her number. He exited the office to get some privacy with the call. After a few rings, Yoshikawa answered.
"Hello?"
"Uh… hi. It's Ren. You remember."
There was a short pause. "Yes, Ren. I remember. I'm glad you called. There's something I need to tell you."
"Hold on - there's something I need to ask first."
"No, Ren, you need to hear this first."
"Yoshikawa, I am dealing with a life or death situation-"
"Accelerator is gone."
Ren was silent for a moment. His next words were slow and deliberate.
"Gone? You mean… dead?"
"No. Someone took him. I came to visit him in the Hospital. Heaven Canceller said that someone stormed the place and they took him away. The same person who tried to kidnap me last night."
"Hideaki."
"Accelerator was… unconscious. He couldn't fight back."
Ren took the phone away from his face and took a deep breath.
"I'm at Hinata's Child Error Facility. Please come pick me up," he said before hanging up. Ren re-entered the office. Hinata was in the middle of sending the message.
"Is she on her way?" Hinata asked. Ren nodded.
"Where was it that they wanted to meet up? The trap, I mean," Ren inquired.
Hinata continued forging the message and absent-mindedly answered, "The Stadium. It sounded like they wanted us to believe there was some kind of game going on, and they could use that as cover from CLASS."
"I checked. There is no game," Mikoto added in. Her words fell on deaf ears. Ren had already left the Facility.
The first thing Ren noticed was the smell. Staring at the crimson color streaming from within the room, Ren walked slowly and steadily into it. He heard crying. A soft, despairing cry. He squinted, and he saw an image that would be forever burned into his head.
The father of the two children was on the ground. His legs had been torn off, and he was lying in a puddle of his blood. He was trembling, but he was alive. The father was looking at a crumpled and broken pile of bones and guts in front of him. Just beyond that, Suzaku stood, almost triumphantly. In one of his hands, a small girl was being grasped by the neck. The sister.
"You… you're a monster. What… are you?" the father gasped out.
"Some say a monster. Others, a success. I prefer to be called what I am. A weapon."
Suzaku noticed Ren.
"Oh Renji-boy… I told you not to bother," he sighed.
"What… what are you doing?" Ren questioned. Suzaku frowned and tilted his head.
"Don't you remember our roles, Ren? You deal with the money. I deal with the trash."
The father saw Ren, and his eyes widened. He pivoted on his torso, and began crawling towards Ren.
"You! Tell him! Tell him the truth! I gave you everything! Every last Yen, all of it! Tell him!" the father screamed at him as he scraped across the floor.
"N-no… I…"
"Ren, what's he talking about?" Suzaku inquired. Ren's eyes changed from the father to the girl, to Suzaku, to the pile of former human elements and back again.
"I… don't know. He didn't give me…"
"You lie!" the father screeched, lunging at Ren. He clawed at Ren, trying to desperately to cut or beat or do anything he could. Ren stepped back, waving his hand. Air rushed in and slammed the father down again. The father coughed up blood and stopped moving.
"You… you… bastard…" the father coughed. He let out one last breath and died. Ren couldn't do anything but stare at the scene for a short while. When he looked up again, Suzaku had his eyes locked on him, and his grip around the girl's tiny neck was tightening, forcing her to try to and cry out.
"You wouldn't lie to me, would you, Ren?"
Ren shook his head.
"No, of course no-"
Suzaku flexed his hand, and the girl exploded into a shower of mist that covered Ren, Suzaku, and the walls in red.
"Good."
Ren doubled over and vomited onto the floor.
"What… what the fuck is wrong with you?" Ren grunted as he wiped his mouth. Suzaku simply started walking for the door. Ren fell onto his knees.
"That little girl, Suzaku… what did she do… to deserve that?"
"She existed in the presence of such evil men. Mr. Kurusu here… did you know he funded Project: Divinity? As I recall, his brother worked on the project. A shame I couldn't kill him, too. Ah well. But I'm sure as an intelligence gatherer of CLASS, you'll run across Hinata Kurusu eventually, and you'll tell me where he is. Right, Ren?" Suzaku requested, stopping right behind Ren. Ren's arms began to shake, and he felt like he was going to faint.
"R-right…"
As Suzaku continued towards the door, Ren looked up again, and past all this carnage and horror, he saw a window. Outside this window, a tree stood in silence. Sunlight passed through it's leaves and cast a reverse shadow through the window onto the inside of the house.
"Suzaku!" Ren shouted as he stood up, his eyes centered on the window. Suzaku stopped walking.
"We… we're supposed to help these people! How the hell can we make a world that's easier to live in… if we kill everyone who's going to live in it!?" Ren cried. Suzaku laughed.
"Listen to you, you fucking moron. There are two ways to create that world. Create a God, or simply kill everyone who's evil. Well, we've seen where trying to create God has gotten us, so it only stands to reason that we try the other way. And if in the process, we become evil too… then all that means is that we'll have to kill ourselves at the end of all this," Suzaku revealed.
"Then what constitutes as evil? Was this little girl evil just because she was associated with a man who had done evil?"
"No. She wasn't evil. But she was going to become evil. Like us. That's exactly what we want to prevent."
"Us? Us!? I'm nothing like you!" Ren shouted, turning around to face Suzaku, who still had his back to him.
"Yes, Ren, you are," Suzaku sighed.
"No, I would never-"
"You agreed to extort money from these people-"
"Shut up!"
"-in order to fund what is essentially a terrorist organization-"
"I said shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" Ren screamed. Suzaku turned around and grabbed Ren by the neck.
"Renji Nakajima. Your life history means nothing to me. I don't care why you decided to join CLASS, or why you decided to lie to me about the payments. The only thing I care is purging this world of evil. And if you will not join me in purging evil, then you are evil, and will be purged."
"Y… you're a fucking sociopath…" Ren strained against Suzaku's grip.
"That's what Project: Divinity made me into. So that's what I'll be until the very day I die. I will kill and torture and extort and deface every authority, but I'll be damned if I do it for a reason that is my own. I am the ultimate weapon. The necessary opposition. The phoenix that rises from the ashes. Suzaku, my namesake."
Suzaku let Ren go, and he fell over, gasping for breathe. Suzaku turned and walked out onto the porch. Ren felt Hideaki move up to the porch, and stand next to Suzaku. he manipulated the air to read what was said next.
"Kill him," Suzaku ordered. Ren ran for the window.
Ren pushed open the door leading into the stadium building. It was all dark. Ren quickly read the air. They were watching him. Someone was in the security room observing the cameras. The rest were out in the stadium itself. As Ren began to walk down the hall towards the open area, he couldn't help but reflect on everything that brought him here. All the hardships he had gone through. The friends he had made.
He didn't like thinking about that. It made him feel as if he were about to die. He was, of course, but that didn't mean he liked pondering it.
Why? He thought. Why?
Because he didn't think they would go after Yuriko. But of course they would. He had left her there, stupidly, because he wanted to keep her a secret. Like she needed to be hidden. Ren felt that she needed to be hidden. Which meant that he was ashamed. Of her. Or of how he felt about her. Either way, it was Ren's fault that she was left there.
It was Mikoto. He wanted to hide her from Mikoto. Because he desperately didn't want Mikoto to think that he would leave her for Yuriko. But he didn't think Mikoto would understand. He didn't think she was mature enough to accept his story and promise. She was, though. He underestimated her. Another mistake.
Touma. He didn't want to lose her to Touma. So he wouldn't give her a reason to leave. He wouldn't let Touma surpass him as a hero, or as a person. And in the end, he did neither. Somehow, Ren thought himself above jealousy. How very naive. Just another mistake.
So many mistakes. After Hinata raised him to be essentially a good person. Instead, he decided to drown in avarice, and pull everyone else down with him, too. He never should have gone to Mikoto. He should have stayed right in that living room and died with Hinata's family.
Ren realized that Hinata still didn't know. Hinata's brother, niece and nephew… they were dead because of Ren. And Hinata still didn't. He had a feeling that Hinata would figure it out soon enough. Then, Hinata would wish Ren had stayed and died as well.
But that was fine. He was about to die anyway. He'd make up for everything then.
Ren entered the stadium. He took a few steps forward and looked up. It was a cloudy night, and so the moon's light shed no clarity on his surroundings. But he knew what was there.
"Turn on the lights. I know you're there," Ren shouted. And they did. One by one the lights turned on, revealing just what Ren expected. Suzaku stood in the center of the stadium, Yuriko on the ground next to him.
"At first, we didn't think you'd come alone. But now, well, I can see why you'd want to," Suzaku crouched down, pick Yuriko up by the collar.
"Pretty thing. Who knew the albino bastard was actually an albino bitch?" Suzaku sneered. He tossed her Ren's direction, and she landed only a few feet away from him.
"Sorry Ren, I was never that great at Baseball. You're gonna have to come over here and pick up your damsel in distress," Suzaku continued. Ren glanced around. Hideaki, Frances, and a few goons he recognized from the park were hiding in the shadows, ready to try and surprise him. He'd have to be fast. Just get in, grab Yuriko, and get her to safety. Nothing else mattered.
Ren took a step forward. Suzaku folded his arms.
45 meters to go. Ren got on all fours, and used the air to propel himself forward with as much speed as he was able. Instantly, Frances was in front of him. Ren used his speed to run right into him, taking him to the ground. Ren brought his fist down on empty air as Frances teleported away. Ren rolled as a Hadron Cannon fired from the shadows. Ren got up again and continued running for Yuriko. CLASS members came running from the shadows, some brandishing weapons, others not. Ren swung his arm, flinging an arc of air at them. While he took a good number down this way, many simply rolled under it and continued their pursuit.
35 meters to go. Ren charged up a ball of compressed air and shot it at one. His friend ran around his body and swung a crowbar at Ren. Ren stepped to the side, grabbed the crowbar with one hand, and with the other hand he threw a punch into the kid's jaw, using air pressure to send him back.
Three more guys came at him from the front. Ren dodged the first's attack and spun, using his momentum to swing the crowbar into the first one' head, knocking him out. The second one managed to hit Ren on his side with a baseball. Ren winced, but turned and splayed his hand, sending the second flying through the air. At the same time, Ren pulled the crowbar around and blocked the third's strike. Ren brought his knee into the third's stomach, making him double over. Then Ren went to smack him with the crowbar, but had to dodge when another Hadron Cannon shot from the shadows. Ren managed to jump out of the way, rolling to a stop. Two more, plus Hideaki exited the shadows.
33 meters to go. Ren continued running for Yuriko, throwing the crowbar at one of the CLASS members, propelling it with air pressure. Frances teleported in and snatched it out of the air and disappeared. Suddenly, the guy who Ren had kneed in the chest earlier came up and tackled Ren to the ground. Ren began elbowing him in the face, but the guy wouldn't let go. Finally, Ren brought his hand down to the guy's stomach shot air into it, sending him into the air. Ren waved his hand, throwing the guy at Hideaki and his three friends.
30 meters to go. Ren jumped to his feet and continued running. He heard a sound, and regretted not reading the air. He rolled as a Hadron Cannon sailed over him. They were running faster than him. He turned and swung both his arms in an arc, sending a massive wave of condensed air at them. Hideaki rolled under the wave, but the two others were sent to the ground.
Hideaki made a movement, bringing out his knife. Hideaki brought his knife up, and prepared to swing in a wide arc. Ren readied himself to blocked Hideaki's arm. Frances suddenly teleported in and held onto Ren's arm as Hideaki swung. The knife plunged deep into Ren's shoulder. Ren swore and twirled, throwing a fist into Hideaki's jaw, splitting his knuckle open in the process. Hideaki staggered back, letting go of the knife. Ren turned to face Frances, who teleported away once again. Hideaki wrapped his arms around Ren, trapping his arms to his side. Hideaki lifted him up off the ground and began to squeeze. Ren threw his head back into Hideaki and he felt Hideaki's nose give way, most likely breaking it. Hideaki dropped him, holding onto his nose.
"God damn fucking cunt!" Hideaki shouted as he backed away. Ren ran towards Yuriko once again.
27 meters to go. Frances appeared right in front of him, with the two guys Ren had knocked over next to Hideaki. Ren jumped and brought his fist, reinforced with air pressure into one of their face's instantly knocking them out. The other guy grabbed Ren's arms and twisted it, forcing it behind Ren's back. The guy began to yank upwards. Ren brought his other elbow back into him, trying to get him to let go. The guy gave one heave, and Ren felt his arm break. Ren cried in pain as he fell forward. Frances threw a kick right into Ren's face, making him fall to the side.
Ren looked forward. Suzaku was still standing there with his arms folded, with Yuriko at his feet, a smile plastered on his face. Ren spun, throwing his arms around and creating a temporary tornado that forced both the guy behind him and Frances off their feet. Ren pulled against the Earth again, shooting himself forward.
22 meters to go. Frances appeared once again, but this time with Hideaki next to him, who swung a crowbar hard into Ren's side. Ren swore as he rolled. He felt something break, no doubt a rib. Ren pulled the knife from his shoulder and tossed it, using air pressure to direct it at Hideaki. Hideaki raised his arm to block it, and it stabbed directly into his arm.
"Goddammit!' he shouted.
Frances snatched the knife from Hideaki's arm and teleported over to Ren, bringing the knife down right behind him. Ren rolled, dodging out of the way. Ren ignored both of them and began running for Yuriko again.
20 meters to go. Hideaki fired two Hadron Cannon - one after the other. Ren managed to dodged the first, and swung an arc of air at the second, detonating it before it got to him. Frances teleported to him again, and swung the knife, cutting into Ren's stomach. The wound wasn't deep, but damn, did it hurt. Frances swung the knife back around, but Ren took a step back , letting the knife hit air. Ren brought his leg up and swung it at Frances, who teleported behind Ren. He brought the knife into Ren's back, near the top. Ren shouted in pain again and fell to his knees. Ren brought his palm into Frances and used air pressure to shoot him away. Unlike Hideaki, Frances held on to the knife, and it dragged down Ren's back, making a large cut.
15 meters to go. Ren cried out in pain again. He could still move, so the knife missed his spine. Good. The pain was hot and excruciating. Every movement hurt. His lungs burned, his muscles ached, and his clothes clung to him from sweat and blood. Ren needed to move. He was almost there. Just a little farther. Ren let the pain flood into him. He let out a shaky breath and began to get to his feet.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Hideaki fire a Hadron Cannon. Ren wasn't strong enough to move out of the way - but he was determined enough. He manipulated the air and shoved himself out of the way of the Cannon, closer to Yuriko. Hideaki ran to him. Ren got to his feet.
12 meters to go. Ren began backing up as Hideaki charged. Ren spun out of Hideaki's way, letting him run past him. Hideaki stopped himself and spun, throwing a fist in a wide arc at Ren. Ren ducked under it and strained his muscles, throwing his own fist into Hideaki, reinforcing it with air pressure. Unfortunately, his strike wasn't strong enough to tumble Hideaki, but he did take a step back. Hideaki came back again with three strong strikes. The first one, Ren brought his good arm against throwing it off course so it missed. The second one, he attempted to redirect with his good arm, but wasn't fast enough and felt a concussive force strike his jaw. Ren staggered, and didn't recognize when Hideaki's third strike sent him to the ground.
So close… Ren thought. Getting up to his knees, Ren turned and splayed his hand weakly, but Hideaki slapped it out of the way. Hideaki brought his other hand around and struck Ren again, sending him to the floor. Hideaki reached down and picked him up. He placed a hand on his face.
"I ain't gonna miss this time, motherfucker," Hideaki growled as Ren felt Hideaki's hand start to grow warm. Ren grabbed onto Hideaki's hand and tried to move it, but his muscles failed him. He threw his arm against Hideaki, but Hideaki barely flinched. Ren tried again, but his second strike was even weaker.
Hideaki's hand grew hot - and Ren knew it was about to fire. Ren saw Hideaki's wound from the knife earlier. Ren immediately mustered what little strength he had and used it to dig into the wound, trying to tear the skin and make it bigger. Hideaki screamed and pulled his hand away, letting go of Ren. Hideaki turned and fell to his knees, holding his bloodied arm.
"What the fuck is wrong with you!?" Hideaki shouted. Ren walked up behind Hideaki.
"Lots of little things."
Ren swung the crowbar into Hideaki's head, knocking him out. Ren felt a little woozy. No doubt he was losing blood. Ren looked toward Yuriko. Suzaku was still standing there with that smile, and Yuriko was still on the ground in the exact same place.
10 meters to go. Ren gripped the crowbar and began running. Once he was close enough, he'd throw it at Suzaku, momentarily distracting him. If Suzaku was Suzaku, which he was, he would most likely try to catch it and throw it back, detonating it and killing both him and Yuriko. At that point, while Suzaku was pre-occupied with the projectile, Ren would slice at the air towards Suzaku. If it hit him, great, at the very least it would make him flinch, letting Ren grab Yuriko and fly away. There was no other way he'd be able to kill Suzaku. As long as he managed to save Yuriko. That's all that mattered.
Then Ren's heart gave out.
At first, he just thought that perhaps Hideaki had managed to shoot him with a Hadron Cannon. But then he realized the burning sensation in his chest was far more crippling. Ren's grip failed, and the crowbar fell to the ground. Ren's legs gave out, and he fell to the ground.
Only 5 meters to go. Ren used his one good arm to slowly try to drag himself toward Yuriko. She was so close. Ren struggled to breathe. It felt as though his lungs had already burst, and his muscles were going to follow suit.
4 meters to go. Ren had to keep going. He owed it to everyone he had ever let down. He needed to do just one thing that would make up for everything he had done.
3 meters to go. Just this once, he would do something right. Just this once, he could be a hero.
2 meters to go. This was for those who died in the Garden of Learning. Those who died when Suzaku attacked him and Touma. This was for the Kurusus.
1 meter to go. For Ouma and his girlfriend. For Yoshikawa. For Hinata. For Touma. For Last Order. For Mikoto. For Yuriko. For Stiyl and Index, those ungrateful bastards. Even for that bitch, Kuroko. This was…
Ren just noticed that he was no longer moving forward. His arm wasn't moving. It was odd, because he was telling it to move, but it wouldn't. Ren turned his head and realized it was missing. He looked up and saw Suzaku's shoes, right in front of Yuriko's face.
"Close. I'm not going to lie, near the end there, even I was rooting for you. You put on a good show, but in the end, what did you honestly expect to happen? You'd save Yuriko, reconcile with Hinata, who would of course forgive you for killing his family, and then you'd go live somewhere tropical with your little harem?" Suzaku mocked.
"Theres… three to a harem…" Ren murmured in reply. Suzaku raised an eyebrow. Then he smiled. Then he started laughing.
"Even when you're dying, you can't help but make a smart ass comment. I love it," Suzaku chuckled, picking Ren up by the neck.
"After all the pain you've caused me, I've decided that I'm going to make your death as painful as possible. Sound good?" Suzaku asked. He tossed Ren back into the Earth, causing him to break several more bones.
As Suzaku began to torture Ren, all Ren did was keep his eyes on Yuriko. It seemed like they were in their own little world. For a moment, he wished that were the case. In that moment, he could be happy. He wouldn't have to worry about what Suzaku did to him, or what Mikoto would think, or what Hinata might say. For a moment, he could be happy. And most of all, ren wanted to share this with her. His happiness. The idea that had they ignored the rest of the world, they could've been together. But he couldn't. For whatever reason, he just couldn't bring himself to say things that he knew would never come true. He almost laughed at the fact that here, at the very end, he still couldn't talk to girls.
"Please…" he whispered, hoping Yuriko could hear him.
"Please, if you can hear me…"
There was still no response.
"Please wake up…"
The wind rustled her hair slightly.
"Please survive… you have to…"
And as Suzaku ripped off Ren's legs, Ren finally felt someone enter the stadium. He wondered if Suzaku could feel them too. Ren also knew that they had no chance of killing Suzaku. But they could get Yuriko out of here. And in that last moment, Ren forced every fiber of his being to move his broken arm in such a way that it looked almost as if he were trying to fight back against Suzaku. But instead, it flung Yuriko as far towards the person as Ren could possibly manage.
Ren didn't see how far she got due to his ability finally giving out. He knew it was enough. Strange how one simple arm movement seemed to be enough to reconcile all his past evil deeds to him. Hell if he knew whether it actually did or not, but Ren felt at peace.
Hell. Funny. Because he was about to die. Yadda yadda.
Suzaku snapped his neck, ending the life of Renji Nakajima.