Sorry for the day-late update, everyone - I hope you enjoy~
Yato's wounds were gradually healing. He thought that perhaps the healing process was slower than it was at the beginning of the game, but he ignored this and continued, awaiting the time at which he would be able to fight again with confidence. If he could hang back long enough for the worst injuries to heal well enough, then he could do what he needed to do.
They were coming up on another group, this one with less people. It was a bit farther out from the rest of the players, but at this point it was perfect to lead Seidou along this way… Seeing as they were heading east, he may be able to take refuge in the thicker woods of the eastern edge of the playing field. From what he remembered, Kaneki had mentioned there being a little house somewhere in there where his group had started. If Yato was right, no one was in that direction. Maybe he could rest there, even if it was only for a little bit. For now, that group nearby would be a great new distraction for Seidou, if he was still tailing them. Unfortunately, he hadn't managed much in the group Yato had led him to last time… Then again, it was a pretty hefty conglomerate. But couldn't they at least have killed Seidou…?
Whatever.
At the very least, it seemed like Seidou was quickly wearing himself out now… Not to mention he didn't seem to tend to his own wounds, meaning he was liable to run himself down to the point of getting himself easily killed. Maybe he'd be weak enough for Yato to take down without much risk. If he reached that point, well, Yato's greatest concern would end up being Kuroha's new vessel.
I can't just let my guard down, either. There are others that could have greater potential than I give them credit for. The white-haired kid with the scythe… he's very impressive with that weapon. The shirtless one with the blood-blades does have something going for him, seeing as he did manage to cut me once. That little girl has a goddess on her side, although she doesn't seem very strong anyway… There is the black biker who killed Hiyori… His thoughts faltered, his fists clenching and unclenching. There is Izaya, knowing that he has the weapon that ended Yukine… He remembered when he'd first made his decision to use Nora, and how he had clashed blades with Izaya. He'd never seen that damned informant move so fast, with such… such motive. When they'd met eyes for that split second before the force of Yato's strike blew him backwards, the god saw in Izaya's intense expression, his gritted teeth and narrowed eyes… His red-brown gaze was piercing, smoldering in the sharp light of indignant determination. It was a look filled with raw emotion; something that Izaya typically would never show, if he were even capable of such a thing. No… it was an expression that was far too… human for such a person as he.
Oddly, it only served to heighten Yato's bitter distaste of him. The blood running through him was hot. He wanted him dead; him and the biker both. He very much wanted them dead.
I'll take my time with those, he reminded himself, and took a deep breath as he moved briskly forward. They were gradually coming up on the area north of where Yukine had died. Where Shizuo had died. Psyche; Tsuki. He felt a hollow sort of ice settling in his insides. He decided to return to the contemplation of possible threats.
…Kuroha's former vessel, the android, is still very strong, I'm sure. I haven't paid him much thought, but he held his own alright when I last confronted those groups… Kaneki has a lot to go on as long as he's thinking clearly, and as long as he doesn't hold back. If he still considers me as someone he shouldn't fight full-force, then he'll be far easier to defeat…
They'd skirted well around the group south of them now and were approaching the forest slowly but surely. The dirt road that divided the lower half of the playing field was behind them now. Nora, walking contentedly alongside him, watched his stone expression with warmth. That cold nothingness in his eyes… The sharpness. Like icicles, shining blue. Those were the eyes she missed; this was the Yato she wanted back.
Then, Yato stopped. Just, stopped walking. Nora looked at him, tilting her head and smiling. "Hiki," he said lowly, and she became his weapon in a flash. Something wasn't right.
The god turned around to discover a figure descending from the sky with their arms and legs outstretched as though they were going to land on all fours. Yato was already prepared to strike them away with his sword, but the assailant went for Nora with appendages of red, leaving Yato incapable of finishing his swing as the half-ghoul Kaneki came down on him.
Where? Why? Kaneki—?
The god knocked him back with a powerful kick, making the white-haired boy skid backwards a few paces. He'd successfully freed himself and Nora from Kaneki and his kagune. Yato could see him better at this angle, in the light of the rising sun. Blood ran down his face and into his ghoul eye. His dull, mismatched eyes widened and glimmered with an off spark as he pressed his thumb to his index finger, cracking it without expression before moving quickly around Yato and grabbing him from behind. The god froze as he was. Leaning his pale head forward so his face was beside Yato's ear, Kaneki began to laugh. The god could sense the sugary bloodlust curling the ghoul's mouth, and his eyes narrowed. He couldn't argue with the ambush; he'd done the same to Kaneki's group just the day before. No, there was no time to wonder about Kaneki's intent or purpose for confronting him in this way. Instead, he simply needed to process that Kaneki was trying to either incapacitate or kill him, and neither was desirable.
Yato's grip tightened on Nora's hilt, preparing to counter whatever Kaneki had in store. "Allow me," Kaneki said sweetly, "to gently scramble your insides."
The outliers' group of Shinichi, Hide, Senji, and Rin made their way further east, though Shinichi guided them away from the south. Despite the half-parasite's efforts, they did come across an area spattered with old blood. Shinichi halted. Ah… Not far enough north, it seems… I didn't realize how close we were…
"Damn, what happened here?" inquired Senji, approaching the spray of red on the ground and the trees that was once Sebastian Michaelis. Looking down, Shinichi scanned the area to see if he could find anything resembling Migi. There was nothing.
"Maybe we just shouldn't disturb this place," suggested Hide.
"Yes," Shinichi agreed lowly, and turned sharply south without any other explanation. Expression blank, he walked down to the edge of the rocky and upturned ground, where the snake demon had demolished the earth. Laid out were four bodies, lying all in a row at rest. He looked with distantly sorrowful eyes at the bespectacled boy with the scarf adorning his neck. The other three slowed down once they could see that he was leading them towards a set of the fallen. Rin brought her hands together before her, averting her gaze. Hide looked right down at them, brow furrowing in mixed emotion. Fear. Sorrow. Regret that he didn't know any of them, and couldn't therefore properly mourn them. Senji's expression as he looked down on them was dull and empty.
"Pardon me," Shinichi said, kneeling before the four fallen and bowing low to the ground in respect. The friend of the boy with the machine gun… To think, Sebastian killed him. I'm sorry…
For what purpose did these people die? Is it that all of just want to survive? So then… isn't it just pointless bloodshed? All of us just want to live. Why can't we all just—live?
When Shinichi raised his head, he came to find that his new group members had all bowed low, although still standing. A vague smile touching his lips, he got to his feet, and they straightened again, Senji rather sheepish about the whole thing.
"Did you work with them?" asked Rin quietly.
"Ah…" Shinichi shook his head. "No… On the contrary, they were enemies… I guess."
"I see," she said shortly, distractedly. Her bright blue eyes did not make contact with his, which was just as well.
"I hate to break up this kinda important thing," said Senji awkwardly, rubbing at the back of his head, "…but um, do you guys hear that?"
"Huh?" Hide perked up as everyone pricked their ears, suddenly on-guard.
"Sounds like a fight's going on…," said Rin, eyes narrowing.
"Maybe we can help," said Shinichi, and Senji cut him off with a low, "Wait." The partial-parasite looked at him, bemused.
"You're the one that's always going on about how badly you want to get into another fight, Senji," huffed Rin, crossing her arms over her chest. (Carefully, mind you – her right arm was still mildly mutilated from the machine gun attack from Roppi.)
"No, but what's that?" asked Senji, pointing off to where the residential houses by the dirt road were situated. They hadn't set out too long ago, seeing as it was still early morning. Thus, the houses weren't all too far behind them.
"Something… is on top of the house, there?" tried Hide, squinting.
"Yeah, looks like it," Senji agreed.
The watcher, just a shadowy figure from here, jumped down from the roof. The four leaned in, watching in apprehension for what this person might do. Leave? Observe? Attack?
"Maybe he wants to invite us for lunch," suggested Hide brightly, and with a swaying start, the figure began to get steadily larger. Shinichi could hear feet pounding on the ground in the distance – already it wasn't so far away anymore.
"He's fast," Shinichi frowned, taking a step forward.
"Sorry, Hide, but this guy doesn't seem so friendly," Senji smirked, lowering his center of gravity and crossing his hands over one another in front of him. On either of his thumbs, he had serrated silver rings. These were what he used to quickly draw blood to use his Crow Claws. (Plus, it just looked badass.) "Head to the woods, guys, and get away from here. I wanna see if I can't stop him. I can at least slow him down. I've been wanting a proper game to play, here…"
"Let me help," Shinichi said firmly, but Senji only cut him off.
"Kid, don't underestimate me." He looked back at Shinichi with a single narrowed eye.
"That wasn't what I…"
"Look, you've got a really shitty complex going on. How old are you?"
Shinichi blinked bemusedly.
"What does his age have to do with it?" Rin frowned.
"Just tell me. You look like a teenager, or something."
"Uh, yeah… Eighteen."
"Nineteen!" Hide piped up, and held up his hand for a high-five. Shinichi blankly high-fived him, on which Rin rolled her eyes. "Beat ya!"
"Look, my point is that you're just a kid," said Senji. "All of you are. Keep in mind that all of you guys are teens, and I'm closer to thirty than I am to twenty. So." He looked at Shinichi seriously. "You've been leading us along, helping us figure shit out here. Thanks—we were kinda stuck there without anyone who knew what was happening. But even if you're here… even if you've gone to hell and back beforehand; I could care less. You're a kid. Stop taking on the fucking world already—that's what adults are supposed to do! You don't have to go on and take responsibility for every goddamn thing, okay?! Fucking make it out of this shit! You don't have to be the one protecting everyone else – let me fucking protect you! Got it?"
Shinichi was frozen, unsure of how to answer such a speech. "…I…"
"When it comes down to it, what I'm really asking—" – he swiftly spread his arms apart, splitting his skin and creating his Crow Claw blades from the red that flowed – "…is for you to let me have one cool scene for myself." A horrible smirk twisted his mouth, and the white-haired black-cloaked half-ghoul that was charging for them arrived in all his cannibalistic glory. Just as he was within arm's reach of Senji, the Deadman swiped downwards at the half-ghoul, slicing neatly and cleanly.
The Owl – that is, Seidou – staggered backwards, stopped in his tracks. Senji's distorted smirk spread wider, his single eye widening in pleasurable satisfaction. A thin line of red swelled from Seidou's middle; he'd been divided neatly in half.
"Dead center," Senji said lowly, pleased with himself. As always, his aim was perfect. "Agh… But, that was so boring."
Seidou was frozen as he staggered backwards to a stop, staring up the sky.
Rin remarked, "Huh."
As Senji rubbed at the back of his head, his blades dissipating, Seidou's injury seemed to collapse, being sewn back together within a few seconds. Seidou smacked his un-split lips thoughtfully as the four stared in growing terror.
"He has regenerative capabilities," Rin said shortly, urgently.
At the same time, Shinichi whispered, "He can heal."
Senji blinked at his opponent as the Owl smiled hollowly at him, tittering in amusement at their shock. "Well, shit."
It was in the factory he'd torn apart from the inside. Upon waking to the light of dawn, Seidou had opened his eyes to rubble that he knew was the result of his own hands. He was in a pile of broken monochrome. "Maybe I'm colorblind," he commented oddly, his first remark of the morning. Or maybe my heart's been bleached. He rose from his nest, brushing dust off of himself. He rubbed at his right eye, stained with blood. Stumbling forward, he began wandering his way around the factory again. "…Wring me out, hang me up, out to dry, dry, dry. Drain me out, hang, hanging out with myself out here." He paused, feeling a retching sensation that originated in his gut. He found himself choking and heaving, kneeling back on the messy ground again. With his pale hand to his mouth, he discovered upon his conclusion of the bothersome cough that he'd regurgitated blood. That's mine, he thought in recognition. That's my blood.
He looked down at himself, putting a hand to his abdomen. "Skewer." I want Yakitori. "Maybe, get a splintered bone, yeah. Stab a few pieces of people. The cowards, yeah. Chicken Yakitori. Perfect. Yum." Tittering to himself, he jumped on a loose piece of concrete and rode it down a pile of debris, letting out a joyous cry as he did so. If I were to kill everyone else in this game, if I win, can I do what I want? Can they get rid of this damned cage?
Even better, if I win, then I win. "I win, I win, I'll win, win, win~ No, I won't have seconds, thank you, not that I'm full. Bwahaha." He laughed to himself, then paused when something caught his eye, flickering in his peripheral vision.
Stopping abruptly, he looked at the intrusive object, pulsing with an invasive purple glow. His eyes narrowed as he changed direction and approached the pillar. An items pillar? He looked down at it in distaste as it flickered to life despite it being lopsided, have fallen from the second story.
The silhouette greeted him warmly as always. "Congratulations, Seidou Takizawa, you've found an items module!" it said cheerily, and Seidou's lip curled in deep annoyance. "You are permitted either a question or the selection of your item!" Despite Seidou's great levels of displeasure at the current situation, he looked down at the glitchy selection screen. His name was the only one lit up. Looking at the other names – Shintaro, Roppi, Tsuki – he only grew more discontented.
Beside his name, awaiting him, was the item Regeneration. He thought of the blood he'd just spat into his hand. If I'm not careful, I could die. Just 'cause it doesn't hurt doesn't mean it won't kill me. Ah. What do I care if I die? I mean, I could win. And being this slow is getting troublesome. He was biting absently at his index finger as he pondered this. "Whatever," he said eventually, jabbing a finger at the button. He was swept with blank white. He could feel his body mending itself. He could hear the Voice's delighted applause. He looked down at himself curiously as the light subsided. "…Huh." It fixed the cloak too.
"Your regenerative abilities are now relieved of their limitations, for now," the silhouette explained to him brightly, and he stared at the figure of purple-fringed static without expression. "The limitations will recur after six hours. Until then, you have every ability to heal, so long as you're well-fed." It paused, then laughed. "I don't think you'll have a problem with that one. Have fun, little Owl~" And with that, the silhouette glitched out of existence once more.
"…Little Owl," Seidou had echoed with distaste. He turned sharply to leave the factory. "Cute."
"Guys, get outta here," said Senji. "I'll catch up if I beat him."
"You're seriously going to do that?" Rin cried, and Senji laughed.
"Take care of the girl, guys! Looks like I can have fun here after all!" Pausing, he pulled something from his pocket, keeping an eye on Seidou the whole time. "Oi, Rin!" He held up a small coin to his side so the others could see it. Rin, Shinichi, and Hide all stared perplexedly. "See this coin? If it lands heads up, I'll be fine! So when you catch it, if I win, you guys go on ahead, okay?"
"You don't seriously believe in that stuff, do you?!" Rin protested, but he flipped the coin anyway. Seeing that she was too bothered by such a ridiculous way to go about things, Hide caught it in the palm of his hand instead.
"Well, it's heads," commented Hide, blinking at the coin in his hand. There was a salamander engraved in the head of the coin. "Sweet coin."
"Give it back when I catch up!" called Senji, and Hide nodded, saluting him.
"Gotcha!"
With a pained look, Shinichi turned and began leading the others to the woods, Hide assuring Rin, "Hey, hey, he's pretty badass, he'll be fine." Maybe he convinced her to come along, but Hide couldn't help but look back one more time. Is that really who I think it is…?
"Just you and I now, ya creep," Senji grinned at Seidou, who was only smiling back. The Deadman dug his fingernails into the veins atop his right hand, slowly generating the long blade known as Invisible Black. "It's time for me to be a hero!"
With a bark of laughter, Seidou attacked. Senji finished his blade just in time, and they clashed in a flash of black and white. Crow versus Owl; crows never did get along well with birds of prey…
"I do like that you let them escape. I do, I do. That's why I won't kill them first. Why I didn't do anything."
"You like that, huh? It's just my responsibility, you know?"
"If this is false heroism, I don't want to hear it," Seidou scoffed bitterly, and Senji laughed.
"Do you know what a hero is?"
Senji sliced Seidou's hand clean off only for it to reattach midair.
"What does it matter?" Seidou responded with a sneer.
"Well, I'm gonna tell you anyway," Crow smirked right back. "Because I wanna have a cool speech while we fight."
Owl laughed derisively.
"When you're young, you're supposed to have someone you rely on. Right? You can pretend you're a great help to them, your idol, the person you want to make proud." Senji paused as he was kicked in the face. Wiping his mouth with a grin, he continued: "That is a hero. This person, whoever it is. Your 'hero.' Your 'adult.' The coolest person you've ever known."
"I don't want to hear your blathering," Seidou scowled. "Be quiet."
"The truth is, when you're a kid, you have a hero that you can rely on, but when you grow up, at some point, you're not going to have them around anymore. No matter when that is… Whether you still need them or not, they're gone, just like that."
"Stop it." A growling protest.
"And from there, I guess you're supposed to become the next person's hero. You're supposed to grow up. You're supposed to take care of someone else, in return for having been taken care of. That's being an adult, isn't it? Isn't that being a hero? For someone to rely on you; that's to be a hero. For someone to be able to rely on you… that's to be heroic." Brandishing his blade, he struck again with a flourish. "I'm not gonna let those kids down! I want a moment of being cool too, y'know? Even if ya kill me, I'll have died a hero, right? So I don't mind it one bit!"
"That's bullshit," Seidou spat, breaking Senji's left arm with a swift kick downward. He'd been aiming for the right arm, the one with the blade… but he'd moved in time. For a supposed 'human,' he was incredibly fast. His left arm hanging limply at his side, Senji smiled at Seidou with one squinting, determined eye, burning with an earnest fire. "Your speech is bullshit. What of those who have no hero? What if your hero is a piece of shit who leaves you behind in Hell? HUH?!" At this poisonous yell, he jabbed his fist into Senji's well-muscled gut, sending him flying backwards. He landed hard on the sharp rocks of the earthquake from once upon a time, when Kuroha was possessing an android and Seidou was still human. "What if you can't rely on your hero, huh? What if they. Just. LEAVE?"
Senji choked up red, wiping at his mouth carefully as he staggered to his feet. "You can't go on and tell me that they weren't your hero at some point. Otherwise you wouldn't be so pissed. Trust me, I was pissed too, when my hero died…"
"HE DIDN'T DIE!" Seidou snapped harshly. "He… escaped, just like, that, no, that—that…!"
Senji shrugged with his one arm. "Life sucks."
"You don't—get it, don't—get it, don't get it at all…"
"Oi, kid," the Deadman frowned. "You think I haven't had my own taste of Hell?"
"Shut up…" He was standing stock-still, his hands to his head.
The crow approached him, his blade at the ready. "No, really, now I feel like I should probably be offended, or something. What, just because you can heal fucking anything, it means you can go on like that? I can tell you've gone through some shit, don't get me wrong, but fuck, man, so have other people. That's life!"
"You don't know… the things that… Those things… What I… did, what they, did. To me, or I, to—to—to… too… much, I—can't handle, can't stand, stand it, can't help it, I couldn't help iiiit…!" He began to wail, and Senji frowned deeper, ready to strike. Wordlessly, he charged, only to be blown back by the reveal of Seidou's kagune. Upon landing, the Deadman stared in wonder.
"Well goddamn…," Senji breathed. He still felt a smile on his face. Good to see I'm actually facing a challenge. This'll be interesting.
Shinichi went north upon reaching the woodlands. "Isn't this in the direction of the other fight?" Rin hissed, but Shinichi didn't answer, leading them further north to a curve in the fringes of the trees, curling so that they could see the outcome of Senji's fight, if vaguely. Somewhere behind them, they could hear trees splinter and smash. They were luckily still relatively distant, albeit about the same distance that Senji's battle was to them.
"Rin, watch our backs. I'll watch ahead." Shinichi was very to-the-point, ignoring her irritation towards his sudden authority. Regardless, she obeyed, turning to the north while Shinichi remained facing south.
"Y'know… That guy's definitely from my world," said Hide slowly. Senji's coin was clutched tightly in his hand, digging into his palm. He realized that ever so slightly, he was trembling. Taking a deep breath, he calmed himself.
"The one Senji is fighting?" inquired Rin, not turning away from her post.
"Mm," Hide agreed. "He seems like… an artificial ghoul of some sort?"
"Sounds disgusting," she said dismissively.
"No, just… a different species; that's all," Hide said carefully. "It's strange… because, he sounds like someone I work with… Looks like him, too. But…"
"I don't register who he is," Shinichi said coolly. All feeling had shut off for him. "So he may be a new player."
"Was a guy named Seidou Takizawa in-game before?" tried Hide, and Shinichi blinked, recognition flickering in his distant eyes.
"Ah… he does look like him… huh…?"
"So you know him?" asked Hide, perking up. Seeing as he didn't recognize him at first, could it be that Takizawa wasn't like this in the beginning of the game? What happened? The game masters do something to him?
Hide jerked back from his thoughts as Shinichi punched the tree beside him at full force, splintering it just a bit and destroying the bark directly where the contact had occurred.
Rin wheeled around. "What? What was that for?"
"Nothing," Shinichi said lowly. Flatly. "Sorry."
She furrowed her brow. She had nothing to say.
Drawing his lips into a thin line, Hide opened his hand and looked at the coin there. What a cool little knick-knack it was. He got heads, huh? Flipping the coin over, he found that the other side was the exact same salamander. He couldn't help but start laughing.
"What's funny?" Rin asked, sour.
"It's a rigged coin," Hide grinned. "He can't lose. There's only heads."
She turned to look at him with exasperated eyes. "You're kidding me."
Hide shrugged, looking back out to where Senji was fighting. If that is Takizawa… I wonder if a chat would help him out. I think I'm missing something here, but I'll figure it out anyway… Ah… both of you, I hope you make it out of this… Uncomfortably, he rubbed at the back of his head.
In said fight, Senji was slammed backwards by a hit from Seidou's fist right into his chest, yeah, right where Roppi's machine gun had broken his sternum. His breath left him on impact, and his head spun. Knowing that goddamn wing thing was going to shower him with projectiles, he raised his good arm to protect his face, earning crystals in his flesh. His breathing was heavy; his lungs burned. "Shit," he choked out, holding his chest as he got back up. "No way in hell I'm giving up, ya hear?" he added, pointing at Seidou for emphasis. "No, no way." He took a step forward. Ahead, the half-ghoul was crouched in preparation, his injuries putting themselves back together as though someone had a needle and thread that sewed him right back up with ease. "You think I don't know what Hell's like. I've been there for almost ten years. Ten years. You know how bad that sucks?" He took another step. Seidou seemed to hesitate. "Do you know what I used to be? You know where I started from? Hah? You go on shrieking at me when you don't know my story. I can call myself a hero if I want to. I'm not letting you get to my team. And that's that."
Senji charged again, ignoring the burning in his lungs; ignoring the pain in his arm as he put it to use without warning, taking Seidou off-guard and punching him square in the face. It really fucking hurt to use his broken arm—probably hurt Senji worse than it did Seidou's face, but god damn it, it was worth it to punch this fucker.
"Honestly, you just look like an asshole to me. You know—the kind that kills heroes."
"Shut up about heroes, would you?" Seidou growled, and Senji smirked.
"Yeah, sure. Instead I'll talk about Hell. Care to chat? I'll share a secret with ya."
"Share—secrets," Seidou repeated, his expression frozen in a scowl-grimace.
"Look, I used to be a cop. Can you believe it? I was a police officer! I worked my ass off doing everything I could to be the best. Do you know what I do now? I'm in prison! Do you know why I'm in prison?"
Seidou was bristling, his throat rumbling in rejection of Senji's tale.
"I didn't even do anything! And that's not even the funniest part! No, now I'm just part of some fucking stage show – Cannibal Corpse. We're trained to fight like dogs, you hear?! All we are to the people who fucking stole us from the outside world are experiments used for the end of some stupid-ass master plan that none of us have any idea about anyway!" Senji's good arm was crawling with black, creating a pattern over his skin not unlike ebony fire. It continued up his neck. To his cheeks, adorning his face with dark bloody glory in the form of swirling patterns of black. "Don't get me wrong," he grinned as this process began, eye narrowing. "I loved it there. And all that… All that's why I'm not gonna go and let myself get killed in a game like this. I've got a will to fucking live, damn it! You won't break me down!"
Face distorted, Seidou pounced at him. Senji bore dual blades now, disregarding the brokenness of his arm in its entirety as he diced Seidou to bits, cleanly parting him from an arm and a leg. Owl landed on his good leg and, as his other began to reattach, swung the other at Senji only for the crow to pin his departed leg to the ground with his blade. Seidou's good hand was at Senji's throat now, gripping tightly. Senji was looking into his face to find that one eye was rolling in its socket, the other boring into him, glowing crimson with the sclera painted inky black. Time froze.
"Shut up already."
Lifting the hand gripping Senji's throat, Seidou shoved his now-regenerated hand into Senji's abdomen as the crow sliced at the owl's chest.
Jumping, Seidou spun around and kicked his attached foot at Senji's upper torso, consequently yanking his hand out of the Deadman's gut and dropping him to the ground. Seidou was on him in an instant, his leg reattaching at last. "Can't, hurt me. Don't hurt, no more." His speech was broken. "You smell—of sweets, very good, but I know this smell—like sour candy, yeah, I found one, like that. Ah." Grimacing beneath Seidou, Senji choked on the blood coming up in his esophagus. Seidou's ghoul eye narrowed at him, the other lost in some impenetrable daze. "Let's say you're right, and I have a hero. Had a hero. Let's say you're like them, or like me. Let's say that. Okay?"
"If it makes ya feel good," Senji rasped, and Seidou looked down at him without expression, his fingers tightening around his neck. He'd already brought his free arm up upon his back smashing into the ground, Owl atop him. His blade was going straight through Seidou, and he wasn't moving yet. Maybe if he kept it there, it wouldn't heal, or something. Mind you, in stabbing Seidou, who was atop him, with the long blade of his subconsciously evolved Crow Claw… In stabbing him, Senji had also gotten himself in the side. They were both stabbed through with the same blade. Skewered together, if you will.
"You know what I think of that person now? You know what I really, truly feel about that person today?"
"What's—that?" Senji squinted at him through his grimace, looking for perhaps just a glimmer of reason.
"I HATE him," Seidou said simply, and tore Senji's head from his neck with ease, spraying the red above his body, which seized and was still. The blood-blades began to slowly disintegrate.
"Ah," Seidou remarked, holding the head up and gazing at the decapitated cranium with stale joy. "It still came off easy, like… like a freshly picked pineapple… huh?" He tilted his head to the side. "Don't… worry. I, can be a hero, too… if I, really want. Right?"