Twenty

Kazu

The rain was flooding into his under armor, the waterproof mesh now only keeping the painful substance in as his flesh melted. The runoff of his flesh and ink with the water oozed into his left eye, but his vision had long since been abandoned due to the sheer amount of raining falling down on him. With every step, and every swing, Kazu's arms and legs threatened to give out on him, but he ignored their warnings and pressed on, knowing that this was the last thing he would do in life.

He wished it wasn't. Truly, he wanted to live and watch and feel. He wanted to laugh alone at the emotions his friends would show him. He wanted to act and pretend to make them think he was someone else. He wanted to play, and share in the fun as he had back home. Back where he had learned how much fun it was to harmlessly twist the feelings of others.

But he wouldn't be able to. All he could do now was continue to be in agony, and to kill those that had taken his fun from him.

It wouldn't be long now, Kazu figured as his sword smashed through one of the lesser blades of a bipedal fish. The water running along his skin was affecting him too badly to even finish off any of these ugly creatures. If these fish were being smart, they would have left him to die in the rain, but Kazu had killed far too many for them to think logically, and now their barbarous pride was on the line.

They came at him, two or three at a time, but his sword was always there to meet the blades and deflect them into one another. Occasionally, he would feel the edge of his weapon slide against the flesh as his arm's muscle memory counter attacked a moment later, Kazu relishing in the screams of pain as the rain deafened the battlefield.

Kazu laughed at the thought of the sandy beach being a battlefield, water getting into his mouth and burning him. Perhaps he was descending into madness, but he continued to laugh through the pain, knowing that this had been a strategic slaughter that his commander had led them into. What was even funnier was that he had walked right into the trap, as opposed to running off, taking those he cared about with him.

He felt his foot snag on something, staggering him briefly as he deflected another cautious strike. Looking down, he realized it had been the two Inklings he had chosen to die for, their bodies barely holding together in the downpour. Kazu didn't even flinch as their killers rushed him, only kicking up Nara's fallen weapon into his other hand and lopping off a wrist of one of the attackers. His original enemies didn't even get a chance to retaliate as he pressed his advantage against his squad's killers, falling upon them like a hungry beast.

But with the two girls avenged, he had run out of energy. He felt nothing as his legs finally forced him to the mushy ground, a pool of water forming beneath him as his bodyweight pressed into the sand. He stared at the melting form of Kiko and Nara, wondering why he had gone through so much trouble for them... or for any of them. It wasn't as if he had loved, cared, or felt duty bound to them. As he pushed his mind to the limits to figure this last puzzle out, before his original attackers would come and take their own revenge, he realized it had been love.

He loved the games they had played. He had loved how they had all acted towards him. He had loved how Takeo had glared, thinking how some unassuming Inkling would steal his childhood beloved away from him. He loved how Yori would act tough, demeaning someone who only showed kindness to him. He loved how his small comments could even affect the quiet Renzo, who took himself so seriously. He loved how Ayumi would always have a mean spirited rebuttal for anyone, having nothing else to do but attack those that would protect her. He loved how Enri was just as big of a manipulator as he was, yet no one else seemed to notice, mind, or care. He loved how Kiko fought herself constantly, the fear she carried only being dismissed as she was about to die.

He loved Nara, Kazu realized. Perhaps because of just how much time they had shared in each other's presence. Kazu blinked away the watery orange and red mixture as he watched his killers come, his eyes shifting their gaze to the ones laying below him. He loved how kind she had been to him, even though he was just playing a role. He loved how excited she had been at every small adventure they had shared for a year in the tiny village he had been sent to. He loved their conversations they had while tending to the small birds, and how she would always try her best to include him in anything that she did with the others. Perhaps that's why he said the things he had, and done the things he'd done, giving her a single chance to escape from this death trap.

He felt the pain of metal entering his body, then his sword moving as if it had a will of its own. His hungry blade wasn't satisfied with the life that had already been taken, Kazu thought as he looked up with his good eye. He watched as the fish creature crumbled to the ground as he pulled his sword free, knowing that he had hit the heart of the unarmored creature. Kazu scoffed to himself as he rose to his shaky feet, using two fingers to pull the rusty cutlass out of his running, watery flesh. The fish creature had tried to torture him just now, apparently not wanting to give him a quick death and stabbing him in between his shoulder and neck.

He wondered if the creature had even been paying attention to just how many of their kin he had killed, Kazu thought as he stared the remaining enemies down, watching as more of them were coming to see what the commotion was this late in the battle. Surely, Kazu was the only Inkling still on the slaughter-ground still living, and how difficult could one Inkling be to kill? Kazu could see the mixture of confusion and anger in the dumb, slack jawed faces of the fish barbarians, themselves wondering why a beast such as Kazu could still be alive.

His first family had taught him too well, Kazu supposed as he took a step forward, finding no enemies willing to come within his reach. His 'father' and 'mother' had pulled him from the wreckage of a village, the commander and sub-commander later telling him that it had been torn apart by a scouting jellyfish horde or some such. Instead of returning him to the nearest village or city, the two had kept him, deciding to bring him along from battlefield to battlefield since the young age of seven. Gifting him knowledge of life and death, and how to command through fear, intimidation, skill and perhaps the most useful, manipulation.

Kazu fell face first into the wet sand, not even able to take a second step towards his enemies. The rain had soaked into his leg muscles, and was slowly tearing him apart. All it would take was a single strike, and he would be off into the great void, where his parents were waiting with open arms and laughing smiles. He was only moments away from joining those he had spent a year with, who would never understand why he had acted the way he had.

Yet the strike never came. Kazu used the last of his strength to tilt his head to the side, trying to get a glimpse before the water completely blinded him. Instead, all he could see was his killers with their backs to him, slowly fading from his field of view. Kazu wanted to scream and yell at them to come back and finish him off, just so he wouldn't have to die slowly from the rain digging into his skin, drop by drop. He wanted to challenge them all, but his voice had long since abandoned him, and he had to quietly moan as his body slowly reminded him that the dangerous substance was tunneling into every part of his body, from head to toe as his life fluids tried to heal him.

He blinked as he felt the earth shake, hoping that it was his heart stopping. He blinked as he watched a shadow come into view, the rain seemingly parting as it started to near. Kazu saw a primordial creature come closer and closer, the beast's thick legs larger and wider than any tree. He watched as the giant's back lurched, great slits in its sides loudly sucking in, and expelling air as its spotted hide came into view. As the great creature shook the very earth itself, Kazu could see the void of death in its massive jaw, as if it could swallow an entire building in one gulp. Kazu had seen sharks before, but never one so massive or powerful.

Kazu hoped it would stomp and crush him. He hoped it wouldn't be cruel and consume him, as that would just be a creature digesting him instead of nature herself. He hoped this walking god could simply press him into the dirt, and extinguish his life in the millisecond it would take to kill him.

He wondered if the hill sized creature could sense his thoughts, for as soon as he wished for the end to come, the beast lumbered closer and closer, until it stopped right before him. For a few seconds, Kazu couldn't feel the rain hit his barely covered body. Kazu ignored his pain as he tried turning his body, seeing the creature's white under half pass over him, taking several long seconds for the head and tail to finally expose him back to the elements.

Tears came after that, Kazu's last hope for a quick death simply walking over him, perhaps not even noticing a wretched life such as his. Kazu closed his eyes and slapped his face into the soggy sand, not even having the strength to remove his tattered mesh and allow the rain to directly fall on him. He wondered how long it would take for his brain to finally stop relaying that he was in agony, Kazu hoping that perhaps he could incapacitate himself as he waited for the end to take him.

Voices. He could hear voices now. Had it been minutes? Hours? Days? Were these voices real, or imagined? He couldn't feel anything, save for the heat. It was so hot. Why was it so hot? He tried to shake himself, try to shake the heat away, but he couldn't move. There was nothing that he could do, save for listen to the voices. No. Not voices. Whispers. Chirps. Birds? Was he listening to birds? There were so many. So many singing voices.

"What have you found for me, my loves?" A woman. A woman spoke. A dream, he realized. He was dreaming through the pain. Just a dream.

"I see." The dream paused. Paused so long that he thought he was awake. He hoped this would be the end. The last dream.

He moved. He couldn't feel, but he moved. Something moved him. Wanting to laugh with joy, he knew this was finally it. Death, glorious death, and finally come to take him. After being still for so long, he finally moved, moved away from the heat and into the cold. Finally, this was it.

"What do you mean?" The dream spoke, stirring him from death. Did that mean he wasn't dead? No! NO! He was right there! He could, he HAD seen the void!

"You've brought me back a body, girl. This… thing, hasn't stirred once from anything I've done to it. I can't even feel if the heart is pumping, or if the lungs are breathing. For fucks sake, it isn't even producing ink! There's no color anywhere!" A second thing yelled. Loud. So loud. It echoed within his head. Pain. Not more pain.

"And yet, they sense life. Have you cut into it?" The dream asked, the woman's voice calm and clear and clean, like the edge of a blade. He could feel hot liquid where he used to see burn him, move him as a fire was lit inside his breast.

"Yes, child. I have and nothing has…" The painful voice quietly said, no longer causing him pain.

"What?" The dream asked.

"It's crying." He heard, his dream failing once more as darkness came to embrace him. Yes, he thought, come and take me this time. End the non-death.

Death had refused him again, making him laugh. The feeling of floating, and sinking had left him once again, making him laugh. The pain was returning, making him laugh harder. He could feel the wretched life pump through him, his flesh clinging and peeling with every movement, making him laugh again. His lungs burned, his skin burned, his vision was that of black, yet the void of death had vanished, only filling him with laughter. He felt something tug at his arms, and weight press him downwards, ceasing his movement as he struggled to end his own life, his hands still far too weak to rip his laughing throat out. Soon, stillness would take him, but not before he would laugh and laugh and laugh as the heat burned him from inside out.

Dryness. He was dried. He had never felt this way before. It brought him pain, but the dryness silenced him. Yet, he could feel. He could feel his eyelids, and as he willed them open, he could see.

An amphibian croaked, and he turned to it, surprised to see such a small creature near him. He tried moving a hand towards it, but felt his flesh cling to the floor, delaying him momentarily before he could pull himself free. He was able to reach the small green thing, the croaking ceasing as he gripped it.

He wiped the liquid life on his lips, tasting the moisture. He wiped the rest of the mush on his face, letting it sink into his skin as he heard a clattering on the floor. Something had fallen, he realized as the darkness absorbed him once more, kindly taking him away from the dry pain that filled him.

"Can you hear me, boy?" The dream asked, the words making his eyes open wide. Though he could see, the dream was nowhere to be found. Instead, he could only see the wooden ceiling. Still, the dream continued, the woman's tone happy. "Good. Can you speak?"

He tried, but the dryness stopped him. The burning in his chest only making him want to laugh at himself. Laugh at the pain he felt. He tried to move and find the dream speaking to him, knowing he needed to confirm if he was alone. Yet he couldn't move, for his weak flesh held him down.

"That's okay. You're alive, and that's all that matters." The dream told him as a coolness touched his face. He closed his eyes, embracing such a soft and cool feeling soothe his burning, dry skin.

It was so peaceful.

"Can you hear me, child?"

"Yes." He croaked, his voice's return a very painful thing. But it was not real pain.

Only fake pain.

"I am Kemeno. I found you in the sand." The dream, Kemeno, explained. He didn't open his eyes this time, afraid that if he did, he wouldn't be able to see her. The woman. The dream. Kemeno.

"Yes."

"Do you know what happened to you?"

"Yes." He said again, the pain making it too difficult to use longer words. It wasn't real. It wasn't real. It wasn't real. The pain is fake. This is not fake. Speak. "I."

"Yes?" The dream asked, her breath stinging him. He moved away, the pain real. It was real. The pain. Why did it hurt so badly? Why did it burn when he laughed at his pain?

"Sleep, boy. Sleep again." The coolness touched him, the dryness slowly fading from large parts of his face.

"Kemeno?" He breathed, his voice causing him not nearly as much agony as before. He was no longer burning. His skin no longer felt dry.

"Yes, child?" The dream asked, tired. He could feel the woman's exhaustion.

"The rain. The war." He spoke, memories fading in and out of his pain. He laughed at the last word he could speak, knowing how cruel it was. "Death."

"I figured as much. Fear not, boy. Death won't take you."

He laughed at that, already knowing his dream to speak the truth. After all, it had abandoned him when he couldn't feel. Now, he could feel the smile push against his flesh, and give him great pain.

The rain woke him. The thunder and water was so loud. Strength flooded him as he recognized the sound, and moved toward it. This time, he wouldn't have something to cover him. This time, he would be washed away. No more pain. Just rain. Just water.

He watched his flesh touch the door, knowing that he should be able to feel if it was coarse or smooth in the dark. Instead, he felt nothing on his fingers as he slid the door open, hearing the stirring of motion around him. The dream woman, Kemeno, and maybe the other one were coming to stop him from leaving, but they were too slow. He didn't care that he couldn't feel the door. He wouldn't be feeling anything soon. Death would take him.

He stepped out of the house. He felt the rain hit parts of his flesh. He raised his arms, knowing that the pain would come soon, and then there would be nothing. He kept his eyes closed as he waited.

No pain. Nothing. All he heard were the tiny droplets bounce off his flesh. Only when he opened his eyes did he feel the pain of water tear him. The only time he could feel the pain was as water entered his open mouth, after his sight had been taken from him. Only after several moments of the small agony that was tasting water and having his vision return to darkness did he feel something. He felt a great weight surround his torso as he was moved towards the door, laughing all the while.

Death truly did not want him, he laughed.

"I grow tired of calling you boy, boy. How about we give you a name?" Kemeno said suddenly. He turned to her, away from the view of the ocean he stared at and at the mask and cowl she barely held onto. He saw that she wasn't even looking at him, her view remaining on the great blue void far away. He turned from her, glancing at the small creatures that ran along their high position, playing happily in the sunset. The red monstrosities rolling and running from each other as the bigger breed of beasts slept soundly.

"If you can think of one." He said, his own name long since forgotten with the near death experience he had endured.

"Then I will. I think I've got a few in mind." Kemeno hinted, turning as he silently stared towards the ocean.

"Do we not leave, soon?" He asked in response.

"We do."

"Perhaps you should think of one after we do. I don't want Miss Frog to remember it."

"You know she hates that you call her that, right?" Kemeno asked.

"Yes."

"You should treat my mother with more respect, boy. She's the one who tended to you while I was away." Kemeno almost pouted, her whining making him laugh. "Three years of having to deal with your sorry ass. Can't even imagine what she went through."

"I'm sorry." He apologized.

"Tell her that! Not me!" Kemeno ordered as she pushed his shoulder, knocking him off the rock he was using as a seat. As he got up, he was helped by the woman's hands, being embraced in a hug as she pulled him to his feet. "Come on, boy. Let's go inside."

"Yes." He said, trying to walk as Kemeno continued her hug and stepped with him, making him laugh. "You forgot your mask."

"Forget it." Kemeno said, stepping over her red hood as well. "Oh, I just had a wonderful idea for a name."

Kantoku leaned back in his chair, balancing on the back two legs. One of his feet were on the edge of the table, the other dangling to maintain balance. Both of his hands were on the back of his head, showing just how relaxed he currently was to the one who shared his table.

"You look like an asshole." Range suddenly said, stabbing into his fish with a knife. Kantoku watched as the pale general continued to eat, going so far to talk with food in his mouth. "You know that, right?"

"You're the one eating in front of a guest, Range." Kantoku rebutted, remembering why he was in such nostalgic mood.

"You aren't a guest. You're some guy who keeps walking into where I eat and sleep." Range calmly stated.

"Not that you sleep much." Kantoku spoke, normally getting an outraged response from Inklings he insinuated private observation. Instead, the pale general just shrugged, not in disagreement. "I heard you stayed in the signal fire house."

"For a couple days. Was it yours?" Range asked, not looking up as he forced himself to eat, a look of disgust slowly coming to his face.

"No. I lived there for a few years though. Back before this town even existed. I can't help notice how you healed there, as I did."

"Was that before or after you got fucked up?" Range crudely asked, not even shy about bringing up a subject every other Inkling he met tried to avoid. "Because stuffing my face full of food to bring back my natural body weight, and healing an entire body of skin tissue are two completely different things."

"Yes." Kantoku quietly agreed. "Yes, they are. I was merely pointing out that we're not so different."

"It's true!" Range agreed, his tone signaling that he was being sarcastic. "Your skin is fucked up, my skin is fucked up. If only I had a fetish for wearing masks and being a weirdo all damn day, we'd be twins. Oh, save for the fact you're nearly twice my age."

"Another truth." Kantoku agreed, watching as Range finally finished the struggle to complete his meal for the night. He watched as the only oil lamp in the room flickered, the pale warrior's face illuminated in the dark. Not wanting to end their casual conversation for the night and get onto the more important matters, Kantoku decided to bring up something Range would undoubtedly want to keep out of mind. "Congratulations."

"For what?" Range asked, not even batting an eye at the word.

"About your child, of course." Kantoku said, bringing his seat down as he leaned forwards, stitching his fingers as he leaned forwards.

"Oh. That." Range sighed as he uncorked a bottle with brown liquid and poured himself a cup. "Want any? I stole it from a governor during the end of winter."

"I don't drink." Kantoku informed, somewhat excited at Range's lackluster reaction to him giving away the fact he knew of his pregnant woman.

"Ah. I keep forgetting you're a fucking freak. Anyway, yes, thank you. I have indeed sown my seed. If I'm correct about biology and counting time, I might have done it in front of Kasai." Range calmly spoke, taking a swig of his liquor.

"Does it not excite you? Bringing in a new life to this this world? Being a part of that magical process?"

"I already have a kid, as do you." Range reminded, watching Kantoku as he rolled his head back in disappointment. "Well, I suppose your kid is either an adult or dead by now."

"I suppose you're right, but that's not the point! That's not the same as being with someone, and then creating life." Kantoku said, hearing the click of Range's tongue as he suddenly realized he had once more lost control of the conversation.

"Ah. You're a romantic as well. Fantastic." Range sighed out before taking another sip of his drink. "Look, Kantoku. Yeah, I've done something you'll probably never do, which is have consensual sex with a woman, but I've now given my enemies a new avenue of attack. Now I have to be even more vigilant. We both know I can't simply stop and wait for her to have the kid. Plans are already in motion, and I'll be damned if I have to wait a year longer."

Kantoku waited for him to finish speaking, eventually letting a laugh escape his lips at the pale one's completed statement. "You're a pretty funny guy. You know that right?"

"I try to be." Range responded immediately, his tone giving away nothing. Kantoku prided himself for playing games with other Inklings, never truly understanding what he was doing, but now? He truly didn't know whether he was the one being played.

"You say you don't wear a mask, yet perhaps it is merely just better than mine." Kantoku said, holding up a hand to interrupt the obvious response of 'I never said that. I said that I didn't have a fetish for them,' and continuing. "Let us continue the conversation of why you're going to be a bad father later, and speak of our plans."

"Did you realize your mistake of bringing it up in the first place?" Range asked, Kantoku feeling transparent against this general, a feeling hard to find now of days.

"Perhaps."

"Fine. Where did we leave off last time in our midnight negotiations?"

"What we wanted from each other." Kantoku reminded, last night being quite a silly event after Range had drunkenly went on a tirade about how he was going to have to marry a bunch of 'idiotic shits'. Kantoku had cut the Inkling some slack, however as he had to host a one hundred man celebratory party for a bunch of Inklings that had chosen to do their bonding ceremony, as opposed to completing their own similar event.

"Right. Let us clarify what each of us wants from each other. Or, more specifically, what are our motivations for sharing this metaphoric bed."

The two sat in silence for a small while, Kantoku smiling under his mask as he waited for the Inkling to speak first.

"Oh, so that's how you're being. Okay. You already know that I wish to kill Kyokan and his general, Basti." Range reiterated, calmly talking about treachery.

"I do. I have just yet to hear why." Kantoku agreed with the information, watching with a small amount of pleasure as he finally got a good reaction from the pale warrior, glaring daggers at him from across the table. "And how you plan to involve me."

"To avenge myself, Kantoku. I'm sure you'll understand the sentiment."

"Oh, I do. Though I waited for over twenty years to attain mine. From what I understand, it has only been seven or eight for you. But the man I had to kill was a simpleton commander, not a Squid Lord in the height of his power, with a dynasty of commanders at his disposal, along with his title bearing generals. You ask me to side against an individual who can bring down over twenty thousand tried warriors against the nation, you know." Kantoku said, getting a smile from the pale warrior, who perhaps already knew how he would act. "Not to mention all those who would join him, as well."

"Of course I do. Yet I think I know you well enough to say that you don't truly care about that. The Monster Corp is always outnumbered on the field, after all. I think I know exactly what you want, my masked general. You merely want to have friends, Kantoku." Range's smile cutting him deep. "To be needed, by those who understand you. Not a simple thing for those in positions of power."

"Do I? Do I truly want something as simple as mere friendship?" Kantoku asked, already knowing the answer. Ever since he was a child, he wanted someone to play the silly games his parents had taught him, who played them with him as much as he did to them. Not even Kaito, who he had taken under his wing had shown signs of fully understanding the game he played with them. So far, he had only met one Inkling who had shown the innate ability to understand him, and was currently sitting in front of the individual.

"Yes." Range dispassionately agreed without hesitation, making Kantoku feel a chill run through his flesh as though the answer was obvious. Kantoku let out his real, twisted laughter at the one word response, feeling it come deep from the dull burning in his chest, which he had thought long since subdued. Not even Kemeno, who he had trained under and lived with for several years could be so blunt with him. No one he spoke with could be so confident with their answers.

"And?" Kantoku asked, feeling that Range wasn't done with his negotiation.

"And where better to find friends, Kantoku, other than the battlefield? Though you can't possibly be certain, Kyokan will declare war with Strategic Command. He is too big to stop growing, and be satisfied with merely being the Squid Lord of the west. There will come a time, and soon I'd wager, that sparks his rebellion. Perhaps the largest rebellion our country has ever seen." Range offered, as if it was fact. "I want to be the light of that spark, Kantoku. I want to force Kyokan into action, before he's ready. Before his alliances are settled with each garrison along the way to our most protected, central cities. I want to embroil our country in civil war, and take my revenge in the chaos that follows."

"And how-" Kantoku started, but Range seemingly spoke, knowing the question.

"Would you make friends in such a dire time? I wonder, Kantoku, if it is just myself watching, and waiting for Kyokan to make his move. I ask myself, constantly, 'do I stand alone against such a creature?' And every time I ask that question, I find myself with the same answer. If anything, others will rally together to stop him. Those of minds like my own will take his war as a personal challenge. It will be the biggest gathering of amazing individuals, talent, and those with skill, to come together on both sides of the field. From the lowest of infantry, to highest of generals. In what better environment can you meet those to call friend?"

Kantoku laughed, low and long. Of course Range would think like that, he thought as Range offered him a drink. Instead of refusing again, Kantoku merely continued to laugh, taking the offered cup as he watched Range pour his own. Kantoku removed his mask, and saw how the man across the table didn't share Kaito's look of apprehension, or Kikimo's fear. Perhaps Range had also known he didn't need to go to great lengths to convince him as he had done, as Kantoku would have agreed solely for the sake of it being interesting.

But he had.

"To friendship." Range whispered, raising his cup. Kantoku copied the motion, quickly downing the liquid that caused his throat great suffering. This pain, however, had been worth every second of it.

"To friendship." Kantoku repeated, standing.

Tomorrow, Range's brigade would set out, Kantoku's division following shortly behind. Together, they would head west, and begin playing very exciting games with one of the most powerful living Inklings of their country's history.

Kantoku left the room short of breath, and looking forward to the dawn.