The ability to sustain the enemy's attacks without losing the advantage. That was the main benefit of fighting in the forest... That was what the old man told him, at least. But it was with that mindset Haruki taught himself everything he needed to learn to effectively survive these kinds of battles. Now, it was the opportune time to utilize those skills.

"This seems like a very bad idea!" the girl inside his head worriedly said. "All of them are right under us!"

"I know," Haruki replied.

"You say that, and you're still going for it?"

"Yes."

"What if you fail?"

"I won't."

"I'm not sure if you're being confident or arrogant"

"...Logical."

"Logical?! There's nothing logical about this!

Instead of elaborating further, Haruki leapt off the tree he was perched on, landing on an unexpecting bandit and slitting his throat. Sensing one coming from behind him, he turned around and used the dying bandit as a personal shield. The enemy's axe cleaved right through his dying companion's chest. In the enemy's state of shock, Haruki kicked the corpse to him, knocking both him and the corpse to the ground.

Noticing the closest bandit to his right, Haruki threw his knife toward his head. However, it missed its mark when a larger bandit with a wooden shield moved in front of him, blocking the attack. Dislodging the knife from the shield, the large bandit threw it back at Haruki, but a simple sidestep allowed the knife to safely pass by him.

"I see," Haruki analyzed. "For him to be protected like that, that could only mean the one behind the big guy is their leader."

"Look out!"

Haruki immediately ducked away from oncoming arrows. With no time to recover, two more bandits rushed at him. He easily rolled away from the first attack but had little time to react to the second, forcing him to throw a second knife. The knife hit the bandit on the shoulder, but the wound wasn't fatal. However, it was enough to make the bandit redirect the attack and slash a nearby tree.

Kicking the bandit away and finally regaining his footing, Haruki observed his surroundings. Sure enough, all the other bandits had their eyes on him. Just how he knew they would.

"All these bandits just to go after three people? Pretty pathetic, even for bandit standards. But..."

"This many bandits is more than enough to pillage a whole village." the girl added, in which Haruki agreed.

"At this rate, they'll find Remire, along with those three nobles. And with this many, By and the others will have a hard time fending them off. I'll need to cut down their numbers."

"Okay, NOW you're playing a dangerous game! Do you really think you can fight this many-"

"Dumbass."

"W-what did you say?!"

"Did I say anything about killing all of them?"

Finding an opening between the bandits, Haruki dashed away in the direction away from Remire Village.

"AFTER HIM!" He heard the bandit leader give the order.

"Killing one of their own would definitely make the rest eager to have my head. It's only logical. Although, I only sense nine of them following me. It's not much, but it's enough to dwindle down the number of bandits heading to the village."

"So your 'logical' plan was to-"

"Lure away as many as I can, while the others take care of the rest. It'd be suicide to fight them all."

"I have to say, Haruki, you're much smarter than I gave you credit for. Although, your approaches are dangerously debatable.

"I'm simply following the most logical course of action. Nothing more."

"I had a feeling you'd say that. Your mind works in mysterious ways… It always has."

Haruki wondered what she meant by that, but he quickly set that thought aside. Now was not time for idle thoughts.

He glanced back and noticed the nine bandits closing in on him. Even if there were less of them, facing them all at once would be a gamble that wasn't in his favor; he understood that. The only thing he could do now was to hold them off as long as he could. Long enough until he arrived. It won't be long, now.

"Wait," he furrowed his brow as he sensed something unexpected. "You can't be serious. Them too?"


It was not long until the bandits reached the village. The mercenaries seemed to be holding them off fairly well. The same could be said for Dimitri and his group, led by one of the mercenaries, Byleth. After eliminating some bandits, they entered the forest to assist Byleth's brother, Haruki - the one that helped them get to this point. Dimitri could only hope he was not harmed… or worse.

After travelling some distance away from the village, Dimitri noticed signs of another fight around him. Sword slashes and arrows dotted the trees and grass. There was also a lone knife stuck to a tree. The small size and shape of it was something he recognized. It was the same knife that Haruki used to keep Claude hostage. That could only mean that he was here. But… where was he now?

"Woah," the group stopped as they discovered a corpse of a bandit with a clean cut across his throat and a large gash on his chest. "This guy's seen better days, huh?" Claude said, kneeling closer to the corpse. "If getting his throat slit didn't kill him, that chest wound surely did the job."

"This must have happened recently," Dimitri added. "Could this have been Haruki's doing?"

"No doubt," Byleth answered. "He must still be around, but that also means that bandits are also still in the area."

"You're right," Edegard concurred. "It'd be foolish to let our guard down."

Dimitri nodded in agreement, just as he and the rest heard a loud cry coming from deeper within the forest.

"Looks like the party's just getting started," Claude smirked.

"Let's hurry," Byleth said, leading the three to the direction where the cry came from.

After traversing further, Byleth signaled the group to halt and hide under some bushes. Further ahead was a small, open area with nine more bandits within it. There was one that had a knife embedded on his shoulder and another that was fatally wounded by a knife to the chest. Yet, his companions did little to care as paranoia consumed them.

Seeing that they were distracted, Byleth directed Claude and Dimitri to take up positions to the left and right respectively to set up an ambush. In agreement, they quietly made their way to their positions. Dimitri was never one for stealth combat, but if Byleth's strategy required it, he was not going to argue. After all, up until this point, the mercenary's tactics and combat abilities have been superb. He needed to have faith that this case would be no different.

Reaching his destination and hiding behind a tree, Dimitri spotted Claude hiding on the opposite side of the open space. Turning to his left, he also spotted Byleth and Edelgard still behind the bushes. The ambush was ready. All that was left was the signal to strike.

Although, the prince was not certain what the signal was. Would Claude attack with his bow while they were distracted? Would Byleth and Edelgard attack from behind them? Or... Should he make the first move?

"I-it hurts! Damn that bastard!" Dimitri heard the wounded bandit closest to him. It was clear to see that something had gotten him angered. Or perhaps that was his attempt to hide his petrified state. Regardless, not knowing when to strike was making him anxious. If he was the one to do it, then this was the perfect opportunity. Gripping tightly onto his lance, Dimitri steeled himself to cut down yet another life.

"Wait…"

That was until he heard a whisper.

Glancing to his left, he only saw a hooded figure dashing past him and toward the wounded bandit.

"Once I get my hands on him, I'll-"

The hooded figure tackled the bandit and stabbed him in the chest. The momentum of the tackle caused the bandit to stumble and hit hard onto the ground with the figure sitting on top of him. He retracted both knives and used them to slit the bandit's throat without hesitation. The bandit drowned in his own blood before going limp and lifeless.

In a blink of an eye, he charged at another. The sword-wielding bandit swung blindly at him, but he dodged every single strike with ease and elegance. Seeing an opening, he leaped forward and delivered a powerful knee strike to his nose. All the while, he threw one of his other knives at another oncoming bandit, which struck him cleanly on the neck. Once landing and pinning down the first bandit, he used the other knife to stab him through the eye.

As he bore witness, Dimitri caught a glimpse of an insignia on the person's cloak - the same one Byleth had on his coat. And behind the hood, he could see the strands of white hair, the red eye with the other covered by the eyepatch, and the cold stare. There could be no question. It was him.

Before he had a chance to retrieve his knife, Haruki narrowly dodged another oncoming attack.

Then another...

Then another…

The numbers game was beginning to catch up to Haruki as the bandits' onslaught drove him to a corner. He leaned back on a tree and faced the five remaining bandits that now surrounded him. Dimitri became restless. He desperately wanted to go out there and aid him. But as he turned to Byleth's direction, the mercenary was already looking at him. He shook his head, signaling the prince to wait. Byleth then turned to Claude's direction, who already had his bow ready to attack.

"Well," Haruki suddenly said as he widened his stance and hovered his hand over his sword resting on his left side. "Now or never, you fools."

It was as though Haruki was simply agitating the bandits to pounce him. That may had been the case, but there was an underlying meaning behind his words, and Dimitri quickly understood what they meant.

"YOU'RE MINE!" one charged at Haruki, but Haruki did not move a muscle. Before the bandit could swing his axe, he was immediately shot by Claude's arrow.

It was the signal.

Without another moment of hesitation Dimitri charged at the enemy, with Edelgard and Byleth doing the remaining bandits had no time to react. They were killed before they had a chance to figure out what was happening.

With the skirmish over, Haruki sighed as he removed his hood, allowing his hair to flow down near his shoulders. He then pulled down his scarf, finally revealing how he truly looked. His appearance was… not what Dimitri was expecting. If it weren't for what he had just witnessed, he would have never guessed Haruki was a mercenary. If anything, he simply looked like an ordinary young man. Based on his strikingly sharp features, he could even pass up as a performer of an opera with how elegant his footwork was when dodging those attacks. But… that cold, red eye told the whole truth.

"My brother isn't weak." The words echoed in his head. While Byleth was a strong combatant and strategist, Haruki was just as formidable and deadly. Dimitri could not help but feel guilty for doubting his abilities, even going as far as calling him insane.

"You're a man of your word," Edelgard's voice pulled Dimitri out of his thoughts. Glancing over to her, he noticed her approaching Haruki, no doubt wanting to tell her appreciation for his efforts. "We managed to find help, thanks to-"

However, Haruki did little to care about her praise as he shoved passed her and walked straight to Byleth grabbing him by the collar of his armor.

"The Hell you thinking, By?" he asked him. "Why are they here?"

Everyone was taken completely by surprise by the sudden stand-off between the two brothers. As Haruki continued to glare at him, Byleth never flinched nor wavered. Despite that, the tension in the air was even stronger than when they fought off the bandits.

"They simply wanted to help, Haru," Byleth calmly explained to him.

"And you agreed with it… Are you some kind of damn fool?

Byleth said nothing but slightly narrowed his eyes - the first signs of emotions from the stoic man.

"Hold on, a moment," Dimitri tried to intervene, in hopes to calm the situation. "It was my decision to-"

He was cut off when Byleth raised his hand, signaling him to stop. Dimitri glanced over to Haruki who was already glaring daggers at him. While he understood that Haruki was not his enemy, that glare sent shivers down his spine.

"It was father's order," Byleth answered.

"That foolish old man… and you're a bigger fool to follow it," Haruki glared back at Byleth. "Do you have any idea what it'll mean if these three died on us because you brought them along?"

"All of this would've just been a waste."

"If you know that, then why-"

"As I said, they wanted to assist. They had the right to decide that for themselves. Plus, they are more skilled than you thought, Haru… I vouch for them."

"You vouch for- You can't be serious."

"You saw them in combat, yourself. Can you deny that if it wasn't for them, our ambush would never have gone as perfectly as it did?"

"..."

"They have survived this long for a reason."

Haruki stayed quiet as he stared at the three with his calculating gaze. After a moment, he sighed and let go of Byleth.

"Unbelievable... Have it your way, By. But don't blame me if one of them gets killed." He proceeded to run toward the direction of the village. "Now let's move. There's more trash to clean up."

"Don't stray too far ahead, Haru," Byleth followed his brother, leaving Dimitri, Edelgard, and Claude by themselves.

"Let's... go as well," Dimitri said, still perplexed from the heated altercation. "It won't do us good if we just stand here."

"...Right," Edelgard agreed. Glancing over to her, Dimitri noticed her staring off to where the two mercenaries went. Her gaze was… unreadable.

"Is something wrong, Edelgard?"

"No… It's nothing," Edelgard's expression turned to annoyance as she glanced over to Claude. "Let's go, Claude. This isn't the time to be fooling around."

"Yeah, yeah, I hear you," Claude casually said as he rejoined them.

"What were you doing?" Dimitri wondered.

"Oh, just picking up a few things. Now, let's hurry it up or we'll fall behind!"

With the other two agreeing, they followed the mercenaries back to the village.


As he said once before, Byleth would always get him out of a bind. This case was no different. What he did not expect was Byleth bringing along the three nobles. It made him frustratingly annoyed, even if Byleth vouched for their skills. But he knew there was no point in arguing, now.

Clearing out of the forest, the five returned to Remire Village. The first thing Haruki noticed was that the bandits had yet to enter the village. Although, the surrounding areas already showed signs of damage because of the battle between the bandits and the Eisner Company.

Haruki caught a glimpse of the old man keeping some of the bandits at bay on top of his horse. He then saw Brotus punching the Hell out of any bandit he saw, while Alexia kept an eye on him and other mercenaries with her faith magic.

"Haru, stay focused," Byleth reminded him. Not a moment later, more bandits appeared in front of them. Two of them were the bandit leader and his large bodyguard from before.

"Out of my way, you rats!" the bandit leader shouted, having his eyes set on the three nobles. "Those little rich kids are mine!"

Byleth was the first to take a step forward with his sword already drawn. "Unfortunately, I cannot let you do that," he told the bandit leader.

"On that, we can agree," Haruki said as he stood next to him. "We can't just give them away after all that damn work we put in to keep them alive."

"Wait a minute!" the bandit leader flinched the moment he laid eyes on Haruki. "Y-you're still alive?! But what happened to the rest of my men?!"

"Hm…? Oh, they're dead," Haruki bluntly answered.

"Huh?! That's impossible! There were nine of them after you!"

"You should've sent more," Haruki shrugged before pointing at the large bandit, "like that big guy over there. Better yet, you should've gone after me yourself. That's of course if you had the balls for it."

"W-what was that, you little punk?!"

"Don't agitate him, Haru," Byleth nudged him. "I know you're annoyed, but this isn't the time for your brutal honesty."

"Well, he asked," Haruki shrugged again, "Not that it matters. They're all just gonna die, anyway."

"What did I just say?"

"Oh… Did I say that aloud?"

"DON'T YOU DARE UNDERESTIMATE ME!" the bandit leader snarled and tightly gripped his axe.

Before he began his approach, the leader's bodyguard quickly stopped him. "Boss, don't waste your time," he said, locking eyes on Haruki, "The bigger prize is just behind him. Let me take care of that little bug."

After a moment of hesitation, the bandit leader wickedly sneered at Haruki and gave his large underling one order. "Skin him alive, Big Man!"

On command, hatchet and shield in hand, the large bandit began to approach Haruki with the intent to kill.

Byleth said nothing but simply stared at Haruki. The white-haired boy knew that his older brother's deadpan stare was telling him that he should've kept his mouth shut.

"Oi, you can't blame it all on me," Haruki stared back at him. "It ain't my fault they couldn't handle the truth."

Byleth simply shook his head and sighed. He then glanced over to the approaching bandit with Haruki doing the same.

"At the ready, By."

"...Don't underestimate the enemy."

"And you do the same."

Giving final words of caution to each other, Haruki slowly approached the bandit, leaving Byleth and the nobles to take care of the rest. Once they were about ten meters from each other, both Haruki and the bandit halted, waiting for the other to make the first move.

"You know, this honest side of yours will one day be the end of you," The girl sighed. "But you must refocus. your opponent will pose a problem for everyone if we don't act, especially with that shield of his."

Haruki agreed with the girl's assessment. Just at a glance, he knew that the shield was far too thick for him to simply slash through with his sword. And if he tried to pierce through it, there was a risk of the blade snapping before reaching the other side. No doubt, that shield would be a headache, but it was not the only issue. Glancing over to the bandit, Haruki could tell that there was something different about his armor.

"Heavily hardened leather, it seems," he observed. "Refined to be as strong as iron but still being able to maintain mobility of that of regular leather armor. With that shield, he's basically a lesser, but quicker, version of an armored knight… I can't afford to be careless."

"My, my. That may be the most logical idea you've come up with, so far! And that was just common sense!"

"Shut it… I'm trying to think."

With only four knives and his sword left, with the latter being temporarily useless because of the shield, there were not many options on how to approach this. But he knew just how to start: find the weak points.

The bandit finally took a single step. At that moment, Haruki flicked one of the knives straight at his head. Seeing it coming, the bandit lifted his shield to block the attack. In that brief moment of distraction, Haruki quickly dashed around him and into his blindspot.

"While that armor is sturdy, it's not foolproof. No matter how much your armor covers your body, It's impossible to cover everything."

Reaching the perfect angle, Haruki threw a second knife at the bandit's exposed area behind the knee. "You need some way to move your joints, after all."

But before the knife reached its target, the bandit deflected it with his hatchet, breaking the knife upon impact. He then turned to Haruki with a smug look on his face.

"Tsk… Those reflexes are gonna be annoying," Haruki glanced over to the shield. He still saw one of his knives stuck to it.

"And that thing isn't doing you any favors... What's your next move?"

"..."

"Haruki?"

"Shut it," he hushed the girl as he kept observing the shield. He noticed something off about it. However, from his distance, as well as the poor visibility from this nighttime battle, he was not certain. But if it was something he could exploit...

"I wonder..."

"Oh no."

"If I can get closer..."

"No, no, no, no, no!"

Haruki drew his third knife and ran toward the bandit.

"YOU'RE COMPLETELY INSANE!"

As Haruki approached, the bandit swung his axe. Sliding under the attack, he went for a second attempt to attack the legs. But the bandit was quick enough to step away before he could stab his knee. Seeing that, Haruki diverted his attack toward another exposed area, the inner elbow, in hopes to damage his swinging arm. Again, however, the bandit also saw that coming.

Using his shield, the bandit knocked the knife out of Haruki's hand. He then bashed the shield right at him. The impact had so much force behind it that it sent the boy flying back a few feet, tumbling onto the ground.

"HA! The Hell was that?!" the bandit mocked. "Ya got a death wish, or something?!

"I'm wondering about that myself!" the girl angrily scolded. "How are you even alive, anyway?!"

Haruki did not bother to answer that question. Although, he considered himself fortunate. If he hadn't hopped in the air and used the soles of his feet to absorb most of the impact, the damage would have been much more severe. He was even more fortunate to retrieve the knife that was still stuck on the shield. The plan was a gamble, but it paid off.

Haruki slowly made his way back up and tapped his feet on the ground to make sure they were not broken. Seeing that they were still intact, he readied his knife and stared at the shield.

"Judging by the cracking noise it made when it hit me, that shield is on it's last ropes. I bet with one more good hit, it's good as gone."

"But how are you going to do that?"

Haruki moved his gaze toward the shield's center, where a small crack was visible. "About forty centimeter long, but only about ten centimeter wide… If I can hit that, that annoying shield will finally shatter."

"Let me guess… you're planning to throw a knife at it."

"Obviously."

"There's a lot of risk in this gamble of yours. What happens if you miss?"

"I won't."

With that final declaration, Haruki charged at the bandit once more. He then threw the knife right at the bandit's head, just like before. Naturally, the bandit lifted his shield to block the attack, again. That was what Haruki was hoping for. The knife hit the crack of the shield, but it did not shatter.

"Not deep enough, huh? In that case," Haruki increased his speed and leapt into the air, hovering just above the bandit and the shield. He then kicked the shield, right on the knife. The force of the caused the knife to plunge deeper into the crack, finally splitting the shield in two and eventually shattering it.

Haruki could see the shocked look on the bandit's face as he continued to descend upon him, but the boy did not stop there. He grabbed a handful of the bandit's hair and forced his head to one side, revealing the exposed neck. Grabbing his fourth and final knife, he plunged it down onto the neck, aiming for the fatal blow. However, he was received by a wicked grin from the bandit. Suddenly, the bandit shifted his body as he grabbed onto Haruki's throat; the knife missed the neck and struck the hard leather shoulder plate, snapping it upon impact.

"Let this be a lesson not to pick on someone twice your size," the bandit said as he lifted Haruki higher. "Now!"

From the corner of his eye, He caught a glimpse of two bandit archers shoot their arrows right at him.

"H-H-H-HARUKI!"

"I told you to SHUT IT!" Haruki raised his leg and managed to deliver a kick right under the bandit's jaw , causing him to let go of the boy. Not a moment later, the two arrows passed by him, barely grazing the bangs of his hair.

Landing on his feet, Haruki hopped a good distance away. He then turned toward the two bandit archers hiding behind the trees. Before they could continue their attack, another arrow grazed one's cheek, catching Haruki off guard. Turning to where the arrow came from, Haruki saw someone he was not expecting to see.

"It looked like you were having some fun, so I figured I'd join in." Claude appeared twirling an arrow between his fingers. "Don't mind me. I'll take care of them. You finish off the big guy," he fired another arrow at the archers.

Seeing that the noble had it covered, Haruki turned back to his own opponent, only to realize that the agitated bandit was right in front of him. He relentlessly swung his hatchet, but Haruki was quick enough to unsheathe his sword and parry the powerful attack; although the attack sent the boy flying back, again.

However, now that the shield was gone, nothing held Haruki back in using his blade. After landing skidding to a halt, he lunged at the bandit in full force. He narrowly dodged, blocked, and parried each one of the bandits' attacks. At the same time, he searched for any kind of opening for the killing blow. But to the boy's surprise, the task was proving difficult.

No matter how fast he moved, the bandit's attacks seemed to keep up with him. And when the chance came to deliver his own attacks, the bandit's simply parried them away. As for the attacks that did connect, they were too hollow to tear through the bandit's hard leather. At this rate, Haruki's stamina would run out, and his sword would shatter. He had to think of something before he ended up sleeping in the dirt.

"Ya little… Quit squirming!" The bandit became more enraged.

On the next parry, Haruki left his midsection exposed, allowing the bandit to land a perfectly-placed kick. Haruki got the wind knocked out of him as he flew back and fell to the ground, losing his sword in the process.

"D-damn," he cursed allowed as he tried to catch his breath.

"Now I remember," the bandit said. "White hair… Red eye. You're that mercenary, aren't ya? The Scarlet Phantom. I heard a lot about ya when I was working for that noble pig."

"I see," Haruki replied as made his way onto one knee, spitting out a bit of blood. "You were once a knight… No wonder your skills are better than most bandits."

"Ha! I'm flattered!" the bandit laughed as he approached the boy. "But I have to say, from what I heard, I thought that you'd be some rough-and-tough killer. That you'd be someone worth fighting. But no. the Phantom is just some pathetic, little brat who doesn't know his place… What a let-down."

"Sorry to disappoint you," Haruki sarcastically said as he slowly picked up a chunk of dirt from the ground, unbeknownst to the bandit.

"You… You must be joking, right?" the girl was appalled. "THAT'S your plan?!"

"No harm done," the bandit chuckled. "After all, your name alone brings shivers down everyone's spines. If I kill ya here, my name will be known all around as the Great Beast Bandit who eradicated the Phantom." He halted right in front of Haruki. "Any last words?"

"'Great Beast Bandit,' huh?" Haruki said under his breath. "How generic."

"What did you just-?"

"Oi," he interrupted the bandit. "Before I die, I have a question for you,"

"A… question?" The bandit hesitated before laughing again. "Alright… I'll bite. Let's hear it!"

"...How many do you think I've killed?"

"Huh?"

"Since I became a mercenary, I've kept count of how many bandits and other vagabonds I've killed. Do you know how many that is?"

"What-"

"Ninety... That's how many I've killed during these past six years… and do you know how many of those called themselves the Great Beast Bandit?"

"..."

"Thirteen."

"The Hell ya getting at, brat?!"

"To prove to you... that you're nothing special."

"Huh?!"

Haruki finally lifted his gaze to meet the bandits' raging eyes. His stoic, cold expression never wavered. "You're just… another piece of Fodlan's trash that needs to be thrown out."

"Why ya little… NOW YOU ASKED FOR IT!" the bandit raised his hatchet, leaving his face completely exposed - the perfect chance for Haruki's impromptu plan.

"AHHH!" But before Haruki could chuck the handful of dirt at the bandit's face, a stray arrow struck the bandit's hand, causing him to drop his hatchet and yell in pain. Glancing to where it came from, Haruki once again saw Claude, bow in hand and smirking.

"YA LITTLE SHIT!" the bandit cursed the noble and turned toward him.

"That works," Haruki sighed.

Seeing that his sword was nearby, Haruki rolled to it and picked it up. Back on his feet, he noticed that he was behind the bandit. He could not get a perfect strike the first time because of the barrage of attacks. Now, however, nothing was holding him back to cut through.

It did not matter how strong that armor was… his blade needed to cut through.

Haruki got into a wide stance and lowered his sword onto his right side, tightly gripping both hands on the hilt.

"All or nothing." Breathing deeply through the nose, feeling a surge of power flowing within him, he lunged forward and slashed the bandit across the back, miraculously cutting through the tough armor.

"W-wha?" the bandit tried speaking as blood gurgled out of his mouth. He then collapsed in a pool of his own blood.

Haruki paid no mind as he breathed out through the mouth. "Taking your eyes off your opponent was your biggest mistake."

He checked on his blade only to see that it had shattered. That last swing probably had too much force behind it.

"I'm definitely getting an earful," Haruki sighed as he threw away the broken weapon.

"Wow! You're really something," Claude said as he approached him. "You were moving so fast, I was kinda worried about hitting you. But you gave me a nice opening, at the end. Thanks for that!"

"..." Haruki said nothing and simply stared at the noble.

"Hm? Something wrong?"

"Why are you here? I didn't need your help."

"Heh! I don't doubt you," Claude chuckled. "But your big bro wanted to make sure you were alright, so he sent me."

"Of course he did," Haruki sighed. He should have known Byleth would do something like this.

Speaking of, Haruki turned to see how Byleth was doing. For the most part, they seemed to be finishing up, too. Byleth was tending to Dimitri who had been grazed in the arm.

Edelgard was not too far from them. She seemed to have lost her axe during the fight. An error that would have cost her life - not that he had the right to lecture about it. Near her was the bandit leader lying belly-up on the ground. However, he wasn't dead yet. Haruki was none too pleased that she had not taken him out yet.

"Seems like we're about wrapped up," Claude said. "Oh! Before I forget, here's these back for you." Claude reached out his hand, holding four knives.

Haruki raised his brow. "Where did you-?

"I managed to snag them back in the forest," he casually answered. After being utterly annoyed by Byleth for bringing along the three nobles, Haruki had completely forgotten to retrieve his knives before returning to the village. It was a relieving sight to see them again, but what made it confusing was the fact that this annoying noble took the time to pick them up for him.

"You...didn't need to do that," Haruki shook his head.

"No, I didn't need to… But I wanted to. Now C'mon, take them already! You have quite the eagle eye for being able to throw these as accurately as you did. So, they're better off with you than me."

Haruki hesitated for a moment but eventually took the knives out of Claude's hand. Aside from the dried-up blood, they were mostly intact. The same couldn't be said for the rest of his weapons, however.

"Right! Now that that's settled, let's regroup with the others, shall we?" Claude winked at Haruki who simply remained silent.

He took a single step...

DING

Then, he saw it. It was something... horrible. What followed was an agonizing pain in his head. He dropped the knives and stumbled onto one knee with his nose bleeding.

"H-hey! What's wrong?!" Claude knelt down beside him.

"Ugh! My head!" he heard the girl's voice. "What was that?!"

Haruki wasn't sure, either. Yet, he saw everything so vividly.

Then, there was the pain. He was usually numb to pain. Yet, this time, It hurt so much. It was like his head was getting ready to blow.

However, things took a turn for the worst. He heard a thunderous yell. He looked up and saw the bandit leader back on his feet and charging at Edelgard, who was just standing there with a dagger in hand. It was exactly how he saw it.

"It was… a vision? That means…"

"By…"

Managing to grab a single knife, Haruki shakingly got back up on his feet. Moving as fast as he could, he went straight toward Byleth.

"Haruki?! H-Hold on! Calm down, for a second!" the girl pleaded, but Haruki ignored her. All that was in his mind was saving his brother.

"Damn! BYLETH!" But the pain only slowed him into a disoriented jog. All the while, the bandit leader moved closer with every stride.

"GET AWAY FROM HIM!" Haruki gripped his knife, in a last effort to stop the bandit leader. With all the strength he could muster, he threw the knife. But in his disoriented state, the knife completely missed the mark and hit a nearby tree.

"N-no way…" he only stared in disbelief. "Why… did I miss? Why did I have to miss, now?"

"HARUKI!" The girl suddenly manifested in front of him, finally grabbing his attention. But it was too late. Something hit him hard in the back. As he fell to the ground, his blood trickled all around him.

"Taking your eyes off your opponent was your biggest mistake," he heard a voice as the weapon was yanked out of his back. "Ya oughta practice what you preach."

It was the bandit he just killed. The bandit he thought he killed.

"Now that the noble brat's dead, all that's left is you. Ya cut me pretty good, ya know?"

"The… noble…" before Haruki could finish, something dropped beside him. He glanced over to it and stared directly at those lifeless green eyes. The same eyes that were teeming with life just seconds ago.

"Claude… H-he's..."

Haruki tried to get up, only to find out that he couldn't move at all. In fact, he couldn't feel anything from the neck down.

"Ha! Can't squirm around now, can ya?" the bandit mocked him. "Oh, I'm gonna savor this!"

"Stop! D-don't come any closer!" the girl pleaded to the bandit as she tried shield the boy. But the bandit completely ignored her, not that Haruki cared. He was focusing on something else.

He was fading away, but he could still clearly see it. Everything in his vision was playing out right in front of him. Byleth shielded Edelgard, and the bandit leader was ready to swing his axe down upon them.

"So this is how it ends… huh?"

Haruki closed his eye, not wanting to see his brother get killed right before him. As his own death drew closer, he unconsciously reminisced about his life since that day he was saved by Byleth. In the midst of it, Haruki began to wonder… Why did he save him that day? Byleth gave him an answer many years ago. Back then, he was content with it, but now Haruki wondered if that was the whole truth.

His life never seemed to be worth saving. After all, he was just another orphan that no one cared about. And yet, he was taken in by Jeralt and Byleth without a second thought. Because of them, Haruki remained alive. That was why Haruki vowed to protect them in return, the same way they protected him. And he hoped to one day find that answer he yearned for: Why was he alive?

But he would never find that answer.

Because he failed.

He wondered how the rest of the mercenaries would take it. Would Brotus gulp a drink in Byleth's name while cursing his? Would Alexia cry fake tears on his grave? Would everyone else even give a damn? He wasn't sure…

"Stop..."

He wondered how his father would feel seeing his two sons die so suddenly. There was no question he'd be devastated by it. It was strange. Haruki had never seen his father cry… Would he cry for them? He wasn't sure...

"Please stop..."

His thought also went to the damned nobles. Dimitri. Edelgard… Claude. The same Claude that died right before him. If for some reason he didn't go to Hell and ended up where Claude was, would he curse him for letting him die? He wasn't sure...

In a way, though… he failed him too. And he blamed himself for it.

When all was said and done, he couldn't protect anyone. He was useless… and he was going to die being useless… As he should.

"Don't give up so easily..."

It was a fitting end…

"For a monster like me."

"HARUKI!"

"YOU DIE!"

.

.

.

.

"Weak... So Weak..."

CRACK


AN

Here is the second chapter, and things are starting to look grim for Haruki. Find out what happens next time!

On a side note, sorry for the delay. I wanted to post this sooner, but life's been rather busy. Not to mention, fight scenes are much harder than anticipated, so I wanted to get the wording right. Even now, I feel like I can improve on it. Regardless, I appreciate the patience!

I have been getting questions regarding my story on the reviews. I'm all for it! So, feel free to ask questions and I'll answer them the best I can in the AN:

Hydra1996: In simple terms, the story will be closely following the Golden Deer and Black Eagles. However, I will not be ruling out the Blue Lions. My plan is to add some interesting new twist that allows the three routes to intertwine with one another. And that will be especially true when the story reaches the timeskip.

Drcaus: No worries, I was planning to do pairings in this story from the start, including for my OC. As for who he will be paired with... stay tuned! I don't wanna spoil the fun! :)

Again, thank you for reading, and I'll see you next time!

-JQ